#so if they go three weeks without seeing each other?

[madlori]

there are a lot of headcanons about tommy becoming resentful of the time buck spends with eddie, but give me the reverse. give me eddie resentful of the time buck spends with tommy.

eddie's alone and sad with chris gone. both buck and tommy, together and individually, try to do things with him and be there for him but sometimes they actually do want to be alone together, and eddie just...can't seem to stop getting in the way. he invites himself along to stuff. he asks if he can come hang out when they're having a night at home together. he takes up their free evenings with obsessively making plans so he can avoid being alone in his house and they're just starting to get worn down.

eventually buck has to sit him down and say, eddie, my man, my dude, you're family to me, i care about you so much, so does tommy, but for the love of all that's holy please understand that sometimes i need to be alone with my boyfriend.

and eddie is embarrassed that he's been so clingy but also low-key hates that they have this relationship with each other that doesn't include him. he's happy that buck's found the love he always yearned for and deserved, but he can't stop feeling hurt and left out and there's just no way to make it better.

so what does he do? does he stay resentful and let it fester until it becomes anger and it ruins his friendship with buck?

maybe at one point he would have done that. but this time...this time he recognizes the path he's on and decides to take action to not let that happen. buck is too important to him. he has to find a way to occupy himself without relying soley on buck.

so he joins a boxing gym that nobody else goes to and starts working out there. he makes a friend who's also dealing with loneliness.

he starts volunteering on off-shift mornings at a botanical garden and finds that digging in the dirt and getting sweaty and dirty is very therapeutic. after a few weeks, some of the other volunteers invite him to come to brunch after their shift.

he discovers the LAFD Discord and that it has a whole bunch of sub-groups where first responders from all over the city get together for activities. he joins the golf group. he joins the cooking group. he goes on an axe-throwing outing.

he makes other friends.

there are no other friends like Buck. there will never be another friend like Buck. but there are people he can spend time with now, and give Buck a break so he can spend time with Tommy and also just have time to himself.

buck still brings dinner over once a week. he takes eddie on hikes. he and tommy fly him to san diego for the day and they go to the beach. but eddie also goes golfing with the LAFD Discord club. He goes to Station 133, which has the nicest kitchen in the LAFD, for the cooking club and learns some new recipes.

He has brunch with Chim and Maddie. He and Hen take Mara and Denny to mini-golf. He helps Bobby do DIY work on their new home to bring the kitchen up to his standards.

He learns to live without Chris. He learns to have support that doesn't entirely revolve around Buck. He watches Buck and Tommy get more and more serious, but now he's not resentful or scared - he's only happy, to see his best friend so happy. When they move in together, the three of them spend the first night Buck lives with Tommy eating pizza, drinking beer and watching baseball on TV.

And the first time Buck and Tommy ask him to come on a hike with them, and he has to decline because he has other plans, he's relieved, because they still want him around. They still want to be his friend. He hasn't worn them down.

He will always need Buck, he will alway love him. But he knew it wasn't fair to make Buck his entire support system...so he built a bigger one, and it's big enough to support them all.

When Chris facetimes him, he notices that his dad is looking less despondent. he has things to talk about, like the botanical garden and Bobby and Athena's new house and the firepit he's helping Buck build in Tommy's backyard. He's more open and honest. He doesn't sound so desperate. So Chris says he wants to come home, and when he does, Eddie's just happy he's back. Not desperate, not resentful or angry. And he has these new friends.

One of those new friends is another volunteer at the botanical gardens. she's a trauma nurse and does gardening to help her cope. eddie suggests she might like to try boxing as exercise, and she loves it. she is invited to a firefam BBQ at Buck and Tommy's house, and chris can't help but notice that she looks at his dad like he's really something -- and he's looking back the same way.

and if Chris had been worried that his time away would have hurt his dad, or made him sadder -- which he definitely didn't worry about, totally didn't, never at all -- he's not worried about that anymore.

[kurakisses]

⟡ ⠀countless nights⠀⠀⊹⠀⠀ soshiro hoshina & you

gn reader. hurt/comfort, established relationship. reader is a soldier within the third division, and he loves you much more than words can describe. part two of hope of devotion.

a little more than three weeks had passed

doctors said you were in perfect condition, that your wounds had healed almost completely and your body was not rejecting any treatment.

however, it was a mystery why you were not regaining consciousness.

It could be risky to resort to any method that would be forceful, so they opted to wait

and as the days went by, they stated that you were in a coma.

your life was fragile, weak, feeble; just like that of any human, because you were a soldier did not make you any different from the average adult— you were just that, a human, nothing more.

with that in mind, many began to lose hope and their hearts were heavy, sinking in anguish of losing that singular strength, radiant and unique that only you carried.

the ever-cautious vice-captain looked tired, and many began to realize how his routine was beginning to crumble.

the very person who had advised them not to cling so tightly to their colleagues, because of the dangerous nature of their line of work.

with each passing day, he seemed to grow more impatient

looking for a sign, a hint— something to tell him that you would soon wake up and resume your daily activities.

but your immobile body refused to make any kind of change.

your fingers were warm, soft to the touch, with slightly robust fingertips as a result of your daily, arduous training in the defense forces.

he caressed the back of your hand with his thumb as he took it, then intertwined his fingers with the utmost delicacy

how much he wished that after waking up in the morning, or after returning from a mission, you would be waiting for him with open arms.

and without fail there he was, when he woke up, after going to exterminate kaijus, and even before going to sleep.

kafka noticed how the light in the training room had stopped being on so late, and how instead it was the light in the infirmary that was glowing

he noticed how he began to condense his own schedule even further because of the urge to see you

it had already become obvious to the entire third division that the vice-captain held you in high esteem and that your relationship was always much deeper than it appeared at first glance.

his attitude never changed and his characteristic loud laughter was often heard in the corridors, so it was complex to realize what was really going on.

soshiro had always been good at hiding his intentions— his feelings and wishes.

he cared for others as much as he cared for you, so he wouldn't let them be distraught by seeing him in a poor condition

because they were still ignorant of how much you meant to him

for they did not know how often he had rested his head on your torso, looking at your face as you rested so peacefully

they didn't know how usually early in the morning you used to exchange soft kisses, careful not to let anyone find you

they didn't know how your fingers had become accustomed to sinking into soshiro's hair

they didn't know how you used to dedicate mellifluous whispers to the crimson-eyed one, as sweet as honey

they were unaware of the times when he wondered what his life would be like without you in it

for every little action you did had been engraved in his daily life

his body missed the warmth of yours, hearing your voice as you recounted your accomplishments during your latest mission

he left his seat due to his long stay in the quiet room. with his head down he thought of retiring for the day and returning as soon as the sun began to rise— however, a faint voice rose in the thick silence causing him to stop his pace.

“don't leave…”

his eyes widened in unmeasurable surprise, meeting your gaze with his

as a soft smile began to form on your face, soshiro was already by your side again

he held on to your hand and showed you a smile where his little fangs peeked out over his lower lip

son of melancholy, a knot was born in his throat as he heard your voice mentioning his name with such affection.

your hands encapsulated his with delicacy, and you could feel perfectly how his fingers barely applied any force on your naked skin.

he clarified how long you had been unconscious and you felt sadness in his voice, even though his radiant smile went against that feeling

you exchanged words until your cheeks began to ache as you smiled, until you had no subjects to talk about

but you knew he wouldn't be honest enough to admit how much he'd missed you during this long period of time.

how many times he had stood waiting for you in this very room

and when you heard the door open, you turned your face in its direction and then put your index finger to your lips, asking for silence— to save the surprised sighs of seeing you awake for later.

it was because vice-captain hoshina was sleeping peacefully on your lap, happy, serene after hearing your voice, seeing you speak and smiling at him as he likes so much.

[luboy7rt]

How Task Force 141 Characters Would Cook With You (Headcanons, GN reader)

(These can be seen as mostly platonic but can be seen as romantic and these are just my headcanons. (INCLUDES: John Price, John 'Soap' MacTavish, Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick and Simon 'Ghost' Riley)

___

Jonathan (John) Price:

- John is a great cook when working alone. When working with you, he tends to forget that you should help as well and ends up making a ‘game plan’ for the both of you on what tasks you will do, splitting it nicely into doing what you want to do, and John would do the tasks you don't want to do.

- If you don't want to help cook? That's fine with him. He is willing to let you sit and watch him cook a nice meal for the two of you.

- Definitely meal preps the day before, before he heads to bed, he likes to save time and have most of the work done before. Also does ask you what you want, ensuring you like the recipes he chooses out even if it's around the same five every day, occasionally switching it up to other recipes he finds throughout the weeks.

- He likes to relax while cooking, chuckling softly as he watches you move around, he likes talking as well. Any topics other than work.

- He does accidentally order you around a bit around the kitchen when he gets too focused, or sometimes he'll even follow your orders whoever is the ‘leader’ of the kitchen really. It just makes it easier for you both to work around each other and do what needs to get done.

- He will dance with you if you want to dance, and plays music in the background on very low volume. He wouldn't be able to stop the smile that spread across his face while watching you. If he doesn't dance with you, he would sway his hips absentmindedly, very subtly. 

- You want him to learn a specific meal? He'll go looking for a recipe on his own if you don't have one, it might take one or two tries to get it fully tasting right, but in the end he does it for you.

- He is a quick cook, getting things done efficiently and quickly. Over the years he decided it was better faster due to his time in the military so he could eat quicker and get tasks done swiftly after, somehow he doesn't burn anything.

John (Johnny) ‘Soap’ MacTavish:

- Soap can cook, but only from recipes he already knew/taught. He struggles with written recipes, but if you show him a video of doing all the steps once, he could cook it pretty decently.

- Without recipes he'll be lost, iust putting random stuff he thinks would taste good on whatever you both are cooking. Did you see flour go on the food instead of salt? Soap ignores the glance you give him as he already knew he screwed it up after realizing his holding flour instead of salt. 

- He jokes around when you start telling him what to do, ends up just following your lead on what to do and suddenly he gets a lot better when cooking. The food turns out excellent as you both grin and high five each other when you finish cooking.

- Soap likes to pull small harmless pranks on you as well, sprinkling a bit of flour On his hand then clasping your shoulder, laughs when you turn around and get a whiff of flour blowing in your face due to him blowin it on you. Runs off laughing if you chase, he takes off sprinting to get away if you don't, he comes back after three minutes with a grin.

- If you did chase him, you two forget about the time and end up burning whatever you were cooking and end up just buying take out to enjoy instead

- He ends up blasting music while grinning at you while you two bicker on what to do, what to add, how to cook whatever you are cooking. It basically is a lot of fun of just laughter, jokes, pranks and trying to cook and somehow succeeding despite it being so chaotic.

- If you are hungry, he stops ‘fooling’ around and actually gets done with a recipe he knows by heart, as always, it turns out very good!

Kyle ‘Gaz’ Garrick: 

- There are three ways of cooking with Kyle, 1. You take the lead. 2. He takes the lead or 3. You both step on each other's feet and keep stumbling into each other to do the same tasks while cooking.

- This man puts research into finding recipes, whenever he finds one he thinks you would like it goes neatly Into a screenshot folder that is just filled with random recipes he thinks you would like. (If you end up liking it, it goes into a :) folder and if you don't it does into a :( folder) 

- It takes pride that he is indeed a good cook, he follows recipes to the T to ensure it comes out good, only adding stuff if he believes the meal would be better after having it/cooking it a handful of times.

- Sometimes if you don't want to cook, he pulls up a stool for you to simply sit and watch him cook. So the two of you can chat about anything really, the topics always range from gossip, to work, to new stuff one of you are doing.

- You two are actually managing to work eachother once you get into the ‘rhythm’ of it, managing to avoid any big issues while talking and teasing one another. Kyle’s eyes are sometimes on you when you get a bit close to the stove/over as If to ensure you didn't accidentally injure yourself as you two were a bit distracted by each other joking around.

- Kyle puts a lot of effort into cooking with you, he liked the moments of sudden calm. Ensuring to make you an amazing meal, as in the field he didn't get the best food and when home? He was making good food.

Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley:

- Simon is not a bad cook, but he's not a good cook either, he knows a handful of random cooking information. He's not lost in the kitchen, but if he was would you ever really know? No. He can fake his knowledge, and he's actually pretty good at faking knowing what he was doing.

- He allows you to tell him what to do, despite huffing about it to you, if your a bad cook? You're both screwed, he can't fake it if you also don't know what you both are doing.

- If you are a good cook? Great, he's watching you and stealing your techniques, managing to get by without questioning anything. You ask him to do a task, he got it.. doesn't know how but he'll figure it out without you knowing.

- Simon tends to try out new dad jokes on you, these handful of new jokes he came up with so he could tell them to the others if you laugh. You're the confirmation that the joke is good or not.

- Simon ends up sending you random recipes he finds online, (even if their ‘joke’ recipes you shouldn't eat), grinning at you behind his masked lips as you make a face. The hell you mean Simon wants a cockroach-themed green-slimed cake, and he wants to bake It? Simon doesn't even care he's to busy cackling about just imagining the cake.

- Cooking with Simon ends up going decent it's not the best food but it's not the worst either, he ends up ordering delivery for dessert, whatever you want really.

[prolifeproliberty]

Hey, I'm stumped on this objection, if it's alright, I want your input on this

"For these types of people I always give them a hypothetical situation for them answer So if you knew your wife was going to die by giving birth to the child would you let Your wife get an abortion or would you let your wife die in the child grow up without a mother?"

What do you think?

I would answer that the choice is never actually that simple. We imagine this cinematic moment where the doctor comes out to talk to the anxious husband in the waiting room and says “Sir, we can only save one of them. Should we save your wife or your child?” and he has to make that choice.

That makes a very dramatic movie scene, but it’s not real.

There are three categories of “life of the mother” situations:

1. Very early pregnancy. Mother has a life threatening condition and cannot be kept stable until the child reaches viability (now around 22 weeks with evidence-based best practices). Even in these situations, a direct abortion isn’t the life-saving care. Usually we’re talking about the mother needing a treatment for her life-threatening condition that risks the life of the baby. Most ethical choice is to treat the mother. If the baby dies as a result of the treatment, that is a tragic loss. If the baby doesn’t die, awesome! In this category, there is no way to save the baby without saving the mother, because if the mother died, the baby would too. Ectopic pregnancies fall in this category because there is currently no way to save the baby. If we developed the ability to get ectopic embryos to successfully re-implant in the uterus, that would become the ethical option.

2. Late-term complications. I’m going out of order here for a reason. This is anything where the mother’s life-threatening health issue starts after viability, but especially when we’re talking 30 weeks and on. Baby’s chance of survival with an early delivery goes up rapidly as baby approaches full term. In these cases, if the mother needs immediate treatment for a life threatening issue, she doesn’t actually need her baby to die. There is no reason to choose between the mother and child. A C-section is actually safer than a late-term abortion, since third trimester abortions usually still involve the mother laboring and delivering a dead baby. If the concern, as posed in the original hypothetical, is that she would “die by giving birth,” then she probably just needs a C-section (or a better doctor).

3. The third category is the most complex one. This is when the life threatening issue for the other begins when the child cannot yet survive outside the womb, but may be able to in a few weeks. This is where the difficult decisions are made. This category includes women diagnosed with cancer who might decide to delay treatment to protect their child until their child can be safely delivered. However, even here we can see examples of mothers who choose to receive treatment without first killing their child, and doctors who find innovative ways to treat life-threatening illnesses without harming preborn children.

The true answer is “save them both.” We can’t always - just as any doctor knows in a triage situation they can’t always save all the patients. The decision of who to save is never based on which patient is more human, more valuable, or more worth saving. The answer is instead based on how the doctor can save the greatest number of patients. If the doctor can save everyone, they do. If the doctor knows a course of action means for sure saving one patient, while mother might not make it, but the alternative is losing both, then they will choose to save at least one. We almost never see a situation where the doctor has to arbitrarily choose between two patients - the decision is always based on the condition of each patient, the resources available, how much time there is, etc. There are algorithms for this kind of thing.

Basically I refuse to let unrealistic hypotheticals dictate actual policy on saving children.

Because people believe in the “we can only save one, choose!” scenario, we get doctors telling women that they will die if they don’t get an abortion, and then they cry to the media that they had to go to Colorado or California to get their “life-saving procedure.” The reality is that either the doctor could have treated the mother without first killing the baby and given the baby a chance to survive, or they could have delivered the baby and then treated the mother.

Anyone who says they couldn’t do the first option under ____ state abortion law is either lying or ignorant. If the mother’s condition is actually life-threatening, every state allows doctors to treat the mother. Killing a child doesn’t cure any illness.

[newtthetranswriter]

Music can be relaxing... most of the time

Word Count: 1122

Paring: Kuroo x gn! Reader (it’s not super important part of the fic just felt like adding it)

Summary: The bus ride to the summer training camp was more chaotic knowing that Karasuno was going to be joining this year. After Kuroo’s failings to calm everyone y/n has a genius idea, only for Lev to fuck it up with his choice of music

Warning: Cursing

A/n: All imma say is I said what I said. Feel free to take it up with management, oh wait I’m management. Anyway enjoy or don’t, but as always remember to hydrate or diedrate.

    It was finally time for the week-long summer training camp with the rest of the Fukurodani Academy group, so it was time for Nekoma’s volleyball team to begin the bus ride to Shinzen. Normally it was a quiet trip but with the excitement of Karasuno joining this year's camp, the boy’s had decided to goof off for the majority of the trip.

    There had been a few attempts from Kuroo to get the rambunctious group to sit down and shut up, but after being ignored every time, the captain gave up. Seeing their boyfriend’s annoyed face at their younger classmen’s energy, Y/n tried to think of a way to calm the group without and convince them to conserve their energy for the upcoming practice matches. Remembering that listening to music typically helps people relax, Y/n quickly pulled out their phone and set up a new Spotify playlist.

    After adding a few songs and putting in the description that each member of the team was to add three songs, Y/n sent a mass invite to boys. Upon hearing the chorus of phones buzzing and checking his own, Kuroo looked at Y/n slightly confused. “Why did you send a playlist in the team chat?” He asked, curious as to what their plan was.

   Looking around and seeing that the whole team had stopped goofing off and were all looking to their manager as if asking the same question. “Music can help people relax, so I figured if we all contributed a few songs to this playlist we could all listen to it and save our energy for the training camp.” They explained, earning a few nods and sounds of agreement. After about two minutes everyone made it known that they had made their contributions. Y/n then hooked their phone up to the small speaker Kenma had brought with him, and hit shuffle on the playlist, letting the bus fill the sounds of each player's favorite music.

   As time passed it was clear that Y/n’s plan had worked well. Half the team had passed out, while the other half were just scrolling on their phones quietly. Kuroo took a moment to lean closer to Y/n and whisper quietly to them. “Thank you, I thought I was gonna have to help Yaku hide Lev’s body for a moment there.”

   Y/n just chuckled. “No problem, it’s my job as your guys' manager to make sure no murders happen while traveling. Now you should—” Before Y/n could finish their next sentence a very familiar song started playing over the speaker, and it wasn’t one Y/n was fond of. “Ok who the hell put Taylor fucking Swift in the playlist?” Y/n had turned to look down the bus’s aisle to look at the group of boys.

   Everyone who was still awake remained silent before Kenma pointed at the lanky first year who was asleep against the window across from him. Almost as if sensing all eyes on him Lev jolted awake. “Why is everyone staring at me?” He asked groggily while looking around.

   The first to break the silence was Yaku. “You messed up big time buddy, I hope it was worth it.” The short third year said, patting Lev’s shoulder over the seat. Lev just looked at his upperclassmen confused. Figuring Lev was not going to figure it out on his own, Yaku pointed towards the front of the bus where Y/n was still leaning into the aisle. “You pissed off the manager.” It was a simple sentence but as soon as Lev made eye contact with Y/n, he understood how fucked he was.

   “But wait what did I do? I fell asleep after the music started.” He asked, hoping to find a way out of his impending doom.

   The people who had previously been asleep had also woken up as it was silent on the bus except for the sound of the bus moving. They were confused at first until they heard their normally calm manager let out an exasperated sigh, before speaking. “The number one rule for any playlist I have is absolutely no Taylor Swift. I will not budge on it ever, her music is trash and she is overrated. If you want to listen to her go ahead but it better be with headphones and I better not hear it.” Y/n explained, their voice sounded calm but the look in their eyes said on wrong move and Lev’s body would need to be hidden.

   “Okay but I thought she was like an Bi icon or something, and aren’t you also bi? I thought you would like her.” Lev clearly misread the look on Y/n’s face, and thought there was any room to argue.

   “Lev you are a newer member of the team but I kindly have to remind you never tell me that taylor fucking swift is bi icon again. That is one of the straightest cis women I have ever seen and any one who thinks otherwise needs their eyes checked. AND also I’m not bi, I’m queer which is different and if I was why would that mean I like her trashy music. She’s a sell out and the picture of capitalistic greed.” Y/n answered, before Lev had a chance to respond Y/n faced forward signaling the end of the discussion. 

   After taking a moment to process what was just said to him Lev looked to his teammates for anysort of clarification they could give him about what happened. “I know that look and the only answer is to never bring up Taylor Swift in Y/n’s presence again or they may actually kill you.” It was Yamamoto who answered Lev’s unspoken question.

   “Tora if I hear that name one more time I will not hesitate to shave off that stupidass mohawk.” Y/n said before starting the music again, having checked the playlist for any of the cursed music.

   Yamamoto just silently nodded before going back to looking at his phone. The rest of the team followed suit knowing that any further chaos would likely cause the Captain and Manager duo to actually murder the whole team before they even reached the training camp. Lev looked around one last time before figuring out what the rest of the team already knew, don’t piss off Y/n because they are scarier than Kuroo and Yaku combined.

   Kuroo on the other hand just chuckled to himself, placing a kiss on his partner’s forehead. “I thought you were supposed to prevent murders, not threaten to commit them.” He just received an eye roll as the two silently agreed to relax for the rest of the bus ride.

[bad268]

Heeeyyyy🙋🏼‍♀️Could you maybe write something for Ralf Aron?

Like y/n and he are together and y/n surprises him at a race after a long time in which they didn’t see each other?

New Team Principal (Ralf Aron X Parent! Reader)

Fandom: RPF/WEC

Requested: Clearly (hehe i love this)

Warnings: Not a warning but gender not specified (referred to as Baby Ash) or how the child was born. Could be natural or adopted.

POV: Second Person (You/your)

W.C. 1285

Summary: A surprise visit from the new team principal? Who's that?

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

~~ (^Pinterest)

You both knew taking care of a newborn was going to be time-consuming and eventually, Ralf would need to go back to work. Thankfully, Baby Ash came home during a break in the calendar, so you had Ralf’s full attention and support for the first three weeks. Looking back, it was great having your husband there every day because it made caring for your new child easy, and you were able to get a schedule set up before he would inevitably go back to work.

Alas, it did have to happen. You were prepared for it, but that did not make it any easier when you had to drop Ralf off at the airport. He did still have a team to run for the race weekend. Then for the next weekend, and the next. Then it was in-season testing and another race weekend. It was just nonstop. 

Facetime only did so much for keeping in contact. Especially with timezone changes, it was hard to find times when you, Ralf, and Baby Ash were awake at the same time. That’s when you decided you would plan to surprise him for one of the races. 

There were a couple of races coming up that you could, theoretically, do. You also got approval from your doctor to have your baby fly, so all was set. You wanted to surprise everyone, so you told no one. Not even Paul, who said he would help you if you wanted to fly out.

Surprisingly, the flight was not bad. It was only about 3 hours, and Baby Ash slept the entire time. It could not have been any easier. You got in and out of the airport in no time, and you got a taxi to the hotel you knew Ralf was staying at. That’s when you called Paul.

“Hey, what’s up?” Paul said immediately after he answered the phone. He was lying on his bed in the hotel room he was sharing with Ralf while Ralf had to get to the track early for a meeting.

“By chance would you have Ralf’s room key?” You asked as you moved to the side of the lobby.

“I am in Ralf’s room, why? By chance would you be trying to surprise Ralf this weekend?” He asked, already getting up and running toward the elevator and going down to the lobby. As soon as he saw you, he ran up to you, hugged you, and immediately took Baby Ash from your arms, “No way! Ralf’s gonna freak out when he sees you!”

“That’s the plan,” You joked as you followed him up to the room so you could drop off your luggage, feed and change the baby, and freshen up before heading out to the track. It was fairly easy to get through security. Paul took you through the back where you knew a couple of the guards, so they let you through without much resistance other than looking through your baby bag for safety reasons. 

You two immediately booked it to the Prema garage where Ralf was still in the meeting, so you thought of a funny way to surprise him. What better way to surprise Ralf than to set Baby Ash up with some headphones on the pit wall?

Baby Ash had started sitting up all my themself recently, but you still wanted to have something or someone around them just in case something happened. You notice JM Correa sitting in the garage listening, so you enlist his help.

“Juan, I’ve got a proposition!” You asked as you walked up to him. He took his headphones off when he saw you approach him, and stretched his arms out, asking to take Baby Ash. “If I put headphones on Baby Ash and set them up at the pit wall, will you make sure they don't fall and pretend they’re your new boss? We’re trying to surprise Ralf.”

“I’m so down!” JM responded enthusiastically, causing Baby Ash to giggle as they wiggled in his hold. “I’ll set them up while you hide. I heard the meeting just ended, so he should be here any minute.”

“I’ll just hang back in the garage,” You chuckled as you reached out to briefly grasp Baby Ash’s little hand. “I want to see his reaction.”

“Better record it,” JM laughed as he walked over to the pit wall to set Baby Ash on one of the chairs, facing the endless screens. He also put a pair of headphones on their head, sizing it as close to their head size as possible, before taking a quick selfie of them together. He also loaded up one of the screens to the Dancing Fruits video, so she would have something to focus on.

All the while, Paul was waiting outside the meeting room for Ralf. He had been texting you back and forth and knew the plan. He was going to lead Ralf to the pit wall to find Baby Ash before you would pop out. He was just putting his phone back in his pocket when Ralf walked out in a rush.

“Hey, Ralf!” Paul said as he ran to catch up with him, “When were you planning to tell me there’s a new team principal?”

“There isn’t one?” Ralf answered with another question as he slowed down to walk in step with Paul. “What do you mean?”

“I heard there’s a new Prema team principal,” Paul explained, remembering the script you had given him, “I think they’re on the pit wall with JM now.”

“I’ll just call Rene,” Ralf replied with a frown as he started to pull out his phone. “He’ll know what’s going on.”

“Rene is busy with the F3 race going on,” Paul thought of quickly as he pushed Ralf’s phone back down. “The race just stared and you know Rene doesn’t look at his phone during a race. Why don’t we just go see who it is on our own? How bad can it be?”

“I guess that makes sense,” Ralf mumbled as he sped-walked towards his, well not his anymore apparently, garage. He saw JM standing beside someone in the chair, but he couldn’t clearly see who it was. Ralf took a deep breath so as to not sound too bitter before he walked over. “Is this the new team principal?”

“Yup,” JM said enthusiastically as he stepped aside, so Ralf could see who was sitting there. That’s when he knew this was a joke and his eyes fell upon his Baby Ash, wearing his headphones. All three of them broke out in laughter as Baby Ash played with the chord attached to the headphones before giggling along with everyone. That’s when Baby Ash looked up and saw their father and reached their arms out for Ralf to hold them. Ralf promptly picked them up and bounced them in his arms. 

“Is Baby Ash reporting for duty?” He teased the baby as he tickled their belly. “Where’s Y/n? I know Baby Ash didn’t get here on their own?”

“I was off recording,” You chuckled as you walked up behind Ralf, wrapping your arms around his waist as you stood on his other side to gaze at him and your child. Baby Ash was enjoying all of the attention as you booped their nose. “We thought we could surprise you.”

“Well, I’m surprised,” He chuckled as he leaned down to place a kiss on your forehead. “Thank you for traveling for me. You have no idea how much I missed you two.”

“If it’s even half as much as I missed you,” You teased as you leaned up to kiss his lips before leaving a small gap between you, “I have an idea.”

~~~~~

© BAD268 2024. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

[echoe-back-from-the-void]

Edo Era JJK (Part 2)

Part 1 |

Romantically involved characters. (Toji, Satoru, Suguru, Sukuna)

The Hime was asleep for a week. Every now and then she would stir and mumble something before going still again. Toji kept close watch as he did his best to keep her fevers down. When he could not attend to her Geto did. Neither male trusted Gojo to not make the poor girl worse.

"You need to wake up soon, princess."

"Come back, Hime. Me and Satoru miss you."

That night all three men had fallen asleep in the room, they had all been staying up to be there when she woke up but missed it due to exhaustion.

Aya blinked at the ceiling while trying to grapple with what happened. She sat up quietly and discovered all her friends were fast asleep. Satoru and Suguru leaning against each other while Toji leaned against the wall behind her. She stood quietly not wanting to wake any of them before leaving out a door to the back yard.

Rubble littered the once beautiful garden, her favorite tree uprooted and twisted with singe marks everywhere. The flowers she used to tend to were all but ripped up and thrown around. If she didn't know better she would assume a tornado had done this. But this was just her.

She walked further and further from the home and the destruction didn't stop. Still weak she swayed unsteadily before dropping to the grass. Her hands balled up the roots and dirt as she tried to calm her fast beating heart. Her breath leaving in soft pants as it misted the air until a fog took over the area, concealing her from view. Her father, the man who raised her, took care of her and never let her down. He was gone.

She wanted to be angry, to scream, to throw something.

Her grip on the ground tightened and she tried to lift her hand full of dirt to throw but she couldn't and her arm sank back down. Fresh tears began to flood her eyes and she bowed her head with muffled whimpers. It hurt so much. Everything hurt, her chest was caving in as air became scarce, barely able to get past her trembling lips.

She clenched the dirt tighter and something sharp cut into her palm. Confusedly she shook the dirt out of her hand to reveal the sharp object was the Zenin clan crest. With a huff she sat back on her heels and her tears stopped. She could feel her body shaking at the anger but despite that nothing began to float.

Again she stood up on exhausted limbs and continued to walk into the fog. It didn't matter if she stumbled or fell, she got back up. She cut her hands open again on some tree and kept walking. Not knowing the blood had lured a curse toward her.

An odd clanking sound came from the foliage behind her and she stopped walking to look over her shoulder. Some malformed creature launched at her and she leaned away. "I have no time for vermin." She whispered. Raising her hand a few rocks lifted in the air before she made a flicking motion and they shot at the creature with precision causing it to scream and die.

Gojo woke with a start after hearing a scream. Looking around the room he realized that she was not there. "Wake up! She's gone." He demanded kicking Suguru and Toji, but Toji caught his foot without looking and rubbed his eyes before he too noticed the princess's disappearance.

"Fuck fuck fuck!" He cursed harshly running out the door and being greeted with fog. "Damnit!"

Back with Aya, she tilted her head at the screaming beast and turned away to continue walking. More instances of beasts came toward her but each was again swiftly dealt with. Soon they stopped attacking altogether to watch her. She looked weak, stumbling and dragging her feet but despite that she had killed many of them easily.

Another cursed spirt appeared in front of the girl, she moved to kill this one too but it raised its hand. "Need help." It said and she was inclined to listen because of its forest-spirit like appearance.

"And why should I help you?"

"Angry. You Want revenge. Help."

"Ah, I see. I help you, you help me. Is that right?"

"Save master."

"And where is this master that you, yourself, cannot get to him?"

"Locked. Guarded."

"Take me to him."

Hours passed and the day had risen but she continued to follow the cursed spirit through the forest until a clearing. The spirt stopped and refused to go further so she nodded walking past it and into the light.

"Halt! Who goes there!?" A man asked in position to attack. Three more men stood behind him with swords out.

"Step aside." She said making the men confused. "I said, step aside." With a raise of her hand the men were pushed away and she walked past them. Now more than halfway to the temple they got up and realized she was a threat. Again she breathed out her mouth in exhaustion, puffs of fog spilling out and clouding the area. The men still fought and with each one that died another sword joined the air behind her as she collected their weapons. Breathing in, the fog was pulled back into her body and the area cleared.

Only one man was left standing and she twisted her wrist causing the swords of his comrades to puncture him. "What a waste." She said tiredly. Moving forward more she examined all the seals holding the cursed spirit's master back. Leaning down she lifted one strip of paper and crouched under it to get inside. Walking further there were more talismans and charms but she kept past them unflinching.

Her energy was waning as the rooms and words began to spin. Using the wall for support she kept going until reaching another room.

The walls, ceiling and floor were covered in barrier seals while in the center was a man with four arms tied down.

Two pairs of red eyes glanced up as she entered. He had a smirk on his face as he watched her. "Now, how did a pretty bird get in here?" He questioned.

Aya leaned against the wall before sinking to the floor. Breath coming in quick pants as she watched the room spin faster. "Ryomen Sukuna, make a binding vow with me."

"And what are you offering little bird?" The curse said in amusement.

"Everything." She gave a sad smile to the grinning curse. "My soul, my life, my clan...all of it, I'll set you free."

"And what do you want?"

"What all humans want." She chuckled weakly as her eyes kept closing. "Revenge, and to protect the ones I love before I die."

Sukuna could see the woman quickly becoming weak, if she died here then he didn't know when the next poor sap would come by to free him? What if he's moved again? And how dare she not bow before him! But despite all that he watched the woman closer, her cursed energy was vast and trying to heal her, something most sorcerers could never do. How interesting. "And the consequences? Stipulations?"

"I cannot kill you and you cannot kill me or knowingly let me die nor kill the ones I love. If we break these vows then you will be sealed again and I will die." She coughed harshly and slumped further down the wall.

"I consent to this binding vow." Sukuna said before demanding she release him.

Lifting her shaky arm she touched two fingers to the ropes binging him and they began to burn quickly as they became null. She slumped the rest of the way to the floor in exhaustion causing the king of curses to look at her in apathy before lifting her by the back of her clothes.

"Weak. But it will do." He moved her to sit on his arm while the other wrapped around her to keep her still.  With her closer he noticed how fragile she looked. With a dash he cleared the clearing back into the forest. He looked for an area that he could set her down, let her heal herself.

It felt so unlike him. He should slap her awake and demand to know who she wants revenge on so he can deal with it swiftly and be free. Once free he could kill her without repercussions.

But he doesn't.

He finds a shady spot far from the temple and sits down against a tree before setting her in his lap. His four arms coming around to cage her like a bird.

How strange.

He sits with her in his arms for hours upon hours. Even when he thinks she's waking up, he lulls her back to sleep. In the time he sits there he makes plans. For one he needs to find those who bound him. He will kill them slowly and curse them into oblivion. He would also like to find his subordinate. Eventually cause mayhem and destruction.

Looking down he looked at the frail human. She had not given her name nor intended target. She didn't even go into a spiel about why she wanted revenge. How did she find him? Did she also kill the guards? He thinks he should've at least stopped to eat one of the guards. It had been so long since he's eaten. Will she be hungry when she wakes up?

With a resounding sigh he lifts her to rest in his arms before standing. He then begins to wander while searching for anything she can eat.

Eventually he finds a plum tree and reaches up to gently pluck a few from its branches. That should be enough right? Sitting down again he prods at her check trying to wake her. Instead of swatting his hand away or biting him, she burrows more into his chest. He utters a curse under his breath before prodding her again. His knuckles nudge the corner of her lips. He didn't want to scratch her with his long nails. Her lips part softly in a pout and he holds a plum over them before using his nail to split the skin and let the juice drip into her mouth. Slowly her tongue peaks out to lick at a stray drop while her eyes open. He releases his grip on her mouth as she reaches up and gently takes the plum from him. Softly and a little shy she takes a bite out of the plum and closes her eyes in bliss. "Sweet."

The dark red juice of the fruit stains her lips like blood and he finds himself enamored by the sight. The idea of it actually being blood sends his chest into a flutter. Alongside the soft feeling he feels a surge of anger. But before he can curse or shove her off he hears distant shouting slowly coming closer. With quick movement he sets her under the tree before hiding. The sooner she has her revenge the better, but until then he needs to be away from her before he kills her out of anger.

"Princess!!"

"Hime!"

Two separate voices shouted and Aya turned to the noise before seeing Toji, Suguru and Satoru running toward her. She looked behind her to find Sukuna but he was gone. Where or why he left she didn't understand as her head still felt full of fog aside from her one goal.

What was her goal?

"Toji?" She asked softly and the male rushed toward her kneeling to be equal height.

"Been looking everywhere for ya princess. Where have you been? Why did you leave? Are you hurt?" His hands cup the side of her face while his other goes to her forehead. "Fevers gone." He gives a grateful sigh before pulling her into a hug. "Had me worried fuking sick." He hissed without bite. Only holding her tighter as if she could slip away again.

"Toji, I," she stopped unable to say anything for a moment. She had no defense. She left the house but then, why, and where was the king of curses she made a vow with? "I wanna go home." She said in exhaustion.

Her faithful guard nodded and asked if she'd like to stand to which she said yes. She almost dropped the plums that rested in her lap and while reaching for one she realized she had something in her hand.

"Drop something?" Satoru teased holding a plum back to her. Suguru had the others in his arm.

Instead her attention was on the metal piercing into her hand. Splaying her hand out she revealed a crest. Dirt smudged and covered in a faint layer of dried blood from her hand. It didn't matter. Its shape and color unmistakable.

Zenin.

"Oh. I remember now." She whispered under her breath but all the men heard it.

"What's that?" Toji asked having not seen the metal piece well enough to know what it was. She closed her hand at his prodding.

"It's nothing, some nails from the shed. I must've grabbed them as I was leaving." She said manipulating the metal in her hand to resemble nails before reopening her hand to show them. "See." She presented two long nails to Toji and he nodded. At the same time Suguru and Satoru shared a look.

She caught their stare in the corner of her eye but she looked away first. They wouldn't understand, she thought.

For the men and their speed it only took a day to return home when it took her two or three to walk that far in the first place. Toji insisted on carrying her back and wouldn't let Geto or Gojo switch. Insisting it be his duty, never once did he seem tired or over encumbered.

She stayed silent the way home and for Toji that only felt worse than if she were crying. Her eyes were colder, empty. Even Gojo as air headed as he was also picked up in it and made efforts to cheer her up.

She smiled and laughed but there was still something missing.

At their arrival back to the estate she asked Toji to gather the remaining housekeeping. With all the servants lined up Aya took a deep breath.

"As you may well know, my—" she choked on her words before straightening her spine with another breathe. Toji raised a his arm slightly to let her know he could take over but she turned her head away and back to the lineup. "As you may know or heard, your lord is dead. Nakamiji Hirano had passed and you will no longer be serving him. Due to his passing some staff will need be let go. This is not because of a certain person skill or ability. This is a volunteer option. Those that would like to resign will be given this months pay and rehoused under similar households. You will not be kicked and thrown to the curb for wishing to leave. I understand this is sudden but all those who wish to resign please step forward.

7 of the ten stepped forward. Some looked unsure. Others worried.

"The seven leaving will be given a week to move and will be set up with another estate. You seven are dismissed to begin packing. At any time you finish please come to the dining hall for instruction." The seven bowed and dispersed leaving only three.

"Those left will not be expected to work harder to fill the empty workers. Do as you would normally but do not over exert yourself or take on more than you can handle. I will hire another two people within the week that is my promise." Aya bowed her head and the three were dismissed as well.

All three men stared at her in shock. They had not expected that. Not expected her to immediately slip into running the estate. One of them felt pity, she should be grieving not pushing it down. One felt worry and the other shock.

"Toji?"

The man in question stepped forward to be beside her.

"With the lord dead. There are many things that will need to change. I'm asking you to bear with me on these changes. Be my confidant as always." She exhaled again and a small transparent cloud rolled out her mouth like swirling smoke before dispersing. "I will do my best to lead the estate under the radar, I'm asking you to be my figure head. This does not mean you are powerless, you will have just as much say in how the clan is run. I just need—time." With those parting words she left into the estate. Her path going to the master's study.

Arriving, Aya saw the disarray as many things had been thrown around, probably by the intruders. Rolling her sleeves up she began to work on organizing everything back into proper order.

Her muscles tight as she tried to keep her anger contained. There was a sadness somewhere but each time she let it creep through it would be stamped out by anger. Papers began to float from the floor and surprisingly made it easier to organize. Her anger kept her throat closed in a way she couldn't even scream.

The zenin clan sent the assassins.

The assassins that killed her father.

Her only family.

Dead.

The room became darker and darker until shadows covered the walls and the words too blurry without a candle. She eyed the plums sitting on the corner of the desk, Suguru had brought them to her.

One lifted from the pile and began to hover in front of her as if held by invisible hands. Twisting and turning in air as she examined it. Where was he? They made a vow, wasn't he supposed to stay beside me until it was complete? Shaking her head she caught the plum as it fell into her hand. It doesn't matter. She would get revenge with or without his help. The vow was only an insurance that she would live long enough to see it through. But still...there was something behind his touch. Pressing her lips to the skin of the plum she tried to calm the short flutter she felt.

The thought could go no further as there was a knock on the door. "Hime?"

"Come in." Gojo came inside carrying a tray of dinner and looked around the dark room.

"You really shouldn't read in the dark it's bad for your eyes." Satoru said before lighting a nearby candle.

She rubbed her eyes with a drawn out sigh. "There's to much work to do and not enough time."

"What do you need help with?"

"Hiring new guards, maids and a cook. The gardens need to be rebuilt. The finances gone over. I need to hire a team of builders to rebuild the master wing. There's too much." She said the last part sadly.

Seeing the stress in her he moved to stand beside her and ran a hand down her shoulder in a calming manner while using his other hand to help organize the loose papers. "Don't stress too much, Suguru and I can help. He helps handle most of the Gojo clan finances, he's good with money. I can help with finding maids and the construction." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "You have us to help, always."

She put her hand over his on her shoulder and leaned into his wrist. The moment stayed frozen and when Satoru looked down in confusion he was surprised to see her fast asleep.

The next week and a half was spent setting everything straight.

Today was the day for her to pick her new guards for the estate. Some twenty people showed up ranging from 13-20. She watched them train and spar to spot the ones she wanted. Her eyes continued to stray back to the same four people.

A boy with pink hair that reminded her of Sukuna.

A platinum blonde with a mask over his mouth.

A boy with a sword and too much cursed energy.

A girl with orange red hair dressed as a boy.

"What do you think, princess." Toji asked beside her as they stood under the porch shade.

"I think those four have great potential. I also noticed the one with a hammer, a girl. She's spirited it makes me think of when I was her age."

The four bowed infront of the hime with respect. "We swear to protect you with our life!" They said in unison.

"Let's start with names, yes?" Aya asked with a smile.

"Yuji Itadori!" The pink haired one exclaimed.

"Toge Inumaki." He said pulling down his mask slightly before coving his face again. "Shake shake."

"Yuta Okkotsu." The boy with a sword said nervously.

"Nobara Kugusaki." The girl said glad to have been chosen.

"Aya Hirano. And this is Toji." She said making the large man perk up beside her. "Welcome to the Hirano clan. Please grow and mature into becoming warriors, strong enough to protect the ones you love." She bowed respectfully to them before dismissing them to settle in.

Over the next few weeks, Toji, Gojo and Geto could feel a presence watching over them when they were with the Hime. She herself seemed oblivious so none had mentioned the stalker to her. She seemed more distanced or distracted at time.

Again Gojo felt the hair on the back of his neck rise as the stalker watched them. "Aya, why don't we head inside soon, it's sooo hot out." Satoru whined childishly wanting to get her away from those prying eyes.

"It's not hot, Sato, you're just wearing too many layers."

"Oh are you insisting I strip?" He teased leaning closer to her but really he was looking over her shoulder where he could see four piercing red eyes.

"I'm insisting you go inside if it bothers you so much. I need the fresh air before I return to the study. I'm so very sorry I asked your company. Next time I'll just sit with Suguru."

"Hey."

"Hey yourself Sa-to-ru." She enunciated in a way that sent pleasurable chill down his neck. "Say ah."

Despite his confusion he did as said and was surprised when she pressed a strawberry to his lips. The juices flooded his mouth as he bit down.

"Was that so hard?" She asked rolling her eyes at him and returning to eating her food.

What none of them knew was that every morning a new plum was on her desk, no note or letter of who it came from. But she knew. And in a way it was reassuring to know that even if he wasn't beside her he still would keep his word.

Aya Hirano was biding her time, setting her affairs in order and subtly teaching Toji to take over as the clan head. It wasn't that she thought she would die on the way to her goal. No the hard part would come after, there was only so much one can get away with. No, when it's discovered who had committed the crime. It doesn't matter who her father was or that she's a woman. She will be executed for sure.

And it would be worth it.

Speaking into the dark of the study where she knew he was listening. "I have a plan, no matter what happens do not interfere until I say. I can handle whatever they throw at me.”

“And if they aren’t—“

“They are.” She said with such certainty but that didn’t stop the creeping doubt.

With a drawn out sigh she finished the letter she would leave.

Farther off was another creature. It had been watching too. Watching, waiting.

It had played dumb, played weak. Led her to the king of curses. She made the vow, the king of curses could not let her die. It was the perfect bargaining chip. He had no choice but to fall into their plans now. The king of curses would not risk his life or his freedom. He would become the pawn they needed to succeed.

Part three coming soon with slaughter

[alarrylarrie]

Hello, I haven’t been active lately but is the 2 week rule still a thing? Are they still following it? :)

(i hope they are ahhkk)

Hello love! Welcome back for a bit. Personally, I think just because of their tours, they’ve had to stretch the two week rule a little bit. (Might have been three weeks here, a month there) But! I do think they still try very hard to find gaps in their schedules where they can and always try to be with each other/see each other when they can.

I also think that because they’re super settled and domesticated now- so I don’t think the time apart rattles them maybe as much as it would have in the beginning.

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 753: Bird's eye-view

Pag 18

5: That day, three people climbed on the Minegayama

Pag 19

1: The first one to arrive, surpassing by 10 seconds the course record made three years before on that same mountain by Makishima Yuusuke

2: was the man wearing the blue jersey

Pag 20

3: 12 seconds after him, was the man wearing the yellow jersey

4: And then, 48 seconds after, appeared the figure of the mean riding a mountain bike

Pag 21

1: One week after this

2: Those three people will move the stage to Kyuushu

3: and fight again

Pag 22

1: For Onoda Sakamichi is the start of his last summer Inter High

[lupismaris]

Less than two hours till we spend the evening with Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (💕) and Uncle Willie Nelson & Family (!!!)

Yes I bought fresh pre rolls for this yes I will be properly medicated before hand and during yes we will be bringing very large bottles of water to fill up while we are there because it had to be the hottest fuck off Day of the goddamn year so far

I'm going to be very annoying tonight

Just for the record

[slipper007]

Cannot wait to move back to college

[countess-of-edessa]

.

[lizardsfromspace]

I do have to impress on anyone who wasn't around for it how batshit the reality boom of the 2000s could be. Especially on Fox.

Here are some 100% real 2000s reality shows:

Who's Your Daddy? A woman has to guess which of eight men is her biological father. One of them really is, and if she guesses right she wins $100,000. If one of the seven fake dads convinces her to guess them, he wins $100,000.

Black. White. A white family learns about racism by living a month in blackface, while a black family spends a month in whiteface. The black family was a real family, but the white family was just some actors hired to put on blackface to prove racism exists

Without Prejudice? Five strangers decide which of five strangers gets a cash prize based off clips and their answers to political questions. Cancelled when one of the choosers openly said he'd eliminate all black contestants

Welcome to the Neighborhood. Three conservative white families in a Austin subdivision decide which diverse family gets to move in. Unaired due to being literal housing discrimination

Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay. Two straight men try to pass themselves off as gay and whoever seems more gay gets $50,000. Unaired due to. Due to. Due to

Playing It Straight. A woman tries to find love among fourteen men, half of whom are straight and half of whom are gay, and she must eliminate two men she believes are gay each week. If she ended up picking a straight man in the end, they'd split a million dollars; if she picked a gay man, he'd win a million dollars

Boy Meets Boy. This was Playing It Straight but starring a gay man and he had to eliminate straight people

Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire? He wasn't a multimillionaire. He didn't even have a million dollars in liquid assets. He had a battery conviction Fox claims they didn't see. Because it was the 2000s, somehow this ended up with the woman he won being widely vilified and turned into a national punchline. How dare she complain about a massive corporation tricking her into marrying a lying abuser, good thing Matt Lauer's there to take her down a peg

The Swan. A "ugly" woman is given plastic surgery and wins a prize if she's the hottest at the end of the season. If she's not hot enough by the show's standards she's eliminated and called ugly on national TV

The Biggest Loser. Overweight people engage in competitive crash weight loss that often led to awful health complications. Studies showed basically everyone on the show regained any weight they lost once it was over and they didn't have abusive trainers demanding they take huge health risks to win a competitive weight loss competition. Like the others, this one was cancel-oh, it was a massive hit that ran for 18 seasons? Yikes!

Wife Swap and Trading Spouses. These were the same show and had a wife from one family go to another family that was different politically, racially, culturally, religiously etc. Most famous for the God Warrior

At the time people focused on the likes of Fear Factor but looking back it's wild how many of the worst shows toyed with politics. So many of these shows have a premise that's like "what if we exposed these conservatives to these people they hate?" or hyping themselves up as Important Experiments. Then they'd freak out when they got the kind of viral bigoted freakout they were trying to construct the whole time.

There were also a bunch of horrible reality shows, thankfully this time mostly unpopular, in the 2010s that based themselves around economic themes as a response to the market crash, but that's a story for another time

[alexthetrashyracoon]

Simon grinned at himself through the mirror like a stupid teenager in the changing room as Price, god bless this man and his father figure behavior, tugged on his tie to keep it straight and clean.

Wedding Day had come. His wedding day had come.

“Mate, you must be shakin’ with excitement to marry the pretty face.” Gaz grinned from his spot on the couch, all three of them dressed in their best attire. Even Soap hadn’t complained once about wearing a tie.

Simon’s mind wandered to you in the other room, he hadn’t seen you since last night, tradition, that’s what they called it.

He hoped you were having a blast, because you had to spend so many days and nights over the wedding plans that he had to get you to the hospital once after you broke down from exhaustion.

“Anyone ever thought big bad ol’ Ghost gets married?” Soap teased as he rummaged through the drawers at the desk. What exactly was he searching? Simon didn’t know or maybe he was too happy to question his best friend’s motives for now, they usually end in chaos and today was meant no chaos.

“I always believed Simon would find the one true love one day.” Price nodded and patted Simon’s chest, telling him he was done with the tie.

“Liar.” Gaz laughed and shook his head. “If you want to know who always believed in you, Lieutenant, that’s me. Ol’ Captain and MacTavish over here said you would die a virgin. We got a bet running for a while.”

Simon wasn’t even surprised or mad, maybe tomorrow, or the week after. But tonight he wanted to be on Cloud Nine and looking through the pink tinted glasses of love. Tonight he would say ‘yes’ to the person he loved the most, the one that kept him alive and sane and put up with his antics.

“I’m getting married.” He smiled at himself in the mirror.

“You’re getting married, son.” Price looked at him, through the mirror, a proud smile hidden under the beard.

A minute later his phone rang, your name and picture on the screen.

“Yes? Everything alright, darling?” Simon asked and looked at Price, worry flashing behind his brown eyes.

“I’m scared, Simon. I… I know this will sound crazy and you probably think I’m mad. But… I wanna run away.” You say, followed by a shaky breath. “But at the same time I don’t wanna run away but stay and marry you. Does it make sense?”

Simon relaxed immediately, you were nervous, as you should be. Just like him.

“How about this then, darling, we run away together until you know what you want.” He grinned and picked up his suit jacket.

Soap and Gaz were gasping at him.

“Let’s run away together and if you still feel like running, we blew off this party. And if not, we come back, say yes to each other tonight and live our happily ever after.”

Gaz asked if he was insane. Soap was looking between Simon and Price, who simply had the time of his life while opening the door for Simon to leave.

“Are you sure… do you… I mean…?” You started to ramble and mutter under your breath.

“Darling… For you I would go through hell and back. I am not complete without you anymore. There was a time before you, sure. But there will be no time after you. Together.” Simon spoke gently and could see through the phone who your cheeks turned pink and tears pricked your eyes. “I’ll be out in two minutes, don’t let me wait.”

(Spoiler, in the end Simon and you got married surrounded by friends and family. Price lost a bet to Laswell because they both know you two and knew you would pull such a stunt. Soap had gained a few more grey hairs than necessary and Gaz was pretty sure this was some kind of punishment, why else would you two pull something like that.)

[headspace-hotel]

Nature is healing.

I burned the Meadow a couple weeks ago. At first it looked like nothing but charred ashes and dirt, with a few scorched green patches, and I was afraid I'd done something terrible. But then the sprouts emerged. Tender new leaves swarming the soil.

My brother and I were outside after dark the other day, to see if any lightning bugs would emerge yet. We had been working on digging the pond. That old soggy spot in the middle of the yard that we called "poor drainage," that always splattered mud over our legs when we ran across it as children—it isn't a failed lawn, and it never was.

Oh, we tried to fill in the mud puddles, even rented heavy machinery and graded the whole thing out, but the little wetland still remembered. God bless those indomitable puddles and wetlands and weeds, that in spite of our efforts to flatten out the differences that make each square meter of land unique from another, still declare themselves over and over to be what they are.

So we've been digging a hole. A wide, shallow hole, with an island in the middle.

And steadily, I've been transplanting in vegetation. At school there is a soggy field that sadly is mowed like any old field. The only pools where a frog could lay eggs are tire ruts. From this field I dig up big clumps of rushes and sedges, and nobody pays me any mind when I smuggle them home.

I pulled a little stick of shrubby willow from some cracked pavement near a creek, and planted it nearby. From a ditch on the side of the road beside a corn field, I dug up cattail rhizomes. Everywhere, tiny bits of wilderness, holding on.

I gathered up rotting logs small enough to carry and made a log pile beside the pond. At another corner is a rock pile. I planted some old branches upright in the ground to make a good place for birds and dragonflies to perch.

And there are so many birds! Mourning doves, robins, cardinals and grackles come here in much bigger numbers, and many, many finches and sparrows. I always hear woodpeckers, even a Pileated Woodpecker here and there. A pair of bluebirds lives here. There are three tree swallows, a barn swallow also, tons of chickadees, and there's always six or seven blue jays screaming and making a commotion. And the goldfinches! Yesterday I watched three brilliant yellow males frolic among the tall dandelions. They would hover above the grass and then drop down. One landed on a dandelion stem and it flopped over. There are several bright orange birds too. I think a couple of them are orioles, but there's definitely also a Summer Tanager. There's a pair of Canada Geese that always fly by overhead around the same time in the evening. It's like their daily commute.

The other day, as I watched, I saw a Cooper's Hawk swoop down and carry off a robin. This was horrifying news for the robin individually, but great news for the ecosystem. The food chain can support more links now.

There are two garter snakes instead of one, both of them fat from being good at snaking. I wonder if there will be babies?

But the biggest change this year is the bugs. It's too early for the lightning bugs, but all the same the yard is full of life.

It's like remembering something I didn't know I forgot. Oh. This is how it's supposed to be. I can't glance in any direction without seeing the movement of bugs. Fat crickets and earwigs scuttle underneath my rock piles, wasps flit about and visit the pond's shore, an unbelievable variety of flies and bees visit the flowers, millipedes and centipedes hide under the logs. Butterflies, moths, and beetles big and small are everywhere.

I can't even describe it in terms of individual encounters; they're just everywhere, hopping and fluttering away with every step. There are so many kinds of ants. I sometimes stare really closely at the ground to watch the activities of the ants. Sometimes they are in long lines, with two lanes of ants going back and forth, touching antennae whenever two ants traveling in opposite directions meet. Sometimes I see ants fighting each other, as though ant war is happening. Sometimes the ants are carrying the curled-up bodies of dead ants—their fallen comrades?

My neighbor gave me all of their fallen leaves (twelve bags!) and it turns out that piling leaves on top of a rock and log pile in a wet area summons an unbelievable amount of snails.

I always heard of snails as pests, but I have learned better. Snails move calcium through the food chain. Birds eat snails and use the calcium in their shells to make egg shells. In this way, snails lead to baby birds. I never would have known this if I hadn't set out to learn about snails.

In the golden hour of evening, bugs drift across the sky like golden motes of dust, whirling and dancing together in the grand dramas of their tiny lives. I think about how complicated their worlds are. After interacting with bees and wasps so much for so long, I'm amazed by how intelligent and polite they are. Bumble bees will hover in front of me, swaying side to side, or circle slowly around me several times, clearly perceiving some kind of information...but what? It seems like bees and wasps can figure out if you are a threat, or if you are peaceful, and act accordingly.

I came to a realization about wasps: when they dart at your head so you hear them buzzing close by your ears, they're announcing their presence. The proper response is to freeze and duck down a bit. It seems like wasps can recognize if you're being polite; for what it's worth, I've never been stung by a wasp.

As night falls, bats emerge and start looping and darting around in the sky above. If the yard seems full of bugs in the day, it is nothing compared to the night.

I'm aware that what I'm about to describe, to an entomophobe, sounds like a horror movie: when i walk to the back yard, the trees are audibly crackling and whirring with the activity of insects. Beetles hover among the branches of the trees. When we look up at the sky, moths of all sizes are flying hither and thither across it. A large, very striking white moth flies past low to the ground.

Last year, seeing a moth against the darkening sky was only occasional. Now there's so many of them.

I consider it in my mind:

When roads and houses are built and land is turned over to various human uses, potentially hundreds of native plant species are extirpated from that small area. But all of the Eastern USA has been heavily altered and destroyed.

Some plants come back easily, like wild blackberry, daisy fleabane, and common violets. But many of them do not. Some plants need fire to sprout, some need Bison or large birds to spread them, some need humans to harvest and care for them, some live in habitats that are frequently treated with contempt, some cannot bear to be grazed by cattle, some are suffocated beneath invasive Tall Fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, honeysuckle or Bradford pears, and some don't like being mowed or bushhogged.

Look at the landscape...hundreds and hundreds of acres of suburbs, pastures, corn fields, pavement, mowed verges and edges of roads.

Yes, you see milkweed now and then, a few plants on the edge of the road, but when you consider the total area of space covered by milkweed, it is so little it is nearly negligible. Imagine how many milkweed plants could grow in a single acre that was caretaken for their prosperity—enough to equal fifty roadsides put together!

Then I consider how many bugs are specialists, that can only feed upon a particular plant. Every kind of plant has its own bugs. When plant diversity is replaced by Plant Sameness, the bug population decreases dramatically.

Plant sameness has taken over the world, and the insect apocalypse is a result.

But in this one small spot, nature is healing...

[sistertotheknowitall]

Danny is Some Guy with a not so secret admirer.

Part four? Post #four? I don’t know, none of these are exactly in order. Post one, post two, post three.

——

By the time Tim opened the door, Danny had his coffee made and handed to Mia at the register. He resolutely ignored her smug face and went back to making the other orders.

Tim had been a regular long before Danny had started at the coffee shop but it was three days into Danny’s third week when Tim had stumbled in at eight a.m. and did a double take upon seeing Danny. A very obvious double take followed by intense staring before Mia had cleared her throat. The blush that lit up Tim’s face was only rivaled by the one on Danny’s.

He had never had anyone openly stare at him before.

Mia had been insufferable ever since.

It also didn’t help that shortly after their first meeting Tim had started taking his breaks at the little coffee shop. It’s been three weeks, nearly a month and Wayne Enterprise’s CEO went from a bi-weekly regular to an everyday one. (Danny wondered if he should be concerned for the man’s caffeine intake but he only had the one cup every time so probably not.)

Originally, Danny had no plans to talk to Tim. It seemed obvious the guy had a crush on Danny if the constant looks over his laptop were anything to go by and Danny didn’t want to encourage it. Danny barely had time to make new friends let alone start a relationship.

There was also the added problem of what was quickly becoming his bat stalkers. How do you explain to someone that you were being watched by Gotham’s vigilante’s for no reason? (Or worse because he had made a poorly timed sleep-deprived comment.) Danny didn’t think you could without seeming suspicious.

Incidentally though, Danny’s plan went out the window when on a slow afternoon as he was cleaning tables and passed behind Tim. Once he saw the article the other man was reading he snorted.

Bruce Wayne and The Batman? Could This Be A New Romance For Gothams Most Beloved Billionaire?

It was one of those gossip rags that printed things like: Elvis: alive and well and Superman: a mild mannered farm boy? It was all nonsense.

Danny asked Tim why he bothered with the site and Tim responded that he found it amusing to read and that his family had a group chat where they sent the articles to each other.

“Okay. But Batman? Really? Your dad could do so much better.”

“You don’t like Batman?” Tim asked. Danny had slid into the chair next to him and shrugged. “I respect what he does but for as intimidating as he is, he also seems a little silly.”

Tim had given him an incredulous look and Danny hadn’t given him time to ask for an explanation, “and his kids can be just as rude. Like that flying monkey one.” Tim choked on air and Danny politely waited for him to calm down. “Kids? Wait - flying monkey one? Which one -?”

“The one always doing back flips with the blue bird symbol. He’s also a dick that gives hypocritical lectures about fighting.” Danny wouldn’t say he hated the guy but he wasn’t sure how many more lectures he could endure before going ghost and fighting him.

Tim had turned to Danny completely and was watching him with a look of disbelief, “you mean Nightwing?”

“Is that his name? Imma call him Dickwing.”

Tim had started choking again, this time Danny patted his back hoping to help. Yet it was all for not once he kept talking, “I think I’ve only had positive interactions with the one who looks like a walking red flag.”

“Red flag? Do you men hood-?”

“No, although he is definitely a red flag, I mean the other Red one. I’m sorry, I don’t know all these peoples names yet.”

“Danny!” Mia called.

Danny stood and patted Tim, who looked a little shell-shocked, on the shoulder. “Well work calls, see you later Mr. Drake-Wayne.” As he walked away he heard Tim mutter “it’s just Tim.”

(Tim for his part, placed his head in his hands and thought, well at least I have his name now.)

After that first interaction Tim stopped playing the lurker and started to actually talk to Danny and vise versa. Danny never asked if he still had a crush on him, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

Unfortunately, their growing friendship had only encoraged Mia as she happily sang “your boyfriend’s here!”

Danny, very maturely, did not stick his tongue out at her. He did however flip her off under the counter like an adult.