#the language barrier is just yet another obstacle

[electricpurrs]

Just want to say you type English very well! I'm sure you're just fine while speaking it! 💖

thanks ^_^

[uyuforu]

Astrology Observation: Synastry & Composite with In-Laws pt.1

This post will be about Synastry and Composite observations with in-laws. It is only observations, and are not observed on many charts so take it just as a study. I'll make more in the future when I have more details and placements to study. This is also not something I have seen yet, so this is really a theory right now. Take everything you see lightly! In this observation post, I also include brothers and sisters in laws when I talk about In-Laws! Pretty much the family of your spouse. When looking at the Synastry, we look at what the two individuals feel for each other. While Composite is for looking at how their relationship is.

All pictures were found on Pinterest

Other posts you could like:

જ⁀➴ How to know when you will get married?

જ⁀➴ How to make a solar return synastry

જ⁀➴ Boda in Signs, Houses, Degrees

જ⁀➴ Boda Aspects

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*IL= In-Laws

𝜗𝜚 Synastry

₊˚⊹♡ Since In-Laws are ruled by the 9H, most of the times you will have 9H synastry with them. Your planets could often fall in your In-Laws' 9H.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Saturn in your 1H could mean they will have hard time to see you, they could hear a lot about you but it will take time to meet you. In any way, it could mean there are obstacles in the way for you two to meet? It can also that they refuse to meet you, or you can't meet them for a while, or perhaps you don't want to meet them? You are not meeting them fast, that's all!

₊˚⊹♡ Your Saturn in your IL's 9H could mean there is distance between you two (physically) and you can't meet them because you live far away from each other. There could also be language barrier between you.

₊˚⊹♡ If your Saturn falls in your IL's 4H, you could struggle to see them or meet them often. You don't get to see them often.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Ceres in your 3H could mean they feel like they can share a lot with you, they feel like you will understand how they feel. Your IL will also encourage you in your intellectual pursuits and your hobbies too. This is a good communication sign between you two.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Ceres falling in your IL's 11H could mean could mean you see your IL as a friend, someone you like to spend time with, and actually enjoy having conversations with them. You could also like to hangout with them even without your spouse.

₊˚⊹♡ If your IL's placements fall in your 7H, they see you as someone they have a "contract with", meaning they are close to you because you are a IL to them, and they see you this way. By being married to you, your IL also see this as being married to you, meaning they don't really have a choice. Some placements falling in your 7H could mean they don't really like you, 7H is also about enemies!

₊˚⊹♡ IL's Sun in your 5H means they see you as one of their child, they will take you as their real son/ daughter than just an IL. You can have a more close relationship with them than just IL. It's a very good placement tbh.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Sun in your 4H means they actually see you as a family member and accept you.

₊˚⊹♡ IL's Sun conjunct your Union asteroid could mean they like you since the day they meet you. It also means you will "travel" to see them (doesn't mean a long travel, it means you will move yourself to them than the other way around).

₊˚⊹♡ Your Sun in your IL's 6H means you will see them as someone who help you, and you will heal some trauma or some fears you have through them.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Sun in your 6H is reversed, your IL could heal some traumas or fear through or with you.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Moon in your 12H means they can understand you in another level, they can read you even when you don't say anything. If you like them, it's great, meaning you have a good relationship. If you don't, well good luck!

₊˚⊹♡ Your Moon in your IL's 10H could mean you could admire your IL very much.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Moon in your IL's 8H could be similar to the 12H synastry, but it could also mean there could be toxic vibes. You could also feel uncomfortable with your IL, there could be conflicts.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Moon in your IL's 5H (or their Moon in your 5H) could be like a siblings kind of relationship, it could be cheeky and fun too.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Mercury in your IL's 9H could mean you don't talk the same language as them and may learn a new language to talk to them. It could also mean you like to learn a lot from your IL and see them as someone you can learn from.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Mercury in your 5H means they could like to joke around with you and they may talk to you very familiar way, you could joke around with them a lot.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Mercury in your IL's 7H could mean you could talk to them in a respectful way. It's also a nice way, not cold.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Mercury in your IL's 4H means you could talk to them in their native language (if you are a foreigner to them). The conversation could be very comfortable and heartwarming too, you may feel comfortable talking to them.

₊˚⊹♡ Same thing if your IL's Mercury fall in your 4H but they could talk to you in your native language if you are a foreigner instead of you.

₊˚⊹♡ Mercury conjunct Mars in this Synastry could mean the conversations are passionate, alive, and not forced, pretty natural. You both could want to talk to each other, but be careful to fights or disagreements.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Venus in your IL's 9H could mean you like the fact they are different from you. If you are a foreigner to them, you may actually enjoy that there is a cultural difference. You could also feel like it's the first time you love your IL so much. The feeling could be reciprocated.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Venus in your 6H could mean they want to take care of you, they could want to give you gift based on what you like (because they listen to you) but also based on what you need, what is best for you in their opinion. They could like to help you and to give you advice. They will care for you.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Venus in your 5H means they really enjoy spending time with you, they could laugh a lot with you and they just are happy to know they can spend time with you.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Venus in your IL's 4H could mean you take care of your IL and you treat them are your real family.

₊˚⊹♡ Venus conjunct Uranus in this Synastry could mean the love and attention the individuals feel are very transformative, they both (or one of them) feel like it's nothing they felt before. For example, my FS and my little brother have that aspect. And my FS is an only child and my little brother is the only boy. So they both could feel like they have the brother they never had.

₊˚⊹♡ Venus conjunct Vertex in this Synastry could mean the love and attention one receive is truly changed by the other one, it could be new or something they never experienced before too. It could also be a major turn for both of them.

₊˚⊹♡ Mars conjunct Ceres could mean Mars person feel responsible for Ceres person and want to appear strong to the Ceres person, they want them to feel impressed.

₊˚⊹♡ My dad's Mars conjunct my FS's Boda also and it could mean my dad will probably be invested in our wedding lol (could he pay...? perhaps?)

₊˚⊹♡ Your Mars conjunct your IL's North Node could mean you will help them in their life purpose!

₊˚⊹♡ Your Mars in your IL's 8H could mean this can be explosive sometimes, you could stand up to them if they get mad, and it can lead to arguments. But you can also help them with that, because you are not scared of them. You stand up for yourself.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Mars in your 10H mean they can admire you a lot and admire how you work, stand for yourself, your confidence, etc. They think you are strong.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Jupiter in your 7H could mean they feel lucky they are bond to you because of the marriage you had with their relative.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Jupiter in your IL's 5H means you feel lucky to be able to have such a close bond with them, you always have fun with them.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's IC falling in your 5H could mean they see you as their child (if they are your mother/father in law). And brother sister if it's another relative.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IC conjuncting your IL's Ceres means you will feel like they protect you and care for you like their own family.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Jupiter in your IL's 3H could mean you have good conversation and you could joke around a lot.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Jupiter in your 9H could mean they could want to see you in your country if you are a foreigner or they will want to travel with you.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Jupiter conjunct your MC could mean they will probably think you are doing a good job and admire you for that, they could also be interested in working with you.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Uranus in your 5H could mean you are the child they never had, or sibling they never had.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Chiron in your IL's 1H could mean they remind you of a trauma you had, you could have hard time with them because they will trigger you somehow. You will also heal those with them probably.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Chiron in your IL's 3H could mean there could mean miscommunication problems between you two.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Chiron in your IL's MC could mean you will help your IL to be more confident and to lead more in life. You will be like a mentor to them.

₊˚⊹♡ Chiron in the others 8H or 12H could be complicated, you could also trigger each other, sometimes it can be a sign of not liking each other. If other aspects are good, then it means you will heal traumas together.

₊˚⊹♡ Neptune in the other's 7H could mean you have the illusion the person has good manners and are very into being appreciated. It could mean you can have a bad view thinking the person is not really like that and just pretending to be this way to be liked. Neptune person feel like that about 7H person between. On the other hand, Neptune person could feel like they are actually quite a charming person. On the bad hand, they could think they are fake.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Neptune in your IL's 5H could mean you think your IL is childish and prefer to have fun rather to take their responsibilities. If Uranus is there too, you could actually confront them about it one day.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Neptune in your 10H could mean they could admire you for your work but they could also not exactly know what you do for living. They could also have a certain view on you that is not true, so they could be mistaken about your reputation.

₊˚⊹♡ Your Neptune in your IL's 3H could mean you don't understand when they speak most of the time, or you could lie to them often.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's Neptune conjunct your Mars could mean your IL could be easily influenced by you and your opinion. If it is in your 10H, they could really admire you.

First Impressions

₊˚⊹♡ Your 1H in your IL's 11H means you will see them as outgoing, chill, cool and very nice. You will think they are the kind of IL who act in a very unbothered way, and you could also think they have an unconventional way to act with you. For example, if you come from a family who are very high on respect forms, your IL could shock you because they will talk to you in a familiar way directly.

₊˚⊹♡ Your 1H in your IL's 10H means you will see them as cold, distant, quite respectable and sometimes scary. They could want you to think they are this way. This can happen more if it is the Father IL.

₊˚⊹♡ Your 1H in your IL's 7H mans you will see them as respectable, nice, charming, outgoing, and you will like to spend time with them. You will think you spend time because of your obligation as an IL. You can think they dress well too.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's 1H in your 2H means they see you as someone who has money, who is respectable and who is someone quite patient, nice and well put together. They can think you are good looking too.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's 1H in your 4H could mean they see you as a family member already, someone they want to take care of.

₊˚⊹♡ Your IL's 1H in your 6H means they will see you as someone stable, hardworking and someone who takes care of themselves and someone who is healthy. They could admire you too, and they could want to help you a lot too.

𝜗𝜚 Composite

₊˚⊹♡ Sun in Sagittarius could mean you have a cheeky and fun relationship. You could travel with your IL a lot or you could want to, you could also help each other learning languages. One can admire the other and one can teach a lot to the other. You could consider each other friends.

₊˚⊹♡ Sun in 6H could mean there are some distance between you two and respect. You care about the other and help each other a lot, you may also give each other advices. You could really be each other's motivation. There are still some kind of distance there, meaning that despite you can have a good relationship, perhaps your IL will still want you to be respectful.

₊˚⊹♡ Sun in Scorpio could mean you are not that close, and you don't speak much. You can have some small talk, and you can sometimes have an actual conversation on things that matter much. But rare I guess?

₊˚⊹♡ Sun in 5H is a sign you enjoy each other's company, you can really like talking to each other when you do, and your IL could consider you as a son/ daughter or a brother/sister.

₊˚⊹♡ Sun in Capricorn could mean one of you really respect the other and look up to them a lot.

₊˚⊹♡ Sun in 11H could mean you can think of each other as friends and sometimes siblings depending who is your IL to you. It's a very nice relationship as you two could play often games and video games together and talk about a lot of things. You could also follow each other on social medias too.

₊˚⊹♡ Moon in 11H means you can express your emotions together freely without having the feeling of being judged, you can also feel like you can talk about anything together. You can feel free and very outgoing with them too. It's a true friendship potential here.

₊˚⊹♡ Moon in Aries could mean you have a way to tease each other a lot and you could also have a lot of inside jokes. You could also get in some fights or arguments sometimes since you express your emotions freely and quite spontaneously together.

₊˚⊹♡ Moon in 5H could mean you feel emotionally safe with this person, and you can also like how close it's easy to be with them. They could think you are like a member of the family already. If it is your Mother or Father IL, they could think of you as their son/ daughter, but if it is another like a sibling IL, then they think of you as a bother/ sister.

₊˚⊹♡ Moon in Gemini could mean you joke a lot together, laughing could be often happening. You can like to talk with your IL and you feel like you can express your opinion freely. But you can also gossip together or about each other.

₊˚⊹♡ Moon in 10H could mean you don't hide what you feel towards each other and actually prefer to face each other about your emotions. You enjoy spending time together and respect each other. You could have a desire to work with each other.

₊˚⊹♡ Mercury in Sagittarius means you both joke around and have a good communication, you could help each other with languages and also share your life experiences to each other a lot.

₊˚⊹♡ Mercury 7H means you have a fair way to communicate towards each other. Your conversations can be quite charming, and you could talk about relationships, contracts, what is fair and right, appearances, romance, but also enemies. You could gossip also.

₊˚⊹♡ Mercury in Taurus is a fair way to communicate, you could have a steady communication. Sometimes the conversation can be boring. It can also mean you have a healthy way to communicate towards each other. This can mean you have conversations about money, stability, food, good things in life, shopping, material things, etc.

₊˚⊹♡ Mercury in 11H means you can have a friendly way to talk to each other, and mostly you can joke around easily, and perhaps even talk in a familiar way. You can text often with this person of follow each other on social medias. This means a good friendship can happen if you talk to each other quite often.

₊˚⊹♡ Mercury Capricorn means you are not good doing daily conversations with your IL but you may both prefer to have debates or conversations that are more intellectual. One of you may also really admire the other, and so there is one teacher and one student in this one.

₊˚⊹♡ Mercury 12H means you can understand each other on another level, but it can also mean you don't talk much to each other. You could have difficulties to talk at first and have hard time to understand each other. It can also mean you have conversations that can be very deep and you could also communicate telepathically together if you happen to be very close.

₊˚⊹♡ Venus in Capricorn means you and your IL could buy each other a lot of gifts or things casually, you could always bring something to each other anytime you see each other. You could admire each other a lot or one of you admire the other. You both show a lot of respect for each other.

₊˚⊹♡ Venus in 7H means your IL could feel like they totally adore you, they can be all over you. They will really like spending time with you, and will probably be proud and glad your partner chose you. They will love to see you and will probably will want to spend time with you often.

₊˚⊹♡ Venus in Sagittarius could mean you love to spend time with your IL, and they do too!

₊˚⊹♡ Venus in 6H could be a more cold and distant type of relationship you have with your IL, but deep down they actually care. You may not say it to each other, but you could both try to improve each other's life.

₊˚⊹♡ Venus in 12H could mean you both don't totally express how you feel towards each other. It means that perhaps you and your IL will not hug each other or actually say you appreciate each other. But you could know actually. It can mean you could be shy together lol, or you could be shy with them.

₊˚⊹♡ Mars in Aquarius is a sign of being best friend with your IL.

₊˚⊹♡ Mars in 9H means you could help each other see the bright side of life. There could be a lot of wisdom shared.

₊˚⊹♡ Mars in Pisces means you don't like fighting with each other. There is a lot of support between you two.

₊˚⊹♡ Mars in 1H could mean you help each other with confidence, one of you could help the other more.

₊˚⊹♡ Jupiter in 6H means you could help each other live a healthier life, and you feel like your life improved by knowing each other.

₊˚⊹♡ Jupiter in 9H means you could help each other learn a lot. If you are a foreigner, you both could help each other learning each other's languages. Even if you are, it could also mean expending your mind to new ideas and horizons with this placement. A lot of positive learning and teaching.

₊˚⊹♡ Saturn in 11H means you could have hard time to replace the link you have with your IL. With other bad aspects this could mean you both don't get along well. With good aspects this means you actually have hard time to replace your IL. You have such a close bond with them.

₊˚⊹♡ Saturn in 10H indicates that in order for your IL to trust you, time will be reacquired. It could take time for both of you to become close.

₊˚⊹♡ Saturn in 3H could mean there is a language barrier between you two. Or you could struggle to understand each other sometimes.

₊˚⊹♡ Pluto in 10H means you will both change a lot ever since you met each other.

₊˚⊹♡ 7H Stellium could indicate one of the base of your relationship with your IL is respect but also a lot of fairness. You could love to spend time with your IL and they do to, you both adore each other. You don't see spending time together as an obligation. You could also both want to solve any problems together if one arise, and you could ask for your IL help. They could be a friend to you. You trust them, and they also trust you. I think this is really good with an IL as it is actually a good sign of a good relationship. Your IL could be very happy to have you as their IL.

₊˚⊹♡ 6H Stellium could mean you will heal a lot with your IL. You both could need to either face things or heal trauma, and it is most likely to happen with them. This relationship could be complicated at first since you may feel a bit disturbed with them. Otherwise, you could care a lot about each other. You could like to help each other but also give each other advices. You could still be cold, distant and respectful towards each other, your IL is not your best friend in your head.

₊˚⊹♡ 12H Stellium means one of you idealize the other, and you two could have a close bond. Anything that you say to each other stay as a secret. You both could confide to each other.

₊˚⊹♡ Gemini Rising means most of people around you will see you two having a playful relationship, you can be seen laughing together a lot, joking a lot, but you can also love to debate together. People just see you two talking together a lot.

₊˚⊹♡ Cancer Rising means people could sense there is a strong sense of family between you two. You both could treat each other as a family member, depending on who this is compared to you. For example, my FS has that with my dad, and my FS could see my dad as his other dad, and my dad could see my FS as his other son. People could see you take care of each other and you care about each other. Tho sometimes the relationship could be tense.

₊˚⊹♡ Aquarius Rising here could mean people see you two sharing a good friendship. You could look very different from one another, yet you could get along well. People could also see you talk a lot about technologies or your friendship could be based on similar interest around the topic.

₊˚⊹♡ Aquarius MC could make you and your IL very open to talk and actually liking to discuss about many different topics. You could get along well because you could be both open-minded. This could be a sign you both challenge each other into having a more open mind and actually see realities in different ways.

₊˚⊹♡ Pisces MC could make you both have a complicated relationship, they don't know if you like each other or not. But it could be because you indeed have a complicated relationship with them.

₊˚⊹♡ Scorpio MC could make you both close to each other and you may help each other a lot through rough time. You have a strong bond with your IL and both of you could trust each other a lot.

Thank you for reading!

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[yuesya]

Xiao straightens, and flicks his spear.

The downed form of the man-shaped demon before him fades slowly, crumbling motes of darkness drifting up and gradually vanishing in the air. It’s not dissimilar to the demons of Liyue that he’s familiar with –the demons that Xiao has spent so many centuries hunting and slaying in an endless, eternal cycle– but at the same time, he is able to discern the difference.

This demon was not one born of the restless grudges of fallen gods that refused to accept their own deaths. If anything, its origins seemed more… but no… no, that was preposterous. Surely it couldn’t be–

A monstrous roar sounds behind him; Xiao whirls around. There’s another demon left, struggling futilely in a pool of its own blood. The signature of its energy is far weaker than the one that he’d just fought, and all four of its limbs have been broken… and yet it’s still alive, and struggling to crawl forward on its belly.

Xiao exhales, raising his spear–

–and pauses.

There’s a pale hand that rests upon the bladed edge in a clear gesture for Stop. Xiao looks up sharply.

“You intend to let it live?” The girl –yet there is no doubt that this is no mere mortal girl– doesn’t say anything, but presses insistently upon his weapon. Please stand down, is her unmistakable, unspoken request.

The only reason why Xiao doesn’t point his spear at her in turn is because he knows that she actively fought the demons long prior to his arrival. It’s the only reason why there are humans who managed to escape this catastrophe.

Her appearance… Xiao does not recognize her. He admits that she looks similar to the snow women yokai of Inazuma, white hair and pale skin and clothed in Inazuman dress as she is. But she does not bear any powers of ice nor snow. If anything, the way the sword in her hand cuts through every obstacle without pause reminds him of the whispers of kunado-no-kami. But to his knowledge the last of them had died along with the Watatsumi Omikami that they served.

Regardless, Xiao does not intend to allow the current situation to go unanswered. If she was present here, fighting those strange demons that were decidedly not of Liyuan origin, then surely she knew how this incident came about in the first place.

“Explain,” Xiao says. He banishes his weapon, allowing it to dissipate into motes of golden light. “How did this situation come to be? Has the war in Inazuma worsened to such a state that it’s no longer able to contain malicious spirits within its own borders?”

The girl opens her mouth–

Oh.

Xiao blinks, genuinely surprised and caught off-guard. Her words…

“That’s a dialect I haven’t heard for quite some time.” He doesn’t have a perfect understanding of what she’s saying, especially given that the last time he’d heard this was… during the time of the Archon War, perhaps?

Xiao tilts his head. Is he looking at a survivor of the kunado-no-kami? … So far from the shores of Inazuma?

I apologize. I don’t understand what you’re saying.

Luckily for them both, Xiao is also old enough to know of the dead language that she speaks and discern the general meaning of her words, if not the precise details. Although Xiao is a Liyuan adeptus who has never once left the land in the thousands of years he’d lived, he has encountered gods of other lands, so he is not unfamiliar with other tongues.

That she is apparently unfamiliar with the language that is spoken in the present…

“Thank you for your assistance,” the kami bows. Polite, graceful. Xiao folds his arms across his chest and waits for her to explain. “… I’m afraid that this also came as an unexpected situation to me. I didn’t think that there would be a long-distance transportation array, and the barrier should’ve… no, I suppose that’s unimportant.”

She shakes her head.

“I was investigating a matter that was entrusted to me by my cousin, and ended up being ambushed by cursed spirits. Four total, the last of which you just slew,” she nods towards the fallen demon beneath him. “There was also a curse user, but he doesn’t seem to have been transported along with us. Ah, he would be the one responsible for teleporting us here. He needs to die.”

The words are spoken calmly, serenely. Xiao is aware of the dissonance here, but it’s not as if he disagrees. The regrettable casualties and wanton destruction around their current surroundings speak for themselves.

“And the demon you wish to spare?”

“Demon?” The kami blinks, then instantly understands what he’s referring to. “Ah, Muta-san? I’m afraid I can’t allow him to die yet, he’s the one I’m supposed to investigate. Although, given his current state I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to interrogate out of him…”

“I cannot allow such threats to remain within these lands.” It is his contract, and the duty that he must uphold as one of Rex Lapis’ adepti and his last yaksha.

“I understand,” she nods. “We will depart as soon as possible. If I may ask a question of you, where… are we?”

“You are within Dihua Marsh,” Xiao answers. Pauses, upon the uncomprehending way she looks at him, and elaborates, “Located upon the Bishui Plains.”

“… Did Not-Geto teleport us to China?” the kami mutters. “An entirely different country?”

Xiao stares at her. “This is the country of Liyue.”

The kami falls silent. Then, proceeds to take out a small pouch from her sleeve, and procures a strange device from it –a rectangular piece of metal that lights up with an artificial glow when she taps at it. There’s a small frown on her face, before she wipes the expression from her face with a long sigh.

“By any chance, do you have a name for this continent?”

Continent?

“… If you mean this world, it is named Teyvat,” Xiao says slowly.

Going by these questions… this is very likely not a kami of Inazuma who stands in front of him.

[hockeyboysarehot]

The Language of Connection (Thomas Ceccon)

(Guys don’t come for me I didn’t know what to name her🫣)

The Tokyo Olympics had been a momentous occasion for Y/N. Winning gold for Team USA was the pinnacle of her career, a dream realized on the world’s biggest stage. But it wasn’t just the medal that catapulted her into the limelight—it was her entire demeanor. Like Michael Phelps before her, Y/N had become known for her stoic personality, her razor-sharp focus, and her unwavering dedication to the sport. TikTok was flooded with edits of her, capturing moments of her intense pre-race routines, especially those where she was seen with her headphones on, blocking out the world as she prepared for battle in the water. People compared her to Phelps, calling her a machine, a force of nature.

Yet, her teammates knew the truth. Behind the tough exterior was someone incredibly kind and sweet. The dichotomy between the public perception and who she truly was became part of her mystique, something that both fascinated and intimidated those who didn’t know her well.

One person who had been captivated by Y/N from afar was Thomas Ceccon. The Italian swimmer had watched her with admiration during the Tokyo Games, impressed not only by her performance but by the aura she carried with her. She was focused, disciplined, everything he strived to be. But despite sharing the same Olympic village, he never got the chance to speak to her. The language barrier was his biggest obstacle—he only knew Italian, and he assumed she wouldn’t understand him if he tried to strike up a conversation.

It wasn’t until after Tokyo, as he scrolled through Instagram, that he saw a clip of himself being interviewed in Italian. He had mentioned how he didn’t speak English well, how it had held him back from interacting with some of the other athletes. The interview made its rounds on social media, and one day, Y/N stumbled across it. She watched it, a spark of realization hitting her as she read the translated caption. That was why he hadn’t approached her—he thought they wouldn’t be able to communicate.

Without hesitation, Y/N decided to learn Italian. It wasn’t just because of Thomas, but there was something about him that had intrigued her in Tokyo, and the idea of being able to connect with him felt like a new challenge, something exciting to pursue. Her rigorous training schedule left little room for distractions, but she made time for language lessons, fitting them into her days whenever she could.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Thomas had decided to tackle his own linguistic challenge. He had been thinking about Y/N ever since Tokyo, regretting that he hadn’t tried to talk to her despite the language barrier. He was determined not to let that opportunity slip by again. With the help of a tutor, he began learning English, slowly but steadily improving. The process was frustrating at times, but the thought of being able to speak to Y/N kept him motivated.

As the years passed and the next Olympics loomed on the horizon, both Y/N and Thomas continued to grow in their respective careers. They kept up with each other’s progress through social media and news articles, each quietly cheering the other on from a distance. The anticipation of the Paris Olympics brought with it a mix of excitement and nerves. For Y/N, it was another chance to prove herself, to show the world that her success in Tokyo was no fluke. For Thomas, it was an opportunity to finally close the gap that had separated them in Tokyo, to see if the connection he felt from afar could become something real.

The city of Paris was buzzing with Olympic fever as athletes from around the world gathered once more. Y/N arrived with Team USA, her focus sharp as ever. She had learned to balance the weight of expectations with her own inner drive, and she was ready to compete. But beneath the surface, there was a flutter of excitement at the thought of finally seeing Thomas again.

The first few days of the games were a blur of training sessions and preliminary heats. Y/N was in her element, her every move calculated, her mind locked in on the goal. But in the moments between, her thoughts would drift to Thomas. She wondered if he had seen her race, if he was thinking about her too.

Their first encounter came after one of Y/N’s qualifying heats. She had just finished her swim, her muscles humming with the familiar post-race adrenaline, when she saw him. Thomas was standing near the edge of the pool, watching her with a look that was both warm and intense. He looked different from the last time she’d seen him—more mature, more confident.

“Ciao, Thomas,” Y/N said, walking over to him, her heart pounding in her chest.

“Ciao, Y/N,” Thomas replied, his smile widening. “You were amazing out there.”

“Thank you,” she said, switching to Italian with a smile of her own. “Come stai?”

Thomas’s eyes lit up with surprise and delight. “Bene, grazie. E tu?”

“I’m good,” she replied in English, wanting to make him feel comfortable. “I’ve been learning Italian.”

“I’ve been learning English,” Thomas confessed, his voice filled with the same warmth that had drawn her to him in the first place. “For you.”

Y/N felt a blush rise to her cheeks, her heart swelling with a mixture of happiness and relief. “I guess we’ve both been working hard.”

“Yeah,” Thomas said, his eyes never leaving hers. “I didn’t want to miss my chance to talk to you again.”

They stood there for a moment, just smiling at each other, the rest of the world fading away. In that moment, it didn’t matter that they were surrounded by the chaos of the Olympics, or that they were both here to compete at the highest level. What mattered was that they had finally found a way to connect, to communicate in a way that went beyond words.

“Maybe we could grab a coffee sometime?” Thomas suggested, his voice hopeful.

“I’d like that,” Y/N replied, feeling a thrill of excitement at the thought.

Over the next few days, Y/N and Thomas found themselves spending more and more time together. They met for coffee, walked around the Olympic Village, and even watched some of the events together when their schedules allowed. The connection they had both felt in Tokyo had only grown stronger, and now that they could finally talk to each other, it felt like they were making up for lost time.

Y/N was struck by how easy it was to be around Thomas. He was charming and funny, but also deeply passionate about his sport and his goals. They talked about their training, their experiences in Tokyo, and their dreams for the future. But they also talked about more personal things—family, friends, and the challenges they faced in balancing their careers with their personal lives.

For Thomas, being with Y/N felt like a breath of fresh air. She was everything he had imagined and more. Beneath her stoic exterior was someone who was kind, thoughtful, and fiercely dedicated to the people she cared about. He admired her even more now that he knew her better, and he couldn’t help but feel a growing attraction to her.

One evening, after a long day of competition, they found themselves sitting by the river Seine, the Eiffel Tower glowing softly in the background. The conversation had flowed easily all night, but now there was a comfortable silence between them, the kind that only comes when two people feel truly at ease with each other.

“I’ve been thinking about you a lot,” Thomas admitted, his voice soft as he looked out at the water.

“Me too,” Y/N said, her heart skipping a beat. “It’s strange, isn’t it? How we were so close in Tokyo, but never really connected.”

“It’s not strange,” Thomas said, turning to face her. “We just weren’t ready then. But now… I think we are.”

Y/N looked into his eyes, feeling a warmth spread through her chest. “I think you’re right.”

They sat there for a moment, the sounds of the city around them, the gentle lapping of the river at their feet. Then, slowly, Thomas reached out and took her hand in his, the gesture simple but filled with meaning. Y/N felt her heart swell, a sense of contentment settling over her. This was what she had been missing, what she had been searching for.

As the days went on, Y/N and Thomas continued to grow closer. They supported each other through the highs and lows of the competition, cheering each other on from the sidelines. Y/N’s races were intense, each one a test of her strength and endurance. She could feel the weight of the world’s expectations on her shoulders, but she didn’t let it deter her. She had learned to thrive under pressure, to use it as fuel to propel her forward.

Thomas was there every step of the way, offering her encouragement and support. He knew how much this meant to her, how hard she had worked to get here. And seeing her compete, seeing the fire in her eyes as she swam, only made him admire her more.

The night of the finals was a culmination of everything they had worked for. The stadium was packed, the energy in the air electric as the world watched the best swimmers in the world compete for gold. Y/N stood on the starting block, her heart pounding in her chest, but her mind clear. She knew what she had to do.

As the starting signal echoed through the arena, Y/N dove into the water, her body cutting through it with the precision of a blade. Every stroke, every breath, was perfectly timed, her years of training coming together in a seamless display of power and grace. She could feel the competition around her, the other swimmers pushing hard, but she didn’t let it distract her. She was in the zone, her mind focused on the finish line.

When Y/N touched the wall, the roar of the crowd reverberated throughout the stadium. She blinked, momentarily disoriented by the noise, before her eyes darted to the scoreboard. Time seemed to stretch as she searched for her name among the flashing numbers.

And then she saw it—first place.

Gold.

A surge of emotions crashed over her like a tidal wave. Relief, joy, exhaustion, pride—it was all there, swirling together in a heady mix that left her breathless. She had done it. She had defended her title and proven that her victory in Tokyo wasn’t a fluke.

Climbing out of the pool, she was immediately engulfed by her teammates, who were cheering and shouting their congratulations. Y/N smiled, the adrenaline still pumping through her veins, but even as she celebrated with them, her eyes were searching the crowd, looking for one person in particular.

And then she spotted him. Thomas was standing near the edge of the pool, his expression a mixture of awe and admiration. He didn’t need to say anything—his eyes said it all. Y/N felt her heart swell as she walked over to him, the noise of the crowd fading into the background.

“Congratulations,” Thomas said, his voice warm as he pulled her into a tight hug. “You were incredible.”

“Thank you,” Y/N replied, her voice muffled against his shoulder. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

They pulled back slightly, just enough to look into each other’s eyes. Y/N could see the pride and affection in Thomas’s gaze, and she knew that it mirrored her own feelings. This victory was as much his as it was hers.

“You’re amazing,” Thomas said, his voice filled with sincerity. “I’m so proud of you.”

Y/N smiled, feeling a warmth spread through her chest. “You were great too,” she said, remembering his performance earlier in the night. “You’ve come so far.”

Thomas chuckled, his expression softening. “It’s easier when you have someone like you to inspire you.”

Y/N felt a blush rise to her cheeks, but she didn’t look away. Instead, she leaned in, closing the distance between them. The kiss was soft, tender, a moment of connection that was both simple and profound. It was the culmination of everything they had been through—years of training, of missed opportunities, of learning and growing together.

When they finally pulled apart, Y/N felt a sense of peace settle over her. This was right. This was where she was meant to be.

As they stood there, side by side, the sounds of the celebration around them, Y/N realized that this was just the beginning. The Paris Olympics had given them a second chance, and they weren’t going to waste it.

Over the next few days, as the Olympics continued, Y/N and Thomas made the most of their time together. They watched each other’s remaining races, cheering each other on with all the enthusiasm and support that had come to define their relationship. The connection they had built over the years, strengthened by their shared experiences and mutual admiration, was now blossoming into something more.

One evening, after a particularly intense day of competition, they found themselves alone in the Olympic Village. The sun was setting, casting a warm, golden light over the city, and they decided to take a walk to unwind. The streets were quiet, most of the athletes either resting or preparing for their next events, giving Y/N and Thomas a rare moment of solitude.

As they walked, hand in hand, they talked about everything and nothing—how they had both changed since Tokyo, what they wanted to do after the Olympics, and the dreams they had for the future. It was a conversation filled with laughter, teasing, and the kind of honesty that only comes with true trust.

“I was so intimidated by you in Tokyo,” Thomas confessed at one point, his tone light but sincere. “You were always so focused, so in the zone. I didn’t think you’d even notice someone like me.”

Y/N laughed, shaking her head. “I noticed you,” she said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. “I just didn’t think you’d want to talk to me. I guess we were both a little scared.”

Thomas smiled, a soft, affectionate expression that made Y/N’s heart flutter. “I’m glad we finally figured it out.”

“Me too,” Y/N agreed. She looked up at the sky, the first stars beginning to appear as the city lights flickered on around them. “It’s funny how things work out, isn’t it? We could have missed each other completely, but here we are.”

“Here we are,” Thomas echoed, his voice full of contentment. He stopped walking, turning to face her fully. “And I wouldn’t change a thing.”

They stood there, in the middle of the quiet street, the world around them fading away as they focused on each other. Y/N felt a deep sense of gratitude—grateful for this moment, for this connection, and for the journey that had brought them here.

As they continued their walk, Y/N couldn’t help but think about what lay ahead. The Paris Olympics would come to an end, but their story was just beginning. There would be new challenges, new opportunities, and new adventures. But whatever came next, she knew that they would face it together.

In the final days of the Olympics, Y/N and Thomas spent as much time together as they could. They explored the city, visiting landmarks and soaking in the atmosphere of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. They took photos, laughed, and shared stories, creating memories that they knew they would cherish forever.

When the closing ceremony finally arrived, there was a bittersweet feeling in the air. The Olympics had been an unforgettable experience, filled with triumphs and challenges, but now it was time to say goodbye to the city that had brought them together.

As they walked into the stadium, hand in hand, surrounded by their fellow athletes, Y/N felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. She had achieved everything she had set out to do, and more. But as she looked at Thomas, she realized that the most important thing she had gained was something she hadn’t even known she was looking for—a true connection, a partner, someone who understood her in a way that no one else did.

As the closing ceremony unfolded, with its music, fireworks, and speeches, Y/N and Thomas stood together, their hands entwined. They didn’t need to say anything—their presence next to each other was enough. It was a moment of reflection, of looking back on everything they had accomplished, and of looking forward to the future.

When the ceremony ended, and the athletes began to disperse, Y/N and Thomas lingered for a moment, not quite ready to leave. The stadium was slowly emptying, the noise of the crowd fading into the night, leaving behind a quiet, almost sacred atmosphere.

“Thank you,” Y/N said softly, turning to Thomas. “For everything.”

Thomas smiled, his eyes shining with affection. “No, thank you,” he replied. “For giving me a reason to try harder, to push myself. And for being exactly who you are.”

Y/N felt her heart swell with emotion. “I’m glad we found each other,” she said, her voice thick with sincerity.

“Me too,” Thomas whispered, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. “And I’m not letting you go.”

Y/N smiled, feeling a sense of certainty settle over her. “Good,” she said, leaning into him. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”

They stood there for a while, just holding each other, as the last of the athletes filed out of the stadium. The city of Paris, with all its beauty and history, had witnessed the beginning of something special. And as Y/N and Thomas walked out into the night, they knew that this was only the beginning of their journey together.

The Paris Olympics would forever hold a special place in their hearts, not just for the medals won or the records broken, but for the connection that had been forged, the relationship that had been built on a foundation of mutual respect, admiration, and love.

And as they left the stadium, hand in hand, they knew that whatever the future held, they would face it together, stronger and more united than ever before.

[nobodylikety]

hello nyúl, am here to request a foreigner (spanish) reader who is in Korea for Uni and starts dating school president dahyun but a year into a relationship reader starts missing home and dahyun ends up calling readers parents to help her make all of readers hometown food or foods from there childhood and when reader gets home they are surprised by this gestured by ends up loving it of course, then you can make it even fluffier by dahyun giving YN 2 tickets back to Spain for the summer holiday as a surprise present

Hey! How are you doing? <3

You always send me good ideas and request for fics, thank you very much 🥺🩷 I know I still have some of your requests pending, and I'm slowly working on it! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

There is no place like home

School president! Dahyun x Spanish exchange student! reader 

tags: College AU! fluff.

notes: fem pronouns used!

For someone born and raised in Mojácar, a small city in the province of Almería, embarking on the exciting experience of studying in Korea, particularly in the vibrant and enormous Seoul, was practically a dream.

So shortly after your arrival, the immensity of said culture immersed you in an absolutely unknown world, where the main difficulty had been from the beginning the language barrier (because let's be honest, at the beginning you couldn't pronounce annyeonghaseyo correctly not even to save your life), although soon, between classes and new faces, you caught the attention of Dahyun, the class president.

And well, how could you not catch her attention? You always seemed like a lost puppy hanging around the hallways, speaking a language practically unknown to her, and for god's sake, it surprisingly made you look adorable doing it.

But again, and just as from the beginning, the language barrier presented itself as a challenge, so the interactions between you and her were mostly simple greetings and smiles. Because you couldn't speak Korean to save your life, nor could she speak Spanish. However, as the days went by, the spark overcame problems as earthly as a linguistic obstacle, through patience and friendly gestures, dissolving the difficulty of her first encounters.

Because beyond that, you and Dahyun had learned to communicate through gestures, shared laughter, and genuine expressions. The connection grew day by day, turning their friendship into something deeper and more meaningful. And of course, over time you learned one or another Korean expression or sentence, purely through the process of adapting to the environment, but it was no longer crucial. You told each other everything, without saying a word.

And as your friendship intensified, excitedly sharing your Spanish roots with Dahyun, as well as the tenderness of discovering Korean traditions together, the sum of each and every one of those experiences strengthened their connection.

Which wreaked new havoc on you.

So after some time, you felt trapped in a whirlwind of emotions. The attraction grew, and every moment with Dahyun was a rollercoaster of sensations: you felt fascinated by Dahyun's vibrant energy, her infectious joy, and the way she lit up any place with her presence; You felt anticipation for her text messages, or you got giggles and butterflies in your stomach when you looked at each other.

All of that was, according to you, the worst and at the same time the best that could happen to you. You loved being by her side, but you also feared the always possible probability of a one-sided love.

Except it wasn't a one-sided love.

Although you didn't know it yet.

Because the turning point came on a starry night, during one of the now routine night walks through Seoul, when Dahyun, with a special shine in her eyes and her heart beating strongly against her ribs, confessed her feelings for you. It was a moment full of nervousness, because the words were different, they were another language, but the sparkle in your eyes revealed those same passionate feelings and finally, love resonated clearly.

//

But after a year of shared laughter, walks around the city, and mutual support, you began to experience a quiet melancholy. You were nostalgic for your home in Spain, longing for the familiar streets of Mojácar, as well as the aromas of your mamá 's cooking and the comforting meals she prepared in your childhood, remembering how she used to say that 'the cuisine of Mojácar is the best exponent of the gastronomic tradition of the Costa de Almería'.

And for Dahyun, who never took her eyes off you (because deep in her heart, she still associated you with the image of the adorable lost puppy wandering the college hallways, which was what she saw when she met you for the first time), she clearly observed the melancholy in your eyes and didn't need to ask anything about it. Sje just knew it.

And with ingenuity and determination, Dahyun decided to take action. So while she was slowly laying out a plan that she hoped would cheer you up, one day while you two were sharing a quiet walk around campus, Dahyun took your phone with a mischievous smile.

“Would you mind if I took your emergency number? You never know when we might need it,” Dahyun said, playfully.

Without even thinking and with a giggle, you gave her the phone number she had asked for. Anyway, you thought it was always good to have someone other than yourself have your emergency contact, just as a precaution. You never know, right?

And of course, what you didn't know on that occasion was that Dahyun was planning something special. That night after Uni, Dahyun discreetly left to make an international call.

"Hola, es esta la casa de reader? Uhm, soy Dahyun y, uh, su hija y yo hemos estado saliendo por un año y poco más. Llamé porque me gustaría conversar una situación con ustedes" Dahyun explained respectfully, using the Spanish she had learned.

So, after a pleasant conversation (and less difficult than Dahyun expected, given her little knowledge of Spanish), she shared her idea with your parents. Together, they created a plan to transform your dorm room into a piece of Spain. Your parents' help was very useful for Dahyun, being able to recover numerous family recipes, details about your home, and anecdotes that only your true friends could know.

So with information in hand, Dahyun gave free rein to her efforts for the surprise. Since you and Dahyun did not coincide in all classes, since academically you had different interests, consequently you two had different class dismissal times. And that day, after the end of her classes, Dahyun had run to your dorm room while you would still be engrossed in your studies for about two more hours.

You had a kitchen in your small dorm room, but you didn't usually use it, since you had little or practically no time to cook something decent, and therefore, you tended to eat with Dahyun outside or heat up microwave dinners; so at that moment, Dahyun had your entire kitchen to herself and she was ready to get to work.

The first task that Dahyun set himself was to prepare Ajo Colorao, a typical dish in almost the entire province of Almería, including Mojácar, your hometown, and which you had stated more than once that you loved to eat. So in the kitchen, and with the ingredients scattered all over the counter, Dahyun immersed herself in the process. First she prepared Ajo Colorao, a dish that, according to your parents had explained to her during the phone call, is made up of a puree that has the consistency of a salmorejo and where cooked potatoes are combined with desalted cod, chorizo pepper, garlic, tomato and cumin, and that you particularly liked to accompany with bollo de panizo, a typical bread from Almería.

Then, the second masterpiece on her gastronomic list was Patatas in ajopollo, a dish that reminded you of Sunday lunches, characterized by family reunion and togetherness, as well as shared laughter. Dahyun remembered that your parents had told her that the trick for this recipe was to first brown the bread, almonds and garlic in a frying pan with oil at low temperature until it turned golden brown, and then mash everything in a mortar until it was obtained a a soft, but thick mixture. Soon she understood that this pasty mixture was 'ajopollo', and that it accompanied the potatoes.

The aroma that filled the kitchen while Dahyun prepared your favorite dishes evoked the homely memories of your childhood in Mojácar and while now she was cooking the papaviejos —a typical dessert from Almería, preferred by the little ones, and whose ingredients simply consisted of potatoes, milk , flour and sugar—, she reflected on the connection she had built with you since you two had been dating, more than a year ago. Dahyun had the feeling that with each ingredient that fell into the pan it not only seemed to carry with it the very essence of your hometown, but also your happiness. She had noticed how homesick you had been lately, and this surprise was intended to do just that.

Make you happy. 

Because if Dahyun loved something about you dearly, it was your smile.

With that in mind, Dahyun checked the clock, taking note that it was almost time for you to return to your room after classes. And it was just in time, because a few minutes later, she heard the slight struggle while you inserted the key, and then a 'click' when removing the lock. You paused for a moment, noticing a familiar scent hanging in the air.

And then, as you opened the door, the sight of the unfolding in front of you, left you speechless. Dahyun had transformed your modest room into a corner of Mojácar in the heart of Korea.

Dahyun, with a nervous and anticipatory smile, was waiting for you standing next to the table. Her eyes shone with a mixture of excitement and anxiety, while she held an apron that revealed her as the author of this surprise feast.

"Welcome home!" Dahyun exclaimed happily when you entered. Your eyes met and the knowing glow between them conveyed the affection and dedication she had invested in this surprise.

Your heart skipped a beat when you saw the incredible surprise Dahyun had prepared for you. In turn, your face lit up with a mixture of surprise and excitement, and your eyes shone as you recognized every detail that evoked your distant home.

"Dahyun, how...?" You murmured, not finding the right words to express your gratitude.

The table was decorated with details reminiscent of Mojácar, from small flags to photos of local landscapes. Dahyun had learned a lot about your culture and wanted you to feel a piece of home in that moment.

"Do you like it?" Dahyun asked, her eyes shining with hope while pointing to the plates.

You nodded, unable to contain your excitement. You approached the table and looked at each dish in awe, and Dahyun, with her apron on, began to describe each dish excitedly, revealing how she had contacted your parents for authentic recipes and cooking tips.

The table was full of delicacies, from succulent Patatas en ajopollo to the Ajo Colorao that you remembered with nostalgia. There were even papaviejos, your favorite childhood dessert, perfectly golden and sprinkled with sugar.

And as you ate each dish, you felt your eyes filled with tears of gratitude. Every bite reminded you of home, your mother's kitchen, and the family meals you had missed so much. Dahyun, carefully observing your every reaction, was satisfied to see that her surprise was achieving the desired effect.

But just when Dahyun couldn't feel happier and prouder of her small achievement, and after finishing dinner, you got up to hug her tightly.

“I can’t believe you did all this for me,” you said, your voice filled with emotion. "You're amazing, Dahyun."

Dahyun reciprocated the hug, feeling your heartbeat. “Your happiness is mine,” Dahyun whispered. "And even though we are far from Mojácar, I want you to feel like you have a home here with me."

But the surprise didn't end there! There was more!

Because while Dahyun shared with you a handful of churros, which she had personally gone to buy at a Spanish place in the area, she handed you an envelope containing tickets back to Spain for the summer vacation.

"I want you to have the opportunity to hug your family and enjoy meals from home in person," Dahyun expressed, her eyes shining. She then came up to kiss you gently on the forehead, on the nose, on the cheeks. She practically drew a map of kisses on your face, and you let her do it.

And so, between traditional dishes and affectionate gestures, another chapter of your story with Dahyun was woven, a story that transcended borders and demonstrated that home is not always in a physical place, but in the shared heart.

Dahyun was your home.

And that being the case, there is no place like home.

[spotsupstuff]

Does Aftertaste see Ko as part of her hivemind the way Euros sees Sparrows as part of his?

MMMM -so so gesture-

lemme try show it with pics the vibes i'm thinking

Euros and Sparrows are like this

if you excuse the language and are willing to approach it maturely along with me, it's that sensation that sparks healthy sex between two people who love each other endlessly. the individualities are defined and separated in respect, but the Hivemind acceptance of her carries the same feelings like when one embraces another who they love out of sheer true passion, the strength of it, and it's just not enough. you want them even closer. it feels like the physical is an obstacle in this, another layer of clothes that can't be shed. closer, closer, need to get closer and that's generally solved with sex with humans. that's where the "love making" comes from, in my understanding. it's that complete connection, layering through each other, ability to finally share the love cleanly

Euros pulls her and holds her in who he is as a way to breach this feeling of an obstacle the only way he is able to do so with her. she's part of him in that loving kind of way, in which she is still very much her own respectable person- yet it doesn't pose any issue in the form of an obstacle because he loves who this person is. that's what it is about. it's about Her and what he feels for her and wanting all that as close as possible

the goal is to be so close that hugging him is like hugging herself

keywords with them are Passion and Love

while Disdain and Ko are more like this

they aren't equal like Euros and Sparrows and their thing isn't about love and breaching physical barriers, and also obtains a lot aggression. the aggression is there from Disdain's side of things and aimed at the rest of the world in the name of keeping him safe

he's weaker which is why they can't be equal and existing on a different plane than Sparrows, out of his element as originally a mortal. and Iterator is this giant made out of souls that are locked onto singular goal (Individuality) and that makes them special and so so terrifyingly powerful when it comes to spiritual presence. he's just one lone, lost and hurt thing. and all the spirits that are Disdain make it their responsibility to shelter him within them

he can hide within them, he can get lost within them, he could become just another piece of her that would get lost in all the other pieces if she just didn't push for his individuality to keep existing and thriving, he could leech off of her for energy. kinda like a parasite that chooses not to harm, that is treasured by the host and the host regards the "parasite" as its equal

keyword with them is Protection or Harboring (sheltering, giving him refuge)

i GUESS i don't know how else to say it, it's kinda hard to explain it

[emersoncollege0]

Unlocking Success: The Power of Effective Communication Skills

Effective communication is a critical skill that shapes how we interact with the world around us. It affects everything from relationships to career success. When mastered, communication opens doors, resolves conflicts, and leads to clearer understanding and collaboration. Whether speaking, listening, or writing, refining communication skills is a worthwhile endeavor that brings lasting benefits.

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Communication is a two-way street, and listening is just as important as speaking. Active listening is the ability to fully engage with what another person is saying without interruptions or distractions. This skill helps build rapport and shows respect for the speaker.

To practice active listening, focus on the speaker without preparing your response in advance. Offer non-verbal cues, such as nodding or maintaining eye contact, to show engagement. When appropriate, paraphrase or ask clarifying questions to ensure you understand the message. Active listening helps you gain new perspectives and makes others feel heard and valued.

Expressing Yourself with Confidence

Verbal communication is not just about what you say but how you say it. Speaking with clarity and confidence allows you to present your ideas effectively. A clear voice, appropriate tone, and steady pace make your words easier to understand and give your message more impact.

To improve verbal communication, focus on being concise and organized. Avoid jargon or overly technical language unless necessary, and adapt your message to suit your audience. Use a confident yet friendly tone to establish credibility without sounding aggressive. By honing these skills, you can express your thoughts with greater precision and influence.

The Importance of Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal cues—such as body language, facial expressions, and gestures—are powerful tools that often communicate more than words. Your body language can reveal your confidence, attentiveness, and sincerity, reinforcing or contradicting the words you speak.

Positive non-verbal communication includes open posture, maintaining eye contact, and using hand gestures naturally to emphasize key points. Facial expressions, such as smiling or nodding, can create a welcoming atmosphere, while closed-off body language may signal disinterest. By being mindful of these non-verbal cues, you can enhance the clarity and effectiveness of your interactions.

Navigating Communication Barriers

Even the best communicators encounter challenges, and understanding how to overcome communication barriers is key to maintaining effective dialogue. Language differences, cultural variations, and emotional misunderstandings can all create obstacles in communication.

One way to overcome language or cultural barriers is to ask open-ended questions and avoid making assumptions. Adapting your message to the other person’s background or preferences can also make a significant difference. In emotionally charged situations, keeping calm and being empathetic can help de-escalate tensions. Addressing misunderstandings as they arise fosters clearer communication and mutual respect.

Improving Written Communication

In today’s digital world, written communication is an essential skill. Whether you are sending emails, writing reports, or sharing ideas online, the clarity of your written words reflects your professionalism. Strong writing skills help you convey your thoughts accurately and avoid misinterpretation.

When writing, aim for clarity and conciseness. Structure your message logically, starting with the main point and supporting it with relevant details. Use short sentences and straightforward language to make your message easy to read and understand. Proofreading your work ensures there are no errors or confusing statements. By paying attention to these details, you can enhance the effectiveness of your written communication.

Building Confidence in Communication

Developing strong communication skills requires practice and confidence. Engaging in conversations, sharing your opinions, and speaking in front of others can all help you grow more comfortable expressing yourself. Confidence comes with time, and the more you practice, the better you will become.

A helpful way to build confidence is by seeking feedback from others. Constructive criticism provides valuable insights into areas for improvement. Additionally, participating in public speaking activities or joining discussion groups can offer opportunities to practice and refine your skills. As you become more experienced, your ability to communicate effectively will improve, boosting both your personal and professional success.

Understanding Different Communication Styles

People have different ways of communicating, and understanding these styles can help you adapt your approach to suit the situation. Some individuals may be more direct and assertive, while others may prefer a more reserved and reflective style of communication.

When interacting with someone who communicates directly, being straightforward and concise is often the best approach. For more reserved individuals, showing patience and offering time for thought can make the conversation more comfortable. Adapting to different communication styles enhances your ability to connect with others and ensures more productive interactions.

The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Communication

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to recognize and manage your own emotions, as well as understand the emotions of others. High emotional intelligence leads to better communication because it allows you to navigate social situations with greater awareness and empathy.

Being emotionally intelligent means paying attention to both verbal and non-verbal cues, adjusting your communication style based on the emotional state of others, and responding thoughtfully rather than reactively. By developing your emotional intelligence, you can improve your relationships and become a more effective communicator.

Empower Your Future Through Communication

Mastering communication skills is essential for achieving success in all areas of life. Whether you are advancing your career, strengthening personal relationships, or simply looking to express yourself more clearly, effective communication is the key to unlocking your full potential. By improving your listening, speaking, and writing abilities, and by being mindful of both verbal and non-verbal cues, you can create a foundation for success that will serve you well throughout your personal and professional journey. Embrace the power of communication and watch how it transforms your life.

[accesscounselling]

Is Your Dublin Depression Therapist Listening? How to Ensure Effective Communication in Therapy

In the delicate and often intricate journey of therapy, particularly for those battling depression in Dublin, the importance of effective communication cannot be overstated. Through this channel, individuals seek to understand and be understood, to unload and uncover insights into their battles.

Yet, amidst this process, a cloud of doubt can hover – a question that might seem simple yet carries profound implications: “Is my Dublin depression therapist really listening to me?” This concern is far from trivial. It touches on the foundational aspect of therapy that can significantly influence its effectiveness. Addressing this doubt, therefore, is not just about reassurance but about ensuring that the therapeutic relationship is built on genuine understanding and mutual respect.

The Power of Active Listening in Depression Therapy

The efficacy of therapy relies heavily on the quality of the therapeutic alliance – the collaborative relationship between therapist and client. This alliance is cemented by trust, mutual understanding, and, critically, effective communication.

When clients feel genuinely heard, it fosters an environment of safety and trust, encouraging openness and honesty. Conversely, when clients doubt whether their therapist is listening, it can create barriers to healing, suggesting the need for strategies to identify, address, and resolve these concerns for a more fruitful therapeutic experience.

Effective communication, in its most impactful form, takes the shape of active listening. In the context of depression counselling, active listening extends beyond merely hearing words. It involves fully engaging with and processing the client’s message, signalling not just reception but comprehension and empathy. This form of listening is paramount, as it lays the groundwork for understanding the client’s perspective, emotions, and thought processes without judgment.

When therapists engage in active listening, they not only validate their clients’ experiences but also empower them, making them feel valued and understood. This level of engagement is crucial, especially in the treatment of depression, where feelings of isolation and being misunderstood are common. Thus, active listening can significantly contribute to the therapeutic process’s success by building a strong, empathetic relationship between the therapist and client.

Signs Your Dublin Depression Therapist Is Listening

Now that we’ve explored the power of active listening and its impact on the therapeutic relationship, let’s turn our attention to some key indicators that your depression counsellor is genuinely engaged and listening attentively.

One of the clearest indicators of a therapist’s engagement is their body language. An engaged therapist will lean forward, maintain an open posture, and possibly mirror your gestures, signalling attentiveness and a willingness to collaborate.

Another sign is the use of eye contact, which, when balanced, communicates presence and interest. Too little can seem disengaged; too much may feel intrusive. It’s about finding a respectful and attentive medium that signals, “I’m here with you, and I’m listening.”

Beyond non-verbal cues, verbal affirmations play a critical role. Therapists who actively listen often paraphrase or summarise what you have said, ask open-ended questions to encourage deeper exploration, and use affirming statements to validate your feelings and experiences. This not only demonstrates that the counsellor is following along but also helps clarify and elaborate on your discourse, promoting a deeper understanding.

Why Depression Counselling Communication Fails: Understanding Key Barriers

Feeling unheard in depression therapy can be frustrating. It’s important to remember that communication obstacles can arise, but they are not insurmountable. Here are some of the reasons why communication between you and your therapist might break down:

Therapist Biases

Everyone has biases, and therapists are no exception. Sometimes, a counsellor’s unconscious biases might make it difficult for them to fully understand your unique experience of depression. For example, a therapist who hasn’t dealt with situational depression might struggle to relate to someone who lost a job due to their illness, potentially minimising their feelings.

Distractions

In today’s fast-paced world, both therapists and clients can get easily distracted. External factors like ringing phones or internal worries can disrupt the flow of communication.  A counsellor preoccupied with personal concerns might miss key details in your narrative. At the same time, a client focused on planning what to say next might struggle to completely engage in the present moment.

Communication Styles

Sometimes, communication breakdowns stem from differences in communication styles. Clients might struggle to articulate their complex emotions, while therapists might use technical jargon that clients do not understand. Additionally, counsellors might miss nonverbal cues like body language or facial expressions that could provide deeper insight into a client’s feelings.

Unrealistic Expectations

Therapy, be it for depression, grief or anxiety, is a collaborative process, and sometimes clients might have unrealistic expectations. Hoping for immediate solutions or a quick fix for mental health issues can lead to frustration and a sense of not being heard when progress feels slow.

How to Talk Effectively With Your Dublin Depression Therapist

Engaging effectively with your therapist is not just about overcoming communication barriers. It’s also about actively enhancing the dialogue to ensure your counselling sessions become a cornerstone for significant improvement and understanding.

Here are some indispensable tips designed to help you and your therapist foster a stronger, more meaningful connection through enhanced communication:

Come Prepared

Don’t walk into your session empty-handed! Jot down some thoughts and feelings beforehand, or come up with a list of topics you want to discuss. This helps you stay focused and ensures important issues aren’t overlooked. Plus, it gives your therapist a clear picture of what’s on your mind.

Know Your Goals

What do you hope to achieve in therapy? Is it managing your day-to-day mood swings, developing coping mechanisms, or building a healthier support system? Openly discussing your goals with your therapist allows them to tailor their approach to your specific needs. This sets you up for a more personalised and effective therapy journey.

Ask For and Give Feedback

Don’t be afraid to give your therapist feedback. Let them know if something isn’t working for you or if you prefer a different communication style. Regular check-ins ensure your counsellor stays on track and you feel heard and understood. Remember, a good therapist wants you to feel comfortable and supported!

By following these tips, you can transform your Dublin depression therapy sessions into a space for open communication and positive change.

What to Do If You Feel Unheard in Depression Counselling

Feeling like you’re not being heard in therapy can be disheartening, but it’s a situation that can often be improved with open communication. If you find yourself in this position, the first step is to discuss your concerns directly with your therapist. It might feel daunting, but remember, a professional therapist values your feedback and sees it as essential to the success of your therapy. Addressing the issue can lead to a productive conversation that might result in adjustments to the therapeutic approach or techniques, ensuring your needs are better met in future sessions.

However, it’s essential to acknowledge that not every therapist-client relationship is the perfect fit. If, after expressing your concerns, you still feel disconnected or misunderstood, it might be time to consider seeking a second opinion. There’s no harm in exploring other options or even transitioning to a new therapist. The right depression therapist for you is someone with whom you feel a connection and from whom you feel support and understanding.

Moreover, don’t overlook the value of support groups during this time. They can offer additional perspectives and coping strategies while you navigate finding the right depression counsellor in Dublin. The journey towards mental wellness is personal and varied. Sometimes, it requires patience and a willingness to advocate for your needs.

Remember, the ultimate goal of depression counselling is to provide a safe and supportive environment where you feel heard, understood, and empowered to work through your challenges. Ensuring you have the right match with your therapist is critical to your therapeutic journey.

In conclusion, therapy is a two-way street, and feeling heard is crucial for success. Don’t be afraid to have open conversations with your Dublin depression therapist. If communication feels strained, remember that finding the right therapist is key. There are many qualified professionals in Dublin, and a good fit fosters a space of understanding and support. With the right therapist by your side, communication becomes a bridge to a brighter future.

But remember, this bridge is built on collaboration. Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and feelings openly. The more your therapist understands your unique experience with depression, the better they can tailor their approach to empower you on your journey towards healing and a life filled with hope.

Are you feeling unheard and overwhelmed in your journey towards emotional well-being? It might be time to consider reaching out to a Dublin depression therapist who truly listens and understands the depths of your struggles. Call us on 015240708 or click here to get supportive and empathetic professional help today!

[jcmarchi]

How AI Is Democratizing the Writing Process

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/how-ai-is-democratizing-the-writing-process/

How AI Is Democratizing the Writing Process

The digital age has been a double-edged sword for authors, positioned at the intersection of innovation and preservation. This paradox came to the forefront with the recent news about the unauthorized use of thousands of books for training Meta’s AI language model. While this incident has given rise to legal battles and ignited public discussions, it has also stimulated profound debates about the concept of authorship and the broader impact of AI on our society.

Yet amidst the apprehension, Ian Bogost, presents  a refreshingly unconventional perspective in his recent The Atlantic piece. Bogost challenges the gravity we often attach to authorship by pointing out that all content holds a certain democratic equality, even though the literary world may prioritize published works over Amazon reviews or Subreddit posts.

This discussion unveils the intricate interplay between authors, technology, and the evolving concept of authorship in the digital era. However, this article aims to look at AI, not as a replacement for authors but as an enabler for those who don’t see themselves as writers to ‘better express their thoughts, thereby expanding the pool of public conversation’.

Book authorship – a privilege for a select few?

Throughout history, book authorship has often been the privilege of the most fortunate individuals. In fact, until recent history, even owning books was considered a luxury. After all, even in the contemporary era, where the majority of individuals possess the capability to write and valuable knowledge worth sharing, becoming an author remains a privilege. It’s not just a matter of skills and knowledge; it also entails another important currency: time. Besides, even those who possess the necessary resources confront considerable odds when striving to see their work in print. In fact, in the book publishing industry, it is widely accepted that the likelihood of an author getting their work published typically falls within the range of 1% to 2%.

For those who lack the time, writing skills, or resources to embark on the traditional path to authorship, AI offers a promising alternative. AI, in this context, is not a replacement for human authors but rather an enabler for those who have valuable knowledge to share but may struggle to articulate it in writing.  For example, many subject-matter experts want to impart their knowledge but lack writing skills or time. Typically, their only recourse would have been to hire a ghostwriter, which is a significant expense often reserved for a select few. AI technology helps bridge this gap by providing a cost-effective and accessible means for experts to transform their knowledge into well-structured written content, thereby fostering inclusivity in the content creation process.

The traditional barriers to becoming an author, such as the requirement of exceptional writing skills, available time, and access to ghostwriters, are no longer insurmountable obstacles. AI technology levels the playing field, allowing a broader spectrum of individuals to participate in the literary world. It brings a sense of democratization to the writing process, ensuring that it is not confined to a select few with the necessary resources.

AI – hero or villain?

Rather than being labeled as a hero or a villain, AI should be seen as a silent co-creator that helps bring ideas to life. AI is not just about generating content but also about making writing more accessible.

One of the significant benefits of AI in writing is its potential to facilitate the engagement of neurodiverse individuals in a wide range of workflows, including the creation of literary content. People with conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia, or autism often possess rich and valuable insights but may struggle with conventionally organizing their thoughts. In this case, AI takes on the role of a silent co-creator, effectively dismantling the barriers that neurodiverse individuals might encounter in the writing process. By aiding individuals in the transformation of their ideas into well-structured manuscripts, AI is providing opportunities for those who, despite their talent and knowledge, might face daunting challenges in their writing journeys.

By leveraging AI’s capabilities, neurodiverse individuals can harness their unique insights and contribute to the literary landscape, challenging established norms and adding diversity to the voices and narratives found in literature. In this way, AI proves to be a powerful tool in making the world of writing more inclusive and allowing neurodiverse individuals to share their knowledge and experiences effectively. Therefore, AI should be appreciated for its capacity to assist, enable, and empower rather than feared for its potential to replace human authors.

Conclusion: The essence of storytelling remains unchanged

Ian Bogost’s argument in his piece for The Atlantic raises important questions about how we define authorship in an era where technology, particularly AI, plays an increasingly significant role in content creation. If writing is an act of sharing knowledge and ideas, then AI should serve to advance this purpose by ensuring that the act of writing is accessible to everyone.

The democratization of writing through AI is not a threat to the essence of storytelling. Instead, it upholds the fundamental purpose of writing by ensuring that knowledge sharing and ideas are accessible to everyone. The digital age and the rise of AI should be viewed as tools that enhance the democratization of knowledge and facilitate the inclusion of a wide range of voices in the ever-evolving conversation of the written word.  As AI technology continues to advance, it becomes an essential partner for individuals who aspire to share their expertise, experiences, and ideas with the world.

The core purpose of writing and storytelling remains unaltered. AI catalyzes achieving this purpose by making the act of writing accessible to all. It does not seek to replace authors but rather to empower them and expand the boundaries of the writing landscape. As technology advances, more and more people from diverse backgrounds have the potential and the chance to share their insights with the world. The democratization of writing through AI ensures that the world of ideas remains open to all, regardless of an individual’s background, abilities, or resources.

[trustideas]

Synonym insurmountable

#SYNONYM INSURMOUNTABLE FREE#

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#SYNONYM INSURMOUNTABLE FREE#

Please support this free service by just sharing with your friends. Select the language from the dropdown given below & click on the button (Or Enter) to get the Meaning in your language. These languages include Croatian, Serbian, Maltese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Urdu, Swahili, Welsh, Portuguese, Tamil, Danish, Hindi, Basque, Spanish, Italian, Irish, Albanian, Haitian Creole, Polish, Gujarati, Catalan, Korean, Russian, Hebrew, Romanian, Turkish, Dutch, Afrikaans, Chinese Simplified, French, Kannada, Malayalam, Japanese, Telugu, German, Ukrainian, Norwegian, Georgian, Lithuanian, Esperanto, Thai, Bulgarian, Estonian, Latvian, Yiddish, Icelandic, Persian, Indonesian, Hungarian, Chinese Traditional, Swedish, Malay, Galician, Macedonian, Azerbaijani, Slovak, Finnish, Slovenian, Filipino, Belarusian, Bengali, Czech, Latin, Greek etc. These synonyms for the word insurmountable are provided for your information only.It's a free Multilanguage dictionary with many languages around the World. Here you use the synonyms for insurmountable. is more than 70,800 synonyms and 47,200 antonyms available. This site allows you to find in one place, all the synonyms and antonyms of the English language. In your daily life, for writing an email, a text, an essay, if you want to avoid repetitions or find the opposite meaning of a word. The words blockage, encumbrance, handicap are antonyms for "help". The words acknowledge, enjoy, welcome are synonyms for "appreciate". Antonyms are used to express the opposite of a word. Antonym definitionĪn antonym is a word, adjective, verb or expression whose meaning is opposite to that of a word. This avoids repetitions in a sentence without changing its meaning. Synonyms are other words that mean the same thing.

Extract from : « Mary Wollstonecraft » by Elizabeth Robins PennellĪ synonym is a word, adjective, verb or expression that has the same meaning as another, or almost the same meaning.

To Mary, however, this did not seem an insurmountable obstacle to their union.

Extract from : « Sacrifice » by Stephen French Whitman.

Yet this feebleness, profound, insurmountable, was what caused his torments of jealousy.

Extract from : « The Fortunes Of Glencore » by Charles James Lever.

There is but one objection I could possibly have, and yet that seems to be insurmountable.

Extract from : « Confessions Of Con Cregan » by Charles James Lever.

What they could possibly be, then, was an insurmountable puzzle to me.

Both compounds displayed high affinity for the Y5 receptor in the radio-ligand binding assay, while in the cell-based functional assay, S-2367 and S-234462 showed, respectively, surmountable and insurmountable antagonism.

Extract from : « The Negro Farmer » by Carl Kelsey Here we report the discovery and characterization of two novel Y5 receptor antagonists, S-2367 and S-234462.

This would indicate that heat alone is no insurmountable obstacle.

Extract from : « Tales From Two Hemispheres » by Hjalmar Hjorth Boysen.

It appeared then that for some reason this was an insurmountable objection.

Extract from : « Doctor Pascal » by Emile Zola.

This would be a barrier the more, an insurmountable barrier between her and him.

The difficulties that are before us appear to me insurmountable.

Extract from : « Imogen » by William Godwin.

Unused to encounter difficulty, he for a time imagined them insurmountable.

Extract from : « In the Midst of Alarms » by Robert Barr.

He had dragged himself this far, and reached an insurmountable obstacle.

[makeste]

BnHA 323: “I Don’t Know How to Explain to You That You Should Care About Other People”

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan was all, “Izuku, I’m sorry.” Bakugou Stans were all, “[sobs for a week straight and tearfully awards him the Nobel Prize for character development].” Deku was all, “[faints in Kacchan’s arms].” Iida was all, “[trying to decide if Ochako genuinely tried to kill him a few minutes ago].” Horikoshi was all, “NO TIME FOR HUGS WE MUST GET BACK TO UA.” The civilians holed up at U.A. were all, “WE TOOK A VOTE AND DECIDED THAT WE’RE ALL GOING TO BE JERKS ABOUT THIS AND MAKE A BIG FUSS ABOUT YOU LETTING DEKU BACK INTO THE SCHOOL.” Deku was all “[stands there looking like he expected nothing less and breaking my heart more and more with each passing moment].” Ochako was all, “that does it, looks like I’m gonna have to do something about this... next chapter, that is.”

Today on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal is all “I just want you all to know that I spent nine million dollars turning U.A. into a giant Battleship-style grid that can burrow underground and zoom around in a giant subway maze because Horikoshi lacks a grounded understanding of both civil engineering and economics.” Back in the present day, Jeanist is all, “EVERYONE TAKE HEED, MY COMRADES AND I HAVE DEEMED IT EXPEDIENT TO CONVEY THIS AUSPICIOUS YOUTH BACK TO THIS STRONGHOLD. WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE MAY DEPEND UPON YOUR GOODWILL AND ACQUIESCENCE TO THESE TERMS.” The civilians were all, “NO.” Ochako was all, “EMPATHY, MOTHERFUCKERS, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!” The civilians were all, “oh shit.” Anyway so Ochako is a giant badass, but I’m a little worried that she’s going to get struck by lightning. Please come down from there.

so before we start this chapter, I would just like to apologize for having not posted the ch 321 recap yet, and would like to reassure everyone, and especially Iida who is staring at me with Sad Wobbly Guilt Trip Eyes, that I will get to that as soon as I can

OMG FLASHBACK??

yes please Horikoshi please show us more of class 1-A and their Deku intervention strategy jam sessions

oh dear

Iida you are too pure and good for this cruel world. [sprays the U.A. civilians with a water bottle] NO. BAD CIVILIANS! NO OSTRACIZING SCARED AND EXHAUSTED CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE

EXCUSE ME RAT PRINCIPAL WHAT’S WITH THESE MIXED MESSAGES

???

RAT PRINCIPAL: he’s free to return to us at any time!!

ALSO RAT PRINCIPAL: but it’s too risky for him to return to us

?? ??????? ?????????????????????

so now he’s going on about how strong the U.A. Barrier is, and how it’s comparable to the defensive capabilities of Tartarus. this would have sounded a lot more impressive before chapter 297 lol

OH!!!! HELLO, WHAT’S THIS!!!

A TIMELY CALLBACK TO A CERTAIN MYSTERIOUS EVENT WHICH HASN’T BEEN REFERENCED SINCE USJ? [U.A. TRAITOR MUSIC INTENSIFIES]

so now Rat Principal says he upgraded U.A.’s security systems with his own “modifications”, whatever the fuck that means. I mean look, I’ve been saying for a long time now that U.A. is the best place for everyone to hole up, don’t get me wrong. but that was mostly on account of there not being any other practical alternatives. but you’re making it sound like you figured out a way to actually make it Decay-proof or some wild shit like that

-- hold up, DID YOU ADD A FORCE FIELD. DID YOU TRICK THIS SCHOOL OUT WAKANDA-STYLE YOU CRAZY MARSUPIAL. HOLY SHIT. because that would actually be perfect

LMAO

WHAT KIND OF GALAXY BRAIN BULLSHIT. “NAH THERE’S NO NEED FOR A FORCE FIELD, LET’S JUST PUT WHEELS ON IT”

oh okay so the whole campus is basically capable of burrowing itself underground. that’s insane lol I wonder how they pulled that off. probably got poor Cementoss working overtime

blah blah blah so basically the entire campus is split into a grid and each section of the grid is capable of its own independent movement. lol this is just the Merone Base from KHR. you thought no one would notice this casual plagiarism ten years after the fact, but YOU UNDERESTIMATED YOUR AUDIENCE, HORIKOSHI

“joke’s on you imma just lampshade it” WELL ALL RIGHT THEN

“look at me I’m so fucking self-aware” fucking swear to god. I can’t believe this man is my favorite mangaka of all time smdh

“excuse me, I wasn’t finished describing all the rest of this bullshit yet,” Rat Principal breaks in impatiently. “we also added a steel wall all around the underground of the campus that’s 3000 steel plates thick. that’s fifteen fucking meters of solid fucking steel just fyi. and if anyone fucks around with any part of it the defense system will activate immediately! and also all of the plates are independently motorized, whatever the fuck that means!! in conclusion you’re gonna need a fucking tower crane to suspend all of your disbelief by the time I’m through with this paragraph”

“also Shiketsu is almost as reinforced as U.A. but not quite because we still had to make sure we were better.” but of course. and apparently the two schools are connected via a secret tunnel as Hagakure mentioned earlier

LSDKFJLSDKJFLK

“WAIT WHAT” LMAO YOU HEARD HIM, NOW INASA CAN VISIT YOU BOTH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THE WEIRD DREAM HE HAD. GOD BLESS YOU HORIKOSHI

(ETA: moment of appreciation for Shouto and Katsuki having the same thought at the same time and making Knowing Eye Contact and saying the exact same thing out loud in perfect unison like the best friends they are. what a blessed day.)

so Tokoyami is all “but wait if you engineered all this shit all the way back during the Band arc how did you even know that Tomura’s quirk awakening would become a thing, Horikoshi -- uh, I mean, Principal Nezu”

and Rat Principal is all “lol idk”

“basically I just woke up one morning and was all ‘say, you know what this school really needs? a fifteen-meter-thick underground steel wall, and the ability to break up into little pieces that individually zoom around wherever the fuck they want.’ jesus christ. lol if money and common sense were apparently no obstacle why didn’t you just teleport U.A. to the fucking moon or something. maybe I should shut up before I given him any ideas

dsfaelkjldkjgl

you heard it here first, folks, all of this cost a grand total of nine million U.S. dollars. well technically it cost “more than” nine million dollars. never has that distinction been more important lmao. are we sure this barrier was really made of steel and not cardboard? who the hell sold it to them, Ea-Nasir??

this is my favorite manga series of all time. yes I am ashamed

“in conclusion please do your best to reach Deku-kun” SO WHAT WAS ALL THAT NONSENSE ABOUT IT BEING TOO RISKY THEN. anyway thank you for this super informative and edifying flashback, Horikoshi. I will cherish it always. I don’t even want to read another translation of this absurdity lmao, there’s something special about it just the way it is. pretty sure Horikoshi just had a cracked out fever dream one night and transferred it to the pages of the manga verbatim

anyway so back to the unruly mob

not their finest moment. please excuse me while I cover poor Deku’s ears and give him a good shoosh pap

oh wow the parents are out here too

is Mitsuki trying to hold Inko back?? that’s the last thing this fandom needs right now is more Mitsuki discourse fffwlkjs. and even Jiroudad, scientifically proven to be the best dad in all of BnHA, is just standing there silently looking vaguely unhappy. way to rise to the moment you guys

MONOMA

so this settles it for me that Aizawa is not at UA. I know a lot of people have been wondering about his whereabouts, and if I had to wager a guess it would be that something happened with Shirakumo/Kurogiri. I can’t think of anything else -- even the loss of an eye and a limb -- that would keep him from his kids at a time like this

anyway but this is excellent Monoma content right here though. I love that he apparently adopted Eri after a single interaction with her. also WHERE IS SHINSOU DAMMIT. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW

and Kouta’s there too looking like he wants to run over to Deku but Ragdoll won’t let him :/

it’s gotta be pretty upsetting for him to see his hero like this and not having anyone stand up for him. [taps megaphone] IS THIS THING ON. OKAY YEAH IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING. AHEM. PAGING URARAKA OCHAKO. GONNA NEED YOU TO GET OVER HERE ALREADY AND MAKE THAT BIG DRAMATIC SPEECH WHICH YOU ARE CLEARLY DYING TO MAKE. IF YOU DON’T DO IT SOON I’M GONNA HAVE TO STEP IN, AND YOU REALLY DON’T WANT ME TO DO THAT SINCE MY SPEECH WILL NOT BE VERY GOOD OR INSPIRING, AND WILL PROBABLY JUST CONSIST OF “HELLO, YOU ARE ALL STUPID, PLEASE SHUT UP AND GO AWAY”

so now Mic is telling them to calm down. at least someone’s speaking up here, geez

OH MY GOD

MY MAN JEANIST OUT HERE DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST: MAKING EVERYONE FEEL GUILTY AND JUDGED

OH MY GOD HE IS GIVING SUCH A LONG AND BORING SPEECH LMAO IS YOUR STRATEGY TO PUT THEM ALL TO SLEEP OR WHAT

truly in awe of this man’s ability to take messages which could easily be conveyed in ELI5-speak, and stubbornly convert them into incomprehensible language the likes of which you need a graduate degree in order to understand

“hey guys, so originally our plan was to use Deku as bait for the villains, but that didn’t really work and also we realized it was kinda dumb and was probably gonna get him killed, so we brought him back here instead.” was that really so hard, Jeanist. also are we all really just gonna sit back here and watch Jeanist take full credit for Bakugou’s plan just like that lmao

(ETA:

WHERE DID ENDEAVOR GO AND WHO IS THIS DIABOLICAL MASTER OF DISGUISE. lol I genuinely didn’t notice this because I was too busy digging through thesauruses trying to rewrite Jeanist’s speech; many thanks to @class1akids​ for pointing it out and making my day immeasurably better. take it easy there Dick Tracy.)

“anyway so please stop being dicks and let him fucking rest so he can save all your ungrateful asses” what an impassioned and inspiring plea. time to see if the masses will listen to reason

narrator: they did not listen to reason

oh my god finally Ochako is doing something. YEAH OCHAKO WOOOO SHOW THEM HOW IT’S DONE

hmm

this entire chapter is truly and utterly nonsensical to me lol

(ETA: on my second readthrough I’m fucking dying at how she stole the megaphone right out of Mic’s hand lmao. and how Kacchan is all “fuck yeah nothing I appreciate more than some quality fucking larceny.”)

oh I see she was jumping on top of the main building so as to scream down at them all more impressively

“ANYWAY DEKU IS PRETTY COOL ACTUALLY, YOU GUYS ARE JUST MEAN” couldn’t have said it better myself Ochako

lol uh

gotta say I did not have “Ochako reveals the secret of OFA to the entire U.A. Citizen Clown Parade” on my bingo card for this week. it’s a bold strategy cotton let’s see if it pays off

SDLFKJSL

“NO, SERIOUSLY, HAVE YOU LOOKED AT HIM YOU GUYS. YOU THINK HE LIKES RUNNING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A RUSTED OIL DRUM?? HE DID THAT FOR YOU YOU UNGRATEFUL SLOBS”

so she is basically explaining the entire Deku Angst arc to them and explaining what a good and selfless protagonist Deku is, YES, PREACH

OMG IT’S THE GIGANTIC FOX LADY

not to insinuate anything, but what exactly were you doing standing out here with the hysterical mob, Gigantic Fox Lady? you’re better than that

-- KACCHAN SIGHTING!!

sdlkfjl. thanks for weighing in with that helpful and important observation. where have you been for the last five minutes. were you asleep. was it Jeanist’s speech

never mind, now he’s yelling at the civilians so I instantly forgive him

THE FUTURE NUMBER ONE HERO, EVERYONE. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. HE’LL BE HERE ALL WEEK

“anyway so I’m just going to end the chapter here” lmao seventeen pages truly do go by so fast. at least he didn’t try to force in a cliffhanger at the end this time. dare I say, growth

so I guess the civilians are either gonna have a Kamino and/or Fukuoka-esque moment where they remember how to be decent people and apologize to this poor young man, or else they’ll remain unpersuaded, and so Kacchan will have to knock a few of their heads around until they become more inclined to be reasonable. either option is fine by me lol

[just2bubbly]

Sometimes Love Stays

Masterlist

TLC Ship Week 2021!

*written for tlcshipweek2021- kaider for the prompt 'In another life'

@kaiderforever

Summary

"Hmm.."

"Do you?"

"Wish you happiness? Yeah, Kai, I do- with all my heart."

"I wish you were happiness!"

Sometimes love becomes stronger overcoming the obstacles thrown along your path, but when the obstacles never end and you become tired enough to want to stop, will 'Love' help overcome the new problem or would it be succumbed to obstacle?

When their future doesn't play out as they want to, will they dare to take a chance or lose everything without trying?

Reading an article, Cinder is thrown back into the past, trying to figure out if the choices she made were right.

A look at Kai and Cinder's relationship through newspaper article fragments.

--

Ship: Kaider

Words: 3.2k

Genre: Angst

Prompt: 'In Another Life'

Note: A Canon Divergence AU from Winter- major character/ relationship reflection. Bold contexts are newspaper articles!

Cinder's Perspective:

"Sometimes love stays."

The article read and Cinder could not bring it upon herself to understand the implications of those three words. She considered it was the most preposterous sentence to start a piece of news informing about a break-up. Her mind could only fathom that a hopeless romantic had written this article, one who most certainly believed in unrequited love and stuff- That she could be sure from the very first line. "Many times love seems to not reside in a relationship as the lovers struggle to continue to live together after years of togetherness, but this does not appear to be the case in the infamous royal courtship that lasted for over 10 years but was suddenly called off 2 years ago- Yes, we are talking about no one but The Emperor of Eastern Commonwealth and The Queen of Luna- " Cinder seemed to convince herself that she was only reading it because it was the most trending news on Earth. Yet it was no new news to her or even anyone on Earth and the saint forsaken rock Luna as well. The article had become famous only for its illustrating language and artistic words that seemed to give the entire ordeal a new look. Hence, after having ignored, overlooked and unseen the article, its rumours and the stink eye that her aristocrats sent along her way. She finally decided to read it and fucking get over it- just like she got over him. It was fucking simple until it was not. "The infamous break-up of The Emperor of EC and the Queen of Luna happens to be no news to us. It has been two years since the two royals called off their relationship in the name of diplomatic and personal reasons. However, it appears that the years apart have done no good to their awkward and unresolved heartfelt tension." She wondered which newbie journalist had decided to write about this- about them, the two lovers madly in love with each other, stubborn enough to put others above themselves and naive enough to let it all go. She could feel her body going stiff as she tried to muster up the courage to continue reading. Her mind going numb just like it always did when thoughts of Kai resurfaced. The memories and the murmurs, their banters, his adoration all seemed to drown her with misery- one where she could not shed a single tear but only carry the overwhelming weight of the past of what they had- of what they had lost. It had been good- going at first with the frequent comms in their free time, flying kisses from literally two different worlds, exchanging gifts thanks to the Rampion, jumping at the first chance to meet each other. They were happy and yet they were not. With near to 10 years into being the Queen of Luna, she had thought that maybe she had given her bit to the moon, and now she could step down from her role and convert Luna into a republican state. She had planned her future, their future, the future of thousands of people and had acted accordingly to liberate Luna from the clutches of a single person, forgetting about what the people would have to say about it? Apparently, Lunars loved royalty more than equal representation! Consequently, when she had put the matters of 'abolition of monarchy' to vote she had been made a fool in her own court with the outcome - her vote against all of them. When she had demanded an explanation out of Iko for such a bizarre scenario. She had acknowledged, "They seem to like you as their Queen. It is clear they don't want you to step down!?" "But what about equal representation?" "Cinder you are already giving it to them!" "And what about the aristocrats- Don't they want more say in the administration?" "They do want it but not with the responsibility. Thus they have started preaching about royalty and stuff..." she trailed. Dumbstruck, she had thought how can one gift someone freedom when they don't want it? That's where things started looking down. This made all her plans go downhill. Because hadn't she planned that she would step down, abolish the monarchy and turn it into a Republican government? Hadn't she decided she would be free to live her own life on Earth?

Hadn't she wondered how she would travel with Thorne on Rampion- be truly free for once in her life before having to settle down? Before having to go to New Beijing.

Hadn't they planned that they would stay together- and with every passing day weren't they coming near to achieving their intention to constantly stay together and make up for all the physical affection they had been deprived of over the years? Wasn't it what their future was going to be off? With this new hurdle, plans had to be changed and when she had mentioned this to Kai, he was grief-stricken. Even then, they came up with alternatives, for at that time it was clear- they wanted to spend the rest of their together. They had discussed spending their time between Earth and Luna, tackling the barriers of distance and royalty. It's not like they did not try, it's just that every time they strived harder to stay together- fate made it impossible to. A year later, the realization dawned upon her. It had really taken a long time but it had finally crashed- the full reality of their long-distance engagement relationship, that maybe it was taking a toll on them. That maybe they would not survive through all the distance separating them. She had been avoiding thinking about it lately but she knew even if they tried it was not going to work out, that sooner or later they would have to call it off. 'Call what off?' She had asked herself, wondering how things were going to change. 'All of it' a tiny voice in her mind replied. The engagement, the relationship. Everything. That night she decided against comming Kai, instead, she confronted Iko speaking of her troubling thoughts aloud and from the dark blue, somewhat grey colours of her eyes, Cinder understood how truly sorry she was.

She sat in the arms of Iko, wanting to whine, yell and cry. However, the cruel fate left her with a throbbing sensation in her head and an itchy feeling in the throat. She wanted to see Kai, but she had not the heart to tell him the truth. She presumed he already knew what was troubling her- troubling them. She had not the courage to see the sorrow on his face, so she pretended that everything was fine even when it was not. She smiled and teased him at all the opportunities she could possibly get knowing very well that one day that they would have to stop. One day he would have someone else do that to him. Therefore the next time she had gone on Earth she had confessed it to him. He had listened patiently without a word and had calmly accepted it. The unforgettable silence that followed would haunt Cinder forever. She thought they had fooled themselves enough trying to make the impossible happen, justifying their actions as a result of love. In the end, he had sighed, tears reflecting in his copper-brown orbs and croaked, "I guess this is the end?" She had nodded failing to meet his eyes. "Sorry, Kai", she had uttered, feeling every ounce guilty and sorrowful. They had stood like that for a long time, feet shuffling- gazes never meeting each other until he was called. He did not shed a single tear before her. On her last night at the Palace, she felt a sort of Deja-Vu for all the things around her. Her thoughts roamed around only a single thing- 'After today, this place would no longer be home'. He had come to her room that night and once they had gotten over the awkward small talk of the breakup, he had launched at her and hugged her till her bones crushed. "I love you," he whimpered. "Don't forget it- don't forget it, Cinder. Even when you go to that fucking rock in the sky." And Cinder could feel something warm- not inside her but on her shoulders.

Kai's tears had been falling on her shoulders and she had chanted sorry all the time they stayed like that.

'What do you do to calm two heartbroken souls?'

He was in her arms hearing her speak, though her words were not soothing, they did not reduce his grief like they ought to. They were bitter truth of their future, their fate. They were apologies for what they had lost. Her words were not comforting. She was not going to tell him how they will be fine when she knew they would not. There was no point lying- telling him nicely painted lies of their future when their present was broken like that. She had no idea how but they fell asleep together, a mess of tumbled limbs on the carpet for the last time. And when the streaks of sunlight fell over their sleeping forms, it was not out of hope.

"It seems that it's over for the two royals, one of them the Queen of Luna and the other The Emperor of Eastern Commonwealth. Queen Selene, 26 and Emperor Kaito, 28 called off their relationship yesterday. Emperor Kaito in his latest press speech stated that "Myself and Queen Selene are no longer together- we have parted ways on good terms. However, we are no longer involved," when one of the reporters asked if there was any wedding to be expected soon. The Queen of Luna also addressed this in one of her official posts, saying "It's been great 10 years with Kai but we can no longer stay together," with a bittersweet smile. The two refuse to brief about this. It just seems like just yesterday they were THE happier and attractive couple dancing at the Annual Peace Ball and -well now they are not, we are sure their fans all around must be heartbroken but worry not you can catch up on their relationship through the years-" Two months later, they formally announced their break-up. They called off everything- all of it just like she had thought. The world did not know- they did not know how Kai had gone down on his knees and she had said yes before he could even ask. How she had pieces of her never- going to happen wedding vows drafted somewhere in her brain. It was only them, Torin, Iko and their friends who knew the disaster of grief they had unrolled in their life. He had refused to take the ring back, "Keep it to remember me by." He had insisted and she had not-so jokingly replied, "I don't need jewels to remember you by." Returning to Luna had been the harder task, She-They had cut off all ties except maybe friendship (?) but things were going to be different- they are different.

It felt hollow for months later, she drowned herself in work to forget about the messy-haired boy, to forget that there was no one waiting for her comms now, that she did not have someone to whisper 'I love you's too', to kiss him and be found by someone, no reason for Thorne to shout 'Get a room.'

She had for the first few days been hopeless- locking herself up, both metaphorically and literally only to realize that Kai had been an integral part of her daily schedule and world even from thousands of miles away. The breaks that she once looked forward too, taunted her of what she had lost- so she was hell-bent on working the day without breaks. She forced her mind to not stray around to the boy on Earth. The only moment she had let her guard down was when Thorne was visiting- because he was her BFF and wasn't he the one who teased her all along about Kai and his heavenly copper-brown eyes? Wasn't he going to be her rock where she had lost her anchor? At the sight of his friend's dark circles, thinner than the usual frame, Thorne and Cress had bear-hugged her and the only thing that she felt was it felt good to be embraced by someone other than Iko. 'I'm so sorry, Cinder', Thorne had said and she had croaked, "Don't be sorry." She had cracked that day.

"I DON'T WANT PITY THORNE, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR HOW PEOPLE THOUGHT WE WOULD GET MARRIED AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. I DON'T WANT THE MEDIA TO TELL ME HOW WE LOOKED GOOD TOGETHER. I FUCKING HATE LUNARS TELLING ME THAT THEY HOPE I FEEL BETTER. AM I NOT IN THIS CONDITION BECAUSE THEY CHOOSE TO BE SELFISH? THORNE, I WANT TO CRY AND MY STUPID CYBERNETICS WOULD NOT EVEN ALLOW BE TO CRY FOR MY EX-FIANCEE." She might have been a bit tipsy to blow up like that but she was past caring. She had been pretending that everything was fine while she was falling apart inside. "What sort of cruel joke is this? Haven't I already endured enough? I don't want anyone's fucking apologies. I don't want that crap, I- I want K-Kai."

She yelled as her face echoed pain. "Do I not deserve love, Thorne?" She had demanded, looking very vulnerable. She never said a word after that. The next big blow came when she had attended the world leader summit. Thankfully, it was a virtual thing or she could not have gone through the entire ceremony without a mental breakdown. She had felt the air knock out of her lungs at the sight of Kai after six whole months. He looked paler than normal, his always messed up hair looked neatly fixed in place with layers of hair gel. And his ever blinding grin present at even stupid meetings like this was now merely his lips pressed together in a thin line.

How was Kai who was her joy in human form suddenly became the picture of grief? She wondered how she looked to him if even he was out of breath at the sight of her- realizing how she was drifting away from the main reason she was attending the summit, she forced herself to look at anywhere but him. That night she slept thinking about how she was not the only one suffering. "-The Emperor of EC starts a new journey in his life at 30. However, there are no wedding bells in the air as of now, making the world and the EC anticipate the future of their Emperor and their nation. At 30, the Emperor not committed to anyone nor having any living heir had caused multiple questions to be unanswered about the legacy after him. Hopefully, he will find his partner to secure their future until then we wish him a Very Happy Birthday!" Marriage. Wedding. Love. Hadn't it been what they had lost? She knew this was going to happen. Then why did she feel like drowning all over again? Why did her heart shatter yet again? He was no longer hers to worry about...Was he even part of her world anymore? She knew it very well that he was supposed to marry someone. He must marry someone and have an heir to the Commonwealth. Cinder was asked to do the very same thing. They were monarchs who had to keep their legacies alive. The next time she was invited for the Annual Peace Ball, Kai had cornered and said, "They want me to get married." "Tell me you are saying this because you want the ring back." She had jokingly said, swallowing the sadness and jealously that threatened to submerge her. Her mind asked if he would go down on his knees at the Ball just like he had done for Levana. But that was just her stupidity, misery and desperation mixed together. How was her tyrant aunt going to manage her marriage with Kai by living on Luna along with her sinister motives?! "Cinder" "Kai", she pleaded, underlying the please without saying it. She averted her eyes and nonchalantly asked," Have someone in mind?" "No", he replied without a beat, making her at ease but what he said next crushed her healing heart again. "But I have someone in my heart." She could not stand around him without wanting to kiss him senseless. Therefore, she said, "I wish you happiness, Kai." And tried to walk away until he questioned, "Do you?" "Hmm.." she replied, looking back at him. "Do you?" He repeated. "Wish you happiness? Yeah, Kai, I do- with all my heart." "I wish you were happiness!" Looking at his lean frame dressed in the colours of EC she dared to speak, "I wish that too." She had not returned after that episode but maybe she would have to. Soon. "The Emperor has been sighted with Chen Daiyu, daughter of Chen Zian, the Chief Commandant of Light Chariot, she is an activist working towards the liberation of perils faced by cyborgs in modern society, along with being a psychotherapist by service. It's not the first time that they have been seen together making people hope that it's not the last. There are rumours about their courting with no confirmation from any one of the two-It appears the Emperor has finally moved on from his last date with Queen Selene. Only time will tell if the Emperor has found his Empress or not." She could not blame anyone. They were just pressing time trying to avoid some inescapable future- yet why did her mind ask if he had learned Chen Daiyu's favourite flowers? or Did he hold her as he had held her once? Wondered if he explained to her why there was a cyborg's foot in his room? She was cursing goddamn every star because it was not just him but even she was looking into suitors!? She had gone on dates with a few, noticing how one of them grinned like Kai with a dimple on his left cheek, how someone scratched their necks when they were flustered or how some of them had a struggle keeping their hair in place- without wanting to she was searching for Kai everywhere in them. None of the two was married yet. It was okay to imagine about him for a while. It was okay for grief to overwhelm her. Maybe that's what she needed to

move on from her past.

Had they moved on? Had they stopped loving each other? 'NO!'- she shook her head violently to no one in particular.

She loved him even now. There will always be some part of her mind that will love him. Maybe it was treasuring their memories while making new ones. Two years later reading an article about them, she thought if maybe she had tried harder, would they be together? Alas, there was no point fantasizing when both time and distance had separated them? Could they start from where they had left? Or would they be two broken pieces no longer fitting?

"Sometimes love stays," The article read again. "But lover's don't." Maybe if distance, time and qualms of royalty were not preventing them then things could have been different, their lives could have been different. Perhaps in a life with different circumstances, they would have been together unlike this one- where they had briefly touched, in another life possibly their tale could have had a happy ending. Maybe if she was Cinder and not Queen Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn of Luna, and if he was just Kai and not Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth then they would have made it till the end.

But they were not and that's what mattered. __

A/N: We are done! :)

I know you would likely want to hit me right now since I promised certain someone that there would be no angsty fics for at least a few months and yet HERE I AM!

I have kinda portrayed Iko in this really bad, so sorry about that! And you have no idea how much frustrated I was that Cinder could not cry, like crying is such a essential part of human behavior and having to describe her grief without tears was certainly a challenge. I hope I did her character well- You guys have no idea how much break-up articles I have read just to get the news articles right. I might as well do a course on journalism later ;)

Was that a bit too much angst? and yeah in this fic they are secretly engaged!

This was written for the TLC Ship Week, the word prompt for this one was 'In Another Life'. However, I had already planned it beforehand with no idea of  how the ship-week was going to give me the perfect opportunity to post this. I know I'm cruel right?

This idea had been going a lot in my mind since I made @salt-warrior write her fic 'Anyone Else', and read the fic 'After' on AO3, along with 'Once' by @/betaluz. I just thought that maybe Cinder failed to get past the boundaries of royalty on Luna and converting it into a Republican, wondering if that happened what would happen to her relationship with Kai. Hence, this sudden angsty take.

Tell me which is your favorite part from this?

And don't worry I have more angst lined up for you! <3

Taglist: @cinderswrench @gingerale2017 @linhcinder686 @shellyseashell @ladyvesuvia @shelbylmkaider @levanariddle @cindersassasin @kaider-is-my-otp (Tell me if you wanna be added/removed)

[whatareyousearchingfordean]

Mile Six

Summary: The Kings, and Queens, of Con take on the Central Texas Tough Mudder Competition and have a good time doing it. 

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Reader

Word Count: 2.3K+

Warnings: Language, suggestive themes

Author’s Note: So, this little thing was inspired by this post (x). I saw it and instantly went weak in the knees and thus this was born. I hope you enjoy my little musings. As always, I love to hear what you thought xo Alex.

Check out Alexandra’s Library for more works by yours truly!

Trees lined the wide expanse of the field, the grass below shimmering against the Texas sun that had settled high in the afternoon sky. A slight breeze blew across the space, rustling the edges of the leaves and sending a chill down the breadth of her wet body. 

“Your turn, Y/n,” the quirky voice of her team member had slipped past her consciousness as she watched the sun be eclipsed by a wisp of a cloud. “Y/n!” 

“Hmm, what?” The woman snapped her head back to the obstacle in front of her. 

“Go, Jensen’s gonna boost you,” Rob urged her forward with a hand on her shoulder. She shook off her daze, the exhaustion fogging not only her muscles but her brain as well. The team had officially hit the halfway point of the obstacle course and she knew that she was going to be sore for days. 

“Come on, baby,” Jensen smirked at her from where he was squatted against the tall wooden wall. He cupped his hands in front of himself and indicated for her to step one foot into his palms. Y/n halted in front of him as she placed her right foot in his hold and rested her hands against his broad shoulders. She glanced up at Jared and Rich sitting on the ledge, ready to help her in whatever way she needed. “You’ve got this.”

The mud-caked woman smirked back at the actor, who was still grinning from ear to ear. She rolled her eyes for effect but leaned in and pressed a quick peck to her husband’s lips before using her leverage on his shoulders to jump. Jensen responded easily, lifting her in one swift movement as if she weighed nothing and guiding her to step on his shoulder with her left foot. As soon as the ledge was in reach she wrapped her gloved hand around it and allowed Jared to take her other to assist. Every muscle in her body protested the action, but she pushed through until both legs were swung over the wall. She wasted no time in climbing down the other side just far enough that it was safe for her to jump the rest of the way. 

Cheers erupted from her team waiting on the other side, much like they had after every other obstacle they had overcome. Y/n ran straight into her best friend, Genevieve’s, arms and embraced her tight. Both of them knew they were kicking ass at this, having argued with their respective husbands about being able to keep up with the guys. They trained for months beforehand, building up their strength and nothing made them more gleeful than proving they deserved their spots on the team. 

The two relented their embrace as the three remaining team members clambered from the barrier.  They all exchanged high fives before setting off down the trail. It didn’t take long before they arrived at yet another pool of murky water directly in their path. The group wasted no time in heading straight into the muddy hurdle. Despite the rays of the early spring sun beating down unhindered, the water was bone-chilling slowly. A shiver ran up her spine as soon as it met her heated skin and she couldn’t be sure if it was refreshing or just shocking. Y/n could also feel her feet sinking into the thick mud at the bottom of the pit, making each step difficult and slowing their process through the course. 

Once on the other side, getting back out of the pit proved difficult, the sheer weight and stickiness of the surrounding sludge seeming to want to drag her back down with every advance. She finally made it out, running to the nearby grass to rub away what she could from her sneakers as her teammates joined her one by one. When everyone was back together, they once again continued on. 

They jogged a few hundred feet before the majority slowed down as the day began to wear on them. Rich pulled the recording camera from Osric’s head as he squeezed through the group. The spritely man stuck it in everyone’s faces, asking a myriad of questions.

“That footage is going to be hell to cut together in the end,” Gen turned to Y/n with a giggle. 

“I know that true,” she agreed before sending her only female counterpart a wink. “Watch this.” Y/n jogged ahead to be closer to the group and hollered. “Hey Speight, toss me the camera. I know what the fans are gonna want to see.” The guys all turned to look at her, confusion evident in their expressions. Rich frowned but obliged the woman’s request, who caught the small camera with ease. Her steps slowed to give the guys space, allowing her to fall back into stride with Genevieve. The woman rubbed the dried mud from the display as she steadied the recorder and pointed it at her target. Gen watched over her shoulder as her friend focused on the men’s backsides, one at a time. 

“This is the view Gen and I have had all day,” she narrated, emphasizing ‘all’ for her intended audience. As she came up behind her Texan husband, he peered over his shoulder at her, taking in where she had the lens directed. He rolled his eyes at her as she rounded the group and jogged to where Jared was leading a couple of yards ahead. 

“Now what are you doing?” Jensen furrowed his brow as she kept the camera pointed on them, now walking backward as the group continued to advance. 

“I’m getting ahead of you so I can get you all in the frame,” she explained, her eyes still trained on the display to ensure she was getting at least semi-quality footage. 

“You can see all of us, it’s a wide-angle lens,” Jensen retorted gruffly, earning a grimace from his wife. Her jaw dropped in offense to his comment, turning the lens on Jared. 

“Alright, I see Ackles got an attitude around mile six,” she huffed to the towering man who just shook his head with a grin. Y/n spun back around, now seeing the group gaining on her and Jared. 

“Turn it off, I’ll show you an attitude,” Jensen indicated the camera delicately balanced in her grip. His wife nearly choked on her breath, his unexpected words settling a heat deep in her belly.

“Oh, will you now?” The woman was quick to steady her composure and cocked a challenging eyebrow at the bowlegged man who now took up a majority of the display she was observing. The look set him off and he reached her in two swift strides, snatching the camera out of her hand and ducking to pull her over his shoulder before she could react to his movement. Y/n let out a shriek that faded into laughter as her husband gripped her legs against his body with both hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him quickly toss the camera to one of the guys, jetting off away from the path and the crowd. 

“Aw, come on, Ackles,” Jared’s voice faded as Jensen carried the woman to the nearby tree line. “Be quick!” 

Shade enclosed the two completely before he set her back on her feet. Jensen pushed her back a step until her body hit rough bark. He placed one hand on either side of her head, caging her against the oak. She took a deep breath now that her stomach was no longer restricted by his shoulder and looked up at her husband through her lashes her stomach fluttering as she took in his hooded gaze. 

“I feel like you want to say something.” A hint of a smile twitched at the corners of her lips which was instantly reciprocated by the actor. He raised a gloved hand, trailing his exposed fingertips light as a feather across her jaw and down her neck. His eyes were trained where his digit tucked into the collar of her destroyed tee and pulled it away from her skin. 

“You’re cold,” he noted, the smug upturn of one corner of his lips telling her he had noticed her condition a long while ago. Y/n followed his gaze, noting the faint outline of her nipples seeping through the sports bra. She cursed silently, having hoped the material would have done a better job at hiding her modesty throughout the day. 

“Maybe-”

“Maybe?” His eyes flickered up to hers, amusement hidden throughout the familiar verdant iris’ that she loved so much. Dragging out the moment, the woman chewed on her bottom lip and took the opportunity to enjoy the visage of her husband. His hair was a wild mess, pushed away from his face with a sweatband that matched the color of his shorts and tennis shoes. He was caked in mud from head to toe, much like she was. A lot of it had dried and caked to the skin of his face and his beard while his body was dripping with the foggy liquid and his sweat. Even through all of it, he was somehow still as beautiful as ever. Still Jensen Ackles. 

“Maybe I’ve just been enjoying the view,” she teased him, her hands gripping the stretched-out material of his shirt to pull his body flush against her own. He was warm and refreshingly cool at the same time. Y/n breathed in his musky scent, mixed with the fading aroma of his signature cologne. It was her favorite thing in the world, something reserved just for her and the times he spent ravaging her body. 

“I can’t take you anywhere can I?” The hot breath of his chuckle fanned over her face. He let go of his hold on her tee, the material shrinking slowly back against her wet skin. 

“Not when you are looking like a whole damn meal,” she purred before pushing up on her toes to press her lips to his. He froze at first, his brain taking a second to catch up to her before he responded in kind. His hands fell from the tree to cradle her head in place as he deepened the kiss. Y/n let her body relax against the wood as her husband sucked her tongue into his mouth, pulling a moan from inside her chest. He picked up the pace, devouring her in the shadows of the competition that was continuing around them. As her hands dropped to the elastic of his shorts, he begrudgingly pulled away and gripped her wrists to halt her movements. 

“Fuck, we can’t,” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers. His eyes were screwed shut as he breathed deeply. She exaggerated the pout on her face even though he wasn’t looking at her. 

“That’s unfortunate, considering your little problem there.” Y/n jutted her hips forward, coming in contact with the situation now in her husband’s pants. 

“Oh, I hate you so much right now,” Jensen pushed away from his wife, putting a respectable distance between the two of them. 

“Hey, you are not the only one suffering right now. Lucky for me, my panties were already soaked.” Before he could utter a word, she ducked away and back into the heat of the Texas sun. He watched her jog away, but not before she glanced back over her shoulder, a wide grin on her face. 

It didn’t take her long to catch up to the group, her and Jensen having not been gone as long as she thought. Her eyes scanned the crowd of people for Jared, knowing his tall frame would stick out to her first. And she was right, the mess of hair on top of his head towering over everyone else, guiding her to where they were huddled waiting for the group ahead to finish the next course. 

“Where’s Ackles?” Jared chirped as she moved through the people to come and stand with the Kings of Con. 

“He should be right behind me,” she snorted out the words in an attempt to hide the laughter bubbling up inside her. Jared narrowed his eyes at her as if he didn’t believe what she was telling him. Not that it mattered much, as her husband’s voice drifted towards them. 

“I’m here, I’m here,” he promised, only slightly out of breath from sprinting to meet up with them. “What’s next?” 

“‘Hold Your Wood’,” Jason answered as he turned to where a massive log was being placed in front of the lot of them. Y/n nearly fell over as the barely contained laughter spilled from her lips. She brought a hand to her face as the laughter turned silent and tears ran down her cheeks, the action muffling the squeals of delight that came with each breath. 

“Yes, it’s all very funny, babe,” Jensen frowned at his wife, the downturn of his lips only fueling the hysterics inside her. 

“What the hell is wrong with her?” Rich had the same look of concern on his face as the rest of the group. Even passersby were beginning to stare at Y/n where she stood shaking with laughter. 

“Wood,” was the only word she could force past her lips as she held up her hands, gesturing to indicate length. 

“Jensen had a boner,” Jared clarified for the group, ready to keep moving. 

“Dude!” Jensen smacked his friend upside the back of his head, sending his wife into further giggles. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Y/n finally was able to force a semi-coherent sentence. “Jay, you are just too easy.” 

“That’s what she said,” Rob and Rich shouted in tandem. 

Jensen rounded on Osric, who still had one of the action cameras attached to his head, and pointed at the lens. “You can cut that out.”

“No,” Y/n protested, grabbing her husband’s arms as he reached for the Go Pro. “Keep it in.” 

Forevers: @22sarah08​ @440mxs-wife​ @akshi8278​ @anathewierdo​ @asgoodasdancingqueen @atc74​ @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce​​ @briagallen​ @callmekda​ @dawnie1988​ @deandreamernp​ @deangirl93​ @deanwanddamons​ @ellewritesfix05​ @emoryhemsworth​ @foxyjwls007​ @hobby27​ @janicho88​ @jbsgirl4ever11​ @jensengirl83​ @lunarmoon8​ @lyarr24​ @mishacollins4evah​ @miss-nerd95​ @mrsjenniferwinchester​ @msmarvelouswinchester​ @polina-93​​ @sleepylunarwolf​ @squirrelnotsam​ @stiles-stilinski-24-dylan​ @suckmyapplejacks​ @supraveng​ @tatted-trina6​ @thoughts-and-funnies​ @traceyaudette​ @tranquility-or-chaos​​ @waywardbeanie​ @winchest09​ 

A line through your URL means Tumblr won’t let me tag you... sorry :/

[couchpotatoaniki]

One Year ❣︎ One: Holidays Aren’t For Drama

Chapter Summary: San has finally found you after five years of searching, and he wants you for himself--though not knowing how to do it just yet. In the meantime, you’re having fun hanging out with a friend on the plane to Jeju.

Pairing: Mafia!San x Fem!Reader Genre: Mafia AU, fluff, angst, eventual smut, lotta crack and stupid shit ngl Chapter warnings: swearing, stalking Word count: 1.2k+ A 365 Days parody

Previous: Prologue For the rest of the series, click here

Speech in bold means they’re talking in Korean

Speech in italics is whatever the reader wants their native langue to be that’s not Korean or English

Speech without either means they’re talking in English

You were glad that you were sat next to Yunho on the plane since you needed good vibes that your boyfriend couldn’t really give you. Too sucked up in his own life, which make him the worst person to sit next to Yeosang.

Thankfully, Dominic was terrified of the boy so he was silently scrolling through his phone. That left Mingi to annoy poor Seonghwa the whole trip.

“Oh, you bitch,” Yunho mumbled, picking up four cards from the deck beside him. To pass the time, you and the tall boy decided to play a game of Uno. 

Chuckling, you threw down a yellow 2. effectively ending the round. “You know, for someone of your profession, you’re really shit at cards.”

“Maybe because I’m playing against your devious ass.”

“You love my devious ass, don’t lie.” Scoffing, he gathered the cards and began to shuffle them before you ripped them from his hands. “Oh hell no. I know for a fact you’re gonna rig it.”

“I tried last time, and you still won,” he huffed, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair before using the other to take the deck again.

Yunho wasn’t really your friend to begin with. More so Mingi’s, but that had not stopped the two of you becoming just as close. Seonghwa and Yeosang too; you had meet them through the sweet-hearted boy, and all three had quickly become an addition to your short list of loved ones.

In fact, out of the six of you, Dominic was the odd one out.

He didn’t know the secrets you shared, the things you did without his knowledge. Nothing that would directly harm your relationship, no.

To add to that, the five of you were like a family, looking out for each other, and the boys weren’t very font of the guy you had chosen to date.

Then again, compared to the last one, Dominic was much better.

Every year, the boys and you had decided to treat this time as a holiday away  from the all the work you do, to treat yourselves for living another year. So you all splurged out and did something big.

How you chose the destination was fairly simple; one of you would throw a dart at a map of the world--blindfolded, obviously--and wherever it landed, you all went there.

It’s what led to the fun cruise in the Pacific the previous trip, and this part of Korea for this current one.

Though, Jeju was one of the places on your bucket list. You were more than excited to go and sight-see. Already, you do plenty of that for your job but never really get the chance to stop and pay attention.

To relax with friends and have fun.

You were going to Jeju for leisure purposes.

San was going to Jeju for you.

Yes, he was originally going there for work, to deal with a bit of business that had gone awry. But then he saw you, quickly crossing the road, from his vehicle.

Decided to follow you, see where you were going and with whom.

At first, he was a little pissed to know that you were travelling with five men, you being the only woman. Most likely scenario, one of them was your boyfriend.

But that information had no longer mattered, because you were going to Jeju. On the same flight as him.

San didn’t like to admit in believing in fate, but if that wasn’t it, he didn’t know what would be.

Hongjoong--who was stood beside him in the middle of the airport by now--was concerned over his strange behaviour. Even the slightest shift that seemed out of the ordinary, he immediately became suspicious.

That’s why San knew it was stupid to try and lie to him.

When he pointed out to you, telling him to look, it only took the older boy a few seconds for him clock on. “You’re shitting me...”

“I’m not, Joong. She’s here. She’s really here.”

“San,” the now-blue-haired boy began, trying not to draw any unnecessary attention, “look at me. You can’t. It was five years ago, and not to mention, you’re already with--”

Shoving his hands off his shoulders, the mafia boss glared at his second-in-command. “You don’t even like Dae anyway!”

No, Hongjoong hated that crazy woman to his very core. She was bad for his friend, but the boy was too caught up in filling the hole you somehow managed to carve to even care.

Had it been any other, the short man would have let San do his thing, but his current girlfriend was one of the heirs to a rather big mafia herself. Being with her involved politics, and being with her for nearly five years brought more trouble than you were worth.

But Hongjoong knew that San wouldn’t listen to him. Not when he’s like this.

The only thing he could do now was damage control.

The two males--San mainly--had stalked the six of you, deducing who meant what to you. Didn’t like how cosy you were with either of them, but specifically disliked the guy who had his hand wrapped around your waist.

Then there was the other guy, one of the really tall ones, with black hair--streaks of green and grey running through it--and a loud voice. Party animal, the two thought. He was particularly close to you too, sending playful hits that were definitely reciprocated. Hopefully, he was just a friend...

The other tall guy--the blonde one, with puppy-like eyes--seemed more reserved yet somehow still as energetic.

Next tallest was s black-haired fella. Clean and lean--smart-looking, with soft (but somehow sharp) eyes.

Finally, the last guy. The one who rarely spoke, with a silvery grey mullet that surprisingly complimented his pale skin. There was something about him that Hongjoong couldn’t pin down. Something familiar...

The most obvious odd thing was how you and your supposed ‘boyfriend’ were of a different ethnicity to the other four. Confirmed when the two men overheard you speaking in a completely different language neither of them were used to.

“Fuckin’ language barrier,” San grunted as he realised there was yet another obstacle in his way.

“Fuckin’ good-lookin’ people,” Hongjoong laughed, scanning the six of you.

Being in business class was usually a comfortable experience, but right now was the most excruciating thing possible for both of them. San constantly bombarded the elder with questions and worries about you.

Couldn’t even send Hongjoong back there since his newly-dyed electric blue hair would have captured too much attention. “What’s the point of you if I can’t even get you to spy on people,” the younger huffed. “Dye your hair back to black when we get to the villa.”

“Oh, shut up,” Hongjoong spat with gritted teeth, already beyond annoyed with the man’s behaviour. “That’s not even my job. And you come at me with having unusual hair, but you look like Frankenstein’s Bride with that lock of white with the rest being black.”

Groaning, San looked at the entrance of the business area, hoping for some other miracle to occur and you would peer out. Desperation filled him, wanting to see you again. Etch your newer features into his mind once more.

“Who do you think those other guys were? Her boyfriend’s friends? Her friends? Colleagues?”

“Probably her friends, since they all seemed pretty close to her.”

“Ugh.” San buried his face in his hands, still not liking the sound of that.

“It’s the 21st century, dude. Girls can be friends with guys--and that girl is friends with those guys. Get used to it.”

“Don’t wanna,” San mumbled, puffing out his cheeks as Hongjoong narrowed his eyes at his tantrum.

“Listen, dude, you can’t confine and control her. Doing that’s only gonna push her away--if you’re actually serious in pursuing her.”

“Of course I’m serious!”

“Then you need to plan this out carefully. And you need to think of it fast, since I doubt they’ll be in Jeju for long."

The younger male scoffed, running his tongue against the inside of his cheek as his confidence grew and cogs in his brain began moving. “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely come up with something.”

Sighing, Hongjoong looked out of the window, into the peaceful, empty ocean they flew above. What exactly had he done?

☕︎ Tag list: @little-precious-baby​ , @sparklychangbin​ ,

[skarsgard-daydreams]

I really like the snippets of the SVMs that you post, but I can’t help but think about how by the end of the series Charlaine Harris just decided to destroy the character of Eric. I read those last few novels and just fumed with anger. Were you happy with how they turned out?

You are absolutely correct, anon. Was I happy with how they turned out? Absolutely not. I have a lot of bones to pick with Charlaine Harris about what she did to Eric Northman, but more importantly, I have a lot of bones to pick with Sookie.

Initially, I thought that the problem in the latter books was that Harris got lazy with everyone's characterization when she was contracted to write three more novels and started writing these characters in ways that were inconsistent. Certainly, there are a few instances where Eric is portrayed in a manner inconsistent with earlier books. (He loses a lot of his humor and charm and suddenly has a very different perspective on the possibility of turning Sookie, which I attribute to bad writing.) But as I went back in the series to compile these quotes, I noticed that the problems I had with Sookie's character in the latter books manifested much earlier. I have been trying so desperately to wrap my head around her behavior, and I have come to the following conclusions about Book Sookie, which are not necessarily applicable to TV Sookie...

(major spoilers and an unedited 4,000 word essay ahead)

Sookie's mind-reading abilities have stunted her ability to read and empathize with others without the use of her powers.

The magical bond that is formed when she and Eric exchange blood circumvents this while it is active, enabling Sookie to feel Eric’s emotions rolling off him at the time. She knows he is terrified when his maker arrives in book 10, and she is even able to identify precisely why he is frightened: he doesn’t want to be under someone else’s control. But after she severs their bond in book 11, her ability to read him fails her. She has spent her entire life reading people’s minds, which has served as a crutch. Rather than developing the intuitive ability to read a person’s body language and read between the lines of what they are saying that most of us learn, Sookie relies on her abilities, which don’t work on vampires. As a result, their motives are often mysteries to her. She notes how stony-faced they are, how carefully controlled they are in expression, but she misses a lot of cues that convey their repressed feelings. This is particularly bad for Eric, who, like many men, shields himself with anger when he is feeling hurt. His anger is not excessive or violent—in fact it is often very well controlled—but it masks the tender feelings that hide under the surface. It is telling that Sookie never acknowledges the incredible pain and betrayal that Eric must feel when she severs their blood bond, or when she ultimately refuses to save him from being taken away from her. The only time she feels sympathy toward him in that respect is in one line at the very end of the series where she considers how lonely he will be—and then she purposefully smothers that thought, refusing to dwell on it further.

Sookie's trauma from her formative relationship with Bill renders her suspicious of the motives of others and unable to trust her future partners.

Bill is the first man she ever dated, fell in love with, or had sex with, and it is revealed to her through Eric’s intervention that their entire relationship was premised on a lie. This plot point is the same in the book as it is in the TV show. Once Sookie and Eric are together, there are numerous instances where she suspects his motives. She maintains the firm belief that Eric never does anything unless it would be beneficial to himself, which is probably true up to a point, but even after he has shown that he is deeply in love with her and that he has borne the personal cost of this love, she still doubts him. In fact, Sookie believes that the love they seemingly share is only the result of the magical blood bond between them, which renders it false. Eric repeatedly states that he does not care why he loves her, only that he does, but this is a problem that Sookie cannot get past. It results in her severing their bond without warning. Once the bond is severed, she insists that she does still love him “all on her own” but her love quickly begins to erode without the understanding that the bond created as they are besieged by numerous calamities. When the final obstacle to their love presents itself—a contract negotiated by Eric’s maker that would force him to marry the vampire Queen of Oklahoma against his will—Sookie is so blinded by her inability to trust him that she doubts every word he says about wanting to stay with her. He never expresses a desire to leave her for the queen, but remains stalwart in his insistence that he cannot escape the contract despite seeking every possible loophole. Yet Sookie believes he is attracted to the queen and the power that she possesses and attributes his insistence that he is trapped in the contract to a clever lie designed to dupe her. In the final days of their relationship, Eric reveals that he knows Sookie could save him with a magical object that grants her one wish, and repeatedly insists that she could stop him from being taken from her if she wanted to. He does not ask her to do it, nor does he mention the object explicitly, or ask where it is. His statements read like a man who is wounded by his lover’s unwillingness to save him, but one who perhaps has too much dignity to resort to begging her to intervene. Presumably he believes that he should not have to beg the woman who says she loves him to save him from “cushy slavery,” as Sookie calls it. Once Sookie realizes that Eric knows about her magical deus ex machina, she starts to wonder if he really just wants to take it from her, or use it for himself. She even entertains the possibility that maybe he orchestrated the entire dilemma in order to get his hands on it. When the thought enters her head, she admits that she never would have considered such a thing if it weren’t for Bill’s betrayal of her.

Sookie's affection for Eric is conditional upon his usefulness to her (including as a sexual object), and she never develops an appreciation or understanding for who he is as a person.

Perhaps this is the fatal flaw in their relationship from the very beginning. Sookie does not express an interest in Eric other than the fact that he is physically attractive until his numerous favors to her and the many instances where he has saved her life or protected her begin to add up. The blood bond between them is formed when he prevents a vampire who has authority over him from forcing blood on an unwilling Sookie, instead offering his own blood as a substitute. Their marriage was orchestrated by Eric when another vampire wanted to take Sookie away from her own against her will, and it allows Eric to serve as a barrier to any other vampire who would try to harm her. Once their romantic relationship is formed in earnest, it quickly becomes evident that it is lopsided. Eric praises Sookie for her beauty, but also for how brave she is and how hard she works and countless other virtues that are not physical in nature. In return, Sookie feels obligated to pay him a compliment, and all she can manage is that he has a nice body and is good in bed. She often deflects from serious conversations with him to have sex instead. Sookie clearly doesn’t believe Eric is a good person, expressing her own doubts about his moral code when he doesn’t display enough outward moral repugnance for her liking. When Eric tells her how his boss tortured and killed a human woman to punish a vampire, she asks him how the story made him feel. His answer—that it made him fearful it could happen to Sookie—is not good enough for her because he does not also express remorse for the woman in question. (It should be noted that he doesn’t revel in her pain either; he is merely concerned with applying the moral of the story to his own circumstances and the woman that he loves.) Sookie does not seem to acknowledge the good that other people attribute to Eric, such as when his new bartender tells her she requested to come work for him. Sookie cannot imagine why anyone would want to work for Eric, but the vampire explains that he is a good master to serve because he treats his people well, specifically pointing out that he doesn’t ask for sexual favors from his female subordinates like other sheriffs do. Sookie is not interested in his life, his business, or his world. When he attempts to explain the elaborate hierarchy of vampire politics to her in an effort to include her more in his affairs, she outwardly expresses so much disinterest that Eric takes offense. Their relationship treads water for a while, until Sookie is kidnapped and tortured by fairies and Eric is prevented from rescuing her. While she is being tortured, Sookie is certain that Eric will show up at any moment, but she doesn’t know that he has been forbidden from intervening by his boss. The other vampires bind Eric in silver chains to keep him from going to save her. He later tells her how anguished he was that he could feel her pain and do nothing to protect her, shedding tears as he talks about it, but she doesn’t want to hear it. That moment marks a turning point in their relationship. Sookie repeatedly affirms that she believes Eric is so big and strong and capable of handling anything, and any time he is not able to deliver on her expectations, she loses even more love for him.

Sookie's prejudice against vampires leads to her treating them as though they are not people.

Although Sookie does not express her prejudice explicitly as some characters do, she still exhibits a bias against vampires throughout the books and expresses a clear preference for humans or shapeshifters. She is disgusted, for example, by Eric’s suggestion that she should come work at Fangtasia, saying that she would hate to watch the fangbangers seek the attention of the undead among them. She believes that they do not feel emotions or possess empathy in any comparable measure to humans. (The thought that not all humans share the same depth of emotion or empathy does not seem to occur to her.) She also discounts their physical pain or suffering because they possess the ability to heal themselves. This happens numerous times when Eric is wounded, often while trying to protect her. In one case, Eric shoves himself in front of a car window and takes a bullet intended for her point blank. While he is injured, he fights off the werewolf who was trying to kill Sookie. Then he gets back in the car and drives her home with the bullet still lodged inside his chest. When they arrive back at her house, he asks her for blood, saying explicitly that he is in pain as his body pushes the bullet out of his chest. She tells him he’ll be fine and if he really needs it, he should stop at Merlotte’s and get some True Blood on his way home. Another time, Sookie comes upon Eric after he has been badly beaten and bound with silver. His arm is broken and his hands, she notes, look gruesome, because the silver was wrapped around them. As soon as she frees him, he springs into action and decapitates the vampire who had attacked him before said vampire can go for Sookie, who gets faint at the sight. (She is not injured.) Eric picks her up even though his arm is broken, and she takes the opportunity to internally romanticize the moment, imagining that she is Scarlet O’Hara. But a short while later, she asks Sam to drive her home without thinking about offering Eric a bottle of True Blood even though they’re right in front of the bar. The most egregious example of this phenomenon occurs when Eric’s vampire brother has massacred all of the staff at his home. Sookie arrives to find several vampires and humans slaughtered on the premises while Eric is desolate and in excruciating pain with his ribs ripped through his chest. He tells her that he needs her to push his ribs back into place and that Pam was there as well, and Sookie proceeds to chastise him for not springing into action to go after his brother. When tears form in his eyes, she grows impatient and questions why he hasn’t called someone to come clean up yet. It isn’t until midway through the conversation that she tells Jason to push Eric’s ribs in so he can heal, and it is only on accident that Jason happens to find Pam, who is thankfully not dead.

Sookie's system of morals is so rigid that, when she participates in violence, she suppresses her own personal responsibility and projects blame on the people around her in order to continue believing that she is a good person.

After the massacre referenced in the paragraph above, Eric and Sookie must fight his crazed brother and several fairies at her house, slaying his maker in the process. When they are victorious, Sookie is immediately revolted by the bloodshed. Eric, meanwhile, is flooded with relief that he is free of his maker, who subjected him to hundreds of years of rape and slavery when he was first turned into a vampire. Sookie knows this, and in fact can feel the emotions radiating from him, but she seems to despise Eric for feeling anything but repugnance in that moment. This appears to be her coping strategy any time she participates in violence—she negates her own culpability and creates moral distance between herself and Eric by judging his reaction to be grotesque. The same thing happens when they are able to kill the brutally cruel vampire regent who was actively trying to ruin Eric and was responsible for attempts on Sookie’s life and who refused permission for Pam to turn her human lover into a vampire before she died. Eric and Pam are joyous that they have won and that the regent cannot torment them any longer. Sookie, who helped plan the attack and in fact dealt part of the killing blow to the regent, is abruptly disgusted when Eric embraces her and kisses her. It does not occur to her that he might be relieved that she was unharmed in the battle and that the constant threat to them all has been eliminated. Instead, she assumes that he’s trying to have sex with her and tells him she’s not interested in a manner that clearly conveys her revulsion. Eric does not handle the conflict gracefully, and bites her harshly to drink from her after he tells her she’s being a hypocrite, which only gives her more reason to push her guilt away and project it onto him.

Sookie’s youth and inexperience serves as a barrier to navigating the turbulent waters of a real relationship.

Sookie had never been in a relationship before Bill, and she only has one other relationship between breaking up with Bill and getting together with Eric. While she enjoys the ‘honeymoon’ phase of her relationships, she flounders when it comes time to address communication issues or outside pressures. Neither Sookie nor Eric find it easy to establish an open channel of communication, but Sookie actively seeks to end serious conversations early or avoid them altogether, while being stunned that Eric initiates conversations about their relationship, something that she thinks all men avoid. At one point, she tells Eric that they need to talk and then starts discussing what she refers to as their “irreconcilable differences.” The conversation seems to be veering into breakup territory, and they’re deeply involved in it when someone knocks on her door. She immediately invites her unexpected guests in and is relieved by the excuse to terminate the conversation abruptly even though Eric is still trying to figure out what’s going on. At other times, she observes that she loves Eric, but she’s not feeling the same lust or excitement when she thinks about him anymore. Anyone who has ever been in a long-term relationship knows that passions often wax and wane, and that it also takes work to sustain and strengthen a relationship over time. Sookie is unwilling to put in the work or even have an honest discussion about the things they need to work on. She talks about romance novels a lot, and it seems to me that she has an idealized concept of love where she believes that they should be effortless and that passions should always be as hot as they were at the beginning. There are also times when she behaves in an extremely childish manner in the midst of conflict. After she severs the magical bond between her and Eric, he comes to her house and her main concern is whether or not he’s mad, while he asks her if she still loves him. She stubbornly insists he has to answer her question first even though she’s the one who broke the bond. On another occasion, Eric’s king comes into town and he is required to be at the monarch’s beck and call. Sookie gets mad at him and tells him she doesn’t want to see him one day, then is even more irritated that he isn’t calling her the next. Soon after, Eric is dealing with an endless litany of personal disasters that he can’t control, and he is short with her. Sookie listens to him confide in her about his problems and then responds with sharp-edged, sarcastic contempt, telling him that she has information that might have helped him with his problems and she might have told him if he wasn’t neglecting her.

Sookie’s limited understand of cultures that are unlike her own leads to misguided assumptions and fatal misunderstandings.

As the books progress, Sookie’s knowledge about vampire culture and governance grows incrementally, but she never approaches their customs with the same open-mindedness that she uses when it comes to werewolves or shapeshifters and their customs. This proves to be a major problem in her relationship with Eric, where there are two unfamiliar cultures at play—the modern culture of vampires, and the ancient culture of Eric’s human life. Sookie often refers to Eric as her “big Viking,” but she never gleans any insight about the culture in which he was raised. She seems to believe that he does not have much respect for women and projects American pre-Women's liberation attitudes on him even though he does not express those beliefs. When he offers to have her come live with him, she assumes that he wants her to be a housewife who cooks and cleans for him. She takes offense, and Eric is confused by her response. As Sookie’s situation becomes more perilous and she is injured multiple times in attacks at Merlotte’s, Eric asks her repeatedly to come live with him and/or work at Fangtasia so that he can protect her. She rebuffs these proposals, believing that they are rooted in misogyny. Sookie is also disinterested in understanding vampire culture, tuning Eric out when he explains things to her and refusing to accept that their rules and customs are different from her own when they inconvenience her. In particular, she never seems to understand the feudal system of governance under which the vampires live. When Eric is obliged to obey his maker or wait on his king or queen, Sookie is consistently irritated that he is not paying enough attention to her. She either does not understand or will not accept that vampires are not free to do whatever they want. This becomes a huge problem in the latter three books after a king from another state annexes Louisiana and kills every sheriff except Eric, putting him in a precarious position. Backed into a corner, he must maneuver very carefully to protect himself and everyone who is loyal to him. At the same time, he learns that his maker entered into a contract to marry him to the vampire Queen of Oklahoma against his will. Sookie refuses to believe Eric when he tells her that there is no way out of the contract, repeatedly insisting that if he loved her enough, he would just refuse to honor it. She holds him to the standards of her own culture, remaining willfully ignorant of the horrible consequences that could befall them both if Eric were to disobey. When she learns she can intervene and save Eric from his fate, she refuses, adamant in her belief that he will find his own escape clause if he truly wants to. The end result of her refusal is that Eric is forced into 200 years of “cushy slavery,” as Sookie calls it, a fate that does not inspire any guilt or pity in her, presumably because she still sees herself as a jilted lover.

At the end of the day, Eric deserved a lot better than Sookie.

He also deserved a lot better from the author, and a lot of people were justifiably outraged with the ending that Charlaine Harris gave to him. Harris, by way of Sookie, repeatedly reminds the reader that the Queen of Oklahoma is a very attractive woman, and it seems that this is intended to excuse the fact that Eric would be contractually obligated to have sex with her whether he wanted to or not. Eric expresses no desire for the queen, constantly asserting his commitment to and love for Sookie. When he admits that he would be required to consummate the relationship with the queen, he seems discomforted and ashamed at the idea. (Harris specifically uses the word “abashed.”) It is revealed to Sookie that the queen conspired to put Eric in this predicament specifically because she knew he valued his independence too much to ever agree to it willingly. Sookie knows that Eric was forced to service his maker sexually against his will, and that what he hates above all else is to be subjugated. She also knows that he will not be a monarch if he marries the queen; he will be her consort, a position that carries with it no inherent power or authority unless the queen gives it to him, and he will not be able to ever succeed her. Even despite all of this, Sookie is completely unsympathetic toward Eric. The author never acknowledges that this ending for Eric essentially means that he will be raped. What astounds me is that I don’t think she would have made his choice for a female character, or if she did, she would not have framed it in the same way. Sookie’s casual dismissal of Eric being sold into “cushy slavery” implies that male rape is no big deal, which is incredibly harmful. It is astounding that she would subject the primary love interest of the entire series to such a fate, and it’s the final nail in the coffin for Sookie Stackhouse for me, at least in her book incarnation. If any of her other love interests had been put in similar circumstances, I can’t imagine what she would not do to try to save them. But because it was Eric—her big, strong Viking who she believes is incapable of feeling emotions or pain and must be invincible in order to be valued by her—Sookie thinks nothing of it. Nothing at all.

@grimeundglow @stevesharrlngtons @scxrsgxrd @grandpa-sweaters

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch 2. The Contest.

Summary: Life at SHIELD isn’t always missions and seriousness, as a good natured shooting contest between Katie and Clint shows. The questions is, as the two dead-shots face off, who will be the winner? Steve has utter faith in his best friend, so much so he’s willing to bet money on her. But is this just another ten bucks he’s gonna lose?

Either way, both are left contemplating their feelings towards one another and fast come to the realisation that they run deeper than they want to admit

Pairing: Steve Rogers X OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Language!!

A/N: A huge thank you to @angrybirdcr​ for her lovely little edit below of Katie and Clint. She’s kingly agreed to pull a few edits together for me in honour of my relaunch so keep your eyes peeled…

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 1

 Katie had no idea why she’d agreed to any of this. Actually, that was a lie, she knew exactly why she’d agreed to this, it was all down to Evans who had decided that STRIKE were long overdue a competition of sorts and had organised a shooting-slash-obstacle course tournament. Eight members had entered, going into random draws and competing against one another over the past week. Out of those eight, two now remained. Her and Clint.

A shooting contest between two Avengers was always going to draw big attention, so it was hardly surprising, therefore, that the SHIELD agents were running a book. Clint was odds on favourite to win, but Steve had so far refused to take part, that is until ten minutes or so before the contest was supposed to start. He was stood outside the shooting range, eyes focussed on Katie and Clint as they both stood checking their equipment, a crowd steadily gathering behind him.

“I know she’s good, but she really doesn’t stand a chance.” Natasha drawled as she stood at his side. Her matter-of-fact tone caused something in his chest to stir, the lack of faith everyone bar Evans and Lawson from the lab seemed to be displaying in Katie over Clint riled him and he turned to Natasha, a smirk flickering over his face as he repeated the words Katie had said to him the first night they’d met.

“Ten bucks says you’re wrong.” He stuck his hand out.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him, before shaking his hand “Alright Rogers, you’re on.”

His hands returned to his belt buckle and both Katie and Clint signalled they were ready.

Evans went into the room, it was soundproof unless you pushed the button to listen in, which Rumlow did, of course.

“Okay you both no the rules but I’m gonna repeat ‘em just in case. No pushing or shoving of your opponent because that’s just a shitty thing to do.” Evans said, his Texan drawl loud as his hand scratched at his ginger beard. “Perfect kill shots are an extra half-point. Twenty minute time limit is in force. If you’re tied on score then we’ll go to the number of kill shots made.” Evans looked at them and they both nodded, Katie licking her lips. “Now. To your starting lines. You may go when the barriers open.” Evans nodded and held his right hand up, three fingers extended “May the odds be ever in your favour…”

Steve had no idea what that was a reference too, but he heard the rest of the people around him snigger. Katie threw her head back in a laugh as Clint mimicked Evan’s hand gesture as the other Sniper left the room.

The two opponents both looked out over the room from their starting positions at the obstacles which were constructed out of crates and various other objects. Katie cracked her neck side to side as Clint raised his pistol again, looking down the barrel before he turned his head to meet Katie’s gaze. She put her gun back into its thigh holster and turned to her old SO.

“May the best woman win.” she smirked, as she felt the blood pounding in her ears. Then, with a loud klaxon, the barriers opened in front of them and they both shot forward.

It might have been a friendly competition, but Katie wasn’t someone who liked losing so she was playing to win, and that was obvious from the determination written all over her face. Steve felt a surge of pride as he watched her leaping from obstacle to obstacle, landing shot after shot. After she hit her fourth target head easily and ahead of Clint, Steve heard Natasha hiss through her teeth.

“Ok, so maybe she has a little chance…”

He didn’t reply, simply watched, silently willing her on.

As the minutes ticked on, the two continued, both making leaps, dropping into rolls, and ducking behind corners. Katie took another shot, and paused for a split second, if she was counting correctly there were two more to go and five minutes left on the clock. She looked up for her next target and saw Clint was blocking her way, knelt down, aiming at his own. Katie knew the sensible thing to do would be to wait, but then she was a Stark, being sensible wasn’t one of her main attributes. With a smirk she re-holstered her gun and sprinted as fast as she could, launching herself forward into a perfect front flip, catapulting right over the top of Clint before she immediately slid onto a knee and brought the handgun back up, aiming at the target.

Outside the room there was a lot of cheering and cat calls at her display of acrobatics.

Katie moved to her final target, back against a large crate, aimed but then missed and Steve closed his eyes- that would cost her.

“Shit!” She exclaimed, doubling over to catch her breath as at that point the klaxon sounded again to say they were out of time. She stood up, cocking the safety on her pistol before stowing it away as Clint walked over to her, pulling her into a hug.

“Sharp shooting, Nova!” He grinned, ruffling at her hair. Both of them turned as the doors open and a few agents walked in, back slapping them both as Evans collected the targets and went to tally up the points.

“That was impressive!” Steve smiled as he crossed the room. “Both of you.”

“Yeah, not bad Stark.” Nat added, appraisingly

“Thanks.” Katie nodded, taking a drink of the bottle of water Clint handed to her. She was red faced, sweating but absolutely thrilled, pumped full of adrenaline. She placed her hands on her hips and took a deep breath

“And we have the results!” Evans said and Clint threw his arm round Katie as hers slid round his waist. “Stark you missed one giving you nine and three kill shots, taking you to ten point five.” Cheers rang around at the pretty damned good score and Katie grinned as Evans waited until the applause died down before he continued. “However, Barton hit each target, giving him ten plus four kill shots, taking him to twelve over all meaning he is the winner of this year’s STRIKE Shoot Off!”

“Damned it!” Katie groaned, shaking Clint’s hand as various cheers and complaints went up and people started to cash in their bets.

“You’re fired.” Steve heard a familiar voice say. Spinning round, he saw Fury handing over a fifty to an agent whose name escaped him and Steve bit back a smile. The Director had bet on Katie. That one mistake had been costly.

“Cough up Rogers.” Nat held out her hand and he turned to her, sighing and fished in his pocket for a note, handing it to her.

“You bet on me?” Katie looked at him, surprised.

“Course I did, Doll.” he said immediately.

 “Yeah I didn’t, sorry Stark.” Nat took the ten-note off him “Clint’s never lost a challenge yet.”

“He nearly did.” Steve looked at Katie proudly before he glanced back at Natasha. “Was worth the bet to see you get so twitchy Romanoff.”

“Seriously?”  Clint turned to Natasha. “You got twitchy?”

“I’ll admit at one point I thought Stark might have just shaded it.” Nat narrowed her eyes at Steve who simply shrugged, hands dropping to the front of his belt buckle.

“To be fair, there was one point where I thought that too.” Clint smiled, and Katie felt a surge of pride in her chest as he pulled the magazine out of his pistol. “Did good Nova, I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks Clint.” she smiled at him.

“So, who fancies a drink?” Barton looked around, clapping his hands together.

“I’m game.” Katie nodded as she stripped down her weapon.

Natasha hummed in agreement and then Steve realised they were all looking at him. He hesitated, he really did need to train as he hadn’t had a decent run that morning and he’d be restless all evening otherwise, but after that…why not?

"I gotta work out first but if you tell me where you’re going I’ll join you when I’m done.”

“Take a day off!” Nat drawled, examining her nails. Steve was about to reply but Katie got there first.

“If he doesn’t work out he’s a right crank! And no one likes a Cranky Cap.”

“You know what Stark?” Steve started but she simply stuck her tongue out at him causing him to roll his eyes, fighting to keep the smile off his face.

“Why don’t we try the new sports bar on the high-street, what’s it called again?” Clint suggested.

“Home Run?” Nat asked.

“Yeah that’s it.” he nodded “Couple of doors down from the Burger joint.”

“I’ll find it.” Steve said as Clint nodded, making for the door, Natasha following.  Katie turned to Steve, smiling at him as he surveyed the room.

"You did a good job,” he nodded to the obstacle course “Did it take you back to fighting Aliens?”

“Not quite the same, you know? No returning gunfire… no life-or-death stakes… no Captain America cushioning my fall when we got blown out of a bank window,” she teased. He laughed, as she started to back up towards the door. “I won’t take up your workout time. See you at the bar?”

“You never take up my time, Honey.” He smiled back, honestly, before he felt the flush rise up his neck. What a dumbass thing to say. “See you later.” He nodded.

With that she took her leave, tugging her hair out the ponytail as she left, allowing the gentle waves to cascade down her back.

********

Half an hour or so later, after Katie had showered and changed, the three Avengers were making the twenty minute or so walk to the bar downtown.

“You know I still can’t believe I got to within a point and a half of you.” Katie nudged Clint.

“Me neither actually.” Natasha mused. “I thought it was gonna be a whitewash.”

“Nice to know you have so much faith in me, Widow.” Katie scoffed and Nat snorted.

“Tell you who did have faith, other than Rogers… Fury.” She looked at Katie who grinned from ear to ear.

“Hang on…the boss bet against me?” Clint stopped. With a heavy sigh he shook his head. “Damned, that hurts.”

“Don’t take it personally.” Katie shrugged as they reached the bar. With a loud snort, Clint opened the door to let the girls step in first and then he joined them, looking around at the new surroundings. It was low lit but piled with sports memorabilia held in various glass cases around the room and on the walls. They took the time to look at most of it on their way to the bar where Clint bought the first round. Drinks in hand, they headed to a plush, leather seated booth and settled down.

The three friends fell into an easy chat, and then the inevitable teasing about Rumlow fancying Katie started up and she groaned. Clint and Nat enjoyed ribbing her about him and she had to admit, he wasn’t subtle to be fair. He’d asked her out three times now and she’d politely declined but it didn’t stop her friends from enjoying teasing her about it. Clint and Nat took turns in trying to highlight Rumlow’s more endearing qualities. They managed a sum total of three when Clint leaned back in his chair and shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s all I got. I’m out.” He grinned as Katie laughed, raising her glass to her mouth to drain the last of her beer.

“Yeah, he’s not relationship materiel.” Nat shrugged

“But you could just fuck him, get what you need and kick him out before breakfast.” Clint suggested causing Katie to choke down her mouthful of European lager and pick up the beer mat nearest her.

Steve chose that exact moment to walk into the bar. He watched as the beer mat hit Clint straight between the eyes, and Katie threw her head back in pure, unadulterated laughter. Something in the Captain’s chest stirred as he watched her, that wonderful smile and laugh filling her face.

“Hey.” He greeted them as they all looked up. “You guys need another drink?”

“Cheers Cap, three beers.” Clint motioned round the table and Steve headed off to the bar. Katie watched him go, eye trained on his ass which looked remarkably fine in those dark denims, then, realising what she was doing and who she was with, she let out silent groan as she turned back to see Clint and Nat exchanging a glance, a glance between two people who had just discovered the best secret ever.

“What?” she shrugged, trying to keep her face as straight as possible. “Girl can look, right?”

“Nova, you ain’t just looking, you’re practically drooling.” Clint grinned. “You soft on Cap?”

“No, I just happen to…” She hesitated as she stumbled for the words “…appreciate what my father had a hand in producing, that’s all.”

“Bullshit!” Natasha snorted as Clint roared with laughter. “You’re hot for Rogers.”

“No, I’m…”

“You know, considering you’re a secret agent your poker face is really shit!” Clint pointed at her

“Oh fuck off, the both of you.” She spluttered and the pair of them continued to chuckle, exchanging looks in that infuriating way they did, until Steve returned, setting down the four pints which he easily held in his hands and slid into the spare seat next to Katie.

Thankfully, Natasha and Clint decided to leave their teasing alone and the four of them struck up a conversation talking about everything and anything. A few more pints were drunk and when it came back to Clint’s turn to buy he came back from the bar, a wicked grin on his face.

“Oh, no I know that look!” Katie pointed at him and Clint shrugged, placing her pint down in front of her before he sat down.

“Yeah, she’s right.” Natasha eyed him. “What you up to?”

“I’m just in the mood for another challenge.” Clint leaned forward, his eyebrows raising up and down as he spoke.

“Like what?” Katie folded her arms

“Which one of you…” he said, waving his finger between her and Nat, “…can down a pint fastest?”

“Is that really wise?” Steve asked and Katie smirked.

“Not for Nat, no.”

The red head quirked an eyebrow, “I’m game if you are.”

Katie shrugged as Clint chuckled and pounded his hand on the table. “Alright then, Ladies! On your marks…”

As soon as Clint had done counting down Katie raised the glass to her mouth and chugged, draining it in four seconds flat before turning it upside down on top of her head. Natasha wasn’t even half way through hers before she groaned and set it down, trying to supress a burp.

Steve couldn’t help but look at Katie, his mouth falling open.

"What?” she laughed, shrugging as the Captain exchanged a look with Clint. “I spent three years at University, drinking with boys.”

“Yeah well I’ll stick to Vodka.” Nat shook her head “Fancy that as a challenge?”

“Not a chance.” Katie scoffed, “Although Cap could.”

“He could, but he won’t” Steve sternly shot her a look “Because it wouldn’t be fair.”

Katie rolled her eyes pouting.

“You do know I’m Russian, right. Well, I was.” Nat leaned back on the bench. “I was practically weaned on the stuff.”

“Yes, I know that, but I can’t get drunk.” Steve shrugged. “My metabolism burns it off too fast.”

“Cap,” Clint sighed, shaking his head, “that might just be the saddest thing I have ever heard.”

“Even sadder than when you heard you were shipping off to guard Thor’s hammer?” Nat asked. Clint considered her point for a moment, and shrugged.

“Hmmmm. Maybe the same level of sadness at learning I was about to head to Butt-fuck America for an undefined amount of time, yes.”

Steve choked into his beer. Besides him Katie laughed and as Steve looked at Clint, the archer snorted and shook his head.

“Cap. I’m serious. It was legit in the middle of the fucking desert. Nothing for miles.”

“Hey, what happened to that one eyed puppy we found?” Katie asked suddenly.

“Err, I took him to some friends.” Clint answered after a slight pause. “Their kids love him, he’s living the best life.”

Katie and Natasha shared a smile, both understood friends to mean his family and his own kids.

“Still eating Pizza?” Katie asked.

“Pizza?” Steve asked, frowning. “Who feeds a dog pizza?”

“Well he was a bit like you in that respect. Do anything for a double pepperoni with extra cheese.” Katie nudged him with her elbow

“As long as its New York style.” Steve drained his glass, matter of factly.

“Admit it, you enjoyed it when it took you to Second City” Katie eyed him.

“You been to Seconds?” Clint asked. “Thought you swore you wouldn’t go back after that waiter said he wanted to give you a real slice of Chicago to talk about?”

“He did not!” Natasha giggled.

Katie groaned “He did.”

“Now, I wish I’d seen that.”  Nat grinned as Clint let out a loud snort.

“She went full Supernova in three seconds flat. Dragged him over the counter and everything.”

“You didn’t?” Steve glanced at her, although he knew the answer from the look on her face as she groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Look… we had just got back from a week’s stake out in Saudi Arabia…” she sighed, shrugging as Clint and Natasha laughed “I was tired and fending off the advances of some greasy, 40 something year old man politely really wasn’t top of my list.”

“Why not? You do it every day to Rumlow” Nat smirked.

At the mention of his name Steve felt his eyes narrow. He hated the way the STRIKE leader blatantly eyed Katie up at every given chance. It was disrespectful.

“Don’t start that again” Katie rolled her eyes.

“He’s not a bad looking guy.” Nat persisted. “You could do worse.”

“You like him so much you fuck him!” Katie’s voice was snappy. Romanoff leaned back in her chair, eyeing her over half full glass, smirking.

“Touched a nerve, Stark?”

“No, you’re just talking crap, as usual.” she shot back, standing up. “My round.”

Steve moved so that she could get out from the booth and watched her head to the bar.

“Think we need to lay off the whole Rumlow thing.” Clint snorted, turning Nat. “She’s clearly not interested.”

“She’s obviously looking for someone a little less…” Nat pondered and Clint cut in.

“Of an ass hat?”

Steve snorted and Natasha shrugged.

“I was gonna say a little more of a gentleman but…if the cap fits…” Her eyes flashed to Steve and he looked at her, his eyebrows pulling together as he felt the heat flushing to his neck. She simply shrugged, in her usual nonchalant way before she changed the subject.

****

A few hours later Clint and Nat decided they’d had enough and left to grab a taxi. When Clint was in town he always stayed with Nat, prompting Steve to wonder if there was anything going on beyond the platonic friendship. He pondered it for a moment, deciding to just ask the question.

 “Is there something between them?” he nodded to the pair as they left.

“No.” Katie shook her head “Absolutely not.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Okay, I’ll tell you, but don’t be pissed I haven’t told you before…” she said, pausing “Clint…he’s married, has two kids.”

“What?” Steve choked on his beer.

“They have a place, somewhere, I don’t know exactly but it’s off SHIELD’s books and no one knows bar me, Nat and Fury.”

“Huh.” Steve pondered the information for a moment and Katie took a deep breath.

“Look, sorry I didn’t tell you but…”

“It’s okay.” Steve smiled. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel a little bit disappointed she hadn’t told him before, but he understood, she was loyal to a fault. “I get it, he’s your friend.”

“Yeah I know but he’s not my best friend.” she batted her eyelids at him.

“Hmmm, stop buttering me up.”

“Has it worked?”

“Yes.” He deadpanned, draining his glass and she grinned “Same again?”

They had a couple more before Katie decided she was one pint away from being drunk and Steve found himself a little bit disappointed she wanted to leave. He was enjoying spending the time with her. It felt different to their usual trips out, she’d been more relaxed than he had seen her in a long time, enjoying the gentle touches she made to his arm and leg when she was teasing him.

His mind flicked back to Natasha’s little comment before and he found himself wondering if the red head knew something he didn’t. Was there something there on Katie’s part too? As he studied her for a moment as she pulled on her jacket, talking to him, he shook himself out of it. No, why would someone like her look twice at someone like him.

He managed to tune back into what she was saying, telling her no way was he giving her a lift home on the back of his bike without a helmet, causing her to pout and bat her lashes at him in an outrageously over the top manner causing him to snort.

“That ain’t gonna work either.” He shook his head and she shrugged.

“Worth a shot.” She chuckled as they made their way to the door. “And speaking of shots, you really shouldn’t have told Nat you can’t get drunk and whooped her ass at a vodka necking contest.” Her arm linked into his as they walked, and she leaned into him a little, her head laying against his upper bicep.

“Now that would have been dishonest. “Steve smirked. “Surely you’re not saying I should use my enhancement to my advantage in such a situation?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” she nodded.

Steve laughed, sticking his arm out to hail a cab for her.

“But then you’re a very honest kinda guy.”

“I have my moments.” He turned to face her

“Moments? Nah ah, you can’t lie for shit!” she grinned at him.

“No, I can’t lie to you for shit, Sweetheart” He rolled his eyes “You know me too well.”

“Hmmm, true.” she nodded in agreement as the car stopped at the curb and Steve opened the door for her.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Steve asked, not particularly happy she was cabbing back alone, it was times like this he wished he had a car. “I can walk back for my bike.”

“I can handle myself, I’m a trained killer remember?” she raised her hands and made gun signs at him with her fingers. He shook his head, smiling.

“You’re an idiot.” He snorted a laugh.

“But you love me!” She grinned, standing on her toes to give him a peck on the cheek. “G’night, Soldier.”

“Call me when you’re home.” He instructed “And if I ain’t heard from you in twenty…” he raised his voice so the cab driver could hear.

She shook her head, smiling as she climbed into the taxi and waved as it pulled off.

It wasn’t long before she was home and once she made her way into her bedroom, Katie kicked off her boots, flopped down onto her bed and pulled out her phone, better do as Captain Badass instructed or knowing him he’d turn up and kick the door in.

“So I’m home Old timer…” she said, when he answered and from his sigh she knew he would be rolling his eyes.

“Less of the old” he retorted, the clinking of cutlery and plates rattling in the background.

“What you doing?” she asked.

“Making food.”

“You can’t cook.”

“Yes I can.”

“So why have you never cooked for me?” she asked indignantly, feeling somewhat annoyed that she always did the cooking for the two of them.

“Because you’re better at it.” He replied, simply. “And I’ve made you grilled cheese before. And soup. Now drink some water and go to sleep.”

“God you’re so bossy.” she grumbled.

“Someone has to be, you’re a law unto yourself.”

“If I say it will you do what I said?”

“Maybe, probably, definitely maybe” she shrugged to herself.

“Then you’re awesome. Goodnight, Doll.”

“Night Stevie.”

****

Steve cut the call, placing his phone down on the counter as he thought back over the day, waiting for his food to heat up. For the first time in a long time he actually felt completely at ease. Ease with his life both in and out of SHIELD.

Up until a few weeks ago it had still felt slightly confusing, and it still did with the STRIKE team sometimes. At first he had been tentative, not trying to step on Rumlow’s toes but that had quickly settled and the two of them had fallen into a pretty good working relationship. As much as Rumlow could rile him, Steve knew that the man was good at his job, and Steve was equally good at his. He was the tactician, Rumlow organised the troops. But sometimes, well, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Sometimes he felt interest, but it was often coloured by the lingering disillusionment that his team were merely humouring him as the blue eyed all American hero he had been painted to be.

But never once had he felt like that with Katie.

And then his apartment seemed to blur in front of him, causing him to realise this went way beyond some daft crush. He was really falling in deep. The heat travelled up his chest into his neck and he felt his palms become sweaty. He dropped his arms to wipe them on his jeans as the fizzy feeling left his body, but stayed by him, swirling around until he could practically hear it. This really, really wouldn’t do. She was his best friend, a work colleague, the daughter of one of his friends from the forties…and then there was Peggy.

Not for the first time Steve delved into the reasons he’d been drawn to Katie, comparing her to Peggy. Both women had strong personalities, an unwavering sense of justice and ethics, a deep well of compassion, loyalty, and the air of authority that put more than one man in his place, including himself. They were both incredibly beautiful, filled with passion, devotion and ambition…

Abandoning his food, his appetite lost completely, he threw the remains into the bin and headed into his bedroom, intending to do what he did best when it came to women. 

Stick his head in the sand and hope to God it all went away.

****

Once she’d cleaned her face of make-up and pulled on a pair of pyjamas, Katie collapsed into her pillow, thinking about what a good day it had been. She hadn’t disgraced herself at the contest, had a good evening in the pub afterwards, and to top it off Fury and Steve had actually backed her in said contest.

At the thought of Steve, it reminded her she needed some water. Heading to the kitchen she grabbed a glass, filled it, and then made her way back to bed, this time snuggling down under the covers as she smiled to herself.

It was kind of nice to have Steve looking out for her, even if he was a bossy bastard about drinking water. It showed he cared. And it wasn’t just that, it was the way he was so comfortable with her. The gentle touches to her arm and lower back, the fact he called her doll or sweetheart. The smile that he flashed her that could light up his entire face, and those eyes, those god damned beautiful eyes that could drown her in seconds.

Her stomach was suddenly crawling with those damned butterflies, the same ones she had been feeling on or off around him now since Thanksgiving. And they fluttered from her stomach to her chest

“You’re hot for Rogers…”

Natasha and Clint had both hit the nail on the head, and that nail was getting harder and harder to ignore. She had feelings for Captain fucking America. Her dad’s friend, her best friend.

Groaning, she rolled over and shoved her head into the pillows. “I’m so fucked.”

**** Chapter 3

**Original Posting**