#this is 227 all over again

[a11eya]

BAKUGOU KATSUKI: MASTERLIST

MULTI-CHAPTER

lights will guide you home (27.1K) (IN-PROGRESS)

Soul-lights aren’t as common in this day and age as they were in the past, before quirks, but they’re common enough that people do still find their soulmates. At thirteen, you meet Bakugou Katsuki, and he lights up for you in orange and gold. You tell him he's your soulmate. He sneers and tells you that you aren't his. He makes your adolescence miserable until you part ways. You meet again as adults, late at night, in a grocery store, over a pile of bok choy. He apologizes for how he treated you when you were children. (In which you have a choice—to reject Bakugou's apology, reject him, or to let him show you the man he's become, to learn with him what it means to love and forgive.)

do you still think about me? (13.6K) (COMPLETED)

Okay, so you had the biggest, most embarrassing crush on Bakugou when you were both in high school. He was kind of your first love, if you believe in those kinds of things. But you got over it. It's fine. You see Bakugou sometimes at hangouts, at get-togethers. He's in your orbit, or you're in his, because of your mutual friends. You're all adults now, so it's fine. It's a little weird, but fine. You're supposed to be on vacation, at a place that's hours away from Musutafu. You're not sure what you've done to deserve it, but Bakugou's here too. And instead of both of you pretending the other doesn't exist, as usual, he's talking to you. He's everywhere. It's fine. (It's not fine.)

ONESHOTS

unfiltered (2.6K)

Bakugou's hot, smart, a literal hero, and best of all, he's the best roommate you've ever had. Sure he's grumpy a lot of the time and he's a terror if you're too loud after he's gone to bed, but he cooks! He cleans!! Who can blame you for developing a little crush on him? You've managed to keep it under wraps for the better part of a year. It's just your luck that the day you're hit by a quirk that removes your brain to mouth filter is the day Bakugou breaks routine. He comes home a little too early from the gym in a tight black compression shirt that's made its way into several of your fantasies, and instead of saying hello, you blurt out— “Fuck, you’re so hot.”

FICLETS AND IDEAS

cologne (250 words)

you come home smelling like todoroki.

it's you (405 words)

bakugou's never been with anyone before. he asks you to show him how.

in a new light, pt. 2 (374, 124 words)

buying his magazine spread was supposed to be a joke. you didn't intend to catch feelings.

treasure (332 words)

you catch a glimpse of a human warrior in your forest, one with yellow hair and red eyes. he's yours, you decide. he's perfect.

exercise (172 words)

bakugou likes to work out to the sound of your voice.

playful (121 words)

his face fits in the palm of your hand so nicely.

start something (203 words)

bakugou likes to sleep shirtless most nights.

number one fan (196 words)

you're a big fan of pro hero dynamight.

enchanted (204 words)

he's human. you're not. he's off limits.

check me out (188 words)

bakugou is an absolute menace once he catches you checking him out.

sunscreen (227 words)

bakugou takes care of you on vacation.

coffee cake (525 words)

you've had a little crush on the coffee shop owner next door for a while now.

saltwater (418 words)

bakugou doesn't like when people look at you at the beach.

tease (407 words)

bakugou makes you finish what you started.

devotion (318 words)

every day, bakugou shows you how much he loves you.

[fangirl-dot-com]

Chapter 22 - This Was Not the Spa I was Looking For

Uuuhhh, I don't even know what this was. I had an idea and then this other idea fought the first one and won? so, it's completely different than what I had in mind, but ya know what? its written and done.

There is slight SLIGHT angst, but everything is good in the end :)

so sorry for the delay - will be updating a lot this weekend!

like always comments, questions, concerns, messages in my inbox, reblogs, and likes are always appreciated! Love you all and enjoy :D

Budapest Not Included

Champions Standings 

Max Verstappen – 284 points 

Charles Leclerc – 227 points 

Lando Norris – 189 points 

Y/n L/n – 163 points 

Carlos Sainz – 112 points 

Oscar Piastri – 91 points 

Lewis Hamilton – 83 points 

Alex Albon – 44 points 

Fernando Alonso – 41 points 

George Russell – 40 points 

Logan Sargeant – 30 points 

Daniel Ricciardo – 23 points

Lance Stroll – 15 points 

Pierre Gasly – 12 points 

Yuki Tsunoda – 8 points 

Valtteri Bottas – 1 point 

Nico Hulkenberg 

Kevin Magnussen 

Zhou Guanyu 

Esteban Ocon 

Constructors Standings 

Red Bull – 447 points 

Ferrari – 339 points 

McLaren – 280 points 

Mercedes – 123 points 

Williams – 74 points 

Aston Martin – 56 points 

Alpha Tauri – 31 points 

Alpine – 12 points 

Alpha Romeo – 1 point 

HAAS – 0 points 

f1 has posted

f1 Y/n L/n and Max Verstappen are out of the Belgium Grand Prix after the Red Bull of Verstappen hit the back of L/n. The latter skidded across the track before rolling over. L/n will be looked over at the medical site, especially after her last DNF back in Japan.

liked by y/n.nation, maxverSTOPpen, orange_army, and 802,394 others

max_and_rookie nah man, I like max but that was seriously his fault

y/n_on_top y/n had the priority to make way for him to win. he just ruined both of their races

max_all_the_way y/n should have just let him keep going tho?

redbullcan no she shouldn't cause Red Bull gave the 2-1 strategy, putting priority for the second car

maxiel333 I fear this is Azerbaijan 2018 all over again

f1fan well there goes that amazing teammate bond. great job max, what is this, 7 teammates? bout to be 8

Once again, you were hanging upside down, in the rain. But thankfully, this time you were conscious and talking. 

You pressed the button that immediately went to your panicking race engineer. 

“I’m fine Mitch. Stupid rain. This was definitely not the Spa I was looking forward to. You tell my asshole of a teammate that he owes me.” 

You switched your radio off before Mitch could reply. You were fuming as the marshals were trying to get you out once again. Your race suit was becoming wetter and wetter by the minute. Your back ached as you tried to move. 

So, how did this all happen? 

You had been able to get around Max, per team request to make way on the track that was a little less rainy. Apparently, Max thought that you were trying to get the jump on him and completely rammed the back of your RB20, sending you flying. It was definitely a mirror reflection of Azerbaijan 2018. 

How you ended up rolled over once again, you didn’t know. Maybe your car just didn’t have great balance when it came to kerbs and getting rear-ended. 

In a few minutes, the marshals were able to get you out. As you stretched when you got out, your eyes landed on Max’s RB20 with its nose crumpled and wheel hanging off. You smirked under your helmet. 

“Serves him right.” 

You two were doing amazing that weekend. Max had gotten pole once again, and you were right behind him. Except that Charles was so close behind Max most of the race. Mitch had given you the 2-1 and had told you that GP had also given the Dutchman the same order. 

There was still time for you to have given the position back, but you were quicker on the slicks. You could have easily brought home another 1-2 race. 

But now Charles would probably get his third win of the season because Max was too selfish. 

You watched as he climbed out of his own cockpit and your blood began to boil. He not only ruined his race, but yours as well. Your arms were crossed as you stood in the rain. Replays of the wreck were playing on the big screens, just for your enjoyment. 

The longer you watched, the angrier you got. 

A push to your arm brought your eyes from the big screen to the Dutch driver. 

“The fuck was that?” he angrily questioned. 

Your eyebrow raised under your helmet. Although you were shorter, you knew how to throw your weight around. So, you shoved his shoulder back. 

“Me? The fuck was that with you Max. I was given priority! This was your fault!” you shouted, earning looks from the marshals around the two of you. 

Max just glared. “My fault? That was clearly a rookie mistake.” 

He pushed you again. 

You let out a dark chuckle. “Rookie mistake? No Max. That was a you mistake.” 

Your pointer finger dug into his chest, earning you another shove. One that sent you to the ground. You were now down, looking up at Max as he glared down at you. Tears welled up in your eyes as you watched him stalk away. 

A marshal was quick to help you to your feet. Max didn’t ride back with you to the paddock and walked the entire way. You, however, took advantage of the ride back and immediately tried to hide inside your drivers room when you got back. You kept your helmet on the entire time and wanted to refuse to go to the medical room. Mitch was adamant about you going since the last time you were bruised pretty badly. 

She made sure it was quick: just a check over. After, your race engineer left you to yourself. While you undressed and peeled off your wet race suit, your mind started swimming. 

Feelings of guilt and anxiety were building in your core. Soon, you were beginning to sob as you sat on your little bed. Really, all you wanted to do was curl up and sleep, preferably with your boyfriend, who was all the way in the Ferrari garage. 

Your sobs quieted down as your eyes began to droop. Taking a nap right now seemed to be a good choice as you lied down on the small bed, curling up in a ball. A nap would keep you safe from whatever was going on. You didn’t have to deal with anything if you were asleep. 

Right as you were falling asleep, Max had just gotten back to the garage. His helmet was in his hands and his eyes were to the floor, missing the disapproving looks from everyone. On the way back, he had time to think about what he had done. 

Yes, he knew that you were given priority, but didn’t know exactly why. You didn’t seem faster on the slicks or were gaining. He didn’t expect you to go around him like that. And now looking back, he could see that you were making a way for him by getting rid of some water on the track so he could get more grip. 

What he didn’t expect was a shove to the back and a punch to the face. He barely had time to turn around before he landed on his ass on the concrete of the garage. He was so taken back that he really couldn’t understand what was going on. 

All he knew was that his face hurt, his ass hurt, and his pride hurt. 

How could he have done that to you? 

When he got his bearings, he finally saw a certain Monegasque be held back from jumping on him. Spits of French and English were thrown at him, and he deserved it. Once he was back on his feet, Arthur took two handfuls of his race suit and pulled him down. 

There was hardly a height difference, but right now Arthur looked a lot bigger than Max did. 

Arthur leaned close to Max’s face. 

“How dare you? You know that she would do anything for you and what do you do to thank her? You push her down. You break her down. You blame her for your mistake.”

Silence was all that Max could offer. 

Arthur scoffed as he let go. 

“You’re no better than her parents.” 

With that, he left and walked toward your room. He harshly pushed the door open, only to find you sound asleep, oblivious to the world outside. Arthur turned off the lights before gently climbing into your bed. He didn’t know how the two of you had fit, but you did. 

He guessed that you must have sensed him as you turned over and dug your head into his neck almost immediately. Arthur pulled out his phone before googling flights back to Monaco, back to home. He’d keep you in his pocket if he had anything to do it. 

Race Results: 

Charles Leclerc – 25 points 

Carlos Sainz – 18 points 

Oscar Piastri – 16 points (fastest lap) 

Valtteri Bottas – 12 points 

Lewis Hamilton – 10 points 

George Russell – 8 points 

Fernando Alonso – 6 points 

Alex Albon – 4 points 

Logan Sargeant – 2 point 

Zhou Guanyu – 1 point (highest placing this season) 

Lando Norris (spun out on last lap and barely missed the points) 

Daniel Ricciardo 

Yuki Tsunoda 

Kevin Magnussen (highest placing this season)

Nico Hulkenberg (highest placing this season) 

Pierre Gasly 

Esteban Ocon 

Lance Stroll 

Y/n L/n – DNF 

Max Verstappen – DNF 

Champions Standings: 

Max Verstappen – 284 points

Charles Leclerc – 252 points 

Lando Norris – 189 points 

Y/n L/n – 163 points 

Carlos Sainz – 130 points 

Oscar Piastri – 107 points 

Lewis Hamilton – 93 points 

George Russell – 48 points 

Alex Albon – 48 points 

Fernando Alonso – 45 points 

Logan Sargeant – 32 points 

Daniel Ricciardo – 23 points 

Lance Stroll – 15 points 

Pierre Gasly - 12 points 

Valtteri Bottas – 13 points 

Yuki Tsunoda – 8 points

Zhou Guanyu – 1 point 

Nico Hulkenberg 

Kevin Magnussen 

Esteban Ocon 

Constructors Standings

Red Bull – 447 points 

Ferrari – 382 points 

McLaren – 270 points 

Mercedes – 141 points 

Williams – 80 points 

Aston Martin – 60 points 

Alpha Tauri – 31 points 

Alpha Romeo – 14 points 

Alpine – 12 points 

Haas – 0 points 

Max had gotten a long talking to after everything was over. Christian probably screamed at him for over an hour, plus what GP and then what Mitch had to say after. He had wanted to apologize beforehand, but it seemed as though Arthur didn’t wat Max near you within a 25 foot radius. 

And when the Dutchman thought he could speak to you at the hotel, he had to find out the hard way that you had left that afternoon to go back to Monaco before the second Italian Grand Prix. Max huffed as he thought over what he should do. 

Just as you had anxiety and guilt about the incident, Max dubbed his as 10 times worse. This was it. In the past, everyone told him that he always messed up teammates for other drivers. That’s why Daniil didn’t work out, or Carlos, or Daniel, or Pierre, or Alex, or Checo. One way or another, Max always fucked it up. 

Well, that’s what his mind was telling him. 

And he didn’t want you to just be another name to the list. 

So with phone in hand, and pilot on call, he made the executive decision to fly back to Monaco. He knew exactly where your apartment was, since you gave me the address when you first moved in and a key for emergencies. 

When he landed, he went straight to the grocery store. Knowing that you had the cooking skills of Arthur and Charles combined and the pickiness of Lando amplified, he guessed that you and Arthur probably haven’t had dinner yet. So, he grabbed ingredients to make pizza. Simple enough. 

He drove to your flat and was suddenly enveloped with fear. He hit his head on the steering wheel once he parked. 

“I’m so stupid,” he whispered to himself as he gazed at the lights on in the windows. His head was still on the wheel as he turned to look down. What he failed to notice was you looking through the window. 

“Cheri? Is everything alright?” you heard Arthur call out from the kitchen. You two had just burnt some pasta while trying to make dinner. You gazed down at the familiar car parked in front. 

“Cheri?” 

Now Arthur was close, also looking out the window. 

“It’s Max.” 

The Monegasque scoffed. “What’s he doing here?” 

You hummed. “He’s probably wanting to apologize. I know what he’s like. Thur, he didn’t mean it.” 

Arthur’s eyes changed from cold to understanding. He had heard enough stories from his own brother along with gossip in the paddock about Max’s childhood (or lack thereof). 

He huffed once before saying, “Go to him and then invite him up.” 

He watched as your eyes lit up, before you placed a kiss on his lips. A smile formed on his lips as he watched you slide shoes on and go out the door. Arthur turned back to the kitchen. He guessed he needed to clean up before you invited thee Max Verstappen into the house. 

Max was so caught in his head that he missed you peering in. Only when you slightly knocked on the door, did he jump. He accidentally pressed the horn, making it echo down the empty road. He quickly unlocked the door, which let you slip in. 

His blue eyes gazed into yours before he started to cry. You looked at him with a frown on your face as he tried to desperately wipe his tears. He took many harsh inhales, trying to get his emotions under control. 

Max expected you to yell, scream, and hit at him. Yet, you gently placed a hand on his back and started to comfort him, like he’s done many times before. 

You let him cry and cry until he was ready to talk. 

“I’m such an asshole,” was the first thing that escaped his lips after his sobs started to break. 

You chuckled. “I could have told you that.” 

Max’s lips curved upwards in a small smile before going straight once again. He took another shuddering breath before continuing. 

“I don’t want to repeat the past. I am so sorry for what I did to you, that was unfair of me. I wanted to apologize before you left, but I was too late. And I didn’t want to end today without apologizing to you. Because I don’t want you to be another teammate that I failed.” 

He turned to you, eyes still glossy with leftover tears. 

You leaned to give him a hug across the dash, one that he was thankful for. 

He was the first one to part, still wiping at his eyes. You only gazed at him with compassion. When he was done sniffling, you started to talk. 

“Max, look at me please?” 

He turned his head so his bloodshot blue eyes could look at you. He looked utterly exhausted and your heart broke. If he was anything like you, you knew how much guilt he was carrying. 

“You’re not, we’re not, going to repeat the past. I just need you to understand that I am your team player. And when I’m given a team order, I will follow it every time.” 

Max’s head nodded in agreement. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“I already forgave you before I left the paddock. I heard Christian yelling at you.” 

A snort left his nose. “It was probably for the best.” 

The car was filled with a comfortable silence before Max broke it. 

“Did you and Arthur have dinner yet?” 

“Max. What do you think?” 

“I’m going to take that as a no. Good think I bought groceries. Seriously, I am getting you and the Leclercs cooking lessons for Christmas.” 

“I’m not that bad.” 

“You almost burnt down my entire kitchen.” 

“Not on purpose.”  

y/n.89 has posted

y/n.89 have pizza, teammate, and bestie - will travel

liked by maxverstappen1, arthur_leclerc, logansargeant, and 90,294 others

y/n&co guys I was super worried but now I'm perfectly fine

rookie+maxie guys I truly believe that y/n is going to stay his teammate for as long as possible

best_duo frfr - no one has been on his level and he finally has a teammate that can keep up with him

y/n.nation generational talent right there

maxverstappen1 glad I could feed you two

y/n.89 we would have been fine on our own maxverstappen1 sure, after you burnt your food and almost set your apartment on fire y/n.89 hey, Arthur was there too? arthur_leclerc what is with this slander?????

f1_fan guys guys guys, it's the Dutch Grand Prix and then MONZA hello?????

true_tifosi I know I want to see Charles win again, but y/n deserves something

dutch_anthem_on_repeat time for MAX MAX MAX SUPER MAX

orange_army we are ready with flags and capes, bring it on Netherlands!!

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[decolonize-the-everything]

If only 1/3 of voters of vote and only half of those voters are democrats why do people care when democrats say "nobody else would vote a 3rd party"?

You mean Democrats wouldn't, right? They represent barely half of 1/3 of voters. They absolutely do Not speak for everyone. There is still 80% of the fucking country remaining.

I'm not talking to democrats about my candidate or asking for their opinion anymore than democrats ask for approval from Republicans. Why have the rest of us given them the power to speak over us?

So if you are a Democrat, this post is not for you

"It's splitting the vote" when I try appealing to the 80% of the country that doesn't vote? Then why don't dems yell at Trump about splitting the vote?

Cuz they know those are Republicans™ and have fundamentally different beliefs than them. It's useless. The people voting for Republicans would have no interest in Democrats, right? There's no point.

Interesting 2/3 of the country doesn't vote in that context.

It's interesting that 2/3 of voters said they would vote for a 3rd party in that context.

The country does not support democratic politics anymore. Accept it. Democrats are not entitled to anyone's vote and other candidates are not required to step down just to let them win.

You know what I mean?

3rd parties absolutely have a shot is what I'm saying.

Democrats don't listen to Republicans who tell them how Biden is a pedophile and shouldn't get elected do they? Why the fuck do people who support 3rd parties listen to what democrats think about them??

Reminder Trump won the electoral college vote in 2016 with 304 votes. Clinton had 227. 7 people voted for someone else. 227+7=234. Less than 304 still. And Clinton won the popular vote by millions.

Clinton didn't lose because of 3rd party voters or non-voters. The election was not that close. She lost because Trump was more appealing than she was to voters.

So again, why are we letting the 16.5% of America that doesn't even like their own candidate tell 3rd parties that giving Americans another option is useless and "swaying the vote?"

Non-voters need to be motivated to the ballot box or they simply won't show up like they've been doing. And Clinton wasn't as motivating to voters as Trump was.

She lost because she did Not have any 3rd party/non-voter appeal and could not sway people from Trump's camp. She needed to do one or the other to win the election and she did neither.

Just like Kamala is doing because she also is a centrist democrat. And she too statistically appeals to way less people than Trump does.

You know what I think? It's time to tell democrats to get fucking stuffed.

Sorry but if Dem candidates can't get the support of the half the country and even their own party hates their candidates, why the fuck should anyone let democrats tell them how elections work?

"it's not realistic" oh but it's realistic for 16% of the country to hold the rest of us all hostage to stop Trump instead? Gtfoh.

Anyway

This is who I plan to vote for because fuck Biden and Trump. The remaining 2/3 of us need someone who's up to our standards and stands to actually motivate people to the ballot box.

This person motivates me.

Jasmine Sherman is doing a 24 hr live on tik tok right now (July 27, 2024) if you have any questions about their policy. They're also streaming it on twitch too if you'd like to tune in without using tiktok (links at the bottom). They'll be there until 10pm EST.

Some things they support:

Abolish police

Free Palestine, Free Sudan, Free DRC

Landback

Guaranteed housing

Reparations

Trans rights

Universal healthcare & healthcare reform

Universal basic income

Disability Rights

COVID regulations

Decriminalizing drugs & sw

And way way more!!

Tik tok live link: fatblacksocialist

If you are someone who usually doesn't vote and/or refuses to vote for genocide, please reblog this

[megalony]

It Means Hero

This is a new Tommy Kinard imagine I had an idea for, which involves a deaf! Reader and kids. I hope you will all like it, feedback is always lovely.

(And I'm so happy to be writing about the Medal Scene and have more requests like this lined up)

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@zoeybennett @mrspeacem1nusone @zephyrmonkey @estella-novella @eleventhdoctorsangel @kniselle @senjoritanana

@shauna-carsley @dottierose @cfdhouse51 @darkfemme1 @rainechase45 @ml572 @jessie-lynn28 @lolalolsstuff @jupiter1700 @ashdoctor @an-aliens-ghost

Tommy Kinard Masterlist

Summary: Tommy brings his wife and their kids down to the 118 for the award ceremony. And it seems to be going great, until they bump into his former Captain, Gerrard.

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The end of Tommy's nose crinkled and lines appeared in his cheeks when he smiled. He opened the back door and leaned his hip against it, grinning at the boys when they all got ready to clamber out the car.

He watched them scurry down and move over to (Y/n) before he reached in the back to where Daisy was waiting, impatiently kicking her legs with her arms stretched out, waiting to be unbuckled from her car seat.

Once Tommy unbuckled her, he scooped her up into his arms and when she clung to his neck, he rolled his eyes playfully but obliged and sat her on his hip. His eyes were enamoured by Daisy as she pressed her hand to her chin before pulling it away and giggling a quiet "Thank you," along with the sign, for getting her out of the car.

He shut the door with his hip and moved to stand next to (Y/n) while his eyes dragged up and down the station he hadn't been to in a long while.

It had been over five years since Tommy had worked in this station and it had been a long time since he had been here in his uniform. Usually if ever he came to the 118 fire house, it was to see Eddie or Buck and head out with them after shift. He couldn't remember the last time he had come to this station and stayed longer than five minutes.

His eyes dragged over Daisy's frame again, smiling at the red and black polka dot dress she was wearing. And he reached out to flick one of the blood red bows tied in her hair. She had her hair done into two plaits with bows at the top making her look very cute.

Now she was three, her hair was starting to thicken and grow long and Tommy missed how thin and spiky her hair had been when she was a bit younger. He used to love tying her hair up in thousands of bobbles and making her look like Cindy Lou from The Grinch.

He felt (Y/n) lean her head on his arm and cosy up to his side while the boys walked in front of them.

But Jake turned on his heels and slowed down so he could look up at Tommy who rose a brow, waiting for him to speak.

"Why aren't we going to your station?"

Tommy's expression softened while he smoothed his hand up and down (Y/n)'s back.

The boys had never been to this station before. They had gone to the 227 quite a few times to see Tommy on shift and meet his team, all of whom loved the boys and Daisy. They had been down to Harbour quite a few times too and Tyler had gone in the helicopter with Tommy for a ride a few months back, something he really enjoyed. But none of them had ever been to another station before.

"Because everyone else who get's a medal works here, buddy." It wouldn't be fair to hold the ceremony anywhere else but here at the 118 when the four other people who played a part in the cruise ship rescue came from this house. It was only right that they held the celebration here and Tommy came over here for the event.

Part of him didn't want to be here, he didn't like the spotlight being on him, but sharing the stage with the 118 gang made it bearable. And Buck and Chimney had not stopped bugging Tommy until he had no choice but to turn up.

And when all the kids said they wanted to see him get a medal, how could he refuse?

He felt (Y/n) press up into his side when they walked through the doors. She had never been here before either, although she knew all of the 118 who had quickly become Tommy's close friends.

Her face nuzzled into his arm and she curled both her hands around his bicep, dragging her fingers over the creases and groves in his uniform that she had spent so much time staring at this morning when they were getting ready. The hustle and bustle inside the station made her heart leap. There were a lot of people here, most of whom (Y/n) didn't know. And the only people she would know were the ones who would be stood up on stage so it wasn't as if (Y/n) could sit and converse with them until the ceremony was over.

(Y/n) stopped walking when Tommy did and they stood to the side, all three boys surrounding them as they waited for Tommy to make a move.

Tilting her head up, (Y/n) perched her chin on her husband's shoulder and smiled sweetly at him while she moved her index finger in a circle around them to signal their little group.

She then uncurled her hands from his arms so she could hold out her index and middle finger in front of her like a straight line. And on her left hand, she stuck her index and middle finger up like crooked bunny ears and brought them down, curling them over her right hand. The sign for sit.

"Who do we sit with?" She tried to keep her voice quiet but still loud and clear enough for Tommy to hear.

(Y/n)'s hearing was impaired, it had been the same since she was born and therefore she couldn't hear her own voice properly or hear sounds around her. She could speak but her pronouncing wasn't the best. It had taken her a long while to gather confidence to talk to people using her voice rather than sign language. But she felt safer talking in sign when in public, only with Tommy would she laugh and speak freely and not worry about how she sounded.

And with all three boys being hearing impaired, they combined speech and sign language every day. Daisy was the only one who had almost perfect hearing, but she was brought up to use sign language to communicate with her mum and brothers.

"Karen, Hen's wife?" Tommy didn't sound sure, but when he pointed to one of the front tables near the stage, (Y/n) nodded. She could see Hen sat with another woman and two young children and she knew Hen, she was lovely. They could sit there and try to make small talk with Hen's family, while being close enough to watch and be proud of Tommy.

When they reached the table, (Y/n) curled her hands back around Tommy's arm while he gripped the back of the chair in front of him and smiled widely causing creases in his cheeks.

"Are these seats free?"

"Of course, sit, sit." Hen beckoned them to sit down while she stood behind Karen's chair, her hands lovingly on her wife's shoulders. "This is Karen, and our kids Denny and Mara."

(Y/n) held her arms out when she sat down and gently took Daisy when Tommy handed her over. She sat her daughter on her lap and wrapped her arms around her waist, smiling against the top of her head. Her eyes filtered to check on the boys, watching as the twins sat down on her right and Tyler sat on her left between her and Karen. While Tommy stood behind them since he and Hen would have to go on stage in a minute.

"This is (Y/n), Tyler, the twins Jake and James, and this is Daisy." Tommy ruffled each of their heads when he said their names, pointing between the twins since they were identical.

Not many people could tell the difference between the boys upon first meeting them, but they would soon learn that Jake was the more outgoing twin. Whereas James was reserved and nervous. Plus, Jake wore dark blue hearing aids whereas James wore green ones.

Once they'd all said their hellos, Tommy crouched down between (Y/n) and Tyler's seats and faced their eldest.

He grinned softly and held his hand out in front of him, curling his pinky and ring finger into his palm before he twisted his hand back and forth. And then he curled all his fingers against his thumb and made a grabbing motion before he pointed to the cochlear implant on the side of Tyler's head.

Turn it on.

Tyler had the most affected hearing out of them all and normal hearing aids didn't work for him. Cochlear implants turned soundwaves into vibrations and noises directly in his ear canal using magnets and it helped him to pick up and work out speech because he wasn't the best at lip reading. And since very few people knew sign language, he had to communicate somehow.

He could speak, but like (Y/n), his speech was slurred and he didn't pronounce very well.

His implants had a microphone for soundwaves and a volume tuner on the back so depending on what situation he was in, he could turn it up or down. And Tommy knew the eight year old had a tendency to turn it down since his family always used sign language with him.

But not many people would know sign language here and if he wanted to make sense of the speeches, he needed it turning up.

A shy grin spread across Tyler's lips and he nodded, reaching up to turn the dial to the right. He listened to the conversations floating around the table until it sounded loud enough for him to distinguish and he looked back at his dad who nodded and moved his hand from his chin outwards.

Thank you.

Tommy kissed the top of his head before he pushed up so he was standing tall again and he took a moment to peck (Y/n)'s cheek.

His eyes flitted across to Hen when she asked if he was ready and he nodded. He wasn't altogether sure he was ready for this. He didn't want to go up there, he would rather be the one applauding the team and sitting down here, blending in with the crowd.

But he felt (Y/n)'s hand on his lower back giving him a polite nudge towards the stage. He started walking and tilted his head down, smirking to himself when he felt (Y/n) hit his bum on the way.

Once Tommy was on stage, stood next to Buck with Chimney in front of him, he looked to relax a little. (Y/n) grinned sweetly at him while Daisy waved her arms madly in his direction until Tommy was grinning from ear to ear. He had his hands clasped together in front of him but he rolled his eyes playfully and waved back at Daisy.

She was giggling and smiling at him as if she hadn't seen him in days and was desperate for his attention. When really, she had been attached to his hip all morning.

"She's a cutie," Buck murmured quietly, leaning to the left to talk to Tommy before Chief Simpson would get up and start his speech.

He watched Tommy nod with one of the softest smiles Buck had ever seen. He was used to Tommy being stoic and laid back and kind of a hard person to get a good read on. But seeing him stood here looking like he was melting at the sight of his daughter and would do anything for his family, it was a different side to him that Buck loved to see.

He glanced between them before he realised the little girl was signing something. She had her small hand curled in a claw motion and she was moving her hand away from her face and back again and when Buck glanced back at Tommy, he realised the pilot was blushing and shaking his head.

A quiet chuckle escaped Tommy's lips when he watched (Y/n) repeat the same sign, and then the boys copied. Until all five of them were moving their hands back and forth away from their faces and pointing across at all five firefighters stood up on stage.

"Wh- what does that sign mean?"

Buck had met (Y/n) on a few occasions and he had seen the kids a few times so he knew all of them used sign language. He had learned a few signs from them. He knew the basics, hello, good bye, thank you, morning, coffee- an important one for Buck- and a few others. But he was still learning and he was more than happy for them to teach him so he could communicate with them.

It also helped for when they had hearing impaired people on calls so the team could effectively talk and communicate with them too.

"It means hero. They're calling us all heroes."

"Huh, I like it."

Of course he did. Tommy could see Buck grinning out the corner of his eye and he took a deep breath, keeping his gaze focused on his family while he clasped his hands back in front of him.

(Y/n) smiled as she tightened her arms around Daisy and pulled her back into her chest, giving her a cuddle. She leaned her cheek on top of Daisy's head and turned to the left so she was facing the stage so they could both see Tommy better. She moved one hand out to run up and down Tyler's back and darted her eyes across to the twins just to check they were okay.

Both of them were knelt up on their seats, elbows leant on the table while Jake immediately struck up a conversation with Mara. And James had his eyes locked on Tommy, not looking one inch away from his dad who was smiling softly and holding his gaze.

Tyler tilted his head back and turned to look up at (Y/n). He stretched his hand out like a high five and pressed the tip of his thumb against his temple, pulling his hand away twice. Before he stuck his thumbs and pinkies out and shook his hands up and down.

'Does dad get an award?'

She knew Tyler wasn't going to speak in front of people he didn't know. He had only just started to mutter when he was around Buck who had quickly become a friend to him.

When they were at home, Tyler would talk whilst he signed because he wasn't ashamed or embarrassed in front of his family. Being in public was a different matter.

"No trophy, he gets a medal." (Y/n) pressed her index finger and thumbs together into a circle in front of Daisy's chest. Tommy would get a medal and a plaque for this, along with the rest of the group. Although she had a feeling that Tommy wouldn't be wearing the medal for long. One of the kids would end up with it and the plaque would end up in (Y/n)'s bag.

It would be up to (Y/n) to find somewhere in the house to put the plaque, most likely in the living room with the other pictures of Tommy from when he first got into firefighting and then when he switched back to being a pilot. There was a section in the living room with photos of Tommy when he was a lot younger when he first joined the army. Tyler seemed to think that when Tommy was younger, when he had been rather thin, it made him look taller.

"You're a sweetheart, how old are you?" Karen leaned across the table to look at Daisy who started to giggle and held out three fingers.

When Tyler tapped (Y/n)'s arm and curled his index fingers in the sign for picture, (Y/n) fished her phone out her bag and handed it over. She had a feeling Tyler would take a video of the ceremony rather than a picture since there was already a photographer here.

Later on after all the comotion died down, (Y/n) was hoping to get a picture of Tommy in his suit with all the kids. It had been a while since she got a recent photo of them all together.

A smile lit up Karen's face when she realised Mara and Jake seemed to be getting along well. And she noticed that Jake was absentmindedly signing along with his speech and Mara was copying the signs with her hands on her lap. Taking in all the signs he was doing to see if she could remember some for future reference.

And Denny was leaning forward, trying to take note of what Daisy was doing. All the kids were half-listening to the speech Chief Simpson was giving out, they weren't interested until their respective parents were going to be commemorated.

He watched Daisy smile as she curled her hands on her shoulders and then pulled her arms away before she pressed her thumb to her forehead with her fingers stretched out.

"What does that mean?" Denny asked politely while he leaned forward against the table and nudged his drink of lemonade with his elbow.

"Brave daddy."

(Y/n) kissed the top of her head and smiled, thankful when all the kids seemed to settle down once the awards were finally being given out. She swayed her and Daisy from left to right while Hen went up first for her medal and her award.

By the time it was Tommy's turn, all the kids were buzzing and jumping up and down, tapping their hands against the table in excitement.

And (Y/n) loved the way that Tommy's eyes barely left his family. He didn't seem to take in what the Chief was saying and his eyes were focused on them while the medal was looped around his neck. When his eyes locked with hers, his lips curved up at one side into a dark smirk and he winked as he straightened up, standing taller than the chief.

She could see in Tommy's eyes that he was desperate for the attention to be taken away from him. He was glad to switch places with Buck and he was even happier when the awards came to a close and all they had to do was stand for a few more promotional pictures.

As soon as the pictures were finished, the five of them climbed down off the stand.

Tommy let out a shaky breath and hung his head down, looking at the medal hanging around his neck.

He didn't want a medal. He would of been happier if the chief just said he was proud they had all taken initiative and done something risky but brave. This was lovely but a bit too uncomfortable for Tommy. The only bright side to this was seeing the love and adoration on his family's face and the pride they all had for him. That made this worth while.

He barely stepped off the stand behind Buck before he looked ahead and saw his troop aiming for him.

The four of them weaved around the tables to get to him and Tommy crouched down just in time to have them all barrell into his arms.

The twins hit his chest and collided with his knees, Tyler wormed beneath his right arm and Daisy latched her arms around his neck and jumped until Tommy lifted her off her feet. He sat her down on his hip and lifted James to sit on his other hip while Tyler and Jake stood on either side, bouncing like springs they were so happy and hyper.

He felt Hen give his shoulder a squeeze as she walked past him, something fond bubbling over in her eyes. And he noticed the cheesy grin on Chimney's face as he turned round to see who all the kids belonged to.

"Jeez Tommy, I forgot you had a football team." His joke was well intended and he laughed fondly before he went to see his own family of two.

He felt the boys hover round his sides while they made their way back towards the table and Tommy gently eased James and Daisy back down to their feet in front of him. The four of them flitted around the table, hovering rather than sitting down because everyone else was up and about going from person to person and towards the buffet table that was now open.

While he had a second, Tommy moved over to where (Y/n) was sat and when he noticed her place her phone down on the table, he grinned. She'd snapped a few pictures of him and the kids then. Tommy had a thing for photo albums and photography.

He had books from each time (Y/n) was pregnant, full of all their scan photos, pictures of (Y/n) at different stages in each pregnancy and then thousands of the kids when they had all been born. Tommy loved savouring the moment, especially when it came to the kids.

The first photo that had been taken of each of the kids when they had been born were all now blown up on canvases in the dining room.

"Hi," He murmured softly while he wormed his way in between (Y/n)'s legs until his knees bumped her inner thighs. He leaned forward, resting his left hand on the table and his right hand behind her arm on the back of her chair. He was hovering over her, close enough that their noses brushed and he could feel each breath (Y/n) took which started to become lighter and lighter.

"Hey hero." (Y/n) moved her curled hand from her chin up towards Tommy, the sign for hero, before she cupped her hands on either side of his neck.

Her thumbs brushed over his pulse that was starting to quicken and throb beneath her touch. And when she tilted her head back and bit down on her lip, that was all the encouragement Tommy needed to devour her lips.

His wet lips felt electrified against hers and Tommy all but growled into her mouth when he felt her nails graze down his neck towards his collar. (Y/n) felt the growl vibrate through his chest and along his neck and when she dragged her hands down to touch the red velvet ribbon hanging around his neck, Tommy finally released her lips. She loved the blushing red taint to his lips and the way he panted, keeping so close that they were almost kissing again.

"You like it?" He spoke slowly and quietly, punctuating his words so (Y/n) could read his lips properly and his eyes darted down to the ribbon around his neck. He could see her fingertips gliding along the medal that weighed heavy against his chest but suddenly felt like a comforting weight when his wife stared at him like that.

One hand stayed pressed into Tommy's chest while (Y/n) tilted her head back to lock eyes with him. She moved her left hand in front of her face and curled her fingers into a palm, making a circle movement down towards her neck.

Handsome.

"Alright, come on lovebirds. Time to eat." Buck clapped his hands down on Tommy's shoulders from behind and gave him a little shake before he moved ahead towards the buffet.

(Y/n) moved to stand up when Tommy leaned back so he was no longer caging her in her seat.

She spoke a quiet "Any good?" when pointing towards the buffet, grinning and tilting her head back when Tommy stood behind her. He was slightly leant down to the left so he could hold Daisy's hand while the boys walked in front of them. The boys followed Buck like he was their mother hen leading them towards the food.

"Really good." Tommy responded before he lifted Daisy up and settled her on his hip so she could see what was on the table.

He leaned his cheek on top of her head and cuddled her close, reaching out to grab a paper plate for her. He knew she wouldn't eat most of the food on the table, she was very fussy, but he would try and get her to eat something even if it was a few crisps and sausage rolls.

His eyes flitted across to (Y/n) stood just in front of him, adding a few things to the twin's plates to help them. They had to check whatever the twins tried to eat when they were out like this because both of them were allergic to milk.

He muttered and pointed to a few things, his lips mostly staying glued to the top of Daisy's head. She pointed to a few things and Tommy nodded, placing them on the paper plate for her and smiling when he noticed Chimney behind him at the buffet.

"Okay, think you can take this back to the table with mummy?"

Daisy nodded and reached her hands out for the plate once Tommy set her down and kissed the top of her head. He watched her for a few seconds until she was stood next to James, following (Y/n) and the twins back to the table.

There was something extremely cute in the way that Daisy held her plate up high like she was balancing a heavy weight in front of her. She was doing her best to keep her arms out straight so she wouldn't drop the plate and as she walked, her hair swished behind her and the bows in her hair bounced up and down as she moved.

Tommy smiled and leaned over Chimney to grab another plate for himself this time and started adding a few things. He knew one of the kids would end up sitting with him and taking the food from his plate rather than their own so he needed to stock up. He didn't fancy making two trips to the buffet table.

He bumped shoulders with Buck who smiled before he rose a brow and looked down at Tommy's plate.

"You got enough there?"

Tommy's eyes darted between their two plates with a raised brow, noticing that Buck seemed to have quite a lot on his own plate to be saying that.

"I've got four kids that steal from my plate. What's your excuse?" He popped a sausage roll in his mouth as if to prove his point before he, Buck and Chimney all turned and looked around the room. They were trying to remember where each of them were sat.

It looked like Maddie and Jee were on the table next to (Y/n) and the kids which is what they all wanted so they could be close together. And when Tommy scanned the table, he figured he was going to have to lift one of the kids and sit them on his lap so he could actually have a seat at the table. He wasn't sure where Buck would sit.

Buck seemed to want to be with the kids and chat and be with them but there was limited seating at the table. He might end up sitting with Maddie and Chimney while they all had something to eat. Tommy had no doubt that all of them would be up and dancing to the music in half an hour or so.

The smile started to fade from Tommy's face and a dark shiver rolled from his shoulders down to the base of his spine when he looked to the left.

Captain Gerrard.

Tommy hadn't seen his old captain in over six years.

This was the captain that Tommy had never let his wife meet in fear of what Gerrard would say or do around (Y/n). He wasn't the type of person Tommy trusted because Gerrard would very easily say something inconsiderate or derogative and his views on women were very misogynistic.

He always had a bad feeling that (Y/n) might one day come by the station for something while Tommy was out on a call and Gerrard would be there and insult her. Tommy always told (Y/n) not to go by the station unless it was a dire emergency, and he barely introduced her to any of the old team when he was at the 118 because they followed Gerrard.

Tommy had never stood up to the old captain, he agreed and went along with anything because it was easier than being singled out.

The only time Tommy went against Gerrard was at the end when he put in at least ten different complaints for how he treated everyone.

"Kinard, Han. It's been a while." His gritty voice and the twist in his accent had Tommy's nose crinkling in disgust and it was hard to keep his expression stoic rather than let his displeasure be seen.

He could feel his shoulders rising and his back tensing up and Tommy knew if he had been a bird, all of his feather would have been ruffled and out of place. It didn't help that he could feel Buck's unease radiating off of him from behind and he could see Chimney try his level best to hold his head high and continue smiling. When really, all of them would of loved to throw a plate of food at Gerrard or push past him or clock him with a fist to the gut.

But they couldn't cause a scene, none of them. It wouldn't be fair when this was a celebration and all their families were here.

"Sure has." Chimney took a look around the station, clearly trying to find something to use as a distraction to get them all out of this awkward situation.

"Well, the floor looks spotless Han, good job."

The usual pale blue in Tommy's eyes swirled into something darker like a whirlwind had taken over his pupils. How dare he just walk in here and talk to Chimney like he knew him and like he still thought and valued him as little as he had back then. He had no idea what Chimney had done these last six years or how far he had come or what achievements he'd done in the job. This medal was just the tip of the iceberg.

Gerrard couldn't walk in here throwing insults around and expect them to sit down and take it or put up with this behaviour without a fight. Each of them had changed from who they had been all those years ago.

"You taught me well. Now, whenever I see some filth, I always think of you." The sickly sweet smile on Chimney's face made Tommy's shoulders relax a little and he held his chin high, wishing for Gerrard to blow a fuse or say something snotty to that.

But he couldn't. Gerrard was quick to throw the insults out, but he was never good when someone stood up to him. He would get angry very quickly and he wasn't the best at comebacks which made it easier to embarrass him.

Tommy took one step forward, about to follow after Chimney until Gerrard spoke up again. Clearly, this conversation wasn't over like they all wished it would be.

"I see you brought your soccer team, Kinard." He had his hat held under his arm and his head tilted to one side.

Beneath the pure white moustache, his lips were curved into a baiting smirk that made Tommy feel uneasy. There was an insult hiding behind those words but Tommy brushed them off. He didn't want to rise to the bait Gerrard was dangling in front of him.

Tommy wasn't ashamed of having four kids and nobody else here cared or commented on it so he wouldn't let Gerrard get a rise out of him for that.

"My family's here, yes."

The paper plate in Tommy's hand scrunched up in his grip until the food was tilting towards the dip in the centre of the plate and his thumb was close to breaking a hole in the edge. He wanted to go and sit down now. He didn't want to stand here and have a pretend conversation or have a row.

As if to take his mind from this conversation, Tommy glanced back towards the table. Even one little glance at his family had his heart calming down and a softer look crossed his eyes and melted his stoic expression.

It took him a moment to scout round the table until his eyes landed on his eldest. Tyler was running back towards the table, looking like he had just been with Bobby since Tyler now had a plastic cup in one hand and Bobby was near the drinks table.

When their eyes locked, Tommy lifted his head and straightened his shoulders. He crossed one arm over the other like a large X before uncrossing them and holding out his free hand. He curled his fingers to his palm, leaving his thumb and index finger out and started bending them while he moved his hand out.

"Don't run." He mouthed quietly along with the sign because he knew there was no way Tyler would hear him from this distance, but he would be able to read his lips.

Tyler curled his free hand into a fist and rubbed it in circles around his sternum as he stopped running immediately and shifted to walk the last few steps to the table. 'Sorry.'

Tommy's attention was quickly drawn back to Gerrard just as Chimney walked past him to aim for the tables. His eyes narrowed on his former Captain who snickered and huffed, but it was his eyes locked on Tommy's family that had his blood boiling and made Tommy taking a daring step closer.

"Hm, I heard your wife was one of those deaf and dumb girls, didn't realise your kids were too."

The plate in Tommy's hand crumpled into his palm, the contents spilling over the sides before Tommy let go. He didn't notice, hear or feel the contents fluttering down to the floor like feathers that got trampled beneath his boots when he lunged.

His hands latched around the collar of Gerrard's blazer and he used it to yank him closer, pulling him off balance and causing the Captain's boots to scuff against the polished floor. His hat fell from beneath his arm and both hands moved to lock onto Tommy's shoulders, trying in vain to give him a shove but Tommy didn't move an inch. He was a mountain that couldn't be moved.

Fury was evident in his eyes and rage flooded his face that went from pastel cream to a violent shade of red which crept up his neck and tainted his cheeks. The artery in Tommy's neck started to thunder beneath his skin while he pulled Gerrard so close that the Captain had to tilt his head back to look up at him properly.

He spun them both to the side and pushed until Gerrard's lower back and hips were pinned against the buffet table that must have given him bruises from the force he was pushed against it.

"How fucking dare you!" Each word spat past Tommy's lips in a low, dark hiss and his hands began to shake against Gerrard's shoulders, unsure whether to punch him or throw him down to the floor.

He could feel Buck's hands on his shoulders trying to wrench him back, but Tommy didn't move. He shook his shoulders and jabbed an elbow into Buck's abdomen to make him let go. Tommy didn't want to be dragged away. He didn't want to be stopped or calmed down or told this wasn't worth it. He wanted to ram his fists into Gerrard's chest and break his ribs. He wanted to throw him to the floor and see how he liked the feeling of Tommy's boot breaking into his bones.

He wanted to make Gerrard eat those words and feel what it was like to get comuppence for what he went round saying. He couldn't insult people and get away with it. He couldn't insult Tommy's wife and children and not come out of this unscathed.

"I should have decked you a long time ago." Maybe trying to punch his Captain a few years ago might have ended Tommy's career and gotten him fired or in the least, suspended, but it would have been a wise move. It would have shown Gerrard back then that he couldn't go round saying this kind of thing. It would of shown him that Tommy was fiercely protective over his family and Gerrard wouldn't have riled any of them up here on their day of celebration if he had been taught a lesson a few years ago.

"Tommy, Tommy hey, that's enough. Don't to this here." Buck wrapped an arm around Tommy's shoulders and grabbed his arm, yanking him back as much as he could while he looked around for help.

Chimney spun on his heels and made his way back over to them. He barely got five feet away before Gerrard caused a scene and riled Tommy up. He thrust his plate onto the buffet table and scurried forward, trying to worm his way between Tommy and the Captain. Chimney banged his forearms down on Tommy's elbows to break his steel grip and so he and Buck could move him away.

Buck pulled him back while Chimney pushed him, both of them holding onto Tommy for dear life when he fought against them to push forward.

"Jesus, take a joke Kinard-"

"Disrespecting my wife and kids isn't a joke." His voice dropped two octaves until he was at the point of growling.

What he said was not a joke, it was discrimination and Tommy wouldn't stand and let him do that. He would rather knock Gerrard out and get told to leave the station than stand and let Gerrard walk all over him like he used to. Not when it involved his family. Not when Gerrard was talking about the people Tommy loved to the end of the world.

His hands clenched into fists at his sides and he writhed, trying to push Chimney out of his way but it didn't work. Especially not when Bobby hurried over and pressed a firm hand down on Tommy's shoulder to keep him at bay.

As much as Bobby would agree and sympathise, the Chief was here and he would always side with a Captain rather than one of the team. Bobby didn't want Tommy to get into trouble no matter how justified his cause was.

"Alright, whatever this is, it stops now."

"Cap, this prick just-"

"Buck, don't. Tommy, go back to your family and you two go sit down and have something to eat as well." Bobby looked between the three of them and gave a nudge in the right direction before he turned to face Gerrard. "I've heard rumours of what you were like in this station house, and I won't have that happening again under my watch. The ceremony's over for you, it's time you left."

Bobby didn't know what had happened and he didn't need to know either. All he needed to know was Gerrard had clearly provoked Tommy and upset the team and Bobby wouldn't have that. He wouldn't allow anyone to cause arguments or be disrespectful. Especially not today when they were supposed to be celebrating the team.

With a deep breath, Tommy shrugged himself out of Buck and Chimney's hold while his eyes still burned through Gerrard's body. Wishing he had the ability to kill him with just one look.

"Stay the Hell away from me and my family." Tommy's chest heaved against his shirt and blazer that suddenly felt constricting and suffocating. And the medal hanging around his neck weighed him down and burned through his chest.

He turned around and stormed back towards the table, slowing his steps down so he could take a few deep breaths before he reached his family.

All eyes were on him. Tyler was following his every movement while he fiddled with his implant, trying to turn the volume up so he could work out what was going on. But he couldn't differentiate between the different voices or work out what his dad had been arguing about.

Both twins were knelt up on their chairs, trying to see why their dad was fighting and James had his hands over his ears. Tommy knew if he had thrown a punch, James would of ripped out his hearing aids so he wouldn't have to listen to the drama that always frightened him.

And Daisy was cuddled up in (Y/n)'s arms, frowning to the point of crying because she didn't understand.

She had seen her dad fight someone in the street and that had been enough to send her into fits of tears. All someone had to do was raise their voice near Daisy and she got intimidated. Tommy hated that he was the reason she was now shaking and almost crying. He hadn't meant to frighten her.

Turning to the left, (Y/n) gently eased Daisy onto James's chair so she could sit with him and not feel too panicked. She pushed up from the table and moved to stand in front of Tommy, running her hands up and down his arms that were taut and at the point of breaking through his blazer.

"Who was that?" She looked up but her eyes widened when Tommy's hands found her hips and he kissed her temple, breathing against her skin in short puffs.

"Gerrard." He muttered quietly, tilting his head down so (Y/n) could read his lips because Tommy didn't want to spell out his name or talk about him any more than necessary.

His hands let go of (Y/n)'s hips so he could weave his arms around her waist and pull her closer. Keeping her back towards the station doors so she didn't catch sight of Gerrard leaving. He didn't want to risk Gerrard looking over and trying to mutter something or point or make any kind of gesture in their direction.

Her fingertips grazed up and down Tommy's arms but she paused for a moment when Tommy turned. Her eyes followed his movements as he sat down in her seat and pulled her along with him. Her breath caught in her lungs when Tommy's arms tugged until she sat down on his lap.

It allowed him to tuck his face into her neck and press his lips against her skin while his arms bound tight around her middle. And he pulled her so her back was flush against his chest that was hard and heaving behind her.

(Y/n) twisted to the side so her left side was pressed into his chest and both arms were looped around his neck. She dragged her fingertips up and down the back of his neck and curved her lips into a smile when Daisy clambered off her chair and onto (Y/n)'s lap.

She wriggled under Tommy's arm and sat on (Y/n)'s knee, cuddling into Tommy's chest until he pecked the top of her head.

Tommy couldn't help the smile that spread across his face when both twins decided to push a chair close until it bumped into Tommy's thigh and touched his own chair. The pair of them clambered up onto the chair and leaned over until they could wrap themselves around whatever part of Tommy they could reach, causing him to groan playfully.

And when Tyler shuffled his chair closer to his dad's other side, pinning Tommy between his family, the pilot grinned. He felt Tyler wriggle under his right arm and both arms suddenly felt impossibly full, holding all of his family close to his chest.

[nethersonq]

Bakura Chart 12.0: im sure you are all happy to see me again. we need to kill bakura with hammers

TWOOOO HUNDRED AND TWENTY SEVEN FUCKING COLORS

i blame my cramps on this guy i blame my seizures on this guy i blame my hallucinations my aches my faintness every inconvenience i have ever gone through it is this guy's fault. recently i have been going out. my exams are over. artfight is here. so i am fully trying to enjoy myself. but bakura has no care for my joy or my freedom or my goals. i will be stuck documenting all of these forever

also the chart had to be moved to a new canvas since it outgrew the old one. it took a while but now it has been relocated to a nice 4000x4000 canvas (which it. already is slowly filling up)

maybe i should be grateful that new official arts are highly unlikely to show up. i may be suffering from a lack of aigami merchandise but if it stops me from having to go through this then it is fine

we have surpassed 200. when will i be allowed to rest

color count: 227

[raiynnah]

Slice of Life

@wolfstarmicrofic - word count: 227

Sirius kicks his feet under his desk, twisting his wand around his fingers. It’s a trick he had practised until it became second nature, all in an attempt to show off to one person in particular. It hadn’t worked, the most attention Sirius had garnered was the usual girls from the “Sirius fan club”, as James called it. Sirius hopes that’s a joke, because if it isn’t that means 1) James actually is the president of his fan club (and therefore Sirius has been failing in his best friend duties) and 2) Remus isn't in said infamous club.

Remus is, unsurprisingly, staring forward at the board and nodding at their professor dully reciting the textbook, pretending to be the perfect student (which he is NOT). He’s leaning forward with actual interest (ew), interest that’s never been focused on Sirius. No, Sirius doesn’t care. It’s fine.

Really.

Sirius resolves to find one of those aforementioned girls again and lose himself in someone who does actually like him in that way, much to James’ perpetual disapproval. It’s fine. He’s fine. He’ll get over it one of these days.

Ironically, Remus decides at that moment to turn his head and look back at Sirius, smiling, most likely having sensed Sirius’ eyes on the freckles on his neck. Ugh. How dare his eyes be that soft caramel colour. How dare he.

[thefirstknife]

so like im lost, i didnt play any of Act 1 or 2 or read lore bc life happening (house fire+car crash+laid off+homeless in 2 weeks)

so like whats going on eith the whole

Maya → Lakshmi → Conductor → Maya again??

(or is it Lakshmi→Maya→Conductor???)

like where's one "start" and the other "end"

Oh I'm sorry this all happened to you. I see you have a donation link on your pinned post, if people are able to help, check it out!

Also! Lakshmi is not relevant here; it's just the face that Conductor!Maya is comfortable using. Lakshmi was a sort of copy of Maya that Maya made using the Veil, but her life is separate and she's gone. There's also the meta reason that it's easier to reuse Lakshmi's face than make a new model, though they did show us what Maya actually looked like back in the day (and Chioma too)!

It's still not entirely clear which Maya we're dealing with however, though this week's lore tab added a bit of possible context. In here, Maya is talking about her experience communing with the Veil and how close she got to the Vex Network from it and then she ends up completely crossing over into the Vex Network. I think this probably implies that when original human Maya died on Neomuna ("in the conductor's chair"), she crossed over into the Network.

She is very disoriented inside so we don't really know how it worked time-wise, because for Maya it was almost instant? She ends up in the Network, tries to understand things, shapes herself a body and is still excited to talk to Chioma about all of this, then realises that A LOT of time has passed and that Chioma is now dead. Then she goes wild with grief and decides to find her Chioma because she's convinced that Chioma would've kept looking for her.

There's also the question of all the simulated copies of Golden Age Maya with the other Ishtar scientists: 227 of them. Some of that is also talked about this week in the mission. From what I can understand, those Mayas are not part of the Conductor!Maya; as a matter of fact, that Maya on comms in the mission sounds a lot different to me.

I think the Conductor!Maya is a continuation of the real original Maya that died on Neomuna, though that could still change or remain kinda unresolved overall because a lot of the stuff this episode is about how much it doesn't really matter who is the "original." We'll see though. It's also possible that Conductor!Maya is a combination of the real Maya with an addition of some of her copies from the Network. We're probably going to get more stuff in the next two weeks about all of this, including the simulated copies.

Here's a post with some extra details about this week.

[northoftheroad]

Hello ! I was wondering if you knew or had a least of every medical condition Dick Grayson has or should be having depending on things hapoening in comics, be it physical or mental health, I want to make some sort of complete and accurate medical report and I need someones help ! Thank you so much <3

Hi,

This is more than I can chew off! With several thousand comics under the belt, and comic book heroes usually healing over night (or at least until the next comic), Dick has been hurt so many times... Shot, cut, drowned, mind-controlled, tortured, punched, you name it. (I'm not even going into the rapes... Or all the times he's lost family members and close friends.)

(Here is an old thread just with stuff Dick has been beaten with... )

Anyway. Here are a number of examples of traumas from all over his career. If anyone wants to chime in, please be my guest!

Two times he lost his memory as Robin:

And of course, he was shot in the head in Batman vol 3 # 55 and lost most memories again. Though it was partly because (or worsened) by a memory crystal and special goggles. 🤷‍♀️

Batman # 55

Nightwing vol 4 # 65

Nightwing vol 4 # 71

He has been close to drowning in for instance Batman # 237, Superman # 700 and New Teen Titans vol 1 # 7.

Shot by some energy weapon in Infinite Crisis. (That's where DC originally planned to let Nightwing die, because of the effect that would have of almost all of DC's characters, but they were kind of forced to change their minds.)

Shot in the shoulder in Batman # 408 and one arm in Nightwing vol 2 # 80, a leg in Nightwing vol 2 # 98 and in the shoulder in Nightwing vol 2 # 148.

A broken leg in Batman # 65 and stabbed here and there in Nightwing vol 3 # 9.

Almost blown to bits in World's Finest Comics # 269.

Radiation damage in Nightwing vol 2 # 116-117.

Almost perished in the desert in Grayson # 5 and exposed to a mysterious alien gas in Batman vol 1 # 107.

And I think I'm going to have to continue in a part two, because there is a limit to the number of pictures in one post...

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 4

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

aaaaaaand i'm back for another chapter! Again at my desk with my reading buddy (Charlie) tea for this chapter is a soy matcha latte.

So, I thought the conference was a few days from when Shen Qingqiu/Shen Yuan was in the cave, but im assuming it's annual? Since he was in the caves for a year? p191

Ah JK. the top of the next page - the conference is every 4 years 192

I'm actually so stoked for this demon blood reveal. I want to know how its spun in this "version" of the story p 193

I love how confused shen yuan is, he's still over here thinking he's the villain when he has so clearly been upgraded to Love Interest/Damsel in Distress. IDK what to tell you pp193-194

Okay so now luo binghe is 17. Question though- do we ever actually get an age for Shen Qingqiu? p195

This kid is still here simping. Actually at this point I dont even know who is the simp. Luo Binghe is openly heart eyes and Qin Qingqiu isn't even aware of his own feelings but the way he describes future luo binghe is too much LOL. It is a trainwreck to read. p195

Binghe: *all flirt* Shen Qingqiu: shit. fuck. ah. I need to not fuck this plot point p196

LOL at Shen Qingqiu taking the carriage "I'm frail and indisposed" x3 twink energy p200

not the snacks too LOL p200

oh no! Luo Binghe thinking that Shen Qingqiu has any feelings at all for Liu Mingyan p201

But also then trying to make Shen Qingqiu jealous. Oh boy.

Let's take a second to appreciate how clear and concise the point system is for the conference. like this was well thought out- I love it. It's also giving a bit of hunger games spectator energy p205

This guy (Shen Yuan) already knows the outcome, and yet he's going to gamble (AND GAMBLE BIG) anyways p 208

I cannot with this group following Luo Binghe "my feet hurt :(" p215

why the foot fetish material 💀 217

RIP to the OG timeline's harem- the have been felled to the Demon Realm's Nu Yuan Chen p218

omg this is a massacre p220

awww at liu qingge not letting Shen Qingqiu join the fray. I feel like these two probably have a shit ton of fics pairing them p223

THE HEAD SPIDER WHAT pp226-227

Shen Qingqiu's entrance though!!!!!!!! p227

Shen Qingqiu is even getting the flower poison plot (points for my love interest/damsel in distress plotline) "Stop. Do not pass go. The girl you're supposed to pick the flower for, Qin Wanyue, is right next to us, watching- and you want to deflower it in her presence, and for a big, strong man to boot? Leave your wife some dignity, all right?!" p231

oooo now we get details on who the spy is. Enter Shang Qinghua p233

Shang Qinghhua deserves an Oscar for this performance 236

And more damsel shen qingqiu 242

the miscommunications! oh gosh why is this scene so painful. They're talking about two different things. pp247-248

Oh no. Shen Qingqiu/Shen Yuan is not okay :( p257

oh no oh no oh no -> heartbreak points?!?!?!? this is so sad p259

OMG WAIT WHAT AN END TO THIS CHAPTER. THE AUTHOR IS HERE TOO???????????? WHAT THE HECK!!!

RE: Who the spy is- A SPY WITHIN A SPY?

Thats all for today!

The twist really twisted me at the end there. AH. I can't wait to read more. Will they work together? will they be mortal enemies??? Will this be the author attempting to usurp Shen Yuan????? I DONT KNOW????

[marivoid]

Entry 32

Day 227

The worst way to earn a good reputation in a city has to be, by far, grabbing somebody's prosthetic and harming them.

That being said, GUESS WHO TICKED OFF A GUARD OF COMPARATOR CITY.

Yep. I had done the absolute impossible and somehow managed to mistake a prosthetic for a loose piece of rubble or scrap. Whoop de fucking do.

I promise I can explain! When I left Mumbo's place and got into the city, I was met with this huge wall! And I'm talking at least 10 meters? If not more! And there was a ladder and what I thought was maybe a really big kite tail dangling down-

One thing led to another and... Well. I learned very quickly that some kite tails can, in fact, talk. And they can feel pain!

Specifically if a kite tail is attached to a very pissed off Guard's spine.

Yeah... I fucked up. Big time.

But thankfully the guard didn't stay mad at me too long! Just... Dangled me over the open air while making sure I remembered to never grab his prosthetic again! Yep! That seems absolutely fair.

When I had eventually gotten on solid ground (ish? Does a wall count as ground?) I managed to properly introduce myself to the man. (With about one million apologies for grabbing said prosthetic.)

"You have one hell of an odd way of greeting people." The Guard had chastised as he returned to his duty of observing the ground below us (One heck of an experience!) "Didn't your parents ever teach you to not grab things you have no clue about?"

"Well- Where I'm from not many people have... Prosthetics like yours. It's one of the more unique ones- And the ones on your ears! I've seen glowing ears, but finned ones..."

"Scare tactic. Makes a loud buzzing noise if you vibrate them fast enough. Acts like a Roach's wings." He had told me off handedly.

"Roach? You mean the bug?" I'll be the first to admit, I laughed at that time! I found it hilarious that somebody would want to always hear a cockroach's wings flying against your ear. But boy did that guard have me singing a different tune.

"No. I mean the super human Stragglers that can kill you and me in the blink of an eye. The noise can be amplified to chase away any normal Stragglers or Stalkers. Keeps the city safe."

The way he said it earlier... I can still feel my hands shaking a bit at the idea alone. Sure there are plenty of things that can kill somebody, but in an instant? And to have the sounds of them be enough to deter other enemies... I hopefully won't get a visual of what these "Roaches" look like. I think I'd like to keep this journal free of anything that horrid.

"Well... I'm... Kinda looking for a way inside this city. I need to meet with the Demon? He's apparently somebody that can help me."

"The Demon? He's long gone, bud."

"Well there went that hope."

"But."

"... But?"

"The Angel." He had told me. "The Angel is still in town. Should be near the Broadcasting Station. Probably bugging the Radio Master. He always knows where the Demon is."

And from there he sent out a couple messages for me, asked a few other guards (They're called Wall Warriors. Bit on the nose but I can see where the name comes from.) and sent me on my way. Before I left, I managed to ask him for his name.

"And why should I tell you?"

"For... Future reference...?"

"... Alright, I'll bite. xB. Lowercase X, uppercase B."

"I have a feeling I won't know why it's like that?"

"I don't tell that information to tail grabbers."

"... Fair enough I suppose."

I did manage to snag his blip number from another guard. Sent him a message a few minutes ago, actually. And he responded! He's warming up to me! Success.

That's all I got for today. I have a new prerogative. Find the Angel and whatever the Broadcasting Station is. (Does the broadcasting station actually WORK?? Could I have music to keep me sane?)

Questions to figure out tomorrow.

-MLW

-G.U.I.D.E. 67

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to Cale Snow's Chapter 227

TL;DR - Cale's group thought that their enemies were weak. Cale is shocked that he kept using "our" DHB to differentiate him from the Aipotu dhb/mbd. One mbd thought of suicide to inform the central temple of their situation, but got thwarted by Bailey and Clopeh. Cale insists he knew nothing about Archduke Snow.

Weak Enemies Cale's group were over-prepared, so they were surprised to find that their enemies were... weak. Cale even compared the mbd to 'our' dhb, and was surprised that he used 'our' to differentiate DHB from the Aipotu dragon half bloods/mixed blood dragons.

See? Even Cale is confused because the Korean words for dhb and mbd are the same. 😂 I used mbd to differentiate if from DHB, but Cale added the word 'our' to DHB to differentiate him from the Aipotu dhb.

Runaway So mbd had this last resort option called 'runaway.' A mixed blood dragon had a "jewel" embedded in their right chest, which when crushed/destroyed, would give them a huge boost in power, but eventually lead to their deaths.

This jewel upon crushed would send a signal to the central temple, informing the temple that the mbd had died. One of the mbd planned to induce a runaway in order to inform the temple of what happened here.

Fortunately, Bailey recognized their plan and warned Cale's group, so Clopeh immediately cut off the wrist of that mbd. Of course, Clopeh-nim did all that with a saintly smile, saying "Variables should not exist in His path." Yeah... we all know who the "He" Clopeh was talking about. 🤣🤣🤣

You Know Nothing? Our chapter title finally makes an appearance! Of course, it's a GoT reference, so it's only fitting that our Cale Snow is the one who says the iconic line. 😂

Bailey: Um, you know nothing? Cale: Yes. I know nothing. Archduke Snow. I have neither heard of such family nor know anything about them. Absolutely none. That family has no connection to me. It's as irrelevant as a speck of dust. Bailey: ...I see. Bailey: (A strong denial means a positive answer. He's clearly related to Archduke Snow!)

Ending Remarks So many fun parts today, from tsundere Rasheel, crazy Caleism believer Clopeh, to Cale being misunderstood for the nth time. 😂 Next chapter will be Cale's conversation with Minister Bailey, so perhaps we'll get an info dump again? DHB's lack of a name gets mentioned by Cale again, so I'm also looking forward to it.

[reddiesworldsblog]

daily reminder day 219: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he’s doing some well deserved gay shit.

daily reminder day 220: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he’s uhhh…oh- um, uhhhhh- yeah he’s busy. but he hopes you all have a good day :)

daily reminder day 221: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he and richie are going on a mini random roadtrip. they could use a small getaway.

daily reminder day 222: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he’s making up his and richie’s bed. there’s a method to his madness, the bed always has to be made a particular way which is why eddie’s always the one to do it. richie is quick to throw the blankets and pillows on the bed where they’re still very much wrinkled and out of place; it drives eddie INSANE. he’s almost done with it now, propping and fluffing up the pillows against their headboard neatly. that is until suddenly he’s being picked up from behind with strong arms and the smell of Old Spice with a mix of musk filling his senses, yelping and kicking wildly in the process. eddie knows who it is and knows what’s about to happen next, and because of that he begins yelling “richie no! the bed!! i just made the be- !!!” but before he can get it all out, richie is already tossing eddie onto the bed with a laugh, the force of him hitting the bed wrinkling their comforter and making the pillows scatter and fall to the floor. and before eddie can bitch and complain, richie climbs on the bed and kisses eddie a little silly. they stay like that for a while, languidly kissing and eddie letting himself get distracted. but richie’s not off the hook yet, eddie’s gonna let him HAVE IT when he finally remembers how they ended up kissing on the bed in the first place.

daily reminder day 223: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he’s comparing his and richie’s hand sizes and once again complaining how unfair it is that richie’s hands are so gd big.

daily reminder day 224: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he’s most definitely not playing sims and putting him and richie in the game and making a whole mini life for them in it. no way. he’s a grown ass man, why on earth would he do that….

daily reminder 225: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he’s craving for a kiss (or 30) but can’t get one because richie is still not home yet. and if richie doesn’t haul ass home right now eddie’s gonna get extra silly and bl0w up their pool. he wants richie NOW!

daily reminder day 226: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he and richie are having a cookout for them and a few neighbors plus bev and ben who came out to visit. richie is at the grill and hes wearing his signature “kiss the chef!” apron. and because nothing has changed from when they first started dating YEARS ago, richie teases him into giving him a kiss, to which eddie does “reluctantly” after the playful bickering.

daily reminder day 227: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he’s letting richie count the freckles and moles that he has all over his body, per richie’s request. it’s kinda sweet, eddie thinks, how gentle richie is as he drags his fingers down his skin to keep count of the chocolate spots that decorate eddie’s soft, tan skin; how interested and invested richie is as he counts with a soft smile. eddie really wants to kiss him, but he’ll do that when richie is done.

update: eddie has 143 freckles.

daily reminder day 228: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he’s trying to steal richie’s glasses as they play fight. once he gets them he laughs in richie’s face and puts them on and tries to run away, only to end up yelping and falling on his face. it was then that he realized that richie wasn’t exaggerating about his eye sight and now eddie cant see either. needless to say he’s learned his lesson.

daily reminder day 229: eddie k-tozier is alive and well and right now he’s bouncing off the walls because he just walked outside and felt a cool breeze. fall is almost here, guys.

[koalajjun]

Satisfaction | Wonwoo x Y/N

pairing: wonwoo x y/n

genre : smut 

word count : 227

Y/N never expected much from Wonwoo when they had started dating—after all, years of being single had gotten her used to doing most things (and intimate activities) on her own. But, Wonwoo kept surprising her with his talents in the bedroom and tonight was no different. Y/N braced herself as she felt the warmth radiating from Wonwoo's body. His masterful touches were gentle but with purpose as he teased her for what seemed like forever. Y/N could hear herself screaming out her pleasure as she felt her body shuddering with each wave of pleasure that overcame her. With every stroke, her pleasure built and then suddenly with a single thrust she tumbled into another wave of pleasure as Wonwoo brought her to her limit. Before she could come down from the high her body had been thrown into, Wonwoo started the process all over again. Y/N couldn't believe the power Wonwoo had over her. She had lost count of the number of times she had been brought to orgasm, but it must have been 20 times or more! She never felt so satisfied in her life—Wonwoo had given her a pleasure she never thought was possible. When it was all over, Y/N laid in Wonwoo's arms and felt herself drift off into a blissful sleep. She was certain no one else could ever make her feel the way Wonwoo had tonight.

@ koalajjun | do not steal, translate or repost any of my works reblogs and likes are highly appreciated

[daresplaining]

I was wondering if you could give me a recommended reading order for Daredevil stories with Karen specifically. The more important the role (not being dead please) the better! Yellow has been great and when I read born Again I'm sure I'll be asking for more! anything throughout all of daredevil's history is welcome, before miller, after, i'll be happy with anything. And for specifically karen's and matt's relationship history, knowing the starts, stops, restarts, and restops, etc would be great!

Absolutely! Karen is a neat character to me not just for who she is as a person, but also because she was around long enough to be present for many of the comic's stylistic and tonal shifts over the decades. Her character arc is also really compelling, even if it requires some digging. I was going to recommend Daredevil: Yellow, but since you've already read it, I'll just mention it anyway for anyone who might not have checked it out yet. Great comic, delightful depiction of Karen.

Now, let's get into it!

The first 70-or-so issues of Daredevil are a full-on soap opera, with Matt and Karen dancing around the prospect of a relationship, going through drama, dealing with fake twin brothers and secret identity shenanigans...to the degree that I'm tempted to just recommend that you check out that whole block of issues (as always, I'm obligated to recommend the Mike Murdock Saga). However, for the sake of brevity, I'll pull out some of the most significant Karen moments.

Daredevil vol. 1 #41: Karen has spent the past fifteen issues torn between Matt-- her true love, who doesn't seem to love her back-- and his "twin brother" Mike, who is equally attractive and actually seems to be into her. In this issue, Karen finally comes to grips with the fact that she likes Matt best.

Daredevil vol. 1 #48: Matt and Karen's first kiss! Karen had quit her job at the law office because the romantic tension was stressing her out, sending Matt into a depressive spiral. In this issue she returns, and they finally make their feelings fully known to each other.

Daredevil vol. 1 #56-58: The "Death's Head" arc! This is a great, creepy story that is also the first DD story to really center Karen. We learn more about her family, her backstory, she gets some nice heroic moments, and it is very, very significant for her relationship with Matt. It then leads directly into #58, in which things immediately begin to fall apart.

Daredevil vol. 1 #63-67: Karen, fed up with Matt's inability to keep his promises, breaks off their engagement and runs away to Hollywood to pursue her acting career. Matt runs after her. These issues cover their adventures together in California and Matt's inability to let go.

Daredevil vol. 1 #86: Karen and Matt give the engagement thing one more try (for now).

Ghost Rider vol. 1 #13-26: These issues cover Karen's Hollywood adventures alongside Johnny Blaze (Ghost Rider) and Stunt-Master! While she isn't a major presence and isn't in every issue, it is fun to see her in such a different context, in the hands of a different creative team, living her movie star dreams.

Daredevil vol. 1 #138 and Ghost Rider vol. 1 #20: In the midst of the above chunk of issues, Matt learns that Karen has gone missing and runs off to California to rescue her, giving us a fun little crossover with Ghost Rider.

Marvel Two-In-One vol. 1 #46: Karen isn't in this issue that much, but it's a really fun one. The Hulk gets angry about the new Hulk TV show, in which Karen is about to be cast. Also, Ben Grimm is there.

Daredevil vol. 1 #227-233: It sounds like "Born Again" is already on your radar but I'm including it here for completeness. Karen hits her lowest point, and reunites with Matt after more than a hundred issues of separation.

Daredevil vol. 1 #237: This is a really nice issue. Karen and Matt start a new life together in Hell's Kitchen.

Daredevil vol. 1 #242-244: Karen struggles to come to terms with Daredevil's violence in the context of her own abuse-related trauma.

Daredevil vol. 1 #248: Karen starts up her free clinic and drug hotline, offering support (and under-the-table legal services, via Matt) to those in the community suffering through the same things she went through. Karen's clinic is a key setting throughout this run and a key element of her character development during this period.

Daredevil vol. 1 #259: Partway through the Nocenti/JRJr run, Matt starts cheating on Karen with Mary Walker, Typhoid Mary's mild-mannered alter. As his affections waver between the two women, Matt teams up with Karen to take down a child trafficking operation.

Daredevil vol. 1 #261: Daredevil has gone missing. Karen teams up with Johnny Storm to look for him.

Daredevil vol. 1 #294: Karen and Matt reunite after a long absence (read: one of Matt's faked deaths, following the previously mentioned infidelity). Includes one of my all-time favorite Karen scenes.

Daredevil vol. 1 #297, 299, 302, 305, 312, 320, 325: Phew, that's a list. Each of these issues contains precisely one (1) lovely Karen scene as she and Matt work toward rebuilding the trust and love that they lost.

Daredevil vol. 1 327, 329-331, 338-342: While grieving Matt's latest faked death, Karen confronts ghosts from her past as she works to take down a child pornography operation. (Tragically, unless I'm missing a tie-in somewhere, this plotline just kind of abruptly ends, possibly due to the writer shuffling that was going on at the time. But it's a neat Karen solo adventure while it lasts.)

Daredevil vol. 1 #345-347: Someone who seems to be Matt is running around in the yellow Daredevil costume. Karen and Foggy try to get to the bottom of it.

Daredevil vol. 1 348-350: Matt has a mental breakdown. Foggy finds out that Matt is 1. alive and 2. Daredevil. Karen has to deal with all of it.

I humbly beseech you to read all of Daredevil vol. 1 #353-375. It's one of my favorite periods of Daredevil and is full of Karen goodness, since by this point she and Matt are living together again. However, here are a few particularly significant issues:

Daredevil vol. 1 #359: One of my all-time favorite issues, featuring a Daredevil-themed episode of the enigmatic Paige Angel's radio show...

Daredevil vol. 1 #371: Karen and Matt have had a major fight. Karen seeks emotional support from a questionable source. Matt clumsily tries to make amends.

Daredevil vol. 1 #375: Another one of my absolute favorite issues of Daredevil. Karen gets framed for murder, and this extra-long issue covers her trial.

Extras:

Daredevil: Predator's Smile and Daredevil: The Cutting Edge: These two prose novels are a little difficult to find these days, but they're very fun and heavily feature Karen. In fact, some of my favorite Karen scenes are from these books. Predator's Smile takes place between issues #233 and 234 (right after "Born Again"), and Cutting Edge takes place during Joe Kelly's run (#365-375).

Marvel Valentine Special, "Love Hurts": This short story takes place during the Kesel/Kelly era. Karen uses her radio show to help a woman get out of an abusive relationship.

Secret Wars: Secret Love, "Guilty Pleasure": Is this part of my stealth mission to get everyone on the planet to read "Misty and Danny Forever"? Maybe. But this anthology issue's Karen-focused story is very neat too.

Daredevil vol. 4 #15.1, "Chasing the Devil": Karen only appears briefly in this little Silver Age retrospective story, but even just this small glimpse of her as written and drawn by the great Chris Samnee and Matthew Wilson is a treat.

I hope this helps!

[genericpuff]

more proof of Rachel responding to criticism (but it deserves its own post)

Shoutout to @loreolympusminoredits over on Instagram because they were the one that we saw pointing this out, but Rachel and her team went and edited a panel in the newest free episode right as it became free.

Original:

Edit:

So, a few things about this.

FIRST OF ALL, it's clear beyond a shadow of a doubt now that Rachel is seeing the criticism being made about the S2/3 art and its degradation. A lot of those criticisms include how overly-sexualized Persephone is (because Rachel will take any and all opportunity to draw her mamajama's as the central focal point of the shot even when it doesn't make sense) and how little floral there is compared to S1 despite her being the Goddess of Spring.

THAT BEING SAID, SECOND OF ALL, this edit still feels so incredibly low effort. It doesn't tell me that Rachel genuinely wants to do better, it tells me that she's doing this because Webtoons finally told her to shape up and do it or because the criticism finally got to her head but instead of going "hmm, maybe the points people are making are genuine?" she's going "FINE. IF YOU GUYS ARE GONNA BE DICKS ABOUT IT, I'LL REMOVE HER BOOB LINE. HAPPY NOW????" (no, because the art still looks cheap and rushed, it's still missing color along the left side of her dress/arm ffs, changing little things like her cleavage and adding some white blobs into her hair isn't getting to the spirit of these criticisms - and that's that the whole vibe of the art is gone, there's no personality or oomf that it had back in S1).

THIRD OF ALL, SHE DIDN'T EVEN EDIT OUT THE ORIGINAL PANEL LMAO YOU CAN LITERALLY COMPARE THE OLD VERSION AND THE NEW VERSION RIGHT ON THE COMIC, BECAUSE THE PANEL SHOWED UP AT THE END OF 227 AND IS SHOWN AGAIN IN THE BEGINNING OF 228. BUT SHE ONLY EDITED THE 228 ONE LMAOOO SO NOW IT'S JUST INCONSISTENT 🤣 it's like Rachel thinks she's "winning" for doing the bare minimum but she's creating even more little art inconsistencies and problems. It gives me the impression she only changed the panel because it was about to become free to read and she wants the non-fast-passers to be eluded into thinking she's making 'more effort' when that 'effort' is literally just like, white blobs and the eraser tool and one redrawn line LMAO

Anyways, all that's to say, Rachel we can see you editing your panels and your efforts to do so are so bare minimum it hurts. You don't need to go back and edit old panels, you need to work on the stuff that's coming out, and that's gonna take a lot more work than just throwing in some blob flowers and erasing Persephone's boobs. You haven't addressed the oversaturated colors that make the characters look like they've been dipped in grease paint, the void backgrounds that make that oversaturation look even WORSE, the lack of watercolor texturing, lack of glow, anatomical problems, overuse of lineart, character model inconsistencies between panels, lack of shape language, and lack of overall visual appeal that's definitely being lost due to an over-reliance on assistants to pull the weight of drawing the comic and lack of proper direction/training to get everyone on the same page.

Go back and read your own comic for once, Rachel. Do some studies on what used to be good about your art. Get your assistants on the same wavelength. Make an actual effort. Because there are currently SHITLOADS of salty unpaid Internet randos online drawing circles around you and understanding your techniques better than you do these days.

And as one of those salty unpaid Internet randos, here you go:

[currentfications]

Happy 2024 (is that even the correct wording?) folks, thank you all for being really cool peeps on this corner of the internet x

To all 227 of you (damn that’s plenty of y’all), thank you for putting up with my oddity (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵) and sorry for my complete incompetence in updating fics- to my defence (there’s no defence I’m just raw dogging AuDHD unmedicated lazy)

Special thanks to @lil-elliesgf and @bada-lee-ily (@wiselight I seemed to struggle with tagging you a lot, I’m v sorry if I missed tagging you a few times!!) for being w ocean eyes since the v beginning, and to all of you who are reading along (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

I honestly didn’t expect this many of you when I scrambled back into writing(and good god am I rusty at it- my wordings??? is so strange sometimes???), but thanks for tuning in x

More shout outs to…

@urlovebot and @woniverse-writes for being the ogs that i found in the fandom, the little prompts and moth to a flame is *chefs kiss* perfection ◉‿◉

@badasgirlfriend for their smaus- tbh I was SHOOKETH the first time I saw your fic, my pea brain cannot imagine how much effort must’ve been put into them??!? Everytime u post? A blessing <3

Same goes to @nimxie and @venuszn for dropping the loveliest fics (/ω＼) blessed fr

@dallaji, @sun-nyy , and @sydnerss y’all can have my first born’s left kidney x

@princhii best wishes to u and pk in 2024 ◉‿◉

These so many more of y’all I wanna tag??? But your layouts (don’t get me wrong y’all run beautiful blogs but I am old and weary and unable to keep up) are so different I’m struggling Σ（ﾟдﾟlll）

But anyhoo thanks for a great year, let’s go do it all over again next year ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆