#they do eventually become a good team but at first it is incredibly hard for them to adjust

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

Couldn't play again today so i'm still thinking about Carver sorry not sorry <3

Anyways. Thinking about how Aveline is theoretically perfect to fill in the space of tank in their defence when Carver is down, but it's all Wrong. All the wrong moves and timing and signals and it completely throws Liam and Bethany off

[nicoline1998enilocin]

Could you do an imagine with Steve rogers and yn where he takes her virginity smooth talk to her into it and she comes to shield quarters to drop off some stuff he left over and she over hears him talking to tony,Buck & the avengers a both the bet they made that Steve couldn’t f*ck yn and she gets heartbroken and uses her superpowers to fight against Steve when she barges in. Like throw him into a wall. I hope you get my concept (btw yn has powers also & she’s new to the shield inc as an avenger)

Betrayed

PAIRING | Steve Rogers x Avenger!Female!Reader

WORD COUNT | 2.7K

SUMMARY | You're the latest addition to the Avengers, and Steve takes on a bet behind your back that he wouldn't be able to take your virginity. When you find out about the bet a few weeks later, you lose it and your superpowers rise to their full potential.

WARNING(S) | This is your official trigger warning. Do not proceed if any of these topics upset you. Steve being an asshole, swearing, smut [ loss of virginity, fingering, protected sex, massage turned to sex, light spanking ]

A/N | Hi nonnie, thank you so much for my very first request, I hope this is what you were looking for when you thought of the prompt! After all the love and many people requesting a part 2, I finally caved and you can find that right here! 🖤

Likes and reblogs will be very much appreciated 💜

Main Masterlist | Steve Rogers Masterlist

It has been a dream of yours ever since being recruited by SHIELD as an agent, to climb the ranks to becoming part of the Avengers. That dream finally became a reality and you were ecstatic when you found out you were accepted into the Avengers program. Right from the start all of the Avengers welcomed you with open arms, and you felt at home immediately, maybe a bit too much if you look back at it. During one of Tony's afterparties, you accidentally let it slip that you're still a virgin and that you wish you weren't anymore. There are some strange looks shared between some of the guys at your confession, but you decided to let it go at that time. Right now, however, you wish you hadn't.

After you went to bed that night, some of the guys got into a heated discussion about the fact that you're a virgin, and they all wanted to help you out. You know you're quite attractive - nothing over the top, but you take good care of yourself and it shows - so the fact that they all wanted to sleep with you wasn't much of a surprise. The fact that it was Steve who offered to do it first, did surprise every single one of the guys. ''No way you're taking her virginity, Cap. You have the sex appeal of a piece of grass,'' Clint remarked, which earned him a glare that wasn't all that nice. ''I think we should make a bet,'' Steve said, a mischievous look in his eyes.

''I want to make a bet if I can do it or not. If I win, I won't have to go on missions for a month. If you guys win, I will take one mission of your hands of your choice, each,'' Steve offered and they immediately agreed to these terms. And that is how Steve tried to talk you into his bed, which took more effort than he had anticipated, you weren't as easy as you made yourself sound that night. It took him a little over 5 months, but eventually, his hard work and patience paid off, for him at least.

~ 5 months later ~

You just went on a gruesome mission with all of the Avengers, and it was already late so instead of flying home now, all of you went to a hotel and spend the night. You had been incredibly frustrated for a while, and this mission was too much at this point. The mission ended up being successful, but Steve was being an asshole towards you the entire time, all to get under your skin for his gain, with the bet still in his mind. All the other Avengers quickly teamed up with the rooms, so your only option was to share a room with Steve, and you weren't happy with that. In the slightest.

''Guys, can any one of you please switch with me? I can't look at his face right now and I want to smack that smug grin of his fucking face,'' you say through gritted teeth, but they aren't helping one bit. ''Sorry doll, we always have the same sleeping arrangements and Steve usually sleeps alone, so you don't have a choice,'' Bucky said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. ''You guys are unbelievable,'' you said and you opened the door to your shared bedroom, rushing in to get away from all of them.

''Don't mind them,'' Steve said when he followed you and you let yourself fall on your back on the bed. ''Maybe it's a good thing you and I are sharing a bedroom tonight, I had a plan to get both of our frustrations out of our systems,'' Steve said with an innocent look in his eyes. ''You do...?'' you ask him, unsure where he's going with this. ''Yeah, I find that a massage works well, get someone to rub all my frustrations away. I brought some massage oil that I could use on you if you want,'' he offered, and you were thinking about it. ''I'm gonna take a shower first though, I don't want to be disgusting when you massage me,'' you said.

When you were in the shower, Steve texted the guys' group chat that his plan would work, you agreed to a massage and he would most definitely be able to turn it around so he could fuck your brains out later that night. When you came back from your shower, you put your hair in a claw clip so it would be out of the way, and you noticed Steve already prepared his bed to be used as the massage 'table'. ''Please, lay down without the towel so I can reach your entire back with ease,'' he said with a small grin on his face, but you did it. You needed a way to get this frustration out of your body, and it was worth a shot. ''Lay down for me, baby,'' he said and you didn't even think twice about the nickname he gave you.

You did as he said and made yourself comfortable. ''No towel baby, that was it's easier for me to reach everywhere,'' Steve said and because you're lying on your stomach, you can't see the smug look he has on his face. He took the towel away and softly gasped at the sight of you, you were even more beautiful than he thought you'd be and he was very happy he got to do this. He put a little bit of the massage oil on your back and his hands before he started, rubbing it all over your shoulders and back first, just grazing your cheeks when he's rubbing it over your lower back, teasing you ever so slightly. After it's nice and spread out he starts putting some pressure and you let out a soft moan at the feeling.

''Mmh Steve, feels good,'' you softly moan and he smiles at the way you praise him, happy he can make you feel that good. ''Are you feeling better yet, baby?'' he asked and you nodded, letting out a content sigh. The fact that you're completely naked is long forgotten, you were very comfortable around Steve now with his hands running over your body like that. ''Got some more pressure points in my lower back you could massage,'' you tell him, it's always been a point that's bothering you and now that he was massaging you, it was the perfect timing to get help. ''Like this?'' he said as he put a bit more pressure on your lower back with his palms, moving from your spine outwards and down to your hips. This makes you groan, and in all honesty, a little turned on too.

When he's taken good care of your shoulders and back, he moves on to your calves and thighs. ''Time for these beautiful legs,'' he says as he silently takes off his shirt and pants, they were getting more and more uncomfortable now that he was getting pretty hard from just massaging you. He was standing in his boxer briefs and you didn't notice, completely taken over by pure bliss. He dripped a little oil on both your legs, stopping right beneath your cheeks and he put it to the side, ready for later. He started massaging at your ankles and slowly work his way up to your thighs, giving special attention to the tops, near your ass. His fingers slowly move up and when he's kneading and rubbing your ass, you let out a gasp which turns into a moan.

''S-Steve...'' you say but he quickly cuts you off, ''Shh, it's okay baby, this is normal,'' he says and he starts kneading more roughly, even going as far as landing a slap on both your cheeks at the same time, watching them ripple under his hands. ''Fuck, doing so good for me, baby,'' Steve praised you and you couldn't help but enjoy it, even though you knew in the back of your head it was still wrong. It was at that moment Steve couldn't take it any longer, and his hand wandered down between your thighs, cupping your dripping pussy. ''Hm, you're already dripping wet baby, 'm gonna take good care of you,'' he says as he slowly slides his fingers through your folds, giving special attention to your clit with his middle finger. You moan loudly at the feeling, your ass automatically lifting in the air at the feeling.

''Such a good girl for me right now, letting me take good care of you,'' he praised you and you started clenching around nothing. ''Steve, please,'' you whimpered, you wanted to feel his fingers inside you by now. ''What is it, baby? What do you need from me? Just say it and I'll do it,'' he says, whispering the words in your ear as he pushes your thighs further apart for better access. ''Need you, need your fingers inside me,'' you said shyly and he happily complied, immediately shoving 2 fingers deep inside your dripping entrance without warning. This makes you gasp loudly and grind your hips against his hand. ''How does it feel baby?'' Steve asks with a huge grin on his face while picking up his pace and curling his fingers so he can continue to stimulate your sweet spot.

''G-good, gonna cum,'' you moan as you keep grinding against his fingers. He uses his other hand to play some more with your clit and before you know it, you feel your orgasm wash over you while you moan out his name loudly. ''Yes, let everyone know who's making you feel this good baby,'' he said, knowing full well all the guys could hear what you were doing through the tins walls of the hotel. ''Fuck, feels so good,'' you say as you come down from your high. Steve pulls his fingers softly out of you before turning you over on your back, so he could massage the front of your body. He started with your legs, giving them the same treatment as when he massaged the back of your legs, but avoiding your sensitive pussy this time.

Next up is your stomach, which he drips some oil onto before massaging it deeply, so you let out soft whimpers, especially when his hands' ghost over the underside of your breasts, which were beautifully exposed for his viewing pleasure, your nipples still hard after your first orgasm. ''Those breasts look delicious baby,'' Steve cooed and it made you giggle a little bit before he softly grabbed them and massaged them, giving extra attention to your sensitive nipples. He noticed every single whine, whimper, and moan coming out of you when he played with them, either by rubbing, tugging, or softly flicking them, and he was reveling in the sounds that left your lips.

He finished with your upper chest and neck before leaning down and softly kissing you, which you have been longing for this entire time. He wasn't your first kiss, but he was by far the best you ever had, and you didn't hesitate when he slipped his soft, warm tongue in your mouth to explore every single inch of it. He sat down on the bed and removed his underwear, exposing his painfully hard cock, which was laying on your thigh as he took his place between your legs. ''Steve, condom please,'' you said. You were on birth control and this was your first time, but you weren't sure where he had been and didn't want to risk either getting pregnant or an STD, but Steve didn't mind, he always used one anyways.

He grabbed one from the nightstand - thank god he came prepared - and ripped open the foil before rolling it onto his hard length. ''Are you ready baby?'' he asked and you said yes, giving him a soft smile too. ''Need you inside me,'' you said and without a second to think about it, Steve was pushing himself into your entrance, the burning sensation quickly subsiding and making way for pleasure. He is very big and a lot to get used to, but in no time he was buried inside you completely, letting you get used to the sensation as he bent over, stealing soft kisses from your lips. ''Steve, please move,'' you beg softly and he does, going slow at first but slowly picking up the pace, making you moan louder every single time.

Sure, he may be doing this for a bet, but he was still mindful of the fact that this is your very first time, and he did want to give you the pleasure you deserve, and not go too rough at first. ''Steve, harder'' you beg, and with that, he quickly picks up the pace as you wrap your legs around his waist, so he can hit the deepest spots inside you. ''F-fuck, Steve, gonna cum-'' you practically yelled when your orgasm washed over you again, making your vision go temporarily black with the intensity of it, Steve followed quickly after with the chant of your name, and he buries his face in your neck as he spills his cum inside of the condom. ''Fuck, feels so good around me baby, such a good girl for me,'' he says before pulling out. The rest of the night is spent lazily making out and cuddling, before falling asleep in each other's arms.

~ 3 weeks after the mission ~

You and Steve talked about what happened that night and both agreed nothing more would come of it, it was just a one-time thing to get both your frustrations out and you would remain friends. He talked to the guys about it and they all heard, clapping him on his back and saying he won the bet fair and square, so they would pick up his missions for the next month. ''How was it?'' Tony asked and he told them all about the massage and how it felt to be buried balls deep inside you. They were still talking about the bet when you happened to walk into the room since you accidentally left some files in the living room you needed to prepare.

''Good job Steve, you won the bet fair and square, I didn't think you would fuck her but you earned it'' Bucky said as he got up, and immediately you realize they're talking about you. ''What bet are you guys talking about?'' you ask, and all the guys' heads snap in your direction. ''Y/N, hey...'' Steve said, his face becoming bright red. ''Did you guys seriously bet on if he was able to fuck me? You guys are fucking unbelievable,'' you snarled at each of them, but you're the most mad at Steve. ''You're such a dick, Steve, you know that?'' you yelled at him and you felt your powers come out, usually you tried to keep them hidden since they could cause quite a lot of destruction. ''Using me for a fucking bet?!'' is the last thing you said before you lifted Steve off his chair with your mind, using your telekinesis.

You slam him into the wall on the other side of the living room with your full force, making him go through it like the wall was made of a thin sheet of paper. ''Don't ever fuck with me like that again, or he won't be the only one on the receiving end of my powers,'' you say to the rest of the guys, and they quickly scramble away. To make Steve hurt even more, you walked over to him and made him squirm by giving him a head-splitting headache with your mind, as he grabbed his head to stop it. ''Y/N PLEASE STOP!'' he begged you, but you didn't. You want him to hurt just as much as you were. ''Oh no Rogers, you don't get to beg now, you earned everything I'm going to do with you,” Your power got out of hand and when Wanda walked into the living room, she managed to snap you out of it at the right time, if she didn't you would've killed him.

And just like that, your dream of becoming an Avenger is completely shattered.

[inkpot909]

How They Text the Reader Headcanons #2

↳ Characters included are Giorno Giovanna, Pannacotta Fugo, and Narancia Ghirga. Gender neutral Reader; implied everyone lives AU.

A/n: Thank you all so much for the support on my last text headcanon list. It was so fun to write, and I hope that y'all enjoy the second-half of the main part five cast. Once again, I had a blast while writing this!

Warning(s): None.

Giorno Giovanna

You expected him to be a dry-texter, in all honesty. Straightforward and to the point; only ever texting out of necessity. You couldn’t really imagine him as the type to sit down, and have a silly conversation over text.

And at the beginning, that was certainly the case.

Being introduced to the team all at once is certainly overwhelming, and although Giorno adjusted well, he still didn’t know you or the others.

Within the team’s groupchat, he only ever spoke up about important matters as that were being discussed. Whenever a more lighthearted conversation arose, usually because of Mista, he would grow completely radio silent.

Does he really read those texts at all? you recall yourself wondering, Or does he tune us out completely? Can’t really blame him if that's the case; this team... takes time to adjust to.

And eventually learning that he always read those conversations, it was one of the first indications you saw of his character. One of the first times you realized he can and will find his place on the team.

So, while you were in the process of just getting to know Giorno, you developed low expectations when it came to communicating with him over the phone. Hell, you hardly expected him to text you at all.

Oh, what a fool you once were.

As the relationship blossoms, Giorno still texts you as usual. With proper grammar and punctuation, as well as the occasional emoji or two.

But he's far from being a dry-texter. On the contrary, he’s rather cheeky.

And because of his position in Passione after a certain point, work soaks up a lot of his time. He’d much rather call you, but that’s simply not an option most days.

So he simply pokes and teases you over text. Sitting alone in his office, he almost always wears a tiny yet pleasant smile on his face when he reads whatever you send him.

Giorno doesn’t send memes or funny pictures often, but when he does, it’s either pure gold or ridiculously unfunny. Merely doing it every now and then to get a little bit of a rise out of you, of all things.

And he loves it even more if you’re the type to tease him right back:

Pannacotta Fugo

Practically the inventor of double-texting.

He’s got no shame in it either, and if anything, he would argue that him sending multiple messages means you ought to reply. He’s not exactly impatient with you, though.

He usually uses proper grammar over text as well. More than that, he’ll lecture anyone case for not doing the same. He even once pointed out a simple mistake Abbacchio made.

It’s merely lighthearted teasing if you’re the type to not use proper grammar over text, though. Fugo wears his favoritism for you on his sleeve whenever he gets on Narancia’s case for the same exact reason.

That said, when he’s angry, forget about grammar- you just want to be able to understand him.

He complains to you over text... a lot. The outlet is good for him, in a sense. Fugo’s incredibly grateful to have someone like you who will listen to him so earnestly, and he expresses that often. Considering his temper, it really does mean so much more to him than he knows how to express.

It makes knowing whether or not he’s genuinely upset or just playing around easy for you to figure out, at least. Are his text messages legible? If so, there's no reason for concern.

Once, he was ranting to you about a disagreement that arose between him and Abbacchio. His texts were steadily becoming hard to understand, and you prepared yourself to talk to your boyfriend through his anger.

But before you could, he stopped texting you all together.

That was rather confusing, as he’s the type to continue blowing up your phone when frustrated. It wasn’t until almost twenty minutes later, when you saw Mista’s contact pop up for a phone a call, that you found out why.

It was Fugo on the other end, calling from Mista’s phone to bashfully inform you he chucked his own phone out of anger and ended up breaking it.

Later that year, you got him one of those expensive cases that could likely protect a phone falling from absurd heights for Fugo’s birthday. He seemed a bit embarrassed over it, but appreciated the gift nonetheless (He won’t admit it but it does come in handy).

You just cannot stop yourself from teasing him a little bit, especially over the phone. His indulgent reactions are worth it every single time:

Narancia Ghirga

He’s bound to make you cry from laughter over text. Whether it’s his words alone or a meme he sends you from his vast collection (His phone is almost always on the brink of running out of storage), making you laugh comes naturally to him.

It’s a source of pride for him, so reacting bombastically over text is exactly what he’s looking for.

Narancia is also a major sucker for gossip, so he loves sharing everything he hears with you over text. From a random conversation he eavesdropped overhead while out, to drama taking place within Bucciarati’s group.

Doing the same in return is greatly appreciated, as he adores hearing your input.

He’ll also text you at random asking questions like “What did Buccarati want me to do again?” and “Do you happen to know where I put my notebook?” Whenever he racks his brain and cannot find an answer to a dilemma, he’s almost always going to voice his confusion to you with little hesitation.

He’s sent you those types of texts... while on missions. Snitching to Bucciarati is not advised.

You’ve tried telling him he could type those sorts of things down in his notes, but he either forgets to do so or wrongfully assumes that he’ll remember.

Narancia, Mista, Fugo, and you have a groupchat separate from the others on the team. Considering the madness that regularly occurs on it, Narancia’s proud to mention he’s the one who originally suggested the idea.

That said, as much as he likes to text you, he’s not the type to text you good morning and good night every day. Rather, he texts you only when “he has something to say.” Which... is often enough on its own.

He will also complain to you over text often as well. Although, it's not usually out of outright anger:

[northsoulss]

the media thinking reader is in a relationship w some popular male footballer but she's actually with elisa and they soft (or hard) launch their relationship 🤭🤭

mon amour - elisa de almeida

(a/n : here it is! hopefully this is what you had in mind lol. this is quite a long one. writing this hit home, so i quite like how it turned out! thanks for the request xoxo)

growing up in a relatively conservative town, you never had the chance to express your identity as a queer individual. it was a constant internal battle, thinking something was wrong with you for liking someone of the same gender. things became more complicated when you began liking football, it being seen as more of a boy-ish sport.

thankfully, your hometown had a small women’s youth football club, and you begged your parents to allow you to sign on, which they begrudgingly accepted. hoping to meet other queer women, you went into football hopeful, but your ideas were quickly shut down when you realised a lot of them were straight. you continuously struggled with your sexuality as you grew up, fear taking over whenever you had the opportunity to come out. so you never did, remaining closeted for all your teenage years.

as you began to advance and become better at football, you wanted to make it a career, to do it professionally. eventually when you signed with psg a year ago, it was undoubtedly the best decision of your life. after moving to france, you finally got to experience a proper queer community with supportive people. you still made no move to come out, for you realised that there was no need to put it out there; to let everyone know that you were queer. so long as you were contented with what you identified as, nothing else really mattered. or so you thought.

over time as you became more popular and well known, you began to see that there are many upsides and downsides to being a public figure. on one hand, you have formed close bonds with other footballers of both genders and experienced nothing like you could have ever imagined. on the other hand, every time you posted something vaguely couple-ly with one of your friends, especially the guys, your fans would go nuts.

“is she dating him?”, “i knew they were together!” were the very common comments you would get when posting pictures with you and another footballer, who happened to be one of your very good guy friends, _(insert male name)_ , whom you hung out with quite often. you decided that one day you were sick of the comments, and posted something for pride, saying that you were proud to be a queer woman. lo and behold, that did not stop the comments.

lady luck must have been on your side for your team has been nothing but incredibly supportive of you coming out. at the same time, one of your teammates took this chance to snag you, and surprise, surprise. you fell head over heels for the woman and have been dating ever since.

you have decided to lay low for the first few months, trying your hardest not to post anything that would make the fans suspicious. however, one day you decided had enough of the speculations.

it was a lazy saturday, you and elisa were out at a quaint neighbourhood cafe having brunch, just enjoying the warm summer weather. it had been a few days after your 6 month anniversary, and you just couldn’t get enough of her. so, as sneakily as you could, you snapped a picture of her looking off into the distance, watching the kids at the playground goofing around with a small smile. too bad your phone wasn’t silenced, so a loud shutter sound was made and caused elisa to whip her head around.

she locks eyes with you, and you must have had the guiltiest expression on your face, because she immediately broke out in laughter. “what are you doing baby?” she laughs harder as your face reddens, her taking your hand in hers and rubbing small circles with her thumb.

“you just looked really good okay!” you defend yourself defiantly, showing her the photo that you took. she gives you a knowing look, before turning away to continue looking at the scenery around, a small smirk on her lips. there was a comfortable silence amongst you two, but your mind started to wonder. for a while now, you’ve been meaning to ask elisa about announcing your relationship. you were sick and tired on hiding things and being so secretive, but you were scared. you enjoy the privacy, the intimate looks given to each other across the room, the subtle electrifying touches on the pitch when you’re standing next to each other. you just don’t want to ruin things-

“what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” elisa breaks you out of your thoughts, head tilted slightly to take a look at you. you were oddly silent for a while, and when elisa turned back around to see what you were doing, you were just staring into space, a dazed look on your face.

you swallow dryly, taking a deep breath. “i think i want to announce our relationship.” you say quickly, averting eye contact with her. you felt her hand tighten around yours, interlocking your fingers with hers. you look up at her timidly from your lap, and you see lines of worry etched onto her face. her brows furrowed slightly, her mouth in a taunt line.

“are you sure about this?” she questions, concern clear as day in her voice. she knew about your past, and you were the one who was more worried about the relationship compared to her. now that you were bringing this up, she had every right to be concerned.

“well, i’m just sick of people thinking i’m dating that meathead. i’m not. i’m dating you. you’re the one i love.” the moment the last sentence left your mouth, elisa swore her heart skipped a beat.

“a-are you very sure? there’s no going back after you announce this you know?” she looks into your eyes, searching for any signs of uncertainty or hesitation, but all she saw was determination.

“i’m sure, baby.” you smile at her, pressing a chaste kiss against the back of her hand. at that moment, elisa was so proud of you. you have come so far, and she knew how big of a step this was for you — to publicly announce that you were in a relationship with another woman.

“i’m proud of you, mon amour.” she wore a warm smile, eyes crinkled, the midday sunlight hitting her facial features just right. you pick up your phone to snap a picture, and this time you did not shy away from her, even asking her to give you her best smile.

before you left the cafe, you quickly posted it, tagging her and titling the caption as “the love of my life, @/elisadealmeida5. mon amour.🤍” of course, the fans were not impressed, but you didn’t care, for you were finally proud to be loud about your identity and your relationship, and the press and media are not going to get in the way of that.

later that night, as you lay in bed with your head on her chest, you get a phone call from your good guy friend. elisa raises a brow at you, and you shrug, picking it up and putting him on speaker.

“yo what’s up! you’re on speaker by the way.”

“you just had to do a hard launch huh?” he cuts to the chase, tone teasing, but proud. you groan, your hand coming up to cover your face.

“ugh c’mon! they were shipping me with you out of all people!” you tease back, looking at elisa who was staring at you, admiration in her eyes. you give her a soft smile, pressing a small kiss on her cheek.

“yeah, yeah, i know. proud of you, short stack. tell elisa i said hi!” and with that, he hung up. not long after, you received an instagram notification where he replied to your post. “i told you so.. what a man child.” you read his comment and smile knowingly, and put your phone away, turning around to face elisa again when she grabs your face and kisses you hard. you gasp into the kiss, melting into her lips. when she pulls away, she leans her forehead against yours, you panting slightly.

“i’ll say this again and again, and i know you’ll grow tired of it, but i’m so proud of you, mon amour, don’t forget that.” she finishes her sentence with another passionate kiss to your lips, smiling into the kiss.

[horseshoegirl]

Damn Those Dog Tags - Part 16: In the Blood

📖I'm amused you guys voted on this one as the one that inspired DTDT. I wouldn't say this one was one of the big three, but it ended up becoming my inspiration for Jake's backstory.

Also, this was me after that last part: 🏃‍♀️<-🔱🔥

I'm so sorry I broke all of your hearts with part 15! They have a happy ending, I swear! We just have to get through the angst first... And Sadie... Oh dear... I cried writing this... so it's safe to say maybe bring tissues?

❗️+18, strong language, godmother reader/original female character, original child character, Shitty family dynamics, Angst, talk about break ups, talk about therapy, probably inaccurate dogfight descriptions (I tried my best!), Jake is going through it, Emotional & Protective Sadie (She needs her own warning), & Protective Bradley.

#6K words

Part 16 | Masterlist | Part 17

It had to be the shock.

The reason why there were gaps in your memory. You don’t remember climbing into the front seat of Rooster's Bronco. Or even putting on your seat belt or him pulling out of the parking lot.

He probably had to do it for you.

You had to remind yourself he was driving you home. That you just very publically broke up with Jake in the Hard Deck. Spit-roasted George with very colourful vernacular.

You'd have to explain to Penny why you were swearing in her bar again. But you had a more pressing predicament than wondering what might happen in the aftermath of that experience, which would presumptively have Hangman's callsign back on the sign in the bathroom.

Even with a broken heart, you felt like you were a child being allowed to sit in the front seat of a car. Under the scrutiny of an "I'm not mad, just disappointed" parent driving you home from school. White hot anxiety coursed through your veins with the assumption you did something so incredibly wrong; you just didn't know what.

Rooster was eerily silent. Next to the roar of his engine and AC fan, the silence was constructing. Suffocating. He should be gloating, listing off all the ways you ignored him, ignored the team that day on the soccer field. All the ways he was going to hurt Hangman the next time he saw him.

It was driving you insane.

"Are you going to gloat? Say, I told you so?" you finally huffed through your tears when it became too much. "Hangman did what he does best?"

"Not today, Liz."

Out of all the things you expected him to say, that was not one of them. It almost made it worse. Like you were genuinely expecting a verbal argument, and the fact you weren't getting one was making you pout like an actual child.

"I'm sorry for what happened," he offered eventually, after a pregnant pause. A horrible scraggly sound accompanied your hiccup.

"I should never have let Sadie invite him to Saturday nights."

"No, I'm sorry for what I said in your hallway," he countered. "For the way I acted."

Ironic, isn't it? The person you knew to be the most childish when expressing his emotions was sobering your petulant thoughts and behaviour. Even when your mind and obsessive internal dialogue went, why the fuck did he think now was a good time as any to apologize?!

You dropped your chin to your chest. "But you did," you huffed, hugging yourself against the sudden chill. “In front of Sadie, no less.”

Had you turned your head, you would have seen Bradley nodding absentmindedly, his eyes staring blankly at the road.

“It was uncalled for, Liz. The fact you felt you needed to hide it from me….” he trailed off. You sniffed, wiping at your cheeks, letting him gather his words. "I get it. Why you didn't. I wouldn't have taken the news differently even if you had told me. It might have been worse."

“Still, I should have told you,” you offered, shaking your head before staring out the window, watching the trees blur by. “Not that it matters now.”

Bradley gritted his teeth, hands flexing on the steering wheel. He wanted to mouth off. Not about you ignoring his warnings but all the ways Hangman was a complete and utter cock.

He couldn't. You didn't deserve that in the fragile state you were in. Fragile wouldn't even be in the vocabulary of words Bradley would ever use to describe you. Hangman had made you like this, played you and your feelings.

It was never going to be your fault. He had realized that after the fight. When he promised he'd be there for you and Sadie, he didn't know what that meant or what it looked like.

A punch to Jake's face? Hearing it after the fact? Not actually being there to witness it? Him rambling off all the things he hated about Hangman? Ultimately, Bradley could only offer a measly retort of, "He's an asshole."

You swallowed hard. You couldn't deny Bradley's remark.

Jake being an asshole at that moment was him being Hangman, a side you thought you'd never have to see. For him to so readily agree with George, there was no other way you couldn’t interpret those words as anything but him playing you, using you.

Had he not given you that condensing grin and spoken those words, you might have believed he was merely being triggered by the presence of his brother.

You should have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. You felt foolish, naive, and utterly lost. The grief of losing Ridley was and had always been a constant companion, but this felt different. It was the realization that you had let him in and allowed him to become a part of Sadie's life and yours. You had trusted him, and he had betrayed that trust in the cruellest way possible.

You just wanted to know why? Why he lashed out at you? Why did he act like he cared when he didn’t?

Why? Why? Why?

You’d never get an answer from him now. You wanted to stay away from him, ignore him, avoid every mention or instance of him and his fucking callsign. The wall was back up, and it would never come back down. Instead, fixing your eyes on his dashboard, with no judgment in your voice, you asked Bradley, “Why Roo? Why did you lash out like that?”

Bradley sighed once, tapping his thumb against his steering wheel.

“Loving any of us is a death sentence, Liz. One day you might wake up and find one of us is gone. Just like that.” He shuttered in a breath. “I think, in some twisted way, I wanted to spare you the pain of losing someone you were in love with that way.”

He tried to find the words to explain his next point delicately, but there was no other way he could say it to you without not getting his point across. “You don’t handle grief well, Liz. You barely found the strength to carry on had it not been for Sadie.”

You huffed, knowing deep down he was right but doing absolutely everything in your power to keep denying it. You weren’t doing this today. If not, ever.

Bradley heard you but continued anyway, leaving your reaction tucked away for later. “I didn’t want you to end up like my mom. Sadie to end up like me. Cause him? He always flew like he had nothing to lose; he would do something foolish sooner than later. You would be left to mourn him. For Sadie to mourn him. I didn’t want that for you.”

He paused, letting his words sink in. Yet, you blurted out suddenly, "You need to go to therapy, Roo."

Bradley laughed softly. You looked over at him, slightly worried he might be having a fit. But it was a genuine reaction. And despite everything, you caught a tiny smile tugging at the corners of your mouth.

You shouldn't be laughing. Not with the heavyweight still pressing down on your chest. Yet, sitting next to Rooster as he drove you home, his laughter was the only thing that seemed to be cutting through the heavy fog weighing over you.

Nothing could be done to suppress the laugh that bubbled up inside your chest. Bradley's grin widened, his laughter louder when he realized you were fighting your own. You couldn't help but join him. Whether the pain in your chest was from the laughter or the heartache, you couldn’t tell.

When the two of you finally managed to stop laughing, Bradley admitted with laboured breath. "I am, actually."

You turned to face him, utterly shocked. "Since when?!"

"Two days after." He doesn't need to be explicit. You know what he's referring to. "There's someone on base. I've only had one session so far, but it's making me realize I should have gone sooner."

You stared at him in disbelief.

If he had told you that, come to you while you were still working, or if he had called or even texted, you would have forgiven him instantly. You couldn't hold what he did to you against him after an admission like that.

"I'm proud of you, Bradley," you said, wiping your nose. "I really am."

He glanced over at you, a level of warmth in his eyes. “I needed to hit rock bottom and get a push by a few people. People who cared.”

His response was cryptic. It couldn't have been just you and Sadie, not after how you screamed at him or after Sadie kicked him out. Or even anyone on the Squad. It made you wonder who was his catalyst for the sudden change of thought. For now, you were just glad he was getting help.

You gave him a small smile, making Bradley reach over and grab your hand, squeezing it tightly. You gripped it back, but when he went to let go, you tightened your hand in panic.

"Just... Don't let go. Not yet."

Bradley didn't let go, driving one-handed the remainder of the journey back to your house. The two of you didn't say anything else. You sat silently even when he pulled into your driveway and turned off the ignition.

You didn't want to get out of his Bronco. You didn't want to walk into your house and see all the traces of Jake. You didn't want to gather his things in his bag. Leave them on the front porch, or change the spot for the emergency key.

But that was what happened when you went through a breakup, right? These were the things that needed to be done.

Bradley broke the extended silence, his voice deep and gentle when he asked, "What will you tell Sadie?"

Sadie.

You paused. You didn't really need to think about your answer. Just the weight of what it truly meant to say it out loud.

"The truth. As I've always done."

This was your worst fear about dating. The one that arose when you became Sadie's guardian. The one that so precariously dangled over your head when you told Jake you were a package deal. It wasn't the threat of betrayal, wasted time, or memories turning bittersweet.

As bad as that was at the Hard Deck, as broken and in pieces as your heart was, telling Sadie would be worse.

Jake broke your heart.

Now you had to break Sadie's too.

You glanced at Bradley, searching his eyes before asking him quietly, "Wanna come with me to pick her up from Penny's?"

Bradley smiled, nodding softly.

---

It was the eighth time the F-18s had flown this exercise this week. Coyote, Rooster, Hangman, and even Maverick, all had taken turns flying it with each other, in pairs, to navigate an imaginary narrow terrain.

Had Hangman been paying more attention, he would have questioned the sudden need to practice this particular exercise repeatedly and why it was just them, not Phoniex, Bob, Payback, and Fanboy. The first few times had been a simple flight test, learning the route, the twists, and the turns.

He was never more ruthless than in the cockpit, especially now. All that was child's play compared to some of the stuff he had done throughout his Naval carrier.

But today's addition? They wanted to see how they handled the pattern while dog fighting.

Rooster had decided to make it personal.

"Come on, Hangman!" Rooster taunted through the comms. "Is that all you've got?"

Hangman gritted his teeth, his hands gripping the controls, knuckles white. He was pushing his jet to the limit, narrowly avoiding Rooster's ‘fire’ as the alarm from the targeting system filled his cockpit.

The turn in the valley afforded Hangman the opportunity for some leeway to move out of the way. Barely.

"Come on! You're flying like a rookie today!" Rooster taunted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Thinking about what you did to Liz?"

Hangman's jaw tightened, and he forced himself to focus on the controls. "This isn't the time, Rooster," he snapped, but the cocky twang had lost its touch.

Rooster just laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. "Oh, I think it's the perfect time. You need a reminder of what a colossal fuck-up you were."

"I know what I did," Hangman growled, banking hard to the right to avoid Rooster's aggressive maneuvers. The asshole was gaining on him, even with how carefree he seemed to be with his taunts.

"Still thinking about Liz?" Rooster's voice was a sneer, crackling through his headset, and Hangman could hear the satisfaction. "Maybe that's why you're losing."

"Focus on the fight," Hangman snapped, anger boiling in his chest.

"Oh, I am," Rooster replied, his voice crackling through the headset and dripping with contempt.

The mountainsides and the green of the trees were a blur as Hangman and Rooster approached the end of the valley. Hangman could hear his heartbeat against the sound of his own breath in his oxygen mask.

Rooster didn't need to say the obvious aloud. Hangman was thinking about you. He couldn't shake the image of your face from that night.

Broken. Sad. Devastated.

He wanted to close his eyes, get lost in the moments when he would awake in your bed, finding you next to him. In your touch. In your voice.

When he hadn't fucked it up.

But he couldn't.

He rolled the F-18 over once he was clear of the mountains and the flight pattern, finally able to use open space to retaliate and flip around. There was only a few seconds left in their time limit.

If Rooster wanted a dogfight, he'd given him a dogfight while he still could.

"Where are you? Where are you?" he drawled aloud. He kept his eyes on the sky, searching for any indication Rooster was nearby as the seconds ticked away. But he was nowhere to be found.

"Time!"

Hangman didn't trust Rooster would listen to Maverick's call. He'd even go as far as to admit the man was almost like him, dead set on proving a point when it mattered. At least Hangman could demonstrate some restraint.

Sure enough, Rooster's voice echoed as his plane came into view. Swinging up and hanging upset down from directly under him.

Inverted.

"Forget to look below?"

Hangman finally had enough.

"Want me to take one out of your book?!" he yelled, staring up through the glass, never once taking his eyes off Rooster as he jolted the stick to the side, rotating the plane over in time with Roosters.

Into a damn spiral dive. A fucking corkscrew.

Rooster grunted with the effort of withstanding the Gs on his body. Hangman was no different, bracing hard as he fought against the controls. Neither one listened to Mav shouting over the airway or the different tone alerts signalling information.

"You think this proves something?" Hangman's voice was cold and ruthless even though he gritted his teeth. "Break off now, and maybe you won't embarrass yourself."

"Embarrass myself?" Rooster spat back. "Like you did with Liz?"

His response was automatic, like reading a script he had long since memorized. "Life is hard, Rooster. It's cruel and unforgiving. You can either whine about it, or you can face it head-on. You think you're going to prove something, kid, by keeping me here?!"

"Watch me!" 

The world faded out. Nothing mattered but the two pilots, locking in that spin, seemingly staring each other down. 

Yet, Hangman was completely unaware he was running out of space. The Terrain! Terrain! Pull Up! Pull Up! was background noise on muffled ears, as were Maverick's increasing shouts for the pair to stop and break away. 

He was too caught up in everything to care. Rooster would have to break away first. He wouldn't give out.

He wouldn't let him win. 

But then a voice, soft and delicate despite the alarms, shouts and struggles of the Jet's engine broke through the haze.

Jake.

It was a blast of bright light like the sun suddenly blinded the corner of his eyes. For whatever spoke to him, it had been as close as he had ever been to hitting beyond the hard deck. He finally pulled up on the control stick, saving himself just in time and avoiding hitting Rooster. 

His breath was harsh, anger on the edge of boiling over as he levelled the jet. And when he finally returned to the correct altitude, Hangman ripped the oxygen mask from his face, fighting the urge to hit something, as Rooster's chuckles filled the air.

"Hangman! Rooster! Get back to base. Now!"

---

"Do the two of you want to get kicked out?! How could you be so stupid!?"

Nat's question was rhetorical. Hangman and Rooster were stupid. It was so deeply entrenched into their entire being she knew she was wasting her breath by even pointing it out.

A reminder didn't hurt, though.

She had her eyes set on Hangman, but Rooster wasn't very off, sliding his way over to the blonde pilot who had only just started his post-flight checks after getting his jet back into the hanger.

He was deadset on ignoring her, not once glancing her way as she stomped toward him.

“What will Liz say when she finds out how reckless the two of you were?!”

His reaction made her pause; his hands froze from where they were adjusting a valve. Had she turned away, she wouldn't have caught the grimace on his face - however slight or brief it made have been.

“Oh, you didn’t hear what he did?” Rooster called out, smirking from his perch, leaning against a nearby table and crossing his elbows. He may have promised not to gloat around you, but the squad was fair game.

"Liz even slapped him for it too."

Confusion, shock, and pure anger crossed her face in the three seconds she took to glare at Jake. Heat laced her voice as she asked, "What the fuck did you do?"

Liz would never, she thought, only if she had to.

Jake bowed his head, slamming the panel of the jet closed with a hard bang. He turned, gritting his jaw and standing straight, ignoring Nat’s heated question. Rooster chuckled from the side, uncrossing his arms to stride forward.

“Oh, he did exactly what we expected him to,” he filled the silence. “He hurt Liz and left her out to dry, saying she and Sadie were nothing but a bit of fun to pass the time. And when she confronted him about it, he went right for the kill, not concerned about who he would hurt in the process.”

The rest of the Squad was nearby when they heard Rooster’s words, awaiting the fall out of that aerial display. They gathered around the pair, faces twisting with disdain as a dangerous silence befell the room, each looking from Rooster to Jake, reflecting varying degrees of disbelief, shock and, more predominantly, anger.

Jake's eyes were dark, his face tight with suppressed emotion. For a moment, it looked like he might lash out, defend himself, try to explain. But he didn’t. No one would believe him anyway.

"Damn you, Hangman," Phoenix whispered, her voice breaking. "We trusted you."

The room seemed to deflate as the truth sank in. Bob, who had been silent until now, let out a long breath, his face pale. He couldn’t help but think of Sadie. She would be devastated.

“So did Liz,” Rooster smirked, clearly enjoying the discomfort he was causing Jake.

Jake's eyes narrowed, his voice cold and defensive. "You think you know everything, don't you, Rooster? You abandoned her when she needed you most. For what? To prove a point? Now you’re acting all righteous?”

Something hard flashed in Rooster’s eyes. “At least I owned up to my mistake and apologized. I never pretended to be something I wasn’t! I never fucked around with her heart!”

Jake let out a condescending laugh. “You think she came running to you because she trusts you? She couldn’t even tell you she was seeing me. What does that say about you? She doesn't trust you as much as you think.”

Rooster grinned. “If that were true, she wouldn’t have come to me in that aftermath. After all, she asked me to drive her home,” he said mockingly. “We even went together to break the news to Sadie.”

Jake clenched his fist at the mention of Sadie, charging forward to ready a punch to Bradley’s smug ass face. But Bradley didn’t move, still smiling as Jake stared him down last minute as the Dagger’s jumped to Bradley’s defence.

Jake’s guilt over you and Sadie wouldn’t let him follow through on that punch. Bradley was sure of it. Even with the rest of the daggers looming around, he knew Jake would still be seeking your approval, even if you would never give it to him again.

How disturbing would it be for him to know little less than three weeks ago, Bradley had been at the end of the team's disapproval as they backed Jake.

The tables had turned. Nobody would stand behind him after what he did to Liz now.

The two were locked in an intense stare-down, Jake more rattled than he let on and Bradley unnerving calm. It wasn’t until there was a slamming of a door echoing from somewhere in the hangar did the Squad suddenly walk away from the feuding pair, not wanting to be caught in the crosshairs, already on their phones to message Liz. the only one who had stayed was Nat, wondering how she could have ever thought Hangman was capable of change.

“Rooster! Hangman! My office!” Maverick's voice boomed from somewhere within the empty hanger.

When neither moved or peeled their eyes away from the other, Mav’s voice rang out again, this time enough to rattle off the hollow steel walls, making Nat jolt from the force of it.

“Now!”

---

As a team, the Daggers celebrated everything. Maverick labelled it moral support and team-building. Jake realized long ago it was just his way of getting all the pilots out of the hangers to experience life. Not that he ever complained.

After the lashing he got earlier, it was surprising that he and Rooster were still invited. It was clear as day nobody wanted him here.

It was the second anniversary of the Urianum mission. The official anniversary of the creation of the squad. Jake missed the last one, so he wasn't sure what to expect. A beach party. A game of dogfight football. A bonfire.

Jake couldn’t care less what was going on. You and Sadie would have been here with him had he not snapped.

Somewhere down the line, everything had become blurred. The day he had been dubbed “Hangman” - they said he was surgical, precise, unfeeling - the perfect pilot.

It gave him purpose and confirmation. He’d even make the stretch to say acceptance. He embedded it. Cause nothing else mattered. It worked the facade. It kept people at a distance and shielded him from judgment and expectations.

But now? Things were different. You, Sadie… the two of you got under his skin.

Would you, would have anyone, listened to the truth after the fact? That he only agreed with George to throw it back in his face? To cockily stand up and remark that he was better off than he had been in years?

Then you heard him. Heard him agree with George and assume so readily it had all been a game. You had never believed he was everything his callsign represented.

You were hurt. Angry. And those words he uttered proved every word you had probably been told about him, words you had ignored. It stung, the words you had yelled back at him. You had given him a chance before, so why didn’t you have faith in him then?

The facade returned. He opened his mouth, and his father and George came out instead. Hangman came out instead.

He had sworn so long ago he would never become like them. Yet here he was, inflicting the same trauma and patterns onto you. He had proved he was just as capable of the same cruelty and manipulation his father was.

You would never forgive him after that. It’s what he did best.

The only person who seemed to stand being around him right now was Javy, but he had left to get another drink, leaving Jake alone next to their bonfire, missing you.

You would have been in his arms, lying up against his chest. The pair of you staring out to the water, watching Sadie hunt for sea shells like she hunted for bugs. He would have stolen a kiss or two, unashamed of the PDA, maybe even purposely putting on a show to intentionally piss off the squad and make you blush.

The two of you would have laughed at Sadie. Maybe he would have been tempted to get up, grab her, and topple the both of them into the water. Rooster didn't need to remind him of what he lost when the absence of both of you was staring him in the face.

"You hurt my aunt."

Well... he was half right.

"You're going to get the both of us in trouble," Jake called out, not bothering to look up from the sand. He knew she'd come for him sooner than later, no matter your wishes. With all your threats to Bradley about revoking his Sadie privileges, Jake never would have thought he’d be receiving those threats too.

Sadie stepped onto the tree log behind him, spreading her arms wide to balance herself before jumping, landing softly on the ground.

"Since when have I done anything I'm supposed to," she argued heatedly.

It took her every ounce of strength not to lay into him like she wanted. She was desperately holding herself back. Because this was extremely different than Uncle Roo hurting her Aunt's feelings.

Hangman messed with her Aunt's heart.

This one was on her.

"Who did you escape to get over here?” Jake still couldn’t bring himself to look at her, reaching over to grab a stick in the sand.

“Aunt Nat. She thinks I’m with Uncle Bob.”

You picked up a shift today where Aunt Penny was working with you. So when the offer to stay with Amelia or sit around at the Hard Deck for most of the afternoon, Sadie opted to join you.

Little did you know she had other ideas. When Aunt Nat came by to steal her away, to join the others with the promise she'd keep her away from Hangman, Sadie saw the perfect opportunity.

Aunt Nat didn't know her tricks as well as she thought. A mad and angry Sadie was a conniving Sadie.

Jake said nothing, choosing to poke the sand with the stick in his hand before adding to the fire.

Sadie knew he was stalling, making small talk to avoid talking about what he did. She had played that card enough to know when it was being thrown back at her.

But he was the grown-up. He shouldn't be pulling childish tricks. He should be the one who should be telling her all the grown-up excuses for why things just sometimes don't work out or, worst case, it was for the better.

Nothing was ever for the better.

She sat down on the opposite end of the log, reasonably close to Jake. She dug her nails into the bare skin of her thigh. She wasn't going to speak first. She had promised him so long along she'd come for him. He should know better than to expect she was here for anything else.

Yet, the words he finally uttered had her reeling.

"I don't know what the right thing is to say, Bug."

The thin sheet of ice Sadie holding her back cracked at the mention of her beloved nickname. He shouldn't be calling her that; he didn't deserve to call her that. Not after what he did. Not after what he said.

For one of the first times in her life, Sadie saw red.

She quickly reached down to grab a handful of sand, only to toss the tiny grains in his direction. Jake ducked, shielding his face with his arms. Sadie leaped up and tackled his exposed side, hands balling into fists. She didn't know what she was thinking or her ultimate goal by coming here and seeking him out. It was such a good idea at the time.

When it came down to being face-to-face with him, she was at a loss for words. Her obvious hurt overshadowed any sassy remark or comeback she could gather.

"Sadie! Hey, stop!" Jake's shouts of her name did nothing to stop her from pounding her tiny fists on his back. “Stop!”

"You don't get to call me Bug!" she hollered through her sobs, still trying to leave a mark, thumps on his back accompanying her cries. "You lost that right!"

She knew you wouldn't want her doing this. Her mom wouldn't want her to do this either. But sometimes, it was just too much for her to handle.

She didn't know how to react to something like this. The world was making her grow up faster than she wanted to. Now, she couldn't help but think about what it would throw at her next.

Jake slid off the log, twisting to kneel in front of Sadie while holding out his arms to protect his face. He was at eye level with her, finally seeing the damage he had wrought on the ten-year-old girl.

Sea blue-green eyes framed by shimmering tears, pooling at the edge, until Jake watched one linger down her cheek. It’s your favourite colour staring back at him, making everything worse.

"Why did you do it?!" she cried, still trying to hit him, arms loosening their strength by the second. "Why did you say it?"

"Sadie, stop!" his voice was starkly quiet compared to the sobs, both fragile and profound, catching in her throat. Still, Sadie wailed, "I trusted you! You were supposed to be her person! You made her happy! You reminded her she was worth it!"

With each remark Sadie threw at him, he couldn’t bring himself to stop her tiny punches. Or say anything this time that could calm her cries. It was so starkly different from the night he found her hiding in her bed because of that thunderstorm. She had been the one to jump into his arms, to seek comfort from him.

This time, he was the reason she was crying. Like that night, he wanted to tell her it would be alright.

He couldn't. In losing you, he had lost Sadie too.

Utterly weak, Sadie's final thump on his shoulder resulted in her gripping onto his shirt as she fell to her knees on the sand, face blotchy and patch-stained red.

"Why Uncle Jake?" her voice was small. Devastated. "Why did you have to hurt her like that?"

He tried not to look shocked. Sadie's voice was sudden, so unsteady and innocent-like, it was hard not to hide any reaction. She caught on instantly.

"Don't act so surprised," she snapped at him through her misery. "You know she tells me everything."

Jake felt the sharp glare of Sadie’s eyes on him, her small face always displaying a type of sternness that was way beyond her years. She was demanding answers, as horrible as they were.

He couldn’t avoid this conversation. You were… you had taught Sadie to be honest and, in her doing so, to expect honesty in return. He didn’t know how to be. How could he explain this?

He didn’t know where to start.

He wasn't going to say anything. Sadie knew that. Adults would rather hide their emotions and not speak about things. She pushed herself away from him, the little force she exerted rocking Jake’s body back, readying herself to get up and leave.

This had been a bad decision, after all.

“Did anyone tell you why they call me Hangman?”

Jake’s words made her stop, making her fall back into the sand, kneeling before him.

“It’s your call sign,” she said innocently. Jake frowned, biting his lip. “Did they tell you the story?”

Sadie copied the look on his face, thinking about it before admitting, “A little. I know you left someone behind.”

It sounded worse coming from the mouth of a child.

Jake sighed, rubbing his temple. “Yes… but there’s a little more to it than just that.” He couldn’t look her in the eye as he managed to form the words, “My father… he was a tough man. A lot behind the meaning of that call sign has to do with him. He left … scars. Sometimes, they make me act in ways I don’t mean to.”

Sadie’s eyes softened a little, but she still looked confused. “So that’s why you said those things? Hurt her?”

Jake looked down to the sand in shame, nodding once. “When I’m stressed, the anger… the frustration... It brings back memories. It’s easier to put a mask up… lash out. Even when it’s the wrong thing to do.”

"So apologize," she sniffed, shrugging. "Uncle Roo did."

"It's not that simple, Sadie."

She eyed him hard. "Yes, it is."

Her tone left no room for a reply. Who was he to refute the honesty of a ten-year-old who had seen more shit than anyone her age?

"I know you're hurting too," she said, her voice small and trembling. "But hurting others won't help, Uncle Jake.”

A sad smile crossed his lips. "I don't know what the right answer is, Sadie."

Sadie looked at the fire, watching the flames dance. She didn’t know the correct answer either. Adults would rather hide their emotions and not speak about things than admit they were wrong. But he had to try, right? Cause if he didn’t at all, it would only make it worse.

Maybe she could nudge him one last time.

"Do you still have the note I gave you when you helped me with my math homework last year?"

Jake stared at her momentarily before reaching into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet, and opening it to find the ripped piece of paper. He had kept it tucked away in the back pouch, even after all this time. Her writing was slightly smudged on account of her using a pencil, but he could still make out her words along the top.

I believe in you.

"I didn't randomly invite you to that Saturday Night," she started to say, watching him stare down at the piece of paper. "I invited you because you looked sad when you thought nobody could see you."

Sadie paused her words, searching his face for any hint of emotion, before she continued. "Because you needed to know people care."

"Your Aunt said something similar to my brother," he said, not looking up from the piece of paper. "That the only reason she allowed me to come that night was because you reminded her of something your mom believed in."

"Of course she did," she said simply as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She loves you."

Jake's hand clenched on his thigh involuntarily, his eyes turning away from the fire to the water. Growing up without love, without hearing those words, Jake was left wondering if he was deserving of such a remark.

How could he be anything else when all he ever did was self-impose an executioner’s noose around his neck, hanging himself with his own fear and self-doubt, always cutting himself off from what he craved most.

Hangman, indeed.

But Sadie wasn’t done - not by a longshot. Even with her tears, perhaps a touch quieter now, she managed a soft smile, telling him, “You taught me it’s okay to mess up, you know.”

Jake looked at her, puzzled. “I did?”

Sadie nodded, taking in a deep breath. “When you helped me with my math homework. I was struggling, messing up horribly. I wanted to quit. And nobody seemed to listen to me trying to understand till you came along.”

Jake was trying to see where she was going with this. Math and messing up a relationship were two entirely different things.

“But I was messing up because I was trying. And trying means the possibility of someday getting it right. I was so scared to mess up, but then you sat with me, listened, and made me realize it was even scarier not to try at all.”

“What does this have to do with …?” he trailed off, Sadie glaring at him as his voice died down. “You messed up, Uncle Jake. Bad. But that wasn’t the worst thing you could do to hurt her,” she stated, taking another deep breath. “It would be if you stopped trying to be better. Stopped trying altogether.”

Sadie thought about what Jake just told her about his family. Then she thought about everything that had happened over the last few weeks, the question she had once asked you about, the one that had plagued her until you made her recognize the truth.

"You're not your father, Uncle Jake. You're you.”

Jake couldn’t help the tears, as treacherous as they were, from pooling in his eyes as he lowered his head. He felt a tightness in his chest, a mixture of gratitude and pain, before he grimaced stiffly, huffing out, "It's a pretty messed up world we live in.”

Sadie didn't hesitate when she replied, "I'm almost eleven, Uncle Jake. I don't understand the world at all." Her bottom lip started to tremble, her eyes watering as she let out a sniffle. "But I know you never know when you'll say I love you for the last time."

Jake knew she was referring to her mom, her sudden death that night. But her words hit Jake differently. He recalled the moment he stood on Penny's porch and decided he'd try to take his chance with you.

You were still his possibility of someday. That had never changed. Like he thought then, time was something he was never promised. It was time spent well in the weeks he lived with you and Sadie. Small moments meaning the world, whether it was staying up to play a game with Sadie or waking up to see you sprawled out across his chest.

They were moments he thought he'd never have. Now that he had them, he was left wondering if he should spare you the heartbreak that came with loving someone like him.

Sadie's admission, and words of advice, were more damning than she knew.

He looked up from the sand to peer hesitantly at her face, not surprised to find another remark about to pass her lips.

"If you can't say you're sorry, my Aunt and I don't need to add somebody else to the list of people who've hurt us. So if you want to leave, go ahead but stay away," Sadie remarked, hiccuping as fresh tears streaming down her face.

Every word Sadie uttered hit deeper than any shitty remark his father or brother could throw back in his face. The façade he built, in the face of every slight to his character, was no match for a ten-year-old who had the ability to see through everyone's bullshit, including his.

He couldn't manage a reply. She had given him blows no physical assault could ever imagine reaching.

Sadie saw Jake's silence as a chance to leave. Aunt Nat wouldn't be gone for much longer, and she knew if she weren't with Uncle Bob soon, she'd cause a panic. She got up, rubbing the dirt from her hands, standing over the conflicted aviator with a face marred by sand dust and tears.

Sadie stepped forward to leave. But at the last second, she whipped around in a move that reminded him so much of you. Her voice was firm, scathing even, adding with a note of finality, “I won't be the one to stop you from leaving. And I won’t be the one to welcome you back either if you change your mind. If you're gone, stay gone. We can survive without you."

After shooting him a hateful glare, Sadie left Jake sitting in the sand, staring after her. She wiped her eyes as she ran, finding Bob sitting at the nearby bonfire with the rest of the team. He pulled her into his arms with a laugh, instantly handing over his marshmallow-topped stick with a smile as Sadie giggled, her sadness disappearing as she roasted Bob on the quality of his marshmallow.

Jake threw his head back to the sky, still kneeling in the sand, fighting the knot in his throat.

Damn, George.

Damn, his father.

Damn, Bradley.

Damn, you.

And in some ways, despite not wanting to admit it…

Damn, Sadie.

He didn't know how to make this right. But he wanted to. He had to.

That had to be enough.

Right?

.... Ouch, Jake... And OUCH, SADIE!

Tags:

@blue-aconite @tinytotontheoversizedpony @djs8891 @caitsymichelle13 @startrekfangirl2233

@mayhemmanaged @ereardon @dempy @shanimallina87 @teacupsandtopgun @daggerspare-standingby

@phantomxoxo @formulapierre @eli2447 @fulla02 @blckgrl-sunflower @mizzzpink @ohgodnotagainn

@bubblegumbeautyqueen @sarahsmi13s @desert-fern @lynnestra44 @memoriesat30 @penwieldingdreamer @mxlanciia

@bradleybeachbabe @bobby-r2d2-floyd @lavenderbradshaw @roosters-girl @lovinglyeternal @kmc1989 @gigisimsonmars @dakotakazansky

@keyrani @craftytrashprincess @hisredheadedgoddess28 @abzidabzy @memeorydotcom @vicsnook @taestrwbrry

-Wickett ;)

Part 17 - Come a little bit Closer coming soon.

[klaus-littlestwolf]

Random Thought

The Mikaelsons at Hogwarts: Students and Teachers

Elijah Mikaelson:

Student- He would absolutely be a Ravenclaw but that one Ravenclaw who is smarter than everyone including the teacher and yet never turns in the homework at all (but passes all his OWLs with Outstandings every time). Elijah was also a very talented Quidditch player, enjoying his role as a Keeper and staying on the team all 6 years after his first year watching from the stands and becoming obsessed. He actually went on to play on a professional team for quite some time after school.

Teacher- He would probably teach Ancient Runes and while everyone would hate the class they would love him and appreciate how he actually makes the class enjoyable. He would be best friends with Professor McGonagall 100% and would be one of the toughest graders in the entire school despite being generous with his help

Klaus Mikaelson:

Student- Klaus would be a Slytherin and while he would be cocky about it to everyone, he would actually hate it and believe that he was destined to be everything his father told him he was. However he would eventually let go of that worry as his best friend (who is a Hufflepuff) constantly tells him how smart and good he really is and will stick up for him to everybody that teases him in anyway (despite the fact that she cannot stick up for herself and Klaus has to do it whenever someone makes fun of his sweet, innocent friend). He is a talented student and excels in potions and charms, often Hexing whatever Gryffindor was mean to his sweet Hufflepuff for being friends with “evil wizards”.

Teacher- Klaus would teach Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid and he would be the only one who could reign him in, though he also enjoyed Hagrids love of creatures and helped him learn about them (even gaining the trust of the werewolf pack in the Forbidden Forest as well as being on good terms with the Centaurs). He would also teach an elective Muggle Arts class for students that love to be artistic to have an outlet in a school where such things aren’t considered important, wanting students like he would have been to have somewhere to go and not feel judged for being different.

Kol Mikaelson:

Student- Kol would probably be a Hufflepuff and while he would be the kind of student that coasts along the middle when it comes to grades, he would be friends with almost everyone regardless of their house. He would be incredibly talented with Charms of any sort (including Jinx’s and Hexes) and teach his friends more than their own teachers did on a regular basis. Kol would be one of the most talented wizard in his year by far.

Teacher- As a teacher Kol would definitely be the fun one that every student loves. He would teach Charms class and take it very seriously even while still allowing the students to enjoy themselves. He would be a hard grader but also be the type to help students and offer extra credit to kids that are actually trying their best and just not being the best in Charms. He’s also the kind of teacher who would happily try and help his students to find a class they enjoy and excel in, often signing his kids up for Hagrid and Klaus’ class. Kol was also very prone to creating his own charms which often ended with him visiting Madam Pomfrey at least once a week.

Rebekah Mikaelson:

Student- Rebekah would be a Ravenclaw like her older brother but she would focus on her studies far more than Elijah did. She would be a good student but would definitely excel more if she wasn’t constantly hanging on whatever Slytherin boyfriend she had that month. Rebekah would always put too much effort into whatever Slytherin boy was interested in her

Teacher- She would teach Herbology, loving her garden that she had been given permission to grow herself in a special clearing in the Forbidden Forest. She became good friends with Professor Snape and often grew unique plants for him to use in his advanced potions or stock his stores with things that were hard to find (as very few witches in the world were as talented in Herbology as Rebekah) or were too expensive. She was a fantastic teacher and very easy on her students, taking the time twice a week to have an advanced class for students who wanted extra credit and to learn harder material

Klaus Mikaelson Masterlist

Elijah Mikaelson Masterlist

Kol Mikaelson Masterlist

Random Thoughts

[littledigits]

That time when working in animation made me realize I needed therapy

Since we're on the topic of overworking / being passionate in animation and blah blah blah.  I want to share my story about working on the first season of Hilda (for context I was the animation director), specifically..how completely garbo my mental health got because 

I INSISTED ON WORKING MYSELF INTO THE GROUND. 

This is a story I've shared when I've had a chance to do lectures or talks, and if there is one really awesome thing that comes with ..weird ..animation clout, its that you can use those powers for good in terms of teaching people about the BS that comes with the job...anyway.

The reason why I like to talk about this is because I insisted on doing it to myself, and that was really got me thinking about the factors that do lead us into over working. Because heres the deal

Hilda season 1 was, without getting into too many details, a heckofatime...especally for the core crew. we were a small group, doing something new because most of us haven't worked on a show before that included pre production. My entire career up to that point had been working on service work for shows that were created in Burbank, so the new pipeline had a ton of challenges. We did all care, and we all believed in the project SOOOO much. I would tell people not to work over time, because I want my team to leave on time - but I was there...a lot. Leaving the studio by 11pm , working through the weekends..it wasnt an uncommon thing for me. sure , it wasnt all the time, but this stuff spans years sometimes so it went in waves. But whenever the challenges came up, i doubled down. because I super believed in it.

  And the thing was - other people told me to stop. I had a lot of valid concerns given to me by my friends and team members who saw how I was burning myself out at both ends. And I thought like, well , its my *choice*.  Its my chance to have a voice and be creative and try to do something different and we all have to push ourselves and yes its HARD but. THATS HOW YOU DO IT RIGHT? surely if I just make sure I’m the one overworking and my team isn't.. that's fine. 

Well, no, I was immensely effecting my team maybe I wasn’t telling them to work late, but they were seeing me get more and more tired and stay later and later.  I thought they would still approach me for help, or if they struggled. But the issues they had they kept to themselves without wanting to put more on my shoulders. Because they *cared* , just as much as I did ..and we all took more on our shoulders then we should have and there were a lot of things that I could have solved had I fostered a better communication environment.  I became really resentful in my head over the smallest things, I actually saw myself becoming a more hateful person and easily annoyed. I came home every day rambling about the frustrations. Now, let me preface this by saying - my mental state did not only have to do with overworking. I had and have things still to unpack, but the control I had over work and the validation I got from it was a coping mechanism for me. I really didnt think i had any worth as a person outside of this job. It basically was a very nasty cycle that didnt stop until ...well I had gotten so bad I had to.  By the end of the first season I was actually incredibly close to quitting . I was in big anxiety attack territory because I was so worn thin- I had started therapy but eventually moved onto getting medication as well and that was what allowed me to stick it out. ( I have the same therapist and I am on the same meds, it was very hard to do at the time, but i cant imagine my life now without making that choice ). After it was done I was immensely supported by the studio and worked part time as a trainer, which is what i requested to give my brain a break. (Only a few of my closer friends knew how bad I was getting but it was pretty obvious I needed to rest) I'm really proud of the work we did and we keep doing on the show, ..and some other people may have gone through something similar and found it was worth it, but thats not me. I still struggle not to fall back into that mindset, but it helps knowing that if i keep myself out of it , i can help my team out of it, because I know they care about this show just as much as I do. I’m not a martyr, I am a leader, and its up to me to keep myself healthy so I can keep my crew healthy.   I always strive to be better, but i get to decide what that looks like - and for me ..better has nothing to do with the image on the screen. Its got more to do with the experience of the people around me. Readjusting those priorities has helped a lot with keeping my head above water and not add to the pressure that makes it so hard not to get sucked down in the first place.  I do think its good to talk about though , how our passion and language and drive can lead to a lot of us being a part of this cycle. And if theres one good thing about the challenges, its sharing them so at least others can learn faster then you did ;) . take care of yourself friends.

[disastardly]

Have an assortment of Mystic Force headcanons that I've accumulated since I started rewriting CoD/CoL (now known as Emergence and ???):

Madison is an unabashed niche horror movie aficionado. This always surprises people, but she could talk about early 90s SOV, giallo, or the evolution of the slasher film for ages.

Her happy place in Briarwood is an old movie shop. They know her by name there, and always have recommendations among the new finds.

Briarwood itself is a super hippie town. Drum circles in the park, vegan bakeries, a huge pride parade every year. They're on the forefront of both marriage equality and cannabis legalization, even by California standards.

Nick has lived EVERYWHERE. His parents moved for work constantly, and so he and his sister have lived on every continent except Antarctica.

Xander and Chip are incredible cooks. Nick is pretty good too. Maddie is passable, and Vida is a complete disaster. Do not let Vida near a kitchen.

Leelee inherits the Vampire Queen throne after Necrolai/Nikki is turned human. She's surprisingly good at it. After some bumps, her rule becomes an unparalleled time of peace for vampires.

After high school, Chip tries a million things, and he's pretty successful at most of them. He takes over his uncle's farm, starts a meadery, does freelance alchemy, runs the local COUNTV chapter, and helps train new knights and wizards, and that's just the everyday stuff.

Leelee works to improve human-vampire relations, and teams up with Chip to help smooth things out. He begrudgingly helps, but warms up to it eventually.

Maddie and Xander are the only ones of the core 5 to go to college. Maddie studies film and Xander gets a business degree (so he can manage Chip's constantly-growing sprawl of ventures).

Vida goes on tour. She wins her first Grammy a year or two later, and eventually goes the Trent Reznor route of scoring films. It starts with Maddie asking for help with a hard-to-score film and spirals from there.

Nick gets taken on as an apprentice at a body shop. He's a prodigy with fixing things, especially vehicles, and when the owner decides to retire, Nick buys the shop off him. They mainly fix cars and motorcycles, but if you have something no one else can fix, he'll take a crack at it.

Maddie's first film does numbers on the smaller festival circuits; her second film is screened at Cannes and wins a Palme d'Or.

In Briarwood, everyone knows they're the Rangers, but the knowledge doesn't travel very far outside the borders. A few people know, but it's such an open secret that it almost never comes up. It's just a fact of life in Briarwood, so most people never really mention it.

[golden-eye-ramblings]

Moore Tomato Headcanon Dump Part 1

Yea ok so I caved this was an inevitably, I need to join in on this. Mashle gives me crumbs so I make bread with it(also sorry no cool gif of Moore he shows up like 3-4 times but you can still admire his handsome face)

----

Moore Tomato

Height: 6ft/184cm

Age: 18

Birthdate: August 9th

Sign: Leo

Gender: Uhhhh??(Agender he hates labels)

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Demiromantic Pansexual(<- he doesn't know the name of these he's purely going off of vibes)

• Likes rock music. Has a record player in his dorm and one at home so he can play his favorite bands

• He is also in a band! It's your typical 4-person garage rock band he started with his friends. He's not entirely committed, but he still shows up for practice(he is actually really good at playing guitar but he downplays his music skills hard)

• Favorite food is tomatoes... Yes he is aware of the very obvious joke.

• He also often prefers being called by his first name than his surname. For obvious reasons. Mr. Tomato isn't a name to be taken seriously...

• Often teased as House Lang's mascot(wolf wulfes joke here). Hates it. Because they don't know how true they actually hit the mark(put a pin in this and stick it in ur brain we're coming back to this later)

• Son of Mr and Mrs Tomato and is the eldest of 5 siblings. The Tomato Family Tree is extensive...

• Moore's family is quite the rowdy bunch, well known beast tamers with their unique summoning bloodline magic Wulfes. Well known for using "pack tactics" in order to subjugate magical creatures.

• Each Wulf is unique to each corresponding member of the family, size varies as well depending on magic aptitude and hierarchy status within the family. With Mama Tomato's Wulf being the largest and strongest with Moore's coming in second.

• The Wulf Bloodline Magic originally was a curse. Though with each generation, that curse eventually was twisted and evolved into the wulfes magic known within the family today. Unfortunately, for Moore, that curse eventually circled back to him.(aha see it circles back)

• Moore is cursed with lycanthropy. During every full moon, he will transform into a werewolf. It is an incredibly painful and terrifying process, as his body will actually physically change. Aching joints and bones growing and breaking and healing, muscles tearing and mending, fur and hair growing. Actually feeling his intelligence and awareness dwindle. Worst yet, he will not remember a single thing he does whenever he transforms.

• He often treats this condition of his as a form of chronic illness. There's not much he can do about it, no known cure as far as he's aware of. So he kinda has to deal with it every time it happens. He becomes irritable and moody whenever a full moon is coming up, so he often pays a visit to the nurse so they can help deal with his transformations. On the days he cannot make it to the nurse however, he often just fucks off to the woods and prays he doesn't get lost when the following morning comes.

• Very few people know of his condition. That being select members of staff, his family and those he considers to be extremely close friends.

• Comparatively to most other known Lang students, Moore is known to be the most... Approachable, despite his rather blasé disposition. While not nearly as ambitious, he still very much prides himself in his abilities. when it comes to succeeding his goals all on his own without the use of underhanded tricks or a sense of crude superiority over others(or whatever the fuck was happening in the Magia Lupus he doesn't wanna be associated at all with that mess). He is extremely independent and rarely asks for help, making him a bit of the odd one out given how tight knit/close his family is(insert wolf pack joke here).

• After the events of the Divine Visonary Exams, Moore found himself spending more time with that Adler student he teamed up with during the trials... Hmm...

[little-luna-llama]

Starry dreamers magical girl au: financier cookie!

Financier is 19 years old, she's got perfect grades, a perfect boyfriend, a seemingly perfect girl everyone wants to be.

Only she really isn't, shes self sufficient out of necessity and works her ass off for her scholarship, she wants to go into law and at first has a deep detestation for delinquents, no true friends and a crippling fear of rejection.

Through moonlight cookie and the seastar spyglass owned by eclair she is introduced to her starpet: genevieve. The doe of her heart reminds her to be gentle with herself and others, to learn to run with the herd and stand on her own legs. Genevieve is the source of financiers powers, much like how financier is the source of genevieves. Outside of her dreamer form her power manifests as a aura reading. She can see people's true feelings, when they're saying one thing but really don't mean it. Trust was hard to get before but now financier isn't afraid to give people a shot, knowing she'll be able to see the red flags. This becomes incredible important later on.

Clotted cream is the only person she's close to, her boyfriend. Everything comes before friends, everything benefits her more, and she cannot stand the idea of coming this far only to fail, or relying on others and having them mess up.

This obviously causes tension among the newly established dreamers, especially between her and wildberry . She tries so hard and eventually opens herself up more and more. Cream unicorn forces her into new social situations on the regular for the pair to navigate together, including financier and clotted realising that they're 1000% a better team over a couple(no hate to clotticier, I do ship them but also they're a dynamic duo they eat) she also helps wildberry train them and eclair in self defense. As her load begins to lessen, she is quick to show up to help eclair research and writes down the starspeak he translates. She learns some empathy from wildberry, and the two start to go to the gym together when wild finds out she likes to go and when her drive lands her in a spot she can't navigate he is the first person she calls and he responds immediately.

When it comes to crunchy chip, she liked him. Her aura reading sort of... evolved? But even so she could see the good intentions when he spoke to wildberry, she met him at the gym and the cafe she works at and she will forever remember him eating a cake, in the moment she thought he was just eccentric, but she later realised that was probably the first cake he's ever eaten. The reveal shocked her. And angered her. But she found herself in a mirror of an earlier conversation with wildberry, only this time she's the one encouraging wild to take a break and assess the situation, meeting it with force won't work.

She doesn't know what to make of it except one thing: crunchy no matter what has an incredibly sincere manner. As soon as she stops being able to read it she knows something is wrong, and the day she catches a glimpse of it again....she passed out on the spot because it was so conflicted and messy and not what it's supposed to be. (This is the incredibly important thing)

When they save crunchy and bring him back to the starpet gardens she and uni teamed up with moonlight to cast a healing spell, one that will let crunchy dream again.

Also way way way into the future she meets his sister and instantly is like

✨️women✨️

[realbeefman]

your analysis of house md is so fascinating and it makes me wonder, what's your take on the g*od doctor? I find it hard to reconcile that they're by the same person but maybe there's an obvious reason behind-the-scenes why they're so different that I'm not aware of

had a long discussion with my mom (who has actually watched the good doctor in it's entirety, unlike me lol) about this ask.

i think it comes down to the intention with, and context within which each respective series was created. i'm assuming your ask is referencing the way autism is portrayed in each series, so that's what i'll focus on here.

house md is created in 2004, in an era of television where the antihero protagonist is becoming increasingly popular - house is coming out of an era of television that created iconic, enduring characters like walter white, tony soprano, and don draper. house very much belongs to this antihero craze, and he's written to intentionally be an asshole, who acts like an asshole to everyone around him, and continually ruins his own life.

house md isn't created to be an uplifting, heartwarming piece of television, with an autistic main character who is just trying his best in a horrible, ableist society. we, the audience, aren't meant to interpret house as autistic at all.

this is explicitly told to us in 3x04, "Lines in the Sand." (brief summary for context: the team treats a severely autistic 10 year old in the A plot, while in the B plot, house performs shenanigans throughout the hospital in an effort to annoy cuddy into giving him his old, blood-stained carpet back.) in this episode, cameron, acting as the audience, interprets house's behavior as him being resistant to change, which in her (the audience's) mind, is proof that he is autistic. however, the narrative reinforces again and again that no, actually - cameron is wrong, because he really is just doing this to get a rise out of cuddy. this is eventually reinforced when wilson, the voice of narrative reason and in this episode, the voice of our dear showrunner mr. shore, lies to cuddy about house having "asperger's" (autism) before later telling house that he isn't autistic - just a jerk who wishes he had an excuse for behaving like one. the episode ends by reprimanding the audience for having come up with such a theory - the answer is simple, he isn't autistic, just a jerk!

in stark contrast, we have the good doctor himself, shaun murphy.

the good doctor is an adaptation of a k-drama by the same name, and airs it's first episode in 2017. the american television landscape is an entirely different place, and antihero protagonists simple aren't in vogue anymore. attitudes towards disability are, on a surface level at the very least, changing, and america's tastes have changed as well.

shaun murphy breaks out onto the screen as an intentionally autistic character, in an era of television in which our hearts are meant to be warmed. unlike house, shaun's autistic traits aren't something that have been unintentionally included in the writing of his character, the fact that he is autistic is literally his defining character trait. shaun isn't meant to be a standoffish jerk, who goes about the hospital reigning abuse upon those around him and attracting lawsuits like a malpractice magnet. shaun is a severely autistic man, who is incredible at his job, and most importantly, we are supposed to like him.

so, on the one hand we have house, who the creator's didn't intentionally write as autistic, who was written in an era where douchebag's with a penchant for offensive behavior was vogue, and on the other hand we have shaun, whose autism is the reason we, the audience, are supposed to root for him.

while i do think there's a whole other laundry bag of complaints to address in the way in which the good doctor treats shaun as a character, and particularly in how the show itself portrays autism, i think those critiques are best left to somebody who has done more than a cursory overview of the show and a consult with their mother, and fundamentally, i do believe authorial intent is the major contributing factor to the difference in how these shows portray autism.

[secondratefiction]

head cannon, Bella's older sister and Carlisle has feelings for you. (No Esme)

Ok, this is completely unrelated to your actual request, but I fell down a rabbit hole last night trying to fact check a couple things... I did not realize there was a wiki for twilight fanon, and suddenly there were multiple Swan children that I had never freaking heard of before; and I honest to God thought I was having a stroke.

I figured it out eventually, but for a few moments there I was legitimately worried I'd finally lost it.

Anyway! On to what we're actually interested in:

-.-

- Technically, you're Bella's half-sibling, the child of Charlie and his high school sweetheart. Teenage hormones and all that fun stuff...

- To his credit, Charlie wanted to do the right thing, but your mother was pretty steadfast that a baby wasn't enough reason to get married. They stayed friends, and it worked out for the best as he met Renee when you were about 4.

- Charlie was good dad, super involved in your life, especially since your mother never moved away.

- You and Bella were close-ish, as close as you could expect to be with 5 years and over 1500 miles between you.

- Growing up, you'd wanted to help people, like your dad, and in pursuit of that you ended up in the nursing program at Washington State.

- You're not exactly sure what drew you back to forks - Lord know most of your friends couldn't wait to get out and never look back - but you were lucky enough to get an offer at the hospital that let you move back home.

- And that's where you met him.

- Doctor Cullen had moved to Forks with his family just about a year before you got back. Your father had always spoken highly of him the few times he'd come up in conversation. You're mother seemed quite fond of him too... in ways that seemed to irk your stepfather whenever he over heard her gushing about him to you.

- Not with out reason mind you... Carlisle Cullen was quite handsome, you had to give your mother that much. But he was also amazing at his work; not to mention incredibly kind and polite any time you had the opportunity to speak or work with him.

- Which was becoming a more and more common occurrence. Some of the other - jealous - nurses swore up and down he was making up excuses to see you, and special requesting you be part of his team for xyz, because he was either trying to sleep with you or already was.

- You liked to think you were standing on your own merits, and had just proven yourself good at your job.

- Partly because you were. But mostly because there was no way Dr. Cullen would need to work that hard to pursue someone he was interested in.

- Nurse Doris could keep her opinions to herself.

- For a brief moment you thought there might have been something there, but as soon as the signs started they quickly went away.

- Strangely enough that all happened to coincide with the time your sister moved back to live with your dad.

- Though you were still very close with the good Doctor, and - much to Doris's distress - his go to nurse.

- After the Cullen family's rather abrupt departure, you were more concerned with your sister and her failing mental health than whatever your coworkers were speculating about this offer from a hospital in San Diego.

- As much as it pained you, you were the one to first suggest to your dad that he send Bella to live with her mother. Clearly being in Forks with so many memories wasn't helping her.

- That went over like a lead balloon.

- Started doing suspiciously better after the beginning of the year, and you wanted to be cautious, but you also didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

- Turns out you should have. Maybe then you wouldn't have gotten a panicked call from Jacob about Bella and a bike accident, and have your sister begging you to "don't tell Charlie"

- Which is exactly what you should have done. Maybe then you wouldn't have gotten a panicked call from Jacob about Bella jumping off a cliff and then fleeing the county half an hour later.

- You were going to skin the girl alive the minute she set foot back in Forks.

- Good news was she did make it back alive and in one piece.

- Bad news was she came back with Edward in tow, and as much as you wanted to, you couldn't punch the little bastard in the face for the living hell he'd put your sister though.

- Like it or not, he was seventeen and you were a whole-ass adult.

- Well... at least there was one sort of silver lining...

- After a week of settling back in, Carlisle asked you to go to dinner.

- He said he'd made a grave mistake in trying to ignore his feelings about you, and he didn't realize how important to him you were until you were out of his reach. And he didn't want to waste any more time.

- Well... At least now the other nurses will have a reason to gossip.

(Ok, that's where we're going to call it, because this seriously got away from me. If you want a part two feel free to let me know!)

((pt 2))

[storiesofsvu]

Can you tell me about Elizabeth's role in homeland and house of cards?

okay, there are two slightly yet also VERY different answers to your question lol.

First: the short, sweet, imdb/wikipedia/netflix summary answer for you.

Homeland: Elizabeth Keane; -We meet Keane in season 6 as the President Elect of the United States (aka, this is the time between her winning the election her inauguration) and follow her journey to becoming the president at the end of the season and her slight downfall the next. We see her connecting (and making enemies) with the people on her team as she tries to navigate presidency. Personal facts we know: she's divorced, and we learn that her son was killed in combat in the middle east. -Homeland as a show itself: political drama, a LOT of political talk, the pacing is a bit slower and I have only watched the episodes Beth is in and even some of those I skimmed through lol. it's just not for me and some days i do find it boring.

House of Cards: Heather Dunbar: -Dunbar starts out as the solicitor general for government. She's previously taken the last president to trial and got him impeached because of it (im paraphrasing, don't come for me if that detail is wrong). President knows shes powerful and wants to get her on the supreme justice bench so she's not a threat in the upcoming election. She plays the reverse uno card and ends up running for president. Her eps/scenes are more scattered throughout 2-3(?) seasons and we eventually do see her downfall as the president fucks her over. Personal canon facts: she's married, has 2 kids, has been working the legal and political field for years, super experienced, also rich AF. -House of cards as a show: political *thriller*, I MUCH prefer it, the pacing is higher, there's a lot of darkness, double crossing, scandal, murder, sex and everything else going on. I think i've watched s2 to the series finale. It's also just an INCREDIBLE show from an analyzing perspective, costuming, hair and make up, cinematography, direction, acting, writing, ugh. it's so good.

the rest is going under a cut so this isn't five pages long. But here come the headcanons, the fanon lore and how myself and besties have perceived these characters/how we write them

Keane: -is a bad ass, has worked in the political field for years, she opposes the war (esp now that she's lost her son to it). We like to think that the divorce was brought on by their son's death, especially since she was not on speaking terms with him when it happened. -In DESPERATE need of therapy -After saying that, can go one of two ways; no therapy, we're gonna see the total isolation and internal turmoil and mental breakdown that lead to her nearly losing the presidency and thus stepping down. Our girl goes through a LOT of trauma in canon and it's never dealt with, she loses the one person on her staff who she truly trusted and is left surrounded by a team of people who are constantly stabbing knives in each others backs and she unfortunately chose to trust some of the wrong ones, resulting in even more isolation and downward spiral -With therapy, she'd be a little better at being able to read this kinda stuff and go about things in a better way -She can be super cold, standoffish, when things are professional, they are professional and there is a *strict* and very hard line between professional and personal relationships. She doesn't care how harsh or cruel something sounds in the oval, it needs to be said. if she's got to make it up/make it make sense to you when you're home, so be it. -Is low on patience, doesn't have time for bullshit -that being said, she can also be the absolute softest little beth-bear once she's in a diff environment and secure with your relationship -More masculine presenting -Also she is daddy -Can get kinky in the bedroom, but it is not always going to be kinky -Is *very* much about control unless she's absolutely 200% comfortable with you and is willing to be vulnerable -If she's had a bad day, she will absolutely be coming home to absolutely destroy you Heather: -Absolute bad ass bitch who is not afraid of going after what she wants, nearly to the point of not caring what takes to get it. (but normally does have her morals and ethics take over and she realizes that's not right). -Can get very power hungry and when she gets it, it's very easy for it to sneak under her skin and she starts to abuse it, that, linked with how much money she has, can lead to some bad decisions. -Lbr, she's kept grounded by her husband in like, all of these situations. -Grew up super rich, old money, family money, not snooty about it, but is also in the "it's one banana, how much could it cost?" circle. She invests, she knows how to be financially conscious so that that wealth doesn't deplete -Was on the fence about kids/a family, but did it because that was "what was right"/expected/knew that having a family behind her was the right image that she wanted to project when she got where she wanted politically/career wise. Thus, lots of house staff, kids had nannies and were sent to boarding school. She did not bond with them very well, esp at the school age and likely feels like she doesn't really know them until they're adults -Can be cruel and vindictive and toxic, all depends on like, literally one singular life choice that she made. (See, the power hungry up above). once she loses herself to that, there's no going back -Is Mommy. -Is also the kinkiest, dirtiest, hardcore bitch that we know -Enjoys a large variety of kinks, but is *always* the dom, sometimes not even letting her partners touch her. She uses the mommy title and expects it to be used back, if it's in private, she expects it outside of the bedroom too -Loves mess, loves teasing, resident brat tamer, her punishments are always extreme and sometimes can last days if not weeks or longer -Don't fuck with her -Obviously, sex is *always* kinky with her, there are no plain vanilla nights

Okay, so i don't really know what direction you were wanting me to go with that, but that's what you got LOL. feel free to check out either of their masterlists or hit up the inbox for more thoughts! <3

[all-things-normaler]

i wanna write fanfics but i'm not sure how to keep everyone in character and to write normal dialogue. do you have any advice? thank you!

Okay so, I've written fanfiction and roleplayed for nine years, and I know it's scary and hard at first, but eventually with enough practice, writing will become as easy as breathing air.

First thing I do is envision the scene in my mind, like a movie! What's the setting? The mood? What kind of characters are here? What's the plot? Materialize all of this in your brain and do not force yourself to make dialogue, it'll come up to you naturally. Think of yourself as the actor for all these characters, feel their emotions, study their motives, backgrounds, passions and even body mannerisms.

If you're dealing with a pairing or characters that correlate with each other, try to think. What are their similarities and opposites? Are they really all that similar or is it one or two few traits? This is where the Venn Diagram comes in! That's the method I've been taught at school, and honestly, I could make a list but the Venn Diagram helps me visualize things better. To be honest I have sharp memory to things I'm fixated in, so I don't do it physically, but it's very useful! And YES, while studying these characters annotate everything that could be useful in writing dialogue.

Do they have an accent? A lisp? Is there any vocabulary depending of where they were raised?

I have things to say about these things in dialogue and the first two are more personal and up to my taste.

Personally when people write "accents" that aren't like Country or Irish accents that actually have different words in the vocabulary, when you replace the letters to make the "sound" and in a way create new words, not only does it look messy, it IS messy to read! It's an unfortunate phenomenon in the Team Fortress 2 Fandom lol.

EXAMPLE: "Viz is not good. Vhat was a vad decision."

For these instances, use regional words and spellings for the dialogue, it says much more than what I've told you. Are they british? Use words like "favourite" instead of "favorite" etc. Trust me, the readers aren't dumb people, you can do ONE paragraph describing that your character has an accent and they would understand.

I think my gripe against that style of writing isn't only aesthetically but also because I'm bilingual (my native tongue being Spanish) so honestly, it would look a little offensive reading a fanfiction where my type of accent is typed like that.

When writing bilingual people ALSO avoid this:

Like prideling said, that one's a big example of what bilingual people do. Even in their own native language! I constantly forget to say "accurate" in Spanish lmao.

And we do not "switch" languages, we aren't Dora The Explorer. We can greet and talk normally to people. Only times I'd say bilinguals happen to jump back at their native tongue accidentally it's when they're surprised? It's happened to me, but for a very short time. Bilingual readers prefer to be represented with the struggles of knowing two languages and showcasing their culture throughout descriptive paragraphs over anything.

Anyway, moving on... DIALOGUE!

This is a classic. Do NOT get comfortable with the verb said. Try using other words like: exclaimed, announced, warned, shouted, whispered, etc!

The more you write, the more you'll learn about these verbs, adverbs and adjectives and it'll come handy tremendously. We don't want to have too much repetition do we?

I am also handing you this emotion wheel that will be incredibly useful if you're starting writing:

Speaking of repetition... Remember that thing I said about studying your characters? Try to avoid too much repetition of one word between the two characters. As you may have noticed people have a cadence and ways of speaking. If you do that a lot, people will break from the immersion and think it's you who's talking, not the character.

Another classic! SHOW, DON'T TELL.

If you're into writing, you'll probably have heard this saying before. All writers have committed this sin when they started writing, using adverbs and adjectives too obsessively instead of narrating how the character feels.

Is your character anxious? How about instead of doing:

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! What am I supposed to do now!?” He anxiously exclaimed.

We do...

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He tightly gripped onto his jet black hair and ripped it from his scalp into shreds. Pain was the last thing he cared about when a bigger torture was on his mind. His chest constricted, his lungs having less oxygen filled with hot air. The corners of his eyes burned, and his brain constantly banged to the corners of his skull begging to free it from this horrible outcome. The man started to lose his senses, he couldn't smell the horrible stench from his machines, or feel the bottom of his feet anxiously walking in circles, his fingers were getting tingly and numb. Onceler couldn't even see the insides of his destroyed mansion and the deforestation he caused from his window. All of it was a blur and too much too handle, the weight of his actions fell into his mind and stomach, forever scarred and stuck like that last stump in the middle of what used to be a vibrant Truffula Tree forest.

“What am I supposed to do now!?” He scratched his knotted throat as loud as he could, ripping his vocal chords. It didn't matter if he could hear himself now, he didn't listen to his real soul in the past, and now, no one will listen to him now. No matter how much he begged for help.

Alright, that was a little big example there haha! But you get it right? Here's a picture to help you visualize better.

Mind you, the first example isn't bad to use! Just don't constantly use it. It's good to show a story throughout the actions of your character!

Alright, what else... what else... oh yes!

Be mindful of spellchecking bots!

I'll be honest to you, I do use them! They come incredibly handy because sometimes I mess up verbs or I just simply add too many spaces or create typos without meaning to! But remember that bots are bots, and at the end of the day they don't have humanity. They're AI. Therefore, these bots might make suggestions to change certain words because they don't recognize it as part of the vocabulary, but if you do click on everything they suggest, your dialogue will become very robotic and lacking of stylization. Keep those peepers open!

Use a beta reader?

I never had one. To me, writing is a very personal thing and for me to have one, they would have to share the same fandom that I'm writing of to be trustworthy. Beta Readers can be useful because they can point out mistakes other than spelling ones. Something the bots CANNOT do. They can point out weird things in dialogue, plot holes, etc.

Learn of your narration voice.

The way you narrate is your brush strokes of art but in writing! What type of a narrator are you? The unreliable type? The classic? Or just a narrator with a god complex? Have fun with that! And remember, if you want to narrate not as a narrator or yourself but as one of the characters, REMEMBER to study the character. Basically, the first tip I gave you.

Stuttering.

Don't overuse it. And we don't always stutter like: "b-b-but!" NO! Instead, try slurring the words, and adding ellipsis (the three dots ...)

Not only is it more realistic, but it looks better on writing.

This image is something I struggle with too, but it'll be useful to see it now!

Honestly, my path for writing has been rocky and I raw-dogged this shit, so it's an honor being able to help you! If you ever have any doubts keep coming here! I love to get in more depth, but I've been making this post for like an hour already!

I think that's all I can give you for now! Lots of people that have read my fanfics and roleplays have pointed out that dialogue is my forte! It's rather flattering. As always, I don't give tips or boast about my writing without evidence, so here's a snippet of a Normaler fanfic I'm writing:

“I brought you some things. Water and a towel. Hopefully that's enough.” She handed him the materials and he gladly took them, opening the water bottles and damping the towels.

“Thanks. It's tomatoes. I doubt there's a lot to get me dirty with those.” He chuckled awkwardly, before rushing to rub the towel against his cheek.

Norma smiled, raising her eyebrows.

“I take it that you're a foreigner?”

“You can tell?”

“Your accent. Yeah.” Norma stretched her legs as she sat next to him. “You're one of those cowboys?” She grinned back at the man.

The Once-ler laughed, and my... did he have a goofy laugh. Not what she expected.

“I wish. It sounds like fun, but where I come from, rural life is pretty boring.” He continued to rub the towel against his clothes.

“Greenville doesn't like foreigners.” She explained bluntly. “They always come here with bad intentions.” She furrowed her eyebrows with a teasing smirk, causing the Once-ler to dramatically gasp, a hand on his chest.

“B-But I ain't coming here with bad intentions!”

[tobiasdrake]

Halara's turn for one final hangout sesh. Hopefully they won't break my kneecaps for failure to pay my debt.

Public space. This is good. It's hard to murder me in a public space. Then again, this is the same cafe where Fubuki drowned half of the clientele, and they still speak of her in glowing terms as the greatest barista that this place has ever known. So.

Oh shit, that is what this conversation is about. Look, if you give me a few more days, I can arrange for travel out of town. And then it won't be a problem anymore! For me. Specifically.

That's not true. I have a great plan. A fantastic plan, as a matter of fact. My plan is to hope the collapse of civilization happens soon and wipes out my debt so that I no longer have to repay it. Like most people struggling under late-stage capitalism!

My backup plan is to eventually die, causing all of my lenders to get screwed. *smug*

Because this is an elaborate ruse to justify a social call. Halara doesn't have friends. They have debtors. And they don't hang out with debtors. They meet to discuss the debt with their debtors.

Notice how they didn't answer the question? "Why are we meeting to discuss the debt in the cafe instead of the office?" was the question, but Halara explained the unbolded part which was never in question to begin with. They're waffling around the subject.

*nods sagely* Ah, of course. The Neo World Program.

Wait, no, what are you talking about? What kind of program is it? Like a social program? Magnifying glasses for tots?

OH MY GOD I LOVE IT.

Of course. Of course this is about cats. What else would it be about besides cats? Cats are Halara's hyperfixation. I love it. I'm about it.

I love this side of them. They shake people down for money so they can privately fund a feline rescue program. That's the best kind of awful.

Gentrification would hit different if the mafia was chasing you out of your home to build a wildlife refuge. Or an animal shelter. Or one of those puppy therapy places where you heal people's trauma by playing with cute baby animals.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Halara has put me into financial debt to fund their kitty dreams. And now, as a sincere gesture of our growing friendship, they've asked me to one day inherit their emotional debt to cats as a concept.

Asking the important question here. You're not offering me something; You're requesting that I take on your burden.

Okay but still. Does it, though? C'mon, Finance Them-slice. Meet me at the negotiating table here.

It's so hard to say "You are my friend and I value you" in too cool for this room language. Halara is attempting to have an intimate moment without compromising their hard-forged image and it is not going well.

And now that this incredibly awkward moment is here, they flee back to the comforting shelter of our meeting ruse. ^_^ Sure, buddy-pal, I'll get on that once of these days.

Can you imagine how heartbroken Halara would be if Yuma did somehow manage to pay his debt? How would we ever hang out together if they didn't have this excuse they could make for it?

I did not like Halara when we first met. Matter of fact, I accused them of murder. Said a lot of unkind things about them in the process. But they've grown on me a lot as I've gotten to know them and see behind the veil.

Suffice it to say, it's not that I don't like Halara but rather that I don't like Halara's persona. There's a genuinely interesting person hiding beneath the theatricism of a callous, unfeeling capitalist. They pretend to be a much shittier person than they actually are. Not unlike Desuhiko, as a matter of fact.

Fubuki's still my bestie but Halara's become my favorite character. Assuming the Master Detectives don't get killed off in a bloodbath of a finale, Halara's the one I'd be most interested in seeing a "Where do they go from here?" sort of sequel for.

The fact that they're our team's #1 cop-smasher helps too. I could watch Halara take apart Peacekeepers all day.

[lucy90712]

Pedri- Hurt

A/n: my requests are open so feel free to send me more requests.

wc: 1900+

Playing football professionally is great especially when you are at the top of your game but it's also a lot of pressure as you have to stay in peak physical condition and perform every match. I have been very lucky with these things so far as I haven't really had any big injuries and have managed to work hard and work my way to the Barcelona womens team. To start with it was incredibly stressful and I was just really overwhelmed but then I met my boyfriend Pedri and he really helped me become more confident in my ability and I've not looked back since.

With Pedri also being part of Barcelona we often get to go to training together but usually we aren't able to watch each other play as our matches are at different times and in different places but this weekend our schedules aligned and so Pedri is coming with me to my match. Knowing that he's going to be there has had me even more motivated than usual in training as I love to show him what I can do even though he already knows. When we go to each other's matches we are allowed to travel together as we are both part of the team which I love as I really hate flying so having someone to distract me helps. Pedri is really good at distracting me in general as before a match he will have me laughing instead of sitting in a corner panicking which is quite a feat as usually no one can stop my pre match panic.

Luckily this match wasn't too far so the flight wasn't too long but I still spent the entirety of the flight cuddled up to Pedri while we watched part of a movie. We watched the rest of the movie while on the bus from the airport which is normally when I start to get nervous but today I was still quite relaxed and that's all because I had Pedri with me. Once we had arrived there was still quite a while before the game so we had a lot of time to kill which pretty much always means just laying down together as it's relaxing and means we aren't doing anything that uses too much energy. To keep my brain focused on something other than the match Pedri put on our favourite show as he knows that I'll pay attention to that.

After doing nothing for a few hours it was time for us to head to the stadium but first I had to do my hair as I always find it hard to do when I'm nervous as my hands just don't want to work. I had already changed into the clothes we are supposed to wear into the stadium and was standing in front of the full length mirror trying to braid my hair as that's how I usually wear it during a match. Usually I'm very good at doing my hair as I've been doing it for years but for some reason I was really struggling to get it right today. Pedri watched me do the same part over and over again until he had clearly had enough as he got up and stopped me doing my hair before taking over. I just watched him in awe as I didn't think he would be any good at hair but he did it better than I do sometimes. Once he was done we headed down but along the way I had to ask how he knew what to do and he just told me that he's watched me enough that's he's learnt.

When we reached the stadium Pedri had to leave but I knew I'd get to see him before I go out on the pitch which made me feel a bit better. Like usual we did a warm up as a team before properly getting ready which is when my nerves really started to kick in and I took myself off to a corner like usual to try and calm down. My methods didn't work too well but eventually we left the locker room and Pedri was waiting for me right outside so I went straight over to him and he pulled me into a hug. He held on for a little while before pulling away and letting his hands on my cheeks to get me to look in his eyes.

"You got this love go show them what you're made of" he said

"I will" I replied smiling

"Go on I'll be cheering for you in the stands" he said giving me one last kiss and then left to go and sit down

We got out onto the pitch and before I knew it the game had started but I quickly got into the game and was completely focused on looking for space to run into or who to pass to. My methods seem to work pretty well usually and today they seem to be doing the same as after 20 minutes I got the ball and ended up running all the way to the goal and scoring. When I scored I searched for Pedri in the crowd and when I noticed him he was smiling ear to ear and gave me a thumbs up which filled me with even more motivation. Just after half time it happened again there was a whole lot going on but I got given the ball and had no one else to pass it to so I just went for it and the ball went right past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. This time I decided to do Pedri's usual celebration seeing as he was watching and plus it will give people something to talk about after the game.

Things were going well after I scored as I got the ball again and was making a run but then I was tackled and the other player completely missed the ball hitting my ankle instead. I heard a pop followed my a sharp pain going from my heel all the way up my leg. Right away I knew it was something serious as I've never felt so much pain in my life especially when I tried to move my ankle it was excruciating. I hate crying about injuries while on the pitch but this time I couldn't help it but I covered my face instead so now one could see. The medics were quickly by my side and asking me where my pain was and trying to assess me. They quickly worked out that I was not going to be able to continue so they helped me get up and walk off the pitch and straight down the tunnel to the physio room so I could have my injury assessed to know the extent of it.

I was laying there on my own for a while until I heard the door open so I looked up to see that it was Pedri not the physio. I tried to offer him a smile but I think it was pretty obvious that I wasn't actually happy and really was in a lot of pain. He came and stood by my side taking hold of my hand and rubbing it gently while he leant down to give me a kiss. With both of us being footballers he knows exactly what it's like to be injured and be worrying about if and when you'll be able to play again so he didn't bother asking me if I was alright because he knew the answer would be no. Instead he just sat by my side and had the game on his phone so I could still see what was going on which I appreciated as it distracted me for the pain.

Eventually the physio came in and did all the usual checks on my ankle as well as some other things before telling me that I'd been very lucky as I'd had a few tears in different muscles but my achilles tendon was ok so my recovery will likely be a few weeks instead of a few months. As much as it was nice to know that my injury wasn't as bad as it could be it didn't make the pain I'm feeling right now any better which is what was taking over most of my thoughts. Sadly the physio didn't do anything other than strap my foot up and give me some crutches so as soon as they left I tried to get up so that me and Pedri could go and get some painkillers.

Just as I was about to grab my crutches Pedri stopped me and instead picked me up bridal style so that I didn't have to walk at all. He first carried me to the locker room so I could get my things and see my team as the match was over now and we had won 2-1. When everyone was ready to go he carried me to the bus which was taking us back to the hotel so we could then go back to the airport and fly back home. Once we reached the hotel Pedri left me to pack while he ran and got some painkillers for me so that I could be at least a little more comfortable on the flight back. The entire flight and then drive back home Pedri kept checking that I was ok and if I needed anything and even when I said that I was fine he still melt an eye in me to make sure I wasn't lying.

When we finally got back home I was exhausted but there was still so many things I had to do before going to bed I mean I didn't even shower after the game so that's definitely top of my priority list. Once we got inside I finally got hold of my crutches and used them to make my way up the stairs to the bathroom which was difficult but I eventually made it only for Pedri to join me in less than a second and rush past me to turn the shower on for me. He helped me get ready and then left me to shower by myself but when I came out he had set clothes out ready for me which made me smile as it was some shorts and one of his hoodies which he wore the other day so I knew it would smell like him.

Once I had changed Pedri came back in the room with some food for the both of us which we ate in bed while watching my favourite film which I have seen a million times but I still love watching. After eating Pedri took the plates back to the kitchen but quickly came back and got into bed with me pulling me close to him straight away so naturally I rested my head on his chest so that I could listen to his heartbeat as I find it calming. We laid there in silence as he stroked my hair and I listened to the calming rhythm of his heartbeat for a while before I began to drift off to sleep so Pedri kissed my cheek and started to whisper in my ear.

“Goodnight my love” he whispered

“Goodnight oh and thank you for taking care of me” I whispered back

“No need to thank me I’ll be taking care of you until you are ready to get back to training anyway” he said

“Thank you” I said just loud enough for him to hear before I let sleep consume me