#weve had a new people for a few months and hes worked with her only a week or so and they are having a

[empty-flat-n-lonely-bys]

...

[wolfjackle-creates]

In celebration of my new writing sideblog, I decided to share a snippet of the expanded version of my first prompt fill. Original can be found here. Brief synopsis: Tim and Danny became online friends when they were both neglected and lonely ten/eleven-year-olds. Before Robin and before Phantom. They have been fully open with each other since they first met and that doesn't change, even after it probably should. (This segment is a chat fic.)

Prompt from @gremlin-bot

IKnowYourSecrets = Tim's username

-xXPolarisXx- = Danny's username

Typos in chat are intentional.

Edit: I don't know why the color text is being weird. Each time I get everything to work, new random letters are black.

Edit 2: formatting finally fixed. That took way too long.

-----

Danny had been playing mindlessly when he got a message from Secrets.

IKnowYourSecrets: Thank god your on

That was odd. Secrets was always laid back and chill.

-xXPolarisXx-: Secrets? Whats up

IKnowYourSecrets: something big has happened IKnowYourSecrets: like top secret big IKnowYourSecrets: and I need advice IKnowYourSecrets: ive set up a private chat IKnowYourSecrets: one that cant be hacked so easily

-xXPolarisXx-: dude youre freaking me out -xXPolarisXx-: whats going on?

IKnowYourSecrets: :sends link: IKnowYourSecrets: not here. Ill explain

Danny clicked the link and put in his username when prompted. He had never even seen this chat room server before. Not that he spent a lot of time on chat rooms. He preferred in-game chats.

-xXPolarisXx-: ok dude spill -xXPolarisXx-: wth is going on

IKnowYourSecrets: I know who Batman is

“What!” Danny couldn’t hold back the shout. He started typing a reply, deleted, started typing again.

“Danny?” asked Jazz from the kitchen table where she was doing her homework. “Everything ok?”

He waved his hand at her. “Yeah! Everything is fine! My friend and I were just killed by something I didn’t even know could be dangerous.”

“Don’t play too long. You still have homework.”

“I know! I’ll be good.”

-xXPolarisXx-: good one secrets -xXPolarisXx-: you got me for a minute

IKnowYourSecrets: :image attachment: IKnowYourSecrets: :image attachment: IKnowYourSecrets: :news link: IKnowYourSecrets: :news link: IKnowYourSecrets: :image attachment:

The links and pictures started coming through even faster. The first was a picture of a family of acrobats and one of the links was to the story about how the parents died in an accident while performing.

The next link was about Bruce Wayne adopting a child followed by one only a few months later discussing Batman’s new side kick, Robin. Then a picture of the Graysons’ son in his circus costume next to a picture of the first Robin. Which were entirely too similar.

“Holy…” whispered Danny. But the links and images were still coming.

Robin stopped being spotted when Dick Grayson moved out. And not much later Nightwing appeared. And then there was a new Robin and a new adoption. And then Jason Todd-Wayne died and Robin disappeared.

-xXPolarisXx-: what. The fuck -xXPolarisXx-: why are you even looking into this -xXPolarisXx-: Secrets! ????

IKnowYourSecrets: your a real friend, right? IKnowYourSecrets: I mean weve known each other for like 2 years now IKnowYourSecrets: no catfisher’d stick around this long

-xXPolarisXx-: course I’m real -xXPolarisXx-: though thats also what a catfisherd say

IKnowYourSecrets: I live in gotham IKnowYourSecrets: Batmans changed since Robin IKnowYourSecrets: Since Jason died IKnowYourSecrets: he needs a robin I think IKnowYourSecrets: hes mean and harsh and people dont feel safe

-xXPolarisXx-: … -xXPolarisXx-: youre planning something

IKnowYourSecrets: help me figure out how to convince dick to go back to being robin IKnowYourSecrets: I think they had a fight IKnowYourSecrets: from what i can find online their last several meetings have ended in fights

Danny stared at his screen, mouth open. Secrets couldn’t be serious. This was too much. But he knew his friend. He might joke during a gaming battle, but he’d never joke about this. Not to Danny, or well, Polaris.

-xXPolarisXx-: Youre gonna chase down Nightwing?? -xXPolarisXx-: isnt he only out at night??? -xXPolarisXx-: dude youre gonna get yourself killed -xXPolarisXx-: how’ll you even find him? -xXPolarisXx-: do NOT tell him you know his secret identity -xXPolarisXx-: what do vigilantes do to ppl who learn their identities?

Danny watched as the dots appeared to indicate Secrets was typing. They stopped. Picked up again.

IKnowYourSecrets: awww IKnowYourSecrets: you like me ❤ IKnowYourSecrets: im not gonna die! IKnowYourSecrets: NIGHTWING will be there IKnowYourSecrets: and I can find him bc I know his patrol routes IKnowYourSecrets: easy peasy IKnowYourSecrets: im going tonight IKnowYourSecrets: just need to figure out what to say

-xXPolarisXx-: dude really??? -xXPolarisXx-: do you even know why they fought?

IKnowYourSecrets: Gotham needs batman IKnowYourSecrets: and batman needs robin IKnowYourSecrets: hes a hero he should want to help

-xXPolarisXx-: Well start with that, then -xXPolarisXx-: if youre going to be an idiot -xXPolarisXx-: and go out in gotham at night -xXPolarisXx-: tell nightwing youre worried about batman

IKnowYourSecrets: worried about nightwing as well IKnowYourSecrets: hes not as bad IKnowYourSecrets: but its clear something is wrong

-xXPolarisXx-: im just a kid from a small town -xXPolarisXx-: how am I supposed to know how to talk to superheroes?

IKnowYourSecrets: they aren’t superheroes IKnowYourSecrets: no powers

-xXPolarisXx-: not the point -xXPolarisXx-: I guess -xXPolarisXx-: start by asking how hes doing -xXPolarisXx-: and how batmans doing -xXPolarisXx-: and say youre sorry about robins death -xXPolarisXx-: but most importan STAY SAFE -xXPolarisXx-: i dont even know your name to follow any news stories

IKnowYourSecrets: its Tim if you wanna know

-xXPolarisXx-: mines Danny -xXPolarisXx-: idk why but Tim fits you

IKnowYourSecrets: dont use it on public forums IKnowYourSecrets: but were safe here IKnowYourSecrets: Danny. I like it IKnowYourSecrets: thanks for the advice!!! IKnowYourSecrets: im gonna use it IKnowYourSecrets: ttyl IKnowYourSecrets: gonna track down dick and talk to him IKnowYourSecrets: he usually starts patroling in like an hour and a half IKnowYourSecrets: and it’ll take me about that long to get to bludhaven

-xXPolarisXx-: lemme know what happens -xXPolarisXx-: im gonna check this chat and the game any chance I have at the computer

IKnowYourSecrets: will do IKnowYourSecrets: by danny

-xXPolarisXx-: stay safe tim

Danny stared at the chat box as Secrets, as Tim signed out. What. The. Hell.

“You all right there, Danny?” Jazz was looking at him from their kitchen table and Danny quickly closed out of the chatroom. No one could be allowed to see that information.

“Yeah, course. Just talking with my online friend Secrets.” Whose name he now knew. “He had to go, though. So I guess I’ll start my homework.”

“Were you two playing that game you like?”

He couldn’t tell the truth, so he decided to lie. “Yeah. We’re hoping to beat this boss so we can get a rune stone that’ll let us craft this super awesome weapon! Then we might stand a chance in the arena.”

Jazz smiled at him. “I’m sure you two’ll get it. What’s this arena?”

Danny described the game on autopilot as pulled out his backpack and books. Holy hell, he knew Batman’s identity.

-----

Part 2

I also hope to start doing WIP Wednesdays if there's any interest. Probably not every week and they won't all be for this fic, but I've got a few things I've been working on that I hope people will enjoy.

Tag List (I hope you're still all interested so many months later. XP)

@bonebrokebuddy, @britcision, @lady-time-lord-, @welcometosasakiworld, @akikkobara, @phoenixdemonqueen, @dolfay, @skulld3mort-1fan, @nutcase8691, @dreamingasters, @xysidhequeen

I'm sure there's people I'm missing. So let me know if you want to be added or if you want to be taken off the list. I won't be offended either way.

[jackalopefreckles]

I feel like Ive aged at least 6 years since covid started. Im angrier. Less adapted to being outside then I used to be- which is saying a lot. This time last year I was?? Actually healthier mentally then I had ever been and looking forward to having the house alone for a month which?? Was the most freedom I wouldve ever had.

A lots fucking changed. I drove halfway across the country- all 30 hours at once with my big brother AND two elderly dogs, plus my cat. All animals on too many drugs (the vet said they couldnt overdose, and then failed to give any further instruction) cami peed on herself twice, unable to move. I had to waterboard her in Phoenix, a truly terrifying hell city where all the roads are raised and overlapping and its a hot as shit cause its?? What june?? Time was so fake this year I mustve just been stoned the whole time till I ran out of weed, and since moving its been a relief to be able to turn off the spinning anxious thoughts for a few hours

my big brother joined us. He brought a new dog with him which?? Is always a lot, plus I have this pack of dogs now cause the puppy wouldnt leave the super cancer ridden dog alone, and Im able to get her cbd regularly here, so shes always comfortable now instead of just?? Sometimes which is a lot nicer. We didnt think shed make it to chrisrmas. I thought shed die with me home alone to take care of everything, like always. It was almost a relief, I wouldn't have to coach my brother through the grieving process at least, and I had already finished. Its hard now even, for me to realize she might even have another christmas (but I wont hold my breath)

I feel safer going outside here then I did in Austin. I only went out a handful of times in texas, for the last few months I was ordering almost all groceries, and only going to the store once mask mandates were mandatory (theyre not anymore. Im so worried for texas. I missed a huge freeze by mere months. I dont think my elderly dogs wouldnt survived it. If I was alone with them, Im not sure I woudlve.

My parents took my brother to mexico with them. I begged them not to go, told them how irresponsible it was to travel across boarders. To visit an island and take all the plane germs with. I told them that even if my mom and brother were staying at home all day with me, my dad was still going to work and he didnt know what his coworkers were doing. That they wouldn't know what the people on the plane were doing. That at any point they could become the stupid americans that killed half an islands population.

They left a week after today last year. The boarders were closed the next day. Their friend has been traveling back and forth ever since. I have no idea how, except for the fact shes white and rich and wont hesitate to destroy a child, so I can only imagine how shed treat costomer service.

I will no longer allow this angry aggressive woman to ever make me feel bad, and I will allow myself to finally fight back. Im an adult, maybe not all the time (cause lets be real I'll always be a bit too eccentric for most) but when I get angry and allow myself that anger, it's not a bad thing. Anger doesn't have to make me feel like Ive done something wrong. Im usually very just in my actions, and I wont allow my parents influence to tell me all anger is misdirected and hurtful for reasons I couldnt understand. Its okay for me to be angry.

I think being alone with animals for months is at least reassuring that my childhood was unreasonable if nothing else. Which of course is a silly polite society term for pretty fucked, if nothing else.

My aunt had to gall to say weve had a good 2020 cause our family wasnt hurt, and I had to walk away from the zoom call. I haven't attempted communication with any of them since, not that I normally do. Of course none of us died, all rich old white people, most of them retired and able to stay home all day (not that all of them did, I learned about my grandfathers routine and just.. Im honestly surprised no one got it yet. Of course I knew from the beginning if anyone was gonna get it and die, it probably wouldve been me. Hence the 8 months of solitude before the move.

Was the move in August?? Im so unsure about time. Even with 2020 vision.

I tried to date when I moved here. Strictly on tinder. What was the point? On and off testosterone due to the wonders of texas, hadnt changed my body nearly as much as they should've a year after being on them. I look much more handsome now. Im also allowing myself to toss gender aside completely. He/him doesn't mean man, and they/them dont mean nonbinary, so why not mix them since Im?? Not really either.

It wasnt even a thought process like that to start. Much more "this is nice" which I think more gender should be allowed to be. Dont gotta be deep just comfortable.

I wont ever allow my parents to forget what they did. I ended up with three dogs I didnt want (I was so looking forward to not having any dogs) and I ended up taking care of my brother. Again. Its easier without my parents at least. Everything always is. My dogs are even happier. Cami finally isnt anxious 24/7. Again, a sad reminder my childhood wasn't great. Daisy is healthier. Trauma can be stored emotionally or with health issues, often both. I think the cancer dog getting better and?? Surviving and thriving so much longer then the vet said (how good was my old vet?) Is another unfortunate nail in thay proverbial coffin.

Im not as soft and openly loving. Im even more touch starved somehow. Harsher. I still want to choose love and compassion, but Im not letting myself fall into the trap of being so nice people wont be nice to you. Fighting back is something I wont feel shameful about, because it never stopped me from doing it completely anyway.

I was already reaching this on my own though. This was just more coffins, more nails. This didnt need to happen. We know our government let this happen. Its still letting it happen. Im not sure when Im getting my vaccine. My big brothers sick of quarentine and keeps trying to get us to go out. Sometimes I yield, and we go to a park, or the top floor of the parking garage. I get a vegan hotdog from nearby. We talk and laugh and were genuinely just. Boys being boys.

I shouldn't have to deal with parent shit anymore. I do though, especially since two out of three are unemployed and we can really only afford to live here cause of them (they owe me if anything though. Especially with my brother and these animals) I hope I can get a job soon. Or maybe even go back to school. Im lucky I had so much saved up (for top surgery, which I guess wont happen before Im 25 like I really tried for. I wouldve done it before now, but texas waitlists and rules kept holding me up. I literally went to an appointment in dallas, a 4 hour drive, just to found out the surgeon canceled on me for the second time)

Its incredibly depressing, and I know Im lucky to have had that stash. So many people didnt have anything and lost so much. People lost people. Half a million at this point. I remember when it got to 300,000 and I just?? Felt so awful it was so close to how many people we lost to AIDS. Its over that by so many now. It doesn't really stop, does it??

Is that catholic guilt?? Or maybe just irish guilt in general. Is it something I inherited or earned through all the end of the worlds and once in a lifetime recessions Ive been through. Im not sure how many off the top of my head, theyve been coming since I was so small and its always more and more. Im not even catholic anymore. I cant stop being irish though, even though the brits tried (and succeeded. Weve lost a lot. The current royal cotastrophy is bullshit as well, the only person who deserves a royal title is from Meniappolos

My home is decorate all inside for st patrick's day. My big brother loves it so Im going all out, and its def making me feel much more irish then usual (which is a lot Im over half)

I think I just wanted to say Im not the same. I hope I can still be happy an obnoxious is public. I wonder if I remember how

[mithranqueersmusings]

Before This Dance Is Through V

Chapter: 5/16

Rating: M (Smut Warning)

Summary: Ringo's being going through a dry spell for the last year or so and when he regretfully tells his best friend John, he insists on taking them to an all-male strip club for some "fun". Ringo isn't sure whether it's the alcohol, his desperation or a mixture of the two but he thinks he might be falling in love with a stripper.

Tags: AU - Strippers, Modern Setting, Smut, Slow Burn

Pairings: George Harrison/Ringo Starr, John Lennon/Paul McCartney

AO3 link here / Fic masterlist here

Despite what John had suggested, Ringo didn't go back to The Helter Skelter the following week; he'd considered it when John sent him yet another late night text but ultimately decided it wasn't the best idea. Spike had been playing on his mind daily and Ringo wasn't sure he was prepared to face him again. Instead he focused on his drumming and searched for a few more students to teach, which were fairly easy to find. Usually Ringo enjoyed his time off, he understood he was lucky that he didn't have to work a 9-5 job just to get by, but recently he wanted his fill his time up as much as possible, to distract himself.

One of his new students seemed incredibly interested in him, they'd spent an hour just chatting in his living room before they'd even moved over to the drum kit. Ringo wasn't too fussed, he was getting paid by the hour so wasting time was beneficial to him but he didn't want to give the guy the wrong impression. He was a little bit older and attractive enough but Ringo simply wasn't interested.

"Why didn't you just go for it?" John had asked him when they next met up.

"I dunno..." Ringo mumbled, but a part of him knew very well.

He'd given the guy another lesson since then and it became clear that the guy's interest in him wasn't going away any time soon. Ringo felt bad about the whole thing, wasn't he just doing exactly what Spike was doing to him? He tried to act as professional as possible the second time around in attempt to get the guy to back off, considering he hadn't heard from him since he was hoping it had worked. What was wrong with him? Was he really going to make himself suffer like this all because of one guy? And not just any guy, a stripper who had shown absolutely no interest in him at all. It was ridiculous, he kept telling himself, but no matter how much he tried to convince himself that he had to get over Spike, he would still think about him every day without fail. Trying to distract himself with clients had been working somewhat, but it had been difficult, especially when his best friend was John Lennon.

       youre gonna love me

The text came through when Ringo was sat in a café getting some lunch. He'd finished with one of his younger students, a sweet girl who's parents had tried to convince her to try a more 'ladylike' instrument but she had promised only to give up the drums if she was awful; much to her delight, and Ringo's for being able to prove the stereotypical parents wrong, she was pretty good. Seeing her always put Ringo in a good mood, the parents mostly stayed away partly due to the noise but mostly due to disappointment, which meant they could joke around together. Ringo could tell she admired him and he welcomed it gladly, one of the best things about teaching was inspiring others, at least for him it was.

        do i not already?

        well yes         but youre gonna love me EVEN more

        what have you done

        well i happened to stop by the club last night

        oh god what did you do

        wow is that how little you trust me

        can you blame me

        suppose not         ANYWAY i got talking to paulie

        surprise surprise

        do you want the good news or not???

        fine fine sorry

        AS I WAS SAYING i was talking to paulie         and he told me that your special little someone has an onlyfans account

        first of all fuck you for calling him that         second of all wtf is onlyfans

        oh sorry i didnt realise you werent living in the 21st century

        ......         care to grace me with your knowledge?

        basically its a website where you can post exclusive stuff for ONLY FANS to see         its not a porn site or anything but its basically where people sell their nudes         MEANING spike has an account so you can totally see loads of raunchy filthy perverted pics of him

        but i have to pay?

        well weve all gotta make a living

        i can basically see him naked for free

        but this way you wont get all freaked out and embarrassed         well you will but nobody will know at least         so do you want the link or not???

Ringo paused for a few moments, he was gripping his phone tightly in both of his hands as he unblinkingly looked at John's words. If his mind was going to decide to make him suffer by enabling his intense interest in Spike, he may as well get something out of it.

        fine

        where are your manners richard??

        can i please have the link to the strippers nude photos please john please

        alright calm down         let me know if its worth while i might have a look

        idk if im even gonna look at it         paying for porn is a little dated

        treat yourself ringo         id offer to pay but im broke

        if youre broke why were you at the strip club last night?

        well SOMEONE had to go

        they really didnt

        im supporting my local economy

        i dont think thats how that works

        sure it is         anyway here you go

Ringo stared at the link for a while, his eyes even began to blur, he didn't want to risk opening it in public even though he knew there was little chance of anyone seeing. He finished his lunch in a hurry and headed home quickly, only when he was in the privacy of his bedroom did he dare open it. First he had to make an account, when he saw the screen loading up asking for an email address and password he just turned his screen off and put the phone down. This was far too much effort for something he shouldn't really have been doing in the first place. But it only took a few minutes for him to pick the phone back up and begin signing up, he used an old email as it felt less seedy that way and he didn't want to risk his name cropping up anywhere for Spike to see. Now he could load up the link properly and take a proper look at Spike's profile.

Just looking at the small profile picture was enough to startle Ringo a little, the dark eyes looking into the camera with that unreadable glimmer behind them. He was shirtless in the picture, Ringo wondered why that didn't catch his attention first, with the frame cutting off just before it showed anything too explicit. The header was a photo taken from the club, showing him in tight, leather pants and tassels on his nipples which matched the whip he held in his hand. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He'd spent so much time and effort trying not to think about this man, attempting to keep him out of his mind as much as possible. Ringo knew that if he went through with this all that progress would be lost, he'd be giving in to whatever strange obsession he'd developed for Spike, one that no doubt wasn't going to lead to anything good.

Ringo kept staring at the screen as though it was going to tell him what he should do. Spike's profile had no description, which wasn't very surprising, and it dashed any hope Ringo had of discovering something new about him. Right before he was about to put his phone down again, it vibrated.

        howd the wank go??

        john i dont care how long weve been friends asking how my wank was will always be weird

        youre right sorry         so how did it go???

        if you must know         i havent had a wank         i havent even paid for entry

        now whos the one being inappropriate??

        ha ha

        why havent you???

        feels weird

        oh i see         youll consume a bunch of unethical porn for free but god forbid you actually give sex workers any actual money

        you are the last person who can lecture me about unethical porn

        hey now watch yourself         ringo if you dont get a subscription I WILL

        go ahead

        and ill tell you every day what sexy sexy pictures hes posting         ill tell you EVERY SINGLE TIME i have a wank over them

        every time? i dont think youve got enough data for that

        im not joking

        neither am i         you wank A LOT

        ringooooo just buy it i swear to god         if its not worth it or you regret it or whatever ill give you the money back

        on top of the money you already owe me?

        have you always been such a capitalist

        youre not doing a very good job of convincing me

        fine         spikes cock         now are you convinced???

        maybe

        naked pictures of spike whenever and wherever you want them all for the low low price of 10 quid a month ��       convinced??

        fine fine         if itll shut you up

        im starting to think thats code for 'i really wanna do this but im too embarrassed to admit it'

        i hate you

        now that DEFINITELY code for 'john youre right'         anyway theres no time to be telling me how right i am all the time youve got dick pics to look at         even i wont stand in the way of a good wank         so dont bother replying to me until youve paid for that subscription young man

        im older than you

        DONT BOTHER REPLYING

Ringo let out a sigh and rested his head against the bedroom wall from where he was laying on the bed. He opened up the link again and his thumb hovered over the subscription button, why couldn't he just do it? The money wasn't an issue, it could've cost half as much or be double the price and he'd still be debating it all the same. Somehow it felt like an invasion of privacy, after all Spike hadn't told Ringo about it himself, but then again that didn't necessarily mean he didn't want Ringo to see it. After all it was like John said: everyone has to make a living somehow. Sometimes Ringo wished he could turn off that part of his brain that was so empathetic, so concerned about how everyone felt and what they were thinking. He knew that he wanted this, so why wasn't he allowing himself to have it? Ringo could see that he was being ridiculous, as he was with almost anything involving Spike, and after lying there for a while pondering and debating he decided to flip a coin. Heads would mean he got the subscription, tails that he didn't. He watched the coin spinning through the air after he flicked it upwards, then snatched it and slammed it down onto his forearm before slowly moving his hand away: it was tails. What a relief. Ringo chuckled to himself for being so foolish, settling down into his bed; it was still only around midday but he didn't have anywhere he needed to be.

So why didn't he feel relieved in the slightest?

This whole thing was getting tiring, the constant debate between what he believed he should do and what he wanted to do, and it seemed like it wasn't going to be ending anytime soon. Apparently he was in this for the long run, whatever that meant, but if he was going to turn down relatively attractive guys practically throwing themselves at him, he may as well go all the way. While he was putting in his credit card information, he stopped to think around three of four times, but once he'd finished and the images became accessible to him, his brain was barely able to conjure up a coherent sentence.

"Jesus..." Ringo breathed out as his eyes flicked across the plethora of pictures loading up on his screen.

There was a lot of them, and a lot of Spike was on display. Most of them were pictures taken at the club, either from a professional photographer in the audience or photos he'd taken himself in the mirrors backstage - Ringo could even see glimpses of Paul in the background of some of them. The ones that caught Ringo's eyes the most were those that seemed to be taken in his house, these also happened to be the ones in which Spike tended to be fully naked. It was very different experience to see him like this: a static image that he'd intentionally taken of himself and posted for so many people to see, an image that couldn't look back at Ringo and make him feel that strange mixture of excitement and shame. He began scrolling down the feed which only revealed more and more enticing photos. Ringo began to feel himself hardening, he suspected it had been happening for a while now but he'd been far too distracted to notice. He felt like a teenager discovering porn for the first time, it was difficult to remind himself that this wasn't anything new. Seeing Spike naked shouldn't have excited him so much, and yet it did.

One picture in particular drew Ringo's attention: Spike was stood in front of a bathroom mirror with a loose black tie lying against his bare chest, one hand was holding a phone and the other gripping his cock. He had dark eye make up on and his hair was messy. Ringo wasn't sure exactly what it was about this photo that was so enticing but he couldn't take his eyes off it. The prominence of his collarbones, the faint curls of his dark hair, how his slim fingers wrapped around himself. Slowly Ringo slid his own hand under the waistband of his boxers as he stared at the picture. At first he hesitated, his fingers stopped right above the base. It's not like this would've been the first time he'd touched himself while thinking about Spike, it would've been far from the last he imagined, but this was different. It was more concrete, more of an admission. Nothing felt quite as real when it's only being imagined, the haziness of lust fuzzing up the mind as it so often did, but now with a very real photo of Spike in front of him - which he'd paid to see - the feeling was far more tangible, far harder to ignore.

He'd come this far, he told himself as his hand sunk lower until his fingers were running along the length of his semi-hard cock, he may as well go all the way. To begin with Ringo stayed looking at this single picture as he slowly pumped himself, but as his lust began to grow he perused through more and more pictures: Spike kneeling naked in front of a mirror with a loose cigarette hanging from his lips, lying in the bath with bubbles only just about covering his nakedness, spread out on the bed with a gag in his mouth, handcuffs forcing his slim arms behind his back with his cock throbbing. None of this was anything Ringo hadn't seen before, like most people in this day and age he'd searched through the darker corners of the internet - sometimes willingly, sometimes John was to blame - but to see Spike in such a way was like an entirely new rush. Each picture drove Ringo further and further on, at times he almost dropped his phone with how sloppy his movements were becoming. Who took these photos? Ringo figured it was best not to think about it, the possibility that Spike had a boyfriend who took all these pictures of him would've been the quickest way to kill his erection.

Ringo began moaning and cursing wantonly as he got closer and closer to his orgasm, he had to stop flicking through the pictures because he could hardly concentrate on what his other hand was doing, so he settled on a final one to help him finish; it wasn't particularly strategic but he was definitely grateful that he selected the one that he did. In it Spike was looking directly into the camera, allowing Ringo to gaze longingly into the rich brown of his eyes and how his dark lashes curled beautifully around them. He was shirtless with nothing but a necklace on, the same necklace that Ringo had seen him wearing in the record store and Ringo couldn't help feeling a sense of satisfaction that he'd seen it with his own eyes, as though it meant something. Deep down he knew that it didn't but his inebriated mind was latching onto it. The nudity in the photo was hardly interesting Ringo by this point, although it would be wrong to say that he completely ignored the flatness of his stomach or the faint shadows of his ribs beneath his pale skin, it was the personal aspect which truly affected him.

This wasn't just lust. Lust Ringo could understand, he could compartmentalise it and give into it without much shame or a second thought. If this was just lust, he would've bought the subscription without a care and touched himself looking at the nakedness of Spike's body as though it meant nothing more than a way to get off. Yet here he was on the brink of orgasm looking into another man's eyes, eyes that felt like they were looking straight back at him as though they were sharing this moment together. It wasn't hard to imagine Spike's hand in place of his own, those deep eyes watching Ringo come undone piece by piece. Ringo's hip began to stutter, his leg twitching a little as he had to drop the phone down onto his lap as his head fell back against his pillow as his orgasm approached. It wasn't the image of Spike's naked body that filled Ringo's mind as he came, it wasn't his arse or his cock or even his chest, it was his face, his voice, it was him.

Ringo lay breathless on his bed for a while, the clarity that arrived as his orgasm subsided wasn't welcome in the slightest and he was reluctant to pick his phone back up to see Spike's eyes looking at him once again. There was no use in feeling ashamed about it, no point in trying to deny it any longer: his feelings for Spike were more than a mere passing fancy, that was clear. Exactly what he was meant to do about these feelings was far from clear but that wasn't something Ringo could figure out right now with cum on his stomach and the daylight seeping through his bedroom curtains.

When he'd picked up his phone he'd closed all the apps immediately, doing his best not to catch a glimpse of what he'd been so eagerly looking at before. Just as he was about to step into the shower to clean himself off, his phone buzzed; he almost couldn't hear it over the music he was blasting out. It alerted him for a moment as though it was going to be a message from Spike stating he knew exactly what Ringo had just done - it wouldn't have really surprised him had that been the case, Spike's face almost always looked like he knew something that nobody else did - but fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, it was John.

        sooo how did the wank go

         who knows          but on a totally unrelated note im about to get into the shower

         well before you do that i have even more good news 

         can it not wait?

         NO because you might cum just at the thought of it and then youd be wasting a good shower

         well arent you considerate          and unnecessarily graphic

         thats me          anyway im taking you to the club next tuesday whether you like it or not

         im still waiting for the good news

         well if youd let me FINISH          next week theyre doing a special event and we just have to go          youll never guess what it is

         what is it?

         guess

         you just said ill never guess

         youre no fun

         WHAT IS IT

         alright alright keep your hair on          its a crossdressing event          high heels make up probably a few wigs all that good stuff

         im still waiting for the good news

         OH COME ON youre telling me you dont want to see spike in heels and fishnets with some lovely lipstick on

Ringo gulped. It wasn't a difficult image to conjure up his mind, considering he'd been staring at photos of Spike for the past twenty minutes and it excited him to say the least. He did want to see that, very much indeed.

[comicteaparty]

July 13th-July 19th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from July 13th, 2020 to July 19th, 2020.  The chat focused on Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R by snuffysam.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R by snuffysam~! (http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until July 19th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

carcarchu

I'm only 5 pages in so far, but this comic has a great sense of humour i've already laughed out loud at some of the jokes

Deo101 [Millennium]

god yes the jokes all hit so well

carcarchu

i noticed an error on tapas, page 42 and page 45 are identical

Deo101 [Millennium]

oh no

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

@carcarchu fixed, thank you for pointing that out!

carcarchu

i'm 63 pages in now and i'm really enjoying this comic so far. it's solidly paced with an interesting cast of characters. the banter is really fun to read and i'm loving how the world building expands with each new character introduced

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

glad to hear it!!!

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Damn I feel bad for only reading this now

I love the comedic pauses in between the jokes, and it makes the situation more awkward and hilarious for me!

Also fourth wall breaking and lampshades

Feather J. Fern

I really like the line "I can't hear you from over there." Lampshading why people monologue but they are stepping away from the listener

I really enjoy these types of jokes, this comic has really good comedic timing.

Also It is long, but easy to digest, so I'm speeding through quite easily.

Also Sir Pokes a Lot!! My favourite character, and you killed them! (I love the animated parts of the comic too)

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

thank u!!!

and yeah, sorry about sir pokes-a-lot

Deo101 [Millennium]

Can not wait for y'all to meet my fave

shadowhood {SunnyxRain}

Wait WHAT SIR POKES A LOT DIES WHAT THE HELL

Oh yes, the animated parts always get me by surprise and I love them too

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

imo, there's an even sadder death in book 2...

RebelVampire

I like that the beginning just has a lot of comedy even while establishing the exposition parts. So you don't really even notice you're learning about characters, the world, and so forth, because the jokes just really make the entire experience vastly entertaining. My favorite moment in the comic is probably now when all the governors show up and Electric Zebra to fight the demon. Cause it was like a party of badasses, had lots of great comedy, lots of great fighting, and just all around it was nice to see everyone else embrace Mizuki's strengths too. My favorite character is a tie between Electric Zebra and Sword Warrior/Taci. Electric Zebra because I love that he works for the gov but also hates the gov while also moonlighting as a musician. He just all around is a fun character for me who could do no wrong. Taci I like because he's simultaneously arrogant, smart, caring, and selfish. I also like that he just blatantly announces his plans to become dictator. As for the art, I really love the colors. The entire comic is just a really colorful experience without being over-saturated, and I really think that makes it stand out, regardless of the other 3D aspects and such that make it stand out as well, of course. I like in the current book it explores the nature of making friends. Since Mizuki is trying hard to make friends with Stella, and Stella isn't having that. So I enjoy this exploration in terms of kind of what do you even do in those situations and how can you peacefully co-exist and overcome that grump gap.

As for the overall related content and the comic's strength, these are one in the same for me: the comedy. This is by far one of the few comic's that clicks for me in terms of comedy. Not only does it have fantastic timing, but a lot of it is really smart with lots of callbacks to things that happened - and damn do I love that sort of continuity. It's not even just the one-liner jokes though. Sometimes it's just the stories overall way of solving problems in comedic ways that is the best, so all in all, just a great entertaining comic.

Krispy §[Ghost Junk Sickness]§

The dialogue is so funny to go through, I love the way Snuffy characterises and just has fun!

also the cell shaded rendering is so cool! I love the aesthetic and design !

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

@RebelVampire regarding continuity stuff, this is basically the ending of book 2 lmao(edited)

mathtans

Hm, so this is somehow a trickier one for me to analyze since I've been reading it since the first CTP. Admittedly I fell behind after Book2 (busy months) but I just got caught back up (SpaceMySpace...) so I guess I'll do some further pondering and check back in later. ^^

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

ok so i finished re-reading my comic the only joke that made me legit laugh out loud this re-read was the dancing in panel 3 of this page: http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/255 just because i completely forgot i put that gag in there lol

tbh my favorite character in the comic is taci. like, before his introduction, the comic was incomplete, in a sense. but with him in the picture, all the writing just fits together. (even past the fact that books 3-5 wouldn't happen without taci being a total weirdo who mailed hundreds of letters to the galaxy knights under fake names, lol)

Deo101 [Millennium]

taci is also my favorite,,, as you know, aha

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Given the comic’s emphasis on comedy, what was your favorite joke insofar? What made it stand out to you compared to the others? In what ways does the comic’s comedy stand apart from other comics?

10. What do you think of Mizuki’s tactics for using magic? Is she crazy as many characters imply, or do you think she’ll continue to make it work far into the future? How will this decision affect her skills as a strategist?

11. What do you think King Zebugu is doing participating in Galaxy Knights trials? Do you think he’s finally changed his ways, or is he up to something? Also, will this help Taci achieve his own goals?

12. Do you think Mizuki will be able to become a Galaxy Knight? If so, what other trials will she have to work through? Additionally, what will become of some of the other characters such as Stella, Taci, and Pejiba in the trials?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Deo101 [Millennium]

Okay my favorite joke so far was DEFINITELY this one, it's the first one I think that really made me like, fully laugh out loud. I dont know why it got to me so much. Also it made me love cahe very much as well.

SPOILER

Also I think Mizuki's magic probably IS something to do with her abillity to copy other's magic really easily, and probably more efficiently.

and kinda combo of 11 and 12 but I hope they all become galaxy knights and be friends :)

(including king zebugu)

back about the magic thing I KNOW weve been told anyone can do any magic, it's just very draining and hard, so they use their own magics always... but People have also commented on her ability to actually utilize other's magics SO i feel like theres more to it than just her being incredibly stubborn.

RebelVampire

I'm sorry Cahe. You used to be my #2 fave character, but then Taci.

Deo101 [Millennium]

LITERALLY SAME

RebelVampire

My favorite joke changes each reading, but right now I'm gonna go with Book 2 when Mizuki is remarking about forgetting something important and then we see Enetoro still stalling for the talent show. It was such great timing since it was long enough most readers probably forgot about it in the front of their mind but still recent enough you're like oh yeah. And I just like that long ass joke setup for the entire book. As for how the comic's comedy in general stands apart, just superior timing. A lot of comedy is about timing, and this comic is just spot on everytime. As for how Mizuki uses magic, it's probably a bit of both. She is crazy, but she will probably make it work for a long time to come just out of sheer force of will and stubbornness. But I think her having to learn so many abilities and find ways to utilize them together can only increase her skills as a strategist, since it allows her to assess the full potential of every ability and command others to reach that potential. King Zebugu is probably up to something again. I don't think he's as evil in the first books, but I def think there's something going on that he isn't telling anyone that he'll reveal towards the end and say, "Well good luck Mizuki peace out." I don't think it'll help Taci though. I think Taci will just wind up getting roped in and never get even one step closer to becoming the dictator he always wants to be. I do think Mizuki will become a Galaxy Knight. As for other trials, I'm not entirely sure. I imagine there's gonna be some sort of tournament arc though cause otherwise how is Stella supposed to say something about how this is a true contest for warriors. I think Stella will befriend Mizuki, and Taci will at least win something he can brag about. I think Pejiba won't win though, but I also think Pejiba would be content to try again and just go back to skipping around with Cahe.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

There's... somewhat of a tournament arc coming up? The structure is gonna be weird compared to other tournament arcs, but it's definitely one of the more interesting chapters I've written lol. So... have fun speculating on that for the next three years lmao

Regarding some of the other questions - there's currently enough information in the comic to figure out all the 11th-hour plot twists for Book 3. I won't say there's enough information to easily figure the plot out, lol, but you could figure it out. Though - there is absolutely something going on that King Zebugu isn't telling anyone about (it's kind of a habit at this point, lol).

mathtans

1. You know something I like about the beginning? The links to the original artwork. It's just a subtle thing down at the bottom, but it simultaneously shows the progress made by the artist, and allows anyone thinking 'wow I could never do anything like that' to realize that it didn't happen overnight.

Also the gradual world building is really well done. You don't get too much at once.

2. I think my favourite moment remains how Mizuki defeated Zebugu near the end of Book 1. It was just really clever in terms of reincorporating something subtle (the comic's good at that in general) to turn the tables, and played off his personality more than his magic, which was also clever. There's lots of other great moments too, but that one stands out over time, I think because we were looking at a climax there.

3. Favorite character is probably Zaxaty. Yeah, yeah, mathtans going for the major lesbian, big surprise, but hear me out. She's connected to the King, a major antagonist, but has her own personality and I don't think she's afraid to slap him down if needed. She might even end up connected to the major protagonist (because of reader ships). She's into art, there's that whole bizarre roller skating thing just to point out she's not normal. I possibly enjoy hairstyles like hers. And she sustained major injuries in the big Book 2 battle but sucked it up and still did what she could. So there.

(Before Zaxaty it was probably Pejiba. She seemed smart and capable.)

4. Character interaction... possibly Mizuki and Taci, simply because I tend to enjoy their interactions with everyone else in the cast. So when they get together, whew... possibly related, Mizuki has a tendency to be oblivious due to inexperience or failing her perception checks, while Taci can be oblivious because he's so full of himself. Their battle and the Sword Warrior revelation was another good moment overall.

5. Again, I'm hardly a person to be commenting on art. But the rendering effects and the occasional animated panels kind of blow me away.

(Not the first person to remark on that, admittedly.)

6. I'm not great with themes either. Perseverance is probably one, based on what/who Mizuki has to put up with. Also friendship, which Rebel referenced, and can even be seen in the earlier bits with the group coming together (Cahe and Pejiba taking it to the next level). And how those in power aren't necessarily the best at decision making (is that a theme)?

Then there's mystery, like what are peoples' goals. Is that a theme? I don't know what I'm talking about, let's face it.

7. Something about the story and content is how much development's gone into it. I don't know if the side stories were started in part due to StArt Faire, or if it provided some perpetual motion, but for example Gynu and Suzigu have this entire childhood backstory in there, and we never saw that much of them in Book 1. (Maybe that one was to highlight more Galaxy Knight stuff? But there's others that expand on otherwise minor characters.)

Then there's the cast page, which seems to be constantly updating, and includes extra random trivia and even what seem like really really minor characters (like the Ferryman).

I have no clue how snuffysam manages to do all that stuff and yet continue to update multiple times in a week. With, as Rebel pointed out, very good comedy too, both situational and connected to character personalities.

8. Comic strength is I think at times doing the unexpected. Like throwing in animation, or referencing someone new or something that adds new pieces to the magic dynamic. Like you want to keep reading to know what comes next because even if it's what you think it might be, there's probably some new aspect you didn't expect that will be there too.

Anyway, there's some thoughts, and for all I know it's similar to stuff I already said in a previous chat. If so, whoops. More tomorrow. I type slow.

(Incidentally, related to the stories, the "wingwomanicon" story won't load for me... it's a blank pdf. And the link in the story proper for when it first went up seems to link to the wrong story.)

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

@mathtans I really should test my links lol... the story should be fixed now

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

mathtans

9. I'm not sure I could pick a favourite joke. Mizuki's habit of breaking the fourth wall tends to be cleverly done. Coruby's wit matches well with his character. I'll echo what Rebel said about the timing too; there's effective use of beat panels and the like too.

10. Mizuki's probably crazy, or perhaps it's more her obliviousness, but she's very good at working with what she has to minimize the drain. She also must have a really good memory. I think the main problem with her ability to strategize is she's not great at long term planning, everything seems to be more "in the moment".

(I figure you've got a lot going on as is there. ) Sorry, must scamper again, back later. Should we comment on ships too here, or is that mostly covered by the comic itself?

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Hey, you can comment on ships as much as you want!

mathtans

Zebugu and Taci might be a ship. Can't be that much animosity without deeper feelings somewhere, right?

RebelVampire

I can't decide how I feel about Zebugu/Taci. That is a ship that makes sense as much as it doesn't make sense. I am stuck in a loop.

I am looking forward to more Taci because Taci. There can never be enough Taci in the comic, and I think I just really enjoy how he works off Mizuki because it offers lots of beautiful comedic potential. My final words are just amazing comedy comic that everyone should check out.

mathtans

11. I think King Zebugu is in the trials in part because he doesn't like that his wizard and his accountant were former Galaxy Knights. Maybe it's the ace they play to get him under control at times, maybe they don't need to, but I think he's trying to gain more power over his underlings, and by extension the planet. He's always got an angle. As to Taci, for him it's probably more ego driven, but he does have two abilities so maybe he wants to see how he compares off planet. I don't see either of them winning, I see them potentially cancelling each other out so the other guy doesn't win.

12. I think Mizuki could become a Galaxy Knight, but I don't think it'll happen in Book 3. In particular Bily is being set up as an antagonist against her (she has a similar ability to duplicate the spells of someone else, though she does need to touch them AND she has a beef with Mizuki over being the one to knock her brother out of contention). Other trials, I'm not sure... there might be one where they have to team up with someone else. Mizuki and Stella would be an interesting situation, as would Taci and anybody. I don't think Motorcycle Man or Willpower-Copy Lady will get far since the cast page only gives them minor character status. But then that could be part of the joke in the end.

Rebel's analysis regarding the others looks pretty good, actually. I'm not sure how hammer guy fits in, is one thing.

Fun that Stella's officially out now, incidentally. I don't see her going for shorter women though. Also, I wonder what constellations she might have that are in no way tied to the stars as we know them? And for that matter, she made a "Frozen" reference, which is usually Mizuki's domain. Perhaps she's also aware of the 4th wall (or "Frozen" went international there on 'SpaceMySpace' or something). Anyway.

13. Well, that last Starstuff Story is only one page long, so potentially looking forward to reading the rest of that. Seeing how the tournament plays out will be interesting... I'm more hyped about it than the gatherings plot of Book 2, maybe it's the extra title drop, dunno. Also vaguely curious about what's happening with everyone back on the planet during this time... like, if the King's away, who's running the place? (Zaxaty?)

Incidentally, the Galaxy Knights must be pretty well off financially. They set up housing and roommates for EVERYONE, then almost right away had a challenge and eliminated most of the people. Like, a lot of those rooms they didn't need.

Random question too, how DID the Starstuff stories get their start?

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

@mathtans I dunno how I keep screwing this up... anyway, I checked, and the newest story is now 100% fixed.

The original reason for Starstuff Stories was to flesh out characters' move pools for potential video game adaptations. Like, that's why Green Archer uses explosive arrows and chain arrows in her story, and why Chill Bro has ice armor in his. Though it evolved over time to just being interesting stories that I wanted to tell that wouldn't necessarily focus on Mizuki.

mathtans

Sorry, was needed elsewhere. Then read the story. I didn't expect ears to be a thing, and that poor woman is cursed. ^.^ That's a neat origin idea, I hadn't thought along those lines. Looks like the story has evolved too, there's been some scenes without Mizuki too (though I guess they were in some way related).

14. For final words, just keep at it I guess, you've got a very interesting world set up and do well at engaging your audience too, from what I can tell.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Zebugu/taci huh...? I can see them being exes or something

mathtans

Maybe that's the real reason Taci wants to kill Zebugu.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Zebugu forgot to tell taci they broke up, and stood him up!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

That does sound like something Zebugu would do...

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

also, regarding something @mathtans said - Looks like the story has evolved too, there's been some scenes without Mizuki too (though I guess they were in some way related). yeah i had to rewrite book 3 like two times before I realized the story worked better if it didn't focus on mizuki all the time. like, book 3 introduces the most new characters out of any book so far, and i was completely neutering it by forcing all their arcs to relate to mizuki in some way. thanks to breaking that mentality, i'm able to include stuff like characters having rivalries with each other in ways that mizuki wouldn't even find out about, which helps keep the book from getting bogged down imo.

mathtans

It's cool that you draft everything out to that extent. And it's not out of the blue, she wasn't there for some of the big battle ending Book 2 either.

(Or at the talent show for most of the story. )

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R this week! Please also give a special thank you to snuffysam for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/

Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Galaxy_Knights

[prorevenge]

My hippie math teacher was real garbage.

So some background: as a kid, I’ve always been pretty good at math. It was always my best subject, I’d catch onto concepts easily, but I hated it. Not because math was hard or anything, but because no matter how much I hoped, my math teacher would always be the type that would be like “Use the formula I gave you or it’s wrong.” Now, see, my mind works in what others call “a super weird way.” Every time I was taught a new concept in math, I wouldn’t use the formula that the teacher gave us because I’d have a hard time remembering it and I thought it was too time consuming and expanded. Instead, I’d come up with a more efficient, step skipping formula that worked just as well.

Other students would ask me how I do the math so fast, and when I shared the formula with them, they found it much easier and did it just as fast.

So rewind to 7th grade. I was like, 12 or something at the time. I had finally got a good teacher that allowed freedom for multiple formulas because “math is math.” We had her for about a few months, and I really liked her teaching. She got into a freak car accident and took her leave, and from what other staff members told me, she was “lucky to even survive.” I never knew how bad the crash really was, but from what I was told, she cheated death. Staff said she was supposed to come back in a few months, and until then, we would have a long-term substitute.

Before I knew about the accident, I walk to class over in the way corner of my school. At the time, I remember having a class right before that was on the opposite corner of school, so I’d often be late if I walked too slow. So, I turn the corner of the building and notice there’s no students waiting outside, meaning the teacher had already opened the door. Unusual, but I checked the time, and I was earlier than normal. So, I knocked on the door. I waited and waited for someone to open the door, because usually it’s the nearest student to the door who opens it. I knock. And knock. It’s about a few minutes of constant knocking until someone opens the door, but he’s looming above me.

When I look up, it’s a new teacher, long hair and a beard, kind of looks like Jesus. Yes, he was a hipster. He opened the door right after the late bell and said “you’re late.” I explained to him I had been knocking the past few minutes and nobody answered the door, to which he responds “That’s because I told them not to. You should have been here when I opened the door to begin with.” I wanted to explain I had a far away class and I couldn’t be considered late since the late bell didn’t ring, but he didn’t take any of it. I had to go to detention that day.

So, let’s call this teacher Mr. Hippie for convenience. I sat next to my friend, lets nick him Bro, and ask what’s the deal with this guy. Bro tells me that I’ve already made a bad impression, told him to elaborate, to which he explains the whole accident long term sub thing.

So to summarize the first part of his teaching, he didn’t actually teach us anything. Instead, we did completely pointless activities that have nothing to do with math. One of these activities was a class game where we had to tell each other a list of jokes and whoever got the most laughs got the most points and won the game.

So we read these jokes that we’ve been given, and it’s a list of inappropriate jokes. They were all pretty racist, sexist, etc which we already knew he was extremely prejudiced based on his everyday, passing language towards us (some include “girls have good handwriting because they waste their time practicing their letters” and “the only guys that climb mount everest are white dudes because they’re the dumbest people out there” and “girls wouldn’t get raped if they just stop overestimating their strength” whatever that one even means). I can’t think of all the jokes off the top of my head, but here’s some I remember:

Why are religious Jamaicans obese? Because at church they chant “Praise the Lard.” What’s Miley Cyrus’ favorite food? Roast twerky. Why can’t the Kardashian’s swim? Because they have more plastic in their butts than in the whole ocean.

I objected against playing this stupid game because of all the offensive jokes in it, some of which I related to and was offended by. He sent me out of class that day. Bro got sent out eventually as well, because instead of using the offensive jokes, he said a stupid knock knock joke that made the class laugh out of pure stupidity. “Knock knock.” “Who’s there?” “Pizza delivery guy. I burned your pizza because it had pineapple on it. Bad move, cuz.”

At some point when we actually started learning math, Hippie was a douche, He did the same old same old docking me points for not using his formula thing. We were doing white board problems, to which he forced me to do the most complex ones. When I did them correctly and showed my work, he’d think I was wrong until he checked his calculator. Bad move. So, instead, he erases my work off the board in front of literally the whole class, and says to me dead in the eye: “You didn’t show your work.” So, I said, “Alright, I’ll show my work.” So I did. Again. And he erased it. By that point, I was fed up with his bull, so I just left it at that.

When we took tests, we would grade the papers as a class. He would tell us the answers, to which he’d screw up on middle school level questions. Every time I got a different answer, I would ask him to do it on the board, and that would prove he was wrong and I was right. He hated me more for asking questions.

Every time I “technically” got a question wrong, he would call me an idiot, slow, stupid, etc. etc. and even passed a few “maybe if you were a guy you��d be more useful.” I tried telling this to the teachers, but they weren’t having it. I tried waiting until he would finally leave, but info came out that our teacher wasn’t coming back, so we’d have him even longer. So naturally, I did some digging.

Bro and I searched his full name up online and found an admittedly hidden link to his Instagram account, which I won’t leak, but it was golden. He posed himself literally as Jesus, with several sexual and racial posts and memes. He had solid evidence of smoking weed and vaping off campus too, and it looked like he was also becoming the path to an antivaxxer at some point. Some posts included things like “You can’t cure cancer, yet you take away our medicine?” Followed by a picture of weed or something of that sort.

Though it wasn’t exactly what I wanted him fired for, I brought it up with the counselor. She said they’d look into it. While it was followed up by several other students, I was walking home one day when I saw Hippie with a big bag of what looked like posters as he threw it in his trunk and drove off. We came back one day to a brand new, female teacher. Posters that Hippie put up were gone, just like the ones he threw in his trunk the other day. She explained to us the old teacher had been fired for suspicious online activities, and will likely have a hard time ever getting a new job. Since then, the Hippie’s name had been removed from the account, but it’s still up and running by him.

We had that new teacher for the rest of the school year, which wasn’t exactly long, but she did teach us math and threw us a big party on the last day of school, though she still didn’t approve of alternate formulas. Sorry this was quite a long one, fellas, but I thought it was worth sharing.

TL;DR: Got a math teacher fired for his inappropriate Insta after he made sexual jokes and racial slurs and straight up insulted me for months.

(source) story by (/u/TheAcidicFire)

[chroniclecollective]

i guess a life update lmao? where do i start exactly.

well for one, more stuff about my ex has been coming up for me, a lot of them being things she was doing to me or making do that were very controlling and manipulative. the fact that ive dealt with all this nd i Completely ignored it for so long until 5 months later after the breakup? why did it take me so long?

ok uh two. ive been in quarantine for 41 days since my job officially shut down due to covid19. i miss my coworkers so much, they were the only steady ppl i had in my life nd being able to laugh with them nd crack jokes nd see each other after work hours to hang out, smoke, jam out to music nd just. be ppl in their 20s yknow? ive been able to see one previous coworker who i hold dear to my heart a few times but it was only for a short time nd we social distanced. weve been stuck at home with our families the same amount of time nd just desprate, we ended up sitting in the parking lot of our job nd just talking for a while. i miss her a lot

three, the old host came out of dormancy after 4 years. i think he made a post or two on here already but that just rlly was a lot for me? bc originally he was host but then i formed like. fully? i existed but i called myself jimmy as well bc i didnt have a name for myself yet. once i chose the bodys name i kinda started fronting more solidly nd finally was host, nd jimmy still fronted but he was spiteful nd angry that i was taking over his life. i do regret that nd i regret pushing down this stuff nd denying him nd everyone else existed. hes doing alright for now, he doesnt front as often but hes active again.

four, i split abt two weeks ago. im still not 100% on if thats true, or if she was just dormant, but theres a new part whos very. how do i put this. thing emo girl in middle school but shes in high school. shes nice though, which is cool. but she deals with missing people frm where she says shes from? i dont believe shes a fictive or factive at all, she just seems very confused as to whos life she basically got dropped into since shes a cis girl. i can communicate with her pretty well surprisingly? cecile says thats bc she split frm me which ig makes sense but yknow. just weird

five, after consideration, once quarantine is over nd my job opens up again nd i can work, im going to save up for as long as i need to nd hopefully ill be able to pay for my first car nd save up for rent. the friend i mentioned earlier said she wouldnt mind rooming with me nd one of my supervisors, nd i was thinking abt asking my close friend abt if he would be interested in splitting rent. he wants to get out of his house, he just needs to find a job once quarantine is up nd i think he can do that

oh yeah finally thing thats rlly nice actually...i have a boyfriend now! im not gonna talk abt him in specifics, but hes a system host as well nd i love him dearly, nd he loves me just the same nd its very. refreshing frm all my past relationships so im cherishing him a lot ahhh. ill probably give him a code name of some kind if i feel like it.

alright so yeah, thats a bit of catchup for yall. also i know theres asks in my inbox, but i havent had the energy to answer them. know that i saw them nd ill get to them eventually. some i may delete if im uncomfortable though.

edit: oh yeah, with ceciles approval finally, we have a system journal of sorts. i only wrote in it once, nd apparently the new split off part did too, but ive been very. nervous to read it. idk what she said

- lee

[jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets]

A Magic Kingdom Love - CH 2

Title: A Magic Kingdom Love

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing: Destiel

Tags: fluff, just so much fluff. It gets a little heated at one point but that’s it.

Summary:

    This is based off a picture I saw on Pinterest (which I’ll post below) with this prompt attached…

    “An AU where Dean and Cas are both working for Disney and have been cast as the very first gay princes. And at first they hate each other but it’s hard to pretend you’re in love all day for sweet, shy kids, and then not makeout under the bridge of the magic kingdom castle.”

AO3 Link

Masterlist

A/N: If anyone is interested in being tagged in future destiel fics let me know :) enjoy!!

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

Chapter Two:

    Two days passed agonizingly slowly for Dean, but Friday finally came and he now found himself standing in a large changing room. He had been given his prince costume fully equipped with a cape and even a crown, then sent to hair and makeup where they put the finishing touches on his princely look.

    When he was finished, he was told to head back to the dressing room and wait for Ellen, and was now standing in front of the large floor length mirror, slowly turning and looking himself over. That's when the door opened and Ellen walked in.

    “Hey, Dean.”

    “Hey, Ellen,” he turned to her with a smile, arms open for a hug, “how's it going?”

    “Great!” She squeezed him back. “You're early, but I’m glad to see you’re excited about the job.”

    “Yeah,” he chuckled, “I was a little over excited this morning and I left way to early, sorry.”

    She waved him off, “Don't be sorry, we love it when our staff enjoy their work. Now come on, it's time to meet your partner.”

    With a little skip in his step he followed Ellen out of the dressing room and through the halls of the building.

    They ended up in another room where his Uncle Bobby was standing with another guy having a quiet conversation. The guy was dressed in casual blue jeans and a loose fitting plain t-shirt. Dean hadn’t seen him around here, but there were so many people working here, Dean may never know them all.

    “Hey, Bobby,” Dean walked over and clasped his uncle on the shoulder.

    “Dean,” he gave him a nod then turned to speak to Ellen.

    Dean took a few moments to glance around the room, looking for the girl who was to play his princess, but so far it was just the four of them in the room. Maybe she was late or getting into costume.

    “Dean,” his uncle gave him a nudge and pulled his attention back to the group, “I’m talkin’ to you boy, pay attention.”

    “Sorry, Uncle Bobby,” he moved to stand within the group, “what were you saying?”

    “This is Castiel,” he turned and gestured to the dark haired man.

    Dean reached over and shook his hand with a smile, then turned to Ellen as she spoke.

    “Alright,” she clapped her hands together, “let’s get Castiel into costume and makeup, and then we’ll get you two started with this orientation.”

    It took a second for Dean to process her words, but when he came full circle and realized exactly what she was saying, he was sure he must have been mistaken. “You two? Are… are we both meeting out princesses today?”

    Ellen looked to Dean with a furrowed brow, “Didn't your uncle tell you? Castiel is going to be your partner.”

    “You mean, like… together?” He looked between Bobby and Ellen. “Two princes?”

    She nodded, “We’ve been asking our visitors for some feedback on the parks characters and the biggest complaint weve been getting is that we don't have any LGBTQ representation. So we decided to start with you two as our first ever gay princes. If this goes well then we have plans to launch a lesbian couple in a few months, and then hopefully continue to represent the community even further.”

    “I…” Dean stuttered and suddenly found he couldn’t say much else.

    Ellen stepped up to him, calm and collected as she asked, “Are you still willing to do this job, Dean? We need you to be able to work this at your best and make it seem like you two are really in love, like true fairy tale characters would be. So I need to know now if you can do that?”

    Dean thought for a moment, then locked eyes with her as he answered with confidence, “Yeah, yeah I can do it. I want this job.”

    “Good,” she gave him a pat on the shoulder with a relieved smile, “once we get Castiel all set in costume, we’ll explain the expectations and take you two on a quick tour.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

    Dean , Ellen, and Bobby waited about twenty minutes for Cas to get all done up in his costume and makeup. When he finally came back into the room, hands fumbling clumsily with the last button on the top of his jacket, Dean had to admit that the guy looked pretty damn good. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard.

    Dean watched the guy for a moment still fighting to get the last button done up, and walked over to him with outstretched hands, “Here, I got it.” he did up his last button for him, then smoothed a hand down his chest and stood back. “You… you look good man, really handsome, definitely prince material.”

    Dean flashed Castiel a wink and a smile, hoping to get a good reaction out of him, but was slightly disappointed when all he got was a curt nod then the guy turned away. Dean didn't really know what to think of it or if it even meant anything, but he didn't have much time to dwell on it either as Ellen started the orientation.

    “Shall we begin then,” and everyone turned to face her, “now, since you two boys are our first ever gay princes, it is very important that you play your rolls well. We want our actors to represent the community as best as we can, clear?”

    Both boys gave her a nod, then Bobby stepped in.

    “You boys will work Wednesday to Sunday with Monday and Tuesday off, and weekends are our busiest days. When you get here you head straight to costume and makeup then you spend most of the day walking around the park together.”

    “While you’re out with the guests you’ll be expected to hold hands, hug, take pictures with the visitors, and on occasion you will have a kid that asks you to kiss.” Dean swallowed hard, suddenly finding butterflies invading his stomach, while trying with all his might not to look at Castiel’s reaction as Ellen continued, “That's fine, some of the kids think it's cute to see their favourite characters kiss. We just ask you don't go too overboard, especially in front of the younger ones, a little peck is fine.”

    Dean found himself unable to hold back any longer and turned to look at Castiel. He could not, for the life of him, gauge his reaction at all. He was so stone faced, standing beside Dean with his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on Ellen. Dean wasn’t even sure if he knew Dean was still in the room.

    “Other than that,” Ellen spoke again, regaining Dean’s attention, “we have events every once in a while that you will be expected to attend as our ‘special guests’ along with the other characters in the park. For example, in a couple of weeks we have our annual evening birthday bash for Mickey’s birthday. All the characters will be attending, there will be fireworks, and special pricing which means it will be a full house. Once we announce you two, everyone will want to see you at the birthday bash, happy and in love. Does that work for you two? The occasional evening shifts and events?”

    Dean quickly nodded then looked to Casitel for his answer.

    He also nodded, then ground out in a gravelly tone, “Yes, I am able to do that.” Dean found himself letting out a sigh of relief.

    Ellen smiled, seemingly relieved herself and clapped her hands together, “Good! Now that’s pretty much it. If you have any problems while you’re out in the park there are always plenty of security guards around, so you can either speak to one of them or they can walkie myself or Bobby. Good?” They both nodded their understanding and she turned and lead them out of the room. “Alright then, let’s go on that tour!”

~~~~~~~~~~~

    The tour itself took almost three hours and they hadn’t even begun to make a dent in the park. Instead, Ellen showed them the areas where they would be spending most of their time in costume and left the rest of the park to be explored on their own time. As they went she shared a few facts about the park, introduced them to a few other fairy tale characters on their way including Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip, and Donald and Daisy Duck. Dean couldn’t believe it!

    And as they continued on with their tour, Dean noticed that they were getting a few curious stares from kids as they walked by. He waved to a few and smiled, most just turned shyly into their parents legs, and they continued on by. But it made Dean all the more excited to officially start the job and make these kids smile as Prince Dean of the Magic Kingdom.

    As they began to come to the end of their tour, near the Magic Kingdom Castle itself, Ellen stopped for a moment to explain the course of the next few days. “So, we aren’t going to just plop you two in with the visitors. We first have to promote and then announce your arrival in a big event. Over the next week we will start doing just that. Our promotional team will announce a new couple moving into the Magic Kingdom on the website, all over the park, commercials, internet ads, it will be all over the place. They will also announce the construction of the castle that you two will be ‘living in’ while you live in the Magic Kingdom. All the other characters have castles, so it's only fitting that Prince Dean and Prince Castiel have their own too.”

    “We get our own castle?!” Dean’s eyebrows nearly shot into his hairline.

    “Absolutely,” Ellen nodded, “the new Wonder Castle will be your new home, and it will come with new attractions, the whole nine. Then once the promotional team has done all of that, next Friday we will have an event that anyone with general admissions can attend around late afternoon where we will officially introduce you to our guests. The event will be held here at the Magic Kingdom castle. I will announce you with Bobby, and then the two of you will step out to join us on the balcony and maybe even say a few words. After that you’ll join the crowds below and take pictures, meet the other characters, press will be here. It will be a huge event and a true test to whether or not you two can really do this job.”

    Before anyone else could say anything more, a kid ran up and tapped Dean on the leg. He looked down to see a little red headed boy, still holding onto his pant leg, looking up at him with wide eyes.

    Dean turned from the group and knelt down with a smile, “Hi there, what’s your name?”

    “Andrew,” he replied around the thumb in his mouth.

    “Hi there, Andrew, I’m Prince Dean.”

    “Andrew!” A woman, also with bright red hair who Dean assumed was his mother, came running over, “Andrew, I told you not to interrupt them.”

    The kid merely looked up at her with apologetic eyes and Dean smiled up at her, “It's fine, ma’am, no harm done.”

    “I’m so sorry,” she waved her hand at all of them, “he’s just so curious.”

    “It's really no trouble,” he smiled once again at the mom and then turned his attention back to the kid, “is this your first time at Magic Kingdom, Andrew?”

    He shook his head, “Me, Mommy, and Daddy come here a lot.”

    “That’s great!” Dean exclaimed, “It's a wonderful place to be!”

    The kid nodded, then asked with furrowed brows, “Are you new? I never seen you before.”

    “Yes, I am new. This is my first time here.”

    “And who’s that?” The kid pointed a finger at Castiel behind him.

    Dean turned to follow his finger, then turned back to Andrew, “That’s Prince Cas, we’re moving into the new Wonder Castle together once it's built here at the park. Our friends are just giving us a little tour of our new home today.”

    The kid watched them for a minute, looking back and forth between Dean and Cas, then looked back to Dean and without any hesitation asked, “Are you two in love?”

    Dean smiled at the kid, and his mom shrieked in embarrassment, “Andrew! You can’t just ask people these things!”

    The kid turned to his mom, “But Uncle Tom and Uncle Henry are in love.”

    His mom didn't know what else to do but bury her face in her hands, her skin tone now matching the vibrant shade of her hair.

    Dean couldn't help but laugh as Andrew turned back to face him, patiently waiting for an answer to his question. “Well, Andrew, you’re right. Prince Cas and I are in love.” Dean turned back to Cas and held out a hand to him, raising his brows to Cas as a hint to take his outstretched hand. When he finally took it, Dean pulled him a little closer and the kid looked up at Cas and waved.

    “Hello,” Cas waved back.

    “This is great!” The kids mom stepped forward, “My brother is married to a man, Uncle Tom and Uncle Henry like Andrew said, I’m glad to see that your park is representing that part of the community. My brother will be thrilled!”

    “If you’re interested, we’ll be having an event to officially announce it next Friday,” Ellen said, “we’d love to have all of you there.”

    “I will let my brother and his husband know and we will all be here next Friday!” She smiled at all of them, then put a hand on her son’s shoulder. “Say bye, Andrew, let them finish their tour.”

    “Bye, Prince Dean.”

    “Bye, Andrew, I hope I see you on Friday.” The kid nodded. “Can I get a high five?”

    He slapped Dean’s hand, gave Cas another wave, and then ran off with his mom.

    Cas and Dean watched the kid leave, then turned to Ellen and Bobby who were both smiling at them.

    “Well done, boys,” Bobby nodded at them, “I think you two will do just fine if you keep it up, just like that.”

      “I agree,” Ellen then turned and waved them on, “come on, let’s get you two back inside and out of costume for the day.”

    Once inside and back in their regular clothes, Dean and Cas met back with Ellen and Bobby in one of the back rooms. Ellen praised them once again on their work today in the park, and told them when to be back next Friday, then both her and Bobby left them to continue their own work for the day.

    When it was just Dean and Cas in the room, the air suddenly felt a little tense and Dean for the first time found he didn't know what to say. Which he himself found extremely odd, but he tried anyways.

    “So, uh… good-good job today, Cas.” He just looked over at Dean, same stoic expression on his face as he’d had all day. “You look really great in your costume, very prince like.”

    Cas just looked to the side and still didn't say anything. Dean wasn’t sure if maybe he was going overboard, or if the guy was shy, or maybe he wasn’t into being the second half of a gay relationship, but Dean tried again anyways.

    “Hey, maybe we should swap numbers so we can get to know-” Dean didn't even get to finish his sentence before the guy was all but running past him out of the room, “each other… right.”

    Dean just shook his head, grabbed his jacket, and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~

    When Dean got home he found Sam in the same place as last time. On the couch, laptop balancing on his legs, chewing on the end of a pen clearly lost in his law studies.

    When Dean closed the door Sam snapped his head away from his laptop and immediately started throwing questions at Dean. He wasn’t even halfway out of his jacket before Sam was shouting, “How’d it go?! Did you meet your princess?! Do you like her?!”

    “Well,” Dean started as hung his jacket then joined Sammy in the living room, “it's not quite like that.”

    “What do you mean?”

    “I am one half of the parks first gay royal couple,” Dean leaned back in the chair, not making eye contact, “I have a prince instead of a princess.”

    “That’s great!” Sam nearly shot his laptop off the couch in all his excitement, “And it's great to know that the park is representing the LGBTQ community.”

    “Yeah it's great,” he agreed, “I just don't know why Uncle Bobby didn't tell me what I was signing up for before the interview.”

    Sam gave him one of his patented bitch faces, “Maybe because he thought you’d be more mature about it then you’re currently being.”

    “It's not that, Sammy, not even close.” Dean waved him off with a face of his own, “It's… it's the guy, Castiel. He’s kind of a dick. He doesn't talk much, I haven't seen him smile yet, I don't know how he’s gunna be with the kids, and I don't know if it's me that’s making him like that or if he’s just naturally that stoic. Maybe he just doesn’t like me. I even tried to suggest we swap numbers so we can maybe get to know each other a little outside of work, and he just blew me off. Ran right past me and left the park.”

    “It's only been one day, Dean, give it some time,” Sam gave him a small smile, “maybe he’s just shy, I'm sure he’ll come around.”

    “I hope so,” Dean replied as he rubbed at his chin, “I don't wanna lose this job.”

    “Uncle Bobby wouldn’t let anyone fire you, unless you did something really stupid.”

    “But I don't want him to lose his job either, especially not because I have an uncle in a high place,” Dean ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up, “that hardly seems fair.”

    “Let’s not jump to any conclusions yet, just give it some time and see what happens.”

    “Yeah, you’re right.”

    “So,” Sam asked trying to change the topic slightly, “do you start tomorrow?”

    Dean shook his head, “We have a week off before we start. Over the next six days, the park is going to advertise that a new couple is moving into Magic Kingdom, then next Friday there will be an event where they announce our arrival, and we walk out onto the balcony of the Magic Kingdom Castle to greet the parks guests.”

    “Wow,” Sam whistled, “it's all planned out I see.”

    “Yeah, Bobby and Ellen run that place well, and speaking of,” he leaned forward in the chair, “are you gunna come to the event next Friday? You get a free seasons pass as well as free admission to any special events like that, because your my brother and you live with me.”

    “Yeah!” Sam nearly screamed, “I will definitely be there!”

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

A/N: So there’s chapter two, chapter three will be out soon!!

Tags: @kitsunecastiel​ @florenciareiser​ @soulmatchortega​

And I’m gunna tag the people who liked the post for the first chapter, if you don’t want to be tagged just let me know :)

@humanlady28​ @sugarbae128​ @deeutdutdutdoh​ @willastar23​ @quillsandink-writes​ @avokind​ @theninthdutchessofhell​ @bbotts9797​ @supernaturalbaesduh​ @deanwithhisimpala​ @afrostycatblr​ @deanssidechick​ @mishka-the-angel-of-saturday​ @thekingofgreenapples​ @say-it-aint-so-bro​ @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname​ @markpellegrincs​ @pooffa​ @magicalmess93​ @all-time-fall-out-panic-pilots​ @myessenceconsistsofdeadmemes​ @petertingle3000​ And thanks to @princessjimmynovak​ I have been informed that the art was done by the lovely @purgatory-jar​ and the original post can be found right HERE! So everyone should go check them out and give them some love for the awesome art!! <3

[batfam-imagines]

I literally love your batfam writing so much, can I request something? Can batsis (biological daughter of Bruce) be adapted after her mum dies and she's obsessed with makeup and loves it so all the boys think she's shallow and conceited? But she's not? Thank you so much

Makeup

Tim flops on the couch beside his eldest brother, “Did yousee her room? She’s got a one of those makeup mirror things. The one with thelights in the mirror and all the drawers. When I walked by, she was filling thewhole thing up with makeup”

“Are you serious? Who needs that much makeup?”

“I don’t think Steph, Cass, and Babs have that much makeupcombined. I mean I know her mom was a model and all, but she must be stupid shallowand obsessed with her looks”

There’s a soft creak as the door open and both boys glanceup to see the newest member of the Wayne household standing awkwardly in thedoorway. “Hi, Alfred said that you two were in here … he said that you guys wouldn’tmind giving me a bit of a tour. I only know where my room and the kitchen is …”

Dick lets out a put-upon sigh and heaves himself off thecouch, “Yeah, come on, I’ll show you around.”

Y/N glances up at him when they’re passing one of the hugebay windows, “You know, you have beautiful cheekbones, they’d be perfect be forsome highlight. And Tim has some beautiful eyelashes, I have to use falsies ormascara to that kind of length. You know I have -”

“Not everyone needs makeup to feel good about themselves,Y/N”

She freezes for a few seconds before catching up to him, “Iknow. I don’t use makeup because I don’t feel good about myself. I use it becauseit makes me confident, it’s like a mask that helps me take on the world. Ienjoy makeup, I don’t need it, Dick.” Her eyes lock with his, “This familyshould know all about mask, right?”

Dick almost chokes out a disbelieving laugh, that’s definitelysomething he’ll need to bring up to Bruce but for now he’ll ignore it. “So, youhave all that different makeup, and spend all that money just because you likeit?”

“I actually get a lot of my makeup for free. I have a YouTubechannel where I teach people how to put on makeup, so different makeupcompanies will sometimes send me their new pallets or supplies for me to testout and review. Mom taught me to be confident in who I am, to love myself andothers based on who they are as a person. I try to help my followers becomeconfident in themselves while I’m teaching them how to do makeup” The older manjust continues to stare at her, “Maybe you shouldn’t judge people on their outwardappearance and try to get to know them first”

Y/N quickly walks the rest of the way down the hall andstraight into her room while Dick slowly makes his way back toward the livingroom where Tim is still sitting. “So how was it? Was she completely airheaded,or could she actually hold a conversation?”

“She actually seems pretty smart, like she had a reason forhaving so much makeup. I guess she uses it all for her YouTube channel, and tohelp other people gain confidence in themselves”

Tim quickly sits up, “Do you know what her YouTube name is?I want to look her up”

“I don’t know, just search her name, it’ll be her mom’s lastname”

Tim types for a minute, “I found her … holy shit, she hasover 8 million followers”

“You’re kidding me. She was telling the truth? Play one ofher videos”

The two boys play a random video from two months ago. Y/Ntalks about how it doesn’t matter how much makeup someone layers on their faceif they’re ugly on the inside it’ll show. She talks about just being confidentin everything you do and in believing in yourself. The boys end up watchingvideo after video. Watching as she does casual day makeup, or night out makeup.How sometimes her mom or friends will appear in the videos and she’ll do theirmakeup as well as her own and the guest will share their own words of wisdom.The last video the two end up watching is the most recent one Y/N had posted,dated for only a few days after her mother had passed away. It isn’t a makeupvideo at all, it talks about loss and figuring out how live life after losingsomeone so important. Y/N talks about Bruce, how her father who she’s never metintends to take her in and adopt her. Finally, it wraps up by saying that shedoesn’t know when she’ll be able to post again, or even if she’ll be able to answeranyone messages.

“Did we completely misjudge her and act like total assholesto a girl who just lost her only parent up until recently? We’ve both lost ourparents and we were total assholes to her just because we assumed she wasshallow and conceited, when really she just likes makeup and uses it to expressherself”

Dick groans, letting his head fall into his hands, “How dowe make this up to her?”

“Maybe we should follow her advice and actually get to knowher. I think … I think we should treat her like a member of the family insteadof like an outsider. We need to talk to Jason and Damian, you know they’ll cometo the same conclusion we did and yeah, Damian’s gotten a little better overthe years, but he still doesn’t have much a filter.”

“You’re right. I have a great idea. We should have a siblingmovie night, then we call all get to know her at the same time and she can getto know us. She won’t feel so alone here afterwards”

“Perfect! Just us tonight, and maybe next week we can getall the girls over here too?” Dick quickly nods his agreement, “I’m going totell Alfred and see if he can whip up some snacks for us. Can you call Jasonand get Damian?”

“Yeah, I got them. I really hope this works. We might havejust ruined our relationship with Y/N because we judged her over her makeup andnot her personality. We should know better, god we’re so stupid” Dick lets outa soft sigh and pulls out his phone, “Let’s just hope she can forgive us”

A voice clears behind them. Both vigilantes whip around,their eyes wide, having not even heard the door open, “You know, I’d forgiveyou a lot quicker if you’d apologize, that’s typically how these things works”

“Y/N, you scared the crap out of me!” Dick lets out a shakybreath, “I’m sorry … We’re sorry for judging you without getting to know you.We’ve known a lot of models and just kinda assumed that you were like all of them.I didn’t mean to judge you, or insult you”

“I understand. I’m a stranger coming into your guys house.You don’t know me, you guys didn’t even know I existed until recently, so ofcourse you’d assume things about me. That doesn’t make it right though, howeverI’m going to forgive you this time. I want to get to know my new brothers, solet’s put this behind us, okay?”

Tim grins, “Thank you. So we were gonna have a movie nighttonight, the four of us guys and you if you want. A way for all of us to get toknow you and for you to get to know us … if you want”

Y/N grins, “I’d love to, that sounds like fun … but we NEEDto have some kettle corn for the movie and some cookies”

Both guys snort, “I thought you were all into the healthy lifestyleand being the best you can be? That’s what your videos said”

“That’s what some of them said, but then I also say that it’sokay to indulge as long as you do it in moderation. So, I’ll be going to the gymtomorrow, but tonight we can watch movies and eat what we want”

“Sounds like a plan, I’ll call Jay and go talk to Damian”

“I’ll go ask Alfred if he can make cookies, you haven’t hadthe chance to try Alfie’s cookies yet, Y/N. They’re amazing!”

[angrylizardjacket]

and then there was light [4] {Roger Taylor}

A/N: 5060 words. part 4? part 4. it’s a bit of a darker one and before you ask, there will be a part 5, you know i wouldn’t end it on a cliffhanger and do you dirty like that.

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

The moment Roger steps foot into the meeting about the design of the shows for the upcoming American legs of the ‘Night at the Opera’ world tour, he’s pretty sure he’s already mentally checked out. Freddie’s doing all the talking, to literally no-one’s surprise; the man has big ambitions for his own costumes, and knows the other guys will pipe up about their own needs when they get to meet with just the costume designer. John Reid brings up the technical requirements, Roger’s got the ‘galileo’s from Bohemian Rhapsody playing on repeat in his head as he stares into the middle distance, and it’s Deaky who sits forward.

“We’ve got a pretty solid idea for the lights; Freddie and I have been consulting with a designer in America; she’s freelance, used to work for EMI, she’s reliable.” He assures, and Roger’s thinking ‘hey that sounds familiar’ but Reid seems satisfied and they’re already moving on to the staging and sound equipment needed. 

Roger doesn’t connect the dots at first; it’s been almost four years since that fateful American tour, and they’ve had other tours come and go since, and as far as the others are concerned, they’re pretty sure he hasn’t spared you a thought since arriving home at the end of that tour. But he does, even if he doesn’t mean to.

The tour after you’d quit working for EMI, someone drops a parcan side of stage, and his heart is in his throat when he realises he was waiting to hear you yell ‘okay that one wasn’t my fault’ or something similar. All he hears is a faint apology, and a call from someone to get a broom. The scheduling’s different this time around, he can’t even have a cigarette in an empty theatre without some stagehand buzzing back and forth, or a band member trotting across the stage as they practice. It would be so much easier to lay on the stage if the rest of them were confined to one place while they played, like he was behind the drums. It’d be boring as shit, he would be the first to acknowledge that, but it would mean he would get stepped on less during lunch, and that’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make with the toe of Freddie’s shoe poking at his waist.

Nothing serious had come his way in that time, or rather, he’d never found anyone who could hold his attention for more than a week or two. People became dreadfully boring when all they wanted to do was faun over him and fuck him; not that it wasn’t fun at first, it was always fun at first, but there was a lack of variety, a sinking sensation that these people were more attracted to the idea of him that left a sour aftertaste.

But now he’s here, new company, new album, second leg of the new tour, new chance to sample all different women across this great nation. He’s already a little tipsy from his multiple jack and coke’s on the plane when they land, and he’s passed out on the tour bus before it even gets to the first tour stop. Once in Conneticut, he’s dragged from the bus, and informed that as soon as the tech crew had finished their meeting, they could start loading in their instruments. 

“How long have they been here?” Brian asks the stage hand, and the guy shrugs. 

“A couple of hours; the Floor Tech wanted the drum risers set up before she gave the brief.” He tells them as he lead the band in to the theatre, where most of the crew were milling about on stage. 

“She always did have a flare for the dramatic.” John says with a grin where his eyes were trained on the stage, and Freddie hums in agreement, which only serves to confuse Roger further until he sees an all too familiar figure climbing the drum risers with a clipboard in hand.

“Alright guys, can I have your attention, please?” Even after all these years, the sound of your voice hits Roger square in the chest. “I wanna make this as quick and painless as possible, so after today we can bump in and bump out without any hassles.” You addressed the crowd with an easy confidence from your place at the top of the drum risers, tapping your nails against the back of the clipboard in your hands, wearing the overalls he’d seen you in so many times before.

“You can call me Spotlight; I’m the Head Floor Tech for the tour, as well as lighting designer; those of you on my lighting team, you’ve got a copy of the lighting plan, and I’ll be talking to you about how we’re gonna run it after this. Next time, I’ll get some help from the stage hands to set up the drum risers, I had a few people help me today to get them set up early, but that’s just because I like being tall.” With a sharp grin you pause as a titter of laughter spreads around the group, “stage management team, you’re in charge of making sure side of stage is set up with anything the band needs, and that it’s clear of unnecessary clutter and people, and running cabling for the sound guys; they’ll tell you what they need.”

After a beat, you look around the gathered crowd, and nod firmly, a gesture which a few of them return.

“If you have any questions, remember; find your Light.” You point directly at yourself. “We break for lunch at one, but until then we’ve got a lot to get through; let’s get rockin’.” Grinning brightly, you hop down from the risers into the crowd of crew members, ushering a bunch, each holding a sheet of paper, off to the side, as the others scattered like cockroaches under light.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” Roger finally finds his voice where he’s still standing, a little dumbstruck, alone in the aisle of the theatre where the others had left him behind.

“Didn’t you hear her speech? Spotlight’s our lighting designer.” Freddie calls over his shoulder, eyes wide and innocent, as if he hadn’t set this all up without thinking to mention it to Roger.

“Our what now?” He splutters, jogging a little to catch up to the other band members as they made their way towards the stage. He’s not quite sure what he’s doing, or what will happen when he gets their; the last thing you’d said to him was that you were stupid to think he was above his reputation, while you were in tears, and then it had been three years of nothing. He’s not going to run, at least he’s pretty sure he’s not; he’s self aware enough to know he was in the wrong last time you spoke, that he was an asshole, but he’s not going to be a coward. Not again.

“That was quite the speech.” John waits patiently until the crew who made up the lighting team had dispersed before addressing the familiar face at the centre. You turn, eyes bright and smile brighter, casually making your way towards him and the rest of the band.

“Yeah, I really feel in my element, you know?” It’s with an easy familiarity that you pull John into a hug, giving him a firm squeeze. “Good to finally see you again.” And then you’re hugging Freddie, and then Brian, and you stop short in front of Roger. It’s a stalemate, neither one wanting to be the first to look away, but both unsure of what to do. In the end, you don’t even offer him a handshake, just nod, and you turn back to the others.

“How’s Pippin been?” Freddie asks, and you’re about to answer, but Roger cuts in.

“Hang on, can someone fill me in here? Lovely to see you, by the way, just a little confused as to how you got here.” He says, and you’re lost for words, just blinking rapidly, trying to process the whole situation.

“Did you not tell him I was working with you guys?” Your words come out incredulous as you turn your gaze upon John and Freddie, who seem just as bewildered as you.

“I thought he’d cotton on when I mentioned an American designer who used to work for EMI.” John mused, turning his gaze on Roger, who frowned, thinking back to the initial meeting he’d just mentioned.

“I did,” Brian piped up, before casting a smile at John and Freddie that was just a little bit confused, “though I wasn’t a part of this little setup.” He tried to reassure the drummer.

“In my defense,” Roger started, before his gaze dropped, “I wasn’t paying attention, design isn’t exactly my forte.” He admitted, and you had to shake your head at that, exasperated and already a exhausted.

“Pippin’s good.” You go back to John’s initial question. Pippin isn’t so much a person as it is a touring version of a Broadway musical that had opened a year ago, to great success.

It turns out a written letter of recommendation from both the lead singer, and bass player of Queen goes rather far in the industry. After taking some time for yourself, you call up EMI to beg them not to fire you, however it turns out you needn’t have; both John and Freddie had given glowing reports of your work ethic and skill, and the man on the other end of the line is just eager to know when you were next available. 

The moment you’re on site next, they tell you you’ve been promoted to Floor Tech; they hand you a roll of gaff tape and a drill and a whole new set of responsibilities, heaped onto your usual load. You don’t even remember who had been performing, the tour had only lasted a month, all you know is that they were calling you Spotlight from the moment you’d arrived; apparently it was what Freddie had called you, and John had to clarify.

John is the first to contact you again, through EMI of course, and he becomes something of a comfort when you consider taking your career beyond the company that kept you firmly in the one position on tour. Freddie calls you less often, and never about business; it’s John who gives you the courage to leave EMI, and he’s the one who helps set up as a freelance theatre and event crew member. 

People had been head hunting you from tour to tour, beyond even EMI, some smaller acts even giving you the full Lighting Designer role. They expect you to sit back, let a stage hand or an assistant to take care of it, but every time you watch someone else focus a spot, your fingers itch to be doing it yourself. Dedicated to a fault, Roger had once called you, you think about it every time you climb an unsteady ladder, and think perhaps that he’s right.

The moment Pippin announces it’s tour, and puts out calls for crew, you’re first in line for the job, putting your hat in the ring for lighting, but happy enough to take any crew role. Not that you don’t love working with bands, but there’s a certain finesse that comes with theatre lighting that you can’t get anywhere else in the world. After two years, and the support of both John and Freddie, you find yourself as the assistant Lighting Designer, as well as Head Floor Tech, and once you step foot onto the tour bus, everything else becomes history.

Speaking of history, later in the day, after the rest of the crew have broken for lunch, you’re wedged under the drum risers, running some cables, when you hear someone climb up them, taking a seat at the drums.

“If you play one beat-” You’re cut off by Roger’s yell of surprise, as he’s so startled he almost falls off his chair.

“Holy shit, who is that?” He’s breathing heavily, voice panicked, and for a moment you take pleasure imagining clutching his hand to his chest like a delicate, little grandmother.

“Take a wild stab in the dark,” you mutter, unwedging yourself from beneath the structure, raising an eyebrow as you look at him. Almost immediately he’s frowning, and you’re thrown back to the moment almost three years ago where you’d been here before, looking up at him from behind the drum risers after you’d changed out the light mid-show. Clearing your throat loudly, you break the moment, getting to your feet and making your way to the side of the stage.

“What are you doing here?” He calls, watching idly as you go about counting out fly lines until you get to the one you’d been looking for. You’d gotten here early to go through the fly-line procedure with the Duty Tech for the venue, and now you lowered the LX bar it was attached to with ease after making sure there was no-one in the way. Your focus made something in his chest tighten, and he feels like he’s being taken back in time; you’re beautiful when you work, passionate and skilled, meticulous, that hadn’t changed. Roger has to look away.

“My job,” and you just sound tired when you say it, already securing the meticulously placed lights onto the bar you’d just lowered, going along and fixing them to the metal in a neat line. An uncomfortable silence spreads between you, punctuated only by the scrape of metal against metal, and the rattle of the safety chains.

“What are you doing here?” You don’t even try to hide the snippiness from your voice, not even turning to look at his as the accusatory words hang in the air.

“I’m having a smoke in what I thought was going to be relative peace, it’s something I do, okay?” Voice defensive, you hear the rustle of cardboard and hear the click of a cigarette, your annoyance growing with each passing moment.

“No, it’s what I do. It’s what I did three years ago, you just started showing up. You stole my relative peace.” You snapped, turning to him, a blazing fury in your eyes at his words, before your lip curled in disgust, “And you don’t even do anything with it.” You scoffed, and he went quiet, sulking behind his drum kit. Sensing he wasn’t got to talk back you turn back to your work.

The moment you turn away, he sees the way you heave a sigh, angry tension draining from your shoulders, a little hunched as you concentrated. Your hands shake a little as you fiddle with the safety chains. There’s still that confidence there, the ease with which you moved about the stage, but unlike around other people, when it was just Roger - though he suspected you were pretending he wasn’t there - you just looked... weary.

After that first town, he keeps his distance for a few stops, though the other band members look to keep you company on occasion. But then... he’s there again. Quiet this time, he just watches where you hold yourself like royalty at the top of a rickety ladder, so sure of yourself. He’d forgotten the sight of you in your element, and it hits him like a truck.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” You snap when you chance a glance down and see his awestruck expression looking up at you. The shock comes when he actually looks abashed, averting his gaze, picking up his drumsticks and tapping out a rhythm that you’re pretty sure you recognise.

You’re both too stubborn to give the other one the peace of the theatre at lunch, however, while you’re content with stewing in silence as you worked, Roger, to no-one’s surprise, is not.

“How’ve you been?” He brings himself to ask. You stop where you’re replacing a gel on one of the drum riser lights, taking a long moment to consider your words carefully.

“Busy.” Tired. The subtext comes through loud and clear, despite your short answer, and once you’d finished with the light, you stand, before taking a moment to stretch your back out from behind hunched over.

“Working a lot?” I can tell. He answers after a long pause, almost sympathetic, and you know he’s not really responding to the words you’d said out loud.

“Yeah, non stop.” No subtext, just responding at face value, before your eyes up to the mostly finished rig. Afternoons were for last minute fixes and focusing, there wasn’t much left you could do, unless you were willing to ask for Roger’s help.

“When did your last thing end?” He asks, and you click your tongue as you turn on your heel, burned out gel in your hand, heading for a bin.

“Two days before this one.” You admitted. When you’re met with silence, you turn, and Roger’s frowning at you, almost disbelieving.

“You’re not still sleeping on the tour bus, are you?” He asks, and you roll your eyes before you tell him your accommodation is paid for this time around. You’re the first to leave, for the first time since everything had started, you leave halfway through to actually eat lunch, leaving Roger to himself.

When he’s drunk after the show, leaning against some local pub, with a girl leaning against him, heavy enough that the two of them would have tipped over if it wasn’t for the counter, he can’t get you out of his mind.

“I didn’t ruin her career.” His eyes go wide as the words, with something akin to revelation, escape him, and the girl makes a noise of confusion, her fingers ghosting over his chest, but he can’t even bring himself to enjoy it.

“I didn’t ruin her career!” He announces, excited and pleased in his inebriated state, sitting himself so forcefully on the arm of Freddie’s chair that he spills part of his drink. Freddie makes a noise of confusion, looking up at the blonde, and Roger gesticulates enough to spill more of his drink, ignoring Freddie’s yelp. “Spotlight! She said I’d ruined her career!” 

“When?” Freddie asks, just as John pops out from seemingly nowhere.

“Well you certainly didn’t help it. That was me.” Roger doesn’t care that John’s drunk, the way bassist says it, so serene and matter-of-fact, makes it sting just a little bit worse. His mood instantly flips.

“Can you piss off? Go be her best friend somewhere else.” Roger snapped, and he knew he’d regret being so sharp with John the following morning, but it seemed John himself knew that Roger was in a mood, and obligingly fucked off, seemingly not taking it to heart. “When we broke up, she accused me of ruining her career.” And he realises too late, when Freddie’s eyes go wide with realisation, that he’s said too much.

“Is this where you tell me exactly what went down between you two?” He asked, tapping Roger’s leg with excitement. The blonde, however, stood abruptly, glower on his face.

“No. Fuck off.” 

Roger spends almost fifteen minutes banging on the door of the tour bus before he remembers that you’re not in there, and falls into bed alone, fully clothed.

“The fuck did you say to Freddie last night?” The moment he steps foot onto the stage at lunch, you’re waiting for him, already livid. He’s tempted to turn and walk right back out the door. “Apparently he doesn’t know the real reason that I went home last ti- !” 

“Of course he doesn’t!” Roger snapped back, on the defensive without a moment’s hesitation. “It makes me look like a fucking wanker and he’d kick my ass; he adores you!” And that was enough to shock you into silence, grip loosening on the gaff tape in your hands. “They all do.” He said, and your expression turns unreadable.

“I know.” You finally said, a new, strange quality to your voice, it’s something akin to shock, but not quite, and Roger doesn’t know what to say next. “What about you?” You finally ask, voice a little defensive. It hurts to see you look at him with such a judgemental eye, though he’s well aware he deserves it.

“Doesn’t matter, does it? I could apologise a thousand times and you’d still be pissy.” He huffs, and you cross your arms, cocking your hip.

“At least once would be nice.” You level a cold glare at him and his gaze snaps back at yours, surprised. “You never once apologised, you know that?” And your voice is low, hurt and honest. “Are you even sorry for what happened?”

“It was three years ago-” He sighs, but you cut him off, shifting your weight to your other foot, swallowing thickly.

“So that’s a no. Glad to see where you stand.” And you turn to cross the stage to where you’ve already got the ladder set up, but he makes his way to you in three long strides, making to grab at your upper arm. The moment he does, however, you whirl around, slapping him, hard. “I told you to never fucking touch me; did you think I forgot?” And he sees why you were so eager to leave; there’s tears in your eyes, so close to breaking and streaming down your cheeks, your lip trembling. Something about your voice is so raw, it hurts worse than the slap.

“I am sorry.” And he sounds so fucking sincere, but you just glare at him, unashamed where the tears have begun to track down your cheeks. 

“You had your chance to say sorry; you had your chance to beg for forgiveness, but you told me I could leave; so I did, and so did your fucking opportunity.” But you can’t bring yourself to step back, frozen in place where he’s less than a foot away. Every fibre of your being is betraying you, wanting to be around him, close to him, after what he did.

“I’m sorry what happened between us;” his voice is so level, carefully controlled, you know he’s think hard about what he’s about to admit, “I fucked up, I know that; I’m sorry. It was three years ago but I’m still sorry. I’ve been sorry for a long time now.”

“Since it happened?” You asked, and he didn’t drop your gaze, answering without flinching or hesitation.

“Since I started worrying I’d lose you; I know what I’m like, I knew what I’d end up doing.” He admitted, and the words clearly didn’t have his intended impact as you stumble back, free hand clutching your chest.

“And yet you still-” And quietly, so quietly you’re not even sure he hears it, the words come out as more of a defeated whimper than anything else; “How could you not tell I was in love with you?” 

He’s in shock, and you barge past him, leaving as you can no longer contain your aching heart, and you head to the hotel you were staying at down the road, taking the rest of the lunch break to cry.

When you return, the rest of the crew has filtered in, Roger looks guilty, and Freddie and John look about ready to commit violent homicide, which was unsurprising for Freddie, but there was something comforting about Deaky wearing the expression too. In less than a week, the whole crew knows, and wherever you go, you feel yourself followed by pitying stares, which won’t go away, no matter how hard you throw yourself into your work.

“You’re working yourself into the ground.” Roger tells you a week later, watching the way your arms tremble as you focus a light, and it takes you a moment to blink blearily at him. “Don’t forget the security chain.” He adds, and you scowl, before looking at the light itself, and hurriedly affix the security chain to the rig. You insist that you’re fine, making your way down the ladder to scoop up another parcan, but you almost immediately drop it. 

“I just need some food.” You try to insist, your hands shaking as you leave the light where it is.

You don’t come out after shows, and it’s not gone unnoticed. The rest of the crew think you’re just dedicated, personable for the most part but prone to bouts of standoffishness.

“Oh you should have seen her on our first tour,” Freddie muses to an enraptured crowd at an afterparty, a few crew members listening with a bright-eyed attention, “that woman risked life and limb for our show.” And he sounds so proud when he says it, but something twists uncomfortably in Roger’s gut.

Cracks don’t show around other people, Roger’s noticed; you’re smile’s bright enough and your voice is loud enough that they don’t see the way your hands shake. Or how tired your eyes are. But then there are moments, you stand as if in the eye of the storm, gaff tape and drill in hand, watching as people follow your instructions without question, and you look up to see Roger tweaking his drums, and the two of you share a look. It’s a little indecipherable, he’s concerned and you’re just... tired. He wants to offer to help, but as soon as the moment arrives, it’s passed, and you’re off to the next task.

The air between the two of you has lost it’s angry tension; after saying your peace, after hearing his apology, there’s no fight left. Just a lingering disappointment, a quiet like the moment after a world-weary sigh. You don’t have to pretend around Roger, you both know he’d see through it if you’d tried.

“You should come get a drink after; you look like you need it.” Roger laughs, but there’s no humour in it. Without missing a beat, you decline, you don’t even bother coming up with an excuse. 

“I’m worried about you.” The tour is almost three weeks in, and you’re asleep against the proscenium arch when he walks in. You wake with a start at the sound of his voice, reaching out for the light you’d been fiddling with before you’d passed out. When you look to him with confusion, he repeats himself slowly. “I’m worried about you; are you sleeping okay?” 

“As if that’s any of your business.” You snapped back, and Roger kept quiet. It only takes him a day to figure out that sleep isn’t really a luxury you allowed yourself; you were the last out every night after bump out, sometimes staying until two in the morning, and from what the crew said, you were always the first up, running through check lists, accident reports, and going over anything that needed maintenance. 

When Freddie asks you to come out with them after a gig, you find it difficult to say no, he helped get you this job after all, but you’re there for barely half an hour before Roger sees you slip out the side door, drink untouched.

John asks if you’re okay one afternoon when you drop a stack of gel frames without warning, jumping almost a foot in the air and looking like you’re about to break into tears from shock, but seems content when you explain you’re just tired. Tired doesn’t even begin to cover how overworked you are.

The night you finally decide to relax a little, bump out having been miraculously fast, you’ve got the next day off. The others cheer you on as you down drink after drink, the alcohol hitting you hard and quickly, and the world gets blurry as you find yourself on the dance floor. It’s easy to drink too much, because for the first time in a long time, you’re relaxed, not worrying about the pretty, dickhead blonde who worries about you when he really shouldn’t. 

You’re drunk enough to admit to yourself that part of you likes the attention he’s giving you, it feels like vindication for the heartache you went through all those years ago. Part of it’s not even vindictive, part of you just likes the way he looks at you, the way his smile made your heart beat just a little faster; you call that part a fucking traitor and have another drink.

You don’t remember leaving the bar, but you come back to your body when you’re leaning against a streetlight for support, halfway through telling someone to fuck off.

“Ya’ not my caretaker, Roger,” you sneer, “you don’t need to look after me or whatever this is. Go help groupies home or to hotel or whatever.” You spit, and push off from the light, turning on your heel, almost topple over, and right yourself.

“Light, that’s the wrong way.” He calls, exasperated, and you turn again, this time actually crashing to the ground and grazing your hand on the way, before you get to your feet. He’s come over to try and help you, but you swat him away.

“You don’t get to call me that.” You stalk ahead of him in the direction he had come from, back toward the hotel, and he follows only a few steps behind.

“Fine, Y/N; you’re legless, let me help.” And after a moment of intense eye contact, in which you try to weigh up your options, you begrudgingly loop your arm through his.

“You’re still on my shit-list.” You inform him, and he hums in acknowledgement. “Why are you doing this?” You follow it up with.

“I’m not the asshole who fucked you over three years ago, and I’m not gonna let you get yourself killed for this show.” He said through gritted teeth, and you just smiled, a little dreamily.

“But what a way to go.” And he came to an abrupt stop. It took you a moment to realise, and looking back, you tugged on his arm to keep him moving. He just frowned at you, a little concerned. “Fuck, I didn’t mean it.”

“If I have to fire you to get you to take a break-” He threatened, and you scoffed, expression turning bitter.

“I’ll drop a light on you.”

“You’ll drop a light on me by accident before then anyways!” He crowed, and your expression fell, contemplative. “Just let me help; what do I have to do to make you actually rest? What do I have to do to prove myself?”

[madisonrooney]

THOUGHTS ON D3

(some of these may be points about stuff we already knew going into it but like now that weve gotten to see it all together its easier to discuss)

- i like what they did with audrey’s plot. her and mal’s relationship did feel pretty unresolved after d1 so im glad they went this route. not to mention being able to bring her back after her being absent in the second. also i like the message that it gave off about being able to be good or bad regardless of where you come from

- i loved hades! he was so fun and i loved how things ended up with him. and DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO WAS AWESOME probably my fav song. but i cant say im a huge fan of him being mal’s dad. like i loved the way their relationship played out but while the descendants fan in me is happy the disney stickler thinks its a bit too much creative license for them to make a kid the child of two disney characters from two different movies. it also kinda like...almost invalidates her character of “maleficent’s daughter” now shes the daughter of two villains and it?? feels different?? if that makes sense?? could the other VKs possibly have another villain as their other parent?? who knows. also i wish they hadn’t made it so obvious so early like people guessed this A YEAR AND A HALF AGO WHEN THE TEASER CAME OUT. maybe had it just been a few months it wouldnt have been as bad but yeesh. it made the shock factor...well, almost non-existant.

- continuing on their relationship, i thought tackling the idea of an absentee dad was a bold move for a movie like this and i applaud it. not to mention with an upbeat musical number? they really did that

- i loved celia too!! i was afraid she was gonna be more bad news than she was but she was super cute and sweet. loved her friendship with dizzy. and loved getting to see more of dizzy! and even though dr facilier wasnt in it much he was fun. i thought it was sweet that he and celia seemed to have a good relationship. im also glad we got to see lady tremaine! but wheres drizella lol

- also in regards to hades and celia, i liked that they brought in two more movies into the universe that hadnt yet been acknowledged (not counting wicked world or the books). i love both hercules and princess and the frog and while i wouldnt call them underrated theyre not quite as mainstream as some of the other movies in the descendants universe so im happy with that.

- on the other hand, i dont really like it when they get more kids from movies that they already have kids from. in this case, squeaky and squirmy. gil seemed out of place to me when i first watched d2, especially cuz like why would gastons son be a pirate, but since he had some funny lines with ben (in this movie too!) it was worth it. but squeaky and squirmy had no lines with harry? THEY ALMOST DIDNT HAVE ANY LINES AT ALL??? so why couldnt they have had them be kids from a movie they hadnt used yet? the more the merrier imo. idk.

- mal and uma repairing their relationship was like the highlight for me ugh it was so good. i think we all had a feeling that would happen (not just from speculation but from set pics and whatnot) but it felt satisfying regardless. uma saying “im right here mal you got this”? love that

- WE LOVE MORE DRAGON MAL. EVEN MORE THAN IN D2. WE LOVE THAT A LOT.

- WE ALSO LOVE MORE DUDE. OK SO MAYBE THATS JUST ME BUT SCREW IT I LOVE TALKING DOGS SO IM GLAD HE STILL TALKED. DOVE CAMERON AND A TALKING DOG IN THE SAME MOVIE IS BASICALLY PANDERING TO ME OK

- WE ALSO LOVE MALVIE CONTENT!!! love that evie was the only one who knew hades was her dad AND LOVE THAT THEY SAID I LOVE YOU TO EACH OTHER LIKE DAMN. AND DURING MY ONCE UPON A TIME WHEN MAL LIKE CARESSES HER FACE??? LIKE HER INTERACTION WITH HER WAS MORE INTENSE THAN WITH ANYONE ELSE EVEN BEN??? GOOD SHIT

- OK I KNEW ABOUT THE DID I MENTION REPRISE AS OF A FEW DAYS AGO BUT IM A SLUT FOR PARALLELS SO THAT STILL KILLED ME

- any parallels killed me. especially, ofc, ending with “cuz were rotten...to the core” (tho i was hoping the rotten remix thats on the soundtrack would be in the movie)

- loved getting more harry and gil content. gil is so blissfully stupid and precious and i love him and harry is so chaotic and i love him too

- and just...love the sea three bonding with the core four. also it felt well paced. wasnt rushed, had its moments to slowly get us there (mal+uma, jay+gil+harry) it felt like it went just the way it was supposed to.

- the whole series of events felt well paced and well ordered

- tbh i think its hilarious how chad’s douche baggery never dies down. i mean points for consistency i guess

- (did anyone catch the sign on the isle that mentioned monstro? good easter egg)

- (im really going out of order ik)

- one kiss was fun and cute, but i never felt like doug and evie were like...behind in their relationship? if anything i thought as of d2 their relationship was more stable than that of mal and ben

- night falls was a little silly and felt a little too similar to its goin down to me but it served a purpose and it was still fun

- and ofc it was so bittersweet to watch cam. the dedications were heart-wrenching but beautiful.

overall it really could not have been better! great new characters, great development on the characters we love, great soundtrack, and, most importantly, a story that perfectly wraps up the franchise. its hard to get a trilogy right. i love a lot of trilogies but a lot of them have some major flaws. with like say the kung fu panda movies, the 2nd and 3rd feel like theyre about very different things than the first. it doesnt feel like its telling one cohesive story. some have a second that feels unimportant to be between the 1st and 3rd. this just felt like perfectly coming full circle. everything from the beginning of the first movie to the end of the third felt necessary to tell the story. no useless filler, all essential to the plot, adding more as we go and resolving more, but having a hell of a lot of fun the entire time. i remember d2 being one of the most, if not the most, satisfying sequels ive ever seen. maybe part of that has to do with descendants being such a main fandom of mine when it came out, but sometimes, even new additions to my main fandoms can disappoint. these sequels really haven’t. part of that may just have to do with my love for the franchise regardless of the direction it goes in, but i know that it also has to do with just a great job in storytelling. continuing the story and wrapping it up just right. when the first one came out, we didn’t know it would be a trilogy. it works great as a standalone movie, but when you see the third one, you would think it was intended this way from the beginning, which honestly gives it even more power.

it breaks my heart to let this franchise go, but ofc in mal’s words “this is not the end.” with it just coming out, that means its just the beginning of discussions, gifs, memes, fanart, and all that fun stuff. so lets jump right in!

and, as always, every bit of love in my heart goes to cam tonight. we still miss you endlessly and we always will.

[punkscowardschampions]

Ali & Carly

Ali: [Weds night before her bday] Ali: woman you home Carly: not mine y? Ali: because ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY Ali: and I need to come bearing gifts Carly: now? k then Carly: ill get there before u Ali: you @ one of the lads then? Ali: no rush 'cept I do wanna be the first so like b4 midnight cinders 🎃👠 Carly: i werent born @ 12 tho & u kno that from doing my chart 🔮🌟 Carly: but ur so cute Ali: tru but Ali: i'm excited Ali: can't start the party without guest of honour 7 Carly: aw Carly: i wont take these 15 💊s yet 👼 Carly: we can party together Ali: 🎁? Carly: idk can u call it a 🎁 if u have to give back Ali: Boo 👎 Carly: not what he said when we were done Ali: 🙄 still Ali: not very festive of him Carly: idc its been fun Carly: coulda stayed in w ma & da but its not a retirement party in the works like Ali: for now Ali: but I got better plans than either Carly: yea? Ali: 'course Ali: who am I Ali: who are we Carly: 🐅💙🐇 Carly: i barely knew u on my last bday 😢💔 Ali: it's insane Ali: you're so important and integral to me how did we not get together before then Ali: I'm not the only one with plans tho 🌌💕 Carly: too many lads to swap first ha Carly: i kno my ma has been planning all wk but idk cuz shes learned to be subtle somehow Carly: must b her new man teaching her things Ali: Eskimo sisters for life, baby 😂 Ali: 👀 come thru shaz Ali: sounds promising Carly: 🤞🌌🔮 Ali: not her new man, obvs Carly: hes no cavante tho still only a few yrs older Ali: if I beat you I'll hit her up for the scoop Carly: 🍀 Ali: 😬 Ali: I guess we've got her answer for the age old experience vs stamina Carly: could b where i left her wine drunk in the hot tub still Carly: falls asleep there more than the marital bed Carly: mermaid energy ha Ali: not wine drunk Ali: worse energy than coke rage, I swear Ali: watch out cat lady, protect your children Carly: aw ill look after them Ali: 👼 Ali: I'll take any bday bumps for you 💪 Carly: never liked coke or wine soz ma if thats my 🎁 Carly: still my hero 💙 Ali: those people are the worst Ali: lemme buy something for me and give it to you Ali: no sharon THAT IS NOT 👏 IN 👏 THE 👏 SPIRIT 👏 OKAY 👏 Carly: my gma does that every yr! xmas too Carly: so boring unwrapping that bible each time Carly: good rolling paper tho Ali: 😂 Ali: the lord is in you, it's what she wanted Ali: just in your lungs but you know Carly: ha Carly: what r u bringing me boo? Ali: don't you want the surprise babe Carly: idk last time u really surprised me it was w a divorce so u could get ur man Ali: 😥 Carly: 😂 jk u kno i love surprises Ali: just devastated you're calling me predictable for the last, how many months Ali: cut me deep, birthday girl Carly: i dont surprise easy Carly: y the lads like me Carly: dont b sad baby Ali: never Ali: not when there's partying to be done Carly: yay Ali: and a 👸 to celebrate Carly: ur sweet 🍬🍭 Carly: i dont look like a princess rn Carly: no running away Ali: you always do Ali: even when you running from ogres Carly: ur gonna make me look worse when im crying too Ali: meant to save them for the party Ali: but I'll never tell Carly: ha its been a few yrs since a bday tantrum Carly: really had to wait for that bike tho Ali: and #werk baby Ali: you were as adorable then, how your parents didn't spoil you is a mystery to me Carly: ask them if u do get here before me Carly: but before i was medicated i wasnt as 👼 could b the answer Ali: lecture 'em on how wrong they were, more like Carly: ur a bias little 🐱💙 Carly: & u didnt kno me then even if u do remember i grew into my 👂s Ali: 😂 Ali: well I never grew into my 👁s and my 'tudes no better either and you still love me so Ali: deal with it, Walsh 😜 Carly: aw u were the cutest 👶 Carly: & u get cuter every yr Ali: hey, don't spoil my heartfelt message in your card! Ali: 😏 Carly: im sorry Carly: ill have 1 for the road & forget Ali: I think one of the boys just catcalled me without offering to give me a ride in their white van/carriage Ali: see me struggling here lads, is that part of the appeal? probs Carly: which y? ill threaten to uninvite him from the party Carly: 1* Ali: not the kinda bitch to resort to racism 'cos I'm mildly upset or angered but they really be looking the same behind the wheel of a transit, like Ali: think it was one of Ronan's brothers? Ali: and in fairness, never slept with you so whaddya owe me, kind sir Carly: ha Carly: if he could see & be seen @ the wheel then i reckon i kno Carly: & i have slept w him so he will b 💔😢 if he cant celebrate w me Ali: my hero 💚 Carly: 💙 Carly: been thru every1 old enough in that fam now ha Carly: gonna have to move like Ali: I wish I could tell you the surprise was a hot new fam Ali: alas Ali: wouldn't fit them on my back, like Carly: 😢💔 Ali: I've let you down Ali: how could I Ali: gonna eat my feelings 🎂 Carly: 🍯🐝 no Carly: never Ali: what's the dresscode for this shindig then Carly: idk not allowed to go w bday suits Carly: my da overruled me Ali: gotta whittle down my knock you dead options Ali: even with those stifling guidelines, tah Mr Walsh, I should manage it Carly: i believe in u baby Ali: 👼👼👼 Carly: im back btw Carly: used my wings mayb Ali: damn Ali: was really hopinh for some 1x1 with your ma Carly: she will scoot over in bed for u Carly: not just me who misses u Ali: awh Ali: can we convince her to give you your present early or nah Ali: I say yeah Carly: me too so 2 votes Carly: my da will b asleep too deep to cast his even if she says no weve outnumbered her Ali: 💪 Ali: I'll put the phone down and run Ali: gimme 5 Carly: k Carly: be careful tho Carly: some of the 💡 r out Ali: 👌 Ali: my middle name Carly: fun is ur middle name Carly: how many do u have? Ali: as many as you want Ali: 😉 Ali: but just the one, actually Carly: hot Carly: u can have 1 of mine then wed both have 2 each Ali: are you actually 👑 Carly: my ma wishes Carly: queen of the site tho Carly: ha Ali: I've not bought her a crown Ali: not soz Carly: its k shes got her prom tiara somewhere Ali: memories 🎶 Carly: am i gonna peak before 18 too? Ali: never Ali: only way is 📈 baby Carly: u make me feel really happy u kno Ali: ☀🌻🍓🍯🐝🐰 Ali: it's mutual boo Carly: im crying Carly: & smiling Carly: its the 💊s ma Ali: it's the 💘 Ali: she gets it Carly: aw Carly: yea shes really 💘 w the lad from the chemist Carly: knocking our 💙 off the top Ali: can't be having that Ali: got all weekend to prove we're 🥇 Carly: til ur bf shows up Ali: nuuh Ali: it's all about you Carly: ur so nice to me Ali: you'll see feel and believe it ✨ Carly: 🔮🌌 Carly: r u gonna stay? Ali: can I? Carly: yea Ali: then yeah Carly: aw ur my 🎁 Ali: I haven't copped out that hard, don't worry Ali: come help me Ali: not very gentlemanly of me but I wanna be with you before we've gotta hear about the prom queen's glory days Carly: k Carly: 💪💙

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Star Crossed Rivalry: Part 5

Pairings: Opie x Reader (SOA/TWD MC AU Crossover ) Negan daughter!Reader

Warnings: Swearing, Fluff, Angst, Violence

Word Count: 4,211

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

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

“Look at my little chunker.” You cooed as you held your 9 pound 8 ounce, and twenty-one and a quarter inches long son in your arms. “My little chunky boy that ruined mommy’s pussy forever and ever…”

“Babe!” Opie laughed as he sat beside you on the bed, holding the two loves of his life in his arms. 

“You’re gunna be tall like your daddy.” You said as you laid your head on Opie’s chest with a smile you never thought was going to fade. “And just as handsome as him, too. You’re going to be a handsome little man, Hunter. I know it.”

“He has your nose, Mama.” Opie said as he smiled at the cooing boy in your arms. “And your smile…”

“No, that’s your smile, Daddy.” You said as you brushed your thumb across Hunter’s cheek as he looked up at you with Opie’s hazel eyes. “And your eyes. Fuck, could he be anymore perfect?”

“Not fucking possible.” Negan said as he knocked softly on your hospital room door with his knuckle. You smiled up at him as he held up a light blue stuffed teddy bear with a handmade Saviors kutte on it. “First fucking present.”

“You’re such a softy.” You said as you let Opie take Hunter from your arms. “Thank you, grandpa.”

“Fuck off.” He chuckled as he closed the room door behind him partially and tossed the bear on your bed. “Pop. That’s what I am.” You nodded your head and smiled as he carefully took his grandson from your fiancé. “Michonne and Rick are out in the waiting room. Same with Jax and Piney, who looks about as white as a fucking ghost.”

“That’s just Piney.” Ope said as he picked up the bear and put it in Hunter’s clear sided bassinet. “He’s always pale as fuck.”

“Told ‘em to wait until I made sure you were ready for company. And I wanted this little Satan spawn all to myself.”

“You’re an ass!” You laughed as he sat down on the couch that ran under the windows on the far side of the room.

“I hope, for your sake, he’s just as much as a fucking monster child as you were. Then you’ll see what your mother and I had to fucking deal with.”

“And just because you said that, he’s going to be a perfect little angel.” You teased with a smile. “Baby, can you hand me my make up bag? I’ll at least run a damn brush through my hair or something.”

“Damn, you were fucking right about this one.” Your dad said as he jostled your son the slightest bit. “This is one big fucking boy.”

“Will you leave him alone?” Opie laughed as he handed you your bag. “I packed that dress thing you were looking at in the store. The lady said it was the best thing during her hospital stay, and it was worth the money.”

“Oh my God, I fucking love you.” You said as you pulled the soft, pink wrap around nursing gown you had been kicking yourself all week for not buying out of your bag. You looked up at him with a happy pout as you held the dress to your chest. “Best fiancé ever.”

“I try.” He said as he came over to help you up out of bed so you could change in the bathroom. 

“You two are fucking disgusting.” Your dad said with a shake of his head. “Yea, your Mommy and Daddy are fucking disgustingly in love.”

“God, shut up.” You groaned as you stepped into the bathroom. “Get your baby love in fast, Pop. You’re about to have to share him with a whole lotta people.”

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

You were used to the Sanctuary being crowded for Halloween but no where like this. It was as if every member of every charter was there with their kids, ready to welcome the new Saviors Prince to the world. The moment you got out of your truck beside your fiancé with your carseat on your arm, the parking lot erupted into cheers.

“OK, OK!” You laughed as you held your hand up to silence the masses. “My kid is thankfully a quite baby, but I don’t want to test the theory!”

“I call dibs on the first helping of baby love.” Michonne said as she came over to you with a giant smile in her Princess Leia costume. “I love the spots.”

“Just wait for it.” You said as you set your car seat on the little stage. “Introducing Hunter Winston, my little chunkster puppy.” Michonne ‘aw’ed’ as you pulled back the blanket to show off your currently sleeping son, who you knew would wake up the moment he got picked up. “I should have made him a monkey so he’d be a chunky monkey.”

“Oh, that’d be too perfect.” She said as you unsnapped the carseat and carefully picked your three and a half week old son, up. His eyes flew open, and looked around as you carefully laid him down in the crook of Michonne’s arms.

“He’s an angel child.” You said as you grabbed his Dalmatian ear beanie out of your diaper bag to go with his onesie and the black eyeliner dot you drew on his and your noses. “He doesn’t really cry, he sleeps like four hours at a time at night, eats like a champ, obviously. But it’s still so much work.”

“We got lucky as hell.” Opie said with a nod as he handed you a bottle of water. “Even if Negan tried to curse us.”

“He’s beautiful, (Y/N).” She cooed as she offered Hunter her finger. He cooed back and wrapped his pudgy hands around her slender finger.

“Is this the future King biker?” Rick teased as he came over to say hi.

“Not happening.” You and Opie said simultaneously as he lit a cigarette for you and gently pulled you back away from your son by your spotted dress covered shoulder.

“We got him for a minute.” Michonne said with a smile as she passed off Hunter to her husband. “Take a smoke break. Go mingle for a bit.” You nodded your head as you took a long drag of your cigarette and glanced over at Maggie, who was coming over to say hi and get some baby love as well. You smiled at her and walked the couple feet over to her as Hunter was passed off to Carol next. 

“How are you two liking being parents?” She asked as she kissed your cheek.

“It’s a lot.” Opie chuckled as he grabbed a chair for you and Maggie from a near by crafts table. “Don’t get me wrong. We really do have an angel but I don’t think I have every worried about every little thing before in my life.”

“Poor Creature has no idea what to do with Hunter.” You chuckled. “And I’ve been keeping him in his bassinet not his crib because I’m too scared I won’t hear him downstairs…”

“OK, there’s nothing wrong with that.” Maggie chuckled. “Hershel stayed in a bassinet until he was six and a half months old. There is nothing wrong with that. And I know you have a baby monitor since I bought it for you. That one is super loud when you have it on. I could hear Hershel fart through it like he was sitting right next to me. What else?” You glanced at Opie, who you knew had a shit load of concerns neither of you wanted to ask your doctor out of embarrassment, before looking back at Maggie.

“OK, sometimes he wont latch on.” Opie nodded as he grabbed a chair for himself, and sat down beside you.

“Do you eventually stop worrying that he’s just gunna up and die?”

“Are we gunna turn into our parents?”

“Is there anything I can really do at night to help? I feel shitty just fucking laying there and watching her breastfeed.”

“And what about baby shots? I know we’re along way off, but these past three weeks has already flew by. Are they safe? Can your doctor spread them out more?”

“Ok, whoa.” Maggie laughed as she held her hand up to stop your rant. “Slow down, take a deep breath and let’s start from the beginning. Have you not talked to your doctor about this?” You shook your head, and looked over at Hunter as your dad showed him off to a few patches from the Orlando Florida charter.

“You know as well as I do how embarrassing some of this shit it.” You said as you reached into Opie’s firefighter’s jacket and grabbed his cigarettes since yours were in your diaper bag. “It’s easier to ask someone that’s family.”

“Alright.” She agreed as Carol came over to say hi as well. “We got a lot of mom’s here so we’ve got a lot of collective experience. Let’s start at the beginning…”

——

“He fall asleep?” Ope asked as you walked back into the main room after feeding your son, and getting him down for a nap. You nodded your head and pulled back the cloth of your carrier to show him Hunter.

“Fed, changed, and in jammies.” You said with a nod. “I probably should have wiped off his little nose before I breast fed but whatever.”

“You live and you learn.” He said as he leaned down to kiss his son’s forehead.

“Cops, cops, cops!” Ezekiel roared as he stuck his head in from outside. You didn’t hesitate in grabbing Opie’s hand, and yanking him down the hall you just came from.

“Where…?” He asked as you turned a corner, making sure you held Hunter to your chest so he wouldn’t jostle awake, and make noise in your haste. You shushed Ope as you turned into the president suite and shut the door behind you both.

“Help me with this. I need two hands to move it.” You said as you walked quickly over to a large mirror on the wall beside the bed. “The handle is right here, and it swings open.”

“Oh, shut up.” He said as he put his hand on top of yours to find the latch and the handle. “You have a secret door…”

“Yes, and if you move faster, we can be behind it before the cops come.” You said shortly as he pulled the door open. You dipped past him into the small surveillance room and started to flip switches to turn on the monitors for the cameras hidden around the factory.

“Does it lock?” Opie asked as he pulled the mirror back into place. You nodded and flipped another switch, sending three, unseen, stainless steel bolts from the back of the door into the wall to hold it in place. “Well fuck.”

“My dad made this room when we first bought the Sanctuary.” You said as you sent Negan a coded text to his personal line. “He and I are the only people who know it exist for this exact reason.”

“What does that mean?” He asked as he looked at the text.

“PR means panic room, and OH(i) are the three of our initials.” You looked up at the monitors at the main room of the club, where friends and family of the club were all laying face down on the floor. Feeling his phone ring in his kutte and knowing it was you, Negan looked directly at the hidden camera and closed his eyes in a long blink. With a sigh, you sat down in the computer chair and checked on your son, who was thankfully still fast asleep. “Swear to God this kid could sleep through a hurricane then a tornado before going to a football game.” Opie huffed as he sat down in your old beanbag chair with a sigh.

“Well I guess I can say thanks for loving me.” He chuckled as you watched the DEA, the ATF, and the local and state police executed a search warrant on the building. 

“You’re a goon.” You giggled as you watched family member after family member get put into cuffs, and carted out to the waiting transport vans. You sighed again as your dad was put in the back of the van as well, when a lone motorcycle pulled down the road toward the end of the road. “Son of a bitch.” You said as you sat up and expanded that view to take up one of the four monitors in the room.

“What the fuck is Clay doing here?” Opie asked as he got up and came over to get a closer look. You shook your head subtly as movement on the screen next to the one you were watching caught your attention. Your jaw dropped and you stood up slowly as you watched one of the DEA agents uncuff Dwight and let him walk away.

“Oh, you mother fucker.” You said as you minimized the screen with Clay to watch the long driveway. “Fuck, he’s a fucking rat.” You glanced over at Opie and the slight furrow of his brow before reaching up to tap the screen to explain. “The Saviors make a run six times a year for their product. Negan and Rick are the only ones who know the exact date but the run is almost always the week before Halloween. None of the other members know the exact date, they just come to town exactly a week before and wait until my dad tells them to wake up and go. But this year, because of Hunter, my dad pushed it.” You tapped Dwight’s head, wishing you could kill him in that moment, as he stood talking to Clay at the end of the road, not realizing that he had been made. 

“Dwight set this up with the Sons, not realizing my dad changed the date. Because usually, by now, this place is full with enough weed to put every single person in here away.” You both fell dead silent for a moment as the main room door flew open and a state officer and an AFT agent started to tear the room apart. You continued to shake your head and watch Dwight until the agents left the now destroyed bedroom and your upturned baby carrier and diaper bag.

“Is this recording?” Opie whispered as he watched Clay leave, and Dwight slink into the shadows. 

“Always.” You said with a nod as you turned in your chair to find a blank disc to make a copy of it for your dad. “You can’t say anything to anyone, baby.” You reminded him as you turned around to look at him. “Not even Jax. Not yet. We have to wait for my dad, first and we’ll move from there.” Opie sighed and nodded his head as he went back over and sat down on the bean bag.

“I know.” He breathed as he pulled off his scrubbed his hand down his face. “Fuck, I know.” You looked over at him, sorrowfully and shook your head.

“This is the down side to falling in love with the enemy, baby. I’m really, really sorry.”

“It’s not you, baby girl.” He said as he reached out for your hand. “It’s the beast that is our life. But I walked away from my club for a reason. And that reason is sitting in front of me, cradling my other reason to stay out.” You smiled weakly as he pulled on your hand until you got up from your chair. With a huff, you stood up and very carefully sat down so that he could hold both you and Hunter until all the cops left and it was safe to come out of the panic room.

“I love you, Ope.” You said as you laid your head on his shoulder and made sure Hunter was up right, not smooshed, and comfortably still sound asleep.

“I love you, too baby.”

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

“You been sitting here all night?” Your dad asked as he walked over from his house early the next morning. You picked your head up off the rocking chair and shook your head as you slowly pushed yourself back and forth.

“You know my MO, Daddy.” You said as you picked up the slightly cooled cup of coffee, and passed it off to him. 

“Thanks, baby girl.” He sighed as he flopped down in the rocker next to you. “Where’s Hunter?”

“Inside sleeping with Ope.” You said as you picked up your laptop, and hit the spacebar to wake it up. “We got a rat.” Negan’s brow furrowed as he put his coffee down, and took the laptop from you with a sigh. He hit play, and picked up his coffee again as you went back to rocking.

“Son of a fucking bitch.” He groaned as he watched the video. You nodded your head, and grabbed your coffee off the table. 

“Ope gets that we have to go after SAMCRO. I get it, too. It’s just…”

“He wants Jax, and his fucking dad out first.” Negan finished for you as he closed your laptop and leaned back in his rocker. “(Y/N), how fucking sure are you that they aren’t fucking part of this?”

“I’m not.” You said with a look over at him. “I have no fucking idea. But I trust my fiancé. And he trusts Jax and Piney. So I trust them enough to know that getting them out before you go in is worth something.” Negan nodded as he finished his coffee.

“Let me talk to Ope.” He said as he looked into his empty cup. “Fuck, you need to teach Frankie how to fucking make coffee.”

“No.” You said before you finished your cup, looked at the time on your phone, and took your laptop and empty coffee mugs back. “Ope will be up any minute. Go shower, though. You smell like jail.”

“You’re such a pleasant little fucker in the mornings.” Negan said as you both got up and headed in different directions.

“I get from you.” You called out over your shoulder as you walked in to your living room just as Opie was coming down with your whining son. “I got him, baby.” He nodded his head as he continued down the stairs almost in a daze.

“Did you sit out there since four?” He asked as he waited for you to put what was in your hands, down. You nodded your head as you took Hunter from his arms.

“I worry about him, you know?” You said as you walked around the couch and sat down while pulling up one of Opie’s wife beaters that you slept in to feed your son. “He has no one else but me, and Frankie is so self involved she wouldn’t know her ass from her elbow when it comes to anything of use.” You looked up at him as he stepped out on to the back porch to let Creature out, and stood just outside the door so he could smoke his morning cigarette. “Someone’s gotta take care of him, Ope. He does so much for everyone else…”

“I know, baby.” He said with a nod. “I don’t blame you on that. Just… well, next time, can you sit inside the house, and wait like a normal person does?”

“Opie, you and I both know I am no where near fucking sane, thank you.”

“True.” He agreed with a smirk. You flipped him off as Creature walked past him back into the house, and trotted over to join you on the couch. You said hi to him as he walked in a circle twice before curling up into a ball against your hip, and going back to sleep with a snort.

“Dad wants to talk to you.” You informed your husband as he kicked the rock aside and came back into the house. “He’ll probably be back over for breakfast if you wanna jump in the shower. I’ll do French toast, bacon, and eggs for breakfast when Hunter finishes.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He said as he came over and gave you an upside down, chaste kiss. “Good morning, baby.”

“Good morning, my love.”

——

Opie and Negan sat across from each other at your dinner table, the former watching your son in his vibrating baby swing that he loved so much, and scolding Creature when he tried to crawl up in the seat to cuddle with ‘his’ baby like he so desperately wanted to. Negan watched his grandson, trying to figure out exactly how he wanted to word his questions, while you made breakfast.

“I need you to be fucking honest with me, Opie.” He started as he ran his middle ringer around the rim of his coffee mug. “Brutally fucking honest.” You and your fiancé both looked over at him as he pulled his brown eyes away from his grandson and up to Opie. “Say (Y/N) and Hunter are kidnapped tomorrow…”

“Dad!” You shrieked but he held his hand up to stop you, refusing to take his eyes off your fiancé.

“You and I are killed in the fight. Who in SAMCRO do you fucking trust, without a fucking shadow of a doubt, with their lives.” Your fiancé sat up straight, confused and stunned at the question.

“Jax.” He said after a moment with a slight nod of his head. “He’d raise Hunter as his own, watch out and take care of (Y/N). But he wouldn’t walk away from the Sons to do it. The club is his fucking life. I do know though, that he and Clay have completely different opinions on the club’s path. Which is why I can say my old man, and a guy named Chibs would be on that list as well. He and Piney would side with Jax any day of the fucking week. The rest of the club…” He sighed as he ran his fingers through his loose, shoulder length hair. “The rest of the fucking club are loyal to the club. Which means they’re loyal to whoever sits behind that gavel.” Negan nodded his head slowly as you walked over two full plates, and set them down on the table.

“So who do you think is the fucking mastermind behind last nights bullshit?” He asked as he pulled his plate in front of him but didn’t touch it otherwise. 

“That’s got fucking Clay all over it.” Opie said as you came over to top of their coffee mugs, and set your plate down. “Clay is a conniving monster. He’ll sign his fucking soul to the fucking devil if it meant keeping his president patch. If I had to venture a guess, he was the one that made a fucking deal with ATF after your guy found him. I’d say his fucking right hand, Tig had something to do with that shit, too. Fucker hates me.” Negan nodded again as he picked up his coffee mug and took a drink, buying his time to really think his next question through.

“You didn’t turn your fucking back on my daughter, did you?” He asked seriously, hating that he even hard to.

“Never.” Opie said as you growled at your dad around a mouth full of French toast and freshly cut strawberries and banana slices. “She’s the love of my life, my future wife, and the mother of my son. I’d lose every fucking appendage I have then take a fucking bullet before I betrayed her. And that means you as well, since you’re her father. Betraying you hurts her, and I will be no fucking part of that.” Negan nodded his head again, and finally picked up his fork, apparently satisfied with Opie’s answers.

“Call the three. You two are getting married.” Negan said as he gestured toward the swing with his fork. “And get the fucking dog out of the fucking swing.” You and Opie both looked over at Hunter, who was still sound asleep, and Creature, who had managed to crawl up half way on the chair with his back legs and right leg hanging off the edges, and fell asleep so that his body was just barely touching Hunter, but his head was resting protectively above Hunter’s little head.

“Oh, my God that’s the cutest fucking thing.” You said as you got up to grab your phone from the counter.

“Cute or not, he can’t be up on the swing.” Opie said as he finally cut into his own French toast.

“Oh, he’s fine.” You said as you took a few pictures. “It’s his baby, too.”

“Don’t start that shit again, babe.” Opie said around a mouthful of food. “He’s a dog.” You turned around, and stuck your tongue out at Opie with a small sneer.

“They are brothers, and the faster you accept that, the happier I will be.”

“I had the same fight with her mother about our fucking mutt.” Negan said as he purposely kept his eyes down on his plate. “I fucking lost.”

“You’re not fucking helping.” Opie said as you sat back down with a giant smile.

“So when are our sons walking us down the aisle?”

“Shut up, (Y/N)!” Opie snapped as Negan snorted a laugh.

Part 6

[arysafics]

Now I’m Addicted

Chapter Eight

Normally, Clarke really looks forward to getting away to the beach for a weekend, just her and Wells. This year, the thought makes her queasy.

Clarke had been partly relieved to move make home with Wells. Living in a hotel had kind of sucked, and living alone was even worse. She still doesn’t know if she made the right decision. But she promised him she’d try, so she’s going to try.

And yes, it’s Bellamy she really wants, and not Wells. But she can’t have Bellamy. Bellamy doesn’t want her, and Wells does. So maybe she’s settling for second best, but it’s better than being alone for the rest of her life.

Despite her best intentions, and the fact that she really is trying, she’s not ready to go away with Wells alone. She’s worried the trip will just magnify all the holes in their relationship, before they’ve had a chance to really fix them. She doesn’t want to cancel the trip completely, so she suggests inviting a few other people to join them. Wells agrees surprisingly easily. Actually, he’s been very accommodating the past couple of weeks, almost like he’s walking on eggshells around her, afraid she’ll up and run again. But the truth is he doesn’t really have anything to worry about. Now that Clarke knows she has no shot with Bellamy, she has no reason to leave him. She wishes there was some way to prove that to him, so they can get start getting back to normal.

The beach house is huge, and Clarke thinks it’s probably worth a hell of a lot of money if Wells ever decides to sell it. Thelonius Jaha had left most of his money to charity when he died, but he left Wells the beach house. Not to sound selfish, but if Clarke’s mom does that, she’s going to be super pissed.

Clarke invites Octavia and Raven, and they both decide they’re bringing their partners. Monty and Harper can’t make it, and Jasper and Miller don’t want to hang around a bunch of couples for the whole weekend. So Clarke figures it’s going to be six people in the five bedroom house, with each couple getting their own bathroom. She’s actually looking forward to it.

But then she gets a call from Bellamy. She’s on the train home from work, and she almost drops her phone when she sees his name pop up. She dithers for a moment, her heart pounding, before she finally decides to answer.

“Hi,” she says, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Clarke,” he says, and the sound of her name on his tongue makes her knees go weak.

“What’s up?” she asks him. He’s obviously calling for a reason. And that reason is probably not to tell her how madly in love with her he is, however many times she’s envisioned that scenario in her mind’s eye.

“Uh, well…” he starts. “Octavia asked me if I wanted to come to the beach with you guys this weekend.”

“Oh.”

“I mean, I figured I should check if it was okay with you first.”

“You really want to come?” Clarke asks. She kind of figured he was avoiding her.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” Bellamy says. “I could really do with a vacation,” he laughs. Clarke squeezes her eyes shut, her stomach twisting at the familiar sound of his laugh. How had she not figured out sooner that she was in love with him?

“Of course it’s fine,” Clarke says, because why wouldn’t it be? They aren’t sleeping together anymore, so they don’t have to worry about Wells. As far as either of them are concerned, they’re just distant friends. Or acquaintances maybe.

“Great,” Bellamy says. “Is it okay if I bring someone?”

Clarke hesitates, probably too long. “Sure,” she says quickly, hoping he hadn’t noticed her hesitation. No, she doesn’t want him to bring his girlfriend, and no, she doesn’t want to think about what it means that he’s only been dating Echo barely a month and yet he’s bringing her on a weekend away with all their friends.

“Okay. I guess I’ll see you Friday.”

“Okay,” Clarke swallows. “See you then.”

  The prospect of seeing Bellamy scares Clarke to death. She hasn’t seen him since A: she realised she was in love with him, and B: he broke her fucking heart. So yeah, she’s a little nervous to say the least.  

Wells doesn’t seem to notice, though she’s mostly silent on the drive to the beach house. Or perhaps he’s just letting her have her space. Either way, she’s glad he’s not questioning her about it. There’s only so many times a person can use the excuse I’m just tired before it starts to seem like a lie.

Clarke and Wells get there first and claim the master bedroom. Clarke unpacks her suitcase into the wardrobe, to keep herself busy. The task doesn’t really keep her mind off Bellamy though, and she keeps listening for a car in the driveway, her heart pounding rapidly.

Octavia, Niylah, Raven, and Shaw arrive together, and Clarke finally has a suitable distraction from her thoughts, as she’d introduced properly to Niylah for the first time, and Raven and Octavia start telling a story about The Worst Driver in the World they encountered on their way here.

She’s so caught up in Octavia’s theatrics, she doesn’t even notice at first when Bellamy and Echo walk in the front door. That is until Octavia cuts herself off midsentence to greet her brother.

“Hey, you made it!” she says, walking over and giving him a hug. Clarke freezes, her heart suddenly lodged in her throat. Bellamy’s eyes seem to scan over the group until they land on Clarke. She smiles weakly, feeling like a nervous wreck. Fucking hell, he looks so good. And if in the back of her mind she’d harboured some doubt about whether or not she’s actually in love with him, that vanishes when he smiles back at her, and her heart squeezes itself so tight she can’t breathe. Not only that, but he pussy starts to throb, as if it can sense he’s close. Yeah, letting him come here was a huge mistake.

“Bellamy,” Wells says, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

Oops. She may have forgotten to tell Wells. Or rather, purposefully not told him because it was too hard to even say Bellamy’s name out loud.

“I did ask Clarke if it was okay,” he mentions.

“He did,” Clarke manages, finding her voice. “I guess I forgot to tell you.”

“All good, I guess. You’re here now. And who is this?” Wells nods to the tall brunette standing next to Bellamy. Clarke hates her on sight. With one glance at Octavia, Clarke can tell she isn’t impressed with the arrival of Echo either.

“Ah, this is my girlfriend, Echo,” Bellamy introduces. “Echo, this is… everyone.”

Hearing Bellamy call Echo his girlfriend sends a dagger through Clarke’s heart. And it’s not like she hadn’t known she was his girlfriend. But hearing him actually say it out loud is something else entirely.

“Girlfriend, huh, Blake?” Raven teases. “Seems like someone is finally settling down.”

Bellamy rolls his eyes. “Give it a rest, Raven. We’ve only been dating a month.”

“Only a month and she’s already your girlfriend though,” Raven continues. She turns to Echo. “I guess you’re the one to finally tame the wild beast,” she winks.

Echo smirks. “We’ll see,” she says, glancing at Bellamy flirtatiously. Bellamy looks a little uncomfortable by the whole exchange. Clarke wants to throw up.

“Who wants alcohol?” she announces, heading for the kitchen where Wells had stocked the fridge with beer and cider earlier.

They all end up in the outdoor area out the back of the house, drinks in hand and an array of finger foods on the table in front of them. Echo is sitting in Bellamy’s lap, playing with his hair, laughing too hard at his jokes. Clarke tries to keep her eyes averted, but she burns with jealousy. She wants to be the one sitting in his lap and playing with his hair, feeling his hard cock pressing into her, teasing him until he can’t think straight. She also wants to kick Echo in the face. Instead, she tightens her grip on her bottle of cider and snuggles into Wells’ side. It’s not because she’s trying to make Bellamy jealous. She’s not dumb enough to think he would even care. But she doesn’t want him to know how much she’s affected by his new relationship. So she’s a little more affectionate with Wells than she normally is. The alcohol probably helps.

“Who wants to play a drinking game?” Octavia asks.

“I’m in,” Raven says. “What are we playing?”

“You know, I think I’m a little old for drinking games,” Bellamy grimaces. He looks to Echo. “You want to go to bed?”

“You know I do,” Echo says, leaning in to kiss him.

“Gross,” Octavia says, voicing Clarke’s thoughts for her. “We won’t miss you.”

“Hey, you invited me,” Bellamy reminds her as he and Echo stand up. Clarke watches them head inside, hand in hand. To her surprise, Bellamy glances back for a moment and meets her eyes. She quickly looks away, pressing a kiss to Wells’ cheek. Overcompensating maybe. When she looks back to Bellamy, he’s gone.

“Clarke? Wells? You want to play?” Octavia asks.

“I actually think maybe we should go to bed too,” Clarke says. Somehow the thought of Bellamy and Echo alone in their room is worse than actually being able to see them together, and Clarke feels totally sober all of a sudden.

“Sounds good to me,” Wells grins. “See you guys in the morning.”

“Party poopers!” Raven calls after them as they go back inside.

Despite what Wells might think, Clarke’s intentions are just to go straight to sleep. Only, once she’s in her pyjamas, and under the covers, she begins to hear… noises through the wall. More specifically, the sound of Echo moaning like a mad woman.

Clarke groans, putting her pillow over her face as Wells gets into bed beside her.

“God, I hope we don’t have to listen to that all night,” he says. “Surely he can’t be that good in bed?”

Clarke knows for a fact that he is that good. Although Echo does sound completely ridiculous moaning like that. Clarke likes to think her own moans are much sexier. She does realise that even though she can hear Echo quite clearly, she can’t really hear Bellamy at all. She takes some satisfaction in the notion that maybe he’s not having as much fun with Echo as he did with Clarke.

Clarke turns over on her side to face Wells. “Fuck me,” she commands him.

“Huh?”

“You heard me.”

“Are you actually turned on by that?” Wells snorts.

“I just think we can outdo them.”

“Clarke, you’re not that loud in bed. I don’t think you can outdo Echo,” Wells rolls his eyes. “You know, that name actually suits her come to think of it.”

Clarke snorts. As much as she’d like to hang shit on Echo and her ridiculous name for the rest of the night, what she really wants is to get fucked. “I can be loud,” Clarke tells him. “Watch me.”

Wells doesn’t need to be told twice. And okay, pretty much all of Clarke’s noises are fake. But she’s pretty sure a lot of Echo’s are too. Sure, Bellamy is great in bed, but Echo sounds like she’s literally being murdered in the next room.

Clarke pretends to come when Wells comes, but even then, they can still hear Echo through the walls.

“How are they still going?” Wells asks incredulously. Clarke rolls her eyes.

“Let’s just go to sleep now, okay?” she huffs. She squeezes her eyes shut tight and tries to drown out the sounds of Echo.

  Clarke is awake early the next morning, long before anyone else will be up. Wells is still snoring softly next to her. It’s already warming up outside, and Clarke decides to take advantage of the solitude and go for a walk along the beach. She dresses in a pair of short shorts and a tank top and heads downstairs, stopping in the kitchen to grab a glass of water before she goes.

As she fills her glass at the sink, she looks out the kitchen window to see Bellamy lounging in the hammock on the front porch, reading, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts that Clarke swears are almost as tiny as her own. God, he’s so fucking sexy.

She lets herself watch him, his brow furrowed in concentration as he reads. She smiles to herself, her heart soft for him. So he has a girlfriend. She can still be in love with him and be his friend, right? It’s totally possible.

She puts down her glass and walks out onto the front porch. Bellamy looks up as the door slams behind her. He sits up, closing his book. His eyes rake over her body, lingering on her tits. She feels her clit twinge. So it’s not that he’s not attracted to her then.

“Hey,” she says. “I’m just going for a walk along the beach. Do you want to come?”

Bellamy considers. “Yeah, okay,” he agrees. He swings himself off the hammock, more gracefully than what Clarke would ever be able to manage, and follows her down the front steps.

They walk in silence towards the beach, Clarke with her hands in her back pockets for lack of something better to do with them. Because what she really wants to do is slip her hand into his. Or maybe just grab his face and kiss him.

It’s a five-minute walk until they reach the ocean, and it’s cooler out in the open air, and a little windy. The breeze blows through Bellamy’s already tousled locks, making him look like he’s in a beach themed photoshoot.

“So, uh, you and Echo, huh?” Clarke says. Why, she has no idea. She does not want to hear Bellamy gush about his girlfriend. “Seems like things are going well. If what I heard last night is anything to go by.”

Bellamy snorts. “You heard that, huh?”

“How could I not?”

“I will admit she’s a little over the top. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was faking it sometimes,” Bellamy admits.

“And how do you know better?”

Bellamy smirks. “Come on, Clarke. Don’t pretend like I didn’t make you come over and over and over.”

Clarke shivers. Fucking hell, does he have to make her want him so bad? “So we’re talking about that are we?”

Bellamy shrugs. “We don’t have to. How are things going with Wells, now that you’re…?”

“Back together?” Clarke finishes for him. Bellamy stops, staring at her. His jaw ticks.

“Back together?” he repeats. Clarke’s eyes widen as she realises what she’s said. “I was going to say monogamous.” Bellamy swallows. “You and Wells broke up? When? I mean… Octavia never said—”

“She doesn’t know,” Clarke says quickly. Her face burns. “I didn’t tell anyone. So please don’t mention it. No one knows.”

“Okay,” Bellamy nods. He seems unable to look at her now. They continue walking.

“It was right after… you ended things with me. And it was only for like a week. I guess I just wanted to see if being with Wells was what I really wanted,” Clarke shrugs.

Bellamy turns his head towards her sharply, his eyes piercing into her. “And it is, then?”

Clarke swallows. “Yes.”

An uncomfortable silence follows. Clarke isn’t sure why. All she knows is she’s completely on edge, half of her desperate to confess everything to him, the other half desperate to hold onto her pride. The prideful side of her wins out.

“You want to go swimming?” she says. Anything to break the silence.

“What?”

“The water looks so nice,” Clarke continues. She tilts her head at him, waiting to see if he’s coming.

“I think I’ll pass,” he says. Clarke shrugs, as if to say suit yourself, and then she pulls her tank top over her head and her shorts over her ass. She can feel him watching her strip down to her underwear, and she’s totally not doing this to get a reaction from him, but if it turns him on too then she’s not complaining.

She looks back over her shoulder as she heads towards the water. He’s still watching her. She can’t help a smirk from spreading across her face.

The water is freezing, but Clarke forces herself to wade in anyway. She reaches her waist then dives under the water. She breaks the surface again, gasping from the cold, flicking her hair out of her eyes. She stands up, the water just reaching her breasts.  

“Come on!” she yells to Bellamy. “It’s not cold, I swear!”

“You’re lying!” he yells back, but he’s very clearly smiling.

“Don’t be such a chicken!”

Bellamy shakes his head, laughing. But then he’s walking towards her and into the water.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Bellamy swears as he gets deeper. “It’s fucking freezing, Clarke!”

“It’s not that bad!”

He dives under the water and surfaces half a metre from her. “You’re insane,” he tells her.

“Yet you followed me anyway.”

“You’re too persuasive.”

Clarke pokes her tongue out, and then splashes him. Bellamy raises an eyebrow, smirking.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Griffin,” he challenges, stepping towards her.

“Oh, what are you going to do?” she teases. He lunges for her and she turns away, trying to escape his grasp half-heartedly, but he grabs her around the waist, pulling her back flush against his chest.

“No, don’t!” she squeals, laughing.

“Do you surrender?” he asks, lips against her ear. Clarke squirms, trying not to think about his wet skin against hers. But it feels like he’s touching her everywhere, and her head swims and her cunt pulses with need. She wonders if he’s hard right now, but she doesn’t dare make a move to find out.

“I surrender,” she tells him, and he lets her go. She turns around, but she doesn’t put any distance between them. His eyes flick to her lips and she wills him to kiss her.

“Clarke,” he says hoarsely. “I really want to kiss you.”

“So kiss me,” she murmurs.

Bellamy shakes his head. “I have a girlfriend, Clarke. I’m not going to cheat on her.” Right, Echo. “We should head back,” Bellamy sighs, stepping away from her. Disappointed, but knowing it’s better this way, Clarke follows him back up to the sand. She grabs her clothes from the ground but doesn’t put them back on yet.

“We should wash the salt and sand off before we go,” Clarke says, nodding her head towards the public bathroom by the carpark. There’s an outdoor shower around the side of the brick building. Clarke gets under first, and the water is cold but not as cold as the ocean. She closes her eyes to let the water fall over her face, and opens them to find Bellamy looking at her strangely.

“What?” she asks.

“You know your underwear is totally see-through right now, right?”

Clarke had not known, but when she looks down now, she can see that he’s right. The white material of her bra and panties clings to her, the water having turned them so transparent it’s like she isn’t wearing anything at all.

“Oh,” she says. “You’re right.” She looks back up at him. “You waited a long time to tell me that,” she points out. He must have noticed as soon as they got out of the water. And he definitely hasn’t been not looking at her.

Bellamy flushes. “Clarke—”

“I guess there’s no point in wearing them at all then,” Clarke shrugs. She reaches behind her to unclasp her bra and lets it fall from her chest. Then she peels off her panties and throws them to the side where her shorts and tank top sit.

“Fucking hell, Clarke,” Bellamy groans, shaking his head.

“We’re wasting water,” Clarke says, she reaches out and grabs his arm, tugging him into the shower with her. He’s stronger than her, he could resist easily, if he wanted to. He doesn’t.

He doesn’t move to touch her, but he’s so close that her nipples brush his chest, and he’s looking down at her with dark eyes, filled with want.

“Why are you like this?” he asks. Is that an insult or a compliment?

“Like what?”

“Irresistible,” he murmurs. His hands come to rest of her waist, and then he leans down, capturing her lips between his. Clarke whimpers as she closes her eyes, her arms circling around his neck. The water shuts off automatically, but Clarke barely notices. Bellamy presses her against the brick wall behind her, crushing her tits against his chest. He’s kissing her like his life depends on it, desperate and messy, like he’s trying to remind her she’s alive. She’d almost forgotten what it’s like to be kissed by him, and now that she remembers she doesn’t ever want him to stop again. She needs him to remind her how it feels to be fucked, really fucked. She wants him to fill her throbbing cunt with his cock, and come with him deep inside her.

“Bell, fuck me,” she moans. “I need you, I need you.”

“You need me, huh?” he says. “You need your pussy filled? You need my cock inside you?”

“Yes. Please. Please.”

“Of course you do, baby,” he murmurs, slipping a hand between her legs. “Bet you missed being fucked properly, didn’t you?”

“Uh huh,” Clarke nods as Bellamy plays with her clit. “I missed you so much.”

“Missed me? Or missed my cock?” He pushes two fingers inside her and she gasps.

“Both,” she moans. She tugs at his shorts, and he helps her pull them down to free his cock. “Oh god,” she groans. “I forgot how big it is. I need it inside me.”

“I know, baby, I know,” Bellamy coos. He kisses her again, gripping her ass, hoisting her up so she can wrap her legs around him.  He presses the bulging head of his cock against her entrance, and then he’s pushing inside her, stretching her pussy good and wide. Clarke almost comes right then.

Her back is against the bricks, and she clutches his back as he thrusts into her.

“Yes,” she gasps. “Fuck me, baby. Fuck me, fuck me.”

Bellamy moans and the sound sends shockwaves through her. He drives into her over and over, the pressure building inside her. She needs to come so bad, and she’s right there on the edge. I love you, she thinks. I love you, I love you. And it would be so easy to let it slip off her tongue right now, in this moment of bliss. But instead she just cries his name as she comes, her walls clenching around him as she comes all over his cock.

“Come inside me,” Clarke moans as he continues fucking her against the wall. “I need your come in me.”

“Anything you want,” Bellamy groans, letting his seed spill inside her, filling her up with his come. It leaks out of her as he pulls his cock out of her and lets her back onto the ground. Bellamy steps back, pulling his shorts back up, not bothering to clean himself up. She wonders if he’s feeling guilty. He grabs her clothes and hands them to her, and Clarke quickly puts her wet underwear back on and then her shorts and top. Bellamy looks away, as if he hadn’t just had his hands all over her naked body.

“Are you okay?” Clarke asks.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Bellamy nods.

“What about Echo?”

Bellamy considers. “She doesn’t have to know.”

[ecessive-dreamer]

Title.

​He sees her passing, bags of chanel in each hand, yet her head is still wrapped in a book as she walks, glancing up to the street every two minutes. He froze when he thought she saw him, walking straight toward him. Her head was still in the books, “Oh my, I’m so sorry” Luna says as she bumps with him head to head,her book landing flat on the ground.

Luna mutters,“Donovan?”

he takes a deep breath, she looks so beautiful, her skin as pale as winter snow, almond green eyes,and black luscious hair. Recounting every moment spent with her, tracing the outline of her lips, memorizing her face, and yet here she is standing in front of me and i'm still in awe of her.

“what are you doing here?” i ask her as nonchalant as possible while i pick up the bags that landed on the floor.

“Oh you know how i am on weekend sales..wow i haven't seen you in ages” she says as she eyes him, looking at his slightly crooked nose, ocean blue eyes and disheveled dirty blonde hair. Same old Donovan she thought.

“Well yeah of course how could i forget” I say as she turns away, blushing. Recounting just like him all the days they would walk hand in hand, at each and every single store and just like that the sharp pain returns, and the haunting memories come back. He destroyed her. It's been five years, but five years isn't enough. She manages to grab all her bags, as he hands her the book.

“Ah, you still read british literature huh? I guess some things don't change” I say. Her smile fades as fast as it appeared. I look at her with such intensity in my eyes

“My reason for life. Not living, but life. That was the touch. And she was his reason for life, and why he must survive” her breath catches

“ I’m sorry i have to go.”

“Luna, wait. It's from your book, atonement!” I yell as she crosses the street, away from him. He takes out the pack of cigarette that's been itching to be smoked all day. She brings that out of him, after all this time, seeing her face, smelling her scent, hearing her voice. He needed her again, and he was going to have her.

*Beep beep beep* i roll over my bed, it's 5:00a.m. i sit up “shit” as my feet hit the cold wooden floor. I forgot to turn on the heater last night. I put on my socks and roll on my hoodie as I walk to the thermostat and turn it from 50 to 70 in my small studio apartment. I walk to the kitchen and start my routine. I turn on my coffee while simultaneously brush my teeth. I hop in the shower as my coffee is getting ready. As soon as I stepped out of the shower I wipe away the fog on the mirror and look at myself. Ive lived here for years and still haven’t made any progress. Still the same apartment same job same remorse. Hell even the same coffee, as I realize the coffee is still on and rush to my kitchen. Pour a cup, black. I put my work clothes on and head out the door with my coffee.

​It gets me everytime, everytime I walk out of the front door of my building that im actually living in new York city. I cant imagine anywhere else I want to be. Way better than my town back home. Yeah sure I miss my family and what not but being on my own is what ive always wanted. I walk my 6 blocks to work thinking about yesterday; I actually saw her. Its been months of almost nothing. The only time ive seen her was in pictures and memories that would be occasionally sparked by an object that reminded me of her.

​I walked into the building of my job. I do journalism for a small time newspaper company. Same job for 7 months and still no raise. Its nothing to complain about I make enough for me to live comfortable but yet I still feel like my time is more valuable.

As I make it to the 4th floor, my floor my boss is always the first to greet me as his office is right by the elevator door. “morning don” he says, “morning murphy, hows it going this morning” I return. He replies with a big sigh, “ sales haven’t been so well so its causing us to do alittle remodling of who we have here.” “oh?’ I replied with a nervous voice hoping I wasn’t being given the talk about being let go. He laughs “don you have nothing to worry about, though im glad I keep you on your toes this early in the morning.” “I need you to show around the new intern, shes a possibility at a new columnist here and I want you to take close attention to her to see if she is going to be an asset to this company”, he asks. I reply with a uncertain tone,” I don’t know murphy I have this article ive been working on and I don’t know if I can afford the extra baggage.” He replied to me with a stern face,” it wasn’t a question” and as soon as I noticed his face I quickly replied with a smile on my face “no problem boss.” He looks back with a artificial smile on his face,” great shes in your office. Her name is tiffiany. You know like the diamond.”

I walk to my office which is completely on the opposite side of the floor. As I walk into my office I knock on the door. She turns and looks at me with a grin. The first thing I notice was he hair. Golden not like a dumb blonde kind of look but almost a los angles kind of blonde where he hair is almost as bright as the sun. she was short but not to short maybe around 5’3 which is short for my abnormally tall figure. I reach my hand out to greet her as she does the same. “hi im tiffany. Ive heard allot about you.” As my hand meets her hand I realize how soft her skin is which causes me to gently squeeze her hand. “heeee” I reply. She looks back at me with a puzzled face. I have no idea why words wouldn’t come out of my mouth.“ hi im Donovan but you can call me don. Im sorry for coming across as an idiot I have no idea why my mouth wouldn’t work.” She laughed, “its okay I have that affect on people sometimes” she said with a joking tone. I grin” wow a since of humor that’s something your gonna lose working here” she laughed. Her laugh was cute. “so im gonna be working with you?” I asked her. “yeah I guess your stuck with me but its only a month so your gonna have to bare with me.” “a month? Oh no I don’t know if im going to be able to do it” I said. Her smile went away. “oh im sorry I just was joking” I said. She started to laugh, “ wow cute and sensitive, maybe ill have to stay longer than a month.” We both looked at eachother and smiled knowing that there would be no problem working together.

After a week of work I head home on a Saturday night. On my walk home I get a call from my buddy david I haven’t spoke to him in weeks hes been busy with his schooling. “hey man whats up?” saying answering the phone. “hey you still live on the upper east side right?” he asks. “yeah” I reply “well im in town and wondering if you wanted to get some drinks or something?” he asks. “hell yeah, where at?” I ask him. “meet me a napoleons bar? Ill order you a beer” he says. “alright man see you in a few” i say as I hang up the phone.

I walk into napoleons and see dave. He raises his beer up to get my attention. I walk over and we embrace eachother in a hug. “whats going on man” he asks. “same shit just a Saturday” I reply. He laughs, I ask him the same “ whats going on man”. “well for starters im a month away from graduation” he says. “congrats man im proud of you, next round is on me” I tell him in an exciting voice.

Weve been sitting catching up for hours and have had enough beer and bar food for me to be sick for months. He asks,” hey man I know it’s a touchy subject but what ever happened with you and luna?” I look and reply with the most honest answer I could think of,” things just didn’t work out. He looks at me and says,” he man that’s too bad I know you really liked the girl but shit happens, hell look at me im not even done with college and already divorced.” I look at him and he looks at me and we both laugh, “yeah but I started working with this new girl and I don’t know I shes kind of funny” I tell him. “oh yeah? Tell me about her” he asks. I tell him ”well shes kind of an asshole but she has a sence of humor, she has nice hair and big blue eyes. Hell she can even write too.” “you like her?” he asks. “ no man I just work with her” I say. He looks at me with a face that says “really?” he says “ come on man you wouldn’t have brought her up if you didn’t ask her out man” he does have a point but im not sure maybe I just need to focus on work plus I don’t think im quite sure for anything yet. The conversation dies down after a couple more beers and we both say our farewells and part ways.

Its Monday all over again. I wake up make the coffee take a shower but something is urging me. Im actually excited to go to work. Im putting on clothes that give me confidence. I leave out of my apartment and make it to work 15 min early. I walk past murphys office saying ,”morning boss.” He replies with “good morning” but I walk past him and am almost on a mission to my office. “hey don” she says, I reply “ good morning tiff.” She looked great this morning. I don’t know what it was about her. The way she smelled the way her hair was tied up in a bun or maybe it was just the way her hair shined back at me as the new York gloomy day approached. “hey tiff?” I ask. She replys with a speedly “yes?” “ would you want to go out with me sometime?” she looks at me with a puzzled face. I realize what I just asked and I say “ im sorry im not sure what came over me. I don’t know its just a new week and” she cuts me off in the middle of my rant, “what time would you like to pick me up?” I look in shock, surpisingly I got this far. “um after work maybe we could grab a bite to eat?” I ask“ id love that” she replies.

After the work day we both leave together and I take her to this little Italian place a couple blocks from work. All I can think to myself is how well it went. How well it was kept going. After dinner I called a cab for her and payed him to take her to her house. Before she got in the cab she kissed me. Just a peck, I was caught almost by surprise. She says “ thank you I loved tonight and hope it can happen again” I replied “ me too, and id love too. Was that you asking me out?” she laughs “ yes but you cant tell anybody” she gets into the cab and we both say goodnight.

I walk into my office. Its tiffs last day, but I have a pitt in my stomach cause im not quite sure where this leaves us. Her and I have been going out more frequently and it seems to get more serious. Im not sure what to think of all of it but I guess I might just have to find out. I get out of the elevator and walk to my office. Tiff turns around and sees me, “hey hun she runs up and hugs me, you know what today is right?” of course how could I forget” I reply as I walk past her and sit on my desk. “hey? You okay?” she asks. I respond shrugging my shoulders “ yeah im alright” she sees the worry in my eyes. “is this about us?” she asks me. I look at her as she looks at me. “yes it is” she says. “talk to me” she says. I look at her “ what are we going to do? Like tiff honestly I have feelings for you and im not quite sure how were going to go with you leaving” she looks at me and smiles “ hun just because im leaving this job doesn’t mean I plan on leaving anywhere out of your life” I look back at her and smile as she looks at me. She walks over and sits on my lap and says “ lets go out tonight and celebrate, a new chapter of things”. I smile “ I have to decline I have to finish this article for tomorrows paper but ill tell you what, tomorrow night sounds excellent. Only if your free?” she looks at me and says “of course im free, sounds like a plan”.

I get off of work late, its raining. I look at the time and its almost 1am. I start my walk home. On my walk home I cant think about how much im grateful for how things are turning out in my life. I mean hey just a couple months ago I felt like I had no direction in life but now I feel like I might be moving forward. I

I walk into my apartment with my soaking coat and hang it up on the hook. I turn my heater up and start to change into my sleep wear. Right as I hit my bed I hear a knock on my door. “ who could be here this late?” I think to myself. I walk to my door peep hole and peer through all I see is a women with her hood up. I open the door and as soon as I opened it I can feel me stomach in my shoes. “luna?” I say in a muttered voice. “hi Donny” she replies. “what are you doing here?” I ask. She looks at me “I was out and just happened to stop by I figured you would still be up. The late sleeper I remember you as” She says to me. “yeah I just got off work and was getting ready to hit the sack” I tell her “ oh im sorry I was just looking for someone to talk to I can go if youd like.” She responds. “ no come in ill make some coffee” I respond. She comes in and sits down I stand in the kitchen and start to make coffee. “Nothing has changed about this place huh?” she says over the coffee being brewed. “nope not much, I barely spend time in here anymore” I tell her. She looks in a surprised look,” oh out with your girlfriend all the time?” she said in a sarcastic but serious manner. “actually yes well I mean you could call it that, and work” I told her. “oh?” she says,”hows work going?” I knew she was beating around the bush but who was I to call it out. “ works great actually ive been moving up in the chain and really enjoying my work” I told her. “enjoying work who are you? Is this even Donovan?” she says in a joking way. I laugh as I hand her the coffe,”yeah you can say I guess im moving in some kind of direction but who knows if its right or wrong.” She laughs,” and there he is Same old downer Donny I remember.” She says laughing. “how about you, whats miss luna doing with her life?” I ask. “well ive finally become a published writer and im actually on my way to getting my doctorate in british literature.” She tells me in such detail but I start to unvoluntarely ignore as I start to get lost in her brown eyes. We continue catching up throughout coffee and end up staying up all night.

My alarm for 6 am goes off and I realize that I have work. As I go to turn it off I walk back into the room and lune is standing by the sink rinsing her cup. I cant help but remember every morning waking up and seeing her standing there making our coffee in on of my oversized shirts of mine. After all this was our first place. I look at her the way I used to look at her and she turns back and looks at me. I walk to her and she walks towards me and there seems to almost be a silence in the city of new York. All I can pay attention to is her. We walk so close to eachother that I can feel her breathe on my neck. We both move in slowly and interlock lips. We kiss, for the first time in almost a year of not talking and it feels like the first time I ever layed my lips on hers. It felt like nothing else mattered. Like everything was oblivious to this moment. We move to the bedroom and without a word being said our clothes seem to disappear and both move slowly into the bed that we picked out together. Everything became nothing and nothing became everything. The way she looked at me was the way I was staring at her. A year soon collapsed into nothing. Hours felt like minutes and the day soon fell to night.

The next day I woke up and she was laying on my arm. I had this overwhelming guilt. It clouded over me. I notice my phone on the table. I pick it up and have new messages. They are from tiff,” hey haven’t heard from you all day. Hope your okay? Lemme know about dinner.” I hit my hand to my face “shit I had dinner with her last night and I missed it” I thought to myself. Im sitting on my couch and feel a hand reach over my shoulder to my chest and kiss my neck. “goodmorning” luna said. I stand up and look at her breathing heavily. “ why?” I ask her. She looks at me with a questioned face. “why does everytime I feel like things are moving in a direction that I like I take 10 steps back with you” I tell her. She looks at me “Donny I miss you” she says. “you didn’t miss me. You didn’t miss me when I saw you in the street and ran away from me. You didn’t miss me when I woke up one morning and you were gone for reasons I still don’t know. Why did you have to come back?” I yell. She looks at me with a tear rolling down her face and says “im gonna go” I immediately realize what I say and regret every word that came out of my mouth. Its too late to take it back I know who luna is and she wont forget that ever. I stand back as I watch her leave for the last time. As she walks out of the door I fall to the ground in tears realizing that the only person ive truly loved I pushed away.

Tiffinay and I are moving all of my stuff from one apartment to our next. Its been 6 months since she left and tiff still doesn’t know she exsists. As im finishing cleaning out my bedroom I notice a book laying in my drawer in my room im never seen before. Theres a sticker on it that says “for you, love luna.” I look at the book and realize there is a writing on the inside that says “our story.” I turn back and take one final look at the apartment as I close the door to that chapter of my life.

[theliberaltony]

via FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to a weekly collaboration between FiveThirtyEight and ABC News. With 5,000 people seemingly thinking about challenging President Trump in 2020 — Democrats and even some Republicans — we’re keeping tabs on the field as it develops. Each week, we’ll run through what the potential candidates are up to — who’s getting closer to officially jumping in the ring and who’s getting further away.

Although there was a lot of attention this week in the media on whether major names like Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke will get into the Democratic presidential race, candidates who have already been on the official campaign trail staked out positions on big issues that have been in the news. Although Democrats are generally unified on immigration — denouncing President Trump’s proposed border wall — fractures are forming around “Medicare-for-all” proposals and the “Green New Deal.” Progressive candidates have faced some pushback from the field’s centrists, who believe that their aims could be achieved in a more incremental fashion.

Here’s the weekly candidate roundup:

Feb. 8-14, 2019

Stacey Abrams (D) On Friday, Abrams is visiting Washington, where she will deliver a speech at the Democratic National Committee’s Winter Meeting and participate in a discussion about race and political power in the United States at the Brookings Institution. Michael Bennet (D) The Colorado senator hinted at a presidential run during an appearance on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “We’ve got a million people that are going to run, which I think is great,” he said. “I think having one more voice in that conversation that’s focused on America’s future, I don’t think would hurt.”

Bennet discussed his diverse professional background as one of the ways he was different from the field’s current candidates, citing his time in business and as Denver Public Schools superintendent.

On policy, he joined many Democrats in supporting a public health care option but said that such a plan did not necessarily mean that private insurance should be eliminated. Joe Biden (D) The Washington Post reported Thursday that Biden was still undecided about a presidential campaign, noting that he originally intended to decide by the end of 2018.

On Wednesday, CNBC wrote that Biden is signaling to several Democratic donors that he is leaning toward joining the presidential field but that his decision is not yet final.

The former vice president eulogized the late Rep. John Dingell on Tuesday, saying that the longtime Michigan congressman was one of only a few people he “looked up to.”

“He gave me confidence,” Biden said. “He made me believe more in myself more than I had. John had that special capacity to do so. Because when you are with him, you knew you were with greatness.” Michael Bloomberg (D) The billionaire former New York City mayor is prepared to spend at least $500 million during the presidential campaign cycle to defeat Trump, Politico reported Wednesday.

“That’ll get us through the first few months,” said Kevin Sheekey, one of Bloomberg’s top aides, noting that Bloomberg put $100 million into his last mayoral election.

Last Friday, Bloomberg told The Associated Press that he would reach a decision on a presidential run by the end of February and pushed back on speculation that he would not run if Biden launched a campaign. “My decision doesn’t depend on what other people are going to do,” he said. “My decision depends on whether or not I think I can make a difference.” Cory Booker (D) Booker visited Iowa and South Carolina during his first weekend on the campaign trail as a declared presidential candidate. In Iowa, the New Jersey senator continued to pitch his theme of unity and optimism to voters. In South Carolina, he addressed racial discrimination, saying that the country needed a leader who is “telling the truth about racism, not participating in racist statements, demeaning and degrading people like we’re seeing now.”

In an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday, Booker said that if he wins the Democratic nomination, he will “be looking to women first” when he considers a running mate. “I believe there should be a woman president right now, and I worked very hard to get one,” he said. “We have such a great field of leaders. I think that you will rarely see a Democratic ticket anymore without gender diversity, race diversity.”

This weekend, Booker will be in New Hampshire for six events across the state. Sherrod Brown (D) Brown said that he’s “not ready to jump” into the presidential race during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Tuesday. But he has given himself a March deadline to come to a “joint decision” with his wife, journalist Connie Schultz.

The Ohio senator rolled out two bills Wednesday with Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill: The first is a “cost-of-living refund,” which would double the Earned Income Tax Credit; the second would lower the Medicare eligibility age to 50, allowing people to buy in voluntarily. Steve Bullock (D) The Montana governor will visit Iowa this weekend. Bullock has said that he is unlikely to make a public announcement about whether he will launch a campaign until later in the spring, after Montana’s state legislative session. Pete Buttigieg (D) The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, joined MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday morning for a lightning round of questions on where he sits on the ideological spectrum. “I consider myself a pretty strong progressive, but I don’t consider the left-center spectrum to be the most useful way to look at our politics right now,” he said.

Last weekend, Buttigieg made his first trip to Iowa since announcing his presidential exploratory committee. While there, he shared his support for “Medicare-for-all” and the Green New Deal (which seeks to make massive public investments to combat climate change) while continuing to play up his military background and executive experience.

In an interview with New York magazine, Buttigieg expanded on how his local experiences could be helpful in the Oval Office, using South Bend’s sewer system as an example. “They’re so important that we make sure they work basically all of the time. Which is why you never think of them — that’s kind of the point,” he said. “But it’s not that different from national security. It’s like I say, the more freedom [people experience], the less they think about it.”

In both the New York magazine story and an interview with CNN, Buttigieg was critical of the social views of Vice President Mike Pence (a former Indiana governor and U.S. House member), saying to CNN that “politically [Pence] is a fanatic and he damaged our city and our state through choices that his social extremism led him to make.” Julian Castro (D) In a CNN interview Saturday, Castro said that even though he knows his candidacy has “special meaning for the Latino community,” his message is intended to be all-encompassing. “I’m also aware that I have to have policy proposals and a vision that includes everybody,” said Castro, who is a former mayor of San Antonio and served as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration. Bill de Blasio (D) De Blasio was scheduled to visit New Hampshire on Friday, renewing speculation that the New York City mayor is contemplating a presidential campaign. But he canceled the trip after a New York City police detective was killed during a robbery Tuesday. John Delaney (D) The former Maryland congressman spent the first half of the week in New Hampshire, his 14th trip to the state. He opened an office in Manchester and attended a “politics and eggs” breakfast at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics — one of 10 events in three days.

Delaney broke with several other Democratic presidential contenders by revealing that he was opposed to the Green New Deal. Tulsi Gabbard (D) During her first visit to Iowa as a presidential candidate, the U.S. House member from Hawaii and National Guard major touted her dedication to service and outlined her views on foreign policy, responding to criticism over her recent comments about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In Iowa, she said he was a “brutal dictator” but said that she didn’t feel the United States should be “the world’s police.” Kirsten Gillibrand (D) Gillibrand toured South Carolina, with seven stops across the state, from Friday through Sunday, including meetings with Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, who leads the National Conference of Mayors, and a group of women leaders.

The New York Times highlighted Gillibrand’s “feminist campaign” Tuesday, describing how advocacy for women has already become a centerpiece of her candidacy and one that differentiates her from fellow female Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren thus far.

This weekend, Gillibrand is again visiting New Hampshire for a collection of meet-and-greets, walking tours and town halls, after having traveled to the Granite State just two weeks ago. Kamala Harris (D) Harris attracted headlines Monday after she admitted during a New York radio interview to having smoked marijuana in college. “I did inhale,” the California senator said. “It was a long time ago, but yes.”

The remarks came during a larger discussion about marijuana, during which Harris said it wasn’t true that she opposes its legalization. She said that she supports legalization but has “concerns” and that its effects on users should be researched. John Hickenlooper (D) The former Colorado governor visited New Hampshire on Wednesday and Thursday and said he’s going to decide on a presidential run in the next “six weeks.”

During his stop at a Manchester house party, Hickenlooper joked about his unusual surname and how it taught him in his childhood how to “deal with bullies” — a reference to how he would approach running against Trump.

Hickenlooper added that he still wants to learn more about the Green New Deal and criticized Trump’s proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border while also saying that there are “border security issues” to solve. Eric Holder (D) After a speech at Drake University in Iowa on Tuesday, Holder, a former U.S. attorney general, said he would reach a decision on a presidential run in the next three to four weeks. “I’m concerned about the direction of the country,” Holder said. “I think I’ve got some ideas and visions that I think would be useful to the nation.”

On the issues, Holder said that the U.S. was “at a point where we should think seriously about [marijuana] legalization” and that he supports the Green New Deal, labeling it “our generation’s moonshot.” Amy Klobuchar (D) Klobuchar launched her presidential campaign Sunday during a snowy outdoor event in Minneapolis. She outlined her humble political roots and described her motivations for getting into the race. “I’m running for every parent who wants a better world for their kids,” she said. “I’m running for every student who wants a good education. For every senior who wants affordable prescription drugs. For every worker, farmer, dreamer, builder. For every American. I’m running for you.”

In an appearance Monday on “Good Morning America,” the Minnesota senator defended herself against allegations that she was abusive toward her Senate staff, conceding that she is “tough” and “push[es] people” but said that it was because she holds “high expectations.”

She mocked the president after he, referring to her kickoff rally, tweeted that it was “bad timing” that she was “talking proudly of fighting global warming while standing in a virtual blizzard of snow, ice and freezing temperatures.”

“I’m sorry if it still snows in the world,” Klobuchar said on “Good Morning America” on Monday. “But the point is that we know climate change is happening.”

Next Monday, Klobuchar will participate in a CNN town hall in New Hampshire. She will then travel to Iowa on Thursday. Jeff Merkley (D) Merkley is “still exploring” a run for president, he told Northwest Labor Press this week. The Oregon senator denied that his decision will be based on whether Bernie Sanders, whom he endorsed in 2016, decides to run. Seth Moulton (D) After telling BuzzFeed News on Monday that he is thinking about running for president, Moulton confirmed the sentiment publicly Tuesday during question-and-answer sessions after a foreign policy speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

“I’m thinking about running for president,” Moulton said in the BuzzFeed interview. “I’m not definitely running, but I’m going to take a very hard look at it. A very serious look at it. Because I believe it’s time for a new generation of leadership, and we gotta send Donald Trump packing.”

The Massachusetts congressman added that his decision will not be based on who else launches campaigns, saying that he doesn’t “look at this as a horse race.” Beto O’Rourke (D) As Trump held a campaign rally in El Paso, Texas, O’Rourke defended his hometown during a protest march Monday, criticizing the president for his rhetoric on immigration. “We are making a stand for the truth, against lies and hate and ignorance and intolerance,” O’Rourke said. “El Paso has been the safest city in the United States of America not in spite of the fact that we’re a city of immigrants but because we are a city of immigrants.”

Trump mentioned O’Rourke during his event, referring to the former U.S. House member as “a young man who’s got very little going for himself, except he’s got a great first name.”

Politico reported Wednesday that O’Rourke met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to discuss a possible run for Senate against Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, in 2020. Tim Ryan (D) Ryan is “seriously considering” a presidential run, he said on CNN’s “Erin Burnett Outfront” on Wednesday.

The Ohio congressman, perhaps best known for his 2016 challenge to Nancy Pelosi to lead House Democrats, added that he doesn’t “feel any pressure for any timeline at this point.”

“The country is divided,” Ryan said. “We can’t get anything done because of these huge divisions that we have, and people in communities like the ones I represent … are suffering because of this division. You can’t win the future divided.” Bernie Sanders (D) Sanders is leaning toward announcing a presidential campaign by the end of February, Fox News reported Thursday, citing two sources close to the Vermont senator.

Earlier in the week, amid the controversy that engulfed Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, over a tweet interpreted to be anti-Semitic, Sanders called the freshman congresswoman to offer his support, The Daily Beast reported. Howard Schultz (I) The former Starbucks CEO continued to face criticism from Democrats over his potential independent bid for president, and Schultz returned the favor, discussing his misgivings with both Democrats and Republicans at a CNN town hall Tuesday. “Both parties today on the far left and the far right are more interested in partisan politics, revenge politics,” Schultz said. “I think we could be doing so much better than we are.”

During the event, Schultz acknowledged that his “business experience is not qualification to run for president.” But he argued that he could bring a pragmatic, results-focused approach to combating problems like climate change and economic inequality. Elizabeth Warren (D) Warren officially jumped into the 2020 race, announcing her candidacy for president at a rally in Lawrence, Massachusetts, last Saturday. Before a crowd of 3,500 supporters packed into Everett Mills — the site of one of the most famous labor strikes that catalyzed massive changes to labor rules — Warren said: “Millions and millions and millions of American families are also struggling to survive in a system that has been rigged by the wealthy and the well-connected. Hard-working people are up against a small group that holds far too much power. … Like the women of Lawrence, we are here to say enough is enough!”

Warren took the stage to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” before making her official announcement and kicking off a tour through early-voting states. She made her debut as a presidential candidate in Dover, New Hampshire, before heading to Iowa on Sunday. She continues on to South Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and California this weekend. Bill Weld (R) Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts and 2016 Libertarian vice presidential candidate, is attending a New Hampshire Institute of Politics “politics and eggs” event on Friday.

Citing Republican sources, WMUR reported Wednesday that Weld’s remarks at the event will include a “substantial move toward a challenge to President Trump.” Weld recently re-registered in Massachusetts as a member of the Republican Party. Marianne Williamson (D) Williamson, a popular self-help author and one-time congressional candidate, was profiled by ABC News’s “Nightline” this week. She explained her desire to get into the presidential race, despite her lack of political experience.

“I think what we need in the White House is more a visionary than just a political mechanic,” she said. “America is morally off course. … More than anything else in America today, we need a moral and spiritual awakening.”

“We need an awakening of American minds,” Williamson added. “Show me any traditional politician who’s had a 35-year career at that kind of awakening. That’s a skill set. That’s experience. That’s expertise. And I believe it is a qualification that would — you would do very well to put in the White House.” Andrew Yang (D) Yang is spending his own money to demonstrate his proposed “Freedom Dividend,” a form of universal basic income that would pay all Americans 18 years or older $1,000 per month. One family each in Iowa and New Hampshire are already receiving $1,000 per month from the entrepreneur, according to CBS News.

ABC News’s Kendall Karson contributed to this report.