#like the fact that she actively did not tell her fans and went into the crowd specifically is the worst part like what the hell ik i ke

[ratoybox]

fuck lady gaga holy SHIT why they fuck would you walk through a crowd while sick with covid, only telling your crew but not your fans, walk through the god damn crowd, and then be like "well i think it was okay because they're taking a risk coming here anyway!" ????????????

[darnell-la]

Please I need more “drive-by sniffing” It’s so funny to me but also I’m into it

warnings: jealousy, hiding keys, sniff-by (drive by sniffing), lying, teasing, trapping, kissing, carrying, oral (fem receiving), etc.

note: perv!logan???? FUCKIN’ HELL.

follow our Instagram @ darnell.la so we can start posting random videos, photos, edits, and memes of the people we write about!

———

“They’re just a friend, Wade” y/n sighed as Wade kept complaining about where and why she was going. She was trying to find her keys and he knew for a fact he took them.

“Where are they, Wade? I told you I was leaving before I took a shower and now they’re off the kitchen counter so — Where are they!?” Y/n yelled at the man, making Logan choke on his beer.

“I don’t know, peanuts. Maybe it’s lost up your ass,” Wade shrugged as he got up and slipped his shoes on. “Shame on you for leaving mister I have no life and I hate everyone and everything, over there. Maybe you couldn’t take him on a date,”

“It’s not a date!” She yelled at the man, knowing this might be, but it was none of his business. “Yeah, sure it’s not, but since it’s so not a date, why not take Grandpa with you? He hasn’t seen the sun in a while,” Wade whispered.

Before y/n could say anything, he left, shutting the door hard and singing as he skipped down the hall, ready to go see Vanessa. “Dick shit,” said under her breath.

“Language, young lady,” Logan chuckled as he took a sip of his ninth beer. “Who are you? The god of prohibited language?” Y/n rolled her eyes at the man before she continued her search for her car keys.

“Lookin’ for these, bub?” Logan’s voice spoke after a few minutes of silence. She wanted to ignore him, but once she heard her keys jingle, her head snapped towards him.

“Bro, you had it the whole time!?” Y/n wanted to yell at the man, but he was Wade’s guest. Y/n only stayed here at times when it got too late for her to drive home. He’s somehow friends with her elders and he needed a “full-time babysitter for his dog” that he had just picked up and left with.

Her parents and grandparents insisted she didn’t help Deadpool and Dogpool. They were all big fans, but y/n wasn’t planning on working for him.

Wade had something behind what he was doing after y/n served him his food at bingo night. She was young but not too young, pretty, went to college, and was hard to deal with. Right up Logan’s alley, but did Wade tell him his secret evil plan? No.

“Yeah, because you’re lying,” Logan put the keys back in his pocket after she came over to him to take back what was hers. “What? Bro, give me my keys,” y/n was annoyed.

“You are going on a date, ain’t ya?” He asked. She could do all the washing she wanted, but he could still smell her. “No, for the love of god. Can you guys stop asking me that shit? It’s annoying!”

“Last time I checked, it only takes you ten minutes to shower, not thirty,” y/n was surprised he paid attention to her shower times. She’s only been in and out of Wade’s shared apartment for a couple of months.

“Your point is?” She asked, knowing he wasn’t dumb, but she hoped he’d give up. “I don’t know, you tell me,” he got up, now towering over her. Her neck ached from the sudden new angle she had to look at him.

“I can smell you, you know,” Logan admitted. “What do you mean?” She genuinely asked. “I can smell you leaking. It’s hard to miss when you smell like that every time you leave to meet up with your friends,”

She wanted to call out his perverted activities but had nothing to say. He was old, but she wasn’t a minor, so what could she say to make him feel uncomfortable for invading her privacy.

“How good is he? Seems like he fucks good if you’re soaked right before you leave,” Logan had y/n cornered on the wall. She didn’t know she was backing up that much until she had nowhere else to go.

“How about you let me meet him. Lemme watch how he fucks you so I can show you better,” his hot breath blew on her face. He was so close and intimidating. Where did all of this come from?

“Sometimes I can smell him on you. I hate it so much, you know why, bub?” Logan asked as his finger cupped her chin. Y/n softly shook her head. “Because I can do better,”

Before she knew it, his lips were all over her, barely letting her process before his tongue slipped into her mouth.

Usually, she found that nasty, hating the sloppy kisses, but this time — Fuck, it felt so nice.

Y/n kissed back, whines escaping her mouth as she now felt needy. She was already turned on, knowing she was going to meet her boy toy tonight, but Logan seemed better. He was always the better choice.

“Greedy slut,” the man spat, sounding angry, but she knew that’s how they talked when they were turned on. She could feel his hard on through his jeans. He was grinding up and down her body like a pole.

“Always leavin’ to fuck another man, like I’m not here, baby. I don’t like that disrespect,” Logan pulled the girl off of the wall and now carried her to his room that they sometimes shared.

Wade’s apartment is a two-bedroom, so if she slept over, she’d sleep on Logan’s bed, and he’d sleep on the small couch in the room.

He would be lying if he said he didn’t sleep better when she was right across from him. He’d also be lying if he said he would switch the sheets because he loved her smell.

He never did anything like this back where he was, but something after that fight made him switch. He was turning into a small pervert for a young lady in who’s barely the legal drinking age.

“Smellin’ like candy,” Logan sniffed, loving the new lotion she had bought a few days ago. “Gonna go through all that work when I take you on a date?” He asked as he slowly took the girl's clothes off. “Maybe,” she shyly said, surprised he wasn’t thinking about this as a one-night stand.

“Doesn’t matter, bub — Ima still eat that pussy till you cry,” he said as he spread the girl's legs. She felt so smooth. She was ready for him, not that dickhead she was getting ready to meet.

Logan slowly slicked up the girl's slit, taking in how close he is to her smell. All the days of smelling her getting ready for another man, just for her to get pulled back for him.

“Bet this cunts sweet,” the man said before diving in for a few seconds. Her mom got stuck in her throat. That was amazing, and he had more.

“Sure fuckin’ is,” Logan quickly went back in, arms wrapping around and thighs to pull her into his face. He wanted to suffocate in between her thighs.

[thatsdemko]

drought - c.leclerc

masterlist

requested: n

pairings: husband!charles leclerc x wife!fem!reader

warnings: not intended for minors + fingering (f receiving) + minor grammatical errors!

a/n: everyone say thank you to Charles leclerc’s recent photo dump

《 the following content is not intended for minors. 》

the simulator, the meetings, the practices, the races. it’s never ending exhaustion for Charles as he struggles grappling the seasons horrid start.

he’s thankful to have someone to turn to when times get rough. his lovely wife, you. through thick and thin is what you promised each other, and right now? this was the thin. this was what was starting to tear you both further apart.

Charles spent all his time home at the simulator, or any chance he could, at the factory. you’ve spent dozens of lonely, boring, nights in your shade king size bed.

the picture frame above the headboard is no longer crooked. you’d have time to fix it into place because the reason it fell was the endless nights of sex. the headboard would bang into the wall and eventually the picture, from your wedding night, would either come falling down, or end up sideways on the hook.

it was a reminder of your once thrilling sex life has come to an end. sex was no longer something you both were actively participating in. it was rather you and a vibrator on those lonely occasions.

“headed out?” you ask, picking your head up from your book in your lap. you’d heard his heavy footsteps. his tongue clicking against the roof of his mouth searching the right sneakers to wear.

“just to maman’s salon. been awhile.” he says coming into the living room to sit beside you on the couch.

you nod in agreement having not remembered the last time his beautiful brown hair was trimmed. although, you don’t mind the length, and neither did his fans. you’d encouraged him to listen to them, and at the time he laughed. then you showed him why you liked it so much. the ends being tugged between your fingers, ruffled and yanked during sex, he enjoyed the arousal. now, there was no need for it.

“tell her I say hi.” you say, soft smile forming to your lips.

he catches your eyes for a brief second when he looks up from tying his shoes. he takes the quick second to press a kiss to your cheek, “you should come by. maman would love to see you.”

you’d missed pascale. in fact, you missed his whole family. it’d been months since you’d shared a laugh with Arthur, or even held conversation with Lorenzo and his new girlfriend. while you knew the chances were slim to seeing his siblings, you still joined him in the car. it’d been the first time in weeks being in his pista.

his hand dangerously slips across the center console. his thumb strokes the skin your inner thigh that’s exposed from your biker shorts. he’s happy you’ve tagged along, he can’t remember the last time you’ve spent more than two hours together that wasn’t spent sleeping.

“I noticed you fixed the picture above our bed.” he says turning to look at you for a brief second at the stop light. you figured he hadn’t noticed, it was slight change and he rarely slept at home when he had days off. you’re sure he’s seen the toy under your side of the bed if he truly went looking.

“gives you a new challenge again.” you reply back watching the wheel spin under his hands as he pulls into the parking lot. you were finally free from his grip.

he scoffs, putting the car in park, “it was always too easy. it was never a challenge.”

a smirk forms to your lips. your words catching him before he slips out the car, “well you have a new challenge and it’s much better than you’ve been in the past month.”

—

you’re sitting in the chair beside him watching pascale trim the wet ends of his hair. a few fall in his face or around the top of the cape.

she’s happy to see you. in fact, she’s only talking to you the whole time.

she doesn’t notice how you’ve been squeezing your legs together every so often. your one leg is crossed over the other, he sees you shifting in the chair as you answer his mothers questions. he sees how turned on you’ve become watching him.

it’s funny to him. how it’s the most mundane thing ever and it’s got your pussy throbbing for him. all he’s doing is sitting in the chair allowing his mother to cut the dead ends of his hair.

he can tell whatever you were using to get off was not enough. and it was his own damn fault for choosing the simulator or the factory over pleasuring his wife’s needs.

pascale walks away to answer the phone leaving you two alone, and he swivels the chair in your direction, “I did not know this would get you so horny.”

you feel heat spread across your cheeks. you try to pull the neck of the sweatshirt over your face to hide the embarrassment of being caught.

“when we get home—“

“you think I’ll last getting home?” you cut him off before he can propose his plan. his eyes widen, a smirk toys his lips as he shakes his head seeing his mother come back into the room.

“take the keys to the pista, you’re making this hard for me.” he tosses the keys into your lap, “it’s a private parking lot. you can finish what I started.”

“I’m almost done with him. you‘ll be able to go home in no time.” pascale promises and continues to trim his hair. you watch for another couple of minutes and now she’s finally getting ready to blow dry his wet hair.

you can’t watch any longer. you’ve made up an excuse to head to his car and wait out the final minutes. you’ve turned on the air in the car and sat in the passenger seat awaiting his arrival to take you home.

your leg anxiously bounces as you hear him whistling. he opens the passenger door, takes the knob that adjusts the seat, and pushes it as far back as it goes allowing him to kneel in front of your seat.

“Charles what are you doing?” you ask watching him close the passenger door once he’s in. it’s cramped. his head is just inches close to the top of the car, your legs are nearly into your lap and suddenly it’s warm in the car. the air must’ve kicked off after a period of time running.

“taking care of something.” he leans over your lap, letting the back of the seat go as far down as it can. he moves you closer to the edge of the seat, “lift your hips.” he demands and you do as he asks, allowing him to remove your shorts.

“Charles, we can’t do this in your car—“

“nobody is here.” he points out the very obvious. not another car is in this parking lot, and there’s not a single car that has drove down this street since arriving. you were as safe as you could be under the street lights.

“come on, let me treat you right.” he coos, fingers running up and down your thighs, “I did this to you.” he reaches into your lap, fingers toying with the wet material clung to your pussy, a whine threatening at your tongue.

“can I do that? can I touch my wife?”

you nod, unable to speak any words. you push you hips up again allowing him to remove your panties. you spread your legs as far wide as you can. his index finger stretches out across your folds. it’s like a ghost against your skin, you can feel him but barely. a soft whine escapes your lips, you lean back against the seat.

“good girl,” he whispers, “just relax for me.” he says. his index finger wiggles in your entrance. his name rolls off your tongue ever so quickly, and you feel him add a second finger not even giving you a chance to respond.

your fingers go flying into his freshly cut hair, and yank on the short ends. you curse him for what he’s done, and try to grab anything you can while his fingers pump inside of you. he takes his time, discovers every single bit of you like lost treasure. a place he hasn’t tended to in awhile.

sweet whines and moans escape your lips. it’s adorable how quick you were able to fold under his touch. all it ever really took was a swipe of his finger, tongue, or anything else to get your body to fold. you were his in the matter of seconds.

you feel one of his fingers just brush your clit. your back arches, pussy clenching around his fingers. you’re begging him to do it again, and again, until you come.

he doesn’t stop until he notices your legs are visibly shaking, the car is shaking from your bodies response, and until his fingers are met with cum.

“I can’t.” you breathe out, your body itches to exhale the sweet cum he ever so loves. he’s nodding along, encouraging you to come. you throw your body back against the seat, you feel the body of the car move as you do so. sweet delicious cum finally exits your body and so do his fingers.

“that was fun wasn’t it?” he licks his index and middle finger of your cum before pulling your set up close to where it was, and he’s getting out of the car. you quickly pull your shorts back up and double check your hair.

you look him in the eyes when he slides into the drivers seat. you can see the arousal in his pants, a content smile across his face, “don’t worry, you can take care of me when we get home. I’ve got an idea in my mind.”

[bountycancelled]

Black and White

(bada x reader)

requested: yes! @badasgirlfriend this one's for my babygirl

content: fem!reader, jealous! bada(she lowkey gives possesive alpha vibes in this and im sorry, but its still hot cuz its her), kind of smut? like they don't smash but close enough, HOWL (I know and im sorry)

warnings: supa suggestive like I'm dying at what I just typed (in my defense I was listening to I was never there by the weeknd so blame him) mentions of alcohol, that's it I think.

a/n: once again, i apologise. my innner whore jumped out. also eli if you wanted it to be fluffy pls lemme know and I'll wip something else up, but I still hope you like this, I love you mwah!

"how do I look?"

your words were met with a long, bordering on uncomfortable silence. this confused you, since you were asking out of genuine curiosity and had expected a quick answer from bada, but nothing came.

you turned away from the mirror and faced her, your eyes narrowing as you waited for her reply with crossed arms. "that bad, huh?" you said sarcastically.

sure, this dress was a bit more... revealing than the clothing you tended towards in your everyday, but in your defense, it wasn't everyday that you went to a gala dinner.

seeing as you and bada were both respected and accoladed dancers respectively, you had both gotten invites, so going as each others dates seemed like a no brainer.

you had settled on a sleek white number with the back completely open, and a slit (for mobility's sake, you swear) you looked really good, or, so you thought, but bada's reaction however, was making you second guess yourself.

she was in black silk gown, and she looked drop dead gorgeous. you were surprised that you weren't actually frothing at the mouth like some starved animal. hell, you wondered how you could make it through the whole night without your attraction to her being exposed.

"not bad at all." she finally clarified in an abrupt manner, as if she had been taken out a daze. "you look amazing. it's just different, but good different, I promise."

you nodded, though you weren't fully convinced by her efforts. in any case, it was a little too late to turn your back on the dress, seeing as your ride for the evening was parked in front of bada's place.

the ride to the venue was filled with a strange sort of tension, one that you couldn't quiet place. you weren't upset, or at least, you tried not be upset at the fact the bada wasn't the biggest fan of your dress, its not like she was actively berating you or anything harsh like that. but there was clear energy occurring between you and her, you could feel it in the way she gazed at you.

you really did try to get her reaction out of your mind, conversing with your dancing peers, eating foods you couldn't even pronounce at the table, but nevertheless, it kept knawing at you, forming a pit in your stomach. (you guessed that it also didn't really help that bada was sat right next to you, with her gaze fixed on your every move, even if she was talking to other people.)

as bada excused herself to the bathroom, giving you a much needed break from her stare, you decided that the only way to fill the pit in your stomach was through a drink.

you successfully made your way to the bar, careful not to trip on your own two feet, before ordering your usual and raking a seat, waiting for said drink to arrive.

you thanked the bartender, looking around the room to make sure no eyes were on you before downing the glass in an instant, relishing in the burn. you were right, this would definitely distract you.

"rough night?" a familiar voice asked as you ordered a second drink.

"how could you tell? the slumped shoulders or the fact that my drink only lasted about two seconds in my hand?" your reply was met with a laugh, as the owner of the voice, who you had recognised as howl, took to the seat next to yours.

"obviously I have no idea what's got you so shaken up, but if its any conciliation..." he trailed off, leaning just a bit closer to you, his voice a low whisper.

"you look stunning tonight." you grimaced internally, howl wasn't a bad looking man by any means, but you weren't really interested in him, or any man, or anyone that wasn't bada. you were about to respond, brushing off his attempt at flirting without it being too awkward, but you were cut off before you could even open your mouth.

"there you are, can we go outside for a sec? I wanna talk to you." thank the lord for bada, who had given you the perfect excuse to slip away from howl without even needing to entertain him for a moment longer.

you feigned a woeful expression, almost as if to convey that you didn't want to leave him alone, all the while letting bada lead you with a hand on your wrist all the way outside.

you finally paused when you made it behind the venue, and when you turned to bada, she was already looking at you. the expression on her face was nothing short of... silently seething.

you furrowed your brows, determined not to back away from this impromptu staredown you had suddenly entered. "you know, you've been acting weird ever since I asked you about my dress back at your place, so just tell me what your fucking problem is, bada."

she smirked at your outburst, and that only made you even more annoyed, what about you was so fucking amusing to her tonight? she stepped closer to you, effectively trapping you between the wall and herself, and you broke eye contact with her despite yourself. she was too close for you to think straight.

"my problem..." she paused, trailing her finger along your collarbone, her gaze fixated on your chest, rapidly rising and falling. "...is that everyone gets to see you look so fucking sexy, when I'm the only one who really deserves it." your eyes widened at her words, and you were suddenly extremely glad that the wall was behind you to give your body support.

her hand moved even further, her large hand cupping your breast through your dress, and her thumb grazing your nipple, making your head tip back automatically. "and then, fucking howl has the nerve to flirt with you?" she chuckled bitterly, cutting her laugh off with a quiet groan as your hand went over hers, keeping it on your chest.

"it made realise that people don't get it. that you're mine. so why don't I make you mine right here, so that people don't get confused anymore, hmm? you'd like it, wouldn't you? I know I would." her voice was breathy now, and you nearly moaned as she trailed her other hand along your upper thigh, using the slit to get to your underwear, which you had surely soaked through by now.

it goes without saying that you would like her to take you then too.

another a/n: this was also my second time writing something kinda smutty ever, so pls practice kindness in the comments😀

[pixiesfz]

It make me so sad that’s there is not much lotte or Teagan content on here 😭

I’m gonna mix my two requests for teagan together!!

take the punch t.m

plot: you take a hard punch in a corner kick, turns out it’s from the girl you’ve been talking to for months.

warnings: injury, aggression from teammates, Player gets hit in the face and player is only given a yellow also I am NOT a doctor

You stared at your phone and the messages that were on it.

More specifically the girl behind the messages.

You had met Teagan at the start of the season on her debut as Liverpools goal keeper.

She had been a pain in your ass.

saving your shots left right and centre, it annoyed you but impressed you so much that you went up to her afterwards.

“Teagan is it?” You ask, walking up to her and she nodded “uh yeah, your y/n” she responded and you nodded “you know your really good” you told her “wasn’t fun for me but you know” you laugh and she laughed with you.

“I was honestly very scared to go against you” she admitted and you rose your eyebrows “really?” You ask and she nodded “watched you in the World Cup when Australia versed you, got those goals past us like it was nothing”

Oh yes, you remember that day.

“Sorry for kicking you guys out” you said softly and she shook her head “nah it’s all good, had me mesmerised to be honest”

You blushed, “yeah?” you ask and the goal keeper nodded “definitely”.

Before you could response you felt the hands of your teammate drag you away “Chloe!” You complained as she smiled at you

“No fraternising with the enemy y/n/n”

“Shut up”.

When you went to bed that night you didn’t expect to wake up to a dm from the Australian.

‘I really hope this is your account and not just a very popular fan account’

And for the first time in a while you woke up with a smile.

After a month or so of talking online with the girl your teammates noticed a change in your behaviour.

You were smiling in the morning, trying new things for breakfast and pestering Mary and Alanna for Australian facts.

One day Alanna turned towards you “Alright who is it?”

“Who is what?”

“Who is the girl that is getting you all…giddy”

You stepped back “there is no girl”

“There is such a girl, who knew our little German could find love?” She grinned and pulled you into a loving headlock.

“Fine” you grunted “there is a girl” you admitted and cheers filled the room.

“Who is it?”

“Does she play?”

“Do we know her?”

“Please don’t let it be a physio”

You turned to Jill weirdly “what?” You asked and she just shrugged before you turned back to your teammates.

“I’m not going to tell her name yet just in case it doesn’t go well, yes she plays and yes some of you know her well”

You gave away your hints before the team realised it could literally be anyone in the WSL.

“Can you at least tell us the team?” Mary asked, using her power of being one of the younger, cuter members of the squad.

“No.”

You were on a FaceTime with the Australian when she made the first move “Do you want to go on another date with me?” She asked after the topic of your worst date ever came up.

You smiled bright, a blush burning on your cheeks but you were so ever happy “I would love to, we can walking on the beach again”.

“Well we have the Liverpool vs City game coming up next week so after that” she declared “nah, I was thinking something fancier, we can go on a nice dinner and-“

“I want you to surprise me” you cut her off “I want to know what your creative Australian mind thinks of”

“Well mostly it’s you” she chimed in and you groaned, rolling your eyes “oh shut up”

Teagan laughed at your reaction, smiling at the way you reacted to her cheesy pick up lines.

Texts back and forth between the two of you did not help your nerves for the game ahead of you. But mostly you were more nervous for the activities afterwards.

You had ended up confiding to your national teammate Lena about your situation ship with the Aussie, not letting your club teammates know just yet.

But when the game ends and the girls see you walking out the doors with Teagan they'll find out who your mystery girl is anyway so with your blood rushing and head spinning you finally and well accidently tell your man city teammate and unfortunately Teagan's international teammate Mary.

"Really?" she responds to your quick words as you laid them out quickly, you just blushed harder before she gives you a thinking face "well that makes sense".

You furrow your brows "how-why- how does it make sense?" you ask, your arms moving with your words "well last international break she seemed much happier and that was after we versed Liverpool and if we weren't at trainings she was like stuck on her phone"

You stepped back at your friends words, You and Teagan had only successfully been able to go on one date together by the time the first international break came over, it brough a smile to your face realizing that she was in a similar state as you afterwards.

"I can help you two!"

"Mary I will not allow this to become a primary school relationship!"

Soon the game was here, you were lined up with your team in the tunnel, not in the starting XI but still in your gear as a sub. Mary was behind you, still the only teammate who knew about Teagan.

"look who's watching" she teased and you turned red, quickly turning around and smacking her arm "stop" you instructed and turned towards Teagan who was near the front of her line, she was already smiling at your interaction with Mary but gave you a small wave which you copied before you all walked out.

"that hurt" Mary rubbed her arm "deal with it".

You weren't subbed on until the second half, City were up by one as Lauren sent one through Teagan's fingers and into the net. You saw Teagan dust herself off as you ran on, her eyes fell on you for a second before going back onto the play which you joined in on quickly after.

Jess had scored not long after and you cheered after her, jumping onto her back with a smile. You wanted to look back to Teagan to see if she was doing okay but you were in your element, playing the sport you love and in this case winning!

In the 87th minute Kerstin weaved through the midfield and in between defenders as you lead towards the goal, her eyes darted towards you and sent you the ball, you jumped to header it in and then black.

The crowd watched as you jumped in the air, the ball hitting the front of your forehead and unfortunately the fist of Teagan's hands hitting the back, causing you to fall forward straight on the floor which you stayed.

Teagan all of a sudden didn't care about the ball that hit the back of the net and quickly dropped down to you, rolling you on your back so you faced up to her. "Oh my god-"

Teagan was cut off as your teammates pulled her away "Get off of her Micah" someone called out, Mary, cringing on the sidelines as she couldn't split her teammates and her friend apart. The words were catching your ears as you stirred awake to whatever had just happened to you.

Teagan ignored the man city players pesters and kept her eyes on you "please I just want to see if she's okay" she told them but Alanna pulled her back as medics ran on "Teagan she's not going to want to see you" she told her and Teagan crossed her head "I was supposed to ask her to be my girlfriend tonight" she told Alanna and the tall Australian stepped back and looked back over to you with wide eyes.

"let her go over".

Teagan ran over to you as the medics sat you up, The referee also showing her a yellow card but she didn't care.

"Hmm- Teags" you slurred as the girl came into your view "what happened?" you ask and the girl pursed her lips.

"Kinda punched you in the face"

"Oh" you said, not really gaining the information, a clear concussion on your behalf

Teagan watched as you were taken off by medics and went back into her box, the game quickly changed in the last ten minutes, the crowd was quiet and the teams weren't playing as hard, Liverpool excepting their defeat and man city not celebrating their win.

Not without you.

You were taken into the medics room before they quickly decided to take you to the hospital for a CT scan.

Meanwhile at the game, some of the players skipped the walk around the field to talk with fans and checked to see where you were. Hospital was what word was heard and Teagan along-side with Man city players were on their way.

Teagan drove herself, maybe going a bit faster than usual but you were on her mind, this was her fault.

She had had a concussion before, a bad concussion, it took her out for months on the team. She didn't want the same for you.

She was the first to arrived still in her kit, your teammates walked in five minutes later, quickly seeing the girl and walking up to her "you don't have to take pity on her" Kerstin said, Lauren quickly following "a quick DM would have been fine for her", their words were filled with pettiness which Alanna and Mary quickly shut down.

"They're not strangers" Mary said quickly and they all turned their heads "what?" Chloe questioned, Leia still stepping up to the Goal keeper "then what are they?"

"She's the girl".

Leia stepped back as Chloe gasped "oh my god, we are so sorry" Teagan just nodded, she ignored their comments her mind strictly on you "she was gonna tell you today after the game"

"before you punched her"

"useful information, thankyou Mary"

All the girls sat down, waiting for you "do you think she'll be mad?" Teagan asked Alanna who shook her head "she knows what she signed up for when she took that header, she knows the game" the blonde said and Teagan just nodded, still not convinced you wont cuss her out when you see her.

You sat in the room, looking at the scans, you would have a month off which you nodded your head at "I know it's not ideal but you have to be on a bed rest for about a week and you will have to miss the next international break for Germany" the doctor told you and you once again nodded your head.

"But you will be well enough for the Olympic but if you don't make it to the finals then you'll be out until the end of the season"

You sniffed, rolling your head back to stop any tears. You were sure Man city would make it to the finals with how they were playing, but if you missed a month you weren't sure if you would get any minutes on the film.

You had seen how time off had done for others, you didn't want that to be you.

You walked out of the room looking defeated as ever, your teammates were the first to walk to you, checking up on you with little questions before Kerstin gave you a hug, silently apologizing for her kick which you told her was not her fault.

It was nobodies fault.

When they all walked away, Mary softly turned your head towards the Liverpool keeper who had left to grab flowers from one of the stalls nearby.

"I thought you would have gone home" you said, relieved at the sight of her "and go to the dinner by myself?" she joked and you softly laughed.

You touched the back of your head "I don't think I look nice enough for a fancy dinner right now" you said and Teagan stepped forward her arm raising towards yours "Well personally I think you look amazing"

You blushed as she she tucked your hair you had taken out behind your ear "how long are you out for?" she asked "only a month" you smiled "that's really good Y/n" she started before looking down "I'm really sorry I just wasn't thinking and-"

You cut her off y quickly pecking her lips, distracting her completely as she widened her eyes "I don't blame you Teagan" you said, grabbing the flowers with one hand and grabbing her other hand with the other.

"So you're not mad?"

You creased your eyebrows "of course not" she let out a sigh of relief "well that's good, might have to cancel our plans though" she said and you smirked "how bout we order take out at mine?"

"yeah?"

"yes."

[attackfish]

So everybody here knows that I'm notorious for being a massive defender of Ursa, and that I have no patience for the "Ursa was a bad mother, she favored Zuko, and was abusive to Azula and abandoned her kids, and made Ozai abuse Zuko," narrative. That narrative is vile, victim blaming, and deeply stupid on a number of levels.

With that out of the way, I want to talk about some really really bad parenting we see Ursa do during the series. And it is to be clear really really bad.

In the Book Two episode, "Bitter Work", Zuko and Iroh have a conversation:

ZUKO: So Uncle, I've been thinking. It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her. I know what you're going to say, she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her-

IROH: No, she's crazy, and she needs to go down.

This scene is a favorite of a certain type of Azula fan who wants to paint Iroh as a big meanie who didn't wave his magic redemption wand over Azula the way he clearly did over Zuko. See? See? He's writing her off here and calling her crazy.

This of course misses the context of that scene, which is that Zuko is taking care of a severely injured Iroh, who was injured by Azula, in what looked a heck of a lot like a murder attempt. Earlier in Book Two, in the episode, "The Avatar State", Azula unambiguously attempts to murder her brother after failing to capture him, and he is only saved by Iroh's quick reflexes.

But let's leave that argument aside for today because what interests me about this scene in the context of Ursa's parenting, is the line Zuko says right before Iroh's infamous declaration: "I know what you're going to say, she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her."

Because in the context of Zuko and Iroh's situation, where Azula has recently attempted to kill Zuko, and just put Iroh into a coma that Zuko had to take care of him during, in which he has only just woken up from, this line from Zuko actually demonstrates some really warped thinking. It is not a healthy response to the situation at all. And his assumption is that a good caring parent figure like Iroh is going to respond to this situation by telling him that Zuko needs to get along with his sister, who is actively trying to hunt him down and capture or kill him.

So why does Zuko think that? What adult reacted that way to Azula's violence toward her brother in the past? It wasn't Ozai. Ozai is not going to use the language of getting along with one's siblings, when he is so bent on setting them against each other. So who was it?

The show answers this a few episodes before this scene, in the Book Two episode, "Zuko Alone." The answer is clear and heartbreaking: It was Ursa.

The scene in which this becomes plain, starts with Zuko and Ursa walking together. Mai spots them and smiles and blushes. Azula notices, and then turns to Ty Lee, and whispers, "Watch this!"

AZULA: Mom, can you make Zuko play with us? We need equal teams to play a game!

ZUKO: I am not cart-wheeling.

AZULA: You won't have to. Cart-wheeling's not a game, dum-dum.

ZUKO: I don't care. I don't want to play with you!

AZULA: We are brother and sister. It's important for us to spend time together. Don't you think so, Mom?

URSA: Yes, darling, I think it's a good idea to play with your sister. Go on now, just for a little while.

And then Ursa leaves Zuko alone with Azula and her friends.

There is a lot here that I want to talk about. I have in fact talked about this scene before, and what it tells us about Ursa's eagerness to reinforce Azula's seemingly kind and loving behavior: [Link], and even touched on why this is in fact an example of bad parenting from Ursa: [Link], but I think this deserves its own post, where we examine exactly what went on here, what this tells us about Ursa's parenting, and how this affected Zuko, and to a lesser extent, Azula.

In those previously linked posts, I talk about how this is clearly a pattern, that Azula has learned to predict and manipulate, and because we know it's a pattern, we know that this behavior on Ursa's part is repeated, and something her children have come to expect from her. Zuko and Azula know their mother wants her children to get along with each other, and love each other and have a good sibling relationship with each other so much that if Azula she plays into that, Ursa will force Zuko to spend time with his sister, and worse, that time will be unsupervised.

So, to be clear here, what Ursa is doing is giving Azula unsupervised access to her brother, against his will, as a reward for Azula momentarily acting nice. Or in other words, Ursa forces Zuko to spend time with his abuser against his will because she wants them to get along.

I think we can all see how that is some grade A terrible parenting.

And it does have negative effects on Azula. I think that we can see her learning how to manipulate people, learning how to lie and get what she wants from people, and that Ursa by giving her what she wants here, is showing her that this is a thing she can do to get what she wants. That is not a great lesson to teach your kid. I think it also feeds into Azula's possessiveness of her brother, and sense of entitlement towards him. She has learned that even the people who love and care about her brother, won't protect him from her. And she has learned that no matter what she does to him, he is supposed to try to get along with her.

These are some really terrible lessons, and we see some of the effects of them throughout the course of the show, so why is it that the "Ursa is a terrible mother" crowd never bring this up? I mean of course we know why, it doesn't fit their narrative. Their premise is not simply that Ursa is a bad mother, or even that her bad parenting explains Azula's behavior.

In fact frequently it isn't even about finding someone to blame for Azula's behavior, so that the responsibility isn't Azula's. (Which, to be clear is not how it would work anyway, because even if Ursa were exactly the type of horrible mother they said she was, Azula was still making the choices to do Very Bad Things, in the same way that just because Ozai is an abusive father, this doesn't mean Azula stopped being responsible for her own actions). It's more about proving that she has suffered enough that she deserves all the sympathy, and is allowed to be awful to other people, including Zuko, you know, as a treat.

The narrative that the "Ursa is a terrible mother" crowd are pushing is that Ursa didn't love her daughter, and thought she was a monster, Azula suffered so much, and it's so sad, and this is why she deserves to do very nasty things to everybody else, and no one should ever hold her accountable. Frequently there is some flavor of, "Zuko had a mother who loved him, you guys, unlike Azula, so he doesn't deserve sympathy, not like poor baby Azula!" Which is a deeply warped thought process on many many levels, but we're not going to go into that here.

The point is, that this type of bad parenting that I am pointing out here, doesn't fit this narrative, because this is not the kind of parenting mistake that a mother who doesn't love one of her children, and thinks that child is a monster, is going to make. This is the kind of mistake that a mother who loves her children very much, and wants them to have a good relationship, and doesn't recognize the threat that one of her children poses to the other, is going to make. In fact, the fact that she does it, proves that Ursa does in fact love her daughter and does not think she's a monster. So it does not fit the narrative these people are spinning, so they will never bring it up as an example of how Ursa was a bad mom.

Of course the other reason the "Ursa is a terrible mother" crowd aren't going to bring this part up is because it would mean acknowledging that Zuko deserved to be protected from Azula, and needed to be protected from Azula, when they were both children, which would go against the whole "she's a poor innocent child" thing they like to spin, and also because Azula is getting what she wants here, and Zuko is the one suffering, which is not going to get Azula any sympathy points.

And for the most part, Ursa was an excellent mother, who did the best job she could in horrible circumstances that she had very little control over, but she wasn't perfect, and she did make mistakes, which makes all of this a wonderful example of how even very good parents can make very bad choices that hurt their children and cause serious long-term damage.

I've talked some about the long term damage that Azula faces from this, learning about manipulation, and developing some really nasty entitlement issues with regards to her brother, but Zuko's long-term damage is if anything worse.

When we put this together with Zuko's line from "Bitter Work" quoted earlier, we can see that Zuko learns what Azula learns from the other angle, which is to say that he will not be protected from Azula by anyone, and not only will he not be protected, but he does not deserve to protect himself. Not only can he not defend himself, but he can't even protect himself by avoiding her. That's not allowed either. And in the face of her cruelty and violence towards him, it is still on him to make their relationship work, and to be clear, he should absolutely be making their relationship work. And the adults who love him are going to tell him this, no matter what Azula does to him.

I for one am really glad that Iroh is there to say no, that's a terrible idea, and you do not need to keep trying to get along with your sister who is trying to kill you. And it's significant that throughout Book Two, Iroh consistently protects Zuko from Azula, and teaches him what he needs to fight back.

[feelingthedisaster]

so, me and my mom's bonding activity is to watch shows together, so this means i get to hear her live commentary and opinions. i made a list of my favourites

(disclaimer: this doesnt mean i agree/support what she said)

she talked about jared padalacki and jensen ackles's hotness through supernatural, but not like who's hotter or aged like wine/aged badly, she talked about it in an analytical sense: how the producers used their physical attributes for views and how it changed their portrait as the fans reacted/the actores aged (she says sam started as the 'pretty boy' of the show but as it progressed it stopped)

she insists the actor of eddie was going through some health issues during the filming of season six of 911. her reasoning is that they didnt show his abs as much as they did in the previus seasons so they were covering something up (yep, she went "im not seeing my regular order of firefighter abs, something is wrong")

on the same lane, she also says he got better bc they did show his abs more in season 7

"is this by netflix, right? the intros are all the same"

she diagnosed castiel with autism (she is a psychologist btw)

intense staring at me when rosa diaz came out as bi (which i obviusly ignored)

*watching the harry styles fanfiction movie* me: "dont you ever do that to me" / her: "all your faves are dead"

a lot of complains about the recycling and predictability of the plot of supernatural

an incredible awkard car conversation about lockwood's survivor guilt (we googled his backstory) as the reason of his reckless/almost suicidal actions [she clearly did not want to add to the conversation but i guess the psychologist in her had to]

spn s8, aaron flirting with dean scene "they are making dean gay, arent they?" (didnt tell her anything, there some things you gotta let them figure out on their own)

*edwin payne exists* "well, that's a repressed gay"

[context: we watch shows in english with english subtitles but we are not from a english speaking country, she learned english when she was young and i currently go to classes] me: "i dont need to study for the english test i have tomorrow, i just need to watch one more episode. in fact, tv is actively studying for the listening comphrension part" / her: "right, then im not procrastinating work, im just helping my daughter study for her test then" / "right" / "right"

[angel-kyo]

Pay it no mind

Part IV

In which reader confesses their feelings to Gojo, but it seems these are not returned (maybe?).

Warnings: reader is on the receiving end of rejection (kinda), and the fact that I'm obsessed with unrequited love is a warning itself. There is a brief mention of reader being injured.

Previous: Part I, Part II, Part III

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

“Dr. Ieiri?” you called in a singsong voice.

The door was open, and you were half inside the infirmary, but you still knocked.

Shoko was standing with her back to the door, reading a file. She did not turn to face you, but asked “How’s your shoulder, [name]?”

Two days ago, you had been hurt during a mission. A curse had slashed your upper arm and you had taken quite a strong hit to your shoulder. The mission had been successful, though. The curse was exorcised, and you were technically still in one piece, but the wound had looked pretty nasty. You assured Ijichi that it did not hurt as bad as it looked, but Gojo escorted you to Dr. Shoko when you were back at the school, saying "We can't have your arm falling off, can we?"

Ieiri had healed it almost completely, but today was checkup day.

“It’s alright.” You sat on one of the empty beds and Shoko closed the file she had been reading.

She moved away to wash her hands while you removed your jacket and placed it next to you. Then you asked her about her weekend.

“I didn’t do much really. My neighbors got a new dog, though.” She had stepped closer, gloves now covering her hands and a mask on her face as she expertly removed the bandages off your arm.

“Oh, is it cute?” You looked into her tired eyes.

“I haven’t seen it, but it’s a dog for sure. It did not stop barking since Saturday evening.” Shoko’s attention remained on your arm.

You heard her vent about the dog and how a medical emergency had interrupted her weekend activities, and then she had asked about you.

She was wrapping fresh bandages around your arm when your next words slipped mindlessly “…I went there because Ikeda said the tea was on another level, but maybe I just haven’t tried enough kinds to tell the difference between that and the one I buy at the market.”

“Ikeda?” Shoko was securing the wraps on your arm but directed a brief questioning look at you. Then it hit you: you had not told her you had ran into him and exchanged contacts. Things really had been busy lately.

Your eyes widened. “I forgot to tell you...”

“Tell me what?”

“Remember Ikeda Haruki?” No reaction. “Tall, brown hair, hazel eyes?” You could tell no bells were ringing for Shoko.

You sighed. “Cute-coffee-shop-waiter-guy we met in high school? He served our table like a hundred times.…” You said that last part in a lower tone and Shoko’s eyes shone with realization, but you could not see her complete expression because she was still wearing the mask.

“Cute-coffee-shop-waiter-guy? That Ikeda?” You nodded, but she did not stop there. “The tea-obsessed Ikeda?” Nod. “The anime fan Ikeda?” Nod. Nod. “The Gojo-wants-to-kick-his-butt Ikeda?”

“Huh…” You frowned a little at that. “It’s odd you remember him for that, but yeah... I guess that would be him.” You put your jacket back on. “We ran into each other a few weeks ago. He is back in Tokyo.”

Weeks...

“And you are talking again…” Shoko said thoughtfully.

You nodded slowly. “We are… I mean, it’s not like we were ever on bad terms.”

A question popped up in Ieiri’s mind: does Gojo know? She doubted it. You may have forgotten to tell her, but as transparent as you were, it would not surprise her if you had decided to keep it from him. After all, if your friendship with Gojo was the Titanic, Ikeda Haruki had almost been your iceberg.

The way Ieiri saw it, it had begun innocently enough, but the half-friendship-half-puppy-love that started blooming between you and Ikeda at the end of that summer, many summers ago, had opened for a second the Pandora’s box of Gojo's messy feelings, and doom had almost engulfed you all.

Fortunately, the box had been closed when Ikeda moved away.

Gojo had told her and Suguru once “He should have moved to a different time zone, but I guess out of Tokyo is good enough.” And that was the last time she ever heard him say anything about Haruki.

“So, I’m good to go?” You were gesturing to your shoulder.

Shoko nodded. “You can stop wearing the bandages in two more days. I don’t think it’ll leave a scar.”

You thanked her and walked to the door. “[name]?” Ieiri called, and you expected her to instruct you to take painkillers if your shoulder was still sore or something like that, but that was not what she said.

“Tell Ikeda I say hi.” Had she not been wearing a mask, you would have seen the amused smile on her face.

I will not be the one to rock the boat, Shoko thought, but Gojo Satoru, you have had enough time to man up.

***

“Would you stop?” You slapped away the finger Gojo had been poking your cheek with.

Your computer had broken, and he had told you to come to his place and use his, but you had not been expecting him to just stay there watching you work all afternoon.

Gojo sighed dramatically and returned to the couch across the room. “You are not fun. Why do you work on the weekend anyway?”

It was your turn to sigh. “I have to finish a report I could not hand in to Yaga during the week,” you replied while still typing.

“Boring.” You rolled your eyes at that and continued working.

Your fingers pressing the keyboard was all that could be heard for a few minutes. Your eyes left the screen to look at Gojo. He had put away his phone and was leafing through a magazine he had picked form the center table.

Gojo was quick to feel your gaze on him. “If my beauty is too distracting, I can leave, you know?” he said turning the page of his magazine.

“Sorry to stare. I was just too surprised at the fact that you can read. Or are you just looking at the pictures?” He lifted his head and you both smiled when your eyes met.

“Coming to my home, using my stuff, sitting at my desk, and insulting me on top of that.” Gojo was speaking calmly, almost as if his words were not directed to you. “The audacity of it all...” He left the magazine aside to stand up and walk back next to where you were sitting.

“In my defense,” your focus returned to the screen in front of you, “you are the one who refused to let me take your computer home with me. So, if I am here, it’s your fault.”

“Is it now?” Before you knew it, he was leaning over your shoulder to peek at what you had been working on.

“I just finished…” You turned your head to look at him at the same time he had turned to look at your face, ending up with you two almost nose to nose.

He was wearing his sunglasses, so you saw your own eyes widen slightly when his blue ones showed over his frames.

Growing up with him, you were used to seeing Gojo up close, but lately, a weird feeling had been growing in your heart. Still, neither of you moved.

“Hey, do you know what personal space is?” you said softly.

A smile formed in his lips and you did your best no to look at it.

“Of course I do.” And he bumped your nose with his before straightening up and walking away, leaving you a bit too shocked at first.

“If you are done, we can eat out, right? Or should we order something?” He was looking at you.

“Yeah… Let’s eat out.” It took you a second, but you had recovered your composure. “Just let me save this.” You saved your report and turned off the computer.

It's all dark.

You opened your eyes and looked at the clock on your nightstand. 4:32 am.

It had been a dream… Well, not exactly. It had been a memory. That had happened some time before you confessed your feelings to Gojo, when you were already presenting the symptoms of having a crush on your best friend. Dreams and memories involving him would mix during your sleep in the months leading to your confession.

As if seeing him almost every day was not enough.

Sometimes, your mind would replay the memories the same way they had happened, like the one you had just had. Some other times, it would be a dream about you and him, ranging from the most romantic to the most bizarre scenarios, including some actual nightmares, like that one in which you had died and cursed him?

That idea is not too bizarre if you are a sorcerer, though.

It had been one of the reasons why you had decided to come clean about your feelings. Perhaps the dreams about Gojo were powered by your guilty subconscious feasting on the emotions you were trying to hide. If you stopped hiding, the dreams would also stop, right?

But you had been only kind of right. While the weirder dreams had ceased almost entirely, every once in a while, you still woke up with a memory of Satoru, sometimes, one you did not even know had been stored in your mind.

Is replaying memories a way of grieving what cannot be?

You sighed and looked at the clock again. 4:34 am.

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

Note: No notes from me today, just love. Thank you for reading!

Next: Part V

@mavs-stuff

[afirewiel]

I've been seeing a lot of discourse about Rose and Tentoo on my dash lately and I thought I'd add my two cents. I have never been a fan of that ending for Rose. "He's Ten but human! He has Ten's memories!" That argument would hold a lot more weight if it weren't for the fact that earlier in the same season there was a clone of Martha who had Martha's memories and yet acted completely differently than Martha, showing that she was in fact not Martha but her own person. In the "Almost People" arc in season 6, we get a copy of Eleven with his memories, who again acts unlike Eleven and is his own person. In one of the new specials, we get copies of Fourteen and Donna, who also have their memories but are not them. So this whole "memories are what make the person" argument in Tentoo's favor just falls flat.

He had Ten's memories and yet still committed genocide. An act Ten was enraged at him for. So clearly they are in disagreement here, so Ten's memories didn't seem to do him any good as he still chose to do something Ten did not approve of. And why would anyone, least of all the Doctor, leave the woman he loves with a man who had just committed genocide!? It makes no sense to me for him to do that. If anything, one would have thought the Doctor would want to keep Rose as far away from Tentoo as possible after that.

"You changed me. You made me better. Now you can change him." Excuse me, Doctor, but it is not Rose's job to change him! She doesn't owe it to you, to him, or to anyone else to make make him better. She made you better by influence, not because she actively went "I can fix him." And expecting her to, is just wrong and that is not the healthy basis for a relationship.

The biggest reason, however, that I don't like this ending is that Rose wasn't given a choice. Ten didn't let her choose between him and Tentoo. He didn't tell her that Tentoo was human and then asked her if she wanted to stay and live her life with Tentoo. Nope. He told she was going to. "But she kissed Tentoo!" Only because he was the one who told her how he felt about her. Ten purposefully avoided answering her. And even after she kissed Tentoo and realized that Tardis was leaving with Ten and Donna in tow, she chased after them and looked heartbroken when she realized they were gone. Even RTD and Billie Piper have said that the ending was a cope out and that Rose wasn't given a choice. That if she had been, she would have chosen to return to the Tardis with Ten and Donna.

Perhaps if we had gotten a spin-off show about Rose and Tentoo's life, I could have warmed up to this ending, but we didn't. Instead all we got was Ten losing her again (this time of his own choosing) and then immediately losing Donna afterward and him being all alone. So yeah, not a happy ending in my book. If you like it, that's fine. I for one just cannot.

[thetomorrowshow]

intruder

backstory of why jimmy and scott moved out of the super neighborhood in my empires superpowers au!

cw: murder (in SELF-DEFENSE) of an unnamed character, blood/violence, like a decent bit of it, injury, dissociation

~

Scott’s been missing for two days.

Scott’s been missing for two days, and Jimmy isn’t going to wait around doing nothing.

The news had come in the form of a knock on the front door, around 3pm on the first day. Jimmy doesn’t officially live at Scott’s house, but he spends a fair amount of time there, and now he pushes back from the kitchen table and heads to the front door, snapping on the mask that hangs on a hook by the entrance.

“Oh, hi, TJ!” Blossom says when he opens the door to find her on the step, flowers actively winding around in her hair. “Is Major around?”

Jimmy frowns, checks his watch. “Um, he left for work this morning, around eight? He shouldn’t be back until four, at the earliest.”

Why would Blossom be asking him this? Don’t they all have some sort of hero group chat?

“Are you sure?” Blossom’s smile drops. “Did he say he was headed somewhere else?”

“Just to work,” says Jimmy. “Why? What’s up?”

 Blossom bites her lip, the flowers in her hair wilting. “He never showed,” she says. “He isn’t responding to messages.”

That’s enough for Jimmy to shut the door and run back to the table, grabbing his cell phone. Then he returns, pulling it open again. Blossom is still there, looking a little surprised.

Jimmy pulls up his contacts, clicks on the one labeled ‘scott :) - super’ and hits call.

“You’ve reached Major, I’m probably winning a battle right now. Send me a text and I’ll get back to you when I have a moment.”

Straight to voicemail.

That can’t be good.

“Try the Mad King,” Jimmy tells her. “I’m still working until four, but keep me updated. Do you have my number?”

But Blossom never texts him any news.

And Joel tells him, that night, that Scott’s officially missing, and they’re moving Jimmy to a safehouse.

So it isn’t even 8pm when Jimmy finds himself in a small apartment downtown, the dim light of the setting sun half-illuminating the single room.

And Jimmy stays there all night, staring at his phone, as his worry crescendos over and over again, blowing out lightbulbs and spoiling food can by can.

They still haven’t found him in the morning.

Jimmy can do nothing but sit, alone, in this cheap, unused apartment of Joel’s, waiting for some message that his boyfriend has been found.

But there’s nothing, and Jimmy isn’t going to wait around doing nothing when Scott could be getting tortured right now.

Because that’s it, really. When Jimmy went missing, it was because some horrid, insane villain kidnapped him and ran experiments on him and treated him like an animal—

One of the blades on the floor fan comes off, crashing to the bottom of the fan cage.

Jimmy takes a deep breath.

He can’t continue to sit here on the ragged carpet (because there’s no furniture other than a single folding chair and a mattress) while Scott could be going through the exact same things that he had been subjected to.

Or worse, he thinks, pushing back a sickening memory.

So Jimmy packs up his little backpack that he hasn’t actually unpacked yet except to get his toothbrush, grabs the mask he’d left on the kitchen counter (which he balls up and shoves in the pocket of his jeans), and leaves, ready to find Scott.

Where does Scott usually go first?

He covers all of the city, but rarely ventures away from the most densely populated areas. Downtown is one of his favorites to frequent, as well as the pier.

Good thing Jimmy knows downtown like the back of his hand.

He catches the bus like it’s second nature, the schedule practically tattooed on the inside of his eyelids (despite the fact that he rarely rode the bus for fear of causing an accident. He learned it in case anyone ever asked him the bus schedule). He hasn’t spent much time out and about on his own, but he can get around and he’s lived with Lizzie long enough to know how to go somewhere by himself. That doesn’t mean he isn’t careful: he sits at the back of the bus with his back pressed against the window and watches everyone, careful to sort them into threat categories and keep tabs on everyone.

It’s exhausting. It always is.

It isn’t long at all before he leaves the bus at one of Scott’s favorite places—right across the way from the elementary school. Scott heads here first thing most mornings, keeping an eye on the children as they arrive at school.

The mask is scrunched uncomfortably in Jimmy’s pocket. He wishes he could put it on. He hates going out in public—not without at least a baseball cap.

It feels like everyone at this park is watching him.

Any of them could be in league with whoever took Scott. Any of them could have been one of the thugs that worked for Xornoth. Any of them could be someone he hurt in the past.

Every time someone walks past him, Jimmy automatically tenses. That woman could attack him. That man could crush his skull. That child could be a distraction. That man could grab him and pull him into an alley.

Jimmy shoves his hands in his hoodie’s pocket so that he doesn’t have to look at how they tremble. This is why he doesn’t go places alone. This is why he works from home right now.

This is why people need to not get kidnapped. Specifically the people that can help him not panic about being kidnapped.

Right, now, does he usually patrol around the school? Or just wait out front and watch the kids go in?

If he was Scott, what would he do?

Scott would probably patrol. He likes to be moving, likes to show off his skills.

So Jimmy hikes out of the park and crosses the road to the school, following the sidewalk all around the building.

On one side is an alley between some run-down apartments, and Jimmy passes through, keeping a close eye on anything out of place. Any knocked-over trash cans, any smears of dirt or dried blood on buildings, anything that could be the signs of a struggle.

He feels more and more anxious the further down he goes, swallowing back the thrumming of his power within him, the scar at the base of his skull burning.

He can’t cause an accident here. He's next to an elementary school, he can’t risk it.

Can he?

What accidents can he cause here?

Jimmy’s never really reached out with his powers before on purpose—not in a long time, not in a searching way.

But his powers can cause terrible things to happen, things as far away as inside the school, and if his power can know that there’s things that far away to ruin, then can’t he know, too?

So he reaches out into the surrounding buildings.

There are a lot of people here.

That’s the first thing he feels.

There’s hundreds of children in the school, and one of these buildings is an apartment complex, and Jimmy can’t see them or even really sense them? He just . . . knows that they’re there, in some kind of . . . sixth sense?

There are so many other things that he knows are there, but can’t verbalize. He simply knows, to an overwhelming degree, the contents of everything around and maybe there’s a reason he’s never done this before because he thinks he’s going to be sick—

“TJ!”

Jimmy flinches, hears something crash in the distance. He wheels around—this could be it this is the moment he’s kidnapped—, only to find fWhip standing at the mouth of the alley.

“Why are you out and about?” fWhip asks, moseying over, hands in his pockets. “Don’t you usually stay home from the cool parties?”

Right. He knows fWhip. Kind of. fWhip is nice, right? He helped save him.

Jimmy isn’t wearing his mask. Which is fine. It’s fine to not be wearing it, because fWhip recognized him anyways and his secret identity isn’t contingent on a mask anymore.

“Um, I’m looking for Major,” he says, head still spinning a bit. “He usually goes here every morning, and nobody saw him for his whole shift, so if he got kidnapped it was probably near—”

“Wait, Major’s missing?”

Jimmy frowns. “Yeah, did you not hear? He disappeared yesterday.”

fWhip checks over his shoulder, adjusts his goggles. “Okay. Not good. And if Major’s missing, why aren’t you in a safehouse?”

“Well, I was,” Jinmy says, looking down at his feet. How has he been caught already? He just barely left!

“But you couldn’t stick around when Major could be . . . being tortured?” guesses fWhip.

Jimmy shifts uncomfortably. “Yeah,” he says dejectedly. “But I can go back. The Mad King would—”

“Nah, don’t do that. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to. Do you need help looking?”

And before Jimmy can so much as process what he’s said, fWhip is reaching up to the window in the building beside them, testing the latch and finding it open.

“Let’s check out this place,” he suggests, shoving the window open and grabbing the sill, pushing himself up and into the window in an impressive show of upper-body strength.

Jimmy blinks.

He didn’t expect to be joined in his search.

Let alone by fWhip.

“Okay, nobody’s here,” fWhip calls out the window. “You coming?”

“Is there a door?” Jimmy asks halfheartedly.

fWhip shrugs.

Jimmy sighs, grips the windowsill (a bit lower for him than it had been for fWhip), and heaves himself up, legs kicking for purchase on the wall and arms trembling under his weight.

He falls back once, arm scraping a bit against the sill, then manages to pull himself up the second time, his ribcage pressed in painfully against the windowsill, where he hangs for a moment before tipping over and landing in a heap on the other side.

“Try to roll when you come in,” fWhip advises as Jimmy picks himself up. “It’s easier. And way more cool.”

“I’ll remember that,” Jimmy grumbles, brushing the copious streaks of dust off his hoodie.

“So we’re looking at an abandoned first floor of some office building, I think,” fWhip says, flipping a switch on his goggles. “See anything?”

Jimmy looks around. It’s a fairly large space, the concrete ground scarred by the torn-up carpet (some of which still lies in an awkward heap against a wall), a single dead office chair sitting in the middle of the room. Otherwise, there’s some brightly-colored papers in a corner, and—

The front door slams open.

“TJ,” comes a suspicious and familiar voice.

The Mad King is standing in the doorway.

“Rats,” fWhip says, frowning. “Did you follow me?”

“You and Mythics are always up to no good,” Joel tells him dismissively, before turning back to Jimmy, arms crossed. “Why are you here?”

“Um . . . looking for Major?” Jimmy tries.

Joel raises an eyebrow. “With fWhip? Come on, TJ, if you were going to break house arrest it should’ve been with someone respectable.”

“Hey!”

“Come on, back to the safehouse.”

“But—”

“TJ,” Joel says firmly. “We aren’t arguing about this. I’ll keep looking for Major, yeah? You need—”

“But I, I can help!” Jimmy insists. This isn’t fair, he shouldn’t be locked up when his boyfriend could be going through the worst experiences of his life—

“Jimmy,” Joel grits out. fWhip makes a ‘yikes’ face, turns to start going through the neon papers in the corner.

“Since Major has been kidnapped, they will want to get the people he cares about the most—you,” Joel stresses. “They will want to hurt you to get him to give up whatever information they’re looking for. That’s why—”

“I know, I know, but I can defend myself,” argues Jimmy. “It’s—it’s Sc—I mean, it’s Major. I have to help. And I know—”

“You’re helping by staying safe,” says Joel. “I’m not arguing about this, okay?”

“Who would have a bake sale and then put the signs in an abandoned building?” fWhip murmurs, examining one of the said signs.

Which is stupid.

This is stupid.

How does Joel expect him to just sit there?

How can he tell Jimmy to go hide and let Scott get hurt?

But there’s no point in fighting this.

“Maybe there’s some way you can help from the apartment, okay?” Joel says placatingly, and Jimmy rolls his eyes.

“Sure. Fine, take me back, officer.”

“Don’t get an attitude with me, young man,” Joel warns, sputtering jokingly, but Jimmy’s stomach squirms just the slightest bit.

He’s not a child.

“fWhip, I’ll be back here in half an hour, okay?” Joel says. “Let me know if you find anything.”

Then he strides out the door, Jimmy reluctantly following along behind.

-

Joel finds Scott the next day.

It’s a small place, a closed mechanic shop, near the East side of the city, where this particular gang of villains decided to keep him.

Joel finds him by checking the security footage of the elementary school. He sees, in the corner of one of the cameras, a couple of neon signs hanging on the side of the building fWhip and Jimmy had broken into.

Backing it up a little bit, Joel finds the car that carried the people who hung up the signs (something they did several hours before dawn).

And when he tracks down that car, he finds Scott.

Jimmy receives the text that Scott’s been found and instantly calls Lizzie, begging her for a ride home. Lizzie agrees, and when Joel and Scott come through the front door, Jimmy is there waiting, a frozen pizza in the oven.

Jimmy drops everything, his stress releasing in a little burst of power that crashes his phone and knocks all the cushions off the sofa, hurrying toward Scott.

Scott looks absolutely exhausted. His suit is torn here and there, his hair tangled and greasy, his eyelids drooping. But he gives Jimmy a small smile and acquiesces to a gentle hug.

“Glad you’re safe,” Scott murmurs. “I was worried.”

Jimmy chuckles, pitched a little high with nerves. “You were worried? Imagine my state!”

Scott pulls away, plants a small kiss on Jimmy’s lips before tugging off his mask, mouth twisting in a grimace.

There’s a large bruise on his cheek, and a small line of them down his jaw, but he otherwise doesn’t seem to be in very bad condition. Still, Jimmy frets, hands twisting anxiously.

“Where are you hurt? Do you need to get checked out? You really should go to the hospital, just in—”

“I’m fine,” Scott cuts him off. “Just some bruises. It’s all right.”

Even so, Scott stands there patiently, as Jimmy takes in every part of him.

He seems to be telling the truth. Nothing looks broken or like it’s bleeding too badly. He’s holding himself a little gingerly, though, that could be a broken rib—

Jimmy prods at his chest and Scott steps back, hands over himself.

“It’s not broken,” Scott says, teeth gritted. “Joel already tried it. Just a deep bruise.”

“Probably the worst kidnappers I’ve ever seen,” Joel calls from the kitchen, where he’d gone after pushing past the two of them in the hall. “Didn’t even know how to torture him properly.”

Torture? “Scott, I’m so sorry—do you need anything? Should I schedule you a therapy appointment?”

Scott bursts out laughing. “Thank you, baby,” he says. “I’m fine. I promise. Just tired.”

“And an idiot,” adds Joel. “How’d you manage to get kidnapped by such an incompetent lot?”

“Their signs said homemade croissants,” Scott moans, walking into the kitchen as if nothing ever happened (though his arm is still wrapped around his ribs). “You know I love supporting small local businesses.”

“’Twas your downfall,” Joel intones, snickering. “Sorry, mate.”

Jimmy follows awkwardly, not entirely sure how to behave.

Scott’s . . . fine?

He hadn’t even considered that as an outcome. He hadn’t dared to think that Scott might return without severe injuries, without being traumatized by the torture and greatly needing help returning to the real world.

Like Jimmy had been.

He doesn’t know what he can even do.

How can he help Scott when Scott doesn’t need help?

So Jimmy just kind of hovers, near Scott, as he sits there and eats pizza and jokes a little with Joel.

Then Scott leaves to go shower, and Joel shoots Jimmy a sympathetic smile.

“He’s fine,” Joel assures him. “He may be a bit clumsy for a while—his hands were zip-tied pretty tightly together—but he’s really fine.”

It’s hard to believe him.

But Jimmy just nods and resolves to not treat Scott strangely. He’s fine, after all.

If he’s fine, then so is Jimmy.

-

That night, there’s something wrong.

Jimmy wakes up quite suddenly, the odd sixth sense that he’d probed at the other day ringing with the notice that something is off.

He doesn’t know what. He doesn’t know what’s changed in their surroundings, but he knows that it’s not quite right and he needs to be aware of it.

Jimmy blinks open his eyes, glances over to Scott to reassure himself that his partner is safely there.

And leaning over Scott, a knife gleaming in their hand and poised above Scott’s chest, is a person dressed in black.

Jimmy reacts immediately.

He dives over Scott, knocking the man’s arm just as he sinks the knife down—Scott wakes with a cry of pain, the knife carving a jagged line in his chest and up his shoulder as the man is knocked off course.

Jimmy rolls off of Scott, faces the intruder for a brief second.

The intruder spits out a curse, then barrels into Jimmy, brandishing his knife.

Jimmy moves on instinct. He grapples with the man, twists his wrist with the knife—the man slashes at him, but Jimmy twists further until his grip loosens on the hilt, and then he takes the knife.

He spent hours and days and weeks training with Xornoth in knife work and he knows exactly how to attack to injure, which spots are the most painful without being fatal. He stabs the knife into the attacker’s upper arm, then into his side when he howls and twists away, and Jimmy can’t help but show off a bit as he flips the knife to his other hand and drives it into the man’s knee.

The intruder falls to his knees, and Jimmy’s head is pounding with the adrenaline, and he can’t move his focus from taking this man out entirely because he tried to kill Scott—

Jimmy spins around to be behind the man, hands on his throat—the man grabs at his wrists, nails scrabbling against his skin—and sends a burst of power out.

Under his sweaty palms, knife still tucked between the fingers of his right hand, Jimmy feels the man’s neck break. Not just the bone: his vocal cords snap—his muscles fall loose—his throat collapses, and so does the man, falling heavily to the carpet.

Jimmy stands there, panting.

Scott wheezes in pain.

Jimmy fumbles on the bedside table, grabs Scott’s hero phone with fingers slick with blood. He presses the emergency button on the side, holds it down for a solid five seconds.

Then he drops it back on the table, opens one of the drawers to pull out Scott’s mask.

“Jimmy,” Scott gasps, sitting up, clutching his arm over the slash in his shirt. “Are—are you okay?”

Jimmy nods, then he clicks on the bedside lamp, bathing the room in low, yellow light, and surveys Scott.

There’s a sheen of sweat over Scott’s bruised face, his eyes pained and confused (and concerned, and very very worried), but Jimmy barely registers that as his eyes find the wound.

His nightshirt is soaked in blood, spreading out from the slash, and it only takes one glance at the wound for Jimmy to know that it needs a professional to take a look at it. He doesn’t know near enough about injuries to know anything other than that it looks bad.

He leans over Scott (Scott flinches back) and pulls the mask over his face, carefully holding the knife pointed away from him. His hair catches a bit in the eyeholes and Jimmy doesn’t do anything about it.

"Major?" calls a voice from below, and Jimmy spins around, knife held out, as he hears the stairs creak with running footsteps. Was there back-up? No matter. There won’t be, soon.

A pajama-clad Blossom pushes open the door from where it's half-open (Scott always closes the door when they go to bed), her hands flying to her mouth when she takes in the scene. "Oh my gosh—Major, TJ, what happened? Should I call an ambulance? I'll call one—"

"Hello? Is everything okay?"

More footsteps, then Gem appears, mask pulled over tangled hair.

"Hi, we need an ambulance—the address—"

"What happened?" Gem says, echoing Blossom's words as Blossom turns away, one hand covering the ear not pressed to her phone.

Scott pushes himself up further, grimacing. "Intruder," he manages, nodding toward the body on the floor. Gem glances at it, before her eyes fix on Jimmy.

"TJ, sit down—where are you hurt? Where do you guys keep your first aid kit?"

"It's not my blood," Jimmy says, his voice too loud in his ears. He gestures with the knife toward the motionless body, the neck appearing kind of . . . squashed. "I'm fine. Check Major."

"Shoot, the attacker," Gem mutters. "Blossom, tell them that there's two or three people that need—"

"He's dead," Jimmy interrupts. "Don't worry about him. Check Major."

Gem blinks.

Meets Jimmy's eyes.

"Okay," she says after a moment. "I'll check Major. Did you kill him?"

Jimmy swallows.

"He was attacking us," he says stiffly. "He stabbed Major. I acted in self-defense."

Gem moves around and climbs onto Jimmy's empty side of the bed, still keeping an eye on him even as she checks out Scott, pulling away his shirt and asking quiet questions (to which Scott responds, his breath shallow and words faltering).

"The ambulance should be here soon," Blossom says, moving toward the foot of the bed. "TJ, you're covered in blood—set that knife down, let me help you."

"It's not my blood," Jimmy says again. "I'm fine."

"Okay, then—"

"You help Major," Gem says, slipping off the bed and coming back over. "I'll help TJ wash up. C'mon."

Numbly, Jimmy follows her out of the room, checking over his shoulder to make sure Scott is okay. Scott waves him on with the hand that isn’t held to his chest, and Jimmy continues down the hall, into the bathroom.

"We'll have to make this quick," Gem says. "Sit down. And give me that knife."

Jimmy doesn't want to give her the knife. He pulls it back to his chest when she reaches for it, thumbs the blade protectively.

"I need the knife to give it to Major, so that when the police get here we can have a convincing story without you in it. Make sense?"

After considering, Jimmy nods. It makes sense.

And that means he needs to not be here.

He hands over the knife. "I killed him," he says. "If they ask, Major stabbed him three times. Then he fell and broke his neck."

Gem shakes her head. "Okay. Wow. Okay. You know we don't normally kill people, right? Never mind. I'll go give this to Major."

Jimmy glances in the mirror as she steps past. There's blood spattered across his face, more in splashes on his nightshirt and shorts and arms. His eyes, cold and wide, peer back at him out of his pale face.

He needs to get out of here.

Gem returns after two or three minutes, handing Jimmy a jacket (one of Scott’s, he distantly notices).

"Zip that up over the blood, rinse off your hands, and let's go," she says. "We'll head to my place. Blossom will ride with Major in the ambulance. It doesn't look too bad, so he should be okay."

Jimmy obeys, letting Gem turn on the water so he can stick his hands under the cold spray.

For a moment, he's back there—just trying to scrub the blood off his hands from his first intentional murder in the sink with the broken handle.

Then he blinks, looking down at the sink, at the red running off his hands.

"Good enough. Let's go."

-

Joel joins them in Gem's dark kitchen after about two hours, stripping off a pair of gloves. He's fully dressed in his supersuit, his hair unbrushed and his posture stooped, looking more exhausted than ever.

"Gem, you have anything caffeinated?" Joel asks, opening a cupboard.

"Yeah, there's a pot of coffee already made. Mugs are in the left cupboard."

Jimmy watches as Joel finds a mug, fills it up with coffee, and then takes a swig of it black.

"Thanks," he says, face scrunching up at the taste. Joel doesn't like black coffee. Jimmy knows that. He always adds cream and sugar.

"Major's okay," Joel informs them, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table to sit across from them.

Jimmy's been here more or less in silence for the past hour and a half, staring at the wooden table. When they'd first come in, Gem had sent him to wash his hands and arms and face better than he had before, but there's nothing they can do about his sleepclothes, so he's just been sitting here in a blood-spattered t-shirt for a while. Gem had joined him after pulling a hoodie over her pajamas and starting the coffee maker, and has since sat beside him, working on a crossword puzzle.

"Major's okay, he and Blossom are at the hospital now. The intruder was pronounced dead on site. Major identified him as one of the men who kidnapped him."

Jimmy doesn't feel anything.

No sense of satisfaction at knowing that the man truly deserved it, no fear at how close they had been to getting killed, no guilt for his actions.

Nothing.

"TJ," Joel says hesitantly, "how are you doing?"

Jimmy shrugs.

He's still covered in the blood of the man he murdered.

"They say killing is like riding a bike," Jimmy says after a long pause. "You never quite forget how to do it."

Gem sighs. Joel winces.

"Right. Well, we don't really kill people, as a general rule. It's kind of, like, against the law."

The law.

As if the law applies to heroes and villains.

Jimmy's not really sure which one he is right now.

Neither, probably. Which means the law should apply to him, even if it hasn’t stuck in the past.

"I've never really been one to follow the law," Jimmy says.

"Sure, but as a person—"

He isn't a person. If anything was to prove that fact, it would be tonight. He hadn’t thought, he’d just acted, and even now the first feeling that he can even register is the feeling of not feeling. He isn’t a person.

He's a weapon.

He's a pet.

That's the word that triggers his therapy brain.

"I'm in a bad headspace," Jimmy interrupts Joel, using words that he'd rehearsed with Nora. "I don't feel like a person right now. I might be dissociating."

"We have to talk about this," Joel insists. "We can't run away from hard conversations—"

"I promised I would never kill again," Jimmy whispers, and, ah. There’s the panic. Detached and not quite real, but panic nonetheless. "I can't escape it. I'm not—I can't. I'm a weapon, I was made to be a weapon, I—"

"Stop that right now," says Joel firmly. "You are a person, and you just saved someone from being killed. It was self-defense, not mindless."

Jimmy almost laughs, because to some extent, it was mindless. He acted entirely on instinct, following the training Xornoth had given him, whether or not it was self-defense.

He doesn't like hurting people.

He never wanted to go back to being a villain.

It's not even that he's upset about killing that specific man. Screw that man, he tried to kill his boyfriend.

He's really just afraid that now that he's killed one person, he'll keep doing it. It isn’t like anyone can stop him. Nobody can stop him, not even himself, and he wouldn’t even care if his current state has anything to say about it.

"TJ," Gem says carefully, "why did you kill that man?"

Jimmy frowns. Why? "To protect Major."

"Do you have any desire to kill people outside of defense?"

Does he?

He's never had the desire to kill.

Not even when he was getting rewarded for it. Killing was something he did to survive, to escape severe punishment, or accidentally.

And here, he killed to protect. To save his boyfriend. He didn't get any satisfaction out of it. He certainly didn't enjoy it. He doesn't want to do it again.

That cuts through the foggy panic in his mind, the fear that he might keep going, that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.

"No," he says, then stronger, "no. I never want to kill. I hate it. I only do it when I have to."

Joel lets out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness. Okay, next issue. You and Major clearly aren't safe here. Do you want to try to stick it out, or should we start moving you two as soon as possible?"

Jimmy hadn't even thought about it.

Of course they aren't safe here—he hadn't been safe alone, when Scott was kidnapped and he had to be moved to the safehouse. Why did he think that things would magically change just because Scott was here? Every villain in the city knows where they live. The rest of the gang that kidnapped Scott could show up on their doorstep at any time, even more angry than before.

Anyone could show up at any time.

Jimmy doesn't feel as secure as he used to feel, surrounded by superheroes as they are.

"We'll move," Jimmy decides. "As soon as Major is back, we're moving. It just isn't safe here."

They’ll move.

Then he’ll deal with this numbness.

-

"Hey!" Jimmy calls, running into the kitchen. "No! You aren't allowed to lift anything more than ten pounds, put that down!"

Scott sighs with an over-dramatic roll of his eyes, sets the box back on the counter. "It's not that heavy. And it doesn't even hurt right now."

"Just because it doesn't hurt doesn't mean it isn't injured, Mister," Jimmy tells him. "You don't want to pull out your stitches."

"You haven't let me help at all. Pearl already handled the actual heavy stuff, let me do something."

Jimmy shakes his head and picks up the box. "That's your own fault for getting stabbed right before we moved."

"We're moving because I got stabbed," Scott points out. "It's not like any of this was planned."

"You should have thought about that before you got stabbed, then."

Scott groans, then reluctantly laughs. "I guess I should have. Can I at least drive?"

Jimmy lets out a very put-upon sigh. "I suppose, since I don't have a driver's license, you can be allowed to drive. But only if you behave yourself."

Scott giggles again. "You're adorable," he says fondly. "You know I'm the Primary Protector of the city, right? I don't think you'd be able to stop me."

"And I killed a man last week," counters Jimmy. "I don't think you want to be on my bad side."

"Oh," Scott says after a moment. "Are we joking about this now?"

Jimmy shrugs. "We're in the laugh-or-cry stage. I'm trying to laugh about it right now."

Scott looks at him. Really, truly, looks at him.

Then he laughs. Just a little bit, but still a laugh.

"I love you," he says. "I'll help you hide the body next time."

Jimmy laughs a little, too, but Scott pauses.

"There . . . isn't going to be a next time, right?" he asks uncertainly.

"Oh, absolutely not. Not unless it's entirely necessary."

Scott nods several times. "Good," he says. “Yep. Cool.”

Jimmy turns back toward the door, box in his arms, and waits until he’s out of the house to huff, shaking his head (though a smile plays on his lips).

They’re okay.

He pushes away the numb feeling that threatens to seep into his brain and thinks and remembers and knows that they’re okay.

That’s good enough for him.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Even after that Macaque still has some community service to do. Heaven did not forget his role in the War and while they've forgiven him for his connection to LBD and accepted his redemption for the killing of Sin Wukong's child (mainly because Wukong had been forgiving so to speak, he'll never be able to truly forgive Macaque for the loss of their first child) there's still the matter of Macaque's own many, many sins before his death to contend with.

And also a certain moon goddess who wishes to have some words with her younger brother. She also wishes to finally meet Wukong again after all these years, having lost context with him during the journey after Macaque's death.

Prev.

Yeaaah, even after proving himself to Wukong and the Three Realms that his goal is solely is to repent for what he did and make it up to his mate and family - Mac is still in the doghouse. Almost literally. Xiaotian Quan growls at Macaque whenever she sees him too close to Wukong or the baby for a long time.

And ofc both monkeys are traumatized by the loss of the First Egg in their own ways - one being a trust broken by that Journey-era fight. Wukong is over-protective and worried for the baby, while Macaque starts out afraid to even be in the same room as Wukong or Xiaotian/MK in case his presence alone hurts them. Its really only interventing from the Noodle Gang and Guanyin themselves that ease the tension.

Also the fact Wukong gets sent into a medical coma by the arrival of the Egg, and Macaque's "monkey dad"-instincts are activated, means that like it or not; Mac is helping tend to the baby and his mate.

First persons allowed in the nursery/recovery room is Tieshan and Chang'e, people Macaque considers his sisters/troop. The moon goddess got special permission to come after Iron Fan requested her to come over and snap Macaque out of his near-feral protective dad/mate-mode. Both sisters *do* have words with him though - words that scare him more than any fate in Diyu.

Also added drama/hilarity, @mukankei08 pointed out that if Macaque has been Egg'd from being technically meditating underground in the Underworld - Macaque has a whole new terror to deal with. What if he hurt them in taking LBD's attack? Is he responsible for the loss of another Egg!?

Wukong has to calm him mate down so he can tell him, through his own laughing tears, that theres two healthy souls forming in there. Almost as if Macaque's guilt/grief at the loss of the First Egg translated into trying to "repay the damage" twicefold when his body went into stasis.

Pigsy, baby Xiaotian crawling all over him: "There's gonna be two more!?"

[bobbydagen24]

Barb and Crimp are not Redeemed characters and its odd how their films gave them happy endings.

lets start with Barb for one she led armies attacking other Tribes destroying cities and imprisoning countless people all so she could get the strings.

and wipe out all other cultures deciding only her own should Remain and anyone who didn't conform to that culture would be turned into a brainwashed zombie. some people try and argue she has good intentions but frankly her intentions aren't all that good compared to everything she did and this wasn't even a problem in the first place its not like all the Tribes were at war or anything.

they were fine living separately so combining the Tribes is a nice idea but going to these extremes is not excusable in any sense given there was no legit reason for her to take such extreme action. and in the end she gets beaten she doesn't have a last minute change of heart and decide to do the Right thing ( tho to be clear this wouldn't mean it would suddenly be okay for her to face no consequences one posotive I'll say about Veneer's arc in TBT is that he was still held accountable in the end despite having a last minute change of heart because Redemption doesn't mean someone gets let off scott free if anything it means the opposite )

and after her defeat Barb is instantly forgiven for no legit reason like I know story wise you could argue its because she's queen and they don't want more conflict with the Rock Tribe. but from a basic story point of view its wrong especially for a kids film Barb isn't only let off scott free but Poppy light heartedly befriends her. and makes it clear there's no ill will so yeah showing a film where a villain who causes this level of destruction simply because they believe they are right is let off scott free is not very satisfying story telling imo.

and its bad in a kids film Teaching lack of consequences and accountability for your actions no matter how bad.

like don't get me wrong I like Barb personality wise and that's deffo why a good chunk of the fandom don't have a problem with her being let off the Hook.

but obviously villains being likable doesn't mean they shouldn't face consequences loads of people love Velvet but most of her fans can accept that she deserved to go to prison at the end for kidnapping and torturing someone. and then there's Crimp she's less of a bad example but still an example she went along with kidnapping and torturing someone simply because she didn't want to lose her Job. she came and went as she pleased only being held against her will right at the end and just because her bosses were mean to her doesn't mean she isn't still a villain. the movie acts like this makes her a victim and someone who shouldn't be blamed for V and Vs crimes when frankly yes she should she was complicit. she turned a blind eye to someone's suffering because she didn't wanna lose her pay check she's just a cowardly Henchmen not an out and out victim.

and she should have still been held accountable in the end for being an accomplice.

and I'm sorry but to circle back to my guy Creek the morality of the movies is all over the place in this regards. the fact that the movies consider characters who actively chose to do evil things of their own free will as still redeemable and deserving of happy endings. even with no actual work put in to better themselves yet Creek the literal Hostage tortured and threatened into doing a bad thing was lumped in with the actual big bad villain in the end. and was seen as deserving of a gruesome comeuppance is frankly a Horrifying sense of morality and justice in my opinion.

yes he came back in the tv show but I'm only talking about the movie cannon.

and this way of thinking in Regards to what villains do and don't deserve to be Redeemed is Honesty arsed backwards. characters who do evil things because they decided that they should get to make choices that effect and change other Tribes filled with large populations of people simply because they think their culture is better than other people's. and characters who do evil things simply because they don't want to lose a Job no matter how much they may need it are infinitely worse.

than a character who simply gave in to the very human fear of not wanting to die horrifically and who was basically forced into the role of villain due to having literally no other option other than lie down and die. I love Trolls but man these movies have a terrible sense of morality and they do not do Redemption Arcs well. 😅😅😅😅

[jacaela]

The thing with the headcanons that constantly gets on my nerves is the hypocrisy and the double standards.

So Daemon does two BASIC human things - gets a doctor and carries Laena's corpse to bed - and she's suddenly his true love, his favourite wife yada yada yada.

Like, this man was equally decent to his first wife, Rhea. No matter how much he notoriously disliked her and the marriage was enstranged, he still had the common decency to go and put her to rest, like any noble man would. He even reffered to Rhea as "my lady wife" after he famously asked for a divorce from her to marry Rhaenyra. Does this mean Rhea was the love of his life as well?

But Daemon staying always with Rhaenyra when she took to her bed (which WAS very much rare for a husband to do), him making sure it's always safe for her, him being attentive, him being described as "her prince", was what? A false game? An act? Same with his courtship for her - which, let's be honest, Daemon went out of his way to woo her like he did with no one else. Him doing all those activities with her - when it's clear they had so much fun together - was what? Torture for him?

Him being married to her for a decade with no rumours or a trace of scandal, simply being happy together, simply expecting another child together when the war broke, was only him "tolerating" her?

It's so obvious they hate Rhaenyra so much they are willing to invent things just to feed their own agenda. For them Daemon is an angel when he's with Laena and Nettles, but an absolute monster with Rhaenyra. Which is not at all what the canon tells us, but a very strange phenomenon from her antis.

I think they're just fatphobic (ps: rhaenyra grown stout and thick of waist. I have never seen them draw canon helaena - plumper than most Targaryens, and less striking as well. I wonder why ) In their minds, such women cannot be loved romantically, they can be only used. Plus, don't forget about the stereotype of "fat evil woman" .

Before the show, only a few green fans would say Daemon tolerated Rhaenyra. But the fact remains that they conceived a child two minutes after Laena's death and married five minutes later, despite Viserys threatening to disinherit Rhaenyra. Daemon never got involved in politics, he was only an advisor - sometimes Rhaenyra agreed with him, sometimes she didn't. When she din't, he never threw a tantrum. He had 100000 chances to kill Rhaenyra and her eldest sons and rule in Aegon's name, but he never did... he dgaf about the crown, he cared of Rhaenyra. They hate her, so they hate her happy marriage. is there some drama about Daemyra on twitter again?

[wandererbf]

How they would note that they love you

(English is not my native language)

Characters: Chrollo and Feitan

Chrollo Lucifer

• I think Chrollo would realize that he loves you when he saw with his own eyes that when you said you would die for him, you were serious

• You met when one day to another you arrived in Meteor City, even without telling him about where you came from he accepted you with open arms, so you were part of the Spiders from the beginning (you two meet at 14, if I’m correct is when he created the Spiders)

• Maybe the fact that you were already strong from a young age made him want to know more about you, maybe his curiosity may have led to his near death once or twice, but none as close as when your family found out where you were and went behind you

• Some years later, maybe when you two were 16, your older sister, Shinriu, came after you but as she was never a fan of physical aggression she preferred to threaten you first. She chased you for a while and saw you with Chrollo back and forth. well she has her target

• while Chrollo walked alone through the city, going to his usual meeting point. Shinriu captured him, then sending his butterflies in the direction he was going, knowing that you would get the message.

• As soon as you saw the red butterflies you knew what happened, running away and leaving the rest of the group without knowing what was happening, this may have been a mistake on your part but you were more worried about Chrollo than what could happen to you

• when the butterflies disappeared was when you could see your sister standing next to Lucifer's dead body, it made your blood run cold, but soon after it started to heat up like coal. You activated your nen, being an expert you could control blood if you drank some of the person you wanted to control. Without looking for a direct explanation, her eyes already told you what you needed to know

• Ultimately you managed to hurt your sister, not lethally but enough to make her angry. and god knows it's not good to irritate someone like her As you approached her, she sent her last attack that she would use here, sending a swell of carnivorous butterflies to the black-haired one on the ground, and honestly, your body moved without thinking.

• In seconds you jumped in front of the boy letting your skin be devoured, this would leave a scar but nothing that you wouldn't survive, but it certainly hurt. After that, your sister backed away, knowing that there was no point in trying to bring you back by force.

• Then you carried him to where the rest of the troupe was, and you should have seen their shock when they saw that situation. the only person really hurt was you since Chrollo had just been erased, but without any real injuries, you on the other hand...

• Even though you were hurt, you sat next to the bed where Chrollo was lying, and when he woke up you couldn't have been more scared than seeing his arms and neck bandaged.

• "Did you really fight your sister because of me?"

Feitan Portor

• Honestly, I don't think he even imagined he could love someone like that😻

• At the time they met, the troupe had already existed for a few years, but Chrollo thought it would be more dynamic for him to have infiltrators in the places he wanted to rob/invade, and that's where you come in

• because of the place you lived in as a child, always full of aristocrats as your family was too, you always had the best contacts to get ahead in life, and of course your ability to manipulate and intelligence were always what helped you the most, but that doesn't matter now

• Chrollo had sent you and Feitan on a mission to investigate what all the items in Yorkshin's auction would be, and since you two seemed close he didn't see why not send you together

• everything was going well, you were sitting next to Feitan at a table with the biggest supporters of the auction, although you didn't like it, sometimes your last name helped you in your missions, and that's why you got a schedule there at the table, but it was also It's risky since even if they didn't know you were with the Troupe there's always the chance that one aristocrat could outsmart the other

• That's when you started arguing, maybe it was at that point that everything went downhill

• If you asked me the reason for the fight, I would say it would be because the aristocrats didn't want Feitan there with you

• Even though you said he was your bodyguard and that you didn't want to be without him by your side

• That impressed him a little since You knew how to handle yourself and it was obvious that you were only doing this to continue being in his presence, and he knows how you lead the troupe beyond your will, so to risk so much for something so simple was impressive

• Remember when I said I thought everything had gone wrong at that moment? I think I was wrong, as everything really went wrong when the man in front of you raised a gun at you as he thought you were planning a coup and the boy next to you had a camera, not that it was very wrong but I think the man went crazy

• you could feel Feitan's bloodlust almost physically, his eyes were glued to that weapon, even though he knew that a mere weapon couldn't kill you, he was still enraged, and he had NEVER been that way for any other person in the Troupe

• When you activated your nen Feitan had already ripped off everyone's head in the room, you looked at him a little curious since he could have merely tortured the guy, get the information and then kill him. Since he didn't do anything much, why Feitan killed him so quickly?

• On the end he rolled his eyes when he realized the reason for feeling all that anger

• "I don't think it's a problem to just take whatever comes up at the auction, and anyway he was boring as hell.." - he said red, but it was obvious that you couldn't see it since his mask covered most of his face

[lambertdiary]

can we please get a dalton x reader where she is a barista in a cute cafe in campus and he’s not actually a fan of coffee but Chris is and he goes there with her once, and he instantly likes reader from the moment he saw her so he keeps coming back just to see her 🥺 i’m so in love with your writing by the way!

A/N: OMG I LOVED THIS SO FUCKING MUCH, also I’m sorry if it feels a little repetitive but please remember this is how it goes when you order something 😭 anyway thanks anon for the request, I hope you like it!! As always feel free to tell me what you think :) likes and reblogs are highly appreciated 🫶🏻

Word Count: 2.5k+

Warnings: pure fluff :)

MASTERLIST     ✩    SEND ME A REQUEST

Caffeine Crush

It was the third week of Dalton coming up with an activity he could do outside of his dorm. After what happened to him, he decided it was time he stopped locking himself up in his room, getting drowned in his alarming thoughts and schoolwork. Chris did raise her concerns when it came to that, so she suggested he should take a while everyday to do something that involved going outside. He agreed, so he started to do stuff around campus every afternoon. He did things like running, riding a bike, painting outside or even just going on a simple walk, and he had to admit that seeing the sky while the sun was still out was nice, it helped him in a lot of ways.

It was Thursday and Chris asked him to go with her to a coffee shop on campus, he didn’t have anything planned for that day so he accepted. It was across the campus and he usually didn’t go as far, but it was a beautiful day and he got to the point where he enjoyed going on walks. 

“Do you drink coffee?” Chris asked when she spotted the café.

“Not really” He replied without giving it much thought.

Chris shot him a dramatic glance, acting offended at his response “You get weirder every time I learn something new about you”

“And what a good friend you are” He said, rolling his eyes at her “Why do you need to come all the way here anyway? There’s coffee on the vending machines in our building”

“I’m gonna pretend you did not just suggest I drink vending machine coffee” Dalton just laughed, he loved the constant dramatics of Chris.

The coffee shop was cute. It had a lot of plants, it was cozy and it looked like they had a million options. They waited in line for a couple of minutes and Chris was trying to decide what she wanted to have, eventually just going for her usual drink. Dalton on the other hand was scrolling on his phone, not paying attention to his surroundings and moving forward whenever Chris did. They were next and Chris tugged at his shirt to make him take a step closer to the counter, he didn’t even bother to look up, but suddenly he heard a voice that forced him to.

“Hi! What can I get for you today?”

“Can I get a medium iced latte with almond milk and two pumps of vanilla, please?”

“Of course” The girl said with a bright smile. Dalton tried to find a name tag but quickly gave up when he realized no one there had one “What’s your name?”

“Chris”

“Chris” She repeated under her breath “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“That’s all, thank you”

Chris paid for her coffee and the whole time Dalton couldn't look away from the girl, so distracted by her that Chris literally had to pull him away from the counter. He blushed as he walked away but thankfully Chris didn’t bring it up.

The days went by and Dalton hadn’t stopped thinking about her and the fact that he didn’t even know her name. Chris didn’t ask him to go back to the coffee shop, but he figured he could go there on his own.

Looking at his watch he assumed he had a little bit of free time so after class, instead of going straight to his dorm, he decided to go buy some coffee, it was time he finally tried some anyway. As soon as he got there he examined the people behind the counter, quickly noticing she wasn’t there. He looked around for a second until he landed on the conclusion that she probably wasn’t working that day. So he went to his dorm and tried to get his mind to focus on something else. 

The next day he decided to try again, and luckily he was able to locate her as soon as he went in. The line was a little long but he didn’t mind, at least that gave him time to think about what he was gonna say and what he should order. When his turn came he felt his palms start to sweat and he struggled to get his words out at first.

“Hi” He said, shyly. 

“Hi! What can I get for you today?”

Once again, he looked at the menu behind her “Can I please get a… cappuccino?”

“Of course! Would you like a small, medium or big?” She asked, pointing at the different cup sizes in front of them.

“Small” He replied, he for sure didn’t want too much coffee.

“Okay, what type of milk?” He looked back at the menu, as if the answer was gonna be right there “We have whole, skimmed, 2%, soy, oat and almond”

“Oh- um I guess whole is okay” He just went for the first option he heard, not really knowing if that changed the flavor.

“And would you like sugar or a sweetener with that?”

Dalton felt like he didn’t prepare for this, she for sure was asking a lot of questions, it wasn't like that when Chris ordered hers “Uh- sugar?” He replied, not confident of the answer he provided.

“Are two okay?” He simply nodded “Alright, what’s your name?”

“Huh?”

“For your drink, what’s your name?”

“Oh” He let out a nervous giggle “Uh, Dalton” He paid attention as she wrote his name on the cup, that beautiful smile never leaving her face.

“Alright Dalton” She said, putting the cup down and typing a few things on the monitor in front of her “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“No” He tried to give her a smile, but really he was a little disappointed it didn’t go as smooth as he imagined it.

“That would be $3.35” He paid for his coffee and moved to the end of the counter to wait for it. He kept sneaking little glances at her as she took orders from other people, constantly smiling and never breaking her sweet voice. Once he got his cappuccino he left, knowing that next time he had to be better at ordering and maybe smile back at her.

Back in his dorm he was just doing some schoolwork. The drink was long forgotten since he instantly burnt his tongue when he tried it as soon as he stepped out of the café, but he was planning on keeping the cup that had his name written on it by her.

He went back the next day, this time thinking twice about what he was going to order and how had to do it. He decided for a cold drink instead, not wanting to burn his tongue again.

“Hi! What can I get for you today?” She smiled as always.

“Hi” This time he made sure to smile at her “Can I get an espresso frappuccino?” He immediately remembered the other questions she asked the day before, so he specified before she could even ask him “Small, and whole milk, and two sugars” He stuttered. 

Her smile grew bigger and she almost let out a giggle “Okay, what’s your name?” She asked, grabbing a small cup. He hated to admit that he was a little sad she didn’t remember his name, but considering she probably asked a million people for their name on a daily basis he understood why she wouldn’t.

“Dalton” 

“Dalton” She repeated, barely breaking eye contact while she wrote his name “Alright, is there anything else I can get for you?”

“Nope, that’s all” 

He left the coffee house feeling a lot more confident than the day prior, thankful he didn’t seem as lost and out of place.

Dalton kept going back every day after class, only leaving empty handed when he didn’t see her there. He also decided to try every single drink on their menu, but he swiftly learned that he wasn’t a big fan of coffee, especially not hot coffee, but at least they had plenty of other options to choose from.

Today he went for the mango smoothie that everyone seemed to love, and after going there for two whole weeks he finally was confident enough when it was his turn to order.

“Hi! What can I get for you?” 

“Can I get a medium mango smoothie with no sugar?”

“Sure! What’s your name?” She had to keep asking him that but at that point she remembered him, how could she forget those dreamy blue eyes?

“Dalton” He saw his opportunity so he took a deep breath as he tried to build up the courage “What’s yours?” He finally asked.

Y/N smiled at him, as she tried really hard not to blush “Y/N” She replied “It’s nice to see you around here so often, Dalton”

“Yeah, you too” He said, causing her to chuckle “Because you work here, of course” He said nervously as he wiped his sweaty hands on his pants, he could feel his face get hot.

"Thanks” She said, biting her lip to keep another laugh from leaving her lips “That would be $4.65”

This time he decided to find a table and stay there, he was done with most of his homework and he didn’t have anything better to do. His seat was looking away from the counter, not wanting to seem like a creep but he would casually look back at her. The smoothie was his best decision yet, and he was sure he would be ordering it again.

He was about to leave but suddenly he felt a hand touch his shoulder “Dalton? What are you doing here?” Chris was looking at him in confusion. 

He blushed but tried to pretend like he being there was something completely normal, it was now anyway “What do you mean what am I doing here?” He said, raising his empty cup. 

“I thought you didn’t like coffee”

“I didn’t drink coffee” He clarified. 

“And didn’t you say that there’s coffee in the vending machines?” She asked, completely ignoring his previous answer. 

“Again, not coffee”

Chris sighed “What’s that?”

“A smoothie, mango smoothie”

“So you just walk across campus to buy a smoothie?” She asked, bringing her eyebrows together. 

“Aren’t you here?” 

“I’m just kidding, you don’t have to be so defensive” She said sitting next to him.

Dalton whispered a little “Sorry”

“You know, when I suggested you do something outside your dorm every day I didn’t mean go spend all of your money on overpriced drinks” She joked. They stayed there for a while, just talking about anything else that didn’t involve her asking why he was there. 

⋆ ★

Y/N was finishing her shift, just washing her hands and gathering her things before finally leaving. It was her first year there and so far she didn’t hate working as a barista, but having to go to class at night did mess with her schedule. 

“Hey Y/N, are you leaving?” Alice (one of her coworkers) asked her.

“Hi! Yeah, my class starts soon”

“Right” She said as she leaned against the wall next to her “By the way, how is it going with the kid with the hair? Have you talked to him?”

“The kid with the hair?” Y/N turned her head to look at her, a little dumbfounded by her description. “Yeah, you know, he orders something from you everyday, his hands are sometimes covered in paint-”

“Oh, Dalton you mean”

Alice looked at Y/N with raised eyebrows “So you know his name?”

“I mean yeah, he has been coming here pretty much every day”

“Just to see you” She teased.

“This is a college campus, hundreds of students come here every day” Y/N replied, defending herself.

“But how many names can you remember?” Y/N knew she wasn’t dropping the subject anytime soon, so she just had to pretend to not care about him, even though she did.

“I remember a lot of names” She replied, closing her backpack and swinging it over her shoulder “Now, if you excuse me, I have a class to get to”

“Alright” Y/N started to walk out as she waved Alice goodbye “You should give him your number next time he comes… which is probably tomorrow” She didn’t say anything, just shook her head as she left for her class.

⋆ ★

Alice was right. It was the next day and Dalton went directly to the coffee shop when his class was over. It was Friday and it was more crowded than usual, but he didn’t have a problem with waiting. He decided to have the smoothie again, and he was glancing around in different directions to make sure Chris didn’t catch him there again. His turn finally came and he gave her a smile right away.

Y/N smiled at him too “Hey” She said, feeling nervous all of the sudden.

“Hi” He replied.

“What can I get for you?”

“Uh- a medium mango smoothie with no sugar please”

“Alright” Y/N grabbed a medium cup and started to write his name on it, completely forgetting about asking him first. Dalton noticed this and something sparkled inside of him, making it really hard to hide his big smile.

Y/N suddenly remembered, and she looked up at him, her face getting warmer “Dalton” He said, and she didn’t know if he was teasing her or saving her from embarrassment.

She looked down at the cup again, trying to hide her face, and she decided to write her phone number on it “Okay, anything else I can get for you?”

“No, that’s all” He replied, ready to pay for his smoothie. “It’s on the house” Y/N stopped him “I’ll see you around” 

Dalton’s smile grew bigger and now he was the one blushing “Thank you” He said moving to the side. He wanted to stay there and talk to her, but he knew he couldn’t hold the long line behind him. 

Y/N kept taking orders but continued to look at the station where the drinks got prepared, eyes fixated on Dalton’s cup. Alice was the one making it and she gave her a teasing smile when she noticed. 

Dalton stood there waiting for his drink “A smoothie for Dalton?” He heard someone say, slightly raising his hand he took the drink from the counter and thanked the person on the other side. 

As he started to walk out he took his first sip, noticing something else written under his name, a phone number. He stared at it for a moment, and then turned back to look at Y/N, who was busy with a new customer but he smiled at her anyway. He was on cloud nine and he immediately pulled out his phone to put her number on it, thinking of something to text her, something that wouldn’t make him seem desperate.

He couldn’t come up with anything at first and that had Y/N a little disappointed when she went to check her phone a couple of times, but he finally decided on just greeting her, like a normal person would. 

Dalton: Hey, it's Dalton

Y/N's heart skipped a beat when she saw the notification pop up on her screen and she saved his contact right away, happy she would finally talk to him about something other than his drink order.

[linnoya-writes]

“Stop criticizing Katara’s adult narrative just because she primarily chose motherhood. Raising kids is an honor, and she raised the Avatar’s kids!”

Every time I hear someone say this about Katara, I imagine it in the tone of fans who believe big career goals and motherhood cannot coexist, and that that a woman choosing motherhood is forfeiting their big career goals (sometimes even their identity) to focus all of their energy on the kids, and that still wanting those big dreams for yourself is selfish when you have kids to take care of.

I also imagine that people who say this are fans who saw Katara as the character always helping Aang with his physical/mental/emotional struggles as well as other people everywhere she went, and so she would easily transition into full-time motherhood as an adult because she was so naturally gifted with it already. These are the fans who tend to overlook the emotional labor Katara had to internalize due to her being “that mature voice” and “pillar of inner strength” for so many people at such a young age… not really having someone who understood her darker side or helped validate her feelings. Let’s just leave Zuko in The Southern Raiders and shipping out of this.

What I want to discuss… is why is Katara the only character praised by fans for choosing to raise kids in her adult life rather than for other things she accomplished?

Toph, for example, grew up as a single mom, raised two daughters of separate fathers, and she STILL managed to take her bending abilities to whole new levels by opening a metalbending academy and becoming chief of police for the entire Republic City well into her 50s. She was still active and involved in her career and served in criminal trials while still having two girls at home (Katara was not even present in Yakone’s trial, despite that he was being tried for Bloodbending… a crime Katara herself had deemed illegal.)

Zuko also took parenthood seriously, raising at least one daughter (whether or not a mom was in the picture is still TBD) and even in his elderly80s, he definitely seemed to show up to big events with his daughter and was protective of his daughter’s safety in the world. And oh yeah. Zuko was also the FireLord, who spent time reconstructing an imperialistic country and changing the views of so many generations of his people… he raised a dragon named Druk… and was active in overseeing Republic City.

Let’s also not forget that Aang was a father to the same kids he had with Katara, and yet he isn’t praised for choosing fatherhood over anything else he did. LOK tells us that in fact, he actually favored Tenzin over the non-Airbending kids, and the other airtemples didn’t even know Avatar Aang had other children outside of Tenzin. Did Aang dedicate time to raising Tenzin when they went on all those field trips? I like to believe so, but Aang also had lovely and willing Air Acolytes everywhere he went that would probably tend to Tenzin while he did important Avarar work. The narrative here doesn’t give us much of a positive outlook on how Aang was a dad, but that’s okay… because we as fans like to praise the other bigger important things Aang did like build Republic City.

While Aang, Toph and Zuko were continuing to build their legacies through their character strengths, sense of worldly knowledge, and incredible bending talents… in LOK, we only hear about Katara’s focused on healing (something she certainly didn’t want to be known exclusively for), despite the fact that The Greatest Healer in the World failed to heal Korra (twice!). We also hear how Katara was determined to make bloodbending illegal, and yet in LoK, bloodbending is still running rampant and elderly Katara doesn’t seem to be bothered by that. The Katara we see in the SWT (who’s just as elderly as Toph and Zuko) is a person who’s thrown in the towel, chosen a reclusive quiet life rather than attending big events (such as her own granddaughter’s Airbending ceremony), and letting the world deal with its own problems. It’s as if she trained the next Avatar in waterbending and she could finally retire; her work was done.

What makes Katara’s adult narrative so diminished isn’t because she was seen primarily as a mom, but because we as fans don’t see much fruit of her labor (both within motherhood and outside it). Yes, she raised Tenzin, Bumi and Kya, but even as middle-aged adults, her kids talk about how they were culturally divided as a family. They don’t visit their mother in the SWT unless it’s deemed necessary. Outside of Kya, we also don’t really see the kids (or grandkids) really connecting with the WaterTribe side of their heritage either. We definitely hear a lot about Katara’s healing abilities, but where is the proof of that? Where are the grand state-of-the-art healing hospitals in Republic City with her statue welcoming everyone, where it’s shown that Katara dedicated her time to train other healers and master new healing techniques? We also hear how she made bloodbending illegal, so why are people like Yakone still making it a problem? Why wasn’t Katara there, making a public statement next to the president regarding this cruel bending technique and making more an effort to monitor all Waterbenders in the SWT and NWT to make sure kids weren’t being trained in that cruelty? All we hear about Katara’s greatness is in side-commentary from other characters in LOK, but compared to Aang, Toph, and Zuko, there isn’t really much we get to see from that greatness.

We can’t even say that Katara brought the next generation of Airbenders, because in LoK season 3, Airbenders randomly come back all over the world.

So, I’m not saying that Katara choosing to be a wife to Aang and mom to the Avatar’s kids in her adult life was a disservice to her character. What I’m saying is that the things she accomplished outside of those roles didn’t really amount to much in the later narratives of ATLA. Katara could’ve changed the world, but her character was reduced to serving the Avatar’s narrative instead.