#or come up with a title as fitting as this one

[puniflash]

The Fall Guy

This movie has completely taken control over my existence, so here are the little things I love most about it, in no particular order.

The triple meaning of the title.

Colt not just being the fall guy in the sense of the stunt community, but also (almost) taking the fall for Henry's murder, and falling in love with Jody so deeply he'd basically die for her.

This is so cool, and I love the english language for it.

(Also, the little fall guy in the A? Perfection.)

The long shots.

My love for one-ers is just as big as Jody's, I guess.

The opening sequence is just so perfect.

Introducing the main characters, establishing Colt's and Jody's relationship and setting high stakes from the beginning with that stunt gone wrong.

This long shot shows you exactly what kind of movie you're gonna watch, and it's probably one of my favourite opening sequences in a movie ever.

This one is so perfect, too.

Jody trying to come up with answers for everyone, and keeping everything under control amuses me and stresses me out in equal messure.

And talking from the little personal experience I have, this sequence (and the whole movie for that matter) captures the work on set so accurately. It's truly amazing.

Long shots like this take so much time and effort to coordinate, and I just love, and appreciate it so much when movies do that. It's so impressive, and so fun to watch.

The prayer hands emoji.

Tom sending Colt nothing more than a prayer hands emoji because he just doesn't care about his well-being at all.

(I mean, he is in fact responsible for Colt's accident, so it's savage but not surprising.)

And then Colt giving that prick at his valet job the exact gesture because the guy acts like an asshole, and Colt couldn't care less about his crispy fiver.

Gold.

The script credits.

This is genius, and I love everything about it!

When you pause the movie and read everthing, you can see there are actual excerpts from the movie script, just a little modified, to fit the credits.

When I saw this for the first time it totally caught me by surprise, and now it is everything I never knew I needed.

This entire conversation.

Jody asking: "Did you fall?" is so ironic, I wanna scream.

Girl, of course he fell. FOR YOU!

And Colt is so high on whatever kind of drug they spiked his drink with, it's so endlessly funny to me.

Plus the way he just can't stop himself from telling Jody how beautiful she is over and over again, while completely ignoring her concern about his wounds.

Not to mention the extended version of this with that sponge bath discussion.

(Haven't seen the extendet cut yet but saw the scene on YouTube a milion times. I die everytime for multiple reasons.)

I could watch a whole movie of them just having a conversation like this.

Bonus:

Everytime I watch this I end up questioning my sanity, cause I feel like he spontaneously gets me pregnant with whatever it is he does here.

Every. Single. Time.

The way his eyes move from her eyes to her lips?

How Jody didn't just lose her mind, and all ability to breathe right then and there is beyond me.

Split Screen.

Another conversation that is just perfect in it's entirety.

The split screen opening exactly on the middle line of that shelf in the backround is satisfying me in a way that should put me in a mental facility.

Colt and Jody being so in sync and mirroring each other during this whole conversation, even after being apart for like 18 months is so special to me.

Colt knowing her favourite movies?

Their love for each other really is a different kind of epic.

The music matching the movie.

This is pure perfection, and I will never shut up about it.

The bottle equals the promise.

The container is turning around in an uncontrollable spin.

Also:

The Song "Dead Guy On Ice" from the original soundtrack is playing right when Colt says this to Gail on the phone.

Also, also:

"I was made for loving you" being woven into so many songs of the original soundtrack, and returning over and over throughout the whole movie in different ways.

It gives me James Bond vibes, and that just makes my heart smile.

I could go on and on about how much joy this sparks in me, everytime I watch the movie. It never fails to make me smile.

Jean Claude.

Nothing to add here, he's such a bon garçon.

Also, the fact that Colt and Jody just keep him after the happenings of the film, is probably my favourite thing ever.

(And I never knew I needed to hear Ryan Gosling speak french, but apparently it's something my body and soul desired very much.)

The post-it notes.

I am OBSESSED with this. Literally the most relatable thing about Tom Ryder. I love using post-it notes for all kinds of stuff when my brain gets overwhelmed, so this is just too real.

"FIRE MASSUSE"

"PRETEND YOU WENT TO JULLIARD"

"next role: paramedic vampire"

"is it MOMOA or MAMOA"

These are cracking me up so hard, I can't.

The cockroach story.

This seriously isn't talked about enough.

Right when I thought I couldn't fall any deeper for Colt's and Jody's relationship, they hit me with this.

Just imagine Colt on all fours, trying to usher that coakroach out of the room, while Jody just sits on the bed, telling him to get it done because she wants to start their movie night.

The domesticity this story implies is killing me in the best way possible.

You're so uncoordinated.

Another thing we just don't talk about enough is this scene right at the beginning:

This is kinda blurry but he totally bumbs her head on that cabinet behind her, and all she does is laugh it off and tell him he's uncoordinated.

And I just love the thought of Colt being this super profesh stuntman, always double-checking everything to make sure it's safe to do the stunts and roll the cameras, but going back to being so adorably clumsy the second the adrenaline rush wears off.

I will never get over this.

That's my girl.

Colt reacting like this when Gail says "That's my girl." is everything to me.

It's so cute, and you know it's exactly what he thought as well, 'cause he is so freaking proud of Jody. It's just so perfect.

"You blew yourself up!"

Tom telling Colt he's supposed to be dead 'cause he blew himself up, then proceeding to blow himself up is amazing writing, and shows how much thought went into this whole thing.

This movie is so good at foreshadowing itself, and I can't get enough of it.

Bonus:

He gets three bars on his phone, and then there are three explosions errupting.

This is satisfying my brain on another level. I can't even put it into words.

Spicy margaritas

Yet another beautiful conversation, that comes full-circle in the end.

Just casually planning a trip to the beach in the middle of the film production chaos, I love that for them.

(The way Ryan says "spicy margarita" is a beautiful thing, that haunts my dreams in the best way possible.)

In conclusion

I love this movie with all my heart, and I could talk hours and hours about how amazing it is.

There's so much more I love about it, but it's just too much to fit it all in here, so these are just the small things that make it extra special for me.

Honerable mentions go to:

- Dan Tucker, master of movie quotes, and best friend Colt Seavers could ever ask for.

- Colt Seaver's coffee side quest.

- The movie lighting a Ryan Gosling sized fire under my ass, promting me to forget about life, and get a new obsession.

[charlieeenby]

you put me in the ground, i ain't done

chapter 2: the second

becoming Robin, loosing him, and meeting Tim.

warnings and tags: talon Dick Grayson, adoption, major character death, (jason) mediocre parent Bruce, angst

title from i ain't done by the crane wives

Adjusting to life at Wayne Manor took time for Talon and Jason. Longer for Talon because Bruce wanted to find out who they’d been before they were Talon, but Talon had no interest in that.

In private, Talon wondered if they’d had a family, people who cared for them the way they cared for Jason, people who missed him.

And for a while, Bruce let it go. But every so often, he’d bring it up. Talon would growl and walk away, finding Jason and hiding both of them away. (Alfred knew where they were, but he’d never tell.)

Eventually, Bruce gave up, but he told Talon that if they ever changed their mind, he was’d be happy to help. Talon had responded with a hiss.

When Jason became Robin, Talon threw a fit. They grabbed Jason and hid the boy away, somewhere even Alfred couldn’t find them. Bruce and Alfred knew they were still in the house because food was going missing, but they never saw either one of them for almost two weeks.

“T, I’ll be okay, I swear.”

Talon tugged Jason closer. “Mine. Mine.” they cooed, petting Jason’s hair and grooming him.

“Yeah, T, I’m yours, but I can help people. People like me and you. Kids who need a friend. Victims of abuse or muggings. I can stop the bad guys.” Jason said gently, leaning into Talon.

For a while, a few hours, Talon said nothing. Over the next week and a half, Talon barely talked to Jason, just held the boy close. But one day, they pulled Jason onto their lap, setting their chin on his head.

“Little bird help people?”

“Yeah, T, I wanna help people.”

Talon sighed. “Only if Bat is there. No Bat, no little bird. Understand?”

Jason giggled, not that he’d ever admit it. “Yeah. Only if Batman is there.”

That got Talon to crack, and they nuzzled against Jason’s temple. “Talon will wait. You will come home or Talon will come get you and their will be no more little bird being Robin. Understand?”

Jason hugged Talon. “Yeah, I understand, T. Thank you.”

For the first year of Jason being Robin, Talon was incredibly anxious. They paced the length of the cave while Bruce and Jason were out and on a handful of occasions, followed the pair at a distance. They never intervened, just watched.

Bruce knew about this, but allowed it.

But over time, Talon relaxed a little, and stopped pacing the cave while waiting. They still waited, sitting high up on a ledge or right next to Alfred.

When Jason started acting out and being secretive, Talon tried to help, tried to figure out what was wrong, what they boy was hiding.

They learned nothing and Jason only pushed them farther away.

Then one day, Jason got into an argument with Bruce and then he ran away. Talon couldn’t find him. Talon’s little bird was gone and their was nothing they could do.

Talon was angry and hurt and sad. Jason was gone, in the ground. They wanted the pain to stop and they wanted their Jason back.

Instead, they had a rock with Jason’s name on it and an angry Bruce.

Bruce had yelled at Talon earlier so they had left and gone into Gotham, looking for bad people to hurt. But instead, Talon had found a small boy with a camera.

The boy had fallen asleep on a roof and Talon was worried that someone would hurt the small child.

Creeping up next to him slowly, Talon kicked a rock to make noise and wake the boy.

He startled and sat up, looking around wildly, freezing when he saw Talon. Neither of them said anything for a moment.

Talon waved at the little boy, and then to Talon’s amazement, the boy waved back.

“Hi.” he said quietly. “Who are you?” he asked Talon.

“Talon. You hurt?”

The boy shook his head, “No, just tired.”

“Go home. Be safe.” Talon said, worried.

The boy winced.

“Home not safe?” Talon questioned.

“It’s not home. No one else is there.”

Talon searched for the word for a moment. “Parents?”

The boy shook his head.

“Brother or sister or... other?”

“Siblings?” Talon nodded. “I don’t have any.”

“Friends?”

“No.”

Talon frowned. Small children needed people. That’s what Alfred had told them and Alfred was always right when he said stuff like that. Then an idea struck Talon.

“Come home with Talon. New family.”

“I can’t do that.” the boy said.

“Small child needs people.”

The boy tilted his head in confusion. “Huh?”

Talon hummed. “You small child.”

“Yeah.”

“Small child need people. You need people.”

“Oh. No, I’m okay. I have people, they’re just not at home right now, that’s all.”

“Then small child go home and wait for people. Or small child goes with Talon.”

The boy smiled. “I’ll go home.” the boy stood. “It was nice to meet you, Talon.” he said and Talon smiled at him.

Talon scooped up the boy, Tim, as they’d learned, and started walking towards the batmobile. Batman was there, waiting, and he frowned when he saw the boy in Talon’s arms.

“Talon, what...?”

“Small child needs people.” Talon said and got into the vehicle. Batman got in as well.

“Talon, we can’t just take children.”

Talon glared at Batman who winced, sighed, then started the engine.

“It’s okay, Mr. Batman.” Tim said softly.

Batman sighed again but said nothing.

Tim was a strange child. Jason had taken up a lot of space in Talon’s life, but it seemed like Tim was trying to take up as little space as possible. He never got seconds for meals, which worried Talon and Alfred. Bruce was… aware.

Talon also noticed that unless Talon offered affection, Tim never sought it out. So Talon started offering it more and more. They were careful never to assume that Tim wanted it, because there were rare occasions when Tim would say no.

Which Talon had no issue with, though they still worried. Talon’s favorite time with Tim was when Tim would come sit near Talon and work. This allowed Talon to keep an eye on his new bird while also respecting Tim’s boundaries.

When Tim became Robin, Talon actually held him hostage, hissing and growling at Bruce whenever the man tried to talk to them or get Tim. They allowed Alfred to bring food, but for a week, Tim and Talon were in the cave showers.

It wasn’t until Bruce came over and said that Talon could come with them that they let Tim go. For months, Talon was very clearly angry with Bruce and had no issue making that known.

[alomone]

Hurt/comfort with brahms x m reader

You can decide what it's about but I just need reader and brahms on a bed, brahms on top of reader like a weighted blanket and damn he's heavy and damn is he huge in comparison to you, but you fit togther so perfectly and his hair is so soft (reader has forced him to shower ofc)

Or like brahms huge ass body sitting on readers lap, and its not even like reader is petite or anything, hes a well built man, its just hilarious how brahms cuddles a man smaller than him all the while he sits on his lap

: ̗̀➛ Holding you

Brahms heelshire x male reader

CW : Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Past relationship that ended badly

Words : 776

Author's note : Thank you for the request I really appreciate it :3

The days had been going pretty slowly for the past week, and you were bored out of your mind, you had finished most of the task on the list for Brahms for the moment. It wasn't that late enough to go to bed yet so you waited in the living room, a random book in your hands with an interesting title. Brahms was off to one of the many windows, looking out in the garden, watching the birds.

He had found a certain interest in watching them a few weeks earlier, he was still his old self, refusing to go out or that you go out of the house, it was also always taking a long time to persuade him to take a shower. It has always been like this ever since he first showed himself to you.

You suddenly heard your phone ringing, Brahms jumped at the sound and turned his head toward the table where it was placed. Getting up from the couch, you went over to grab your phone and answer the unexpected call, wandering who could call you.

When you saw the number on the screen, you almost dropped your phone, not expecting them to call you after your break up. You hesitated before answering, maybe it was important. Brahms couldn't hear what was said on the caller's side, but he could feel and hear you getting mad and it was not pleasant to hear that.

"You can't and won't have me back. I'm not an object that you can own for some times and threw away when you don't want it again! I stopped loving you some times ago already. Stop calling me. I'm serious." You almost shouted, trying to hold back your anger towards your ex-partner. It wasn't easy for you, you two had been together for a while when what felt like coming out of nowhere, your partner broke up with you.

You had been so surprised, and heart broken at the time that you felt like your life had stopped for some times, feeling like an empty shell. Now you felt better, you had a job that you liked and most of all, you had Brahms. Your life with him was something else, truly, you felt way better than when you were with your ex.

Brahms, hearing you getting mad, got away from the window and approached you, not knowing what to do he went and slowly placed his hand on your shoulder, squeezing softly as he felt you raising your voice at your ex.

"Don't call me back." You finally said before hanging up the phone; you placed it back on the table and turned back towards Brahms, you sighed while looking in his eyes, almost searching for something in them. "It's okay, Brahms, I just need to calm down for a bit, yeah?" he tilted his head towards you, making the forehead of the mask touched yours, closing your eyes, you took a deep breath.

"Let's go upstairs?" You proposed to him, gently taking his hand in yours as you started heading towards the stairs, he followed you without a word, as always. You ended up sitting on your bed, Brahms stayed up, watching you, you lifted your arms and slowly grabbed his waist, making him take a step towards you.

"I'm happy that you're here." you whispered to him, keeping your hands on him and holding him close to you, he ended up on your lap to be even closer. You felt like you could stay like this for hours on end, having him close to you always felt comforting. A sigh left your lips as you leaned your head against his chest. "I love having you here with me, Brahms, it's nice."

He hummed softly and cupped your face with his hands, making you look directly into his eyes. You looked at Brahms for a few seconds there, you saw the worry in his eyes and you felt bad for it. "It's going to be okay, Brahms, I promise. I'm not angry anymore," You said calmly to him as you couldn't help let your hand wander in his hair, slowly caressing his scalp. "You are my only priority here, not him, not anymore." You tried to never lie to Brahms, not once, you were a man of your words and it was important for you that he trusted you fully.

You and Brahms spent most of the evening like this, in each other's arms, enjoying the proximity and the warmth of the embrace. Not seeing the time go by as you forgot about the chores that you needed to do and your horrible ex.

[damiemontclair]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Huā Chéng/Xiè Lián (Tiān Guān Cì Fú) Characters: Xiè Lián (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Huā Chéng (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Qī Róng's Mother (Tiān Guān Cì Fú) (mentioned) Additional Tags: Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Kinda, soulmates disappeared from the world as people stopped believing in them, using tgcf god mechanics but on the belief that soulmates exist, I am noticing a trend in all my hualian soulmate fics btw, cookie if you can tell what it is XD Series: Part 13 of Damie's MXTX-tober 2023 Summary:

Day 13: Past & Soulmate - HuaLian

When Xie Lian was a child, Xianle had been one of the few nations that still believed in soulmates.

[destinywillowleaf]

one of a kind living in a world gone plastic

baby you're so classic

@most-tragic-character-tournament

(all my thoughts in the tags)

[creechurfoundincheckerboardvoid]

one year redraw 💚

old art:

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Shadowstruck: Chapter One

The room had too many shadows. They filled the corners of Mama’s sick room, where heavy velvet curtains blocked the noise of passing carriages. They stretched from her bedposts, from the doctor’s medicines and instruments sitting next to the kerosene lamp on her bedside table. Sometimes one looked alarmingly human-shaped, and Clara feared the worst, until she saw the faint flickering heartlight around Mama’s form.

Mama’s heartlight, usually a bright, cheerful yellow, had faded to the color of old paper, barely visible in that dim room. Clara’s heartlight, as always, matched it to a shade, which made her feel like she was dying, too.

In Clara’s twelve years of life, she could barely remember spending more than an hour away from her mother. Mama had been her playmate, her caretaker, her teacher, her greatest friend.

Clara held Mama’s hand between both of hers, trying to rub some warmth into the cold fingers. Suddenly, Mama’s heartlight flared like a camera bulb. Her eyes flew open and she clutched at Clara’s arms. “Jeff!” she cried, as if watching him drown. “Jeff!”

Dr. Chambers' nurse rushed from her shadowed corner to Mama’s bedside; her comforting lavender heartlight glowed faintly around Mama’s head as she tried to calm her. “Your husband is well, Mrs. Lynwood. You should rest.”

Mama pushed away the nurse’s hands. “Where’s Jeff? I must speak to him!”

Neither Clara nor the nurse could quiet her, so at last the nurse called for the shade.

The boy--who seemed to be a year or two younger than Clara--looked pale and harmless, but he gave Clara the shivers. Papa didn't keep any shades--had never let any in the house until the nurse insisted she needed the extra hands--so this one, casting a shadow instead of a heartlight, looked like an unnatural intruder in this civilized room.

The nurse ordered the shade to fetch Papa from the Senate. The moment he left the room, Mama fell back against the pillows, exhausted.

Clara shuddered as the boy's long, black shadow slithered down the hallway before him. “Papa won’t come with a shade,” she said.

“He’ll come for your mother,” the nurse replied.

And the nurse was right. Papa burst into the room minutes later, the black sash of his senatorial robe still waving behind him, his orange heartlight as strong and vibrant as he was.

Jefferson Lynwood looked nothing like a famed, formidable senator as he rushed to kneel beside his wife's bed.

“I’m here, Minna!” he said, taking her hand.

Mama’s heartlight was dimmer than Clara had ever seen it, but her eyes were wide open and her whisper was strong. “Promise me, Jeff. No matter what happens, promise me you will care for Clara.”

Papa cast a quizzical glance at Clara. Clara didn’t understand it any more than he did. She was much younger than her brothers, and Papa stayed busy with senatorial work, but he was still as fond a father as she could ask for.

“Of course I will, darling,” Papa soothed. “You’ve nothing to worry about.”

Mama gripped his shoulders and looked into his face. “No matter what happens,” she insisted. “Promise me you will care for her as your daughter.”

“I would never do anything less.”

“Swear it!”

“I swear it, Minna, on my own right hand.”

Mama fell back against her pillows, satisfied. She was asleep within moments.

Papa shared a look with Clara. “Do you understand it, Clara?” His mustache twitched. “Has she given you reason to think you’re not--”

“No. Never.”

Papa shook his head. “Probably raving. Chambers warned me that might happen, near the end.” Papa scowled back at the doorway. “Probably comes of being around shades. I told Chambers I didn’t want those creatures near her!”

Clara had heard all his lectures about the dangers of shades—how they were soulless, shadow-casting creatures who fed off the heartlights of humans. Shades looked human-shaped to Clara, and Mama urged her to treat them with respect, but she never argued with Papa. Right now, Clara wasn’t sure she wanted to. The doctor kept a few shades as house slaves like most people did; Clara hadn’t thought anything of it when he left one to assist the nurse, but what if they were what kept Mama from getting well? The doctor had said that he couldn’t understand why she was fading—she should easily have been able to easily overcome this cold.

For the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, neither Clara nor Papa left Mama’s side. Mama never opened her eyes. Her breathing became harsher, but none of the nurse’s medicines helped. Sometimes she stopped breathing for almost a minute, but the continued glow of her heartlight assured Clara she yet lived.

Clara cried—she couldn’t help it. Sometimes Papa did, too. They both loved Mama. Without her, what would their little family become?

At last, Mama gasped, gave one last deep breath—then stopped. Her face went still and icy white. Her heartlight went out like a snuffed candle.

At the exact same moment, so did Clara’s. Her yellow heartlight—the comforting ever-present glow that was her—disappeared.

On the wall, black and menacing in the light of the kerosene lamp, stretched her shadow.

It looked exactly like a shade’s.

[peaches2217]

Okay, who kickstarted the return of the Mareach baby fever? Because I logically shouldn’t post even more Expectant/Parent Mareach when I literally just posted one such fic two days ago but DAMMIT NOW I’M IN A MOOD.

…in my defense, for all the crap I’ve posted, I still haven’t given my fankid a name. 😅

[moonpaw]

One of the elders being named saturn, and the fact that it's confirmed that one of the ancient weapons is a living person along with their planet names, I wonder if the ancient "weapons" were all living people/beings and if the three either defected or was a part of the same group as the elders way back?

There's also the whole thing with the sun too, as well

[chemicalarospec]

What Makes a Ship Demolition Lovers Core?

I want to do a series where I make posts for a bunch of my ships evaluating their Demolition Lovers AU potential (though who knows if I will). I figured it’d make the most sense to set up these basics in a separate post instead of just squeezing it in the first one.

Oh, and if anyone doesn’t know (A/N: u don’t belong here, prepz!!!), the Demolition Lovers story, is, in short: “the story of a man, a woman, and the CORPSES OF A THOUSAND EVIL MEN” outlaw lovers gunned down to restore their lives and reunite, one approaches the devil and a deal seals: “bring me the souls of 1000 evil men.” 999 he slays, only to realize the blood has sullied his soul and the 1000th is himself

traits of the demolition lovers dynamic:

the ship is not unfamiliar with “darkness” and “death” . inspecific phrasing but like basically they just gotta be a little emo

willingness to “sell soul” - turn to dark forces

willingness to kill — they don’t HAVE to be a murder couple to fit a demolition lovers AU but nobody can be a goody two-shoes (murder couple is another category on my list of favorite dynamics - status is determined by canon amounts of violence)

the non-killing character must have the capacity to find the killing endearing/romantic. this trait isn’t featured in the original demolition lovers lore but it’s a part of how I see it plus since they were described as Bonnie and Clyde-esque, I think it’s an easy assumption. speaking of their pre-death dynamic,

partners in crime

mutual commitment that reaches codependency — extreme devotion — inseparable in this life and the afterlife. They would fight for each other!! if one dies, they do NOT move on

Notably, the original demolition lovers has that bit of sexism to it where the man does the whole killing thing and the woman doesn’t. Sometimes I like to change this up and split the labor, sometimes I work with it as is -- depends on the canon of the ship.

uh I don't have an ending for this post. that's all for now!

[chirpsythismorning]

🎨 🖼️ 🌈 🩹 🧍🏽💡 🔮⚡️☄️

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John

previous ⏪︎ now playing ⏩ next back to playlist

[lexinympho]

Oikawa yawns and types out another well practiced response to someone's congratulatory text, managing to spice up his "thank you"s just enough to not seem like he's throwing out the same two words over and over.

He does mean it everytime though. He was delightfully surprised by the impromptu party his teammates put together for him, and quite literally spent hours talking to his high school friends, even walking decades down memory lane with Iwaizumi. He received numerous messages and comments from fans online, giving attention to the whole community through post instead of singling out a select few. As for gifts, it's reminiscent of his time at Aoba Johsai when he'd spend all day and the next going through everything.

Yeah, happy birthday to me.

Except it's not happy because it's sundown and he has yet to hear from you aside from a quick text you sent him around midnight at your time. It's something you'd previously told him would unfortunately happen today (of all days) due to your livelihood and job. You always had the tradition of being the first to wish him happy birthday right when the clock hits 12, so the fact that you didn't say anything to him until hours later is telling of how busy you must be.

You made sure to stress that you'd speak with him more when you find the time though, which he understands, but that doesn't really help his loneliness as he waits for you to call or at least text again before his day is over with.

Oikawa will say with certainty that there wasn't anything he deeply hated about being a professional volleyball player. Occasional annoyances of travel and adulthood in general are a given, but all of that is something he'd grown to live with, to the point that most of those annoyances simply fade into the background and become the new norm.

Being thousands of miles away from you is not a norm, never will be. It's much more than an annoyance that could easily be dealt with or accepted for what it is; not being able to see and hear you in person is something that grates at his soul without ever holding back. His phone can only do so much to ease his woes by allowing him to communicate with you from Argentina, and he can count on one hand how many times either of you physically met since his endeavor.

So, Oikawa can say with certainty that he deeply hated this. The conflicting time zones, missed calls or texts being caught up on later, and just not being able to hold you nearly as much as he would before pursuing his dream.

He turned back to his phone when he felt it vibrate in his hand, proceeding to sit up in bed so fast that his blood is rushing to catch up with the fast change in elevation. He paid no mind to the dizzy spell however, being much more invested in his phone the second he saw your icon appear. He doesn't wait to answer your call with an excited, "Hello!?"

"Excited much?" You quipped, but the guilt in your words was clear as day when you said, "Sorry I couldn't call sooner."

It's fine, is what he would say if it were at all fine, so he instead says, "It couldn't be helped, you had things to do."

"Well..."

He discerned the playful undertone to your voice when you trailed off, "What?" He makes a mental note of the background noise consisting of other voices and the sounds of busy people, They definitely aren't home right now.

"I actually got off of work early~"

He asked with a quirk of his eyebrow, "And what, pray tell, did you get off early for?"

"For your gift you volleyball addict." You don't let him retort to the lighthearted jest as you continue, "I needed enough time to get it ready and shipped over there."

"Shipped?" You speak as though you just got the gift together and sent it out today, meaning he definitely wouldn't be seeing it today. "Wouldn't it have made more sense to do it like a week earlier?"

"It would've arrived too soon then."

"I'd rather it be early than late, don't you?"

"Who says it'll be late?"

He hears a car door close on your side, but again decides to not comment and chooses to answer, "The clock that says 10:53 pm behind me."

"The shipping company says it should be there in 5 minutes or so."

The more you speak, the greater his confusion becomes. He jokes, "You must've paid triple for fast delivery."

"Something like that. It is a special one," you laugh with him before sighing, "Well, I have to go now, but keep an eye out for that gift."

"If it gets here on time. Otherwise, it's a belated gift."

"Right, you'd never let me live it down." Oikawa catches someone else's voice after you say that and nearly asks about your whereabouts until you pipe up quickly, "I really have to go, but I'll see you later, okay? Love you!"

You hang up, preventing him from calling you out on your little slip of the tongue.

'See you later'? Maybe it was an accident. Yeah. They've done that before.

Though he brushes aside his suspicions, they swim around his brain for the 5 minutes you'd informed him of earlier as he lingers on his phone for a bit longer. The longer he mindlessly scrolls through social media, the more apparent the red flags from before become now that his brain's had time to wake up and think over the phone call.

There's no way your job would let you leave at 10 am when you go in at 7. The earliest you've ever managed to take off was 3 pm, any earlier only being possible for emergencies.

Why would you wait until now to tell him about a gift, let alone send it? You aren't the type to be late with things like this, so it doesn't sound right for you to be sending it this late.

And speaking of sound, where the heck are you? You took advantage of his tired state and managed to avoid any mention of what you were doing. You even cut the call short.

...I'm too tired for this.

As badly as he wants to close his eyes, he does want to see this "special" gift you promised him. He doesn't get much time to wonder what the gift is when he hears 3 oddly familiar and solid knocks at his front door.

"Coming!" He yelled through his 8th yawn, drowsy yet anticipating while dragging himself out of his room to answer. Another red flag waves in the back of his mind once he reaches the door, this time reminding him of how much Iwaizumi, Mattsun, and Makki asked about you while not explaining why.

Wait-

His confirmation comes in the form of you, visibly exhausted yet overjoyed to see him as you jump through the door frame to wrap Oikawa in a hug and exclaim, "Happy birthday!"

He's still processing how he didn't realize what you were doing sooner, blaming it on the long day he'd had that wore him out.

He soon hugs you back, still surprised but feeling the infectious elation from you, and says, "You're the gift, huh?"

You lift your head to sleepily grin at him and respond, "I said it was special, didn't I?"

He's compelled to smile back, "Yeah, you did."

He's just a few steps away from hitting the hay, his social battery is low from today's events, and he hardly spoke to you until now.

But you're here, and that's truly what matters most to him, so he supposes his birthday is happy this year.

©lexinympho 2022, please do not edit or repost my works anywhere on this platform or another

[dutybcrne]

Thinkings thinkings of Fatui!Kaeya have been reawakened in reviewing Arle's teasers/animations

[stardustandash]

I'm just about ready to post the first chapter of Cal's Memory Loss Adventure™️ but i am once again faced with my nemesis...

[insomnya777]

hi i just want to say i reallllyyy love your smalletho superhero au on ao3 it's amazing and aughhhh im so so insane about it and i cant sayy anyyythinggg to my friends cause ofc theyre twitter people and i have to be insane about your fic alone *sad face*

i love love love the amount of taylor swift titles btw

(also id go insane if you name a fic after false god or i can see you lyrics just a thought hehe)

awwww thank u so much omg! i lovelovelove naming things after songs i love (which is why there's so much taylor and olivia rodrigo LOL) and omg ive been thinking about lyrics from i can see you for a while now actually!!

[nailtagyuri]

when i was 12 this was the coolest most mindblowing shit ever i was genuinely so obsessed with it I'd read it very day like the bible. I would die for a version of this with the post 3D world content over my country