#while we were labeled gifted and got no help at all

[black-rose-writings]

My mom, after spending an extended weekend with my dad's old college classmates and their families: It's so weird that all of these very weird, intelligent and structured men who got their masters in engineering in the late 1980s have sons that are all autistic and daughters who all have mood disorders.

Me: Yeah, very weird. Why could that be?

[confused-wanderer]

I know we all talk about Jason finding out Dick killed the Joker from Tim or one of the other batfam members, but what if:

One day he’s searching for blackmail material on a member just for fun and knows Damian keeps a list of all of them so he backs into the files and realised the folder with the heaviest inscription to unlock is one labelled “Contingencies”.

He opens it to find every single person in their family is on there and starts surfing through them. When he sees Tim’s he freezes, mentally filing away some horrific details for checking up on him later, Jason’s list is impressive but not much he didn’t expect…still concerned how he got the evidence though.

His fingers hesitate over Batman’s, and after thinking screw it what the hell clicks on it just to realise most of them are psychological, and had to do with Jason. One video showed Bruce as Jason remembered him from his robin days. He was pacing furiously in the Manor, tugging on his pocket square which for him was a high level of distress, before he went upstairs - to Jason’s room when he stayed there - and looked in. The change was sudden, Bruce’s shoulders sagged and his face grew into one of fondness, one he’d rarely seen before.

“I cant help it Alfred.. Scarecrow’s toxin.. I KNOW it isn’t real but.. I can’t stop thinking about it. What if -“ and Jason can’t really believe his ears, that was a fucking quiver in his voice- “What if one day it comes true?” “What was your worst fear Master Bruce?”.

“Jason..” and Jason flinches. “I.. I saw him die, and I was powerless. I cant lose him Alfred. I just cant.”

The recording ends, and it takes a while for Jason to realise he can’t breathe. He sends the file to himself and laughs bitterly, remembering what the fear toxin had shown him. Lucifer. It had shown him falling from Bruce’s grace, being his greatest disappointment. “Guess we both failed each other didnt we old man?”

After what feels like forever, when he can feel his fingers stop shaking his eyes drift over to Dicks.

Damian sure does adore him, wonder what the brats got in store for him.

Most of them were things he was sure Dick could handle, until a glitched file appeared which read “for EXTREME situations only.”

When he heard Joker laugh, Jason could’ve sworn he was in the cave. “Hello there old friend! Aww why the long face?”

Dick wasn’t facing the camera, but the sheer aura of destruction radiating off of him was enough for Jason to know Joker was in danger. Judging by his outfit and well- hair- this must’ve been years ago.

“Didn’t you like my..ah.. gift? It was quite the blast I hear!”

Dicks fists clenched. His usual smile was gone, replaced by a hatred so vile it could’ve rivalled batman’s glare. It was so odd.. seeing him so pissed.

“Well that’s what happens.. when birds get hit. They never see what’s right in front of them and then BAM!”

As his laughter rang out Jason heard Dick whisper something. It was so soft, quieter than he’d ever heard him and he found himself leaning forward.

“What’s that? How long he lasted? Well I counted everytime he screamed when I broke his bones so-“

“SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!”

Jason stumbled back, nearly falling to the floor himself. Dicks voice was thundering, echoing across the cave.

What the hell had happened? Why was Dick so mad? Why wasn’t he smiling?

“You..killed him.”

And that’s when it hit Jason. Oh. This was after he’d died.

The joker was trying to say something, but Jason couldn’t hear him. All he could focus on was how Dick was behaving, how he was walking upto Joker. Jason had seen that before.

The intent to kill.

SLAM

The fight was brutal, and blood flew everywhere, mixed with the laughter and cries of the Joker while Dick yelled, YELLED so loudly he could’ve sworn the cave was shaking before the sound of a wet snap ricocheted and Dick went limp.

No.. no no no no.

He watched in horror as Dick stood up, drenched in blood and heaving. Dick had gone- no BEATEN- the joker for Jason.

But the longer he looked, the more he felt the Lazarus pit burning inside him.

The joker wasn’t moving.

Dick walked away, and in the shadows, with bloody fists and face of hatred could not see him as the Dick he knew.

“Dead.”

He looked up to hear Dick whisper to the thundering sky outside.

“I killed him Jason. The joker is dead. Rest in peace little wing.”

Jason’s feet gave out under him, and he crashed to the ground gasping for breath.

Never in his wildest dreams had he thought he had been avenged.

Never did he even think that Dick had only killed once… and only for him.

Part two of related series where Jason finds out Bruce nearly killed the Joker:

[janeyseymour]

If your still doing request, maybe Y/N is crushing on Melissa, and leaves her a secret admirer gift on Valentine’s Day, due to wanting Melissa to be happy/have some happiness after the whole Gary disaster.

stop i loved writing this one! thank you for the prompt! As per usual: not edited in the slightest and praying it's good enough!

When There is Love, There is Life...

WC: ~4.7k

Since Melissa broke up with Gary, she’s been… not herself. She’s been down and out, quiet, resigned. She doesn’t have her usual fire or bite that you’ve come to know and love. And you completely understand why. She was with Gary for a couple of years, and she was perfectly content with him (as much as that pained you to see). The redhead could see her spending the rest of her days with him as a boyfriend, life partner… whatever you wanted to label it as so long as that label wasn’t “husband”. She made that very clear. And then, like a fool, he went and ruined it despite the fact that she had told him she didn’t want to get married again. He proposed, and he lost her because of it. In that, she lost a piece of herself.

It didn’t help that Valentine’s day was just around the corner either. Perfect timing for a breakup that would be humiliatingly public and change her life more than she was willing to admit.

So when she isn’t quite herself, you understand why. Everyone at the school understands why she’s been different. 

Your colleagues have all offered different supports for her. Barbara was there when she needed a glass of wine, Jacob and Janine were there when the second grade teacher wanted to cook for someone, Gregory had taken her to a kickboxing place where she could get her aggressions out, Mr. Johnson brought in bunch of old plates and bowls for her to destroy in any way she would choose (she chose her emotional support baseball bat), even Ava was able to help by taking her out to a club to dance. 

What had you done? Not much else other than offer her gentle words of support and provide small, sweet gestures to remind her that she had a village to help take care of her. You promised her that it was all going to be okay. You gave her small, shy smiles when you felt that she needed one, and she had even come to you for a hug one day when she was in desperate need of physical touch and her work wife had taken off a bit early to attend a doctor’s appointment with her husband. If you noticed that she was dragging, you would take it upon yourself to make another pot of coffee and bring her a mug of the warm beverage just the way that she liked it prepared. 

You were there for her in ways that were small to you, but they made the biggest differences to her. While she surely appreciated the things that everybody else did for it, it was a bit of a one and done kind of deal to offer their supports initially, but your kind and thoughtful actions carried on as the days passed on. It made her feel taken care of in a way that she hadn’t felt in a while, even when she was with Gary.

“Any plans for Valentine’s day?” Jacob asks the group one day during lunch, and you can see the way that Melissa’s face immediately turns solemn. You knew that her and Gary were going to go out to a nice steakhouse on the fourteenth, but that plan was obviously shot now that they weren’t together.

“Gregory and I are going out to BoneTown together since we’re both single,” Janine jumps in. “It’ll be… nice.”

“Nice,” Gregory hums. “Yeah.”

“Zach and I are going out to this one new tofu spot that I’ve been dying to try,” Jacob grins. “It’ll be good. Then we’ll probably head home and have a few glasses of wine before retiring for the night… What about you Barb?”

“Gerald and I are going back to that one restaurant at the airport that we liked so much last year,” Barbara tells the crew. “Melissa, you know you’re always welcome to join us.”

“I ain’t gonna crash your Valentine’s Day plans with Gerald,” she sighs softly. “I’ll Probably finish off a bottle of wine on my own. Don’t got much else to do these days.”

You lay a gentle hand over hers and attempt to pour as much comfort and love into that small gesture as you can. “I don’t really have plans either,” you shrug. “So if you want, we can have Galentine’s day and finish off a bottle of wine together.”

The redhead gives you a sad smile. “Thanks for the offer, hun.”

As the days leading up to Valentine’s Day come and go, you see the way that the rest of your colleagues get small little gestures from their partners. It’s sweet- it isn’t just one day to go all out and celebrate love, but instead a reminder that love is always around and that there should always be an appreciation for your partner through life. Even Gregory and Janine have gone back to flirting, and he’s doing small little things for her.

As Barbara gets a small bouquet of flowers delivered to her in the break room, you see the way that Melissa’s body deflates.

“Wow,” she whispers. “Those are gorgeous.”

You bite the inside of your cheek. You really don’t know how to make her feel better through this one, so you simply top off her coffee with a gentle squeeze of the shoulder.

She reaches up and sets her hand over yours with a sad, resigned, smile.

When lunch is over, you head back to your classroom with your kids and give them five minutes to regroup themselves before you begin your lessons again for the rest of the day.

And in those five minutes, you research different flower arrangements that you could possibly send to the redhead who is so down this season. You’re able to find a site that you like, and you bookmark it for later when the kids have gone home and you actually have time to go over the different selections that this place has to offer.

The rest of the day goes by relatively normally, with the slight hiccup of Jamal spilling his juice all over himself and having to go down to the nurse to get another change of clothes while you get on your hands and knees to wipe up the mess with the paper towels that never seem to absorb anything but only spread the liquid around instead. With a sigh, you simply throw a rather large wad of paper towels over the area and give up, telling your students to be especially careful in this area.

The kids leave for the day, giving you lots of hugs and thanks for teaching them that day, and as you see them out, you see the way that Melissa’s kids are doing the same to her. It warms your heart to see that beautiful smile that you haven’t seen quite as much of lately. She looks up, making eye contact with you with this emerald eyes of hers, before giving you a gentle smile and a nod of her head. She’s telling you she’s okay, at least right now. You give her a thumbs up with a bright, warm smile of your own before returning your attention to the last few stragglers in your classroom. 

Usually, the redhead and you leave the school everyday almost right after the bell rings to dismiss the final wave of students; but not today. Today, you have to stay after school to look over the different flower arrangements that you could potentially get Melissa. You settle down back at your desk in the front of your room and start looking at the pre-made arrangements before you hear a gentle knock on your doorframe. You quickly flip the tab to your emails before glancing up.

“Hey,” Melissa says softly.

“Hey,” you smile at her.

“You staying late tonight?”

“Yeah,” you sigh dramatically. “I have a bunch of emails I have to reply to, and I’m prepping for this round of conferences,” you lie. You’ve already finished most of your conference preparations, but she doesn’t need to know that.

“Oh.” Her face drops, and you immediately feel bad. “Well, have a good night, Y/N.”

You stand from your chair and stretch, as if you’ve been sitting there for a while, even though she had seen you not ten minutes ago standing at your door with the kids. “I think I can spare a few moments to walk a pretty lady to her car though.”

You notice the way that her cheeks turn pink and she tucks a few hairs behind her ears shyly- it’s so unlike Melissa. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I insist,” you tell her as you make your way over to her and take one of her many bags for her.

The two of you walk out together and make small talk through the parking lot, exchanging a few words about your days, before you get to her car. She unlocks the door, and you open the door for her, gesturing for her to get inside. “My lady.”

“You’re too kind,” she says softly as she sets her purse into the passenger seat. You hand her her other bag and allow her to get situated before closing the door for her too.

“Have a good night, Mel,” you tell her. “And seriously, if you need someone tonight… because I know lunch was a little rough, please don’t hesitate to text or call. I always have my phone on me, and I’ll be there for you.”

Her eyes almost well with tears. They look a little glassy as she nods silently and turns her car on. “Thank you, hun. Have a good night too.”

With that, she pulls off out of the parking lot, and you head back into the school to continue looking at the different flowers.

You find two relatively small bouquets of flowers that you absolutely adore, but you want to do something special for her. So, and maybe this is overkill, you order three different arrangements: two smaller ones, and then one bigger custom one. She deserves to feel loved and special. You’ll give her the two smaller ones in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day, and then on the big day, she’ll receive the specially made one for her. You just hope that she doesn’t find out it’s you who is giving her these flowers. 

The next morning, you pick up the first flower order, and it’s perfect. It’s small, and sweet, and you know she’ll appreciate it. You print out a little note to go with it, knowing you can’t handwrite your note or she’ll figure you out right away.

You deserve to feel special, your note reads, you tie it to the bouquet with a little ribbon that you had brought into school, and you set it on her desk before she comes in for the day. Then you head down to the break room to brew a pot of coffee like you usually do and wait for the rest of your colleagues to make their way in.

Everyone has joined you at your selected tables to watch the news and drink your coffees when Melissa comes in, the flowers in hand.

“Wow, Melissa! Those are beautiful!” Barbara grins when she sees what the redhead is holding.

“They really are,” she looks back down at them, admiring them. The money you were spending was well worth it to see the happiness and spark come back into the redhead’s eyes, even if just for a few seconds. “I don’t know who they’re from though.”

She settles in next to you, her mug of coffee already prepared and waiting for her next to you, and you glance at the flowers.

“Wow, Mel,” you say softly. “They’re really pretty.”

“Was there a note?” Jacob asks.

“There was,” Melissa fiddles with it in her fingers, having untied it from around the flowers. She reads it out loud before sighing. “But there was no name attached to it.”

“Sounds like someone has a secret admirer!” Janine giggles. “Oh my goodness, this is so exciting!”

“Maybe it’s Gary trying to win you back,” the energetic second grade teacher suggests.

That makes Melissa think. Maybe it is. And you are not about to give yourself up, so you just set a gentle hand on Melissa’s shoulder and squeeze it gently.

“Whoever got those for you made a good choice,” you say softly. 

The next morning, you execute the same thing that had yesterday with the other smaller bouquet you had bought, and again she brings them into the break room with her to watch the news. She looks so happy, it melts your heart. You’re so glad you can bring her some sort of happiness through this tough season of hers, even if she doesn’t know it’s you who is giving it to her.

“You deserve to feel loved,” Melissa reads the second note. “ But again, no name.”

And finally, one Valentine’s Day, you bring in the biggest bouquet that you had purchased. You can’t hide this one under your coat though, so when Mr. Johnson sees you walking in, you know you’ve been caught.

“Mr. J,” you plead as the two of you walk in the direction of Melissa’s classroom. “Please… don’t say anything. She doesn’t need to know it’s me.”

“I think she’d like to know who it is,” the janitor states.

“But I don’t want her finding out,” you say quietly. “I just want her to be happy and feel loved during this season, especially with the breakup being so new for her.”

“What do I get out of not telling her?” he questions.

You roll your eyes. You knew he would ask this question. “I’ll get you a gift card to buffalo wild wings- twenty bucks.”

“Make it twenty-five, and you got yourself a deal.”

“Fine,” you groan. “I’ll run out and grab it tonight, and you’ll have it by tomorrow, okay?”

“Oh, hell yeah!” he pumps his fist in the air victoriously before leaving you to do your thing.

This bouquet already has a special note written with it, so you can just drop them off in her room without having to prep anything. You set the bouquet on her desk again before making sure the little card is visible. And then you practically sprint off in the direction of your own room. You really do have to get things prepared in there for the class party before you make your way down to the staff room like you usually do.

When you get there, everyone else is already there, including Melissa- and she has her flowers with her and the note.

“Y/N!” Janine calls you over. “You’re just in time to hear what Melissa’s secret admirer has to say about this bouquet!”

With eyebrows raised, you make your way over to the coffee pot to pour yours and the redhead’s coffee and make it up.

“When there is love, there is life, and you deserve it all,” the redhead reads softly, a smile on her face. 

“Oh, that is so kind of whoever this is,” Barbara notes.

“Seriously! Those flowers are absolutely stunning,” Janine states. 

“And I love that this person didn’t just go for a dozen red roses,” Gregory tells her. “All of these flowers mean different things, I don’t know if the person who got this for you knew that or not, but…”

“What do they mean?” Melissa’s interest is piqued.

Shit. You forgot Gregory loves any sort of plants- of course he would know the different meanings behind the flowers you picked out for your little crush.

“Well,” he says as he takes a closer look at the arrangement. “The yellow roses signify friendship, while the white ones mean purity. The yellow roses that turns red at the ends shows friendship turning into love. The pink carnations show that this person will never forget you, while the daffodils symbolize rebirth and new beginnings. Hydrangeas show gratitude and deep understanding. And finally, the baby’s breath that is used to surround all of the other flowers shows innocence and hope.”

“Wow,” Jacob breathes softly. “That’s so… romantic.”

“If the person knew that’s what those all meant,” you say from your place next to Melissa. You knew all of this- you had done your research.

“So, what do you think this person is trying to say?” Janine asks, rocking back and forth on her toes.

“If I had to guess,” Gregory scratches the back of his neck. “This person is trying to tell Melissa that they started off as friends, but it’s turned into a pure and innocent sort of romance? Like they have a deep understanding that this is probably not the best time, but they will never forget her, they have hope for the future, and they are just grateful to have Melissa in their life in any way possible.”

Fuck. Gregory just said everything you were trying to subtly convey to the redheaded second grade teacher through flowers. Fuck. If she finds out it’s you… you’re screwed.

They don’t find out who you are today, and come the end of the day, you and Melissa walk out together as you usually do. She is happy, even doing a little dance as she leaves the building, holding the flowers closely to her. You’ve taken it upon yourself to carry the rest of her things for her, despite her protests.

“You have to make sure those flowers get home safely,” you chuckle as you wave her off. You place her things in her car before giving her a gentle pat on the back.

“I’ll see you a little later?” she asks.

“I’ll be there to enjoy some delicious Italian made by my favorite person,” you tell her. “Am I bringing red or white tonight? Maybe a bottle of champagne?”

“Chianti,” she tells you. “And maybe a dessert wine for after?”

“You got it,” you grin at her. “I’ll see you at 5:30.”

When you knock on her door, you can hear her having a very loud conversation over the phone.

“No, Gare,” she’s protesting loudly into the phone as she opens the door and invites you in. She holds up one finger, quietly requesting for a few minutes. “No! I do not want to get back together!”

“Then why did you call?!” he shouts back.

“Because I was tryna figure out who got me these flowers, and you’re the type of guy to make some grand gesture like this to get me back!”

“Well, it wasn’t me, but it sounds like you want to get back together!”

“I thought I made it clear, I didn’t!” She hangs up angrily before hurling her phone halfway across the room. It lands on the couch before bouncing off and hitting the floor.

“You okay?” you ask, although you very much know the answer.

“Fuckin’ men,” she shouts as she retrieves her phone and stuffs it into her back pocket. She takes a deep breath before looking at you. “I’m better now that you’re here.”

“Still haven’t figured out who your secret admirer is?” you tease.

“No,” she grumbles as she leads you into the kitchen. It smells amazing. “And it’s drivin’ me up a damned wall. Whoever this person is, I just want to know so I can thank them.”

You almost reveal yourself there, but you remember what Gregory had said earlier in the day, and you don’t want to make a fool out of yourself right now. So you just shrug and gesture for her to open the wine.

The two of you have a nice, quiet night in eating delicious food, drinking good wine, and then watching a few romance comedy movies together. It’s nice, it’s sweet, it’s pure… it’s domestic the way that she has a blanket draped over the two of you while you lay your head in her lap and she feeds the chocolate covered strawberries she had made for dessert.

But finally, you sigh. “I should probably get going with school tomorrow.”

She frowns. Melissa is clearly enjoying tonight with you, and you have to throw in the towel because of work tomorrow. “Yeah, I guess I should probably head up for the night too.”

You sit up with her help and start to grab your things. She watches as your figure sways back and forth, somewhat from the wine and somewhat from not having stood for hours.

“You okay?” she chuckles.

You shake your legs out. “All good. Don’t worry about me, Mel.” You make your way over to her once you have your bag around you. She stands and embraces you for a few minutes, and you allow her perfume to wash over you.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Mel,” you whisper as you pull away.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, hun,” she smiles at you. “Thank you for coming over.”

“Of course,” you beam back at her as you head for the door. You make your way out and are halfway to your car before you hear the front door open again, and she’s calling out to you.

“Text me when I know you’re home safe?”

You spin around to give her a thumbs up with a goofy grin on your face before you climb into your car. She watches you pull off, and you make sure you remember to text her when you get home.

“I still don’t know,” Melissa says quietly in the break room the next day. “Did you see anyone Ava?”

The principal is drinking her hangover elixir, sunglasses still on her face. “Girl, you know I get here way after you guys… otherwise I woulda been all over this secret admirer stuff before today.”

“How hungover are you?” the redhead eyes the woman.

“Valentine’s Day? More like Valentine’s week. You know this entire week I’ve been wined, dined and-”

“Please, God… don’t finish that sentence,” Barbara cuts off Ava. The principal just smirks.

“But, if you really are curious, maybe we can see what flower company was delivering these to your room to figure out who this admirer is,” Ava grins.

“And how the hell are we gonna do that?” Melissa looks at her incredulously.

“Girl, I got cameras all over this joint,” the hungover woman grins. “Come down at my prep. I’ll be less hungover, and feel more inclined to help.”

“Thank you, Ava,” the second grade teacher looks mildly impressed with her boss’s willingness to help. “Hey, has anyone seen Y/N yet today?”

“Her car wasn’t in the lot when I pulled in… weird,” Jacob hums.

You rush in frantically. “Hey, hey,” you wave. “Sorry I’m late… got a flat tire, had to change it on Girard, and then got stuck in some traffic.” You make your way over to the sink to clean off your dirty hands.

“Girl, you ain’t late,” Ava laughs. “You’re still twenty minutes early.”

“Why were you on Girard?” Melissa questions. “You usually come from the opposite direction.”

The truth is, you had to go pick up that gift card you promised the custodian for keeping your secret, but you can’t tell her that.

“Late for me,” you sigh, ignoring the redhead’s question. “You know I like to get here at least an hour in advance to prep for the day. Now, because I’m late, I’m gonna have to skip out on watching the news with you guys, but let me know if there’s anything worth hearing about.”

You slip your lunch into the fridge (leftovers from last night) before dashing out to your classroom.

On your way to your room, you hand Mr. Johnson his promised gift card, and he grins. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” you tell him earnestly before going into your room. Only then do you realize that you entirely forgot to pour yourself a cup of coffee.

You get that mug of coffee about twenty minutes later, after the news segment is over and your colleagues are heading back to their classrooms. You hear a gentle knock on your doorframe, making you look up. Melissa is standing there with two mugs filled to the brim with coffee.

“Thought you might need this,” the redhead chuckles as she hands the mug to you. You let your fingers wrap around it, and the warmth radiating from the cup and from the sweet gesture sooth your somewhat frazzled soul right now.

“Thank you,” you smile at her before taking a sip.

“Of course.”

Your morning goes by with no hitches, and you silently thank God for that as you walk your children down to the music room. You don’t think you could handle another crisis today.

Melissa gives you a small smile and wave as she also takes her class to their special- gym class. You hear her tell her little eagles to behave before she heads into the office. That’s odd; the two of you usually spend your preps together, but maybe she has a meeting with Ava or has to make copies and she’ll be down to your room after.

“Hey,” the redhead knocks on Ava’s door and makes her way in.

“Girl, you gotta see this,” the principal leans back in her chair and turns the monitor for Melissa to see more easily.

When the redhead gets to where she can see the screen, Ava already has the security footage up and on the camera that is in the hallway to where your rooms are. She sees you heading into her own classroom- the first small bouquet of flowers in your hand. The principal fast forwards to the next day around the same time, and there you are with the second small bouquet of flowers. And then she fast forwards to yesterday, and you’re chatting with Mr. Johnson while holding the gigantic bouquet of flowers.

Ava turns the sound on, and the redhead can hear you pleading to not give you up.

“Wow,” Melissa whispers. She bites her lip nervously. “Thank you.”

“I got you girl,” Ava tosses her hair over her shoulder. “What you gonna do about this?”

At that, the redhead purses her lips in thought. She doesn’t really know. “Thank her, I guess.”

As Melissa makes her way down to your room, she really doesn’t know what she’s going to do. But before she knows it, she’s at your door and making her way into the classroom. You look up from your computer to give her a bright smile.

“Hey,” you smile as you bring your coffee cup up to your lips and take a sip.

“Thank you,” Melissa says softly as she perches herself on your desk.

“For?” you raise a brow.

“The flowers,” she smiles as she reaches forward and squeezes your shoulder.

You blush deeply. “H-how?”

“Oh,” the redhead laughs quietly. “I have my ways… Ava has security cameras and we saw you putting them in my room.”

“Dammit,” you grumble.

“That was really sweet of you,” Melissa tells you quietly. “Thank you. Seriously.”

You turn a violent shade of red. “Uh, yeah. No problem. I meant what I said in my notes: You deserve to feel loved. You deserve to feel special. When there is love, there is life, and you deserve it all.”

“If you meant all that,” Melissa hums. “Did you… mean all the things Gregory thought you meant?”

If possible, you blush even more, feeling it spread from just your face to your ears and your chest.

“Did ya?”

You nod sheepishly. “But I know with everything that’s happened recently… and I really am just grateful to have you in my life, however that is.”

She gives you a gentle squeeze of the shoulder before leaning in and pecking your cheek softly.

You feel that spot burning, but you couldn’t be happier.

“I do like you, you know,” she says softly. “You being here is part of the reason I broke it off with Gary.”

“What?” your jaw drops.

“You’ve always been special… but I just don’t think now is a great time,” Melissa admits quietly.

You nod solemnly.

“But I think that with time,” she says quickly. “If you’re willing to wait… although I know that isn’t really fair of me to ask of you.”

“I’m willing to wait,” you whisper. “You’re worth it.”

Next

[writingseaslugs]

Diasomnia: When They're Sick

Ahhhhhh finally! This dorm actually took the longest because I kept getting side tracked with other things. Took me two days to write it. I blame my friend, Em. We had write night and we couldn’t stop talking long enough for me to write these. I got midway through Lilia before giving up.

Disclaimer: All characters in this series are aged up. For more information about my version of this world and the type of reader you can expect, please click the “Au Information” below!

Request Information | Masterlist | Au Information

Diasomnia: When They’re Sick

Fae sickness was something that was vastly different from the kind that humans experience. It’s normally stronger and makes the person infected feel like a zombie. Thankfully the virus doesn’t circulate too often, but when it does it comes through like a hurricane. All it takes is for one person to visit Briar Valley when it’s going around and then come back to the dorm and everyone who can get it is sick. Sadly this happened and to say that everyone was in the dorm was suffering was an understatement. Even the humans were getting sick from flu season…overall not the best time to be visiting Diasomnia.

Malleus Draconia

Malleus hadn’t been sick in a hot minute…how long we’ll never know. It just never really happened to the Dragon Fae. So when he did come down with a surprise flu that was exclusive to Fae, it caused a bit of an uproar in Diasomnia. Most students were told to keep quiet about the situation, but it didn’t stop rumors from spreading as Malleus began missing some classes. Sebek was tense while going to school and Lilia, for the most part, also wasn’t attending classes so he could care of the prince.

Lilia is the one who actually shows up to your dorm room to inform you about Malleus’s condition. He isn’t very subtle about it either, in fact he was a bit over dramatic as to how bad off Malleus was. Now at this point, the worst of his illness is gone. Lilia wasn’t about to drag you in for that shit show that was the first few days of the fae flu, but he is dragging you in on the last few days in order to help Malleus feel better emotionally. Poor dragon boy has been stuck inside his room not being able to do much, and it caused him to be restless. The moment he sees you appear in his room his entire day has already brightened up.

Malleus has no issues taking medicine, though what he takes is certainly not something you’d be used to. The glowing liquid in the vial looks almost alien as you hand it over to him. There were several lined up, all labeled according to when he had to take them. It was odd seeing him chug the glowing liquid since it was still glowing in his neck as he took it, only to fade out when it got past the neck. Apparently it was special medicine made in Briar Valley that was specially made to help combat the flu.

Please do him a favor and make something for him to eat…please. Lilia has been in charge of bringing him his meals, so some of them have been unique. Granted, Lilia did try following the recipes this time around to make sure Malleus didn’t get worse from his cooking, but they can only help so much. Lilia can’t help but think “Maybe if I add this it’ll help him feel better faster.” which ended up in a vile concoction. So please bring him something good to eat so he can have a palate cleanser. He’ll probably be asking if you can stay until he’s better just so he doesn’t have to eat another of Lilia's specialty meals.

You’re going to be receiving random gifts at your home as soon as he’s better, along with several letters. Chivalry isn’t dead when it comes to the dragon fae, and he’s making it known that he appreciates what you’ve done. You’re never going to find out about the earlier stages of him being sick though, so don’t worry. That’s something that you probably will never see in your lifetime if he has anything to say about it.

Lilia Vanrouge

Lilia is also someone who doesn’t get sick very often; the last time he did was before Malleus was even born. So to say he was shocked when he began feeling sickly was an understatement. He knew exactly what was going on too, he had the fae flu a few times in the past, and it’s a feeling you never forget. So he’s already getting medicine prepared and telling everyone that he’s going to be taking time away from classes for maybe a week or two.

Lilia originally wasn’t going to be dragging you into this, but when you found out from Malleus that Lilia was acting strange and isolating himself in his room, you were curious. Lilia was in his room, covered in tissues with a red nose and watery eyes, staring at the ceiling. He didn’t even notice you had come in, which says something. Of course he’s going to accept help even if it does pain him to let you see him like this, but he isn’t exactly able to do much himself at the moment.

Once he has you taking care of him, he’s going to be so happy and be far more of a big baby than he was earlier. He now has you to give him medicine and attention, and he’s living for it. He’s never actually had anyone taking care of him while he was sick, so this is new and pleasant for him. He’s going to be over the moon but also extra needy as he begs for an extra dose of medicine even though he had some like five minutes ago. You’re going to have to remind him to let it kick in, but he can’t help the whining. It’s so fun watching your facial expressions and despite being sick, he still needs to mess with you somehow.

This is the only time he might complain; and it’s not even for the reasons you think. He’ll take one bite of your food and comment he can’t taste anything, before asking for you to take him to the kitchen so he can add flavor. Don’t. Let. Him. Absolutely don’t let him even leave the room, he’s contagious and he’s aware, but he also really wants something with a strong taste so it’s a mix of emotions. Just let him know you’ll see what you can do and maybe grab something that’s…different to put into his meal next. It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be unique.

Once he’s better he is so hyped to be able to hang out with you again. He’s going to be jumping off the walls and thanking you for being such a good caretaker for the poor, old Bat. Silver, Malleus, and Sebek will also be thankful to you for helping Lilia, since he refused to let any of them see him while he was sick. He apparently didn’t even let Silver into the room, despite knowing he wouldn’t be able to catch whatever he had. Lilia didn’t want anyone to see him so weak and frail, but you guess since you came in unannounced he didn’t have much of a choice.

Silver

Silver clearly can’t get a disease that targets fae, but that doesn't mean he can’t still get a cold. Falling asleep in random places can really ruin someone’s health, and Silver is no exception. He fell asleep outside and it got a bit too late, a little bit too cold. The next thing he knew he had a horrible cold and a raging headache that wouldn’t go away. So he did what was best and went to his room and tried to sleep it off without a second thought.

Silver in the past was always able to get over colds very fast, so Lilia never was too worried when he found out Silver was under the weather. You, on the other hand, were very concerned. If Silver just slept it off, then he might get better, but it was best to treat the cold as best you could. After all, colds could turn to pneumonia in the blink of an eye, and that can literally kill a human. Somehow this passed by Lilia’s knowledge so he never cared too much, but after you express this concern he goes full dad mode. He doesn't know much about treating humans though, so you’re the one leading the way. Thankfully Silver is too out of it to protest.

Silver will take whatever you give him judging by how he’s half asleep when you’re there. Whenever he’s sick he’s extra tired and literally can barely keep himself awake. It’s extremely concerning but Lilia swears it’s how he’s always been. Silver might be able to thank you while he’s half asleep, but that’s about it. Thankfully the taste doesn’t get to him while he’s in this state, so no worries about him spitting out the medicine or fighting due to the flavor.

This is the most challenging part about him being sick. Again…he can barely keep himself conscious. Just getting him to sit upright to have a meal is a struggle. You’re basically spoon feeding him as he begins dozing off every couple of seconds. You need to make sure he doesn’t drown in his soup. At one point, smelling salts actually do sound like a rather good idea to use on him. It’s going to take a solid hour for him to finish whatever meal you bring to him, but at least he’s eaten something. Normally when it’s just Lilia, he won’t eat until he’s all better. Small improvements are still improvements!

Silver hardly remembers being sick, but he does recall glimpses of you between his fever dreams. Once he’s back, he’ll be thanking you and asking if you’d like to go on a walk. It’s just his way of saying thanks. The walk is mainly so all the forest animals will run up and greet you guys, since they were all concerned once Silver was gone. The animals and Silver are very grateful for the efforts you put forward to assisting him in getting better. While he can’t promise he’ll be able to give the same care for you, he can at least say he’ll do his best if you ever fall ill.

Sebek Zigvolt

Sebek, out of everyone, is the worst when it comes to denying he’s sick. He could literally pass out from exhaustion from his illness, and he’d get back up and apologize for his displays in front of Malleus. Lilia is the one telling Sebek he needs to rest, and the only way Sebek will is if Lilia reminds him that his illness is contagious and could make Malleus ill. So of course this leads Sebek to going to another extreme and barricading himself in his dorm room so that no germs can get out. This makes it hard for anyone but Lilia to get in to check on him.

He refuses to let a human help him; you have no idea what a fae illness is. How could you possibly help? Wait…Malleus personally asked you to come help nurse him back to help since you can’t catch whatever it is he has? Why of course, Lord Malleus is so generous and he needs his guard back as soon as possible, so it makes sense he’d send a servant to help him. Just remind him you aren’t a servant and you’re here because you care for him. He will get flustered but will do his best after he is finally open to you helping him out.

Medicine is something that he’s not super stoked on taking, but if Lilia bought it, then he’ll take it. He will give you the side eye if you stare at him while taking it and ask what’s so interesting about it. When he grimaces it’s a bit funny with how his face scrunches up and he quickly tries to conceal it. You caught it though, it was so obvious that he disliked the taste and it was oh so adorable.

He’s not super picky when it comes to the stuff he eats while sick, as long as Lilia hasn’t touched it. He might even comment that it tastes good for something a human managed to cook up. That’s him secretly saying that it tastes amazing and he loves it, he’s just not going to say all of that out loud. He does prefer it if the meals will help him get better faster though, so keep that in mind. He also wants a lot of protein to be in it so he doesn’t lose bulk, because he might still be trying to work out while sick. Smack him over the head and tell him to take a chill pill and relax. If need be, get Lilia to do it for you. He needs rest and it’s not something he’s good at.

Once he’s better he’ll thank you out of obligation, because Lilia literally won’t let him go without saying it. He might even be blushing but he’s going to have to add something to make it into a subtle insult. “You played a good nurse…well for a human at least.” at least it’s something. Just inform him that it wasn’t for free and the next time you’re sick, he’s the one giving you medicine and home cooked meals. He can’t even say he won’t. He can’t be indebted to a human, after all.

[echofromtheabyss]

So, if you want to understand the history of ND stuff in any useful kind of way you have to know that we talked about these things differently. Gen Xrs have a different generational experience and Boomers' is different still.

Prior to the 80s, NDs were really not a thing. The optic was almost entirely in terms of learning disability and intellectual impairment in the 70s.

ADHD - not autism - is really the first we see of anything resembling the modern ND consciousness, as "autistic" was a label reserved for children presenting with severe disability or at minimum, delay.

Autism in the 70s and 80s and before was not culturally adjacent to ADHD or giftedness, it was adjacent to conditions of severe intellectual impairment.

It's possible to be an 80s ADHD labeled autistic who gets good interventions *because lots of how ADHD was understood at the time, got absorbed by autism later.*

This is basically my story as a matter of fact, a lot of helpful support I got early was via the ADHD pipeline, and so ADHD *is* my "recognized early enough to get meaningful self understanding and meaningful support* narrative, which is a big reason I was ABLE to shrug off autism as a label for about 15 years, until the changing autism stereotypes caught up with me.

ADHD and early issues with visible LD etc are WHY I didn't end up in the "normal until hospitalized" optic that some autistics I knew ended up in, if they had *only* been seen as gifted. I was very aware of my stuff very early even if it was called something else and even if it will be called something else in the future, and it shaped my social choices, my career choices, etc.

Also there was the optic to Boomers and older that you really could just be a "normal" person or even a high performing "genius" who was just "a little slow as a kid." (There are many historical figures this actually applies to. "A little slow as a kid" may just be within a *normal* range of child development.) This is actually part of where many Boomers are coming from when they think a certain degree of autism is just normal.

Early labels in adults (whom we would now understand as high masking ASD-1) were more personal history than identity.

To Boomers and older, you were "mentally well" until you presented "mentally ill." There really wasn't anything like being ND as we presently understand. Also, the *very same optics* that got boys seen as gifted, invested lots of time and support into, etc, got girls into the clinical pipeline early. The real dx discrepancy between girls and boys in my generation and older is the degree to which cis het white rich boys were just allowed to not be anything at all while girls were immediately tagged as mentally ill or developmentally disabled with the very same presentation, even within the same family. My grandmother who was a victim of this, and heavily and deeply abused from early childhood, is the sister of my physicist uncle who was on the Manhattan Project and was odd but successful, had a wife and family, never labeled anything at all.

Lots of people we now see as autistic were just considered normal gifted people who then had a "nervous breakdown" after high school/entering the adult world.

It was possible to be totally ego-syntonic as an odd person until diagnosis, if you were in the 80s gifted pipeline, because if you were in a social set that was actually ALLOWED to be intelligent let alone gifted in the first place (i.e., an upper middle class person, with more weirdness optic allowed for boys) you likely weren't going to be diagnosed with ANYTHING unless you were Weird with a Capital W.

That I had any kind of optic besides just being Gifted is *because* despite high IQ, I was a poor academic performer, and *couldn't* mask well inside a school setting.

These are people without even that optic.

They literally were just seen as gifted, and it was assumed that - of course - highly gifted people were a little weird. Gifted optic in school meant access to a whole different social and academic pipeline consisting hugely of other people we would now understand as ND, so it's actually possible to come out of that being totally ego-syntonic, and never ever even seek diagnosis until something breaks.

If you're like my ex husband who ended up just going away to sea for years, and then becoming a programmer in a basement at a university, you might never get diagnosed with anything, especially if you never see yourself as the problem in any of your interpersonal interactions, and that was a FAR more common optic with gifted white Gen X and Jones ASD-1 boys than early dx was.

The thing for my generation isnt the degree to which boys were diagnosed over girls... quite the opposite, it's the degree to which smart white rich boys were just *allowed* to be odd and given tons of concessions *without* being labeled ANYTHING, because of the degree to which the culture saw that boy was probably a future curer of cancer or a future astronaut.

A chunk of the "NT [more likely, high masking autist] woman miserably married to ASD man" narrative on those websites like FAAAS is actually referring to men who don't have any diagnostic label whatsoever and don't understand themselves as the problem, if you actually read the stories.

Those guys don't get diagnosed until something actually breaks - like, their wife hauls them into couples counseling, or they have finally exhausted their supply of good will (many social compensations of gifted children stop working past one's 20s and that's actually when my dx happened too).

Interpersonal problems weren't enough for dx unless they actually bothered a person enough to seek help. Something has to break. You don't end up with a diagnosis because you're happy and adjusted, no matter how odd you are.

Please ask Boomers about nervous breakdowns because half the time this is referring to what we now understand as autistic burnout.

[g1rld1ary]

secret admirer ; anthony lockwood x fem!reader

➻ valentine's szn!!!!!!!

➻ word count: 1965

➻ synopsis: you've got a secret admirer who seems intent on spoiling you

➻ warnings: none?? she/her pronouns

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

The gifts started small. First it was a single rose on the thinking cloth on February first. You only knew it was for you because of the small label tied with ribbon, your name printed in pretty cursive. You’d laughed a little, but smiled and brought it up to your room before any of your housemates could tease you for it.

Then it was chocolates a few days later, tucked neatly under a pile of papers you’d collected at the archives. You looked around the shelves but couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary, and settled down with your friends for a long day of research. The only indication it was even related to the first gift was the same red ribbon tied attached.

“Hey, where’d you get the chocolate from? George never buys it for me when it’s his turn to shop,” Lucy moaned, stretching from her position on an armchair to reach for some. You gladly handed her a square, passing it off quickly to avoid it melting on your fingers. You both laughed at George’s indignant expression, and you cut him off before he could start on an offended spiel.

“It wasn’t from George. It was a gift,” You explained, and George suddenly looked very interested.

“From who? You don’t have any friends.” Ouch, you thought, but it was true. Apart from Lockwood & Co you didn’t even really know anyone in London. Lucy halted before the chocolate touched her tongue.

“Dunno. It was addressed to me at the archives. Tastes good though.”

“Dude!” Lucy choked on her spit, “You can’t just eat food you find! And give it to me!”

“What?” You asked, “We basically almost die every day. Rather die from weird chocolate than ghosts.” Lucy paused for a second, thinking, then shrugged, popping the chocolate into her mouth. “Want some?” You offered squares to Lockwood and George. George took it, giving you a smile that looked almost grateful, but Lockwood declined politely.

“You should enjoy it. The caramel ones are your favourite, right?” He gestured to the brightly coloured packaging. You beamed, nodding enthusiastically. George gave him a look you didn’t understand, all furrowed brows and searching eyes.

The night wound down and you and Lockwood were the last two remaining in the library, the chocolate long since finished. You often spent evenings like that, just the two of you. Lockwood would read the gossip rags while you would work on your codebreaking, occasionally interrupting you to show you a particularly ridiculous article.

You packed up before he did, brain exhausted from hours of picking apart the letters and numbers that were jumbled on the page.

“Goodnight, Lockwood.” You smiled softly, ruffling his hair like you knew he hated. He rolled his eyes but returned the phrase, giving you one of his signature smiles that created its own source of light in the dark room.

As you left the room Lockwood grabbed one of the sheets of paper you’d left sitting on the coffee table, scrutinising it quizzically. He was always fascinated by your work and how your brain could find the patterns in seemingly random messages, but for once he could follow the directions you’d scribbled. He smiled, feeling like he had an insight into your brain for once, a puzzle he delighted in trying to solve.

A few days later, a new book was sitting on your table when you returned from the bathroom at Arif’s. Wrapped in the telltale red ribbon you knew it was from the same person, but there wasn’t anybody you recognised in the shop. Puzzled, you couldn’t help but smile. You’d been eyeing the novel for ages but had never vocalised it and had no idea how anyone could have chosen it for you.

You flipped through the pages to see if there were any other clues as to who was giving you these gifts, and sure enough there was a series of numbers written in pencil on the inside cover. That elicited a frown from you, the numbers seemingly being random and irregular. You shrugged it off, slipping the book into your big coat pocket for later.

Hours later that night you found yourself back in the library with Lockwood, both quietly doing your own thing together. You pulled out the novel, eager to get stuck into it.

“A gift from your admirer?” Lockwood asked casually, playfully wiggling his eyebrows.

“I guess so. Must be a mind reader because I’ve wanted it for ages.” You missed Lockwood’s self satisfied grin. “Hey, do you have any idea what this would mean?” You showed him the numbers.

“Might be a code?” He suggested, gossip magazine long forgotten in favour of talking to you. Your eyes lit up at the suggestion, scrutinising the message with new eyes.

“It’s a bit short to get much out of,” You mused, “I’d need a bit more to start cracking it.” Lockwood made a noise of interest, taking it from your hands. You watched him examine it, reading the blurb with exaggerated interest.

“Looks mushy,” He said and you laughed, uncharacteristically loud for the time of night. Your face was a bit hot at being caught in your guilty pleasure.

“It’s dumb, but I like reading about all the stupid over-the-top gestures. Makes me feel happy.”

“I’ve not got a place to judge,” Lockwood laughed, waving his trashy magazine around. You joined him, voices tangling together in front of the fire.

The morning after brought a small package on the seat of your bike which lived chained up out the front of 35 Portland Row. You unwrapped the red ribbon quickly, eager to see what your surprise would be. You grinned as you saw the pretty bracelet, quickly sliding it on. It was beaded and colourful, clearly not expensive, but that was of little importance to you. In fact, you preferred it, you’d be mortified if you thought someone was dropping exorbitant amounts of money on you.

“This is new,” Lucy cooed as you entered the kitchen, gratefully taking your breakfast from George.

“You’ve really got a secret admirer here,” George said, and you could tell he was enjoying the little play you were all putting on.

“Yeah, wonder who it is,” Lucy added over her tea.

“I don’t know,” You lied, “Hope it’s some tan, blond surfer boy. Wouldn’t that be hot, Luce?” You could barely contain your teasing grin, eyes on Lockwood despite addressing the girl next to you. You had to look away as he choked on his juice, laugh threatening to spill out.

“Oh well then, I’m off to the archives in a minute, wait for me to get dressed, George?” You hopped out of your chair, skipping up to your bedroom. Lucy and George looked equally amused at Lockwood’s distressed expression, but it was George who surprisingly took pity on him.

“You know she’s just joking, right? She likes you.” He didn’t hold back from rolling his eyes when Lockwood looked surprised, following you upstairs to brush his teeth before your excursion.

“Does she really like me?” Lockwood asked, eyes honeyed pools of hope as he turned them on Lucy.

“You’re unbelievably stupid sometimes.”

You sat in the archives with George, him participating in productive case research, and you staring at the codes you’d been given — another one being given with the bracelet.

Truthfully, you’d figured out your secret admirer was Lockwood pretty quickly, he wasn’t the most subtle. You’d seen the roll of red ribbon peaking out of his dresser drawers in mid January, and were confused for a week or two before you started getting the gifts. Plus, George was right earlier; you didn’t have any friends other than Lockwood & Co, and you didn’t suppose George would be putting so much consideration into something as trivial as Valentine’s Day. That didn’t mean you weren’t completely overjoyed, though. Once you’d figured it out you’d barged into Lucy’s room in the attic, giggling and squealing like a twelve year old.

Still, even though you knew it was Lockwood, you still had to figure out what his bloody code said. It looked somewhat familiar to you, which made sense. Lockwood was definitely not a codebreaker, let alone writer, so it made sense that he would have taken one of your previous solves to create his own little game for you. The only question was which one. You figured he was smart enough to confiscate your key, so you were back to square one.

Hours later though, you were pretty sure you’d cracked it. Underneath your copy of the two messages you’d translated each letter to read February 14th, 7pm. Daria’s Italian Restaurant. You grinned, both because you were satisfied with your work and because you were going to go on a date with Lockwood.

When Valentine’s Day arrived, you were struck with sudden nerves. You knew it was dumb. Lockwood liked you, he had been sending you gifts and hints all month, he’d asked you out. You just couldn’t stop the voice in the back of your head from worrying. What if it was awkward? What if it ruined your friendship? Lucy was there to calm you down as much as she could, but it didn’t stop your hands from shaking as you pushed open the door to the restaurant.

And sitting by himself at a table for two was Lockwood. Dressed up in the cleanest version of his suit, he had a nervous smile on his face and a small bouquet of flowers in his hands. He stood to greet you, confidence growing as you admired the flowers. Tulips, your favourite.

The two of you proved your nerves ridiculous as the conversation flowed easily. It was surprisingly rare for the two of you to really get to talk one on one, so it was especially nice. Living with four people who you also worked with meant there wasn’t typically a lot of privacy or alone time, and your nights in the library together were dominated by silence, being in each others proximity enough for both of you.

As you shared a dessert there was a lull in conversation, both of you aware your date was coming to its end.

“I really like you,” Lockwood opened. “I have for ages, basically since I met you, if that isn’t too embarrassing for me. And, I don’t know, I want to be with you, if you want that.” You couldn’t keep yourself from smiling, light bursting from your chest.

“I want that. A lot. I really like you, Lockwood. And by the way, thank you for the gifts. It was super sweet — just like my romance novels.”

“You didn’t look surprised that it was me?”

“How could I be? I don’t know anyone who gives as much of their heart away as you do. Your superpower has always been making me happy. So disbelieving, maybe, but I couldn’t be surprised.” You were both smiling like idiots as Lockwood took your hand in his, but you couldn’t really bring yourself to care.

You practically skipped the whole way home, tugging Lockwood along with you as he laughed at your antics. Just before you opened the front door Lockwood stopped you.

“You know they’re going to pester us for every detail, right?”

“I know,” You giggled, pressing a quick peck up onto his lips, leaving him behind to stand like an idiot on the welcome mat.

[b3rrymilks]

𝐌𝐢 𝐋𝐮𝐳 𝐲 𝐌𝐢 𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐚

☀︎︎ — synopsis : after his fathers passing, he begged uncle aaron to teach him how to protect the ones he loved. his uncle had a way. but was he ready for the sacrifice that came with it?

☀︎︎ — notes : this is just a headcannon! i’m not saying this is cannon, i just like to think about it that way. this is pre-vigilante e!42 miles. a lil bit of fluff and angst. most of the spanish stuff is from spanishdict, so i’m so sorry if it isn’t accurate 💔 [ labeling reader as fem because of the choice of clothes and i was unsure if any nb or male readers may be uncomfortable, it’s mostly gender neutral if you squint :) ]

☀︎︎ — pairing : miles morales (e!42) x fem!reader

♬ — “are you busy?” was the text you received from miles, striking your attention. it had been about 3-4 weeks since his fathers passing. since he was the type to go non verbal during grieving, you decided to leave him be until he was ready to speak on his own.

“no i’m free, why? do you need me to get you something?” you replied, providing all the help he might need. he loved you. he called you “mi luz” or “mi alma” (my light or soul) his mother was more appreciative of you because of the way you cared for miles and his entire family.

“no, i just want to see you. can i come get you in about 10 minutes?” his texts had lost that playful energy that was there before his father passed away. you knew it would be a while before you could spent genuine time with miles, but he needed to heal.

“of course, i’ll be ready when you get here.” he had left the text read, leaving a little thumbs up on the message. you then quickly got out of bed and began to get dressed. wearing a skirt and a light colored top. when you walked downstairs, your parents asked what the occasion was. “going out with miles, i’m not sure when i’ll be back” something about mentioning miles made your mother stand up quickly, gathering the vase of flowers from the living room. “take these to his mother please, she’s been missing work and i want to give her a gift.” you nodded, taking the vase and waiting for miles to arrive.

when he did arrive, the light in his eyes was gone. “flowers?” he asked. “my mom wants to give these to your mom” you explained. “can we stop by your house first before we go?” earning a nod from him, he took your hand and guided you down the steps of your apartment. the walk was quiet, and the sun was still beaming. he wore his hood over his head to block out some of the sun as you used your hand. when you both arrived, you stood outside the door. miles watched as you stood there, unsure if you wanted to step inside. “it’s okay, she’s not here right now.” he told you, pointing his head to signal you could walk in. you placed the flowers and note on the living room table and left their apartment.

miles had taken you to an open field. the smell of different flowers had filled the air around you. he was so quiet. you wanted to give him physical affection but you were unsure if he wanted any. while observing the view, he gently wrapped his arms around you from behind. he had taken notice to your choice of clothing, and how the cool breeze made goosebumps rise on your soft skin. “hm.” he hummed, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around you. “miles?” you called out to him, “yea?” he softly answered. still hugging you from behind. “promise me you’ll take care of yourself during this period of time.” you had pulled away from the hug and turned to face him. his face had hesitancy written all over it, which made you take his hands into yours. his hands were bruised, and small cuts decorated his knuckles.

still quiet, you pulled him into a frontal hug. “i promise you. but i want you to promise me something too.” you could feel the vibrations from his voice through your shoulder, as his chin rested there. “anything miles.” you responded. “prométeme que no cambiarás. no cambiarás siendo mi felicidad. no cambiarás nada entre nosotros. te amo y estoy haciendo esto para protegerte.” his words, “my happiness” made you truly realize how special you were to miles. what you meant to him. how badly he wanted to protect you. you pulled him tighter into the hug, sniffling. “no llores bebé” he pulled away from the hug and held your face, watching your tears fall. his thumb gently wiped away the tears. “you’re too pretty to cry.” he whispered.

around you was a cool breeze that really tied all these emotions together. grief, sadness, happiness. all of those tied together and drifting away in the breeze. moments passed and you two remained holding eachother, you picking leaves that blew in the wind out of his hair. taking in all of his features, as it may be the last time you would be this close with him again. “promise you’ll be here to celebrate our anniversary though?” you looked up at him from his lap where you were laying. “i wouldn’t miss it for the world”

when he walked you home, he held your hand tightly. he never wanted to let you go. but he was doing this to protect you and his family. what remained of his family. “i love you.” he took your head in his hands and pressed a soft kiss on your forehead. “i love you too miles. remember our promises please.” you also pressed a soft kiss on his cheek, watching him nod. before walking into your home, you turned around and hugged him one final time.

“hey honey, how was it?? you’ve been out for hours” your mother and father were sitting in the dining room, eating. “it was great,” you responded. you sat at the table with your parents, playing with the zipper of his jacket you wore. “i’m planning to go out with rio for a self care day tomorrow—“ you listened to your mother speak about her plans while eating dinner. the rest of the day you spent with your family. even though the pit in your stomach had been filled, you still worried about miles. the measures he would go to for his loved ones.

𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 : the way i cried when i saw this art. (the cover art made by crittlyworm on tiktok) had to write something about it, made me so sad bro 💔 i wanna know so much about e!42 miles in beyond the spider-verse!! like i have so many questions. but i hope whoever read this enjoyed it 🥹.

[beautifulchris]

a simple favor

wc: 0,9k

pairing: demigod!minho x gn demigod!reader

summary: you happen to ask a favor to the guy that has a crush on you

genres: fluff, demigod!au, camp half-blood!au, crush!au, son of hermes!minho, child of demeter!reader

tw: flirting, magic

notes: minho is a simp in this one and i'm not apologizing for it. i'm reposting the works i posted while shadowbanned, please don't mind me

networks: @kflixnet @k-labels @whipped-kpop-creators

permanent tag list: @badwithten​ send ask/dm/comment to be added!

Minho was a chill kid from cabin 11. He wasn’t about all that “thievery and trickery” lifestyle. Of course, as a Hermes kid, he was skilled for both, but it didn’t mean he’d use them if he could help it.

You were a sweet and beautiful child of Demeter, like herself in many ways. Need a hand? You were there to help. Tending to the Strawberry fields and chatting with the nature spirits about gardening and agriculture in general were your favorite hobbies.

Back in your dad’s neighborhood, you had a best friend. You two shared everything— quite literally, since she could see through the Mist.

She passed her driver’s license test the day you went to camp, so she promised she’d let you know the results.

But only if you could find a way to contact her, because everybody knew phones were monster magnets.

A cabin mate had once said he saw Minho from the Hermes cabin successfully deliver messages in dreams for a friend of his from cabin 5.

It could be a long shot but you wanted to know how your best friend did.

Now, I know what you might ask—

“Why me and not any Hypnos kid? They’re specialized in sleep and dreams.”

Minho was arms crossed against his cabin’s wall, examining you with his cat-like eyes.

“I’ve been told you’re good at it and you’re way more focused than any of them. I don’t want to spend hours explaining something that could take minutes.”

He smirked. “You could’ve just told me you wanted to spend time with me, gorgeous.”

Cheeks burning, your eyes opened widely. “That’s not—”

“It’s okay. So, what do I get in exchange?”

Ah. You didn’t think this far.

“... A flower crown? Cookies?” You were genuinely searching for a fair trade when he bursted out laughing.

“You’re cute.”

“If you’re just gonna make fun of me, I’ll just go to Jeno, sorry—”

He straightened, suddenly serious. “No," he said loudly. He coughed, "I mean no, I’m sorry for laughing. I’ll do it. I’ll take the flower crown and the cookies, though.”

You smiled so sweetly, his heart hammered in his chest.

“Thank you.”

“Sure,” he coughed again, probably to hide his red ears this time.

You walked away a few steps then turned around. “When do you want to do it?”

“Tonight, if it’s okay for you.”

“Okay, see you soon!” You waved him goodbye and, as you jogged away, Minho couldn’t keep his eyes off you.

Deep down, he was thrilled to have you asking him for help. He had developed a tiny crush on you after seeing you using your magic in the fields on sunny days, your skin glowing with beauty. Or whenever you gracefully walked past him on your way to the dining pavilion or the combat arena.

He wanted to know more about you. That was the only reason he accepted your request, because he wouldn’t do it for anyone.

“I really thought you’d only do it for friends,” Changbin fake pouted, “or am I nothing to you?”

“Shut up, I did it because you begged, and you are my friend.”

“Oh… so that means that Demeter kid is someone to you. Got it,” he grinned before running away, avoiding his friend’s murderous hands by a centimeter.

“You better not tell a soul!” Minho yelled, before getting ready for his archery lesson.

After dinner, Minho followed you to the Demeter cabin.

“Everyone is at the bonfire, I thought it would be better if we were alone,” you said, sitting on your bed.

The gifts were placed on your bedside table and Minho was standing in front of you, a little uncomfortable.

“Are you okay?” you asked.

“Of course. Let’s do this.”

He made you lay down on your bed, walked to the front of it and placed his hands around your temples without touching you.

“Relax, think about your friend. I’m going to touch your head, you can tell me to stop at any time.”

“Alright, you can proceed.” After giving him a smile of encouragement, you closed your eyes and focused.

Minho quickly shook away his feelings and concentrated on the task at hand.

It lasted a few minutes, and you could see your best friend vividly like you were actually there with her.

Thanks to him, you got to talk to her, cheer for her when she said she aced the test and give her a hug.

When you finally opened your eyes, Minho was standing next to your bed, contemplating the flower crown you made for him. It was placed on the bedside table along with a batch of cookies.

“Everything went well?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you Minho,” you beamed. “Take it, it’s yours.”

He hesitated, so you got up, took it and put it delicately on his head, all the while his eyes were locked on yours.

“I thought you’d be more interested in the cookies. You look handsome with it,” you complimented, taking a step back to take in his appearance.

Doing his best to ignore the sensation in his chest at your words, he bit into a freshly baked cookie. “Honestly, you didn’t have to give me anything, I would’ve helped you either way. Hm, it’s good.”

“You literally asked for those,” you reminded him.

“You proposed, I accepted,” he countered, shrugging. “But if you insist, you can remind me of our earlier conversation while we walk on the beach together.”

“Are you asking me on a date, Lee Minho?” you smiled, biting on a cookie too.

He mirrored your expression. “Depends, will you say yes?”

“It’s indeed good. Yes, I’d love to talk some more.”

thank you for reading! if you enjoyed, here's the masterlist <3

[movedtolilmouzee]

𝕭𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖓'𝖘 𝕼𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝕻𝖆𝖗𝖙 շ...

this will focus on more details from the first (same as first, Reader is female in this version)

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦 - 𝘐 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 (𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘬𝘢𝘪 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵.)

"How's it feel having all the love in the world? How's it feel to be with criminals? How's it feel to have all of them lusting after you Y/N? How's it feel to know they could easily kill you if you considered leaving them." These were the type of questions you got far too often when you told friends and sometimes family members about your current relationship. Some were easy to answer and ignore, but others weren't so simple. It didn't matter, you were happy that's all that mattered to you and them.

"What are rindou and Mikey like in bed?" Your friends asked curiously, the markings and bruises always making them ask questions. Rough was one way to label sex with them, but it went further. Rindou loved man handling you. Holding you up against the shower wall/Shower door, Pinning you down on the kitchen table keeping your legs spread apart as he ate you out like he was starving, pleases and whimpers falling deaf to his ears. Mikey loved overestimating you, Promising that this would be the last time you'd have to cum for him, you always believed him too. By your fourth orgasm you couldn't even speak straight, babbles falling from your swollen lips, begging for Mikey to fuck you and he obeyed, Watching your cunt greedily suck his cock in while you crying about how good it felt.

"How about Ran and Mochi?" They asked again, smiling as you rolled your eyes. Gentle, Soft, So So Sooo caring. Ran loves to take care of after a long day with Rindou or Mikey. His touch is so gentle it's like he isn't even touching you, He makes sure everything is perfect with your bath before he'd help you get in. Letting you soak in the warm water, relaxing your aching muscles as he gently washes your body. Mochi loves cuddles with you, It makes him so happy when you come into his office asking for cuddles he happily drops everything just for you. Mochi will place soft kisses on your neck and shoulder, taking in your sweet scent with each kiss he gives you.

"What do kokonoi and kakucho in the relationship?" Your friends teased much to your annoyance but you continued on. Both adored spoiling you to the max, to anyone on the outside would just think it's you being a gold digger but anyone close to you knew better then that. Kokonoi's favorite thing to do was get you any knew clothes and jewelry he saw you eyeing or talking about. You didn't even have to talk about it for him to sudden hand you the surprise gift, He just loves seeing how your face will light up and Your eyes sparkle while you thank him, Kokonoi did always say pretty girls should have pretty things. Kakucho loves to buy you new snacks and drinks to try, he could listen to you talk all day about the different foods you'd love to try. He isn't a big foodie but he'll gladly take you out around town to let you buy snacks and anything that catches your eye.

"Ok last one! We wanna hear about sanzu!" They asked between giggles noticing the annoyed look on your face. Sanzu was something that's for sure. You loved that he would gladly do whatever you asked him too, especially when it comes to getting rid of any trash that dared to disrespect his queen. Sanzus droopy eyes following your body as you'll trail into his office, plopping yourself onto his lap. Looking up at him with those doe eyes he loves so much, even so slightly pressing your breast against his chest smiling at him. He'd almost immediately say yes when you ask him to get rid of some dirty man, He needed the stress relief.

[filmofhybe]

Sold Out Christmas Gift

🗯️ pairing : Sim Jake x oc 💌 Genre : fluff 630 wc

; AUTHORS NOTE : Is hoon’s birthday and soon will be Niki’s!! Brought a cake to celebrate on Saturday, look forward to the pictures :)

Masterlist to my other works

I wandered through the bustling toy store aisles, determined to find the perfect car toy set for my nephews. Christmas were just around the corner, and I wanted to surprise them with something they'd cherish and been begging me to get them. I scanned the shelves, hoping to spot the specific set they had been raving about.

As I navigated the store, frustration started to set in. It seemed like the coveted toy was sold out everywhere. I checked every section, asked the staff, but to no avail. Feeling defeated, I sighed and decided to make one last attempt at the checkout area.

That's when I noticed a guy holding onto the set ive been dying to get my hands on for my nephew. He was tall and with an easygoing smile, he seemed oddly fixated on the same car toy set I was desperately seeking. I couldn't help but approach him.

"Excuse me, do you happen to see any of these around?" I asked, holding up a picture of the elusive car set.

Jake's eyes widened in recognition, and he chuckled, "You're looking for that too? I've been searching all over, but it's sold out everywhere."

A sense of camaraderie blossomed between us. We shared a laugh over the absurdity of the situation, both on a quest for the same elusive toy. “Yeah im looking for it, it’s for my nephew. He’s been dying for it.” As we chatted, I couldn't help but appreciate his genuine enthusiasm and friendly demeanor.

Just as the conversation deepened, Jake paused and glanced at the last remaining car toy set in his hands. It was the one I had been desperately seeking for my nephew.

"Well, look at that," he said with a mischievous grin. "Looks like we've got a bit of a predicament here."

My eyes widened in surprise, realizing that he had it in his arms the whole time, meaning there was only one set left. Jake, sensing my dilemma, extended the box toward me.

"I'll tell you what," he said, a playful glint in his eyes. "I'll give you this one, but on one condition." Curiosity and confusion lingered in the air as I awaited his condition. “Alright than,”

"You've got to give me your number," he declared with a teasing smile. I blinked, momentarily taken aback by the unexpected turn of events. Jake, however, seemed genuinely amused by the whole situation. "You see," he continued, "I've been eyeing this toy for a while, and I'd be happy to let you have it for your nephew this Christmas. But in return, I'd love the chance to take you out sometime. What do you say?"

A mixture of surprise and amusement crossed my face. It was undoubtedly an unconventional way to exchange numbers, but there was something refreshing about Jake's boldness and spontaneity. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation.

"Deal," I replied, a grin spreading across my face. I handed him my phone, and as he entered his number, we shared a lighthearted moment, brought together by the quest for a simple toy. As he handed the coveted car set to me, I couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude for the unexpected encounter. I typed my contact in his phone as well as leaving the contact name as “y/n🩷”, giving him back his phone as we walked towards the check out.

“So y/n huh? This maybe better than that Christmas gift.”

“oh be quiet. I’m just grateful you let me have this set of toy for my nephew.”

“Tell him you got the last set from his future uncle.”

“Moving quick now. I like it..”

© filmofhybe on tumblr — do not copy , translate or share.

labels : @kflixnet @/k-labels @k-films @k-neighborhood

[lauramkaye]

ADHD is a learning disability. You might've been gifted but not all of us are or were. As a person with ADHD who isn't a genius or whatever exceptional stereotype you're happy to be I'm sorry if tou don't want to have solidarity with me but we do have the same diagnostic label as me and you don't get to make a new bullshit terms to escape the taint of being given the same diagnostic label for their problems as me.

....Wow, okay.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to answer this publicly, privately, address the point in a different post, or just ignore it. I'm choosing to engage in good faith with this because when I share ADHD information I do so out of a desire to help others who may be in the same boat I was in and I want to clarify if that information is misunderstood.

The post I suspect you are referring to was specifically about people who are both "gifted" (which as a label has plenty of issues but that is what's used in the field and how you will see it referred to in most literature/resources, so that's what I will use) and ADHD at the same time. ADHD and giftedness are two independent things, and a person can be one or the other, both, or neither. (A term you will often see used to refer to a person with giftedness and a disability that impacts learning is "twice exceptional," so using that as a search term may be useful if you want to read more on the topic.)

ADHD is a disability that can seriously impact learning, but it is not technically considered a learning disability. (source: Learning Disablities Association of America). It is considered a neurodevelopmental disorder, similar to the autism spectrum. ASD, ADHD, and learning disabilities such as dyslexia can coexist in the same people in different combinations and any or all can also coexist with giftedness.

This article is older but has a good rundown of some of the issues around gifted + ADHD. A particularly relevant quote: "While a misdiagnosis of ADHD is undesirable, diagnostic errors of omission are just as serious and may be even more prevalent among gifted students. This difficulty occurs when a student’s over-reliance on strengths inadvertently obscures the disability. While emphasizing strengths may highlight a student’s gifts and talents, it does not eliminate the reality of the condition and can, in fact, lead to a worse predicament in which the student distrusts his or her abilities because of the struggle to maintain them. On the other hand, if a student is allowed to acknowledge and experience the disability, he or she may learn appropriate compensatory or coping skills."

The reason I share information specifically about gifted + ADHD is that this is what I personally am, and therefore I have the most experience to share about it. The reason I want to share it is not because I think I'm a super special genius or because I don't want to be in solidarity with others who are ADHD but not gifted. The reason I want to share my experiences is that my ADHD was not diagnosed until I was in my late thirties and that late diagnosis caused me a LOT of avoidable suffering in my life. If I can spare someone else that kind of suffering by sharing the things I learned, I want to do that.

I was not diagnosed early specifically BECAUSE I was also gifted, so most of the indicators that usually lead to children getting tested/diagnosed for ADHD were either attributed to me being gifted (boredom, hyperfocusing on reading a book, one million hobbies I jumped between constantly) or masked by the giftedness (if I could do the assignment quickly in study hall right before class or retain enough from class discussion to pass the test, nobody realized/cared that I wasn't doing homework or studying.)

Which was fine, when I was a kid. But the older I got, the harder it was to keep up with things. By the time I got to undergrad I alternated between high and low GPA terms as I desperately tried to keep my scholarships and managed to keep EXACTLY the minimum GPA I had to. The level of stress and pressure got higher and higher.

I went to grad school. I made a 4.0 my first term.

The second term, I failed all my classes, was put on academic probation, had a meltdown on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere so that my mom had to drive out to get me.

I didn't go back, and I officially failed out of grad school. I had finally reached the point that I could no longer brute force past my lack of executive function with giftedness. And it was fucking devastating. That happened more than twenty years ago and it still hurts to remember even though I've had a lot of therapy since then. I had spent my life being praised for being smart and had built a lot of my identity around that; failing out of grad school felt like a blow to not just my career plans but my SELF.

The years after that got better, but I was still perpetually struggling. Everything just seemed so much HARDER than it should - I bounced in and out of debt, I constantly struggled with work deadlines, I couldn't be on time to ANYTHING, I was stressed out ALL THE TIME. I periodically just broke down and couldn't function for days. I kept making "careless errors" and "stupid mistakes" like forgetting to pay a $20 bill until it got sent to collections even though I had the money to pay it sitting in my checking account. I knew I knew HOW to do the things I didn't do and I knew I was smart enough to do them, so why couldn't I seem to manage it?

I must just... be a horrible person, I concluded. I didn't feel lazy or disrespectful or uncaring, but if I wasn't, surely I would remember birthdays and be on time for things and be able to keep my house clean and my checkbook balanced like normal people could, right?

I probably would have kept on this way indefinitely if a dear friend who was gifted + ADHD had not said "you know, the way you talk about your life sounds a lot like the way I was before I got diagnosed. Maybe you should see someone and check it out."

And I did. And I got diagnosed. And I started treatment. And it fucking CHANGED MY LIFE.

It didn't take away my struggles--far from it--but it helped me understand them, and gave me strategies to help address them, and gave me support to work around/through them. I still have to swim, but before I had weights tied to my feet and now I have a floatie to help keep my head above the water.

I want EVERYONE with ADHD to receive the supports and treatment they need to live their best lives. The information I share about the way ADHD intersects with my own personal brain configuration is meant to help anyone else out there who has a similar one. If it isn't helpful to you personally, I hope you find other sources that do and I wish you the best.

[rasparagus]

just for you

pairing: vernon x gn!reader

summary: how you got to be vernon’s lockscreen

word count: 630-ish

It’s one of the rare occasions when Vernon just has an entire free day so you both agree for him to stop by your place in the morning so you can spend a full day of lounging and lying lifeless on your couch together. When you hear his soft knock on your door, you rush to open it for him, your socks slipping a bit in your haste. As you let him in you see he has a small white bag in his hand, the label on the side revealing he’d made a recent trip to the electronics store. You silently point at the bag with a curious expression as soon as he sets it on your table. 

“Just a little gift for you.”

“It’s not my birthday or an anniversary…” Your eyes narrow as you think of a reason for the present. He squints back at you to mock your suspicious expression. It’s not that Vernon only gives you things on special occasions, but he normally prefers to give you gifts when you’ve explicitly told him you want something, and you don’t recall dropping any sort of hints. You peek in the bag and gasp as soon as you see what’s inside. It’s a pair of headphones identical to the ones hanging on his neck, except yours are white while he sports a black pair. 

“Damn,” the simple, yet effectively expressive word erupts from your chest. He snickers at the way you excitedly grab the box and examine every inch of it like it’s your greatest new treasure. “How’d you even know to get these for me.” You look up at him with wide and bright eyes.

“You literally complain about your current ones all the time. Plus, I know you like to sleep with music, and these won’t fall out as easily as your earbuds.” He moves to open the box for you. “The sound quality is insane, too—just listen. It’s like the instruments are in your ears.” As he removes the item from its packaging for you to test them, you get a sudden idea. Without a word you go half-run, half-glide to your room and return with a hefty plastic box. 

“What’s that for?”

“Help me decorate them,” you say. You open the box to reveal neat, divided piles of charms, gems, and stickers. He raises an eyebrow at you but complies nonetheless, taking a seat beside you at the table.

The new Netflix show that you and Vernon had originally intended to watch is miles behind you now as the two of you listen to your shared playlist and stick on small hearts and cartoon characters to the large surface of the headphones. 

It takes a while, for the two of you stop often to ask the other:

This one’s cuter if it’s crooked, right?

Should I break up the pink with some blue or keep it monochrome?

Does this cross rhinestone look too out of place?

 When it seems adequately covered, Vernon holds them up, allowing you both to survey your masterpiece. 

“Cute,” you smile, propping your head up against your fist as you lean on the table and declare a job well done. Vernon puts the headphones on your head, pushing a few hairs back in the process.

“Cute, indeed.” He grabs his phone and quickly takes a burst of photos before you can even think to stop him. You lean over to see the pictures he took, only to see him setting a picture to his lockscreen. It’s one from the second you realized he was snapping a photo, and you’re pouting in it.

“It’s time for yours now,” you joke and lightly kick his leg with your socked foot. To your surprise, he removes his headphones from their home on his neck and sets them on the table. “Vernon, I was kidding. We don’t actually have to do yours.”

“Oh, word?” he asks, laughing at his own misunderstanding. “Well, I kinda wanna do it, still.” You smirk.

“Ok so do you want Hello Kitty stickers or Gorrilaz stickers?” you question, already rummaging through the bin. 

 a/n: well. this is my first official seventeen fic post. as this is my first one it would be really appreciated if you left feedback (good, bad, or otherwise) either via reply, reblog, or asks! i hope you were able to enjoy this and i hope i can write many many more. xoxox

love, ro

[slasher-male-wife]

Hi!! Can I request any kind of fluff about being in a poly relationship with Hannibal and Will Graham? (Fic or headcanons, whichever you prefer ☺️)

Oh I'm totally down for writing this. I am an avid fluff lover so I'll happily write this for you. And because the holidays are coming up I'm going to make this holiday themed but not explicitly Christmas because I know not everyone celebrates. So this is just gonna be more like a holiday gift giving thing. Vague I know but I try to make sure a lot of people can enjoy my writing. I also threw in some of my own head cannons for Will and Hannibal because I can.

Happy holidays: Hannigram x gn reader

It's a cold and snowy day in December. You'd just finished a lovely dinner made by Hannibal. You'd tried to help him in the kitchen but he insisted you go spend time with Will. So you did. While Hannibal cooked you cuddled with Will on the couch, his cold hands pressed against your belly making you laugh. You knew that they were planning on giving gifts soon. Each of you got each other three gifts. After dinner, while Hannibal is taking away the plates you head over to the living room with Will.

Because the fireplace was rarely used in the living room you'd set all the presents there. Hannibal wrapped his in black wrapping paper perfectly. He used twine instead of ribbon and you couldn't help but admire how stunning it looked. Will used blue wrapping paper and you could tell he tried wrapping them the best he could but it just turned out messy, but it got the job done. You'd used some wrapping paper with a scene of a snowy house at night. You loved the winter so it only made sense that you used this wrapping paper. While your wrapping wasn't as neat as Hannibal's you still did a decent job.

You two sat on the couch waiting for Hannibal to join you.

"I'm a little surprised you didn't wrap some gifts in their exact shape Will," You tease, "Although I doubt I could actually tell what it would have been if you did." You chuckle and Will rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, well for your information I tried my damn best to do this ok? I should have just used bags." You smile at him and pull him into a hug.

"I love spending winter nights with you Will. And not just because you keep me extra warm."

"I love being with you in general Y/n. I just love you."

"I love you too Will." You hear Hannibal enter the room and you sit back up. He's got a slight smile on his face.

"Well we should get to unwrapping." He picks up one box for you and one for Will, handing them both to you. Will unwraps his first to find a beautiful painting of his dogs. He did have to give them up, but it was to Alana and Margo who are taking great care of them now. Will smiles and runs a thumb over the frame the paining is in.

"Thank you so much Hannibal." He says.

"Of course Will." He replies. They look to you and you open your smaller box. You're careful not to tear open the wrapping paper because it just looks to beautiful to ruin. You find a small velvet ring box underneath the black paper. You open it to find the most beautiful ruby ring. Knowing Hannibal it has to be real and probably very old. You carefully take it out of it's box and slide it on your ring finger.

"Oh Hannibal. It's so beautiful."

"I bought it back in Italy many years ago. I'm lucky it's your size." A big stupid smile spreads across your face as you look over at him.

"Thank you so much Hannibal. I love it." You can't help but keep staring at it. How the red gem catches in the light so beautifully. It really is just too much, but you know Hannibal has amazing taste. Will gets up and grabs two of his gifts. He hands one to you then one to Hannibal.

"I'm sorry it's so poorly wrapped. I'm not good with wrapping gifts." Hannibal opens his first and finds a bottle of wine with a label written in a language you don't speak. But he smiles at this.

"Sternenklarer Himmel," He says, "German for Starry sky. 2018, very finely aged I must say Will."

"Well I flew it all the way over here From Germany just for you. With how much it cost I hope it's worth the money." Will replies. You open your gift to find a small cardboard box. You open the box to see three tickets. When you pick them up you read it's three tickets to a concert coming up for your favorite band.

"Oh Will!" You shout unable to hold back another huge dorky smile, "These must have cost so much! But I can't believe I get to see my favorite band live!" You have to throw your arms around him while he hugs you back.

"Well I had to get you something super special, because I know Hannibal is going to get you something even better."

"Oh Will don't lie! This is so amazing! Thank you so much!" You let go of the hug and get up to grab their gifts. You hand one to Will and one to Hannibal, "Now I'm not sure these will be as good as the ones that you two have gotten for me but I hope you still like them." Hannibal opens his first. In it he finds dried pressed flowers.

"These are the flowers I bought you when we first met." He says with a smile.

"They are! I dried and pressed them then put them in the frame so you could keep them forever!" You say beaming.

"Well thank you very much Y/n. These will be going into my office very soon." Hannibal looks over the flowers in the frame while Will opens his gift. Inside he finds a cassette tape decorated with paint. The word, "For Will, love Y/n" are written on it too.

"I made a tape to add to your collection. I put all of the songs that remind me of you on it." Will smiles and takes your hand.

"Thank you very much honey, I'll give this a listen as soon as I can." He sets it on the coffee table and Hannibal gets up to grab the next two gifts for you and Will. Over the next couple of hours the three of you talk and open gifts from each other.

You beam and hug both of them for the thoughtful gifts that they have given you. They hug you back for the gifts that you had gotten for them. But as the night winds down you feel yourself begin to fall asleep on the couch. Soon enough you're fully asleep. Hannibal carefully picks you up and carries you to your shared bedroom, Will following behind. Hannibal sets you in bed and him and Will soon join you under the covers.

Will cuddles up to you and Hannibal watches, soon also joining in. The three of you lay together on a snowy night. Warm in bed and full of love.

[clumsyexpression]

One Piece Men needing a Blue Sky Holiday

Here's some One Piece guys having a bad day and here's how you ruined it (͡• ͜໒ ͡• )

Ace:

You just wanted a cool drink from the gas station but the door read ‘No shirt, no service’ and you had a lengthy discussion on what  classified as a shirt and him covering his nipples with his hands upon entry wouldn’t cut it

Aokiji:

After explaining how he had such a long day of reluctantly doing paperwork and what not, he also  had to explain how he ate the Chilly-Chilly Fruit and not the Chili-Chili Fruit and you two had a very lengthy talk about his devil fruit being somewhat of a misnomer since he couldn’t spontaneously generate bowls of chili, and when he disagreed with you, you decided to file a complaint to Fleet Admiral Sengoku and now he has to read it over the next day he goes in to work and sign all 73 pages that outline your argument

Crocodile:

You reasoned that if he ate the kinetic version of the Sand-Sand fruit, his powers would be a lot more cooler since sandcastles would be easier to build and he would be a lot more ASMR friendlier, which might help with his attitude problems

Franky:

Waitress: “Hmm, Coke, no, but we do have Pepsi – is that okay?” Franky: "No-" You: "Yeah, that will be fine – pretty much the same thing, right?”

Katakuri:

He saw you coming with your bullshit but wasn’t rude enough to turn you away. He is now forcing himself to consume end-of-the-shift Dunkin donuts and watered down Dunkin Refreshers that had its ice melt more than 45 minutes ago but at least your company makes up for it but you were still on that bullshit to get him old Dunkins lmao

Kid:

You were goading him into thinking he couldn’t do this cool trick you discovered and while he was clouded over in anger and being super competitive, you managed to trick him into ‘drawing’ a dick on your new widescreen tablet with his magnetic devil fruit powers - which was actually the the 65” TV that belonged in the common area and now everyone is mad at the both of you

Law:

You discovered his Squishmallow collection that he swore up and down was Bepo’s until you threatened to punch them all. Bepo still cried that you would even think to do that, you monster

Lucci:

You asked him to smell this really cool but very dubious plant that was on clearance at Lowe’s that had no label besides a barely legible cat silhouette on it. Now he’s been rolling around all over the floor while making really weird screeching sounds and  clawing the shit out of anything to that dares to move for the past 3 hours.

Luffy:

You set up a bunch of those faux food soaps with the hopes that he would use it to bathe, but instead he proceeded to break into your edible looking wax melts that smelled deliciously like food since you kept them in close proximity in the bathroom and now he has  a very bad tummy ache

Mihawk:

You accidentally broke the bottle of wine he intended to share with you in 5 minutes – not having enough time to look through his extensive wine cellar, you knew exactly where his red wine vinegar was and poured him a glass. He then started to choke exactly like this.

Rosinante:

You warned him that the food was a little spicy as a joke and he still caught on fire

Sanji:

You told him that you knew a great bar to unwind at with plenty of exotic dancers that are topless the whole time but was not at all entertained when the Chippendales was on stage the entire night

Smoker:

You gifted him some really nice cigars while yall were at a party but he got really buzzed and he thought he was eating some ants on a log but didn’t realize that he was actually eating his cigars until he was already 4 sticks in

X Drake:

You keep preparing to tell him about the details of this really cool, super top secret mission that nobody can know about except him and if you so much get a whiff of him thinking about snitching you out, you will open the door and get on the floor so everybody walk the dinosaur. You never explain the details btw

Zoro:

You two were in the middle of arguing and he says something that really rubs you the wrong way; you turn to look behind you to see who the fuck he’s talking to and when you turn back to face him, he’s gone. Now he’s big mad since you put him on search to find who he was talking to and he can’t find his way back to you to give a proper answer

[the-fiction-witch]

Dad

Media Love Actually

Character Sam

Couple Sam X Reader

Rating Sweet AF

Concept New Daddy

"You sure you two will be okay?" I asked getting my handbag and fixing my skirt for work, I hated doing this but I didn't have much of a choice my landlord was fumigating the whole building so we had to be out for two weeks, and my usual daycare was closed today due to them having a massive pipe leak, I really didn't want to do this I felt awful but what choice did I really have? 

"We'll be fine won't we munchkin" Sam smiled as little Ivy ran over to him still in her PJ of course and he happily picked her up sitting her on his hip

"You sure it's not too much trouble-"

"Not your fault is it, you're already staying here and I don't have anything to do anyway. It's fine we'll have fun won't we little munchkin?" 

"Yeah!" she giggled 

"We'll be fine, don't worry about us"

"Okay well I'm just a phone call away"

"I know, but I'm sure I can handle it," he says "Go say bye-bye to your mummy," He tells her setting her down 

"Bye bye mummy" she smiled hugging my leg

"Bye-bye darling, you be good for Uncle Sam alright? I'll see you when I get home"

"I will I promise" She smiled before she ran off towards the spare room we were sleeping in 

"Any problems-"

"I know, Have a good day at work"

"Thanks, Sam" I smiled grabbing my keys and heading off to work for the day.

It had been a very long day one of those days where nothing quite goes the way you want it to I was home later than I wanted to be but such is the way some days. I headed inside seeing the place rather dark and quiet Sam got up from the sofa shutting the TV off as he came over "Hey, how was work?"

"Ughh don't" I sighed

"Sorry, dinner's in the microwave for you"

"Thanks, Sam" I smiled "How was Ivy?" I asked grabbing the plate from the microwave and taking a seat at the small table

"Aww, she's been a little angel,"

"Oh? What did you do then?"

"Well we went to the park she had a nice play on the swings for a while, then we went to the museum and learnt about dinosaur bones and whales,"

"Aww That's sweet Sam"

"If we're going to spend the day together she might as well learn something, and I may have treated her to a little present from the gift shop"

"You didn't have to do that"

"I know, but I like to treat her sometimes" 

"That's why she thinks you're fun Uncle Sam" 

"Five-pound admission and a ten-pound spend in a gift shop is a small price to pay for her to have some fun, and she gets to go back to daycare next week with lots of dinosaur facts" 

"How'd dinner go?"

"Very well she helped me cook and even did the drying up" 

"She's a good girl,"

"How was work?" 

"You know how it goes, paperwork, Luke being Luke" 

"I don't know why you don't quit that awful place"

"What else would I do Sam? I have to take care of Ivy somehow"

"...what if, you two came and stayed with me? on a more permanent basis?"

"and what would I do all day?"

"Take care of Ivy, help me with the house. look after the place when I go on tour"

"That's very sweet Sam, but I can't," I told him taking my plate to the sink

"why not?" he asks coming to stand with me

"We couldn't ask that of you"

"You're not asking it of me, I'm asking you." he says "I know you hate being away from her, and I know you hate shoving her in a daycare, I'd handle stuff money-wise you get to be home all day with her"

"I can't -"

"why not? I'd be happy to and I know I wouldn't be sending you two back to that awful flat"

"even so, where would we sleep?"

"well, Ivy can have the spare room as her bedroom and... I figured you could bunk with me"

"Oh? At the foot of your bed?"

"if that's where you're comfortable, I thought more snuggled up with me but it's up to you"

"That's sweet Sam but it's not even like we're-"

"Then we can be, if you want a label on it I'm more than happy to put one and it makes it easier for little Ivy" He explained "Unless you, don't see me like that?"

"Well... I uhhh" I stuttered 

"Don't tell me you haven't thought about it?"

"I might have" I blushed of course I had thought about it, I had thought about Sam like that for as long as I'd known him but I suppose I'd always just tossed those feelings away

"Because I have, far more than once. You two are always welcome here you know that" he says giving my hand a little kiss 

I blushed hard but I gave his lips a soft kiss he happily kissed back wrapping his arms around my waist as my hip pressed against the counter top I smiled and stroked his shirt a little till he pulled back rubbing my nose as he did 

"How about you get you're nightie and come stay in my bed tonight?" 

"That does sound nice" I smiled "Did you have anything planned for Ivy tomorrow?"

"Yeah I promised I'd take her to the seal sanctuary and the beach for ice cream, You're more than welcome to blow off work and come too. It could be a lovely day just the three of us" 

"she loves seals, that sounds lovely Sam" I smiled giving him another kiss 

He chuckled a little as he pulled away "You know, she told me a little secret today"

"Did she now, what was it?"

"Ohh a top-secret, really high levels of classification I really shouldn't even be telling you this."

"I don't already know?"

"No, she told me this is so secret even you don't know" 

"Oh? What is it then?"

"she told me that for a good while now she's secretly, wanted a little brother"

"She has?"

"Ummm she wants a little brother very badly" he explained "And I think I'm in agreement with her"

"Are you?"

"I think she needs a little brother, and if that's okay with you? I'm more than happy to... help supply her with one" He smirked grinding his hips against my own. 

"Ohh would you now?"

"I would,"

"I assume you'd want something for this help? some form or repayment"

"Well, you're already moving in with me so how about I help give Ivy a little brother and I get to fill the family role as the dad? not just fun Uncle Sam."

"You'd really want that?"

"I would, I love Ivy, I love you. If you'd be willing to have me I'm more than happy to step in where Danny bailed out" 

"Aww Sam" I smiled tearing up 

"Hey, hey no little tears" he says kissing my tears away 

"It's okay their happy tears"

"Good, now you go get your nightie and give Ivy a kiss goodnight, I'll go wait up in our bed and get ready to help with her little brother" he smiled 

"Okay" I smiled giving him a sweet kiss before I headed to the spare room where Ivy and I had been sleeping seeing she had taken up all the double bed where I was gone with her blanket and a dinosaur book from the museum open in front of her where she must have been looking at it before she fell asleep, I smiled sitting on the bed and fixing her hair, tucking her in and giving her head a little kiss which woke her a little 

"Hi little one I thought you were sleeping"

"I was a little sleeping" she giggled what she often says when she was half asleep or faking it "Mummy?"

"Yes, Ivy?"

"Could Uncle Sam be my new daddy?"

"We'll see Ivy," I told her "Now you get some sleep if you need anything you call okay and either me or Sam will come help you"

"I will, goodnight mummy"

"Goodnight sweetheart"

"Tell Uncle Sam I said goodnight too"

"I will do" I laughed grabbed my things and headed out leaving her door open a crack, I headed across the locked-up house to Sam's room seeing the bed made and the ensuite light on so I set my stuff down and kicked off my heels and changed into my nightie 

"she tucked up tight?"

"All snug as a bug" I smiled, "She says goodnight"

"she's a sweetheart," he laughs coming from the bathroom shutting the light off now down to just his boxers "Whoa..."

"What?"

"You look beautiful"

"Thank you, Sam,"

"so? You're okay in my bed tonight"

"If you are"

"Most defiantly" He smiled coming and sitting beside me but leaving a respectful space "If you just wanna get to bed that's fine I don't wanna make you do anything you don't want to"

"That's very sweet Sam" I smiled kissing his head "But if it's all the same to you" I cooed holding his hand 

"Ohh believe me y/n I don't need to be asked twice" He smirked pushing me down on his bed flat so he could hover over me 

"Ohh Sam" I blushed wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss 

[femmesandhoney]

Don't be shy... what's the educational pedagogies that you're criticizing?

I'm not in education so i'm not sure if there's different like names or explanations for some of these changes, but me and my roommate were just discussing the push to eliminate honors and AP classes from schools and to just push kids into the same classroom and how stupid that is. like it not only makes it harder for the teacher to teach to different learning speeds/strengths at once in such a mixed classroom, but that the students who do learn at a faster speed and understand the content/or want to understand the content deeper are restricted in these models too. from what i've seen many school districts do, they just give the kids who want "advanced" or "deeper" learning on a subject extra readings and homework for it, which is not really helpful and means their time in the actual classroom is boring as hell and completely wasted. i completely understand wanting to lean away from labeling kids as "gifted" or not, but like we cannot act like some kids aren't better in subjects than others or like stuff more than others and deserve to have classes that aren't slowed down for the sake of a mixed classroom setting that doesn't distinguish between these learners and interests.

like no offense to some of my high school classmates, but i once got put into a global studies class instead of the honors one and i was passing that class in my sleep while many of my classmates just struggled to remember basic information, it was a waste of my academic time, and even my teacher was like idk why you were placed in this class because you're very good at history and i said yeah ik and he was like take APUSH your junior year and i did and that was a great experience for me bc i need that faster paced learner style for many of my classes. otherwise i just get bored asf.

and we spoke about some other things that were happening at the elementary level like a lack of focus on spelling/writing and just how harmful that is long term to children like why are we having twelve year olds who can't properly sight read, that's just terrible and sad, since all these children are very bright and smart and deserve education that wants them to succeed ofc, but not at the expense of genuine knowledge they need. we're literally just letting them off the hook for basic skills? it's weird, it's dumb, i don't get it. again i'm not in education studies or anything, i took literally one class on education and it was interesting, but i talk a lot with the education majors ik and parents of children i nanny or babysit and it's just very strange changes that don't necessarily benefit anyone and i can't understand why the changes are being made.