#longterm relationships

[desultory-suggestions]

Sending love to those who are struggling with their long-term relationships and considering breaking up/breaking them off. Long-term relationships are a different type of experience, and ending them can be filled with unknowns and a sense of grief. It is okay to feel these things. It is okay to be angry, sad, or guilty when you realize you do not want to be with this person anymore. Whether they changed, you did, or you both did— these things happen. You deserve a relationship where you feel fully accepted, loved, and loving in return.

[a-young-doctors-journey]

Hello dear Internet friends,

So much has happened since my last update - things I didn't think would actually come to pass.

The long and short of it is that I'm splitting up with my long-time partner, of over 6 years. We'd be celebrating our 7 year anniversary in two weeks... how crazy is it that we're not?

I feel like I'm starting life all over again; I know it sounds dramatic, but he's been such a constant, stable part of my life all through medical school and beyond, and I feel like I'm more than a little lost now. I still miss him every day.

And rejoining the dating pool in your 30s? Scary, let me tell you. The dating pool itself? Even more scary.

How are you doing, in life and love? Share below [sob stories only, please]!

[stil-lindigo]

shallow grave.

a comic about accepting when your relationship is dead.

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creative notes:

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all my other comics

store

[maskofnova]

Hi chat, breaking the sonic chain to post a singular homestuck post because ive been thinking about moirail dynamics a lot. Don't follow me for homestuck though probably because this is the only one thats likely to break containment aside from maybe one other WIP in the future. Or do! I'm not your dad :]

[misstangshan95]

Happy Valentine's Day 💘🤘💙🩷

🛀🦆🤭.... Oh sonic.. QUACK QUACK!

(sorry I'm alittle late.. nearly forgot to upload this on here apologies)

[jennaaacx3]

I know that you love me, you don’t need to remind me.

[thisnoah]

Idk if it's just me but I think Graves is a divorced man and I think that's very baby girl of him

[sattystars]

honestly, i don't think hideduo will ever get married, instead they'll probably make a little ceremony for ramon's adoption and celebrate with their friends that they're now officially a family

[lgbtq-archives]

John and Jack were in an age-gap relationship for 35 years. Full story:

[heyidkyay]

And if it weren't this dark |

(Tip of the tongue but I can't deliver it properly)

Part One

A/N: hey, a short Alex one for you! it's been in my drafts for a while now, and isn't proofread but I figured I'd just post it and see if anyone likes it, first time writing for him so bare with me..

Summary: You and Alex have been together for ages and it's been so incredible, only now things have changed and you're struggling to tell him just how you feel.

Warning: angst- but also a bit of fluff so, lack of communication

Part Two

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I’d been dropping hints.

JESUS CHRIST had I been dropping hints.

There wasn’t a day gone by that I hadn’t thought about it finally happening. But as I mentioned, I’d been dropping hints only, they hadn’t been hitting.

So either I was relatively shit at this whole charade or… Alex was just utterly clueless.

I was leaning more towards the latter. But maybe I was simply biased, because over the last coming weeks my hints hadn’t been all that subtle.

I mean, only the other day we’d been on the way to my sister’s house for tea- she’d recently gotten engaged and mum had wanted to celebrate the only way my family really knew how. With good food. 

But neither Alex or I had remembered to pick up the wine we’d promised beforehand, and so we’d popped into the local Tesco’s on the drive over to pick up a few bottles. And whilst we’d been perusing- as you do- we’d somehow found ourselves wandering down the baby aisle.

Yes, the baby aisle. Because that was what I’d been waiting on. A baby. Or rather, a fucking good shag that then led to a baby.

Because, let’s be honest, I really wasn’t one to turn down a good time, far from, but these last few weeks there had been something else I’d been rather hoping for.

Everyone (and I mean everyone!!) around us was either settling down, buying homes, building families, or getting engaged. And Alex and I, well we’d been together for years and yet, nothing.

No ring. No big day planned. No talks of the future. Nada.

Nothing.

And I could honestly say that I wasn’t the type that needed that kind of security voiced or announced.

Truly. 

When Alex and I had first gotten together, I’d only realised that we were properly seeing each other when some other lad at a house party had tried to pull me. I’d never seen Alex so possessive, and it had been proper cute and a tad bit funny in the moment. He’d ‘staked his claim’- how cliche and chauvinistic, yes I know- but that was what had quickly taken us from Y/n and Alex, to Y/nandAlex. Which had suited me quite fine.

So yeah, him and I, since then had always sort of relied on our actions to simply show how we were feeling. 

Like when we’d first moved in together. There’d not been much of a discussion about it, my flat had quickly become the first place Alex would come back to after touring, his stuff had just started taking up space- washing in the dryer, dirty trainers in the hallway- and then he’d started calling it home. ‘Let’s head home, shall we?’ and ‘We’ll be home soon, darling.’ 

And that was all lovely. I adored having that kind of connection with him. 

But there were times when I desperately wished he would open up a little more about what he was thinking. Because although I could read him like an open book most days- his emotions especially- there were far and few times in between when I just felt so lost.

Like recently, I supposed.

I feel like we’ve been on the same page for so long, only now I’m ready to turn anew, start another chapter. Together.

But Alex? I have no fucking clue what he wants.

In all honesty, I think he’d be rather content to just carry on as we have been for the rest of eternity. No talk, no hashing things out. Have Christmas dinner with his parents, spend Boxing Day with mine. New Years in London, back home in time for spring. Same order from the local kebab, Friday nights stay reserved for one another.

And that would be it.

Lost to this routine.

Not that I was expecting a proposal or some grand gesture. I wasn’t much into the idea of any of that! No, just- I wanted more, you know?

I wanted that family I’d always dreamt about, that house we’d quickly make a home. I wanted nappies and nightly feeds, baby-grows which then turned into dungarees. Ten tiny little toes, someone with a cute button nose, a person made up of both him and I. 

But I just didn’t know when that would happen, or if it ever would.

So yeah- Tesco’s. Fuck, did I love to ramble! If Alex could only hear me now I supposed. 

So, as I was saying, we’d been stood in the baby aisle, Alex scrolling through his phone aimlessly, waiting for my dad to text him back a reply after we’d asked if they’d needed anything else whilst we were out. And me, staring starry eyed at the tiny socks and mittens and cute little newborn tees that were on display.

I’d said to him, almost thoughtlessly, “Imagine us having to buy all this. All these tiny little things.”

He’d just glanced up at me, smiled, hummed. Then replied, “Your dad asked if you’d pick him up some of that heartburn medication he buys. Says his acid reflux is playing up again.”

And hadn’t that just been grand? Mentioning my father’s gastrointestinal issues whilst we’d been stood surrounded by adorable little baby items, with me unsubtly referencing the image of US buying some for OUR child in the (now very obvious and very, very far) future.

Incredibly clued in, my Alex.

That hadn’t even been the worst of it though.

A few weeks back, my friend had mentioned that her and her fiancé were actively trying to conceive and I’d been so over the moon for the pair of them. All excited about the chance of having another baby to spoil rotten.

And Alex, he had been all smiles whilst congratulating them, sat comfortably beside me, but when I’d brought it up again on the drive home, he’d simply shrugged it off as though it was a thing that occurred every other day. 

Your mates starting a family. Nothing too out of the ordinary there, at least not to Alex. 

It had royally pissed me off in truth.

And I’d been a little off with him ever since, I think he knew it too.

“Love?”

I blinked out of the daze I’d let myself get lost in and looked away from the laptop screen I’d been staring at for the last, however long. I hummed quietly to him in reply, titling my head against the cushions and over towards where he was stood in the doorway.

“Been calling your name for a while now, you alright?” He quirked a brow up at me, a smug little smile limning his lips as he leant against the frame. He didn’t even know how good he looked. 

I nodded with a small smile then glanced away, back towards the email I’d just been typing. “‘M fine. Just need to get this done.”

Alex said nothing but I heard the soft shuffle of his socked feet across our wooden floors before the settee dipped beside me. He rested his chin against my shoulder, peering down at the screen.

“Just wanted to know what you fancied for tea.” Alex murmured, breath brushing against the skin of my neck. I withheld a shiver. “Figured we could order from that place round the corner.”

I rolled my lip against the other, pushing my glasses up my nose before I wrote another passage, honing all of my focus on finishing this email so that I could finally just relax for the evening.

“Whatever you want, Al. I’m not all that fussed.”

Alex leant away from me slightly, back pressing against the settee cushions, he stayed that way for a while and I could feel his presence as I continued to type away. It was only a short time later that I grinned triumphantly down at the laptop and clicked send, thankful to have it gone and out of my mind.

“All done, cherry?”

Smiling at the familiar petname, my eyes flickered over towards him. I took in the woollen jumper he wore, as well as his hair which was tousled and unkept, probably from having run his hands through it all day. I was only just able to stop myself from reaching out to tangle my fingers in it, wanting to smooth it over. 

“All done.” I murmured faintly and gifted him a tired smile.

Alex was the type to take something and run with it though, so I wasn’t all that surprised when he grinned right back at me and extended a hand out to cradle my left cheek. I leaned into his warmth for a second, allowing his thumb to brush the skin under my eye, probably from where today’s makeup had just begun to smudge. 

I inhaled after and slowly pulled away. Not paying much mind to the way Alex slumped slightly and instead opting to busy myself with putting away my laptop and clearing up the mess I’d made of the coffee table. 

I did it all quietly, picking up the two mugs of tea I’d made, one empty, the other barely touched from where I’d forgotten about it, whilst Alex watched on. The tele remote was perched on the very edge of the table and so I tossed it over towards him, padding my way into the kitchen.

“Put something on, will you? Think there’s a good film on Channel 5.” I prompted over my shoulder, glancing at him through the tramson window that had been installed shortly after the sink had sprung a leak during last tour and flooded the flat, forcing us to make do whilst the owner had remodelled.

Pressing the power up button, Alex flipped the remote around in his hand a couple of times, he looked deep in thought and so I left him be, choosing to wash up the two mugs as well as the few stray knives and forks which littered the basin. 

I hummed quietly to myself, an old song I could hardly recall the lyrics of, whilst I worked, thinking about the many things I had to get done before the weekend started. 

It was Alex’s voice which startled me from my musings actually. He was so much closer now than he’d been before when he spoke up again, I'd obviously not heard his approach.

“So, tea?” Alex questioned me with a slight furrow between his brows, he’d propped himself up against the kitchen counter about an arms width away.

“God, Al! What are you- a wraith? Don’t sneak up on me like that!” I scolded, having jumped out of my skin. I took a deep breath. “Could’ve had a heart attack or something over the kitchen sink.”

Alex chuckled lowly at me, clearly amused by my reaction, he shook his head. “Make headlines, you- woman dies whilst doing the washing up! Reckon it’ll lead to a riot- start up a petition that’ll change the way we wash dishes forever.”

I rolled my eyes, flicking a few soap duds at him in retaliation which only made him reach out towards me. I tried to evade him but he was too quick, sweeping and wrapping me up in his arms so that I couldn’t proceed to splash him any further.

“You always been this much of a weirdo?” I huffed, not making much of an effort to escape his hold even as I struggled to blow a strand of hair out of my face. 

He hummed, smiling down at me as we begun to sway. “Might’ve been. No getting rid of me now that you’ve finally realised it though.”

I playfully winced in retort, forcing out a loud put-upon sigh. “Should’ve just kept quiet and slipped out once you’d fallen asleep watching the tele.”

Alex narrowed his eyes at me, tugging me in tighter. “As if you would.” He taunted.

I simply smirked in retort and let my damp hands work their way under the soft material of his jumper. I cackled loudly at the way he shivered and jumped away from me like a frightened cat during a thunderstorm.

“Ah, you’re in for it!” Alex declared, his face a right picture.

Quick as I could, I dived to my left so that I could position the kitchen counter between us, bracing myself against it to grin over at him. “Should’ve thought twice about that before telling me what to do, Turner.”

“Minx.” Alex smirked, and then he pounced.

We spent the next however long running about the flat after that. 

He’d somehow been able to grab at me in the hallway but I’d thankfully managed to wrangle my way out of his hold, sprinting into our room to use the bed to my advantage. I rolled over it, putting a dent in the freshly made sheets but using the spare moment to take a couple- much needed- deep breaths whilst Alex waltzed slowly inside. I scowled when the door closed behind him. He flashed me a victorious smile.

“Unfair. I’m at a disadvantage.” I pouted, hoping it would soften him slightly. But when that didn’t work I resorted back to a narrow eyed glare. “Open the door, Alex.”

“I don’t think so, Angel-face. You see, I’ve got you cornered.”

I looked for another escape, Alex only growing nearer, but my only options were limited. I could either goad him and then dart towards the door, or dive out the window. 

Seeing as though I didn’t much fancy breaking my neck, I opted for the former.

“Come on, Al.” I chuckled breathlessly, perching precariously on the edge of the mattress in hopes of lowering his defences a little. “We’ve had fun, but I’m proper knackered now. Call it quits so we can have a cuddle?”

Alex glanced over at me warily, he knew me far too well but appeared to be on the verge of agreement. He slowly made his way over towards the bed, shoulders hunched, still on his guard. 

“Promise?”

I hummed my vague assent, smiling up at him softly.

He paused with squinted eyes, “You’ve gotta verbalise it, love. Don’t count otherwise.”

I tilted my head up at him, feigning confusion. But we both knew I wouldn’t say it unless I really meant it. I kept my word.

That little flaw of mine seemed to trip me up though, and we both realised it at the same time too. So as I manoeuvred my way towards the door- feeling like Kim Possible, might I add- Alex was already in motion, catching me by the hips before I could even surpass the foot of the bed.

“Alex!” I screamed, only growing louder when he threw me over his shoulder and span us around. “Put me down! Now!”

“I fucking knew it!” Alex laughed merrily, bouncing me about the place. I swatted at his back unhappily, starting to feel my stomach in my throat. “Knew you’d try something.”

“Yeah, yeah… proper clever, you. Can you put me fucking down now? Think I’m gonna yosh.”

I could only roll my eyes when he dropped me on my arse, although thankfully it was on the mattress. Huffing, I fought to tame the mess he’d probably made of my hair.

“Twat.”

Alex merely chuckled, leaning in close to tuck a strand of stray hair behind my ear. I smiled when he pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“Hm, so you say.” I replied, peering up at him from where he towered over me, his hand falling to frame my jaw.

He leant in again, smiling as his lips met mine. “Had to show you who’s boss, didn’t I? Couldn’t let you get away with that.”

I gave an airy titter, pushing him away so that I could pull myself to my feet. “I could’ve had you on your arse the second you strolled in here, was just playing fair.”

He caught my wrist before I could retreat back into the living room, encasing my hand in his. I frowned slightly, looking back at him, mainly confused.

“What’s up?” I questioned him. His brown eyes flickered back and forth between my own, he looked conflicted all of a sudden, it was something you didn’t see on Alex too often which caused my frown to deepen, “Alex?” I prodded.

A small sigh escaped him and his gaze fell towards our joined hands, I let my thumb brush against the back of his own, wanting to reassure him in some way.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” I asked again, stepping closer. My other hand braced his forearm.

Alex’s eyes found mine once more and I didn’t think I had ever seen him this torn up. It threw me a bit, his demeanour had changed so quickly, it was like he’d done a total one-eighty on me.

“Think I should be asking you that question.”

I frowned at Alex’s vague reply.

“What do you mean? I’m fine, Alex. Annoyed that you won, but I’ll get you the next time.” I assured him, chuckling softly at the end. But it didn’t seem to do much.

Alex just shook his head, stepping away towards the window. He dragged a hand across his face, rubbing at his chin whilst he gazed down at the street below. 

“Al…” I tried. “Alex. Will you look at me?”

His eyes fell shut, he squeezed them as though he was trying to sort through a messy array of thoughts, of emotions.

Then he sighed. “I just don’t get you sometimes. One second you’re off with me, hardly even have the time to spare a glance my way. Then the next, we’re as happy as Larry, dancing about the kitchen, play-fighting, laughing.”

I had to look away, down towards my feet as a surge of guilt rippled through me. It wasn’t Alex’s fault that he had no idea about all the thoughts that were raging about inside my head. It wasn’t his fault that I was too scared to just come out with it. To tell him what I so does wanted. To just talk to him. 

None of the blame was on him and yet, I’d still placed it all there.

“I’m sorry.” I said, slumping down onto the edge of the mattress with a sigh. My eyes trailed over to find him staring back, his face gave nothing away. “I’ve been an utter twat. And I’ve been so fucking unfair to you. I- I don’t know, Al. I’ve just been struggling with a lot lately. But it really is nothing that you’ve done.”

Alex released a long breath, thumbing the bridge of his nose before he walked towards the bed, taking a seat beside me. We sat there in silence for a few moments, I could feel my heart hammering in my throat. Because it really was now or never. I either told him or… I got over myself. And nothing would change.

“You say you’ve been struggling.”

I angled my head over towards him upon hearing his words, Alex continued to look onwards though, his hands clasped between his knees.

He looked a lot older in that moment, and it reminded me of just how long we’d been together. I could recall a similar moment we’d shared well over a decade ago now, just before the band’s very first London gig.

Alex had spent weeks torturing himself over it, figuring that they’d be wasting their time playing to an empty room. 

It had been the night before they’d been set to leave when he’d come round mine. It’d been late. Really late, as in only mere hours before the train he’d been expected on was set to depart. 

It had just been the two of us. But that hadn’t ever been an unusual occurrence. We’d sat in silence together for a longwhile on my messy bedsheets- he’d always been the type to struggle with words. Strange for a songwriter, yeah, but unless they were accompanied by a couple chords then Alex could honestly spend a millennia searching for the right ones to use if you’d let him. 

He had spoken up eventually though. Told me what was bugging him. And I’d been the one to try and right every bad thought he’d had. Dull his racing mind. 

I’d always very much doubted his fears, about no one wanting to listen to their music outside of Sheffield. Outside of the safety net we’d grown up in. But Alex was as stubborn as I was, and so we’d spent a lot of late nights arguing about it. We’d always make up for it though come morning. 

And Alex had gone, obviously. I’d been one of the few to see the band off that morning, waving goodbye even as the train blurred and disappeared out of sight. He’d phoned me later that night after the gig, I’d heard his smile, he’d gone on this long rant about how wrong he’d been. Because the pillock had only gone and gotten carried around the venue on a sea of hands, hadn’t he?

This moment didn’t feel quite the same though. Because these fears I’d been facing, well they didn’t threaten anything outside of the four walls we’d carved for ourselves. If I told him how I felt, there was a very big chance that he might not feel the same, want the same. There was a very real chance he could just walk away.

“If it’s been so bad. Why didn’t you just come to me?” Alex asked and his eyes found mine then, that warm brown of his appeared so oddly defeated. So much so, I struggled to find a reply. 

“Just come out with it. Please. ‘Cause all this up and down, and back and forth. I don’t know if I can take much more. It’s been driving me round the bend. I hate reaching out towards you and feeling you pull further away. Kills me. Hate feeling like there’s something standing between us. ‘Cause it’s never been that way. Not with me and you.”

My throat grew tight with tears, but I wouldn’t cry, not now. Not when it was me who had caused all this.

“I know.” I had to take a deep breath to keep them at bay. To hide the strain in my voice. I pivoted so that my knee folded beneath me and I could really see his face. He followed, taking ahold of my hands. “I know, and I am sorry. Truly. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier. That I let it get this bad. That I let you get so torn up. I didn’t even realise.”

Alex pulled me into an embrace, hand holding the back of my neck as I buried my face in his. Because that was the man Alex was, he put me above everything else. Including himself.

“It’s fine, sweetheart.” He hushed, thumb brushing over the top of my spine. “You can tell me anything. You know that.”

I did know that. But still.

“I don’t want to lose you, Alex.”

That probably hadn’t been the best thing to say. Alex all but flung himself back, alarm swimming in his eyes as he levelled me with a long look.

“Lose me? What’s that meant to mean? Why would you lose me?”

A tear fell then, followed by a couple more. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, willing them away, hating the thought of seeing him so distraught.

“Y/n. Love. Please, you’re actually beginning to scare me now. Tell me what’s happened.”

I tried to look away. I didn’t want to do this, not here not now, but his fingers grasped my chin, tugging me back to face him.

A sob spilled from my lips and I crumpled slightly, his hands jumped up to my shoulders, struggling to hold me up.

“What could have you this worked up?” He stressed, shaking me slightly. “Just tell me, because all the fucking things I’ve got racing through my head. I- Put me out of my misery at least. Please.”

It took all the strength I had to peer up at him, eyes red and raw. “I want more, Alex. I want more than just this.”

After I’d said it, I wanted to take all my words back. The hurt that flashed across his face felt like a sharp slap to mine. He started to move, to stand. And I realised he was about to leave.

“Al. Alex.” I called, tried. Clutching at his arm. “Alex, please! Just listen, will you?”

He wasn’t having it. Shaking his head at me as he stormed his way out of the bedroom.

“I can’t believe you’ve just said that.”

It was like a punch to the gut, hearing the upset that lined his voice. His back was to me as I chased after him, I’d ever seen him like this.

“I didn’t mean it! Not like that! Not in the way it sounded.”

“Like fuck you didn’t mean it, Y/n!” Alex shouted, and I caught a glimpse of his face when he went to tug his jacket off the hanger by the front door. 

I could count the times I’d seen Alex cry on one hand. But right then, there were tears in his eyes.

“Alex.” I pleaded with him.

A deathly silence fell between us, I watched his shoulders sag before he turned back around towards me. I wanted nothing more than to hold him again. Take away all his pain, the pain I’d caused.

“If you leave right now, I’ll never forgive you.” I choked out, “Please don’t leave. Please.”

He stared at me. Long and hard.

“Tell me the truth then.”

His voice was nothing but a strained whisper. He looked so tired, arms slumped helplessly by his sides.

I swallowed thickly. Hands fisted against my chest.

Alex scoffed at me then and ran a hand over his face, rubbing at his stinging eyes. He shook his head and went for the latch.

I felt my eyes fall close. It was now or never, I supposed. He was leaving either way.

“I want a baby, Alex.”

[raayllum]

having a moment (and this might be my autism speaking) of remembering that when characters (or even irl people) are analyzed / analyzing themselves, some people just look at the behavioural patterns and not where they stem from in the character's psyche and go "my job is done" when the job is half finished cause to me that shit has always been synonymous and i cannot imagine fathoming meta writing from any other standpoint

[geodebiome]

apologies for romanticizing the sexual i know we as a website have internalized puritan beliefs a little too much + The Porn Ban so like i know we Dont Do That Here. but i have to extend my flowery worldview that values love and peace over all to sexuality for a sec

imo casual sex is Absolutely a form of love, just not our ever revered romantic or long-term love. i think having sex just for the sake of sex, with complete strangers or not, is beautiful. what youre doing is basically tuning in to what someone wants for the night, and figuring out how to best give it to them! even if you dont know them at all!! you dont need to have a long-term partner to enjoy being physically together and feeling fulfilled sexually. "oh but the sanctity of marriage" what about cinq titties huh. drops mic

[necrotic-nephilim]

do you ship helena bertinelli with anyone? if yes, then which characters and why? what's your favorite helena ship? do you have any helena rarepairs? (i know you've talked about helena/steph and you're so right about it, it's a very interesting ship)

!!!! i have so many ships for my best girl ever yes oh my god thank you for asking.

my top pairing is probably Vic Sage/the Question. Vic is the basic answer, but man. i love them so much. no couple has matched each other's freak like that have. Justice League Unlimited is a great adaptation of Helena in general, but it also did a great adaptation of Helena and Vic's relationship. how he just dedicates himself to helping her with no expected return, but also wants to make sure she doesn't go too far in a hunt for vengeance that never ends for her. i think a lot of characters often want to change Helena or expect things out of her for their own needs, like the Batfam and the BoP. but Vic is one of the few people who just wants her to be better for her own good. when he tries to stop her from killing it's not because of his morals, it's because he doesn't want this crusade to consume her. and i just. man i think about them a lot. Helena rlly likes weird little men who give themselves wholly to her.

Zinda Blake/Lady Blackhawk is also a top ship for me. tbh i just like Zinda. but i do love how Helena and Zinda interact, being the more rough and tumble members of the BoP. they're both outsiders, in different ways. Helena is an outsider of the Batfam and Zinda is literally from a different time and an outsider to the current world. their friendship is so genuine and i think if Babs and Dinah can have. whatever homoerotic nonsense going on during BoP, then Zinda and Helena deserve some homoerotic nonsense too. as a treat.

if we're willing to count New-52 Helena, then i enjoy Helena/Dick/Tiger. i think Helena and Dick being a past relationship is really important in pre-Flashpoint for Helena's development, though i don't ship them as a serious couple beyond a fling. but in the New-52, i think this throuple be fun. Helena and Tiger respect each other as two very driven, no-nonsense agents and then well. they both clearly have some kind of thing for Dick. so it's fun finding the balance of how they could all work together romantically.

and ofc. it's a crime to mention Helena ships and not mention Renee Montoya/the Question. every time they interact it's really fucking gay. it's so gay that Kate Kane, Renee's own ex, assumed Helena and Renee were gay. i cannot be convinced against this ship. i genuinely think this ship should be canon. i mean. DC did tease us with this moment from an alternate universe and it's lived rent for me since. fucking criminal for us to only get one panel of what we could have if DC let Helena be a fruit in the main universe. being in love with Helena Bertinelli should be a right of passage for the Question mantle, i personally believe. if you asked me like. genuinely who i want to see Helena date in the current comics, Renee is my top pick. (i would say Vic but he's fucking dead and the New-52 butchered him so rip my mans-)

lois lane (2019) #10

besides those ships, just about every ship for Helena probably falls into the category of rarepair. like you said i've talked about my love for Helena/Steph before bc god. i think it should be a thing more people ship. once i finish the fic i'm writing about them i will convince others to like it.

i also think Helena/Cass could be fun. in a *lot* of ways Helena and Cass are narrative parallels to each other. Helena was a victim of her family being murdered at about the same age Cass was forced to be a murderer. Helena grows up to believe in lethal justice because of this, and Cass grows up to be staunchly against it. Cass' Batgirl suit was made *by* Helena. they both want to be protectors of the most vulnerable people. they balance each other out in a lot of ways and i think they should kiss about it.

also probably a rarepair, i think Helena/Lady Shiva is fun. their fight during Birds of Prey (2010) had... questionable moments for Helena's characterization, but i do love so much that Helena knocks Shiva off her feet and gains a deep respect from Shiva. like. Shiva gives her a nickname and shows her admiration. i would like to see fanfic where Shiva continues to be weirdly admirable of Helena and bothering her non-stop. they could be a fun fucked up toxic yuri moment. this is just. so gay to me.

birds of prey (2010) #6

my most rare Helena pair would probably be Helena Wayne, actually. but specifically Helena Wayne of JSA (2022). ever since, for some reason, it was made canon that the current Helena Wayne was named after Helena Bertinelli and took the name Huntress to honor her i *cannot* stop thinking about them meeting. because in-universe it makes *no* fucking sense for Bruce to name his kid after *Helena Bertinelli*, someone he's regularly at odds with and doesn't like. it's clearly an awkward explanation to try to make the whole two Huntress situation make sense. (it's almost as bad as Helena Wayne in the New-52 using Helena Bertinelli as an alias.) but because it's such an odd choice, i do think it could be fun for Helena Wayne, when she's back in time to see Bruce, to find Helena Bertinelli to get to know the woman she was named after and Helena Bertinelli just being. baffled by the idea of *Batman* naming his kid after her. it could be a fun fucked up moment.

my other super rarepair is Kara Zor-L/Power Girl. they had like. one meaningful interaction of JSA Classified and it's been PLAGUING me. something about when Power Girl doesn't remember her past and she's seeking a friend, she instinctively goes to find Huntress? but it's wrong bc this isn't *her* Huntress and neither of them understand why Power Girl would seek Helena out? god it's so good. i'm always a big fan of ships where one person in the ship is *so* obviously using the other person as a replacement for someone they lost and they both know it. it's such a doomed angsty thing where you could play with Helena actually really liking Kara, but knowing that she's just a replacement for Kara's Helena Wayne. good fucked up shit man.

and lastly: i really ship her with Dawn Granger/Dove. there's no canon basis for this, they didn't have a ton of interactions even when they were both on the BoP. but there's a very kind innocence to Dawn that contrasts Helena's violence really well. and i do love a ship with a corruption kink vibe to it. let Helena corrupt Dawn. i could write such fucked up porn about these two.

[nyaskitten]

I'm curious, I know I made a similar post when I was a smaller account a few years back, but now that my account is larger (and I also cannot find the damn post) I'm here to re-ask the question:

What are your personal thoughts on Lloykita? (Not making this a poll because A. I'm too lazy for that and B. I don't think I could try convey any of the wide spectrum of takes on a 10-option poll)

(I know people have wildly different takes, but at the very least can we keep it positive? Because I'm not in the mood to have to read someone's annoying negatively rude responses)

[tired-biscuit]

kiba looks like an asshole, behaves like an asshole, but to me he’s still my cutie pie bebi sweetheart who pouts a little whenever he’s not cuddled enough, so…

[95-6qrsk2rx9uq42069nnnnnjthewolf]

Afflicting tim with Gender and In Your Twenties because, well. (+ jaytim) (idea 1)

Tim is in her early twenties and fresh out of an identity crisis that she has a feeling she’s been putting off for almost a decade at this point. It’s a good feeling, but its also new and solely hers. She doesn’t feel like sharing. She wants to get acquainted with herself. (A few people know. Tam’s actually the first person she told. She helped pick out a cocktail dress and they went out to a fancy bar and had a few drinks and just hung out. Tam held her hand and didn’t say anything when Tim cried on the taxi ride home. Kon, Bart, and Cassie know. Their hugs are as tight and reassuring as ever.) 

Therese Dho has a modest, comfortable apartment the bats don’t know about, full of posters and comfortable furniture, strewn with piles of clothes and disassembled tech. It feels homey, like she can breathe, in a way that the nest didn’t and it's jarring to realize how contained she’d been keeping herself even in her own space. She’s about two months into her new job as a forensics technician at the GCPD, and thanks to her terminally untied converse and habit of tripping into cops wandering into the forensics labs, evidence tampering is on the decline. She’s sarcastic and blunt the way she couldn’t be at WE, letting her results speak for themselves rather than waste energy soothing egos that don’t deserve it. It’s not like she’s the only colorful character there, and she is happily absorbed into the department (not so)lovingly referred to as the lab rats, despite her relentless attempts to afflict her own organizational methods on the other techs. (It’s almost like you want samples to wander off she says, looking directly at the tech she knows is on Two-face’s payroll. He is sweating. Therese’s supervisor, who adores her new grumpy tech and does not want her new favorite to get shot, is also sweating.) 

The day she’s called into the commissioner’s office, she contemplates exiting out the window and making for the roofs right there in broad daylight. Closing the door to his office feels like the sinking pit in her stomach when a mission’s gone south and she’s failed to consider a crucial contingency. Between the lab coat, reading glasses and her hair being grown out long enough for the loose fraying braid its in, Therese is telling herself there’s no way Gordon recognizes her, but he’s also giving her a long hard look she doesn’t know how to interpret. And then he’s telling her that her supervisor is singing her praises and he has high hopes for her. And to maybe stop being quite so brazen about calling out her coworkers and just let Gordon know instead. There may or may not be a comforting hand on her shoulder, she’s slightly too lightheaded to tell. By the end of the meeting she still can’t tell if he knows who she is or not, but he’s not demanding she pack up her desk and get out so Therese will take it.  On her way back to the lab, the detective who occasionally brings her coffee and lets her ramble about the fallibility of bloodstain pattern analysis winks at her as she passes, and Therese feels herself blush. He’s tall and broad, more vanity muscles than somebody really putting their body to use all day, but not dirty according to what digging she’s done, and if he’s just flirting with her in the hopes of expediting his cases, at least he’s smooth about it. Her being attracted to men didn’t blindside her quite as badly as the whole gender thing did; less something she buried deep deep down and more so something she’d simply let herself glance past, though she would also like to be done Realizing things about herself. Not that she’d ever start anything with him anyways, for multiple reasons.

She’s making a life she thinks she can live with, though. The lab goes out for drinks and trivia night. She’s making time for friends and hobbies. Helping teach coding and computer literacy at her local library branch. Red Robin is still mostly a solo act; the person she’s shared patrols with most frequently in the past year, of all people, has been Red Hood. So long as she responds to requests for assistance, either in the field or behind the scenes (mostly remote), the bats seem content to leave her be. She doesn’t poke too hard at the question of whether her Major Life Changes have been noted or if, so long as she’s still providing support without a fuss, anybody has even noticed. She’s clear headed enough these days to know it's a two-way street and she’d been pulling back for years. She’ll probably always be involved with vigilantism in some way, but the network she’d put so much time into reinforcing around Batman and Gotham was always meant to keep on growing without her. She’s not hiding, literally underneath their noses every time one of them responds to the bat signal. If anyone really wanted to find her, they could. She’ll help whenever they ask for it, but the rest is for her now. She’s earned that.

And then one day on a coffee excursion she watches Jason Todd get hauled into the station, cursing up a storm, cuffed and incandescently angry between two nervous cops. She hears the grating voice of one of the more unpleasant cops in the station gloating that they caught this creep dealing to kids and he should be grateful that its the cops that got him and not the red hood, didn’t you hear that psycho kills people over shit like this? Therese deserves a medal for not bursting out laughing right then and there, though it gets less funny when Jason snarls that they know damn well they’d been the ones harassing the kids, and planted the bags on Jason when he got in between and told them to fuck off. She’s gotten behind the cop and plucked a little baggie from his back pocket very clearly not labeled as evidence by the time they’ve tried to slam Jason chest-down onto a desk. The whole bullpen is watching when Therese asks if this was the cop’s personal stash or that he’d decided to keep this guy’s product for himself. Jason is also watching, and possibly falling in love, when he sees this girl not even flinch as the cop tries to lunge at her before getting hauled back himself. It’s a big flurry then but he finds himself loitering awkwardly until he can talk to her, and asks if he can buy her a coffee as a thank you. He notices the styrofoam cup in her hand after the sentence is out and manfully doesn’t wince.

Therese is too focused on the high pitched ringing in her ear to figure out if Jason has already clocked her and is using coffee as an excuse to grill her on what the fuck she’s doing. She rolls her eyes and tells Jason he should check up on those kids. Excuses herself since her labs are almost done and she needs to dodge her supervisor because she refuses to fill out another incident report, leaving jason mildly heartbroken at the front desk and the secretary giving him a sympathetic look, saying ‘you know how those science types can be. Therese may not have even realized you were asking her out.’ And, well, maybe he can try one more time tomorrow. At least check in and make sure she’s not facing any retaliation from other cops.

So he shows up the next day at what he assumes is a reasonable time for a lunch break with a coffee and a few pastries in hand, receiving a thumbs up from the same secretary for his troubles. Except when Therese comes out to see why she was called to the front desk there’s such a clear flash of panic on her face at seeing him that Jason is already apologizing and turning for the door. He makes it out and is shortly followed by the sound of the door opening and closing again. Therese is there, wearing a very familiar steely expression, stomping past him with the curt order to follow her in a lower register that he’s heard before. She guides him to an alley and he’s pretty sure he knows where this is going but also what if he is actually about to get shanked?

“Jason” is the stern response to his hesitation, and oh yes, jason knows that tone.

“Look,” he says, joining her in the shade of the building, “if you’ve got an undercover thing going on in there, I swear I didn’t know. That trip to the station yesterday really wasn’t intentional.”

“I’ll read you in if you swear to not tell the others until I give the okay,” is the response and her expression is giving Jason absolutely nothing. He actually can’t remember the last time Tim was this blank with him and its unsettling. 

“Come on, baby bird, you're the only one of 'em I even talk to. How many times have you kept my shit off their radar? Of course I won’t go blabbing” Their rapport had only been getting better with each collaboration over the last couple years, built off of Red Robin’s stone cold professionalism that Hood could trust to see them through city wide crises in a way that he couldn’t working closely with Bruce or Dick. From there they’d gained a real respect for each other, Tim always willing to hear him out if Jason also promised to listen in turn. They’ve got similar mean streaks and senses of humor, with open invitations to any respective safe houses and first aid kits. Red Robin had given Jason a tenable source of backup in Gotham, in a way he hasn’t felt like he’s had since coming back. Jason had just been thinking last week that he hadn’t heard from Red in awhile, and that they were due for a check in. Tim shouldn’t have to ask Jason whether whatever this is will stay between them; it should be a given. He doesn’t hold onto those feelings of offense or fear for long as Therese starts explaining, though. This isn’t a case, it's her life. Of course this happens on her terms. Of course he’ll follow her lead and he says as such. 

“I do have one question, though, and if now isn’t the time you got full permission to dump this coffee on my head.” (I would not need permission but thank you, she mutters. Jason gamely plows on) “I didn’t recognize you yesterday. I just saw this little spitfire stand up to a cop almost twice her size on his turf to keep me out of trouble and not flinch. I came by today to ask if she wanted to go out for a coffee,” Jason is briefly reminded of the secretary’s previous comment as Therese stares at him. “I’m asking you out on a date, T.” And there’s the blush he’s managed to pull out of her once in a while, from previous light flirtations that were only mostly jokes she’d never seemed to reciprocate. But she is now, agreeing shyly to try it out. 

And it just, settles. Vigilantism is in their blood at this point, and they’re each other's backup. But they help each other be people too. There’s routine, bringing Therese her lunch at work, farmer’s markets and trivia nights and local theater productions. Kids at the skatepark who hassle Therese to teach them tricks. Jason comes home gushing about how well the kids he tutors are improving. They support each other through the bad days. An up and coming drug dealer gets it into his head that all the other entities in Gotham have someone on the payroll, a pet geek on the inside of the GCPD should be easy enough to bribe or intimidate. T kicks his enforcers’ faces in and while they’re trying to breathe through the blood pouring out their noses, Red Hood comes up behind them with a choice. Either they can deal with him, or he’ll drop them off at the police station, where they’ll spill everything their boss is up to. They can even say Hood did it and not a 5’6” nerd in a star trek hoodie. Once they’re among the other failed henches, they make sure everyone knows that this one is Hood’s insider and anybody who tries anything will not be living to regret it. 

They go home and Jason motherhens over Therese recovering from top surgery. T draws up new plans to reinforce Hood’s helmet. It’s all one and the same. They look out for each other.