#repeatedly telling me he has no problem with what they do for a living like it’s their business

[autumnmobile12]

My Hero Academia AU: What Happened on Friday

An Ambush Simulation comic.

Fair warning, this is not one of my usual lighthearted ones. If you’ve read the fic, you’ll know the scene, but if you haven’t, be warned there is brief domestic violence and some blood. Nothing more serious than what's already in My Hero's canon.

Read right-to-left.

Ah, yes. The inciting moment for The Summer Camp Ambush Simulation.

Addressing the reason why things escalated so quickly, since the answer is not really given in the accompanying fic either, we need to look at Endeavor’s point of view. He’s invested twenty-three years into his goal of trying to complete his perfect successor. He has almost succeeded with Shouto, except the events of Hosu City nearly jeopardized that beyond repair. Shouto is his last chance. He can’t have another kid, it’s unlikely he can train a grandchild to succeed him. (You can’t tell me he didn’t consider that.) Shouto being charged with vigilantism and having that black mark could have ruined everything he’s worked so hard for.

And now Touya, his past failure and current problem child who has been charged repeatedly with vigilantism, is stepping between him and Shouto and mouthing off. He’s interfering, just like his mother did.

Old 'habits' die hard.

...

I thought about cutting the comic short with the brothers heading to the bathroom, but I thought it was important to also include Touya's toxic behavior. Yeah, he has PTSD, abandonment trauma, and who knows what else, but acting like this isn't healthy either.

In Chapter 2, Touya fixates on the fact that Endeavor hit him. He barely pays attention to the fact Shouto was there.

In Chapter 3, Shouto is the one whose pov provides the whole picture. He was being scolded and then Touya stood up for him. Touya has never stood up for him, nor does he really understand why he did it. During the confrontation, Endeavor hits Touya. Endeavor has never done that before. Two of Shouto's 'normals' got overturned in the span of two minutes. He's confused, but he still tries to do the right thing by his hostile sibling.

And rather than accept his help, Touya lashes out at him again once the shock wears off. As he is in canon, he is still spiteful, self-destructive, and a bit self-pitying and returning home after the coma in this AU did little to change that because the core issue is Endeavor being a bad parent.

...

And if there's any confusion as to why Shouto sees Rei briefly after Touya is knocked to the floor, this is a bit of dialogue from the fic it's from:

"I spent my entire childhood listening to my mother crying because you hurt her over and over.  I refuse to live through that again with my brother."

...

Fun fact: I did not draw these pages in order.

Through the whole bathroom scene, all I could think was, "Shouto...baby...gloves."

...

Further comics for this AU, click here.

[satorusdiary]

dilf!toji being your ex bf

fluff & angst + making up + cuddling + toji not being able to resist you when you look so fragile + toji forever loving you

part 2! - back in love !

You sent 1:03 am

hey, r u awake?

toji places the cigarette back down on the ashtray, looking at his phone slightly shocked. it’s been months since you and him have had contact, the split up that has happened to your relationship has left a strain in his heart.

why did you text him at this hour? and most importantly, why aren’t you asleep? toji knows how well your sleep schedule usually was.

his friends look at him concerned, the look on toji’s face confusing them even more compared to when he stopped smoking repeatedly just a few seconds ago.

“fushiguro, you good?” satoru questions, patting his friends shoulder as he looks over at his friends phone. he wasn’t able to get a look at the message before toji pulls the phone into a direction that wasn’t able to be seen.

“yeah.. jus’ lemme call someone real quick.” before the rest of his friends could protest, toji is up and walking over to an empty room in the apartment. taking a seat on the bed.

Toji sent 1:09 am

thought i told you to lose my number

now that’s something he wouldn’t text you, he immediately starting regretting sending that message the second you immediately read the message.

you were his sweet little girl. the young woman who he swore he was gonna marry, the one he swore to have kids with.

things were different when he realized how much his life would have an impact on you if you stayed with him.

what’s good about a sweet girl who has a bright future getting with a older man selling illegal substances, that could send him to jail for years and years.

yeah not good at all.

toji knew what’s best for you, and if it meant him not being with you then it was worth it.

because he loved you, and would do physically anything in his power for you to have the best in life.

You sent 1:09 am

i know, i just need someone to talk to rn. i’m sorry

his heart weeps, you still want his comfort even after he has completely broke you, and your relationship with him.

he should be in jail for just breaking you in general.

toji sighs, not knowing how to reply. he wants to comfort you, yet he wants to push you away from his life. push you away from the trouble and the dangers that could happen to you.

he thinks you have given up until you text him 3 minutes later.

You sent 1:12 am

can i call you, please toji?

he couldnt deny it. he just couldnt. his love for you was simply unbreakable even if you weren’t together anymore.

his friends out in the living room are most likely concerned and worried for toji, but that’s the least of his problems. he needs to know if you’re okay, if you’re hurt.

‘incoming call from Toji’

he swears his heart skips a beat when the call goes through.

toji is not one to get nervous. especially with anything in general. but when it came to you, everything comes crashing down. when it comes to you, toji is willing to do anything for you, because you were his girl. his love.

“..hi” your voice is shaky, it seems you’re nervous as well. could he blame you though? this was the first time in months he has actually spoke to you.

“hey.” he replies, hoping you wouldn’t notice the weak tone in his voice as he spoke.

there’s a moment of silence, and soft breathing from your end before toji speaks up.

“are you ok? why’d you call me.”

it’s harsh, his tone is harsh. your eyes begin watering, and you hope he doesn’t notice.

“i-i am just having trouble sleeping, that’s all. ‘wanted your company atleast to calm me down.” your tone has a small strain, as if you were crying for hours before you called him.

it was as if he was able to see your puffy eyes through the screen, he could just imagine it now.

“there’s something else, hm? c’mon tell me, y’know i won’t judge.” especially with you. is what he wanted to say as-well, but he couldn’t get to soft with you now. he couldn’t.

he hears a sniffle from your end, feeling his heart clench once more. as if his heart is dropping to the bottom of his stomach.

“okay.. t-truth is i usually sleep better with you ‘round. but since you’re gone, ‘ts been kinda rough. i just wanted to call you for once, to see if it would help..” you confessed, voice breaking down in between sentences.

toji has an urge to put you down, and hang up. but he couldn’t, how could he resist you? especially after everything he has put you through.

the bracelet on his wrist that has your initials come into his vision. you had made this for him when he was sick, he has never took it off ever since.

“y’want me to come over? not gonna make contact, jus’ gonna be there til you sleep.” he says calmly, he swore he could’ve heard you sigh in relief.

“mhmm, yes please..” you’re still polite, his sweet girl is still sweet around him. that’s what he misses with you.

“alright’ be there in 10. jus know i’m never doin this shit again, kay?” he says harshly, too harsh.

you sniffle again, he could tell your frowning and having tears drop on your phone screen. his heart strings get tugged, and he calms his weeping heart.

he’s hurt you once again.

the call ends before you could say anything else, and he’s out of the bedroom quickly taking his keys. his friends look at him concerned.

“yo, you good?” suguru comments, looking up at his friend who was ready to leave the apartment.

“where you going?” satoru also questions.

toji shakes his head, letting out a deep sigh as he turns to look at his of friends once again.

“gonna be gone for a bit, see ya tomorrow?” he waves them off, and goes out the door before they could reply, or ask anymore questions.

he knows he said he would be at your place by 10 minutes, but he ends up arriving in 5 minutes. quickly at your door step, knocking on the door gently.

just as he predicted, you open the door almost immediately.

when he looks at you, he swears he could break down then and there. on your door step.

your eyes are puffy, you’re wearing his hoodie that he “accidentally” left at your home, and there were dried tear stains on your puffy cheeks.

he wanted to kiss your cheeks badly, and cradle you in his arms. but he resisted.

thats before you crash into his arms, immediately breaking down. hugging him tightly as if he was going to disappear again.

toji breaks, he can’t handle the cold act around you any longer.

“y/n? what’s wrong baby? speak to me..” toji coo’s, his harsh tone disappeared. you automatically feel comfort from his nice tone, something you missed.

there he is, the sweet older boyfriend you have always missed. the man who was your home, your protector, your everything.

“‘missed you s’much toji. miss being with you and megumi, i-i can’t sleep without thinking about how i could’ve been better for you.” you stutter repeatedly.

it was no lie that megumi missed you as well. the boy who is only 3 years old can not go a night without asking where you were, if you were coming back to him without breaking down. because you made the little boy feel loved.

toji’s heart breaks, now he notices how selfish he has been. yes he was protecting you, but he also broke you so much. regret seeps into his body, he wraps his arms around you and hugs you tightly.

“‘s not your fault sweets, you were more than enough for me. c’mon, let’s go to bed.” he murmurs, picking you up bridal style and walks towards your bedroom. the door behind him shutting closed.

the photo of you both happily together was still on your night stand, toji’s heart breaks for the millionth time in the past hour.

his side of the bed was cold, as if you never slept on it. that’s because it felt wrong sleeping on that side, knowing it once belonged to him.

you continue crying as you’re placed on the bed, still in toji arms. he’s careful with you, placing kisses on your face and rubbing your body to give you his heat.

“i-i miss you.. s’much.” you repeat, looking up at him for the first time with clear sight. tears drying back on your cheeks.

he gives you a sad smile and kisses both of your cheeks, sticky with tears.

“i miss you more sweetheart, missed my little girl s’much.. ‘l’ll explain everythin to you tomorrow, kay?” he questions, caressing your cold cheek.

the smile you give him is sad, but could easily melt the coldness in his heart.

after you nod he places a kiss on your lips, before pulling you closer, your head on his chest while is head is rested on top of yours.

the night goes by, and your soft snores fill the room. toji’s eyes are still glued onto the photo of you both, looking so happy, so dumb and in love.

he is gonna make that happen again, only for you. he’d figure out everything else soon, his priority was now you.

“i love you, missed you more than anything. baby.” he whispers quietly, placing one last kiss to your temple before drifting off to sleep.

for the first time in months he is able to sleep with no bad feelings, or any nightmares.

that is because you’re by his side, by his side to push away all the bad thoughts. by his side to make him feel loved again.

Jujutsu Kaisen masterlist

part 2 - back in love !

a/n: don’t mind typos pls, it’s like 3:47 am😭😭

[peachesofteal]

Cool Girl

Ghoap x female reader / 18+ / previous

You live your life like nothing happened.

Or at least, you try.

You go to work after the weekend is over, smile at yourself in the mirror repeatedly to make sure nothing seems amiss, fix your hair, your makeup, your clothes until you appear collected- and cool.

It's much easier to shove it all down, to try to block it out, instead of really thinking about it. Dissecting it until it turns your stomach and makes you sick.

They didn't choose you. Get over it.

Still, a piece of your heart latches onto the bouquet. The look on Johnny's face. The way he begged.

Maybe...

No.

You're fine, and you don't need them, and you're unaffected.

You're dead on your feet by the time you get home. The entire day was a slog, slow and heavy, and you spent most of it wading through paperwork and numbers, lines of spreadsheets blurring together in your head until they became a jumbled mess.

You need a glass of wine.

Or a bottle.

It doesn't take anyone much convincing. You manage to wrangle two friends into meeting up at the bar down the street, the one that has half priced bottles on Monday night. It's a match made in heaven, for your sanity and your wallet, and it feels good to let go a little bit. Try to let them go, even.

One bottle turns to two, and you hardly bat an eye. The misery you're doomed to experience because of this is a tomorrow problem.

You're stuck on the sidewalk.

Tab paid, friends gone, and you're still here, back against a brick wall, staring at the street, watching cars and people pass by.

You're frozen in time. Trapped inside this moment, turning yourself over and over in your mind.

Maybe you'll end up alone. Maybe it just won't happen for you. You'll always be a secret, a casual fuck, a nothing to no one.

A nothing to them.

The idea, the thought of being alone for the rest of your life washes a cold chill over your skin.

It's a breezy night, comfortable by all standards, but still, you shiver, trying to maintain your balance in the sloshing sea of your equilibrium, overpowered by too many glasses of Malbec.

You stare at your phone. It feels like you're not in the driver's seat, in this moment, like you're not in your body. You're watching yourself scroll through you contacts, watching yourself open Johnny's, click the icon for a phone call-

and then you're silent when he answers on the first ring, your name cracking from his mouth like a thunderclap. Panicked. Excited.

But you say nothing. There's noise in the background, people out on the patio, on the sidewalk, talking, laughing, carrying on. Spilling out from the mouth of the bar like a flood.

"Can ye hear me?"

"Yeah." you whisper, like it's a secret.

"What're ye doin'?"

"I'm drunk." you blurt, eyeing a group of guys. "Think 'm gonna take someone home." What? What are you saying? Stop talking.

"Where are you?" It's Simon now, keyed up, rough and impatient.

"At a bar."

"It's Monday." You never go out on Monday. You know that, and they know too. You're always in bed by ten, ready to get up at the crack of dawn to head into work.

"It's Monday." You repeat, steel edge of your phone digging in the skin of your palm.

"Where are you?" He demands, again, and you shake your head.

"Dunno-" the denial is interrupted by a hiccup. "At a bar, like I said." What're you doing? You're antagonizing them.

"Love, tell us where ye are, we'll come-" You press the big red button to end the call. Cutting him off, cutting them both off, shutting them out.

And then you know, you can feel it in your bones-

You shouldn't have done that.

[suiana]

your boyfriend has been acting weird lately (various yandere characters x gn reader) (ANGSTOBER DAY 2)

"babe are you-"

"can you quit talking? seriously, you're so damn annoying."

"...i only wanted to ask whether you were hungry..."

you stare at your boyfriend, lips pursed as he continues to type away on his phone. he's been like this for three weeks now. getting mad at you for no reason, cursing at you... did you do something wrong?

all you ever wanted was to be a good significant other and he's acting like he's on his period or something! jesus, can't he be a little bit more mature too?! picking fights with you for no reason, making a big fuss over nothing... and not even telling you why?!

...

you know what?

you had it with him.

"hey, what's your problem huh?! why are you so edgy nowadays huh? did i do something wrong?!"

your once loving boyfriend stares at you, eyes and mouth wide at your sudden outburst. he takes a moment to compose himself, eyebrows furrowing the second he thinks things through.

"god you're so damn stupid. I've been repeatedly telling you, haven't i? i hate you. what can't you understand?! this is why I'm always getting mad, damnit!"

you scoff at him, arms folded in front of your chest as you try to keep your cool... only for your anger to get the better of you, resulting in a screaming festival between you and your boyfriend.

"hate me? you can't expect me to believe that. not when you were literally obsessed with me up till three weeks ago?!"

"i-"

"you used to threaten people just for looking at me! you even tried to kill someone because they asked for my number! and now you want me to believe that you hate me? stop with your bullshit."

".. actually-"

"oh. are you seeing someone else? is that what this is? you're trying to make me break up with you, is that it?"

"n-... you know what? yeah, yeah it is. i want to break up with you. I've found someone else that i love more than you."

your boyfriend states, eyes dead as he stares straight at you. he breathes calmly, as if he weren't affected by this at all. meanwhile, your heart felt as though it had shattered into many tiny pieces. tears fell from your eyes, unable to be held back any longer as you broke down, falling to your knees as the male just stares at you stoicly.

"let's never see each other again."

he mumbles, turning on his heel, swiftly leaving you alone to wallow in your sadness in the once lively apartment. shit... you hadn't expected things to end like this.

"he's a fucking jerk..."

you think through your tears, vision blurry as you clutch your chest. you really loved him and he just?? left?? how could he be so heartless?

if he didn't love you he could've just said something about it. he didn't have to be so mean and hurt your feelings before finally bringing up another person! god damnit, why did you have to fall for such a person?!

you cried, wailing as you cursed your now ex-boyfriend.

"fuck! i hate you! i hate you so much! i hope i never see you again! just disappear from my life! you just left me to die here! stupid ex-boyfriend! i hate giving you my love!"

what you didn't know however, was that your 'heartless' boyfriend had stood outside your door, frowning at your every word, regretting everything he had done up until that moment. because he had loved you too. truly.

he loved you so damn much that he wanted to tear out his hair every single time he was mean to you. he wanted to tell you that he didn't mean any single one of those hurtful words. he wanted to cry and beg for your forgiveness every single time he did anything hurtful to you.

but it was for your own good. it was to keep you safe. and if he needed to hurt you to keep you safe, he'd do it. because he loved you too much to see someone else hurt you.

and being with him meant that there was always a risk of you getting hurt. so how could he allow that to happen when it could be prevented? how could he let his selfish feelings get in the way when you were such a precious little thing? sure, he loves you and he'll do anything in his power to ensure your safety but what if he can't protect you one day?

what if one day you just... get used against him? he's a dangerous man and has a lot of enemies. surely they'll find out that you're his weakness. of course he has gotten rid of anyone who might harm you now but who's to say that there won't be more in the future?

which is why he has to severe all ties with you now. he can't risk it. because he may be strong, but he may not be strong enough for whoever may come in the future. that's why he's been doing what he's been doing-making you hate him so that it hurts less when he decides that it's time to leave. he assumes that it's working wonderfully, after all you've never once noticed his puffy eyes in the morning.

"at least... they'll be safe now."

and disappear he will, for he has too many regrets welling up in the depths of his soul from what he did to you. he'll make sure to never come across you again, instead lurking in your shadow, observing you from afar.

a star like you need not be dirtied by his presence anymore.

dazai osamu, akutagawa ryunosuke, megumi fushiguro, blade, scaramouche/wanderer, your faves<3

[kinopio-writes]

Hello! Could you write platonic Dad!Adam headcanons? Thank you,

A/N: Lol. Don’t expect too much out of this guy because…it’s Adam. Heavily focused on him rather than the reader, sorry. Also, I might have gone a little overboard with this one because, uh, this was supposed to be only headcanons as you said, and the not-requested ‘drabble’ ended up being a few scenarios with a one-on-one convo with Adam and Sera at the end. 3rd POV and the reader is referred to as they/it, btw. Enjoy.

Holy sh!t I reread your request again and I don’t know if you meant that the reader is supposed to be the child or fuuuuuuuu—tell me if that’s not what you wanted, I had fun writing this nonetheless.

Words: 727 (not including the bullet points, edited)

Warnings: Very vulgar language, Sex is mentioned, Adam being Adam

———

How Adam would be as a Father (Reader is the child)

• first things first, the only way I can see Adam become a dad was because he accidentally impregnated a chick when she fucking swore that, oh, no, Adam, I’m on birth control. Oh, don’t worry, Adam, you don’t have to finish in my mouth. Oh, no need, Adam, I’ve got it covered. Oh, it’s okay, Adam—yes, this is Adam mocking her

• so imagine his surprise when he found a fucking child at his doorstep crying like a little bitch

• “What the fuck?” was his first reaction

• he’d find a note that said something-something about oh who gives a fuck about her and her sob story about having to leave the child in his care?

• what mattered was—“THAT FUCKING BITCH LIED TO ME!”

• after that whole ordeal, he would sit in his gigantic ass living room, slumping on his couch with arms crossed and grumbling complaints as if he was the child

• the first few weeks he would really just let someone else take care of the kid

• Lute would be the caretaker most of the time since she’s around Adam a lot

• the problem was that she’s an exterminator

• her purpose was to kill sinners and she certainly didn’t have babysitting on her list of skills

• so eventually, the responsibilities would fall back on Adam

• of course, he had attempted to get in contact with the woman

• he came back with nothing

• wait, nothing? Holy shit, he left the baby—

• and, if you’re wondering, I don’t think Heaven has adoption centers or whatnot because everyone is responsible when they’re thinking of having a child

• but, hey, how hard would looking after a child would be?

• probably accidentally dropped the kid once before

• will get mad that he can’t do his guitar solos because they would start to cry even louder

• has probably nearly suffocated it by leaving a pillow in their crib

• doesn’t know how to hold it properly

• eventually got it right by observing some of Heaven’s residents

• thinks he’s the best dad because of it

• speaking of residents, they most likely don’t know that the first man has a child

• dude, you really think he’d be caught dead with a kid?

• nuh-uh

• sometimes forgets he has a kid

• have left it in his—I headcanon—condominium completely unattended sometimes

• so, uh, yeah…not looking good for Adam here

let’s get on with the scenarios, shall we?

———

Adam covered his ears with his silk pillows, trying to muffle the sounds of that brat’s whining.

“Ugh! Shut up, Shut up!” Of course, it didn’t shut up.

He banged his head on the pillow repeatedly, swearing he was going to fucking throw this fucking child off the fuCKING BALCONY IF IT DOESN’T SHUT UP—

He had enough and went over to the crib in the corner of his bedroom, snarling. “Y’know, since your mommy was such a quiet whore you’d expect the brat to act the same. She should’ve been honored that she even got my dick. Mine. And this is how she fucking repays me?” The child in question looked up at their father, their cries coming to an eventual stop as he rambled on and on. “Finally.”

The moment he left their sight, however, they started to cry once more.

“OH MY GOD—”

———

Adam arrived home tired as shit balls.

“Not fucking now, bitch,” he dismissed when they reached for him from their place in the crib as he flopped himself on his king-sized bed. At least it wasn’t crying. Rather, it was babbling and flailing its hands and feet. While it was a nice change, it was still annoying to listen to.

Eventually, he decided to shut it up and lazily dragged himself over to the crib, picking it up in his hands and setting it near his shoulder.

“Ugh, there there. Or whatever.” He idly patted the child’s back, plopping back on his bed.

Surprisingly, the kid soon fell asleep without further complaints, nuzzling into their father’s comfortable robe.

Ugh, rude. It fell asleep before he could bitch about his day as he usually did. Instead, he grumbled his own day to himself, his eyelids growing heavy as time passed by.

Adam later dozed off with the baby in his arms, snoring loudly as his wings wrapped around him and the child in his seldom peaceful slumber.

———

The living room was dark. Heaven’s natural light poured through his open windows and the TV played a movie that was most definitely not suited for young audiences. At least it wasn’t anything sexual. Heaven forbid.

In the midst of the oddly serene environment that is Adam’s residence, holy light flashed from beside his couch and the tall figure of Sera appeared. Adam instantly turned the TV off.

“Adam, pardon my intrusion. You still haven’t submitted your forms and they were due yesterday—” Sera interrupted herself when her eyes landed on the baby next to the first man.

“Sera, what gives? Can’t you see I’m busy? Where’s your sense of privacy? Jeez.”

“Adam, is that a child?” she asked rather accusatorily.

“Ugh, yeah, so what?”

“I didn’t think you would—where’s your wife?” She brushed her hair back behind her shoulder, her brows furrowed. “Um, I figured that after Lilith and Eve—”

“Pshh, you’d think this guy would settle down for anyone? Puh-lease. Imagine a world where you can’t fuck the original dick. Worse than any nightmare you could ever dream of.” Adam averted his gaze as his shoulders tensed up.

“So you care for this child alone? By yourself?” Sera looked more worried than ever, which Adam instantly latched on to.

“Are you doubting me? I started humankind—I know what I’m doing.” He settled his arms on the headrest, legs raising to rest on the coffee table as he gave a lazy shrug.

“How long have you kept this child?”

“What’s with all the questions? Uh, I dunno, more than two months, I guess?”

“What is its name?”

“Oh, uh…” Shit. He didn’t really think about that. He only kept calling it ‘kid’ or ‘brat’. “Adam Jr!” he blurted out the first thing that went through his mind. “Yeah, that’s right, everyone would immediately know that this kid is from me, Adam.”

Sera only narrowed her eyes. “Very well. I’m surprised you managed to keep this hidden from me. The child—”

“Adam Jr.”

“…Adam Jr. seems to be doing fine in your hands. But raising a child is no easy feat, Adam.” She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes momentarily. “We will have our discussion regarding your work tomorrow. Have a good night.”

As the seraphim was engulfed with holy light once more, vanishing as quickly as she came, Adam was left to think if the hassle was really worth this brat.

[heavyhitterheaux]

Dead End

Gif by @harlowgifs 💕

Synopsis: After learning a secret that Scalvo was keeping from you, it leads you both to make a decision regarding it. If everything goes well, the two of you will be together forever. However, if something goes wrong, you might have to live your life without him.

Pairing: Scalvo x Reader

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

Read Part 1 and Part 2 first

Scalvo didn’t know how to feel about what your father had told him after he had walked away from him and got into his range rover before exiting the parking garage. After he slid into the driver's seat of his own car and began making his way to meet up with Cobby and Rory, his mind was on overdrive. But the last thing that he ever wanted to do was for you to think that anything was wrong.

Staying away from you?

Your father would probably actually have to kill him for that to even become a reality. He just got you back and didn't plan on letting you go ever again. Scalvo did know that your father's connections ran deep, but he simply wasn't sure how deep. And that's probably where he would need help.

Your father wouldn't be able to do anything about him being with you unless he exposed him for what he really was.

As far as he knew, he had put a number of innocent people in jail and left them there to rot, but that couldn’t possibly be all that he's done over the years. Simply because people HATED this man. Word on the street was if your lawyer was going up against him, that he would definitely lose and that your ass was going to jail.

After the job he was going to do with Cobby and Rory and then figuring out everything with your dad, he was going to be done with this life. He had no idea where he was going to start making that a reality, but as long as he had you by his side he was going to make it happen.

It seemed like you two would argue more and more about what his job entailed after you had figured it out and he would always tell you,

Princess, just one more job

But ever since he told you that the first time, it has turned into many more.

A lot of times, he would wait until you were asleep and simply sneak out of the apartment to do a job and worry about you yelling at him later which would always happen once you woke up and found him missing. His phone would be going off repeatedly because you were about to rip him a new one.

“Hello?”

“Your ass better have a good reason as to why you're not in bed next to me right now.”

“Babe…”

“NO! DO NOT ‘BABE’ ME! WHERE ARE YOU!? If you say you're with Cobby…..”

“Um….”

“SCALVO!”

“I'll be back soon, princess. I promise.”

“You said that the last job you did was going to be your last. Do you know how many you've done since then?”

“Uh, two?” He responded, being unsure of the correct answer.

“Try seven. If you die tonight, you're going to have bigger problems when I find out about it. I'll bring you back and kill you again.”

“Princess, just….”

“Goodnight. The couch will be waiting for you once you come back.”

When you had hung up the phone on him all he did was mutter ‘fuck’ under his breath.

But you were in for a surprise when you heard the front door open at five in the morning and him groaning in pain. He was trying to be quiet in order not to wake you up since he knew you had to be up early for work. Even though you were beyond pissed at him, you stayed up to make sure he made it back home and threw off the comforter to go and check on him.

Walking out into the living room, you were confused when you didn't find him, but quickly gasped as you looked down and noticed a trail of blood. You quickly followed in and found Scalvo in the bathroom at the end of the hallway trying to peel off his shirt that was saturated in blood. You startled him when you called his name.

“BABY!?! WHAT HAPPENED!?”

“It’s not as bad as it looks, just go back to bed. I got it. I'm fine.”

“And leave you bleeding out on the bathroom floor? And how do you know it's not as bad as it looks!? IS THAT A STAB WOUND!? And you have the nerve to say that to a medical professional? Sit down and let me see.”

Not wanting to argue since he knew that you were already mad at him, he simply sat down as you got the saline along with some gauze to start cleaning it. As you cleaned it more and more, you noticed that it was deeper than you thought.

“You need to go to the hospital.” You whispered to him.

“Absolutely the fuck not.”

“It's deep! You need stitches! You act like someone is always out to get you. Our job as medical professionals is to keep you alive, we don't care how it happened. Unless you're in hospice, we see it to the end, but that's another story.”

“Because someone always is!”

“Well whose fucking fault is that? You have pissed me off so much in these last eight hours so I'm removing myself from the situation. Do whatever you want. If you want to die or have it get infected, that's on you. Your blood better be off this damn carpet by the time I get home. I love you, but you make me so mad with how you have me worrying about you all the time.” You told him as you turned to walk away and tears were starting to flow, but he caught your hand to pull you back.

“Baby, wait. I'm sorry, okay? Just… I'll go if you want me to.”

As promised, Scalvo walked back into your shared apartment an hour and a half later because he had stopped to get food for the both of you. He noticed that you weren’t in the living room so he assumed that you were still laying in bed and simply in your shared bedroom watching Fire Country which had been your latest obsession. His main thing was to keep calm and not have you suspect that anything was wrong.

But, he should have known better because you could read him like a book. As soon as he entered the bedroom with the food and drinks in his hand, you eyed him as you sat up against the headboard.

“Babe? Is everything okay?” You asked as he handed you a chai latte which he quickly learned was your favorite.

“Oh, um, yeah. Why do you ask?” He replied while not meeting your eyes.

“You look a little flustered, that’s all. I was just wondering.”

Scalvo was quiet as he made a spread in the front of both of you with different bagels and pastries to choose from along with handing you a veggie omelet. He kissed you before the two of you were eating in silence and Scalvo noticed that every few minutes, you would glance at him. He figured that he should tell you, now. Get it off his chest and get everything out in the open. He simply paused the show that you two were watching and looked over at you.

“Princess, I need to tell you something.” He told you as you were mid bite into your bagel. You slowly turned to look at him and nodded your head.

“You know you can tell me anything, what is it?”

“I’m going to have about three more jobs and then I’m done. I'm serious this time. I… I see what this does to you and see how disappointed you are in me all the time. I already know that you're out of my league and I don't deserve you for how well you treat me despite what I do in order to get money. I was just thinking about when I would sneak off after you were asleep and you would wake up pissed and blowing up my phone. The last time I did that, I ended up getting stabbed and needed stitches. The way you looked at me is…. I never want you to look at me that way again. Please understand that you’re important to me and that I’ll do anything for you. But… this is all I know. I’m going to be better for you because the last thing that I ever want you to do is get fed up waiting for me to be done with this life and end up leaving me. I don’t know what I would do if that happened.”

He couldn't do it yet.

He couldn't tell you that your father had just threatened him, so this was the next best thing.

Nothing that he said wasn't true, his goal was to make it a reality.

His last job was going to be taking down your father for everything he was worth.

He just didn't know what you were going to do once you found out… Or when.

That's why he had to make sure you didn't find out until everything that needed to come up to the surface did.

The two of you sat in silence while you digested what Scalvo had just told you.

“I'm not disappointed in you overall. I'm disappointed in the choices that you make sometimes. You weren't dealt the best hand in life so you had to do what you had to do. I can understand that it's hard for you to be able to visualize what your life might look like without all the mess happening around you. I'm just trying to be patient while you figure it out.” You said being completely honest and Scalvo was surprised.

“That's…. fair.”

“And the reason why I would get so mad at you when I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren't there was because I still have nightmares about me getting kidnapped. It only happens when you aren't here. I needed you and you weren't here.” You told him as you had stopped eating.

“I'm sorry, babe. Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because no matter what I say and how much I want a better life for the both of us, you never listen. It goes in one ear and out the other so why am I even trying? You’re an adult and can make your own decisions. Even though I did say I was trying to be patient, I am not going to wait forever. And to be honest, I don't know how much longer I can take.”

“Baby….. just… a little bit longer. It's going to be different now. By the end of October, I'll be done. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do after but as long as I have you, I'll think of something. I promise.”

All you did was sip on your latte while picking at one of the pastries that you had placed on the plate in front of you.

“Babe?”

“Scalvo, don't promise me anything. Until you are done with this, I will literally worry about you every second in the day when you are not in my line of sight because I have ever since I figured it out. You are worth so much more than this and you know it. I just want a stable life with you and maybe even kids. However, I am not bringing a life into this world until you get your shit all the way together.”

Scalvo’s mouth turned up into a smile and you looked over at him dumbfounded.

“Uh, what is with you?”

“You want to have babies with me?” He asked while still smiling and you rolled your eyes.

“Is that all you got out of that?”

“No, I heard you and I'm going to do this not only for me but for us. Because the longer I do this, there is still a possibility that you could be hurt. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happens. And I don't want my kids to have to visit me in prison.”

“Then you better make sure that a situation like that doesn't happen.”

A few weeks had passed and you noticed that Scalvo had become distracted and distant from you. At first you figured that he was just so focused on trying to do what he needed to do to be done with this life, but now you weren't so sure.

You glanced over at him from the kitchen since you were making the two of you fajitas. Scalvo surprisingly was a good cook and the two of you would alternate. He was simply sitting on the couch and scrolling through his phone while the television was on for background noise. The food still had a little while before it was finished so you made it a point to ask him.

“Babe?”

“Hmm? What's wrong, princess?”

“Something is bothering you and I don't like that very much. You've not only been distracted, but distant. How do I miss my boyfriend when you're right in front of me? Want to share with the class?”

Scalvo was clearly very startled and he looked at you and sighed.

“I've just had a lot going on, that's all. One step closer to us being able to leave this place for good.”

“No, that's not it. Do not sit up here and try to feed me that. So, I'm going to give you another chance to answer my question.”

One thing about Scalvo is that he didn't like when people questioned him, but you were his weakness. All you had to do was tell him to jump and he would ask you how high.

“You really want to know?”

“Obviously. Something is wrong with my boyfriend. I can read you like an open book. I know when you aren't acting like yourself.” You said as you began to play in his curls and he finally spoke.

“Your dad threatened me a month ago to stay away from you, and I wasn't doing that. So I decided to do a little digging of my own about his past and I didn't find anything that he should be proud of.”

“Wait a minute….”

“I didn't want to tell you until it was all over and done with. I don't want to hurt you with this. There are things that…”

“It's my father! How can it not? He knows how much you mean to me! And you know how much my father means to me! Why can't you two just learn to get along? I'm not leaving you, and he's going to be my dad forever.”

“I know, princess. But I'm not going to prison for anyone. Especially someone like him. No offense. That's why I've been avoiding going to dinner with you at their place. In not so many words, he’s going to put me in prison because he knows what I do in order to get money and make sure that I never see you again.”

You massaged your temples while trying to make sense of what Scalvo had just told you before letting him have it.

“ASHER ANTHONY SCALVO!”

“Not you saying my full government.” Scalvo mumbled since this was the first time you had done it and also raised your voice. He was on thin ice with you already, but this for sure took the cake.

“Oh, trust me, I want to say A LOT more. I should mop the floor with your 6’3 ass!”

“Princess, now is not the time for us to be arguing.” Scalvo said as he pleaded with you, but all you did was look at him and cross your arms.

“What did we agree on when we got back together? Remind me for a second.” You asked him as you sat across from him.

Scalvo hesitated because he had broken his promise that he had made you.

“Go on, babe. I'm listening.” You told him and he immediately sighed before answering you.

“That there would be no secrets between us.”

“Mm hmm, so why is it that you are just telling me my father threatened you almost a MONTH later?!”

“I was going to handle it!”

“Handle it without telling me!? Don't you think that is something important for me to know?!”

“Yes, but…”

“But what!?”

“I found out some things about your dad and I…. You aren't going to look at him the same and you're not going to like it. I wasn't about to tell you anything until I finished doing what I had to do, but it seems like it couldn't wait any longer. I didn't want to lie when you asked me why I've been so distracted and distant lately.”

“I already don't look at him the same because of what he did to your dad, but I want to know. Baby, tell me.”

“Y/N….”

“I can handle it! Just tell me. What are you hiding from me?”

“First of all, I am not hiding a damn thing from you. You need to talk to your parents about that one because they've been lying to you for your entire life. I always say that I wish I had still had both of my parents, but not if they did some fucked up shit like this.”

“I am about to yell your entire government again if you don't fucking tell me. What the hell could they have been lying about for my entire life?!”

“Yeah, you've been around me too long. Every other word that comes out of your mouth is starting to be ‘fuck'”

“SCALVO!”

“Fine. Here. Don't say I didn't warn you.” He told you as he slid a few papers towards you.

He looked at you as he watched your facial expression go from pissed off to disbelief.

“No this isn't real. You're lying.” You finally said as you looked up at him.

He was looking at you sympathetically before he answered.

“Why the hell would I lie about that? You're my girlfriend and the only person that I give a fuck about in this world. I love you and you think I would hurt you on purpose?” He asked, confused.

You scoffed before throwing the stack of papers back towards him.

“Oh, how quickly we forget? You did fucking hurt me when you broke up with me and disappeared without a fucking trace. So don't even give me that.”

“Baby, I'm not doing this with you right now. We have bigger fucking problems. It's real. If you don't believe me, go and ask the man that you thought was your father.”

“I need to leave.” You told him without missing a beat as you stood up heading into the bedroom with him quickly following.

“You aren't going anywhere. You need to calm down for a second. And it's almost 10 at night.”

“Who are you? My father? Oh and that's right, I don't even know my real one and besides how are you going to tell me to calm down!? I just found out that the man that I call my father isn't who he says he is.” You said as you turned around to look at him before heading over to your closet.

“Princess, we'll get through this, I promise. I know that this is a lot to take in, but I'm right here with you. I just want you safe. Just… let's go back and sit down and talk about this.” Scalvo pleaded with you as he grabbed your hand, but you quickly pulled your hand back.

“Fuck your promises! That's what you ALWAYS do. Promise me this and promise me that! My life has gone to shit ever since I met you and I'm mad at myself for loving you so much. I need to be by myself for a minute.”

“Y/N, you know good and damn well that I never meant for any of this to happen. I am not leaving you by yourself like this.”

“Hmm. You sure? Remember you've had your eyes set on my father's downfall from the beginning and got close to me so that it would be easier. Despite you saying that you didn't know who I was. You could have been lying the entire time. How do I even know this is real? How do I know that you even love me?”

“Are you fucking serious right now? Now you are saying a whole bunch of bullshit. If I didn't love you, when Don had kidnapped you, I would have let him put a fucking bullet in your head. But did I do that? Is that honestly what you think of me?”

“So, what do you want? A thank you? Wouldn't have happened in the first place if you didn't piss him off.”

“Y/N…. None of this was ever meant to hurt you.”

“Well you should've thought about that in the beginning, huh? So what's your plan? Blackmail? Put him in jail?”

“I…”

“You know what? Never mind.” You told him as you slipped a hoodie over your head and your shoes.

“Where are you going?”

“Anywhere to get the fuck away from you.”

“Baby… I'm not the enemy here. He is. He hurt you and deserves to pay for what he did. He has done wrong by everyone in his life and you have taken the biggest hit. I just want to protect you.”

“Don't fucking call me that. And it sounds like you want to protect yourself. He would never intentionally hurt me.” You fired back at him as you grabbed your pink Coach wallet along with your keys.

“You don't have any idea what he is capable of. He only shows you the side that he wants you to see.”

You ignored him and Scalvo watched you leave while slamming the front door behind you. He ran a hand through his messy hair before going into the kitchen and turning the stove off since he noticed that the food was now finished. After putting everything away, he opened his phone to see where you were since you had taken your wallet with you.

It showed him that you weren't too far from home at a 24 hour diner which he knew you loved ever since you were younger. You were mad at him, that was obvious, but not mad enough for you to turn off your location. But even if you did, you were still carrying the air tag.

Because how is he supposed to tell you that there was more?

More as in James had your mother killed because she was a witness in a case that he was prosecuting. To make sure that he won, he had to eliminate the problem. Since that now made you an orphan because she was a single mother, he decided to do one thing that would make this right in his eyes.

He adopted you and changed your name.

Your mother didn't have any family that he knew of so someone coming to look for you would be unlikely.

It was the perfect plan

Until Scalvo unraveled it.

It was about three in the morning when Scalvo finally heard the front door open letting him know that you were finally back. He heard you shuffle around the kitchen for a few minutes before he heard your footsteps making their way in the direction of the bedroom.

Scalvo was sitting on the side of the bed when you finally walked in. The two of you made eye contact and you weren't quite sure if you wanted to speak first.

But you did.

“I'm sorry for blowing up on you earlier, but I take it that you understand why I did it. You mean a lot to me and so do my parents so right now I feel like I'm stuck in the middle. Even if they aren't my biological parents. They raised me. I'm also sorry for accusing you of not loving me because I know you do. The things you do for me, you won't do for anyone else. I know that hearing me say that hurt your feelings. I saw the look in your eyes.”

All Scalvo did was open his arms for you to come towards him and once you did, he immediately slid you into his lap and kissed your cheek.

“It was a lot to take in. I was going to tell you eventually, but I didn't want to lie to you. I love you and you’re my person.”

“I love you back tenfold. I'm so proud of you for keeping up with therapy even when we broke up. I respect that you told me the truth when I asked and I'm glad you were open with me.” You told him as you brushed a hand through his curly hair.

“Everything that I'm doing is me taking steps to be the boyfriend that you deserve. You don't want someone who's shut off from the world all the time. And there's something else though but you were too upset earlier and I didn't want to add to it. I don't know if you'll want to hear this now or later.”

“Be the boyfriend that I deserve, but also be the person that I know you can be. And you might as well tell me.”

“Um, okay. James had your biological mother killed when he found out that she was a key witness in a case that he was prosecuting. He knew that if she ended up testifying that he was going to lose. She was a single mother and I can't find any of your other family. That's probably why it was so easy for him to adopt you. I can show you everything if you want me to.”

You sat there in silence taking it all in as you hugged Scalvo tighter. He gave you a few minutes and noticed that you were deep in thought.

“I guess it's literally me and you against the world now, huh?” You told him as you laid your head on his shoulder as tears started to silently fall down your cheeks.

“It was always that way from the beginning. If he deserves anything at this point, it's to take him down for what he did to you. When all of this is over, we can leave and never come back.”

“He killed my mom, so I want him to burn.”

“We just have to be patient. For now, my priority is making sure my princess gets some sleep.”

You nodded your head as you got up and took a quick shower before getting changed into your pajamas. Walking back in the bedroom, you slid in next to Scalvo and he quickly wrapped his arms around you.

When you woke up later that morning, you laid there for a while as you scrolled through your phone while stealing glances at Scalvo every few minutes since you were facing him.

Before you had gone to sleep, you had called out of work because you only getting two hours of sleep wasn't going to be enough. With all that Scalvo had told you last night there was no way that you would be able to focus and then an idea suddenly popped into your head. More than likely your father would be at his office meaning that your mom would be home alone. This was the perfect opportunity for you to ask her, but her main concern would probably be how you found out. Scalvo already had a target on his back from your dad, so there was no way you would give up an answer if she asked.

Putting your phone back down on the nightstand, you turned back around and started playing with Scalvo’s curls. A few minutes later, his eyes fluttered open and he quickly smiled at you.

“Hi, princess.”

“Hi.”

“You’re not working today?” He asked you and you quickly shook your head no.

“I wouldn't be able to focus with everything going on, so I decided to take a mental health day. But, I think I should talk to my mom about this.”

If you didn't have all of his attention before, you definitely had it now.

“And tell her what, exactly?”

“Just ask her and see if she's honest with me. I'm obviously not going to tell her how I found out because you have a target on your back from my dad already. But just her, not him.”

“Truth be told, I really don't want you around them anymore.”

“I know, but we have to do what we have to do, right?”

“Yes, so I can put a baby in you.”

“Scalvo!” You exclaimed as you hit his shoulder and laughed.

“What? What I do?”

You simply shook your head as you smiled at him.

“What time are you going over there?”

“Probably around two.”

“Oh, good. We have enough time then.”

“Enough time for what?”

Scalvo didn’t respond to your question and simply moved so that he was hovering over top of you. His fingers slipped into the waistband of your shorts and slowly started to pull them down before he threw them off the side of the bed.

“Enough time for me to eat you out. It is my favorite meal.” He told you as he proceeded to spread your legs.

Scalvo was still eating you out when his phone kept going off.

“Baby, ignore it.” You told him as you held onto his curls making sure he didn't move.

It rang for the fifth time when he rolled his eyes and grabbed it off the nightstand. When he saw who it was all he did was sigh before answering.

“Hold on, baby. Because his ass is going to keep calling me until I answer.”

“But…”

“Thirty seconds, princess. I promise.”

“Fine.”

“Cobby, what the hell do you want? Your ass called me five times in a row so this shit better be important.”

“Hi to you too. Did you miss me?”

“I will hang up if you don't tell me what you want. I'm eating my girl out and here you come bothering me.” Scalvo told him and you quickly laughed before hitting him.

“Nasty little fuckers. TMI. Oh! Put me on speaker phone, I want to say hi to Y/N!”

“NO! What do you WANT!?”

By this time, you had started touching yourself and Scalvo had given you a warning look which just led to you smirking.

“Um, I forgot. Wait a minute, it'll come to me.”

“I'm not waiting for a damn thing. Bye.” Scalvo told him as he was ready to toss his phone back on the nightstand, but quickly heard his protests.

“WAIT! I remember. Are we still meeting later?”

“You know your ass could have sent me a damn text to ask me that?”

You simply sucked on your fingers before reaching down to massage your clit and Scalvo pinched your side in an attempt to tell you to stop but you shook your head no.

“Yes, but I love your voice so much. I missed it.”

“Cobby you get on my FUCKING nerves. The answer is yes. Now bye.”

“Make sure you kids use protection!”

“BYE COBBY!”

Once he had hung up the phone, he looked down at you and simply stared at you for a few minutes.

“If you make yourself cum, I will edge you for a fucking week. Move your damn hand.”

“Well then hurry up. I told you not to answer it.”

By the time you reached your parents house it was almost three in the afternoon. Your mom was surprised to see you and since you didn't want to bombard her with questions from the minute you stepped inside, the two of you made lunch together and were now sitting across from one another eating when you finally spoke up.

“Mom?”

“Yeah, doll? What's wrong?”

“Who's Riley Carter?” You asked and you saw all of the color drain from your mother's face. She cleared her throat before she answered you.

“Where did you get that name?”

“It doesn't matter where I got it. All that matters is that you two have been lying to me for twenty-eight years.”

“Y/N….”

“Or do you mean Reagan? Because that's my real name isn't it? Given to me by my real mother?”

“I… there are just some things that were complicated and we thought it was best not to tell you.”

“Oh like having my mother murdered so that your husband could win his case? He would have lost if she had taken the stand.” You replied as you took a sip of your blueberry lemonade.

“Look, no matter what I say, you're going to find fault in it. All I can tell you is that I'm sorry. Even if you don't want to hear it. Your father is…. I didn't find out a lot that he had done until you were damn near eighteen. By that time, he had threatened me not to tell you anything. When we met, he already had you and told me that your mother was killed leaving him to be a single father. You were about nine months old. Despite everything that he has done, I do love him.”

“And you were just going to keep this a secret?”

“To be honest, yes. The less you know, the less danger that you would be in. I can't have my only daughter taken away from me.”

“What? Why? What are you talking about?”

“Your father has a lot of people that don't like him. They would hurt you in order to hurt him or if you piss him off enough, he'll hurt you himself. That's why you were always in boarding school and have my mother's maiden name. All to protect you.”

“Hmm, that sounds familiar.” You responded when you thought about what Cobby had told you regarding your boyfriend.

“I figure that I know too much. If I were to divorce him, he would not get over that easily. Just as he had her killed, he would probably do the same thing to me. That's why I stayed. To keep an eye on you and hopefully not be killed. All your father craves is money and power. He hasn't loved me for a long time and I know it. At one point, he definitely did, but not now.”

“Mom… you cannot just stay here with him.”

“What other choice do I have? Look, all I want is for you to be safe. I know Asher was probably the one to tell you all of this. If anything, I want you to stay as far away from your dad as possible, both of you. I'll be fine. But just know that both of us love you. Well at least I do. I can’t speak for him. If you get in his way, he probably wouldn’t hesitate to do something to you.”

You nodded your head to tell her that you understood.

“There's one more thing. Your father is trying to have Asher arrested and put in prison. There's not a lot of evidence, but enough to put him away for a while. I’m guessing five to seven years. I overheard him one night talking about it. That was a while ago so there's literally only a matter of time before it happens. I like him and I know how much you love him and figured that you should know. Your father doesn't know that I heard him talking about it. He had it out for him ever since he recognized him the first time you brought him over to meet us. Anyone who is associated with Mr. Besegai, he doesn’t like them. All because of a deal they made gone wrong.”

Hearing this made your heart drop as well as speed up within the same minute.

“Chin up, baby girl. They can't convict him if they can't find him.” Was all she told you before she smiled and winked at you.

After leaving your parents house, you immediately called Scalvo and he picked up on the second ring. All you heard was him arguing with Cobby which was the usual.

“COBBY, NO! THAT DOESN'T GO THERE! MOVE! JUST LET ME DO IT. Oh, hi princess. Everything okay? I miss you.”

“I miss you too and no. Everything is not okay. Where are you?” You told him as your thoughts were running a mile a minute.

“What's wrong? I'm with the dumbass of the century where I usually always am when I’m not with you.”

“HEY!” was all you heard indicating Cobby screaming in the background.

“I can't tell you over the phone. I need to tell you in person.”

“Uh, princess, you got me nervous over here.”

“Just send me your location and when I get there everyone needs to turn their phones off.”

“Okay, will do.”

Once you had reached the docks which you quickly learned was their infamous meeting spot, you ran up the steps and were soon face to face with Scalvo and Cobby arguing. Cobby was the first to notice you.

“Wait a minute, since when is it ‘bring your girlfriends to work day?’ If it was today, no one told me.” He asked, but his expression turned into concern once he saw the look on your face.

“Um, Y/N?”

“Well as of right now it is. And Cobby, you don’t even have a girlfriend. What is going on?” Scalvo asked as he approached you and he could tell that you were about to cry.

“Turn your phones off and I'll tell you.” You told them as you turned your own off. Once all of the phones were sitting face down in the center of the table, you took a deep breath before speaking.

“Cobby, I don't know how much of this concerns you, but more than likely they’ll be coming for you too.”

“Now why am I in it!?”

“Princess, what are you talking about? Why do you look like you're about to cry?”

“You were right. He has enough evidence to send you to prison, at least five to seven years if you’re convicted and best believe he would make sure that you are. My mom told me she overheard him a while ago talking about it. She also told me that she wants both of us to stay far away from him. We have to leave before they decide to arrest you. She's scared of him too and what he might do if she tries to divorce him.”

“I'm not leaving until we get his ass arrested for what he's done.”

“Did you not hear me? You could get arrested before he does! We need to leave!”

“And go where, Y/N? I cannot let him keep getting away with hurting people.”

“Well, all my mom said before I left was that they can't convict you, if they can't find you. We need to go somewhere that they can't arrest you and bring you back here for a trial.”

“Cuba.” Was all you heard Cobby say.

“That’s actually the smartest thing that I’ve ever heard you say.” You told him and all he did was smile before taking a bow.

“I need a passport. How the fuck am I going to do that?”

“Didn't you get across the Canadian border when you went with me when we first started dating? Whatever you did then, you need to do the same thing now.”

Scalvo was clearly frustrated as he ran a hand through his curls as he pulled at a few of them. You quickly took his face in your hands and made him look at you.

“Now is not the time for you to shut down on me. What did we just talk about? You don’t want our kids having to visit their father in prison so we need to come up with a plan and we need to do it now. The sooner we leave, the better. You cannot go home because I don't know what he's going to do. And Cobby, you are more than welcome to go with him, but your chances of getting caught are going to be higher.” You knew right now that you had to be the strong one to make sure that he kept his head on straight.

“I'll go to Canada instead.” Cobby told you and you simply nodded.

“Okay.” Was all Scalvo quietly said.

“You’re still going to need a passport, but getting on a plane will be a give away since you have to go through TSA. Um, you could drive to Florida. Miami specifically. My uncle has a boat so he is in and out of the port making deliveries to different places. One of his stops is in Havana. You get off and stay at the beach house I have gifted to me by my grandparents on my mother's side. He'll show you where it is and I have a key I can give you. My dad doesn't know about it. Use cash because they'll obviously be able to track you if you use a bank card.”

“I…. I see why you're with her, Scalvo. Very smart.” Cobby mentioned as he was looking at the both of you.

“But where does that leave you? I'm not leaving you in Boston. It's not safe for you here anymore.”

“As much as I hate the idea, you're going to have to.” You quietly told him and knew that this wasn't going to go over well.

“No, absolutely not. You see what being separated does to us. You already got hurt once because of me. I'm not about to let it happen again.”

“I know you don't like it but we have to think. My father knows that I'm not going to leave your side. It will be a sure way for you to get caught. Besides, I have a whole bunch of loose ends to tie up here. Me leaving abruptly will cause not only alarm, but panic. We have to do this discreetly. I promise to come to Havana as soon as I can. I will set you up with everything you need and you can be on your way in less than an hour. Cobby, I need you to release everything about my father on social media, but only when I tell you to.”

“You got it, boss. Scalvo, I see why you were so depressed when you two broke up, now. Go and do what you two need to do. I got it from here.”

Before you got into your car, you told Scalvo to follow behind you and once the two of you got to your apartment to simply wait in the parking garage while you ran upstairs to gather all of his belongings for him.

You were packing all of his things through blurry vision as tears were streaming down your face because of what this new reality would be. After you made sure to get all of his clothes, shoes, and toiletries, you were doing one last check when you opened his drawer on the bedside table to make sure nothing important was in it. But there was, in the back corner, a blue box.

But not any blue box.

It was from Tiffany's.

You were debating on if you should grab it, and after a few minutes of contemplating, you threw it into his bag and made your way back downstairs to the garage.

If that was your engagement ring, this was one hell of a way to find out.

He was leaning against the driver's side door as you approached him and handed him all of his bags to put into the backseat. You stared at your feet because the tears were steadily coming down your face now with no sign of stopping any time soon.

Scalvo put his finger under your chin to lift your head up to look at him. Once you did, an immediate sniffle came out as you choked back a sob.

“Hey, hey. None of that, okay? It's going to be fine.” He told you as he tightly embraced you and kissed the top of your head.

“I just wish I could go with you right now. But this is the best plan I could come up with on such short notice.”

“And your plan is going to work. You won't hear from me until I'm in Havana so don't freak out. Last thing I want is for them to be able to track me somehow.”

“Okay. I'll let my uncle know that you're coming. He owes me a favor anyway.”

Scalvo nodded his head before reaching down to give you several kisses.

“I love you, princess. So much.”

“And I love you. Please stay safe. I need you in one piece.”

“Same goes for you. I'll see you in Havana.”

Two days had passed and you figured that Scalvo had reached Miami by now. The two days had been the longest two days of your life. As soon as he left, you looked it up on your phone how long it would take for him to get down there and it told you that it would take about 22 hours driving. Knowing Scalvo, he probably wouldn��t have stopped until he was halfway and you were also hoping he took some time to rest. But when you lived a life where you were constantly looking over your shoulder. You weren’t so sure.

Your mind was put at ease when your phone vibrated on the table and you had gotten a text from your uncle.

Favorite Uncle Max- Safe with me

You let out a breath that you didn't realize that you had been holding and choked out a sob. You knew that this was going to be hard, but it was only temporary. You had to keep reminding yourself of that. Soon the two of you would be back together without being scared that you would be ripped apart from each other at any moment.

Not wanting to leave a trail, you sent him a thumbs up before deleting both text messages. Don’t leave them breadcrumbs if you don’t want to be found. You wanted to keep him as safe as you possibly could. For a while, you began to sell a lot of things in your apartment because you didn't plan on taking them with you. Your plan was to sell everything, quit your job the day before you left, and then leave in the middle of the night. Your job was already made aware that you were making moves to exit as an employee, so you took on the task of training the new hire that would take your place when you finally chose to do so.

You were also trying to convince your mother to come with you. You hadn't told her everything, but you did tell her that it would be wise if she was not in Boston when the news broke about your father. She told you that she would let you know when she made a decision. Knowing how stubborn she was, you would have to fight her tooth and nail for her to come with you. But, you could understand. Bottom line was that she was scared. Seeing the fear in her eyes was the first time in your life that you were worried for her safety as well as yours.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door and that instantly made you nervous. There were only a handful of people that knew where your new apartment was and wasn't expecting anyone. Glancing at the clock, you saw it was around seven at night before you went to open the door.

Answering the door, you were face to face with two officers.

Hmm, too bad. You knew why they were here and they were approximately forty-eight hours too late and your boyfriend had gotten away.

“Good evening, Ms. Lawson. We're looking for someone and were told that he might be here. Also came to do a wellness check on you. You might know him as Scalvo, but we know him as Asher.”

“I'm fine. No one is here except me.” You quickly told them as you blocked their view to look inside the apartment.

Your father must have sent them. He was slowly starting to execute his plan, so that meant that there would only be a matter of time before you told Cobby that everything was a go. By that time, you planned on being on your uncle’s boat in the middle of the ocean heading to Havana.

“Do you mind if we take a look?”

“Not without a warrant.”

“Well it's a lucky day for us because we have one.” One of them told you as he held it up.

You had nothing to worry about because it was if you had erased any trace of Scalvo actually living there. Being that your father was a lawyer, you knew what they looked for and what they needed, so the best idea was to get rid of it all.

“Hmm, make it short and sweet. I have things to do.”

“Won’t take long, promise.”

You sat and watched in disbelief as they rummaged through your apartment without any respect or regard for any of your things. Who knows how long it would take for you to clean the mess that they made.

Once they were finished, you crossed your arms over your chest and looked at both of them.

“Find what you were looking for?”

“Sorry to disturb you ma'am. We'll be on our way. If Scalvo does show up, make sure you call us.”

“You do that and if we cross paths then I will.”

The next few weeks went by in a blur and you just couldn't wait to be back in Scalvo's arms. You hadn't felt well for the past two and figured that you should get looked at. It was only a matter of time before you would be leaving for Cuba. Everything needed to be fine before you decided to leave Boston for good and start a new life with nothing hanging over your head.

Your doctor Rachel was eyeing you as you were telling her all of the symptoms that you had been having. She had quickly become one of your favorite people since you had moved back. She was a straight shooter that didn’t sugarcoat anything. Of course, it did also help that you two went to boarding school together for a few years.

“I need you to pee in a cup for me.”

“For what? Do you think that will tell you what's going on with me?”

“Y/N, for your first question, I am 99% sure that you're pregnant and for the second question, yes.”

“Wait, no. I can't possibly be pregnant.” You said to Rachel and she just stared at you.

“Are you having sex?”

“Yes.”

“With protection?”

“Well…”

“Okay then that settles it. Go pee.” She said as she handed you the cup as you sighed.

He was supposed to be here for this.

Scalvo was supposed to be here.

Once Rachel told you that you were pregnant, all you saw was tunnel vision. You wanted kids, but definitely not this soon and under these circumstances. There was still so much for you to do until you could leave without having any loose ends. You wanted to be safe and free of worries, the last thing you wanted to be was stressed out how you were now.

As you were driving, you glanced down at your stomach and simply placed your hand there.

“Hi, it's mommy. It's very scary out here right now so I'm going to do my best to keep you safe until it's time for you to come out. Your daddy is going to be so happy when he finds out about you. He's not here right now, but we'll meet up with him soon and we'll all be together and be safe. I promise.”

Once you reached your apartment, as you were putting in the key, you noticed that the door was already unlocked. Knowing that you locked it before leaving, you took out your pepper spray from your bag before entering. When you reached the living room, you saw your father standing there sipping on a glass of whiskey that you recognized from your cabinet.

“How did you get in here?” You asked as you made sure to keep your distance.

“I had to come and check on you myself because my only child is dodging my calls left and right. So as any worried parent, I came to see you.”

“Well, you definitely broke into my apartment and entered without my consent. If I wanted to talk to you, I would have called you back. You can see yourself out.”

“Not so fast, baby girl. Why the hostility towards me?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions. You aren’t even my real father and you had my mother murdered who was the star witness in a case you were prosecuting because you didn’t want to lose. You took me in and changed my name because eventually you felt guilty. Trying to right your wrongs.”

“Hmm, I see nothing gets past you.”

“That’s really all you have to say? After everything you've done?”

“I took you in, fed you, clothed you, sent you to the top boarding school in the entire country and this is the thanks I get? You dating a criminal? And hiding him?”

“Don’t bring him into this. That was all you. You made those decisions on your own and you were an adult.” You fired back at him.

“He has nothing to offer you and he especially won’t have anything to offer you when I get his ass arrested and put in jail for all that he's done over the years. Including robbing me and holding me at gunpoint in my own home. Oh, you didn’t think I knew? Don’t look so surprised. I’ll make sure he’s convicted and sent to a prison far away. My money and connections are long, sweetheart. You have no idea. My daughter is not dating someone like him.”

“I’m not your daughter, so why do you care so much?”

“You are my daughter whether you like it or not. I know you’re hiding him and it’s only a matter of time before I figure out where. There's only so many places in Boston that he could be. Time is running out and I suggest you tell him to turn himself in. If you do that, I’ll make sure he only does two to three years. But, when he gets out you can never see him again. You have forty-eight hours until this offer expires. Keep in mind, you don’t want to be arrested for hiding a fugitive. Just as I can make your little boyfriend disappear, I can do the same to you if you disobey me. Good seeing you, sweetie.” He told you as he got up from the couch and made his way over to you, but you immediately backed up again to put some distance in between the two of you.

“You’ll see that this is the right decision when all of this is said and done. Tell Scalvo to stop hiding and we can settle this.”

As soon as your father closed the door behind him to your apartment, you stood there for a minute in disbelief. He admitted to doing it, but there was not an ounce of remorse for what he had done.

It couldn’t wait any longer, you needed to leave as soon as possible. From that point, you started throwing the last of your things in your suitcases and ran them down to your car before coming back up and taking one last walk through. There wasn't much left, but there was enough for you to have to make multiple trips. By now, you couldn’t call the rent office to break your lease or call your job to tell them that you quit. It wasn’t only your safety that was compromised now, it was your baby’s.

As soon as you were settled into your car, you called your mom. As much as she had lied to you, the last thing that you would ever want is to see her get hurt by the hands of your father. It took a while, but she eventually answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Mom! We need to leave and we need to leave now. He knows what I’m doing. I need to keep you safe too.”

“I have a bag packed. Is everything ready to be released?” She calmly asked you knowing that she was talking about all of the evidence stacked up against your father that he had no idea you knew about. He obviously just thought you knew about your birth mother and not his entire track record.

“Yes, all I have to do is tell someone to hit a button.”

“I’ll grab whatever else I can and meet you at the end of the street. I don't know where he is and hopefully he doesn't come back any time soon. I don't want to risk it, so the sooner we leave, the better.”

As you raced over to your parents house, your mind was all over the place. This was happening. This was really happening. You had a picture perfect life before you met Scalvo. A little too perfect. Despite everything that came with being with him, you wouldn’t have chosen anyone else.

He opened your eyes to see the person that your father truly was and as much as it hurt for you to do this, no one else deserves to get hurt by him. You knew that he would easily probably get multiple years in prison. He put on a very convincing front. He gave you the world as you were growing up and anything you asked him to do for you, he would without a second thought. Where did that man go? The one who would never dream of threatening his wife or his ‘daughter’.

The main thing now that you had to focus on was healing. Healing for your peace of mind as well as your child’s. You were going to be somebody’s mother for the rest of your life and they needed parents that they could depend on.

Your mother was right where she said she would be when you finally pulled up at the end of the street. She quickly got into the car and you began driving as fast as you could to get away from the area to make your way down to Miami. You figured that you could simply leave your car at your uncle’s house and come back to get it whenever.

“Mom?” You said quietly, but it still came out shaky nonetheless.

“You’re scared, I know. But it’s going to be okay, I promise. I’ve protected you for this long and I’ll be damned if I were to stop now. Where are we headed?”

“Miami. Uncle Max’s boat to Havana. Oh and please tell me you turned off your phone?”

“Good girl. I knew I raised you right and even better, I left it there and he has no idea that I’m gone and that you’re gone for that matter.”

“When we get closer, I’ll turn my phone back on to let him know and then we’ll be free. No more worrying and we can start over.”

“I can’t wait for that, baby girl. I really can’t. It’s been too long.”

“There’s one more thing.” You said as you focused on the road as you changed lanes.

“Yeah? What is it?”

“I’m not only doing this for Scalvo, but for you as well as someone else.”

“Who?”

You simply grabbed her hand and placed it on your stomach as you saw her face light up in awe.

“I’m going…. I’m going to be a grandma?!” She exclaimed as you eagerly nodded your head yes.

“That’s the plan and Rachel literally just told me earlier today before I got an unwelcome visit from your husband.”

“I know that nothing I can say at this point will make you forgive me, but I’m going to make this right. Does Asher know? I guess not since you just found out today.”

“Telling me the truth is a step in the right direction. And no, we’re not communicating right now because we don’t want to leave a trail or give them any leads.”

“I can’t wait to see the look on his face once you do.”

The sun was beginning to set when you and your mother stepped foot in Havana. Your Uncle Max knew someone that would take all of you towards the beach house and there was only a matter of time before you would be reunited with the love of your life. The ride was a short one, but in your mind it was taking forever. Your leg was bouncing in anticipation and your mother quickly laid her hand on top of it to steady it as she grabbed your hand with the one that was free.

As soon as the car pulled up to the house, your mom nudged you.

“Go say hi to your man.”

You jumped out of the car and took the steps two at a time as the driver was helping your mom with all of the bags. You took out your spare key and opened the door before stepping into the house as you took a deep breath.

It looked the same as it had the last time you were here three years ago, except now, you found a sleeping Scalvo in the living room in front of the television with the volume turned down low. You smiled to yourself as you made your way over to him. You simply ran a hand through his curls and his eyes fluttered open to see you in front of him. By the time that he recognized that it was you standing in front of him, his eyes went wide as he immediately kissed you before embracing you. He continued to kiss you all over your face as you couldn't keep yourself from laughing.

“I told you that your plan would work.” He whispered in your ear as he kissed the shell of it and you simply nodded as you hugged him tighter.

“Come hell or high water, nothing was about to keep me from you. I missed you so much.”

“I think I missed you more. Actually I know I did.” Scalvo told you as he lightly brushed his fingers against your cheek.

“There’s something that I have to tell you.”

“What? You okay? We don't have to…”

“I’m fine, everything’s fine. We don't have to leave again.” You said as you cut him off.

“Then what, princess?”

“You have no idea how good it is to hear you call me that. But um, I brought someone with me.”

“Who?”

You simply picked up Scalvo’s hand and placed it on your stomach and smiled. His eyes went wide once again and looked at you in disbelief.

“I… there's a baby in there?”

“Our baby is in there. I found out a few days ago, right before I left and I got an unpleasant visit by the person that calls himself my father.”

“Do we know if it's a boy or a girl yet? And what did he say to you?”

“It's still too early to tell, but whatever it may be, they're going to have the best dad in the world. And he basically told me that I needed to tell him where you were or he was going to have me arrested for hiding you. I left that night and brought my mom.”

Before Scalvo could respond to you, your mom walked in and smiled at the scene in front of her. But, Scalvo hopped up from the couch and held his distance.

“What is she doing here?” He asked you as you did your best to calm him down.

“It's fine. She's the one who told me to hide you in the first place, remember? We can trust her.”

“How do I know that?”

“Okay, Asher. I get it, but I promise that you can trust me. I've hurt Y/N enough and I have a lot of making up to do for it. When I first found out that he was going to try and convict you, I debated on saying anything not knowing if he was serious or not because James would never hurt Y/N by doing something to you, but I was wrong. I'm glad that I did say something. I've always liked you and she's never been happier. I know it will take a while for me to gain your trust and I'm totally okay with that.” Your mom explained and he simply nodded.

“Oh, and I forgot to mention this. I told Cobby to release it. Only a matter of time now before he's arrested.”

A few days had passed and you and your mom were getting settled in Havana as best as you could. James did end up getting arrested for everything that he did and he was currently in jail and had been denied bond. The next step was him awaiting for his trial to begin.

You and Scalvo were currently walking on the beach hand-in-hand when he suddenly broke the silence.

“You saw the Tiffany's box that was in my drawer?” He asked and you turned to him and nodded.

“I did, but I didn't open it. I figured when you wanted me to see it that I would. I had a feeling that I already knew what it was.” You said as you smiled.

“So, what is it then since you already know?”

“My engagement ring. You love me and can't live without me. I got kidnapped for you and hid you in a different country. And now I'm carrying your baby? We are locked in for life.” You told him as you reached up to pinch his cheek.

“Hmm, good point. Well, since you know everything, are you going to give me an answer?” He asked as he let go of your hand and kneeled down on one knee and finally opened the box so you could see the ring.

“Was that you asking me? Because that was terrible.” You told him as the both of you began laughing.

“Y/N, from the first moment I saw you, I knew that there was something different about you. You intrigued me and not many people do that. You were patient and you still are as you love me through all of my faults as I'm trying to learn how to navigate this new life that I have all thanks to you. You are literally the best thing that has ever happened to me and I don't take having you in my life for granted. We've been through hell and back and there is no one that I'd rather do life with. Now Y/N, will you be the Bonnie to my Clyde?”

“Your ass would have to say something like that, but my answer is yes.” You told him as he slipped on the ring and stood up to kiss you.

“You’re stuck with me now, princess.” He told you as he lightly ran his fingers across your cheek.

“Bonnie and Clyde for life, right?”

“Damn right and now we're the ones calling the shots.”

“Hmm, it's ironic really.” Scalvo started to say and you looked at him and smiled.

“As long as no one finds out we're fine.”

“Never thought my bougie girlfriend now turned fiancée's family were drug lords especially my soon to be mother-in-law.”

“I was just as surprised as you were, and it looks like I got you out of one thing and into another.”

“But it'll be different this time. I know you don't like it but…”

“And why is that?”

“It's the family business, so I have to contribute, right?”

You sighed before you stopped walking again as you turned to him.

“My mom paid the police department and FBI so I figured that you can't get arrested so I MIGHT allow it. They can't touch any of us.”

“Good because I already asked your mom and she said yes.”

“She WHAT? Me and her are going to have to have a serious talk.”

“Clyde is going to need his Bonnie though.” He said and you couldn't help but to smirk.

“If you get yourself killed, I'm bringing you back and killing you again and then divorcing you.”

“Well damn, now that definitely sounds like something the daughter of a queen pin would say. And it looks like this dead end wasn't so dead after all.”

[hoedamn-eron]

mrs tillich's hot grandson

Your elderly neighbour, Mrs Tillich, is so lovely...as is her grandson.

Warnings: Mentions of dementia in a relative. Elderly relative needing a live-in nurse. Mentions of past military career. Sort of proofread, prone to mistakes. Word count: 1,714 GN!Reader, no use of Y/N.

What's this!? A one shot!? I'm sorry I've been gone for four weeks, I've been hyper fixating on Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (it's taken 20+ years but I've finally watched them).

Your neighbour, Mrs Tillich, is a ray of sunshine.

She’s pushing on 100, she has a live-in nurse with her, and loves to be in her garden, which was when she usually caught you to have a chat, over the fence you share, usually when you were leaving for work or coming back. Honestly, you had no problem with speaking to her; as you said, she was everything that was good in this world, and she brightened your day.

You suspected she had some sort of dementia; she’s introduced herself to you multiple times, and repeatedly tells you about her ‘very good looking and single’ grandson.

“He’s a strapping young man,” she’d told you one day, giving you a wink. “He’s in the military, you know?”

You always smiled politely and told her that he sounded very interesting and maybe one day you’ll be introduced, but so far, you hadn’t met the guy.

You hope it’s the gentleman who visits her once a month, who gives you a polite nod if he ever catches your eye if you’re in your driveway. He’s a real silver fox and is always dressed so smartly. He makes your stomach do somersaults whenever his dark eyes meet yours. And God, that jawline.

Today’s forecast was sunshine all around, and you decided that it was the perfect opportunity to give your garden some TLC, and maybe even wash your car. You dress in light clothes, accommodating the hot weather outside and you step out. Your long-abandoned gardening tools were in your garage, and you had some old plant seeds from last year, gifted to you from Mrs Tillich. Hopefully, they would still be okay.

After gathering your things, you settle on your lawn and get work picking out the weeds and giving your garden a general tidy up. You bask in the sunlight, listening to the sounds of birds, and cars passing, and the sounds of the Johnson kids a few doors down, having a water fight from the sounds of it.

You’re so lost in your own world that you don’t realise someone has joined you.

“Hi.”

You jump and look up at the source of the voice.

It was him. The silver fox. He was stood on Mrs Tillich’s side of your adjoining fence, his arms crossed, and Christ, is it normal for a shirt to stretch like that over someone’s arms?

“H…hi,” you stammer before you clear your throat. Pathetic. “Hi.”

His gives you a small grin before he holds his hand out. “I’m William. But I usually go by Bill, you can call me Bill if you want.”

You stand quickly and make your way over. You shake his hand as you introduce yourself. You ignore the way your skin tingles as he shakes your hand.

“Nice to finally meet you,” he said, before crossing his arms again. Defensive guy. “We saw you – me and my grandmother – in your garden, and she told me I should introduce myself. She said you were friendly, and ‘single’. I apologise if she’s been a bit persistent.”

So he is the grandson!

You shake your head at his words, giving him a soft smile. “No, not, she’s…not at all. I enjoy chatting to her, she’s really nice.”

“She can be...” he says before going quiet, giving you a look as if he felt sorry for you, but also trying to placate you. “She’s a bit...you know.” he motions to his head.

“Really, you don’t have to explain yourself,” you say, giving a kind smile. “I don’t mind chatting to her, really.”

William nods at you and you both fall into an awkward silence. You bite the inside of your lip as you study him for a second. What do you talk about? You feel like you know this guy pretty well, thanks to your neighbour, but now he’s in front of you, you can’t think of anything to say.

So you blurt out the first thing that come to your mind that you remember about him. “So you’re in the military?”

He tenses, his jaw setting as he stares at you with a hard look on his face.

“Mrs Tillich mentioned you were...” you say, going quiet at the look on his face. “Never mind, I might have misunderstood - “

“I’m not in the military anymore,” William said quickly. “She gets confused, because...you know...” he motions to his head again.

You stand and chat some more before he says he has to get moving. He was nice; a little quiet and reserved, maybe, but polite. And a little awkward. He stared so intently as you talked, and it gave you butterflies. He tells you it was nice to meet you and he heads back inside the house. He sends you a wave goodbye when he leaves a few hours later.

He visits again sooner than you expect, just a few weeks later. He gives you a small wave with the usual nod this time as he pulls into her driveway. You give him a wave back, but you don’t stop to chat. You don’t know when he leaves.

He comes back again a few weeks after that, but you’re not home. You only know because Mrs Tillich tells you about it the next day. She mentions Bill asked about you, causing your cheeks to warm as you tell her, “That’s nice, I hope he’s doing well.”

She actually giggles at you.

He doesn’t visit again for another few months, which was odd. You couldn’t help but ask Mrs Tillich about it, and she giggles at you again. She explains he’d been busy.

“He travels a lot,” she said, but you’d gathered that yourself. “He still calls me every few days.”

When he does come back, you’re shovelling snow in your driveway. He drives carefully up his grandmother’s driveway before climbing out the car, wearing the warmest – and most expensive – looking grey coat. He gives you the nod and a wave in greeting as he walks towards Mrs Tillich’s house, and you give him a smile and a wave back.

Like the last time you saw him, he doesn’t stop to chat.

You can’t help but feel disappointed, and somewhat put off. Had you made a bad impression last time? You had made that comment about the military, and he didn’t seem too happy about it, maybe it was that? But you were only going off the information given to you.

Whatever, you didn’t know they guy, you shouldn’t feel so sad about it.

You continue to shovel the snow from your driveway, trying not to think about William Tell, but after a while, you’re shocked out of your reverie again.

“Hi.”

Just like in the summer, you jump, and you look at him, where he’s stood behind the fence with a small smirk on his face as he watches you, his hands in his pockets.

“Hi,” you say, stopping to face him.

“Been a while.”

“It has,” you say, giving him a nod.

He swallows, and it was so subtle you would have missed it if you weren’t watching him as intently as you were. Surely, he wasn’t nervous?

“I’d like to apologise,” he said after another moment of silence. “For last time. I’ve been told I can be a little intimidating and it comes off as rude. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

You shake your head at him. “I didn’t think you were rude at all.”

He gives an amused huff through his nose. “You don’t have to spare my feelings - “

“No, really, I thought...it was nice talking to you.”

You go quiet, and you stare at each other again in silence.

You can’t get a read on this guy. You can’t tell if he likes you or not. You’re not even sure if you want him to like you. He’s only your neighbour’s grandson, and sure, he’s good looking and has a nice-looking body from what you could see, but really, he doesn’t seem all that interested in you –

“I may be way off base here, and I apologise now if I’m wrong, but would you like to go out for dinner sometime?”

Oh. Maybe he is interested.

“Yes,” you say instantly, without even thinking.

“What?” he asks, his eyes widening a little, as though he wasn’t expecting you to accept his offer.

“What?” you asked back, eyes just as wide, because had you answered too quickly? Were you being too eager?

“You want to go out for dinner with me?” he asks again.

“Yes,” you say, immediately again.

“Okay,” Bill nods, before giving a small smile. “Okay. Okay, great.”

Your cheeks warm as you smile shyly. “Great,” you breathe.

You stare at each other for a while, and your insides feel all gooey. Then he’s looking at you expectantly, but you’re sure you’re just giving heart eyes to him. “So…can I have your number?”

“What?” you ask, blinking at him before your eyes widen in realisation. “Oh, yeah, yes!”

He hands you his unlocked phone and you place your number into it (you’ll deny your hands were shaking until your dying days). You send yourself a quick text and feel your phone vibrate in your pocket as you hand his phone back to him.

“I’m pretty much free most evenings and weekends,” you say, trying not to sound like too much of a loser.

Bill nodded at you with a smile. “I leave in a few hours, but I’ll be back to visit next week, so…I’ll call you later, we can arrange something?”

You nod. “Yeah, that’ll be great.”

He gives you a nod. “I’ll see you later.”

“See you later,” you say as he turns and walks back into his grandmother’s house, but not before he turns back to look at you and gives you a wave.

You wave back.

You can’t stop smiling. And now your thoughts are filled with the forthcoming phone call about your date next week. What were you going to wear? Where would you go? He isn’t from round here, so maybe you could suggest a really good place. You’ll be cool, you’ll be collected, you’ll not throw yourself at him…you say as you shamelessly think about how much of a filthy kisser he might be…

[electraslight]

Gwen Tennyson is one of my favorite characters in anything ever but there's this pervasiveness in this fandom that shes. Well. A nice, good person. And I don't really like that, especially when shes absolved of her very clear faults to the detriment of other characters. Basically all of Gwen and Kevin's relationship is Gwen doing things to Kevin that, in a normal show, she would be made to apologize for, like rushing him into a relationship when he has made it clear he is not interested at that moment, trying to make him jealous and putting their whole team in danger (which is entirely put on bens shoulders and not hers), hitting him as a punchline for a joke when all Kevin's done is make a silly comment, calling him ugly, blah blah blah you get my point I've been over this a billion times. There are other characters who get the short stick too. In the episode where Elena pretends to be Julie and puts the alien trio under the impression that she ditched nationals to hang out with ben, sure as a friend you'd be worried, but Gwen keeps saying over and over that it's not like julie, she shouldn't put a boy over herself, telling her she made a bad decision, even when julie tells her no, I've made my decision, I don't want to talk about this. Gwen does not respect anyone's boundaries even people like Kevin, Julie, and Ben, who are supposed to be her friends. But people in the fandom characterize Gwen as sweet, kind, helpful, never in the wrong ever even when she is doing something horrible. Remember when people used to say that "Gwen didn't deserve kevin" not because of the constant belittling of his interests, lack of appreciation of his boundaries (see also: those scenes in Trade Off where Kevin repeatedly takes her hand off of him and she keeps trying to touch him anyway), and general nastiness, but because Kevin, who was at the time under the impression that Gwen was getting tired of him (wonder why he'd think that what with her calling him hideous every other episode) got groomed, assaulted, and enslaved. And that's his fault I guess because he's a guy and guys can't get abused. Gwevin is so good you guys the only problem is Kevin,the guy who left his entire support system to go live with his girlfriend, the guy who carries her bags and nonstop talks about how much he lives her when she can never muster up a word to say about him besides "He's nice" and "he's changed". Gwen is always in the right because shes a girl boss character who is not allowed to have flaws besides being stuck up or whatever, and it's totally OK if she needlessly suspects everyone around her and crosses the boundaries of basically everyone she talks to. Read me this: if you think female characters should be strong, why shouldn't you acknowledge Gwen's flaws? Why is it better to have a character who's kind, sweet, motherly, badass but only in ways that won't upstage the male main character, than an awkward, horrible teenage girl who loves people so strongly she strangles them, who's overly paranoid based on her own biases, who views her friends as projects she can fix, but God she is trying so hard. God, I'm begging you, please factor this in to your Gwen fanworks, I'm so tired of her being portrayed as a good person. Shes not a good person. Shes a 16 year old girl.

(Also sorry I talked so much about gwevin its just that Gwen isn't allowed to be her own person outside of men in this show)

[meibywabie]

Xie Lian isn’t a hero.

I started with TGCF first when I was introduced to danmei, and I was floored by what I read. It wasn’t just boys kissing in ancient china, it was actually about human tragedy and the selfishness of the omnipotent.

The theme of TGCF doesn’t revolve around XL alone. It’s much bigger than that. This isn’t a ‘TGCF is better’ post, but rather, TGCF is different. And it’s different because Xie Lian isn’t a typical human hero.

XL is not a heroic character like WWX, and he isn’t a sarcastic/comedic relief hero like SQQ. And it isn’t because of their personalities. XL is just as selfless as WWX and just as unreasonably punished as both other MC’s. However, when bad things happen to WWX, you know it’s because of his personality. Because of his kindness, his confidence, his wit. It’s simply BECAUSE it’s WWX as the protagonist.

Same with SVSSS. That story couldn’t have happened without Shen Yuan in SQQ’s body. Like we never would have gotten that level of sarcasm, pity, and empathy. And the novel tells you that repeatedly. Everything that happens in the previous two novels does so because of who the main character is.

But when things happen in TGCF, XL isn’t even the center of the conflict. It’s almost always someone else’s fault, someone else’s business, or someone else’s issue he just happens to be present for. But somehow, it always comes back to him. It’s always his job to resolve things.

Unlike WWX, the conflict isn’t his fault. WWX actively pushes the narrative with his actions. He drives the conflict and later becomes it. Whether he’s at fault or not is the point of his story, but for XL, he’s really just incredibly unlucky. He’s tragic in the sense that he’s just being fucked over by everyone in his life. For what? For being…wonderful!?

I absolutely love that his one little phrase pissed off the evil emperor of heaven. Like his mere existence is a problem.

It’s an incredible piece of writing that the things that get him into trouble are his altruism. Altruism that is fitting for someone who thinks himself a GOD. But also, altruism that many of us mortals share.

Why CANT he save his people if he’s a god? Why CANT he answer everyone’s prayers? Why is he not good enough or strong enough to resolve this conflict if he’s literally a GOD.

XL is constantly facing issues and asking questions that humanity itself has asked.

Why isn’t god answering me, why isn’t god helping me, why do we have a god at all? TGCF has a commentary that doesn’t limit itself to just XL and the type of person he is in the way that MDZS relies on WWX and SVSSS relies on SQQ.

Those novels are how most novels typically function. You choose a specific type of human and see the world through their eyes.

But XL isn’t human. Not in the way he acts nor in the way he tells this story. He tells you everything he witnesses and it barely affects him anymore. He just has some wise thoughts about what everything means.

But TGCF isn’t asking: what would happen if a kind prince ascended to godhood?

Instead—

TGCF begs the question:

What if you told the story of humanity, not through the eyes of a human, but through the eyes of god.

Xie Lian is god.

XL is 800yrs old, has lived through countless tragedies, celebrations, friendships, betrayals, and he ascends. Again.

He’s been stuck with the burden of immortality and now he’s re entering the place that gave him that burden. He walks into heaven to see new gods, but the same old problems. And the whole vibe he has in this is less benevolent and wonderful and more like a fed up mom who’s tired of seeing the girls fighting.

He sits back and watches these issues devolve and shuffles his way into the conflict by accident. Because he’s the only one competent enough to do anything about it.

XL doesnt react like a human being, at the start of the current timeline, he’s a god.

He’s an 800yr old god. He’s seen everything, learned everything.

We see this prince who thinks himself a god then become one. And instead of learning what it means to be a god so he can help the common man— he learns what it means to be a common man so he can become a real god.

XL goes through HELL. He loses countless times, is left, betrayed, ruined, trampled, destroyed. He is constantly being thwarted by not just people but the very gods he worshipped and the god he himself became. But again— XL isn’t even that big of a personality for us to cling to that alone and see how these things happened to him??

He isn’t boasting about how great he is out of pride and ego, he isn’t rampaging or going mad with power, he isn’t a huge character. But his lack of those qualities is what triggers Jun Wu to ruin him. He wants to see him go crazy, wants to see him struggle. Wants to see his ego and pride. And he’s not the only one!!!

Mu Qing is also incredibly jealous, so are the other gods!!! And Qi Rong, his own family!!! His parents even get upset with him for not doing enough. Everyone saw this kid blessed with so much and started wishing for him to break. And they succeed. He goes insane, he starts killing, he starts wanting to die, he starts losing faith.

But MAN it is just so gorgeous to me that this character is almost…forced to be a main character? Forced to suffer, forced to make mistakes, forced to be a problem. He is so powerful and smart and incredible and then he is made to believe he is nothing. Here is this god who has been forced to feel HUMAN.

And once he finally feels that way, once he finally falls to the ground and loses everything, someone comes by and offers his hat.

And that’s all it takes for a man to truly become a god.

TGCF asks what if you told a story through the eyes of god? It shows you this guy sighing through drama and fixing peoples problems.

And then it goes back and tells you: What makes a man, god?

And we read all of XL’s history. His victories and failures. And it perfectly describes how he’s ascended again. Not out of heroics this time. But out of his pure humanity.

God is a kind, gentle, but confident man who wanders around helping who he can and opening his doors to those who wish to come in. He resolves the conflicts he’s there for, and takes note of those he wasn’t there for. He trudges along holding no grudges and sighing when people make mistakes. He loves selflessly and holds no judgment. He feels strange letting people take care of him but he will take care of you. When he can, and when he has the chance, he will take care of you.

XL is almost born with every book definition of what a god is: kind, selfless, strong, and true. But his story forces him to learn how to be human instead. To fail, die, love, kill and suffer. And when that god was beaten and broken, he was saved by one thing. A human.

That’s how you become a god. And that’s what it means to be one. To be human. To be a good person.

XL couldn’t have been a WWX. He couldn’t have been a staple protagonist with a heart of gold, wit and passion. He couldn’t have had a story with everyone’s conflict directly tied to him and because of him. That isn’t what TGCF is for.

It isn’t about XL himself. It’s about god. It explores the selfishness that comes with immortality, and the selflessness that comes with mortality.

There are other aspects that make it a nice protag story. He falls in love, he’s kinda air headed and sassy. He did have the character and maturity to choose to become a wonderful godlike person but that’s a post for another day. But honestly, if this were a regular novel, it probably would’ve been about Hua Cheng. He lives for love and passion and devotion. He kills and saves and sacrifices, he denies godhood and wins the girl in the end. Now THATS a hero.

But XL isn’t a hero. He’s a god.

MXTX wrote a story that wasn’t about a sheepish prince who lost it all, but instead wrote a story about gods and humans. She wrote what reads like a Greek epic to me. With such hard comments on morality and cruelty. She really hit me with everything I love about literature. And yes I do love MDZS and SVSS but TGCF is different.

Like guoshi said: the gods are human, after all. But XL above them all, is most definitely a god.

[wendytestabrat]

the main problem with kyle in the new episodes

ok this is what RLLY bothers me abt kyle in modern south park ESPECIALLY in seasons 24-26 and i think a lot of people are getting annoyed with this shit too. i hate how they’ve been showing repeatedly how cartman’s getting better and acting nicer in the new episodes so like why TF is kyle still being a dick to him and treating him like a monster???? i mean for YEARS kyle has been going out of his way to help cartman and change cartman and making it clear he wants cartman to be a better person and make better choices, so then when cartman finally does he’s just like 😴. like idc if u ship kyman or not it’s rlly out of character for kyle. they’re still canonically close friends so it feels like a missed opportunity for character development on kyle’s end for them not to show kyle reciprocating or appreciating cartman doing better. i guess it’s bc matt & trey are trying to show kyle has been the toxic one and the jealous snake friend all along, but still even tho kyle is an asshole they don’t have to make him THAT big of an asshole. i think a lot of people like seeing kyle’s caring codependent side come out bc that’s the good side of kyle as a person how big-hearted and empathetic he can be. and there def have been some modern episodes where they DO get this right like especially in “the streaming wars” when kyle helped cartman out with his mom’s ‘surgery’ (even tho kyle deadass only helps cartman or feels bad for him when cartman is lying just to fuck himself over which i had talked abt before how he always gets the timing wrong with cartman for those who are caught up on your wendytestabrat lore). i also feel like an episode that DEF got things right with kyle was “help my teenager hates me” from s25. i loved that moment where cartman was crying abt how everything sucks and he lives in a hot dog and kyle is just like “ru okay cartman?” like bitch we need more moments like THAT. even if kyman doesn’t happen, idc like i just wanna see more moments of kyle being a good friend to cartman back (bc they def have given us A LOT of moments of cartman being there for kyle) is that too much to ask? but yeah in the images i used above are from the specials “post covid” (part 1), “south parq vaccination special”, “not suitable for children” and “joining the panderverse” and in literally every single one of these specials kyle’s being a dick and jumping down cartman’s throat when he aint doing anything wrong lol. in post covid he’s all mad at cartman for being a rabbi, even tho we all know cartman wasn’t faking it and was genuinely happy. in “south parq vaccination special” he gets all pissy throughout the whole thing when all cartman is trying to do is save the broship, in “not suitable for children” he’s getting all mad at cartman for making his own cred affinity group which last i checked aint a crime (and we all know he was just mad bc cartman wasn’t letting him in the group), and in “joining the panderverse” he’s getting all mad and annoyed over cartman being replaced by a black woman and he acts like cartman is making it up even tho cartman was telling the truth and there was this real parallel universe shit happening. like this shit needs to stop it’s getting soooo old and all it’s doing is making kyle unlikable af and annoying everyone who used to love kyle lol. like ok we get it matt & trey kyle can be just as toxic as cartman, now can we also see that he can be just as caring and nice as cartman too?

and btw this is why there have been less kyman rants:

[lunabug2004]

Why the Troy and Angela Situations Should Not Be Compared (+ Why Mike's Reaction Is Valid)

One of the things that gets my blood boiling as a Mike defender is when people try to compare the bullying/El's reaction to said bullying between the Troy and Angela scenes. They are not the same thing, not even close! Yes, they're both cases of bullying, but two very different levels of extreme.

Yes, I understand that words can hurt just as much, if not more, than a physical weapon, and Mike understands this too, that's why he tries to connect with El the morning after. But in the real world, one without monsters or powers, the one they believe they're living in at the time, violence is almost never the answer, it only makes things worse, as it did. Mike also understand this. Now, yes, it took him a minute to figure out that El didn't quite understand this yet, but he works to fix his mistakes as soon as he does.

Now, let's look at season 1's incident. Troy is threatening to cut Dustin with a knife if Mike doesn't jump off the quarry cliff. Two lives are in immediate and direct danger in this situation. El, literally at the last second, saves Mike as he's falling, so that's one problem fixed and one less life at stake. By this time, yes, Troy has moved away from Dustin, but he is still holding the knife! And then he aggressively steps towards El, threatening her with it, so she snaps his arm and makes him drop it. This is self defense, as well as defending her friends from a dangerous situation.

In season 4, Angela publicly humiliates El. Yes, it's awful, and yes, she deserves the smack that she gets for it, but it's nowhere near as bad as what Troy was doing. Angela isn't putting any lives in immediate danger, she's not brandishing a weapon! Legally, El smacking Angela is assault, because at the point of the roller-scate-smack, the ordeal is done with, and there was no physical harm done. I'd like to add that I'm aware of El falling, and that she may have been hurt, but technically no one touched her, so it still isn't technically self-defense (I may be wrong here, pls correct me if so). This is a very unfortunate situation, and I feel terrible for El, as should everyone, but I'm a firm believer that when it comes to bullies, you shouldn't fight fire with fire, and Mike seems to carry this belief as well, as he repeatedly tells the boys to just ignore their bullies in s1. @foodiewithdahoodie has an old post (can't find it irl, but it's stuck in my brain) in which they say El treats Angela, a normal girl who is not a serious threat, with the same extreme hostility she shows the UD monsters, and I completely agree with this. El is flawed, and Mike's not a bad person for reacting to those flaws, that just happen to include unnecessary violence, the way a normal person would.

Anyways, what I'm getting at here is that these two situations are completely different (again, Troy has a literal weapon, two peoples' lives were being actively threatened!) and Mike's reaction in both circumstances were completely valid! In season one, he was seconds away from death, and so when El saved him and made the threat go away, he was eternally grateful for her defense. In season 4, he tries so hard to get to her when he realizes what's going on despite having just found out she'd been lying to him for months, and he was even completely on El's side, trying to find and comfort her, until she hit Angela, then he believed she went too far (she did), so he made that known. He's never been one to sugarcoat when he disagrees with certain behaviors, and he doesn't start here, he tells it like it is: Angela doesn't look fine. It also is just a lot to process, so it doesn't surprise me that it takes an overnight thought-session for him to figure out where he went wrong, and again, he tries to make it up to her! To connect with her, bringing down some of his walls in the process! She just disregards his experiences, then brings up him not saying ILY, so he gets defensive and puts back up his walls, and they never get to continue this conversation! (This is an analysis for another day in and of itself tbh)

To reiterate, it just irks me when people compare these scenes to try and make Mike out to be a bad person, when they are nowhere near the same situation! His reactions being different makes total sense, esp when adding the shock-factor of it all! I'll stop talking now cuz this could go on forever and I lowkey feel like I'm just repeating myself now.

Pls tell me your thoughts on this!

[dracomort]

When writing child Tom Riddle, what do you consider to be important notes/key elements/aspects to keep in mind? I really struggle with writing child Tom Riddle because there is only one scene we get from him as a young adult. I adore your characterisation of Tom

Even though we don't get to spend much time with child Tom, I do think that scene tells us a fair bit about his character. I would say it's even better character material than the memories we have of his teenage years, as this scene with Dumbledore shows us a Tom that isn't very good at masking yet.

One of the most important takeaways regarding little Tom, as outlined in this brilliant post, is his speech patterns. Tom at eleven is not sophisticated. He doesn’t speak like a precocious governess-tutored pureblood child. He’s blunt and direct, speaks without artifice and has little awareness or care for politeness or hierarchy. He interrupts Dumbledore repeatedly during their short conversation, even after being reprimanded for his manners and conduct.

Since we know that the author doesn’t, um, shy away from writing out accents in dialogue, I think it’s fair to say he isn’t as ‘full Cockney’ as perhaps many of his peers, but Tom still has the manners of a street urchin and does not give a fuck. Tom is a child who is used to commanding respect from both his peers and the adult Muggles in his life. Dumbledore neither being intimidated nor capitulating to his demands makes Tom uneasy. He doesn’t feel safe around people who aren’t frightened of him.

Tom doesn't know how to handle a world where he isn't the top dog. He's learning, undoubtedly, and practising his future model student persona, but he isn't very good at it yet. It doesn't come naturally to him, and he's clumsy with it. To me, that's one of the things that makes eleven-year-old Tom so endearing.

Another thing that is clear with a child Tom but not a teenage Tom, is his high level of emotional volatility. He’s far from the creepy, distant child that we see in the HBP film. Book Tom oscillates from one emotion to the next fast enough to give any reader whiplash. He swings from distrust, to fury, to wild joy, to politeness, to fear, then finally withdraws to a shrewd, calculating distance—all within his brief conversation with Dumbledore. I do think it’s important to recognise that Tom has never been fearless; after all, he destroys himself precisely in response to an all-consuming obsession with those fears. We already see a preoccupation with death, his mother’s death in particular, and a belief that his magic will save him from a similar fate.  

But what Tom isn't is a coward. When faced with a person or problem that frightens him, he addresses this head-on at first and tries to brute force his way through it, either through aggression or violence. Only when that doesn't work does he draw back and begin to think strategically, attempting to charm and ingratiate himself. As a teenager we see that he learns that the second strategy is going to work best for him, but it isn't really in his nature. By adulthood, he has reverted to form. In many ways Tom at eleven is closer to Voldemort in behaviour than Tom at sixteen.

Also, side note: while I was rereading this scene for the post I noticed that Tom actually believes his father is dead. When he asks Dumbledore about him, he doesn’t ask if his father is a wizard, he asks if he was a wizard. At this age, it hasn’t yet occurred to Tom that his father might still be living, just with no interest in finding his son.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

am i the asshole for yelling at my dad?

🚗 to identify

TRIGGER WARNING: somewhat stalking, anger issues, mentions of violence, mentions of threats. stay safe guys.

just to provide some background, i (14n) am a bit of an unregulated crier. the tiniest things (like what happened today) make me start bawling. i'm trying to work on it since my mom (47f) says it's me being a bit dramatic. on the other hand, my father (48m) has some problems when it comes to getting frustrated. the place where i live can have a lot of traffic and road rage incidents so this isn't too uncommon for me to experience. i just never reacted quite like this before.

anyways, what happened was my dad had just picked me up from school. i had just had a very long day (school hours are from 7:30-2:30, i stayed until 5 for additional extra curriculars) and was letting him know about my day. we were talking, he was driving a bit slow, and everything was kinda okay. but when we got to this intersection, someone turned in front of him, cutting him off. i could tell the random driver was in a bit of a rush, so it wasn't really that upsetting to me. but my dad got really angry, flipping them off and honking loudly, as well as rolling down the window to give them a few choice words.

i told him to calm down, and he kind of did, saying to me a couple of curse words about that driver but i ignored him. but as we kept driving he seemed to get more frustrated. eventually, someone else cut him off and he completely lost it, screaming and honking and cursing really loudly. again, i told him to calm down, it wasn't really a big deal. but he wouldn't stop.

he continued to get mad about that driver, saying he was going to speed up and catch up to them to give them a piece of his mind. he ran a red light just to do so (he later told me it wasn't that important since its one of those tiny lights by little gated communities and no one was in the road). eventually when he caught up, he followed them for a while, and noticed them turning into our neighborhood.

he got weirdly fixated from then on, going in circles around our neighborhood to see where the car went. he kept making comments, saying that the driver was screwed because "he'd know where they live", and that "they were going to regret it".

i got scared, because i know sometimes when he gets into one of these moments he won't be sensical. there have been several moments before where i've begged him to just let things go because they (to me at least) aren't a big deal. he's repeatedly made threats in our house to the neighbors (he doesn't like their fireworks) and has mentioned specifically how he planned on getting a gun and sh00ting them. so i might've gotten a bit scared.

i told him to stop, and i told him he wouldn't find them because i saw them park. immediately he turned on me, demanding to know where they went. i got scared again but didn't say anything. he got really pushy and so i took my phone out and called my mom.

my mom (47f) is one of the only people my dad listens to. after calling her twice, she picks up the phone. it's hectic because he's still circling the neighborhood, and im trying to tell her that he's trying to chase someone to their house and she has to tell him to stop and to take us home.

she does tell him that, and he relents. we take a turn back to our house but that's when he sees the other driver's car. and that's when all shit goes down. because he starts laughing and saying they'll get what they deserve, and that they'll regret it, and he memorizes their fucking address.

i tell him to stop, to just ignore it (for the fiftieth time) but he ignores me. i just explode, yelling at him and telling him not everything is a personal slight against him, and not everything requires such an extreme response. i tell him he gets upset over minor things, and he doesn't have to be like that.

he just replies that he isn't the one upset, and that i'm the one yelling at him. i cry.

so tumblr, am i the asshole? it's none of my business what my parents do and i could've told him nicely to let it go. and my fears were based on assumptions of prior comments i didn't have the full context of. i really hope i did the right thing but it bothers me i stooped to his level by getting upset.

What are these acronyms?

[lemon-natalia]

Nona the Ninth Reaction - Review

firstly, i just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in and encouraged me in doing these liveblogs! this has been such a fun project to work on, and reading these books for the past nine months or so has been a bright spot in what has otherwise been a relatively tough period of my life. i’ve really enjoyed getting to theorise about all of the lore of these books and make horribly ill-advised emotional attachments to inevitably doomed characters

more fun statistics that no one asked for: this liveblog was the longest, at about 20,000 (!!) words. my GtN liveblog was 12000 words for comparison. i have no excuse other than i like to talk

NtN definitely was an interesting diversion from the other two books so far. it wasn’t exactly a breather, since it was still incredibly heartbreaking and horrifying, but it was fun to see a part of the worldbuilding very different from what we’ve seen before. as much as I missed both Harrow and Gideon, i liked that it gave other characters time to shine outside of interacting with them. it was fun to see more of Palamedes, Camilla, and Pyrrha, and how those characters act in a vastly different environment to the Nine Houses

although NtN was essentially telling two different narratives, John chapters vs Nona’s, it still didn’t feel particularly disjointed - i think it was thematically held together by being a bit more grounded than the other books so far, sci-fi and fantasy elements notwithstanding (contemporary issues like climate change and nuclear war, & John’s world being a setting far closer to our own vs Nona’s domestic life & very real problems of living in a warzone)

i also loved getting John’s perspective in the chapters narrated by Harrow, his point of view and recollections were equal parts funny, terrifying, and fascinating. he’s certainly got a … unique perspective on the world. it was just a slow horrifying journey trying to figure out how the world ended, knowing that it was doomed but not exactly how it happened

Muir really has a talent for endearing you to a protagonist, and Nona was no exception, I absolutely loved her, and just, her whole story and how tragic it was physically hurt me. i also wasn’t expecting to get as attached as i was to Hot Sauce and the school gang - i hope we get just even just a mention of what happens to them in AtN

tldr: 11/10. reading this series is like the emotional equivalent of voluntarily getting stabbed in the heart repeatedly. i have absolutely no clue what I’m going to do with my life now that this is over for the meantime, other than go crazy in a locked room with a red string conspiracy board trying to figure out whats going to happen in Alecto the Ninth

speaking of, obviously its not a pressing issue since to my knowledge there isn’t even a release date yet, but i’m not sure if i’ll do a liveblog for Alecto when it comes out? on one hand the most fun bit about liveblogging has been the reaction from everyone who’s already read the books and we’ll all be in the same boat of not knowing what’s going on when Alecto comes out, so i don’t know how much of a point there is? on the other i would very much enjoy doing it anyway, and i’m a perfectionist so it would be nice to have completed all of the books like that. so i guess it depends on how impatient i am to read the whole book when it comes out lol

[thenixkat]

also the president gave shoot on sight orders for the Joker. I dont think anyone would care if a superhero murdered the Joker who's orchestrating the mass death of thousands at this very moment, Nightwing. Get off yer fucking high horse

of course the Jokerization is randomly killing/dropping villains now. We can't have this ass pull have any real long term effects

faces

they got paid. so the doctor that diagnosed the Joker with a brain tumor was playing a prank on the Joker and didnt think it would go horribly wrong

folks making deals with that fuckin brainworm that i know is usually up to some shit

ok just spread the jokerness via tainted rain, sure, whatever

you were just fleeing from Joker the other issue why are you demanding being taken to him now? Fuck it, let Harley go to the Joker so he can rape and kill her, it's what she fucking wants right now. Let her get her dipshit ass killed.

also Dr. Langstrom is that Dr. Langstrom, the werebat. In this he turns when stressed.

there's a protocol in place for getting Dr. Langstron to calm his shit when he goes werebat. They shot him with some calming drugs

meanwhile, Harley is getting cavity searched for a 3rd time apparently by an overly gleeful lady soldier, cause sexual assault is funny when its lady on lady apparently.

Oracle calls in Huntress, a hero known for killing fuckers, to do whatever she feels necessary to save Robin and clear out some jokerized villains. Just dont tell Batman

jokerized, ugh, Killer Croc called dibs on some Robin wings

Nightwing you know better than trying to reason with the fucking Joker. Also staple gun

oh hey Batman put tracking devices in the costume upgrades he gave his allies. Gotta love that paranoid big brother bs. Someday folks are gonna get tired of that shit and beat Batman's ass

like that's rude as hell also fucking boob socks on the fucking bulletproof vest is a shitty art decision

i doubt Tim-Robin got eaten that quickly and Killer Croc is still fucking hungry. Tim's a decent-sized child, with plenty of meat

again, I don't think Tim-Robin is dead. An offscreen death in a miniseries that doesnt focus on him? I dont buy it

and even if he was he'd be back sooner rather than later

also since when does a superhero need to be sanctioned? I doubt Batman can keep every hero he doesnt like/wont bow to him out of Gotham

oh so now Nightwing is ok with killing Joker. It only took the Joker killing Jason, crippling Barbra, and killing Tim too. Damn, fuck you Nightwing

The Joker has to murder and maim multiple people that Dick is close to b4 dude would consider killing him. Man, I'd be pissed off at Nightwing if I lived in this world and had folks I knew murdered and maimed and the heroes only get serious when it gets personal

yeah, these heroes should have more enemies with the common people just for that alone. 'You had teh chance to stop a terrible fucker and chose not to. Repeatedly even tho the bodies kept pilling up' also the folks in charge with stopping the prison riot are …alive after getting sucked into a gravity well. B/c gravity wells transport fuckers to a pocket dimension instead of crushing the shit out of things in this world. They've been dodging the aquatic villains and murdering one villain who's power is he gets a new power every time he dies which is extremely unethical

Oracle switched positions and wants Batman to stop Nightwing from murdering the Joker.

let him kill the Joker and get him some therapy after, yall making this more of a problem than it needs to be

No shit Tim-Robin wasnt dead. They didnt even put a whole issue between the fake out and him being back

fucking bleeding hearted saps feeling bad about killing the Joker. Couldn't be me

Batman you should have let him die. Everyone the Joker kills after this is directly on your fucking head.

yall weak ass bitches. Everyone the Joker kills after this is on you all for reviving the fucker.

the put the Joker back in prison instead of just killing him. so he can escape again at some point for more adventures. Lex Luthor is the president, its not like he has fucking morals or that the global public doesnt want the Joker dead. Just kill him

and that's the end. There's no good reason for anyone involved to not just fucking kill the Joker

the villains dont like him, the heroes should kill him for the greater good and they'd actually be justified in this one case more than anything else, the world governments should want the Joker dead. No one benefits to the Joker continuing to be alive

[pixlpxie]

That fact that wooyoung and San both said it makes them uncomfortable when people ship them together but people still do it is mind boggling, like San has asked repeatedly for people to stop because he’s uncomfortable with being shipped with other men or with other people in general. Wooyoung just said it’s weird for people to do that, but he doesn’t mind it as much. But San tho, that man went on a three minute rant about it(when he did that live and read fanfics, he saw one of him and wooyoung and he immediately stopped and made his boundaries very clear) and yet this one account on tiktok(idk the @) and a bunch of weirdos keep sexualizing it, especially when that one wanteez ep where they all get drunk, and San had to pee so he held his dick down bc it was getting hard from having to pee, and everyone was saying “it’s bc wooyoung was next to him, they should just kiss already” and shit like that, my favorite one I saw was “whoever gets mad at these is the real problem” and i dont remember the caption of it but it was harmful to wooyoung and san and it was where San was sitting in a bus and he was a lil hard im assuming bc he was adjusting himself (it was a print, he was wearing those sweatpants that show it off) and it was just bizzarre to me that people think this okay when all of them have specifically said to stop. Like I get jokes and shit but that one account isn’t joking, like they want them to be together so bad it pretty much pushed San and wooyoung away from each other for a bit(two weeks straight of barely speaking to each other on camera and not even hugging each other).

You can't ever stop ppl from shipping other ppl i mean you already do that for your irl friends too (im guessing so at least) and even if they tell fans to stop they won't stop. That's the reality. But if this starts to affect their relationship then it becomes a problem because it's no longer just a fan/fandom thing. There can be something going on between them thats more than friendship and as long as they dont confirm anything we won't know. I think the issue with shipping idols is that many people tend to miss what a friendship is and that these idols are from a country where acting 'gay' with your homies is a normal thing lmao 😭 men will fuck each other and then say they're not gay that's exactly the same in korea🧍🏻‍♂️also are you rly good friends if ppl dont think yall gay/j but fr tho friendship is a form of love why do people get weirded out when it looks and feels like love 😭😭 dyk what i mean 🧍🏻‍♂️ if youre gonna ship them do it discreetly and dont force it down their throats 👨🏻‍🦯 let's just hope that their relationship is not hurt bc of the shipping 😔