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lokis-army-77 · 3 years

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If You Please

Chapter eight

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 2900

This is technically a reader insert but without the (y/n) and all that. She also has no name mentioned so feel free to imagine as you please.

Follow the reader through the events of the Captain America movies and experience her love for Bucky Barnes.

Warnings: angst but not really

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In the time that it took for us to make the long trek through the hills and woods, I had recounted the events of the past few months to Bucky. He walked beside me, holding my hand the whole time. He listened intently, asking questions when I paused for a breath. When I finished, Bucky was a little upset. Not at the fact that I had willfully allowed myself to be experimented on, but because I had joined a secret Government agency almost right out of high school and didn’t tell anyone.

I told him that I was sorry and that I would have told him if I hadn't been contractually obligated to keep it a highly kept secret. He forgave me quickly, saying that the only reason he was okay with it was that it allowed me to be able to see him. I shook my head lightheartedly. Bucky never was able to stay upset with me for long.

The sun had come up by the time our group made it back to the base camp. As we got closer and closer, I could feel a buzz of life going through the men. They were excited to be back in safe territory. The soldiers in the camp all came running to greet us as we made our way up the road. They all stood around us and cheered. Steve, Bucky, and I kept walking through the camp towards Coronel Phillips’ tent. The cheering quieted as we were met by the Coronel several yards away from the tents. Peggy was following closely behind the Coronel.

“Sir. Some of these men are in need of medical attention immediately.” Steve started. “We would also like to offer ourselves up for disciplinary action.” He glanced back at me as he made the comment. I gave him a nod in agreement. I didn’t fear the consequences, we had done the right thing and that was all that mattered.

“That won’t be necessary.” Philips started and walked away.

More and more soldiers continued to gather around us until all I could see were cheering men. Loudly one of them shouted, “Let’s hear it for Captain America!” The crowd went into an uproar at that, and it seemed like everyone started to clap Steve on the back. Bucky and Steve gave one another a quick look before they started to argue with the men that I had also helped in rescuing them, but none of them would listen.

“Guys stop it, it doesn't matter if they believe I helped or not,” I stepped in before their arguments could get heated.

“Don’t say that. I couldn’t have done any of this without you, they need to know who helped get them to freedom.” Steve argued.

"Yeah Doll, they should know who helped save them,” Bucky chimed in.

I just stood there looking at them. “I don’t care if they believe I helped or not, just let it go. I really only went to find out what happened to Bucky, and since he's okay, I’m content.” I started walking away from the crowd after that, Bucky not far on my heels. “Let's go, Buck,” I stuck out my hand to grab onto his, “I’m ready for a shower and some good sleep.”

After a few days of recuperation, the camp was packed up. Most of the 107th, high commanding officers, and Steve, Bucky, and I, were taken back to London. While the rest of the base went onwards, closer to the front lines.

Steve and I were brought to one of the several secret underground bases to relay all the information we could remember about the night we took down the HYDRA base. Steve was currently marking the locations of other HYDRA bases he had seen on a map hanging in Zola’s office. I sat off to the side of the table watching quietly, not really paying attention. I was brought back to reality as the map was yanked out from under my elbow. I looked up and noticed Steve and Peggy walking away. I quickly got up and followed them over to the large map laid out in the center of the room.

“These are all of the weapons factories that we know about. Sergeant Barnes said that they ship all the parts out to another facility that wasn't shown on the maps.” Steve informs Peggy and Coronel Phillips.

“Agent Carter, get in touch with MI6, I want all allied eyes looking for the main base,” Philips commanded.

“What about us Coronel?” I questioned.

“We are going to go after Johann Schmidt. What do you call Captain Rogers? It’s your map, can you wipe HYDRA off it?”

“Yes Sir, I do. I’ll just need a team to do it.” Steve confirmed.

“We already have the men picked out.”

“With all due respect Coronel, I do too, and it includes my sister.”

Later that night Peggy and I were dressing up to go out. All the men had chosen to go to the bars and we both took this as a chance to at least pretend for a little while that the war wasn’t going on. I heard Peggy walking into the room as I finished pinning a few curls at the back of my head.

“How do I look?” She asked. I gasped as I turned around, I had never seen her in anything but the military blouse and skirt. The red knee-length, fitted dress made her look more beautiful than she already was.

“You look stunning. What about me?” I stood up and did a small twirl. The fabric of the dark royal blue dress flared out slightly as I did so.

“You look absolutely gorgeous.” She smiled at me. I gave her one back.

“We should be on our way, wouldn't want to keep the boys waiting.”

I could hear the music from the sidewalk as we approached the bar. Peggy pushed open the door and led us in. We had walked through several rooms before the singing of the soldiers slowly came to a stop and everyone glanced in our direction. I spotted Bucky and Steve sitting at the bar. They both stood when they saw Peggy and me. Bucky had the biggest smile on his face as he came towards me.

“You look beautiful tonight.” he leaned in to kiss my cheek. I pulled away in feign offense.

“Just tonight?”

“You know what I meant.” he gently shoved my arm. I laughed and wrapped my hand around his neck to pull him in for a light peck on the lips.

Peggy had moved closer to Steve before she explained to us that Stark had some new equipment for us to try out tomorrow morning. Steve and I had only just agreed to be at the base when Bucky was dragging me over to a small open space to dance.

He wrapped his hands around my waist and I placed mine around his neck, pulling us closer together. We swayed to the gentle music, completely enamored with one another. His under eyes were still dark from the exhaustion he faced at the Hydra base. He looked completely drained.

“Bucky, Sweetheart, you look absolutely exhausted. Why don’t we go back to the hotel where they have me set up? I’m sure that bed is way more comfortable than those cots they make you sleep in on base.” I suggested.

He pulled away slightly, only enough to look down into my eyes. “We can in a bit. I just want to have a little mundaneness before the whole ‘take HYDRA down’ mission starts.” He pulled me back in and softly pressed his lips to the top of my head.

I stay quiet after that and just enjoy being wrapped in his arms, swaying to the music. It had been months since anything remotely normal had happened in my life. We danced to three more songs before Bucky decided he was ready to leave. When the last song ended we made our way over to where Steve was sitting.

“Hey, we’re going to head out. He’s in desperate need of sleep and I'm taking him back to my hotel room for the night,” I told Steve, who stood up and shook his head.

“No, I'm not letting that happen,” He argued.

“Steve relax, nothings going to happen, we’re just sleeping.”

“I said no. No boys, not even if you are engaged.”

“Sorry but he's been sleeping in my room with me for the past two years so..” I trailed off.

“Two years?” He raised his voice a little. “How long has this been going on?”

“Calm down, there's no need to yell. We got engaged two years ago, in October. I meant to tell you, I really did, but I just could never find the right time. I was even going to tell you when we started dating but I knew how you thought Bucky was when it came to relationships. I can assure you he has been nothing less than loving, and kind to me. I’m sorry that we kept this from you and I hope you understand.”

Steve just stood there, processing what I had just told him.

“Look, Steve, I really do love her, and I know I should have asked for your permission first before I proposed but it just happened that way. I just, I just love her so much and I can’t imagine life without her by my side. So I’m asking now if I have your permission.”

Steve crosses his arms and looks between the two of us. He stayed quiet for several seconds before he replied. “I give you my permission, only because I trust my sister's judgment and I know you’ll be able to take care of her, not that she can't take care of herself.”

“I promise I’ll take care of her until I die. Once this God-forsaken war is over we were planning on having the wedding.”

“Okay, but I still don’t want you two sleeping in the same room alone.”

“Come on Steve, I said we weren’t going to do anything.” I gave out a small chuckle, thankful that the whole argument had blown over quickly. “Let’s go, Buck.” I pulled on Bucky's hand and headed to the entrance doors. I turned back to Steve and gave him a wave before going through the door.

The walk to the hotel was short and quiet. When we reached the building, Bucky denied that he was tired the whole way up to my room, but once we made it through the door and he had taken off his uniform he was laid out cold on the bed. I covered him up with the duvet before I went to the ensuite bathroom to get myself ready for bed.

When I finally laid down next to Bucky, I felt him automatically gravitate to my side. His arm came to rest around me and he buried his head in my chest. I just smiled and gently played with his hair until I also fell into a deep sleep.

Early that morning, before the sun had risen, I woke up to Bucky violently tossing and turning in his sleep. I quickly sat up to try and calm him down.

“Bucky, hey, I’m right here,” I whispered to him as I gently stroked his hair. In his sleep, he held onto my waist tighter. All I could do was sit there and wait for him to wake up. His nightmare went on for what seemed like forever before he finally woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. He picked himself up from his stomach and sat up, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, and then he placed his head in his hands.

I crawled my way over behind him and placed my hands on his bare shoulders. He stayed quiet as I massaged away the knots. We stayed like this for a while before he placed his hands on mine, stopping my movements. I then wrapped my arms around him and gave him a tight, comforting hug.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked. He just shook his head and let out a shaky breath. I let go of him when I felt him start to scoot himself back up into the bed. I watched him wearily lay down on his back. He held his arms out to me motioning for me to come to him and I did. Nestling into his side I felt him start to slowly twirl the ends of my hair around his fingers.

“I’m sorry I woke you up.” He whispered into my hair.

“It’s alright. I would rather you wake me up than for you to have to deal with the nightmares by yourself.”

“I love you, you know that?”

“You may have mentioned it on occasion.” I laughed. “I love you too. Do you think you can get back to sleep?”

“I think I’ll sit up for a bit, you go ahead and get some rest.”

“Okay, but if you need someone to talk to, don't be afraid to wake me up. I mean it.” I shut my eyes and snuggled in closer to him. His breathing slowly went back to normal and I fell back to sleep to the rise and fall of his chest and the sound of his heart beating.

Later, when the city had fully come alive, Bucky and I got dressed and went our separate ways for the day. He went with me to the entrance doors of the hotel and kissed me goodbye before he turned to walk down the street. I watched him walk a way before he turned and gave me a wave. I waved back before I started down the opposite street.

The base was only a ten-minute walk from the hotel so I made it in no time. Going through the doors I made my way down to Howard’s lab. I spotted Howard and Steve talking at a table with several shields on it. I watched as Steve bent over and grabbed one from the bottom shelf. Peggy came into view as I started down the small set of stairs into the room. She came to a stop when Steve asked for her thoughts on the shield he was holding. She grabbed one of the guns from the table beside her and shot at the shield. The bullets ricocheted to the ground and Peggy stated that it in fact worked. She sat the gun back down and walked towards Steve and turned sharply now walking at me. When she got within arms distance of me I stopped her.

“What was that all about?” I gave her a quizzical look.

She just gave me a passive-aggressive smile and said, “Ask your brother.” She stormed out of the room after that, leaving me to interrogate Steve.

“Steve, what did you do?”

“I have no clue.” he exasperated.

“Well, you had to have done something. What happened before I got here?”

“Well, I was waiting to come see Howard when this one lady kissed me, and then Agent Carter started acting weird after that.” I gave him a look of defeated astonishment and brought my hand up to rub my temples.

“God Steve you’re so clueless. That’s literally why she's upset.”

“But why does that matter?”

“Because Steve, she likes you and you kissed someone else right in front of her.”

He stood there with his mouth gaping. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. I can’t believe you did that.” I shook my head. I stepped past him and went over to the other side of the table where Howard was. “Now, what's all this about having some equipment to try out?”

Howard turned to the table that was behind us and grabbed a long metal staff. He turned back to face me, holding out the staph. I took it from his hands and gave it a small twirl. “Stark, what's so special about a staff?”

“It isn’t just any staff, it's a two-piece bo staff. I had a talk with some of the trainers at the base in New York and they said you were exceptionally skilled with it. It's made from one of the rarest metals on the planet. It's practically indestructible.” He gave me a look. “Well don’t just stand there Rogers, give it a try.”

Strolling over to a section of the lab that was free of people. I started to spin the staff in my hands, going faster and faster. Using the momentum from the spinning I lunged forward and struck the staff at an imaginary opponent. I looked up and back at Howard and Steve.

“It’s a little lighter than what I’m used to, but it will work.”

“I'm glad it will work out. It took me forever to acquire a metal like that.”

Steve came over at that point, with a piece of folded paper in his hand. Holding it out to Howard he said, “I had some ideas for my suit. I even have some drawn sounds for hers as well.”

“I am not wearing a suit. I'll be just fine in my regular uniform.” I interjected.

“If you’re going to be coming with me to fight HYDRA then you need to wear a suit, for my peace of mind at least

“Fine, for your peace of mind.”

Tag list: @ginger-swag-rapunzel @underc0vercryptid-reads @geek-and-proud @intothesoul @leyannrae

#james buchanan barnes #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky x female reader #bucky fic #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x rogers!reader #winter solider x reader #marvel fic #marvel fanfiction

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elrhiarhodan · 3 years

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White Collar Fic Recs

@darkisrising asked for some Collar fic recs. These are some of the best. Of course I know I’m missing a few and I’ll probably need to add to this, but let’s call this a good start.`

Call of the Void - @theatregirl7299 Author Peter Burke can't seem to get a handle on his latest Gothic horror novel--until he meets Neal Caffrey. There's something about this charming, sophisticated club owner that strikes a chord with Peter. But is Neal all that he appears to be? Or is Peter entering a world of darkness that he may not be able to come back from?

Dragon’Verse - theatregirl7299 Peter Burke is a high-end jeweler. When he meets Neal Caffrey, a talented young jewelry designer, it seems like a match made in heaven. But when Neal discovers that Peter is an ancient dragon, it sets in motion a firestorm that neither one may survive.

Chasing Tails - rabidchild67 Meet Neal Caffrey: convicted bond forger, suspected art thief, con artist. And dog whisperer. This is a canon divergent retelling of the Pilot.

Neal vs. the LOLcat - rabidchild67 Neal has a LOLcat. Named Henri.

Steal My Body Home Series - rabidchild67 Sometimes, running away means going home--you just might find what you need there. And sometimes, you just need your mom. Neal finds out all of these things on a road trip with Peter.

Pillow Talks - @rubynye Three and one true stories Peter, Neal, and Elizabeth tell each other.

White Collar Artist AU - Storiesfortravellers AU where El is an artist who photographs nudes and Neal pretends to be a model to steal something.

Clever Men - Storiesfortraveller Angsty Peter/Neal slash and UST. The fic starts in Season 1 and ends a few years into the future, and shows snippets of different stages of their relationships.

Always the Same, Starts with a Boy and a Girl - Lightgetsin Summer, 1998. Neal Caffrey robs the gallery where Elizabeth O'Dell is working late, and comes away with a lot more than art. Agent Burke has no idea what's about to hit him.

Contractual Obligations: A Love Story in Three Traffic Lights - Shaenie The way Neal says it, though, amused and dismissive, is almost insulting. Of course Peter would never do such a thing, Neal's tone implies. Absurd notion.

If You’re Gone - Sahiya What do you do when the people who've become your Pole Star move three thousand miles away? Neal Caffrey is about to find out.

Without You - Sahiya Working for Kramer in D.C., Neal is doing his best to get by until, quite suddenly, he isn't.

Somewhere I Have Never Traveled - @copperbadge-writes In another universe, Peter Burke went corporate. He wouldn't have met Neal Caffrey -- except Neal tried to rob his company. And Peter, naturally, caught him.

The Wonderful Years - @elrhiarhodan School Years A/U centering on the friendship between Peter Burke and Neal Caffrey, from the time they are in kindergarten through their senior year in high school. For the purposes of this story, all of the characters are roughly the same age (Peter is a year older than Neal). The setting is middle class suburban New York (Westchester County), circa 1970–1983. The series continues through their lives, from college to careers in the FBI to domestic happiness.

The Lost and Found Series - @elrhiarhodan Time is irrelevant when you’re traveling without purpose, when it’s not the destination but the journey itself that matters.

The Gloriana 'Verse - @elrhiarhodan Early Elizabethan Era Historical A/U - Peter Burke works for Sir Francis Walsingham, the Queen’s Spy Master, Elizabeth Burke is the Queen’s Mistress of the Revels and Neal Caffrey is a ne’er-do-well artist and courtier, incarcerated in the Fleet Prison for debt. The golden age has yet to flower in Merry Old England, and it’s going to take a deft hand to manage all the players that will keep Good Queen Bess on the throne.

Let Your Honesty Shine - Elrhiarhodan (Crossover with The Normal Heart) On a hot June day, one summer in the near future, Ned Weeks finds himself in a West Village coffee shop. When he overhears a fascinating conversation about blackmail, kidnapping and getting shot at, he has to take a look. One of the speakers is definitely a Fed – Ned can tell just by the haircut and the ugly suit. The other man is his lover, Felix. Except that Felix has been dead for thirty years.

The Eternal Optimism of Two Men Stuck in a Single Hotel Room with One Bed - Elrhiarhodan

The blizzard of the century is about to hit, and Peter and Neal take refuge in the last hotel room available in Schroon, New York. The only problem is that there’s just one bed. At least it’s king sized, right?

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell/Don’t Ask, Don’t Care - Elrhiarhodan Admiral Peter Burke is having a bad day. He walks into a dive bar off of K Street in Washington and meets Commander Neal Caffrey. To say they hit it off would be a vast understatement. And that’s going a problem of monumental proportions for both men.

#White Collar #fic recs

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helisol · 4 years

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again not a finished fic but very extensive notes, this one’s a chonker, 4k words

tl;dr: take it a ds9 but make it into high fantasy wizards. garashir, kiradax and quodo. we’ve got it all here folks.

SO BASICALLY

I read a book about a young witch apprentice in a world where every magician has a ~special name~ based on an object/plant/animal they’re spiritually connected to.

then I watched ds9 and got introduced to the concept of cardassians being lizards.

the result- wizard lizard.

So Garak “The Lizard” is a mage that got exiled from his home country and ended up taking a pretty neat job in a rural area of a larger empire where being a wizard is Cool and Widely Accepted.

his duties include keeping the villages around his tower safe, looking for young mages to turn into apprentices, and sometimes making clothes because he’s Still A Tailor.

however, because of his chronic “i no wanna work” disease, this lizard has not actually been looking around the villages near him for magically gifted children. shame on him.

because through his negligence Julian Bashir, young village doctor, grew up without even knowing that he can do ~magic~

but he soon finds out when his town gets attacked by a Big Evil Magic Monster. The Lizard is taking his sweet time to come to their rescue and Julian can’t just sit by and watch innocent people get mauled by a Chimera or Giant Mantis.

So Julian does the heroic thing and jumps inbetween a wounded child and the monster in the exact second Garak shows up.

And he gets to watch as Julian unleashes some Magic for the first time.

Then Garak Kind Of Abducts Julian So He Can Teach Him Magic

Garak is contractually obligated and allowed to take on anyone who is capable of magic as an apprentice, and he finds Julian’s magic interesting enough to invoke that contract now. Not Julian himself though. Only his magic. for now.

Julian- for like, the first week- is NOT OKAY with being teleported into a tower fortress by a wizard he finds intimidating and scary, and he loudly protests when Garak actually starts to teach him magic spells.

However, this is Julian, and he *is* intrigued by the thought of being able to use magic For Doing Good.

So one night he admits defeat and slinks up to the tower and goes “Okay. Compromise. Teach me healing magic.”

To which Garak is like 👀 “Okay.”

They start having regular magic lessons mostly focused on healing, which Julian is just naturally good at. So they move on to other things. Which Julian is Not naturally good at.

And he becomes very frustrated.

Garak tries to assuage him and says that he doesn’t have to be accomplished in every single field and discipline- which is logically true- but Julian is having none of it since Garak is accomplished in every field.

In a fit of anger Julian unleashes emotional magic again and breaks some of Garak’s things. Books, vials, a desk, nothing super major. But Julian is still surprised and shocked at himself for causing trouble like this and he Runs Away. Straight up exits stage left.

And Garak, who just got flung against the wall by his little apprentice, just rushes to the window and looks as Julian runs away and he is. Disappointed.

Next we have Julian returning home and everyone is like "Doctor!!! You were gone for half a year???" And Julian is like "I thought I was only gone for a month at most-"

Yeah the joke is time flies when you’re having fun because Julian *did* have fun living with Garak. He doesn’t regret leaving though, after all Garak was probably furious after he wrecked his study he wasn’t.

So Julian says to himself "Hmph. I'll just stay home for a week. Garak will hardly notice I'm gone. And then I can make it up to him."

But Then He Stays For A Whole Month

He has to instruct a new doctor to take over the nearby villages, do some paperwork, help some sick people, practice some magic on his own- and at the end of the month He Doesn’t Want To Stay Any Longer.

He’s always been different from the other village people, and now he finally got a taste of what it’s like to have someone help you to achieve your potential and widen your horizon and he *doesn’t* want to give that up for a boring but busy country life.

So back to the tower it is. Julian arrives, the place is kind of messy, and when he finds Garak he is in his study. on the floor. a little drunk, definitely sad, and Very Surprised To See Him.

Here we get a scene where Garak tipsily tells Julian how much he’s grown to appreciate him, not just for his magic talent, but as a person- and that he’s missed him.

But The Next Morning Garak Does Not Remember

And he's just like "Oh Julian. Youre back. I'd almost forgotten about you."

For a second Julian wants to punch a wall because *Yesterday You Told Me You Missed Me*, but then he just Smiles. settles for what they have right now. and asks Garak to continue teaching him magic.

so they go on. and have. so many gay moments.

And then Garak gets told to attend some kind of magic council meeting/banquet.

Julian says something along the lines of "Oh well, guess I'll stay home. You know, protect the fort. Practice magic." but he's a little sad about it.

But garak just goes "Hmm No. I'm taking you with me"

"What-" "I'm introducing you as my apprentice to the magic council." "W h a t-" "Oh also you need pretty clothes for this so I'm gonna make you some. Since you’re a commoner with no actual taste." "W H A T-"

So garak makes a really nice suit for Julian and for himself they match and they go to the Cool Wizard Banquet.

At which Julian meets a lot of wizards and witches and he's like "Wow this is so exciting!" but he also realises he is a Total Country Bumpkin And Noob compared to these people and their apprentices.

He also hears that Apparently the Local Wizard of every region is supposed to do a 5-yearly sweep of the surrounding towns to check for kids that have magic potential and then send them to Magic School/take them in as their apprentice directly.

And Garak. Did not do that.

He was Lazy and Angery. Exile will do that to you.

Julian isn’t too happy when he learns about this and he walks out of the banquet hall into the garden- to where Garak follows him.

"So just because you were all bitchy about having to follow this country's rules about magic you let me grow up not knowing my full potential? How many of my childhood friends might be able to do magic if they tried?"

“I was in a really bad place back then."

"SO WHAT? Things are okay now because you found me? If you had been two minutes early during that attack you wouldnt even know I could use magic!"

"...but I *wasn’t* early!"

So Julian just throws up his hands in frustration and leaves to get away from Garak for a while.

The next day he mingles more with the other apprentices and they exchange Ideas and Skills and also Gossip about their teachers.

Some of the apprentices suggest that Julian could go to magic school for a while before applying for a *new* teacher, since obviously Garak did him wrong.

This doesn’t sound like a bad idea, so he talks with some older mages and most of them are friendly and are like “Oh yeah, sure, we’d love to take you in.”

But then it turns out a lot of people are talking behind his back about how much of an outlier he is.

(wizard culture is like 50% magic and 50% gossip)

So Julian is standing on a balcony and down below he hears a group of Douche Wizards discussing his inadequacies.

And it kinda makes Julian feel like absolute shit, so his powers go wobbly again. But then enter stage right: Garak

Who properly puts those wizards into their rightful place like "Say one more bad thing about my apprentice and I’ll blast your punk ass back to Romulus. You should KNOW the reason why I dont usually take apprentices, but here you are anyway saying he has no power. He has more power in his pinky than all of you combined."

Turns out there’s an extra layer to Why Garak didn’t do the "Check for Magicians in your Area" thing- it’s because he openly has no interest in training or working with anyone who isnt Special or Powerful.

Which means Julians happens to be. very special. and very powerful.

And hearing that from Garak makes him go 😳

His emotions are running high and he starts *floating*. Probably the worst thing to do on a first floor balcony out of All The Things To Do On A First Floor Balcony.

So he’s Floating and he doesnt know how to make that Stop.

He panics, starts falling and basically crashes right into Garaks arms.

"Oh great, youre right on time. We're leaving."

"What? But the banquet lasts for a week?" also I'm still a little mad but also a little in love with you?

But Garak has already teleported them back to the tower before he can really argue.

Anyway Julian is upset about many things overall, but mostly that he didnt get to dance. He practiced a lot in his off time.

Thank God Garak Knows This

"...I know how to make magic music. Let’s have a little fun at least."

They dance and Julian starts floating *again*.

Garak 👀’s @ Julian floating "Okay I’ve been recording most of your emotion based powers. This is new."

Julian just Floats Higher out of embarrassment, so garak is like ‘well I'll just join him up there.’

So he does and Julian is like “WHY CAN YOU DO THAT. SHOW ME HOW TO DO THAT. HOW CAN I CONTROL THIS."

Turns out his emotions are too unclear, which makes his magic unbalanced, so really all they have to do is get him some Clarity.

Garak is like "Well one very easy way to do that is-" and then they kiss in the air. Floating. because I’m gay and I will use gay magic tropes as I see fit.

so that’s the garashir side of things, on to kiradax

There's Some Slow Burn In There

Basically Kira is a mage, but instead of using magic to fight she just Enchants Swords/Arrows/Other Weapons.

Because she fought in a wizard war and when there's not a lot of mana potions to go around you have to get creative.

She didn’t get a proper magician name because she was actually never anyone’s apprentice, but people still call her The Blade because she is just so cool.

Anyway in this universe mages age very slowly, and Kira is probably around 60 years old when she meets Jadzia. Which is not a lot in wizard years.

She does feels a little inadequate about being so Young and Inexperienced she didn’t really expect nor wanted to run into the legendary Jadzia Dax who everyone thinks is like 300 years old, maybe more.

So meeting someone who is her complete opposite just makes her go "Hmph. I dont wanna associate with you."

But Jadzia keeps popping in randomly around her almost every day until Kira snaps like "WHAT is your problem???"

“I never learned how to enchant tools."

"What."

"Can you teach me?"

"The great Dax has never enchanted a single tool or weapon?"

"I took care of everything with other types of magic. Will you teach me?"

So Kira Nerys, The Blade, the person everyone looked down on because she uses enchanted tools instead of magic for everything- is being asked by this legendary mage to teach her something. What an honor. What an incredible thing.

But She Says No

So Jadzia keeps bothering her every day.

But eventually bothering her turned into "Hey wanna get some coffee? Wanna go to the library with me? Can I look at you while youre in the smithy? Do you wanna look at me while I come up with new magic formulas? Wanna get drunk together and maybe kiss but definitely have no recollection of it in the morning?"

- over a span of 10 years.

But at the end of those 10 years Jadzia still hasnt learned how to enchant tools.

And it takes One day at the magic banquet for Nerys to actually realise the Implications of that.

It’s the third banquet they've been to- together, as each other’s plus one.

They color coordinate their robes and wear matching accessoires. The works.

And Kira decides that now is the day to grill her Totally-Not-Girlfriend about the reason why she sticks around.

"You could have just gotten someone else to teach you how to enchant things."

"Why would I need anyone to teach me, I have you to enchant things *for me*."

"No but before I started doing it for you. Like the whole first five years of knowing me."

"Oh well I didn’t want anyone else because I was very much infatuated with you."

And Kira just bluescreens. Error 404 nerys.exe not found.

Until she catches herself.

"You...*were* infatuated with me?"

"Yes? You obviously never saw me that way though. So I stuck around for the good company and the coffee."

Now you see over the course of 10 years Kira’s irritation about Jadzia slowly turned into Something Else. But she thought Jadzia only saw her as a friend.

On the other hand Jadzia definitely had feelings from the start, but because kira was in Denial she didnt act on those feelings.

If I were a shitty writer or- god foirbid- *Straight*, I would have there be a miscommunication right about now and prolong their useless lesbian suffering.

But I’m not.

Basically Kira just goes

"Okay but when you say *were* attracted to me does that mean you *stopped*?"

"Uh. No?"

"Cool. Excuse me, I need a moment."

So she tries to hide from this sudden revelation and her feelings in a hedge maze, but there’s no use hiding from Jadzia.

Who, instead of just walking around the labyrinth to find her like a normal person, basically whacks down the bushes in a straight line until she reaches Kira.

"THERE YOU ARE! I used this completely unenchanted sword to get to you and tell you I definitely still like you. Now will you PLEASE teach me how to enchant tools as your first courting gift?"

And Kira is like "God yes you dumbass-" and they kiss.

now wizard quodo is funny because I kind of started this part as a joke but then it all got Serious

First of all Quark is Actually A Really Powerful Magician.

But what does he do with his great power?

Move from his home country to the city of wizards and open a bar.

Because he is still fundamentally *Quark*.

And Odo is still fundamentally Odo, because he is a Shapeshifting Alien From Actual Outer Space You Know.

He still went through the whole "I was studied by scientists (wizards) and couldnt let them know I was sentient for a long time which made me very grouchy and lonely" thing.

So Odo spends like ~100 years going from captivity/being an object of scientific study to living as a guard in the city of wizards.

Basically everyone thinks that Odo cant use magic- including Odo- because, well, he’s a bunch of slime that came from a meteor.

Then he meets Quark, powerful wizard and bartender.

And he has *no* idea who he is.

Only that he’s the guy who runs that one shady gambling bar and is involved in some illegal business.

And Quark is like "Ah finally. A worthy opponent."

So he and Quark have the same vibe as on DS9- where Quark keeps doing illegal stuff and Odo tries to stop him and the universe decides to say enemies to lovers 400k words slowburn.

And one day Quark gets into some Seriously shady business with some people who are now very aggressively demanding Quark give them their money back

and they're. you know. threatening violence.

Odo shows up and right before this one dude is about to straight up sucker punch Quark he's like "HALT!" and Wow He Made A Magic Happen.

Now. Because Quark is Indebted to Odo. He is expected to take him on as his magic apprentice.

At first he is Not Down For That. They both aren’t. So even though technically they are teacher and apprentice they both just refuse to work together.

Until Odo goes to check up on Quark one day- because as we all know he makes it a point to drop by his bar four times a day just to let him know he's thinking about him- and Quark is in trouble again.

Only this time Odo is like "I'm not gonna help him. I dont even know how I *could* help him. Since he hasn’t taught me any magic, the bastard."

So he wants to just pass by and leave when Quark basically starts to just Demolish these people with magic in a frightening and totally not impressive display.

MIND YOU Quark is still generally incompetent. If this was D&D he'd have like, very low skill points but unlimited spell slots.

Anyway Odo goes 👀

Because him being unable to use magic in a country/city where everyone he *knows* can use magic has always made him feel bad.

So he goes to Quark like "Okay. I changed my mind. Please teach me magic."

And Quark tries to teach Odo magic, earnestly.

And Odo tries to learn magic from Quark, for real.

But the key word here is *try*.

Because neither is very good at what theyre *trying* to do.

Odo didn’t Really want to learn from Quark and that's pretty much the reason why Quark doesnt Really want to teach Odo. But They Try.

There’s a lot of fights and arguments and "You’re not doing it right" vs "You’re not explaining it right"

But hey, at least Odo can now do some magic, which makes his guard job a lot easier.

He also gets to socialise more with other wizards and their apprentices, and he becomes a generally happier pile of humanoid goo!

Meanwhile Quark slowly but surely turns into a more Respected wizard. And his bar also becomes a bit more respectable as well.

it's almost like,,they both wanna be,,,,their best selves,,

and learning to work together has Somehow set them on the right path,,,

idk man sounds kinda gay,,,,

But then the banquet rolls around.

Quark is like "Oh fuck I Have to take Odo to this social function because hes my apprentice and thems are the rules."

and Odo is like "Oh fuck I Have to attend this social function with Quark because thems the rules."

The vibe they’re both getting is- "It's all fun and games when we're by ourselves but Somehow acting friendly in public feels Wrong."

So they agree to Arrive together and then split up and spend as little time as possible together lest they fall victim to some kind of *feeling*.

And like all plans that Odo and Quark make it works out brilliantly for Exactly 5 Minutes.

Because while Quark is talking to his accomplished and very boring wizard acquaintances he kinda realises "God I wish Odo were here-"

And as Odo is talking to all these annoying ass apprentices he kinda realises "God I wish Quark was here-"

So that's what they do on the first day of the banquet. and the second. and the third.

They just keep only seeing each other from the corner of their eyes but dont really get to talk/argue about anything and it's making them feel Not So Good, Actually

Now the fourth day is the kicker.

Because while Odo is talking to some people he gets tapped on the shoulder and there he is! The worst father on this side of the galaxy! Doctor Mora- but like, as a wizard scientist.

"Oh my god Odo? You’re here? How did you manage that? You can’t use magic dont be silly! *I* studied you and who would know you better than me? What? *you* know yourself better? Nonsense, now walk with me- how have you been :)?"

Obviously Odo is getting Very distressed but he can't exactly say No, so he walks around with Mora.

They sit down near a fountain and his ‘father’ just starts grilling Odo about what he's been up to.

And eventually they start talking about Quark

"Wait, *Quark*? The absolute magic failure who runs that disgusting establishment? That Quark?"

"Well I wouldnt put it like that, he’s not-"

But Mora goes on- "Oh no my dear boy that won't do! You have to learn from a *good* wizard. Like me! Dont you want that? Oh I'm sure you want that. That nasty good for nothing will resign as your teacher first thing tomorrow!"

And Odo is like "Now wait a minute, Quark might have his flaws, but-"

"There! See, you admitted it. He's flawed. He can't possibly be a good teacher for you. But I would be! I *raised* you."

But Odo is getting Rather Angy right about now.

"Well you did a pretty bad job raising me considering you didnt even know I could do magic until now."

"I can’t believe it. Quark is such a bad influence on you. You never used to talk back at me. This is what happens when you hang around with people who dont know you like I do."

Then something in him snaps and Odo just goes Off on Mora.

"MAYBE *YOU* DONT KNOW *HIM* LIKE I DO!"

And he basically breaks the fountain theyre sitting at with some accidental emotional magic.

So after Mora goes "...I better get someone to fix that-" and runs off, Odo is standing in front of this broken fountain and thinks about how this might be a cruel metaphor for his life. And then the worst possible thing happens.

He Spots Quark Badly Hidden Behind A Pillar

Internally he just goes 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA'

Externally though it’s more like "How much of that did you hear???"

Quark’s trying to lighten the mood with a "Haha well it's hard to avoid hearing things with lobes as big as mine!"

But Odo is not playing, so he breaks the fountain some more. As intimidation.

So Quark goes "Okay. Alright. I heard all the parts where you defended my honor. Now move aside."

And Odo goes 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAA' inside again, so he doesnt really move but just gets nudged aside by Quark.

Who returns the fountain back to its previous state.

Things are nice and silent for a second but then Quark disturbs the moment by saying "Okay now, real talk- you want another teacher, is that right?"

So Odos head whips up and he goes "No??? What the fuck quark. I thought you listened to that conversation. Youre the only one I want-"

and he Immediately slaps a hand over his mouth because Oh God That Came Out Wrong-

But Quark is just Laughing and being his usual little shit self like "Haha good one, let's go back inside now. (where the social conventions will force us to remain apart so we dont have to confront what you just said.)"

on the inside though- Quark is just as 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' as Odo

"I absolutely Cannot go inside and socialise right now, I’ve had Quite enough of that."

"Oh...well then...i'll leave you be?"

"No don’t-"

So Odo quickly grabs Quark’s hand (and Quark just fuckin uh dies on the spot) but he's not very communicative at the moment. So Quark kinda has to just interpret that for himself.

"Aaaaalright- let’s just take a walk then."

So they walk through the rose garden. holding *hands*. and Quark points out nice or interesting things while Odo just nods or hums in agreement.

Until they’ve come full circle and end up back at the fountain, where Quark is like "Okay. Wanna go back inside *now*?"

Because he swears if they spend one more second like this he will HAVE to kiss this pile of space goo and he’d rather Odo make that decision for him.

And Odo is like "I just want to stay with you."

So Quark is like ‘Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool’, pulls them behind a hedge and kisses Odo.

because on GOD I enjoy the “going from an argument straight into kissing” trope, but that one is actually too on brand for quodo so I HAD to change it up.

#ds9 #garashir #kiradax #quodo #deep space nine #hahahahahahaahahow did i get this to four thousand words #wizard lizard #yea thats what im calling it

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raven-of-domain-kwaad · 3 years

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30 Questions tag game

Tagged by: @thedinalixlegacy Thank you very much Dina! Forgot to say I was also tagged by @shanfamilydrama and @gothwarlocks Thanks Jules and Ro!

Rules: Answer 30 questions and tag 5 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better.

Forgive me if I double tag anyone @empireswraths, @swtorpadawan, @starknstarwars, @thelastenvoyyy, @palepinkycat (only if you want to do this of course) and anyone else that is interested in doing this.

Name/Nickname: Raven on the internet. Been considering Claire for a while as a legal name because my birth name is stupidly masculine and I hate it.

Gender: Trans fem

Star sign: Aries

Height: 5′8″ or 173 cm

Birthday: 22nd of March

Time: Currently 09:00 as I type this

Favorite bands: Probably The Clash. My dad introduced me to their music as a kid and I’ve enjoyed their stuff ever since. Armadillos became a favorite animal of mine because of their Rock the Casbah music video.,

Favorite solo artists: Probably Lady Gaga.

Song stuck in my head: “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Öyster Cult

Last movie: I have no idea. Maybe Star Trek Into Darkness?

Last show: Probably a random cooking show that my partner was watching.

When did I create this blog: May of 2020. That feels like a decade ago.

What do I post: Mainly SWTOR but also general Star Wars stuff and stuff that makes me nostalgic for the old EU.

Last thing I googled: Online meu for an Indian restaurant

Other blogs: My main is @theravenassassin95. It has turned into a Dragon Age / Video game blog. Also @raven-201 is my personal blog.

Do I get asks: When I reblog those ask games, yes. Recently I haven’t reblogged many of those because my brain has been exhausted.

Why I chose my url: Ah, well first my apologies to any Dutch followers out there as I didn’t know Kwaad was a Dutch word. Thank you @thedinalixlegacy for pointing that out to me.

So I’m an unapologetic fan of the Yuuzhan Vong from the old Star Wars EU. Domain Kwaad was one of the Yuuzhan Vong “Houses” or “Families.” One of my favorite characters, Tahiri Veila, was captured and shaped (brainwashed) by a member of Domain Kwaad to try and turn her into a Yuuzhan Vong. Tahiri’s Yuuzhan Vong name was Riina of Domain Kwaad. I just swapped out Riina for Raven and got my blog name.

Following: 153, several haven’t posted in years though. I should clean that up.

Followers: 66... I’ll ignore the obvious joke potential there

Average hours of sleep: 6 or 7 I think?

Lucky number: 13

Instruments: I used to play the piano because I was a good half Korean kid that did as their mother said. I wish I had continued to play but because I was being forced to do it and had to take technical music tests every year (those damn tests stressed me out so much I had multiple emotional break downs right in front of the test officials) I started to hate it and gave up on piano as soon as I could.

Also used to play the clarinet in school because you had to start with the clarinet before getting to the saxophone which is what I wanted to play. But I got really bored with band and so never advanced beyond the clarinet.

What am I wearing: Pajama pants and t-shirt. I need to buy bigger shirts. I’ve found that as my tits grow (thank you so very much second puberty) they start to chafe against my shirts so I need to wear a bra even when casually relaxing.

Dream job: I never had one. I probably did as a kid but figuring out I was trans and trying to get my mental health under control meant that dream jobs and stuff like that were never something I thought about.

Dream trip: I would really enjoy doing a world tour to see all the Egyptian Obelisks that have spread around the world. Egyptian history is really cool and some of my fondest memories are of listening to historical audio lectures with my dad while driving together. I also remember visiting the Vatican with a friend of mine and seeing one of the Obelisks there. I think my words were “Oh that’s so cool. Let’s go see everything else they stole.”

Favorite food: Depends on my mood. Right now? I’d say Kimchi-jjigae.

Nationality: American... yikes

Favorite song: Going to cheat a little and say the Halo 3: ODST soundtrack. It is a slow almost somber jazz with falling rain in the background that I have used for years to help myself calm down and to stabilize myself whenever I start to fall into depression.

Last book read: Oh man. I haven’t finished a book in forever. If graphic novels and comics count then it would be the Aliens / Vampirella crossover. A surprisingly fun story that I really enjoyed.

Top three fictional universes I’d like to live in:

1. Star wars. Despite the never ending conflicts, I would love to live in a galaxy where space travel is so readily available.

2. Mass Effect. Yeah Reapers suck but having the ability to explore our galaxy and find new mass relays and species would be so damn cool.

3. Star Trek. Universal health care (I know other countries have it now but not the US)? No capitalism? Space travel? Relatively stable political climate? Yes please.

#about raven #thanks so much for the tag dina #this was really fun to do

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prosopopeya · 3 years

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just some ramblings. mental health update.

so a mental health update: i was just thinking this morning that it feels like it’s been a long time since i felt a total sense of dread in the mornings before coming to work, where i’d have to pep talk myself basically the entire way here and reason with myself--only this many days till the weekend, only this number of classes before a break--to convince myself i could get through it.

i attempted to keep a journal in evernote but that attempt almost immediately failed; still, i went back to see if i happened to write anything in the fall that would confirm my suspicions, and i did, back in october. “Also it's nice not wanting to come to work or deal with things but not to be overpoweringly depressed about it.”

that’s basically how i feel this morning, but as the end of the year approaches i feel like i’m getting more and more disconnected from what i’m doing. like, i’m just so done, i don’t care about what i teach or my classes, and i know i need to heavily restructure spanish 5 but i just... don’t... care, like to an extreme degree, no doubt partly bc the task feels too big and it’s the possible adhd part of the brain saying don’t try to tackle something that’s so open-ended, so massive.

anyway there are 30 some days left of school and i was recently informed that for the last 15 days at least (exam week maybe too???) i will have to be here at my actual contractually obligated time of 7:40 to take temperatures every day, and i’m well aware that it’s definitely my turn to do a share, so i’m not complaining about having to do it. but i will whine about how it is stealing from me the one thing that was helping me offset some of my end of year malaise which is my slow mornings.

i’m just ready for this year to be over. i’m ready for summer when i maybe will actually get to experience the first summer in ?? who knows how long ?? when i didn’t have something to trigger my anxiety. like i’m incredibly lucky to have gone on trips a lot don’t get me wrong!! but they were huge anxiety moments that took me a few weeks to prepare for and then recover from, and the summers where i didn’t have that, i did just have my regular mental illness making it difficult for me to relax. or the world was on fire.

maybe this year i’ll have a summer where i can do the things i want to do or, you know, not and not beat myself up over it. every year i go into summer with detailed plans of how i’ll utilize my time that just never happens and i spend days feeling guilty about it, and maybe this year will be different.

#maybe this time

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starrybethany · 4 years

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Clayton Keller: Part 10

Word count: 2063

Clayton went on the trip without me. And I know that not because he told me or threatened me or asked me, but because I follow Christian on Instagram and he posted a picture of the large group at the beach.

Despite the animosity with Clayton, I can’t help the aching in my heart to be there with everyone. Despite the month-long break I just had from school, I didn’t get to do much of anything besides partying and hanging out with Clayton and my friends.

And I will admit, I miss the hockey player for the week that he’s gone.

I can’t help the desire to feel his arms wrap around my waist again or for him to tell me some stupid joke that I don’t really understand but laugh at just to see his smile.

Hell, I even miss Christian cockblocking us.

He opens the front door and for the first time ever, I feel nervous in Clayton’s presence. He stares at me blankly, like he doesn’t know why I’m standing right in front of him even though we’re contractually obliged to one another.

Maybe it’s more than just the contract, though.

“What are you doing here, Y/N?” He asks, no sign of lightness in his tone.

I have to hold back a wince at that.

“I thought you would want to see me,” I begin, screaming at myself for sounding so arrogant in the back of my head. He tilts his head to confirm my thought. “You know, after not seeing each other for a week.”

“Did you want to see me?” He questions.

“Well I’m here, aren’t I?” I joke. My smile fades once I realize he isn’t laughing. I guess he isn’t in the joking mood. I sigh, staring deep into his eyes. “What’s your deal, Clayton? Why are you so pissed off at me?”

“There is no way you can sound like you don’t care less,” he notes.

“Well I do care because you tried to screw me over and now you are mad at me,” I begin to raise my voice out of frustration.

“Get in here, I don’t want my neighbors to hear us arguing,” he mumbles, stepping to the side to let me into the house.

I quickly scan the living room and kitchen, noticing that Christian is in neither. So either he’s not about to hear this heated fight or he’ll have to listen to all of it from his bedroom.

“I can’t do this anymore, Y/N,” Clayton states.

I turn around to face him, eyes narrowing into a glare once I see his exasperated face.

“What the hell do you mean? What can’t you do?”

“This!” He throws his hands up. “Pretending like I don’t have actual, genuine feelings for you. Pretending that I haven’t since the first night I met you months ago and you shot me down at the bar because you’re too busy to be in a relationship. I can’t keep falling in love with someone who is not falling in love with me.”

My face softens as I examine him. His Adam's apple bobs nervously as he swallows and if you didn’t look close enough, you’d think that he’s looking at me. I can tell he’s looking at the wall behind me.

I start gently, trying my best not to ruffle his feathers. “Clayton-””But you think this whole relationship revolves around the contract, right? Don’t worry, I can keep sending you your paycheck until the contract ends. And I’ll add in a bit more to go shopping, like I normally would with you, but I can’t spend anymore time with you right now. It just hurts.”

“Are you done?” I inquire softly once he finishes his rant. He nods hesitantly. “Clayton… it was about the contract at first. It was about the sex and the money and the clothes and then… it was about you.”

His head snaps up from staring at the hardwood floor, fixating on me now. I can’t read his expression but at least it’s not the harsh one he gave me when he opened the door.

“I stopped caring about how busy I was and how I didn’t want to settle down, instead rearranging my schedule to fit you into it. And I didn’t want to tell you this, but I watch your away games sometimes just to see you shine.

“It’s you, Clayton. It’s you with your trashy songs that you like to play in the car and the shoes that you spend too much money on and your stupid roommate.”

“I heard that,” Christian shouts from his room. So I guess we do get an audience today.

Clayton and I giggle at that, nervously, still anxious about where we go from this point.

Our giggling fades until we’re just staring at each other, waiting for the other person to make the next move.

“I don’t want you to be just my sugar baby, Y/N.”

I can’t help but snort at the use of the term and the brunette bites back a smile.

“Will you, um, would you, go on a date with me, maybe? Like a real date?” He questions shyly, looking like he would run straight out of his own house if I said no.

I don’t want to say no, though. Despite my hesitance and lingering questions, I want to try this. I want to try us.

“Yes I would.”

He sighs in relief, reaching forward to pull me into a tight embrace. My eyes widen in shock at the action but my arms wind around him, tugging him just as close to me. He pulls back so that we’re a couple of inches apart, eyes connecting with mine.

This already feels different than all of the other times that we’ve touched one another. I can’t put my finger on why, but it just does.

He leans forward slowly, giving me the chance to pull away if I want to. I don’t want to. My head presses forward, my lips connecting to his. They move against each other slowly, sensually. Like they’re getting to know each other for the first time despite how many times we’ve kissed before.

They’re getting to know each other on a deeper level now, a more intimate sensation.

And I don’t ever want it to end. I pull away from him once I run out of air and his lips chase mine, forming into a pout as I reject his kisses.

“Clayton, I need to breathe,” I giggle. “Not all of us can be professional athletes.”

“I just want more kisses,” he plants single kisses on my lips in between each word, emphasizing his point. I roll my eyes but nothing can stop my heart from swelling.

He steps back suddenly and this time I’m the one pouting, causing him to smirk at me.

“Come here,” he grabs my hand, leading the way to his bedroom.

“You really want to have sex with Christian in the house? I didn’t know you were into that type of thing, Keller,” I tease.

He gives me a look, dropping his hand to dig through his closet. “Where is it?” He mumbles to himself, moving to one of his nightstands after he’s unable to find what he’s looking for.

“You know it would be much easier to find what you’re looking for if you cleaned and organized your room.” I look around at the disaster. I’ve been begging him to go through his bedroom since however long we’ve been together but he refuses, claiming this way he can see where everything is.

Clearly not if he’s still not finding what he’s looking for after searching through the other nightstand.

“Aha!” He cheers, pulling a stack of papers out of his desk. I recognize them almost immediately, my heart racing at the sight. It’s the contract we both signed when we agreed to the sugar-daddy-sugar-baby arrangement.

“For us to be official and try this dating stuff without being too caught up with anything else, I think we need to get rid of this.” I didn’t realize he picked up a pair of scissors until they’re in his other hand, the tip of the scissors brisking the bottom of the sheets.

“I still need the money, though,” I admit. “I need to pay my tuition and rent somehow.”

“I can pay for your tuition. And you can just move in here, with me,” he responds like it’s that simple.

“Yeah, I’m sure Christian would love that,” I snort.

“Listen, I can pay for your tuition and rent and stuff until you graduate and get a job and on your feet. It’s what people who love and support each other do, right?” He reassures me.

“You would do that for me?”

“I would do anything for you,” he states seriously, then his face transforms into a cheeky grin. “Why do you think I tried to screw you over in school?”

I roll my eyes, not wanting to get into that situation right now. The moment turns serious again as his eyes flicker between me and the scissors, unsure of his next move.

I know it’s all up to me now. The ball is in my court, the cards are on the table, whatever other stupid sayings there are. I get to decide where my relationship with Clayton goes from here.

He’s made it clear where he wants it to go. And as stupid as I am for pushing his feelings to the side earlier, it’s now time to either stop leading him on or start a full-fledged relationship with him.

And I know exactly what I want to do.

I nod. “Okay.”

His eyes pierce into mine and he repeats for confirmation, “Okay?”

“Okay.”

We both watch as the blades of the scissors tear through the multiple sheets of paper, the quiet sound of the cutting the only noise in the room. One side of the stack, the side that Clayton is not holding onto, drops to the floor and scatters throughout the room.

“Well, that was very dramatic for a melodramatic ending,” I say.

He chuckles but nods in agreement, setting the scissors and contract down on the table before stepping closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

His head bends down and he presses his forehead against mine. I can feel his cool breath fanning across my face. I don’t know how I didn’t realize this earlier, but Clayton Keller is a very touchy-feely person.

I don’t mind it, though. In fact, I quite enjoy it.

“Where do you want to go on our first date?” He questions, swaying us to imaginary music.

I lift my hands to rest on his broad, strong shoulder, closing my eyes and imagining some cheesy Taylor Swift song. “Where do you want to go on our first date?”

He lifts one of his hands to lightly jab me in the ribs, teasing me. “I asked you first.”

“I guess we could do the classic dinner and a movie,” I suggest.

“A good movie, though. Nothing close to those shitty Netflix originals that you like to watch,” he protests.

“They’re good movies!” I defend.

“Sure, if you’re a twelve year old girl,” he jokes.

I just huff, knowing better than to argue with him about this right now. We’ve argued about this topic so many times that it’s actually ridiculous. I guess that’s our thing, arguing over stupid television shows and movies.

“Would it scare you if I told you that I love you?” His voice is hushed, like if he speaks louder it’ll scare me more.

This boy has had me reject him so many times that he thinks I’m going to do it now, even after letting him cut the contract and sharing the best kiss of our relationship- no, my life- with him.

I can’t blame him for being afraid. But now, I’m sick of pushing myself away from him and love. I want to give myself, and him, the love that I know we both deserve.

“Would it scare you if I told you that I love you?” I repeat his own words back to him.

A wide grin begins to spread across his face and he leans forward, pressing his lips to mine. It’s all teeth and spit, but it’s also all worth it.

#NHL imagine #NHL imagines #Clayton keller imagine #Clayton keller imagines #arizona coyotes imagine

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jinterlude · 3 years

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interview tag~

Hi and hello everyone! Taking a TS4 (sims 4 lol) and Genshin Impact break to finally do this interview! I was tagged by four amazing people: MRS. PCY @yeoldontknow, Beezy @hobeemin, Marria @tae-cup, & Dee @shinekookie! LET’S DO THIS!

Rules: answer the questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better!

Name/nickname: Mik

Pronouns: she/her

Star sign: Virgo Sun, Gemini Moon & Rising

Height: I am 5′4

Time currently: 12:01 PM

When is your birthday: Sept. 7

Favorite band/groups:

KPOP - BTS, EXO, SVT, NCT, GFRIEND, MAMAMOO, SNSD, SUPER JUNIOR, APINK, DREAMCATCHER, AKMU, and many more (I’m blanking on the names as I write this lol)

NON-KPOP - The Beatles, Little Mix, and I’m sure there are others lol I’d have to go on my Spotify to check

SOLO ARTISTS - Melanie Martinez, Meghan Trainor, and again, I’m sure there’s more lol I’d have to check my Spotify

Song Stuck in Your Head: Play Date by Melanie Martinez

Last Movie You Watched: Like completely? I’d have to say Coco!

Last Show You Binged: Completely - Grey’s Anatomy | Currently - Law and Order: SVU

When You Created Your Blog: 22 May 2018 (my blog is almost 3-years-old!)

Last Thing You Googled: Genshin Impact Nine Pillars of Peace (yes, I needed help lol)

Other Blogs: @kimchificrecs | @softkim2 | @heejinsprotector

Why I chose my url: I didn’t! A good friend of mine allowed me to have her previous URL uwu Thank you Bimmie!!

Do you get asks: Not really, which to be fair, I’m rarely physically on here due to school + internship or I’m playing video games LOL so, I don’t really mind the lack of asks in my inbox, though, it always makes me smile when I do get a message!

How Many People Are You Following: 306!

How Many Followers Do You Have: depends on the day lol

Average Hours of Sleep: Most of the time, I try to be a good noodle and get 7-8 hours of sleep (with an 1.5 nap lol) But when I’m too hopped on caffeine, especially if I drink Mtn. Dew during dinner time, I’ll probably get like 5 hours of sleep.

Lucky Numbers: 7!

Instruments: Nope! I used to play the piano and flute when I was younger!

What I’m Currently Wearing: My MSW pull over from my school, light black joggers (I think is what they’re called lol) and socks because my feet are cold.

Dream job: Any profession that has me working with students! (My end goal is to work for CWS/CPS once I gain more experience/exposure in my field).

Dream trip: Either Italy or Spain, though, I do want to visit any of the Nordic Countries. I hear it’s nice.

Favorite food: Filipino food, especially this one noodle dish (pancit luglug) that my grandma cooks on special occassions and ahhhh I’m drooling just thinking about it. I also love ramen!

Favorite song: Oooh... I can’t just pick on favorite song uwu (Okay I lied, hands down, Yesterday by the Beatles).

Top Three Fictional Universes You’d Like To Live In: Time to expose myself for being a huge SIMP for Kimura Ryohei (and Miyuki Kazuya [a fictional character in the DnA universe]) but I would like to live in KnB, Haikyuu, & Free (Though, I wouldn’t mind settling for One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, and My Hero Academia! Oh! Sailor Moon of course - hello Sailor Neptune’s abilities).

Tagging: @softjeon @hongism @jinned @ppersonna @monotape @ughseoks @minloop @namluve @yoonqiful @queen-of-himbos @atiny-piratequeen @jungkooksbroski @sunkissedjk @j-sope @joonsrack & @joontopia (of course you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to or you already did it!)

#I'm late to the game lol #mentioned #tag games

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miss-choco-chips · 5 years

Text

Put a ring on it

I’m not sure what this is, everyone. Had it on my docs for a while, got bored during work and thought ‘what if I just post this?’, and here we are. Basically the Core Four being loving and caring (and spiteful).

Shout out to @animemangasoul who pumped me up about this and @the-quiet-carrotcake and @iphoenixrising for letting me cry to them the Titans loving Tim.

Can be read as either ship or friendship

------.------

When shit went down, Wally and Roy made sure they were nowhere near the planet. A nice little interplanetary fuckery called for anyone free, and both of them had magically clean schedules, so off they went, praying to every god they knew about (and, with how many holy disasters they had faced between them, there were a lot) to be back after the worst of the mess had blown over.

Even if it meant missing the undoubtedly hilarious face Batman would make when he found out. Not even the chance of witnessing that was worth staying and waiting with bated breath until someone pointed out that, in the end, it was both their faults.

-So let me get this straight.

-Difficult for me, but go on.

Wally rolled his eyes, chucking a pillow at his little dude, wondering how Nightwing could do this with not one, not two, but three badly adjusted little brothers (and that without counting the girls, though, to be honest, they already had Babs). Truly, a hero of the ages. Arsenal just cackled from his place in front of the coffee table, where he was keeping them company and cleaning his equipment.

-I’m serious. I’ve never seen you this mad without a bad guy to blame for it.

-Well…

-As furious as you are at them, Bart, they are still the good guys.

-Debatable.

Wally threw another pillow, and Bart, arms crossed and all but vibrating on the couch, didn’t even bother on dodging. Just moved his particles quick enough that the thing went straight through him.

Arsenal raised an eyebrow at them- It’s scary when you do that. Like a freaking ghost.

-It’s scary that Tim’s whole family can be this level of neglectful, but you don’t see me bitching at them.

-Only because you know they’ll give you your ass back to you in a silver platter after they are done whooping it -interjected the older speedster, snack bag on his lap, a few more by the ground at his feet, sitting as close to Bart as the whole ‘don’t touch, I bite’ aura he had around him would allow.

-Kinky.

This time, Wally’s pillow was aimed at the archer. Roy just dodged without looking, still cross legged on the other side of the little table facing the couch.

-Real talk now, it’s not like they are jerks on purpose. We all know the Bats are on a whole new level of ‘always busy’, it’s to be expected they wouldn’t have time for social niceties.

Wally winced, scooting a little further away from Bart when he looked up to glare at Roy. That wasn’t a nice look. That was a ‘I can take you to someplace no one would hear you scream in less than ten seconds’ look.

-My seventeen year old best friend managed to finish high school after having to take a year off to go look for his missing mentor, going through several different mourning processes and dodging a frankly creepy cradle robber of a ninja terrorist, all while kicking ass and taking names, taking care of a huge as hell company, and keeping up the intel guy work for the rest of his shitty family. And he still graduated early. The least they could do after the fuckery he was put through by their collective stupidity would be go as moral support, but no. No, other things are more important than such a big milestone on his life. Fuckers.

Wound down after the rant, Bart dropped back on the couch, shrinking in place, oozing contempt from every pore.

Roy raised his eyes to share a look with Wally. Even if the bro code meant they were contractually obligated to defend their respective best friends, there was undeniable truth to Bart’s statement. Jason had gone on killing sprees for far less than Tim’s situation, and God knows Dick would have showed a big middle finger at his mentor and go off world with the Titans as a protest at the slightest fight. All in all, Red Robin was taking it like a champ.

-Jason’s busy with the Torinelli drug cartel thingie -tried Roy nonetheless, loyal as one could be.

Wally nodded- And Dick had already promised Damian to go on a camping-training trip that weekend...

-Great. So criminals that aren’t going anywhere and the ‘favorite’ demon child are more important than my best friend’s graduation, which isn’t even a long thing, just a couple hours and a few photos. Awesome. Do you happen to know Batman’s excuse? I mean, I’m sure is equally as shitty as his sons’ excuses, but, you know. Variety and stuff.

Wally sighed, because yeah, point. Were it Bart’s graduation, nothing short of the end of the world would have kept him from going, but, again, he only had one little dude to worry about. Dick’s house was full.

-You’ll be there -tried Roy, dropping his arrow back on the table and resting his crossed arms next to it, leaning forward to look straight at Bart-, you and the rest of the brats, right? Supes and Diana’s babies. You guys may not be related like that, but that’s not necessary for you to be family.

Like the Teen Titans were, went unsaid- the older heroes exchanged a glance, reminiscent of their days fighting side by side under Dick’s unwavering leadership. No matter where they were now, that’s where they both came from.

-Yeah -accepted Bart, but the frown hadn’t left his face-. It’s just. His parents are dead, his ‘foster’ bat-family are dicks. He has us, yeah, but… I wished he could have his family there, you know. Like, if I could adopt him, I would, just so he can have that.

Wally dropped the empty snack bag onto the ground and took a new one, tipping it in Bart’s direction as a peace offering- I mean, it’s still a month away, maybe one of them would clear his schedule and go? Probably not all of them, but anything’s better than nothing, right?

Bart harrumphed, hunching even lower in the couch, pout still present.

-If anything else fails -joked Roy, going back to cleaning his stuff-, I hear Kara’s single right now, and Tim’s an emancipated minor. Get them to marry each other, and then your Super friend is technically his brother- or something like that. Political families still counts.

Bart went still for a second, and if Wally were less invested in his snack and more on the thoughtful expression on his face, he might have known ahead of time that his next words were a bad, bad idea.

-And if she’s not on board, you could always ask someone else on your team. Team as family and all that shit, Tim would literally be marrying into the fam. Want some chips?

But Bart was already gone.

-Huh? -blinked Roy- Where'd he run to?

-...

-...You don't think he…

-What? No. No, of course not, they aren't so dumb...

For a horrible second, Roy and Wally crossed eyes again, both remembering the stupid shit they got up to when they were seventeen, and replayed the conversation. Their jokes, that anyone with half a brain would take as that, as silliness. Then came the thought that being stupid was almost a requirement for being a Titan.

With the kind of synchronicity one could only have after fighting side by side for years, they both jumped to their feet at the same time.

-I’ll hit Kori up, maybe she has some alien fuckery to deal with and we can tag along.

-Imma call Supes and let him know we’ll be off planet for a while. Shit, Dick’s gonna flip. He was the big B for a while, he knows stuff. Painful stuff.

-Dude, he at least doesn’t kill. Jay has guns, and it’s his favorite brother we’re talking about.

A shiver went through them when Batman’s reaction came to mind.

-If Kori’s not dealing with something, I’ll ask her to start shit up somewhere far, far away to give us an excuse to leave either way. She’s a goddess like that, she’ll help.

-Good thinking. I’ll start packing.

---.----

The secret meeting was held at one of Tim’s safe houses, because it had enough lead on the walls there was no risk of Superman overhearing them. Not that the owner of the place was aware of it; no one was, besides Cassie, Kon and Bart themselves. Keeping it hush hush was vital for the success of the mission.

-All on board then?

Kon’s smile could light up a town- Hell yeah dude. I’ll take care of getting Tim time off from work. Tam knows me and I’m fairly sure she doesn’t hate me as strongly as she does the bats. Fair warning though, she might ask to come with.

-She’s cool, so I’m in. We’re gonna need a witness anyway.

Cassie nodded, fierce smirk and challenge in her eyes- This is gonna piss so many people. Hey, do you think if we let Oracle in the know she’ll give us footage of the bats' faces when they find out?

Bart bit his lip- As crash as that would be, I don’t think it’s worth the risk.

Cassie deflated, but then shrugged it off- We’ll ask Tim, then. He’s as good as her with hacking, I’m sure he’ll figure something out.

-If he doesn’t kill us first, you mean.

-Don’t be a coward, Kon. I thought you were in.

-I’m not saying I’m backing down, just that we should put our business in order in case he snaps and murders us in cold blood. I know he has it in him, if pushed the right ways.

She nodded, because point. The almost feral look on her face wasn’t gone, though- Worth it. I'll be in charge of clothes. You reckon there's any chance I can get a dress on him?

-Sure, if you want him to actually break his no kill rule.

-Fine, but he's wearing white anyway. It goes well with his skin tone.

Bart extended his first for her to bump- Now you're talking. I'll be the extraction man and take him to the place.

Kon crossed his arms, looking conflicted for the first time- We can't go the classic way about it, because a fake name would mean he won't take seriously what we're trying to do, and if we use his real one in a formal document, it'll hit the news before the ink has a chance to dry. And then he'll kill us for sure.

-You're awfully worried about him drawing blood, Blue. What gives?

-He's scared shitless of Cassie and you're too adorable to hurt, but me? I'm the one he's gonna focus his rage on, and you know how he gets when at his limit.

Cassie snorts- He can't live without you, you dork. I think we are all safe. And anyways, the plan is to make him too drunk to walk on a straight line, he wouldn't be able to hurt us.

-You say that -interjected Bart, getting up from where he was crouching above their carefully spread, color coded sheets of plans; Tim would be so proud- but I've seen the dude drop kick someone with a broken leg once. He can fuck shit up no matter the situation.

-True… still, we are doing it, right?

-Oh yeah, for sure, I just wanted everyone aware that it might be our last big bang.

-Then we better make sure it's one hell of an explosion, am I right?

-Hell yeah.

-This is gonna be so crash!

----.----

The entire thing had gone something like this.

On friday, Tam made Tim turn around and head back home the second he showed his face at the office, claiming the bags under his eyes clashed terribly with her new Prada handbag and she’d rather had it than him around. In Foxspeak, it meant ‘go the fuck to sleep or so help me God’. Tim would have fought back just on principle, but Tam had him at a standstill, because the spleen thing could very easily reach Alfred’s ears if he crosses her, and no one (him) wants that. As if to make sure he would obey, she demanded they share the car that would take her to the airport (did she have some meeting out of Gotham? He couldn’t remember) and dropped him at his Perch on her way there.

He wasn’t actually planning on sleep, maybe work some of his cases from home, start patrol early, possibly tracking Jason down to offer his help for the drug cartel thing. Confused by the unexpected way his morning had gone so far, he was woefully underprepared for a flash of red and yellow to whisk him from his living room the second he put his carrier bag on the ground.

It was only years from using his team as glorified uber drives what kept him from nerve striking Bart on reflex. Knowing whatever he asked would be lost to the background sound of super fast travelling, he merely slumped over the thin shoulder he was thrown over and waited till they reached their destination.

Which… he wasn’t expecting Vegas.

The next few hours were a blur of his team explaining they had planned this gateaway as an early graduation party, hugs and a few grateful tears on his part, and booze. So much booze. He was trained by Batman, he had a bigger than average resistance to… well, everything, and still, he got so, so wasted.

Saturday’s hungover was cured with more booze. They hit casino after casino, danced over tables, payed a bar owner to close for the night and let them work their way through his entire supply, went to some neon party at someone’s exceedingly large hotel suite (the guy wasn’t getting his deposit back), his cellphone was thrown on a fountain after Cassie got sick of it going off again and again with Dick’s predetermined ringtone, drank some more, were kicked out of yet another casino...

At some point Tam appeared (a very drunk Tim had hugged her and spun her around so fast her stilettos went flying and almost blinded someone), and they all went back to the hotel, where Kon basically manhandled him into a white suit. More booze when Tim started asking questions, followed by a two hour long stay at some park were Cassie, Bart and Kon took turns holding his hand, and then each others’, with Tam saying something about bonds, and family, and sickness, and health in the background, Kon muttering something in kryptonian and making Tim repeat it, Cassie dropping to one knee and sprouting some Amazonian speech, Bart jumping on his back after his own speech (futuristic laws and all) was done, then more booze, partying and….

Well, everything was a blur, before and after that.

They woke up saturday morning with the worst headache, in a undignified puppy pile back at their suit, minus Tam who apparently had her own room. Kon’s TTK took care of the blinds and Tim blinked awake at the sound (Robin instincts), looked at his sleeping friends and then went back to sleep, head pillowed by Bart’s butt, with Cassie’s knee denting his ribs and Kon’s arm thrown over his neck, completely disregarding the three rings hanging from his shiny new necklace.

That was a problem for sober Tim to solve.

---.----

Monday morning, Tim went back to the office, Tam by his side, acting like everything was perfectly fine.

Dick called after lunch asking about his whereabouts that past weekend, claiming he was missed during patrol, but backed down when informed he was actually relaxing with his friends. Bruce didn’t ask, probably had tracked him down the second he couldn’t find him and let him be after realizing he was at Las Vegas.

Everyone that saw them walking down WE’s hallways would have swore a trail of classic music followed them, graceful and elegant.

In Tim’s mind, however, the background sound was the kill bill sirens and blaring red lights.

Tam felt like a queen, coming back after conquering treacherous lands.

Tim felt like Jason may have been onto something when he died.

----.----

When the Big Day (capital letters included) arrived, and Tim got into the stage to accept his diploma (Honor Student, of course), his eyes automatically went to the loud, rowdy teenagers, sitting as close to the front as possible, cheering and smiling.

He was far enough that it could’ve been a trick of the light, but he thought he could see all three of them going misty-eyed. His own eyes watered when he shook the headmaster's hand and posed with his diploma for the cameras (Wayne Heir Graduating would be trending on every magazine by dinnertime), his friends never stopping yelling his name.

When the time came to throw the little hats, he catched by the corner of his eye how Bart held both Cassie’s and Kon’s hands, keeping them from flying in their emotion. If one paid close attention, their feet actually were floating juuust above the ground. They were just so genuinely excited for him, it was… it was amazing.

After as little smalltalk as possible with his classmates, he sneaked away into some hidden spot, away from prying cameras, and waited. Sure enough, his best friends were there barely ten seconds later, and using that same speed, they swept him off his feet. Bart was the first, latching to his front, Kon a close second jumping on his back and hugging his head. Cassie, ever the showoff, threw her hands around the three of them and spun them around as if they weighted nothing to her. That was probably the case.

-You did it, you did it, you did it!!!! Oh my god, this is so crash!!!

-Not that we had any doubt, with that big brain of yours. Making a girl so proud.

-Speak for yourself. Personally, I feared the worst. This is Gotham, after all.

-But nothing happened! And you GRADUATED!

Tim let out a laugh, allowing himself to just feel joy. Letting them see him like that, as payment for being the most awesome friends (family) in existence, he returned the hug, squeezing back as strongly as his non meta arms could.

Then, a voice behind them that he absolutely didn't expect- Congratulations, Master Timothy.

Without letting any of them go, Cassie turned around, so they could all see Alfred Pennyworth, in his Sunday’s best, looking proud and warm, his eyes glazed over with nostalgia when they landed on his young charge. One of the young men he had the honor to watch grow into the amazing person he was today.

Even more surprising, he held a tablet on his arms, screen facing them, with a familiar figure there, white streak and leather but no firearms, probably cautious of possible civilians around.

-Hey, baby bird. Sorry ‘couldn’t be ther’ p’rsonally. Hope ya don’t mind me an’ Alfie crashing like this.

-A-Alfred? Jason? What… I thought you were in Russia!!

The man on the screen scratched the back of his head, visibly uncomfortable but determined.

-Am, actually. But it’s yer big day, babybird. Wouldn’t missit for the world.

Tim’s already watery eyes just overflowed.

-----.----

It took a month for shit to hit the fan. Tim was honestly impressed, because things rarely went his way, and getting more than a few hours to mentally prepare for Disaster? Unheard of. What a shocker.

When it did went down, it was in large part because he was milking the ‘no metas in Gotham’ rule that kept his team at bay and allowed him to go days without sleeping. Kon would say it was karmatic retribution for ignoring their orders to relax and take it easy. He would protest, but really, how to deny the truth; if not for his sleep deprivation, his secret would have gone a lot longer without being unveiled.

Between hacking into Lexcorp, running the dna samples he took during patrol half an hour ago on the database and finishing his report of the night, he was out of fucks to give. Damian bitching on his ear was the last drop.

-...And your mere presence here is an insult to Grayson's legacy. He founded it, Todd died for it, what did you even contribute to it?

A slow blink. Tim was aware his brain to mouth filter was as good as gone, but tired as he was, he just didn't care.

-Besides providing the brains on this whole fucking operation? Pants, I guess. Common sense. Ninja skills commended by your own grandfather, the king of ninjas. Virtue, too, since Dick is a verified hoe and Jason slept with your/

-C'mon Timmy -cut in Dick, Nightwing suit halfway down his chest, when Damian's face was turning an alarming shade of blue- aren't you a little old to be fighting a kid?

-Who are you calling kid?!

Typical, big bro to the rescue. Tim was too tired to be disappointed that once again Dick was siding with an eleven year old bully that kept harassing Tim. Never mind that he had been minding his business before Damian came to bark at him.

-Boys -chided Bruce and, huh, Tim had said that out loud. Whatever, not like it wasn't true. Fuck them.

-Fuck you -he told… Bruce? Dick? Definitely Damian, too- all.

-Tim! -gasped Dick. Still half naked. Standing right by Damian's side.

That kid was going to have a very uncomfortable sexual awakening any day now.

-SHUT UP, DRAKE! YOU ARE DISGUSTING!

Wow he really needed to stop talking out loud.

-Tim -And now Bruce was walking towards them, frown firmly in place- you are obviously too tired, if you can't control what comes out of your mouth. Go to sleep.

Tim hissed at him. Dick looked too shocked to answer but Bruce, somewhat used to that reaction of the sleep deprived teen, loomed even more.

-I'm an emancipated adult. I control your company. I live on my own. You're not the boss of me.

Now even Damian was looking at him open mouthed. Whatever. The computer pinged with his results, just as his phone did with his 'The hubbies and waifus' group chat.

-What's gotten into you, kiddo? -now Dick was worried, throwing an arm around his shoulders. Still half naked, that was an important detail.

Tim shrugged him away.

-Fucking demon spawn coming from nowhere to fuck with me just for the hell of it puts me in a bad mood, I'm weird like that -he deadpaned, replying to the group chat one handed- And the rest of this fucked up team siding with him just because he's a bad word away from a violent psychotic break doesn't help. Fuck off and let me do my shit, and I'll be out of your hair before you know it.

And then, with a sneer, ignoring both Bruce's and Dick's flabbergasted expressions, Damian said what would be Tim's down fall.

-Go to hell, Drake.

A ping made Tim look down at his phone and he replied without thinking, one hand tapping away at the screen- Wait, let me ask my wife.

A beat of silence. One sneer, one grunt, one surprised gasp.

Bruce made a half step towards him- Tim, what/?

A ping.

-She says no. Hang on, let me get you a second opinion, just to be safe.

-Timmy, what do you mean/?

Another one.

-Husband number one says no, too. Husband number two hasn't replied, probably asleep or traveling somewhere, but two already win by majority. It seems it's a ‘no’ on going to hell for me. Bummer, it would have been funny seeing your homeland, brat.

-...

-Aaaaand that’s my cue to interrupt -announced a new voice above them all. Kon, phone at hand, looked down with half amused, half guarded expression-. Someone hasn’t held their end of the deal and slept eight hours, huh, bud?

Tim, ignoring his family that hadn’t yet recovered from the bomb, shrugged- I slept eight hours. This past week. You never said they had to be consecutive hours.

The super just sighed and landed long enough to haul a too tired to resist bird in his arms- I can see you aren’t getting any sleep in Gotham. Let’s go back to the Tower, Cassie wants us to see The Princess Bride with her again.

-Don’t lie to me, you liar.

-Bart wan/

-Look at my face and tell me the truth.

-Okay, I want to see The Princess Bride again -he conceded, taking flight towards the closest exit, sleepy bird cocooned in his arms and TTK- Later, bats!

-...

Finally, Dick snapped back to reality, although the background noise in his head was one would expect in suspense movies right before the assassin jumped a unsuspecting protagonist- ...did he say ‘husbands’? As in, married?

-...

-AS IN MORE THAN ONE?

----.----

#Tim drake #kon el kent #cassie sandsmark #bart allen #tam fox #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #damian wayne #Alfred Pennyworth #core four #crack wedding

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in-class-daydreams · 4 years

Text

Parlay (Kuroo x Reader) | Chapter 5

-Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader (ft. Roommate Kenma)

Word Count: ~2,300

Genres: Fluff, angst if you squint, general buffoonery

CW: Some more swearing, secondhand embarrassment lol

Summary: (Y/N), a first-year student attending Tokyo U, is living with her best friend, Kozume Kenma. Little did she know, her life would be turned upside down after being exposed to Kenma’s volleyball teammate and close friend, Kuroo Tetsurou. One wrong move, and the parlay’s stakes only get higher each time.

Chapters: First | Previous | Next

Grandmother had nearly given herself a stroke from agreeing so fast to (Y/N)’s request for a half shift that day.

“Is it for school? Is it for friends? Oh, (Y/N)-chan, is it for a man or a woman?” the old woman bombarded the girl she treated like a grandchild with questions. It was rare for (Y/N) to take a day off, much less request one. She shook her head.

“Nothing like that, Gran. My friends invited me to watch their volleyball game. Our school is very highly ranked.”

“Ah, your Tooru-kun plays on that team, doesn’t he?” (Y/N) watched as Grandmother cut a mango into slices and presented them on a bed of sticky rice. The young girl served the dish to a table by the window: a young father and his young daughter.

“The usual, for my favorite father-daughter duo!” she smiled sweetly at the pair. The father looked up from his computer.

“Thank you, (Y/N)-san. Look, Miki! What’s this?” he asked his 2-year-old. The little brown-haired girl looked away from the window to meet her father’s gaze. She had plump little rosy cheeks streaked with dried milk.

“Mangey!” she chirped. Before her father could react, the child had taken a fistful of mango and shoved it mostly into her mouth, though, the majority ended up on those round cheeks of hers. The man sighed, but not without a nonetheless adoring look at his daughter.

“I’m glad she likes it, “ (Y/N) giggled, “I’ll be back to check on you two in a few minutes, Suzuki-san.”

Making her way back to the kitchen, leaning against a side table covered in clean glass cups, (Y/N) took a moment to bask in the warm embrace of the place that felt like her true home. The kitchen was smaller than most tea houses of that size and of that popularity than the average place would normally have. Grandmother, however, made sure the place was immaculate. (Y/N) looked over the small plastic bins of ingredients, each one placed based first on health code requirements, then by frequency. Filling for songpyeon took up the largest bin. Continuing her conversation with Grandmother, she said, “Yes, Tooru is on that team,” she chuckled, “They practically begged him to play for them.” Grandmother dried her hands on a dish towel.

“Well, if you ever manage to pull him off the court, feel free to bring him around. That boy’s always neglected to eat,” the old woman griped.

Opening her mouth to reply, the ringing of the front door bell interrupted (Y/N)’s reply. With a quick swipe her hands over her apron, she swung out of the kitchen and greeted their new guests.

“Welcome in-- Oh! Hi, you two! Welcome in.” Before her stood her best friend and roommate and his tall, stressfully attractive childhood friend. Kenma’s dyed-blonde hair was mostly grown out - he’d been too busy (and too lazy) to get it redone. Kuroo’s catlike eyes crinkled as he smiled at her.

“Good morning, (Y/N)-san.”

“Hi, (Y/N).”

The female led the two boys over to a booth across from the kitchen entrance. Away from the volleyball players’ line of sight, the other three servers working today poked their heads out from the kitchen doorway. Chisato, Grandmother’s actual granddaughter, was fanning herself dramatically, while Shusei and Tamaki were busy ogling Tokyo U’s handsome spiker. (Y/N) rolled her eyes at them. The boys took the menus she handed them.

“Can I start you two off with anything to drink?”

“Water, please.”

“Just a water,” because they were in college, and broke ass college students can’t afford not-water.

Kenma didn’t even open his menu before handing it back to her.

“Something with pork,” he said, after which he pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his emails.

Without batting an eye, the server girl replied, “You got it!” Then, she turned to Kuroo.

“Would you like something specific or if you want, you can give me a general preference like Kenma did, and I’ll give you something you’d like.”

The menu was somewhat thick for a tea house, which Kuroo noticed was because they didn’t just have one country’s dishes, as Chisai’s selection contained an incredible variety.

Now, Kuroo wanted to say either, ‘I trust your judgement’, or ‘I’ll enjoy whatever you put on the table in front of me.’ Sadly, the poor mess of a boy was so preoccupied with thinking about how the girl in front of him was definitely not super adorable in her white collared-shirt and her totally not endearing plaid apron, much less how absolutely unlovable it was that she had flour in her hair from tucking it behind her ear so often. He ended up making a strangled choking sound and saying, “I table.”

Everyone blinked. Forget being a cat, Kuroo fought to repel his inner badger that wanted to dig a hole, crawl inside, and never come out. Kenma was turning red keeping his laughter contained, and as if the universe hadn’t decided it wanted to be a complete dick to the wild-haired boy, he accidentally glanced up at (Y/N)’s cute expression with her brows furrowed, and her lips puckered in confusion.

‘Ahhhhhhhh,’ he thought as his brain short-circuited. Finally, finally, (Y/N) smiled at him gently.

“It’s alright, I do that a lot. Try again?” Oh sweet Karasuno’s resident Jesus, what a sweetheart. Desperate to redeem himself, Kuroo cleared his throat.

“Ahem, I-- Uh-- What’s your favorite dish here?”

‘Amazing job, Tetsurou. You fucking nailed that, Tetsurou. You, sir, are a smooth criminal,’ he told himself. (Y/N)’s bright expression from his question was almost worth making a fool of himself. Almost.

“Ah! Well, I love everything here, and I promise I really do, I’m not contractually obligated to say that, hehe, and it really depends what you prefer personally - everything is delicious.” Kuroo’s soul left his body when she shuffled to his side and leaned over him slightly to point at specific dishes on the menu. She smelled of fresh linen and of fresh baked goodies.

‘Hngggghhhhh, smell good, good smell,’ the poor boy’s brain cells were failing him at the moment, and had been for the past couple of minutes.

“So, if you like shrimp, the har gao comes in orders of 4 and they’re more filling than they look--” (Y/N)’s voice faded away as Kuroo’s brain kept trying to figure itself out like a computer with too many open tabs and had a software virus called, ‘(Y/N) Smells Divine And It’s Not Fair.exe.’ Kuroo knew he was better than this. He knew he was charming and likable. There was no reason for him to totally crumble like he was. From knowing Kuroo so long, Kenma could tell he was struggling, and, out of pity, he lightly kicked his ankle so the girl above him wouldn’t notice. Luckily, that little jolt woke him up enough to catch the tail end of her explanation.

“--you can get it with egg noodles, which I love personally, and Gran gets the duck from a nearby vendor, so you know it’s fresh. It’s especially popular around this time since it’s getting a bit cold,” she finished. It looked like he hadn’t been zoned out for too long. Steeling himself, Kuroo shifted in the cracked burgundy seat.

“That last one sounds great, thank you,” he croaked. Taking the menu from him, (Y/N) told them their order would be out “in a jiffy,” and Kenma’s wheezing stopped him from short-circuiting again.

“What-- Hah-- What was that?” he cackled. Kenma didn’t laugh very hard. Even when he watched Plant compilations or looked at memes, he mostly just blew air through his nose, at best, but here, Kuroo was starting to worry about the shade of blue his friend was turning.

“I--uh” Kuroo started, ‘got distracted by the way she was being adorable and the way her perfume--NO! Tetsurou! BRO-CODE!’. “I’m just a little out of it today I guess.”

“Clearly. You stumbled your words in front of (Y/N) like a panini-head.”

Kuroo couldn’t deny that statement one bit. How had he managed to look like such a panini-head? Why now of all times? Was he nervous? God forbid if he thought he might have a slight crush on this girl because for heaven’s sake he wasn’t about to break the sacred Bro-Code. Before he could go off on his own tangent, (Y/N) walked over to their table carrying a couple of plates in her hands.

“Alrighty, so I’ve got the house cha siu bao for Kenma, and the egg noodle soup with roast duck for Kuroo-san. Is there anything else I can get for you guys?”

“I’m good for now thanks, (Y/N)” Kenma replied as he quickly began eating the fresh, hot pork buns.

“It looks great!” Kuroo responded, his face gleaming with excitement and anticipation of how the food will taste. His expression suddenly changed to a sly smirk, “but you know (Y/N)-san, this meal would be much better if you join us~”

‘Nice, I’ve redeemed myself. Ten points to gryffindor.’

“I’m sorry Kuroo-san, but my shift doesn’t end for another couple of hours. If I end early, I might not be able to make it to the game like I promised.” (Y/N) smiled back innocently.

Before Kuroo was able to say anything, he heard Kenma let out a small, “Pft, rejected”, from beside her.

‘Aaaand, just kidding’

Kuroo miraculously recovered, somehow, and managed to say, “Ah I see. Well thanks for the food, I’m really looking forward to it!”

“Of course! Please enjoy, and let me know if you guys need anything else.” And with that, (Y/N) went back to the kitchen to get more food to serve to customers.

Kenma was deep into his second pork bun when Kuroo dug into his own meal. The duck was perfectly moist with a savory skin. The egg noodles were boiled to a perfect texture. He could’ve wept. The exquisite flavor of the egg noodle soup distracted him from his horrific failure as a human being just a moment ago. Once he’d sated his appetite, he leaned back in his chair. The setter across from him looked totally boneless, a satisfied smile on his face. Kuroo rolled his head over towards the window.

There, the young lady that had been messing with his mind all day was squatting in front of an adorable little girl while the girl’s father laughed heartily across from them. The little girl clapped in delight at the funny faces the waitress was making for her. Kuroo’s heart beat a little faster.

“You’re staring.” Kuroo jumped. Kenma’s intelligent eyes were boring into his soul. Suddenly feeling even guiltier than he already was, Kuroo looked away.

“Kenma, I swear I—“

“Relax. She’s cute. Flirt, stare, call yourself a table, I don’t care.”

Kuroo spluttered at the reminder of his royal screw up. Then, he was puzzled at how Kenma could be so nonchalant about anyone looking at his girlfriend like that, especially his own best friend. He knew for a fact that if Kenma truly didn’t like his ogling at his super cute girlfriend, he would have said something. Maybe they were one of those open relationship-type things? Sounded pretty odd for Kenma, but Kuroo supposed that people change in college. If he were in Kenma’s place, though, he doubted he’d be so willing to share (Y/N)’s affection. Not that he wanted it, of course. Nuh uh, no ma’am.

When (Y/N) gave them their check, they tried to politely decline taking her generous discount, but once she threatened to bring Grandmother from the kitchen, they ended up just tipping her a little extra to make up the difference and exiting the tea house.

“HEY, HEY, HEY.” The ace spiker with the interesting hair crowed as he landed after a vicious spike that went untouched by the other team. Tokyo U’s other team members came together and gave a quick cheer before quickly resuming their positions.

“Damnnnn, how the hell is this entire team so fine?” Shusei moaned.

“Mm, especially that number 6. He’s so pretty,” Tamaki nibbled on her thumb nail.

“Ooh, the handsome guy from this morning is up!”

(Y/N) blushed as Kuroo rotated into the front row. Gone was the stuttering, flustered mess from earlier, and he was replaced by Nekoma High’s scheming captain, all fire in his eyes ,and supported by skill and years of experience. (Y/N) leaned against the rail. Something about that focused look in his eyes captivated her completely.

Kuroo was an excellent blocker. He was smart and had the technique to support it. But despite this, the other team had powerful spikers and was starting to close the gap just enough to make the crowd uneasy. The coach leaned over and whispered something to one of the managers, who scurried off through the door to a side gym.

(Y/N) had already been a little (a lot) thirsty since Kuroo stepped on the court, but Akaashi tossed the ball into the air, Kuroo jumped up, and hit a straight right by the blockers. Suddenly, the gym air felt too stale, her cardigan too hot.

“Ohhhh my goddddd.” (Y/N) shushed Shusei and Tamaki’s moaning.

“Jealous much?” Shusei sassed.

“Wha—? Just— Just stop being weirdos!” she said louder than expected.

Tamaki wiggled her eyebrows, “Oh, so you admit you were jealous?”

(Y/N)‘s face felt hot. Her retort was interrupted by squealing all around them.

“Kyaaaaaa!”

“Omg he’s here!”

“I want his babies!”

…yeah, people get weird when they’re thirsty.

Shusei cheered and clutched Tamaki’s shoulders, “Whooo! What are we screaming about?”

“Some things never change,” Tamaki mused.

“Bitch, what?”

They stopped their bickering when their friend chuckled. She had a fond look in her eyes, but they also held something else they couldn’t quite place. (Y/N) smiled softly. She turned to them, “The Grand King loves making a grand entrance.”

(A/N): You know who’s coming soon, and I’m really excited about this next chapter! Thank you all for the support you’ve shown us so far in the series, and please look forward to the next few chapters as well! Chapter 6 is planned to be released in about two days or so. See you guys soon!

- Admin Kiwi-Chan

Kuroo, honey, I’m so sorry to do this to you lol. I make this boy do stupid stuff in this series, but it’s fiiiine.

- Admin Mango-Chan

Taglist: @joyful-jimin @nekomas-kuroo

#haikyuu kuroo #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu imagines #haikyuu scenarios #kuroo x reader #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsurou #bokuto kotarou #ushijima wakatoshi #oikawa tooru #iwaizumi hajime #nishinoya yuu #akaashi keiji

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stellaluna33 · 4 years

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10 Comfort Movies

Ok, I got tagged by @missismess, and I neeeeever do these things but I like you so... here goes!

1. A Room With A View (1987)

This movie. I adore it. It’s gorgeous, it’s witty and passionate, it’s an almost perfect adaptation of the book. There’s a sense of wonder and self-discovery and did I mention it’s gorgeous? I’m a history nerd and a costume nerd, and the early Edwardian Era is my FAVORITE. The costuming (and hair!) in this film is so perfect that I could die! And I don’t care what Cecil says, Freddy, your comic songs are delightful.

2. The Secret Garden (1993)

Oh look, it’s another film set in the Edwardian era. This one is not a perfect literary adaptation, but it’s so dang beautiful that I can’t even bring myself to care. I want to live in this movie and it’s like it’s made to pinpoint all my weaknesses: Edwardian clothes, lonely misfit orphans, beautiful flowers, secret passageways in a spooky old manor house... This may have been my favorite movie as a kid, and I still adore it. Also, Maggie Smith is in both of these films. She has the PERFECT figure for the Edwardian aesthetic and it suits her so well...

3. A Little Princess (1995?)

It almost feels weird to call this a “comfort” movie, since it’s essentially the equivalent of Kate Pearson watching Steelers games with her dad’s ashes, but... This movie (also Edwardian, also gorgeous, also not a perfect literary adaptation, but apparently if you knock out the first two, my principles will fold like a house of cards...) was the ultimate father/daughter bonding movie with my Dad. I miss him so much and this movie still makes me cry like a baby.

4. Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Does a 6-hour miniseries count as a “movie”? Well, I’ve never been afraid to break the rules, so I’m counting it! My entire family watched this when it first aired on American tv, and I was OBSESSED. I was 12. We taped it on VHS, from the tv, and we watched those tapes over and over and over, commercials and all (featuring a young Lauren Graham selling Lean Cuisine!). When I watch a historical film, I don’t want the period to be made more “palatable” to modern audiences. That’s like going to a foreign country and only eating at McDonald’s. I want to immerse myself in a different culture and find the common human experiences myself. This production was immersive. From the clothing to the way they ate, and down to the music! Pianos sounded different! The characters sing Mozart and Handel, and even the newly composed score sounds like music of the era. Lady Catherine’s theme is heavy, stately Baroque music at least 50 years out of date, which is AMAZING!

5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

This movie just makes me HAPPY. It’s so exuberant and ridiculous and the dancing is MIND-BLOWING. This gets quoted all the time in my house, because there are so many ridiculous jokes. (”Call me a cab!” “Ok, you’re a cab!” “An’ I ceeaan’t stan’ ‘im.” “Whaddya think I am, dumb or somethin’?”)

6. Little Women (1994)

I haven’t seen the new one yet, but my sister and I have to watch this one every year. Also, as a costume history nerd, this is one of the rare films that actually gets the aesthetic of the mid-1800s pretty darn well. And that makes me happy! (and that makes everybody happy, because they don’t have to listen to my unwanted disgruntled History Lectures)

7. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

My favorite Star Wars movie by far. This was another one we taped off the tv when I was a kid, so I watched it over and over again. I had an enormous crush on Luke Skywalker when I was 7.

8. It’s A Wonderful Life (1945)

This was one of my Dad’s favorite movies and I’m contractually obligated to watch this every year at Christmas. Also, I adore Jimmy Stewart.

9. Amelie (2001)

An artsy French film that is both weird and wonderful. It’s surreal and beautiful and full of joie de vivre and the love of humanity (while also using some very dark and subversive humor, which I love.)

10. School of Rock (2003)

This movie. It’s so stupid, and so awesome, and it has so much great music in it! The kids legitimately ROCK and I’m always on such a high by the end.

Well, there’s ten... I don’t think I’ll tag anyone, partly because I don’t know many people who aren’t doing this already, but mostly because I’m ridiculous and I need to feel like a rebel. But if you want to do it, go ahead! I’ll definitely read it with interest if you do... :-)

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theyearoftheking · 4 years

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Book 5: The Stand

Bloggers note: if you’re looking for a complete plot summary and a list of all the characters in this epic tome, this is not the blog post for you. Proceed with caution.

Once upon a time, there was a precocious ten year-old, with divorced parents. One parent embraced her weirdness and didn’t pay attention to what books she was bringing home from the library; and the other parent was my dad... who constantly wondered (aloud) why I wasn’t like normal kids.

Being of slightly above-average intelligence, I saw this as an affront, and did subtle things just to piss him off. Subtle things “normal” children probs wouldn’t do. The summer I was ten, my dad had picked up a paperback copy of The Stand, and was raving to me about how good it was. I remember he was fixated on people falling dead in their bowls of Chunky soup.

“Sounds like a cool book, maybe I’ll read it,” I commented.

“This isn’t a book for children. You still haven’t read that copy of The Hobbit I gave you.”

Hold my beer, motherfucker. I’m here for it. And The Hobbit was boring af. I never got past all the singing.

Just to piss him off, I read the book cover to cover, faster than he did. You know, like normal vindictive ten year-old girls do. I don’t have a lot of memories of my dad growing up, but I hold onto this one fast and tight, because I got mine in the end. I was like the Trashcan Man of the fifth grade set. Just with a worse haircut. See below.

Needless to say, my comprehension of The Stand almost thirty years later is a little bigger, wider, and deeper. It’s also colored by other epic “Good vs. Evil” reads (sigh, yes... even Tolkien); and King’s other works (mostly The Dark Tower). While at times this was not an easy book to read, I’m glad I powered through it. Ultimately, I feel rewarded I didn’t give up on page 872 like I had initially wanted to. I’m also glad I didn’t go with my gut instinct of reading the original released in in 1978, and then later on the uncut edition that was released in 1990. One reading of The Stand per year is more than enough, thank you. And besides, there’s fun pictures along the way! I mean, if I’m being honest, the book is mostly pictures with just a few words here and there to break it up. I’m absolutely kidding.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

First of all, I picked the worst fucking time to read this book. Coronavirus is probably going to kill the whole world, and I refuse to be one of the survivors like in The Stand. There’s not enough bourbon in Kentucky for me to survive that shit show. Additionally, my family is huge into board games, and we thought Pandemic might be a fun cooperative game to try. Spoiler: it’s awesome, we’re all hooked on it. I highly recommend it for your next game night. Maybe an End of the World/Pandemic theme?? You can all wear gloves and masks, eat shelf stable foods and bottled water, and play REM on repeat. Sounds... awesome.

But I digress. The Stand is your ultimate post-apocalyptic good versus evil showdown. A government employee with Captain Trips (the world ending virus) goes AWOL from his base, and takes a frantic road trip across the country with his family, where he manages to contaminate everyone he comes in contact with.

What is Captain Trips? Well, I’m so glad you asked! To hear a doctor explain it, “We’ve got a disease with several well-defined stages... but some people may skip a stage. Some people may backtrack a stage. Some people may do both. Some people stay in one stage for a relatively long time and others zoom though all four as if they were on a rocket-sled...”

The virus spreads (like viruses do), until there’s less than 15,000 people left in the country (rough estimate). The people still alive start having two types of dreams; either scary nightmares about The Walking Man, or peaceful dreams about Mother Abigail. Again... good versus evil. Guess who is who. If you need clarification, let me give you this one little quote about Randall Flagg, courtesy of Mother Abigail, “He’s the purest evil left in the world. The rest of the bad is a little evil. Shoplifters and sexfiends and people who like to use their fists. But he’ll call them. He’s started already. He’s getting them together a lot faster than we are. Before he’s ready to make his move, I guess he’ll have a lot more. Not just the evil ones that are like him, but the weak ones... the lonely ones... and the ones that have left God out of their hearts.”

And his followers?

“They were nice enough people and all, but there wasn’t much love in them. Because they were too busy being afraid. Love didn’t grow very well in a place where there was only fear, just as plants didn’t grow very well in a place where it was always dark.”

Yeah. I’m just going to leave that there for you to read and digest.

So, the remaining people from all over the country either ended up in Vegas with Flagg, or Boulder with Mother Abigail and The Free Zone; which is basically Bernie Sander’s Utopian dream.

God damn it! I swore I wasn’t going to get political and compare Donald Trump to Randall Fla-

Ok, so The Free Zone. Most of the people who come to Boulder, want to meet Mother Abigail Freemantle, the one hundred and eight year old black woman they’ve been dreaming about. She’s got a self-described case of the shine, and speaks stupid relevant truth to her followers, “I have harbored hate of the Lord in my heart. Every man or woman who loves Him, they hate Him too, because He’s a hard God, a jealous God, He Is, what He Is, and in this world He’s apt to repay service with pain while those who do evil ride over the roads in Cadillac cars. Even the joy of serving Him is a bitter joy. I do His will, but the human part o me has cursed Him in my heart.”

I’m not religious, but that hit hard. And it shows you the clear difference between Randall Flagg, and Mother Abigail.

Later on, Mother Abigail also hits us over the head, and explains to us why this book is titled, The Stand: “But he is in Las Vegas, and you must go there, and it is there that you will make your stand. You will go, and you will not falter, because you have the Everlasting Arm of the Lord God of Hosts to lean on. Yes. With God’s help you will stand.”

Spoiler: it doesn’t quite go according to her plan. Very few are left standing at the end.

So, The Free Zone. People come together, dispose of dead bodies, get electricity turned back on again, clear the roads of abandoned cars, and form a de-facto government. While lots of characters come and go (die. They die.) throughout the book, there are a few mainstays in The Free Zone: Franny, Harold, Stu, Larry, Nick, Tom, Nadine, and Lucy. But again... good versus evil. While most of the residents of The Free Zone are good, Flagg is able to whisper in the ears of some members, mostly Harold and Nadine, who end up defecting and making the trip to Vegas.

While socialist utopia is succeeding in Boulder, Flagg is ruling with fear of crucifixion in Vegas. His henchmen include Lloyd, and The Trashcan Man. Oh, Trashy... maybe one of King’s most iconic characters. He’s a bit of a firebug (understatement of the century), and really goes out in a blaze of glory (ha. Pun intended).

In fact, the two heroes of this book are Trashcan Man, thanks to his epic nuclear disaster; and simple-minded Tom Cullen, who is able to infiltrate Flagg’s inner circle, and successfully make it out, rescuing Stu Redman, who is dying in the desert with a broken leg and a horrible infection along the way. Tom Cullen is the character you root for. But Trashy is the character you’re always curious about. He’s like that rebel guy you dated in high school for ten minutes, and now stalk on Facebook, because you want to see what shady shit he’s up to twenty years later.

This is the biggest oversimplification I think I’ve ever written. The onus is on you to just pick up the damn book and read it yourself. Do it soon, because you might not have a lot of time left, what with Coronavirus breathing it’s death fumes down our necks.

For those still keeping track, we have TWO Wisconsin references in The Stand. The first was on page five, set in a gas station in East Texas, “...had covered himself with glory as a quarterback of the regional high school team, had gone on to Texas A&M with an athletic scholarship, and had played for ten years with the Green Bay Packers...”

I can’t help but feel Steve is a closeted Packers fan. He lives in Maine, so I know he’s contractually obligated to be a Patriots fan (gag), but come on... homeboy loves him some green and yellow.

The second reference comes from our friend Trashcan Man, while trying to find a walking route of possible destruction. “He had planned to get over to the west side of Gary, near the confusion of interchanges leading various roads towards Chicago or Milwaukee...”

Question... does Gary, Indiana still smell in a post-apocalyptic world? Asking for a friend.

We also start getting the Dark Tower references fast and heavy. I didn’t make note every time Steve referenced wolves, crows, or wheels; because we’d be up over a million references now. And Randall Flagg himself is straight out of The Tower. So that’s fun. And we have our first “ka” reference: “And it came to him with a dreamy, testicle-shriveling certainty that this was the dark man, his soul, his ka somehow projected into this rain-drenched, grinning crow that was looking at him...”

‘Tis ka, bitches.

Total Wisconsin Mentions: 8

Dark Tower References: 4

Book Grade: A-

Rebecca’s Definitive Ranking of Stephen King Books

The Shining

The Stand

‘Salem’s Lot

Carrie

Night Shift

Next up is The Dead Zone, which I must have watched a million times as a kid, because my mom was obsessed with it, but I’ve never actually read the book. So this should be fun! I mean... who doesn’t love reading a book and imagining Christopher Walken without his cowbell as the main character?

Long Days and Pleasant Nights, Rebecca

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today-only-happens-once · 6 years

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Crossroad

Title: Crossroad

Word count: 1983

Summary: The policy in unjust, and Logan has a decision to make. Teacher!Logan. Logicality, familial LAMP/CALM.

Warnings: transphobia, discussion of outing/getting outed, dysphoria mention, cursing, arguing.

A/N: I am angry. This is a vent fic, really. I’m just… sorry, I guess. Not really edited. Probably not very good? But hey, here this is anyway. Again, I’m sorry.

“Are there any questions?”

The question at the staff meeting sends Logan’s hand straight up in the air. Because he is certain he must have heard them wrong. There’s no way in hell—

“Yes, Logan?”

Logan keeps his expression neutral as he adjusts the frame of his glasses. “You mean to tell us that we are now contractually required to report suspicions of gender deviance to our students’ parents? Regardless of potential risks that may induce?” His tone is ice. Beneath it burns a fury so hot Logan can feel it simmering in his stomach.

The principal gives him a dry look. “Yes. We are calling it our “Rights of the Parent” initiative.”

Bullshit, Logan thinks. “What rights are those, exactly?” Logan can feel the eyes of his fellow teachers and administrators flickering nervously between him and the principal. Logan does not care.

“We are upholding the rights of the parents to all the information regarding their child so as to help keep families together,” comes the clipped reply.

“What about the rights of our students?” Logan demands coldly.

“The administration stands behind this initiative. You all are contractually required to report any questions or signs regarding a changing gender identity or seeking help for gender dysphoria.”

Logan doesn’t respond. He doesn’t know how. He sits rigid and silent and fuming until the meeting is officially ended. He sees the principal casting him furtive glances but Logan simply stands up and walks out of the room.

…

“Rough day, Lo?” Patton asks him after dinner.

“Hm?”

Patton gives him a small, concerned smile as he starts cleaning off the table. “You’ve been really quiet tonight and barely touched your dinner.”

Logan groans and rubs a hand over his eyes under his glasses. “I’m sorry, Patton. It was not intended to be a slight on you. Your cooking is always appreciated.”

“What’s on your mind?” Patton asks softly. Logan feels him place his hands on Logan’s shoulders.

“Patton,” Logan says haltingly. “I… seem to have come to a kind of moral crossroads. And I am not sure what the best course of action is.” Logan looks up at his husband. His patient, soft face felt like a steady rock in the sudden sea of uncertainty and doubt Logan had found himself thrust into the past few hours. “Your input would be… greatly valued.”

Patton frowns and pulls out the chair at the corner of the table beside Logan. “Talk to me.”

Logan rests his head in his hands. “My boss has essentially instituted a new clause that I am contractually obligated to follow or risk losing my job. The ramifications of being caught in not following this addition to our contract could also potentially damage future opportunities to pursue this field. And to risk this job, without consulting you, seems… irresponsible, at best. I do not wish to place the financial burden of this family solely on your shoulders. Especially with Virgil going to college in two years.”

The kitchen is quiet for a moment. The only sound to be heard is a song floating through the closed door and down the stairs from Virgil’s room—something with a fast beat and heavy bass that Logan can’t identify—and the whir of the refrigerator. Logan lifts his head out of his hands and locks gazes with his husband.

Patton sighs and covers Logan’s hand with one of his own. “Why don’t you want to follow it?”

“They are requiring that we out transgender students to their parents,” Logan says, no longer able to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “And I… I don’t know that I can, in good conscience, follow that.” He flips the hand Patton is covering up so that his palm is touching his husband’s before entwining their fingers together. When he looks back up at Patton, he sees that a brightness and pained empathy shining in them.

“Logan,” Patton says softly. “I have your back. Always have, always will. You have to do the right thing here.”

Logan takes in a deep breath and releases it in a huff. “I just wish I knew what that was, Patton. I can’t carry it out. That much is certain. But… does this mean I leave the school? That feels…” Logan isn’t sure how to explain the slightly sour taste the thought leaves on his tongue, or the twist it pulls in his stomach. “Cowardly. It feels cowardly, to leave those kids to fend for themselves in an institution that is willing to so greatly dismiss their well-being and best interest.”

Logan feels Patton squeeze his hand. He is grateful for the small reminder and reassurance the action gives him. Logan holds onto his hand like it’s a lifeline.

“But does staying mean I’m condoning it? Does it make me complicit in the injustice?” Logan can tell the frustration is starting to boil over in the biting way the words push past his lips. “Would leaving be a sign that I don’t stand for it and neither should the students? Or is it just running away when they need an advocate from inside?”

Logan’s hand curls into fist. Patton reaches across the table and covers that hand too until Logan relaxes his grip.

“Logan.”

“What?”

“Look at me.”

The high school science teacher looks up at his partner and is surprised when he feels soft lips meeting his own, Patton’s hand cupping his jaw. Logan’s eyes close and he leans into the kiss, releasing a faint breath when Patton pulls away. He brushes his thumb back and forth across Logan’s cheek.

“You are going to figure out what the best course of action is,” Patton assures him. “But this decision has to be yours. I can’t tell you what to do here. I’ll support you no matter what.”

Logan swallows and nods.

…

Logan sits at his desk the following morning as students start making their way into his room. Some of them have earbuds in, nodding along to whatever beat is helping them prepare for the day ahead. Others come in with friends, laughing and elbowing one another and saying things that Logan is almost certain is either a reference to something he’s never seen or an inside joke.

Two boys talk about the basketball game they won last night. A small group of them come in talking excitedly about how casting calls would be posted at the end of the day for the school’s production of The Crucible. One of them is Virgil’s best friend, Roman. The rising theatre star flashes a bright smile to the science teacher. Logan gives him a polite, acknowledging nod in return. Roman’s smile dims.

The bell rings a few minutes later. The class takes their seats. It’s all very ‘business as usual’, except that Logan can’t help but feel like something has fundamentally changed. Something he can’t quite pin-point.

He looks at the podium at the front of the room, off-center so as to not block the screen behind it. The class looks at him—half of them expectant, half of them already bored—as the PowerPoint slide with the title of the unit in big, bold letters glares from the screen behind him. Logan looks back at them.

He switches off the projector and takes a seat on the stool in the front of the room. The class straightens up almost as a cohesive unit. Logan looks at them all again and sighs.

“We’re going to postpone Chapter 9 until next week,” Logan tells them. “There’s something I want to talk to you all about today.”

A student in the back raises her hand. Logan nods to her. “What are we gonna talk about instead, Mr. Sanders?”

“I want to talk to you all about identity.” Logan gives the class a steady, quiet look. “And I have the feeling this may be the most important thing I teach you all in our entire year together. So if you don’t take anything away from today except one thing, know this: you are the expert on yourself. Nobody has the right to your identity but you.”

…

“You quit? What do you mean ‘you quit’?”

Logan stares at the principal unflinchingly. “I mean I am tendering my resignation from this school. I am willing to fulfill my two weeks obligation should it be necessary, but I do not feel that this establishment is reflective of my ideals as an educator.”

“Sanders, you’ve worked at this school for the past—“

“Eight years,” Logan replies coldly. “Yes, I am quite aware.”

“What changed?”

Logan’s jaw jumps. “As an educator, the safety of my students and their freedom of expression is my absolute top priority. You have thrown both to the wind with this ridiculous ‘Rights of Parents’ initiative. Frankly, these students deserve better from you, sir.”

The principal’s face flushes red, his nostrils flaring. “That is not your call to make.”

“You’re right,” Logan admits. “It’s not. But I cannot work at an institution that knowingly puts my students at risk.”

“You have no evidence that this intitative is putting anyone at risk—“

Logan feels his frustration flaring. “Suicide rates for LGBTQ+ teens has risen in the last twenty years. Forcing teens in vulnerable positions to be outed to someone who is responsible for them financially and is expected to care for their well-being not only may put them at risk if those caretakers are not supportive—“

“Now wait a minute—“

“—but is also a complete violation of their own autonomy as human beings,” Logan continues, his voice rising slightly to speak over the interruption. “Nobody has a right their identity but them. Who that gets shared with should be up to them. Not you, not me, but them.”

“I will not have you questioning—“

Logan shakes his head. “I resign, sir,” he says bitingly. “Effective immediately or in two weeks is up to you.” He pushes himself up from the desk and grabs his jacket that he had slung over the back of the chair, walking out of the office.

“Immediately,” he says sharply. “You’re lucky I don’t fire you instead, Sanders.”

Logan lets the door slam closed behind him.

…

“Uh, dad?”

It’s two days later, and Logan looks up from the laptop in his lap as he sits on the couch. Virgil stands in the front door, his backpack slung over one shoulder. He has a handful of envelopes in his hands. Logan arches an eyebrow at his son.

“Yes?”

“Here.” He holds out the envelopes to Logan. “These are for you.”

Confused, Logan takes them from Virgil. He sees “Mr. Sanders” written on the front of most of them. There’s seven of them. Logan looks up at Virgil who is has this odd look in his eyes that Logan can’t quite place.

“What are they?” he asks.

“Letters,” Virgil explains simply. “Word about why you left has started getting around the school, and… well, a lot of people actually think it was pretty cool of you. People started handing me letters they wanted to give to you.”

“Oh,” Logan says, surprised. “Um, thank you, Virgil.”

“Dad?”

“Hm?”

Logan coughs in surprise when Virgil suddenly gives him a fierce hug. “What you did? That was… pretty cool. It… mattered. To more than just a few people. So… thanks for sticking up for them.”

Logan manages a small smile as Virgil pulls away. “Always, Virgil.”

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #vent fic #teacher!logan #high school au #family au #human au #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #transphobia #getting outed #gender dysphoria

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leigh-kelly · 6 years

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She’s Having My Baby: Part 1/9

Month 1:

If there’s one thing Santana Lopez is, it’s dedicated to her job. From the time she graduated college and took a position in the mailroom of a law firm through her completion of law school and the time she was offered a position as partner in the firm ten years later, she eat, slept and breathed work. The thing is though, because she spends so much time focused on her career, she’s completely sacrificed her personal life. Girlfriends get tired of her inability to devote time fully to them and at the age of forty, she finds herself totally and completely alone.

She hadn’t known that she wanted to have kids until she went to the doctor and found out that she couldn’t. There was scarring on her uterus from a surgery she’d had when she was younger and when she sat in her car after her doctor’s appointment, she realized that she was missing out on something big. When she came to that realization, it was accompanied by big ugly sobs that she never would have let anyone else see and she became obsessed with the idea of having a baby. She had more money than she ever would have needed but she couldn’t do something that felt like it should be natural. Maybe if she would have settled down with another woman, she could have had a baby that way, but that wasn’t the case and she had to figure something out.

It comes when she least expects it. She meets pregnant woman on the street—something that had begun to make her extremely emotional—and the woman tells her that she’s a surrogate. Santana had never considered paying someone else to carry her baby, but suddenly that felt like the most genius idea in the world. So she finds an agency and she sets up an appointment, feeling incredibly nervous when she gets the phone call that they’ve found someone to match her up with. Her eggs are find, she found a sperm donor, so basically, she’s just going to rent out someone’s uterus to make her a baby.

When she sits in the waiting room of the surrogacy agency the day she’s set to meet her potential surrogate, Santana is more of a nervous wreck than she was the first time she went to meet with Gina, the owner of the company. She smooths her skirt of her legs and tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She knows that she’s paying for this, but she wants to make a good first impression on her potential surrogate. When she’s nervous, she has to pee, so she gets up and makes her way to the bathroom. Just as she opens the door, she feels something behind it and a very angry looking blonde steps out of the way.

“Ever think that there might be someone behind the door before you shove it open?” The woman rolls her eyes, popping her gum, and Santana sucks in a breath.

“I’m sorry, I saw that the door was unlocked.”

“That’s usually what happens before someone leaves the room.”

The woman walks away, leaving Santana flustered. She uses the bathroom and by the time she’s done, she realizes that her name has already been called. She goes up to the receptionist’s desk and she leads her back to a conference room. Gina is sitting there and much to Santana’s surprise, so is the woman from the bathroom. Santana looks her over and notices that she’s wearing a shirt with a picture of a very large cat on it and her shorts are way shorter than anything Santana would ever consider wearing to a professional meeting. Then it hits her, this woman is the surrogate and Santana’s eyes widened.

“Shouldn’t surprise me that you’re rich.” The woman blurts out and Santana pinches the bridge of her nose. Does she not care at all about making some kind of impression? Clearly not and Santana feels secondhand embarrassment.

“I’m Santana, Santana Lopez.”

“Brittany, Brittany Pierce.” Brittany seems to mimic Santana’s voice and Santana looks over at Gina, expecting her to say something.

Instead of saying anything, Gina starts talking about contracts. Part of Santana has a really bad feeling about developing a surrogacy relationship with this woman who seems like she hates her, but at the same time, she waited a month to be matched up with Brittany and she really, really wants a baby. So she signs the contract and is almost surprised when Brittany does too. They even end up shaking hands and even though Brittany continues to pop her gum, she seems almost happy that Santana picked her.

A week later, Santana is at the fertility doctor with her legs spread on the table. Because she was trying to prove that as a mother she won’t be as much of a workaholic, she takes the afternoon off of work. She can’t believe that they’re going to harvest her eggs today and that Brittany is in the room across the hall, ready to be implanted with these embryos and in a few weeks, Santana will know whether or not she’s going to be a mom. According to Gina, she probably won’t have much contact with Brittany during the pregnancy, except for the doctor’s appointments that she’s contractually obligated to allow Santana to come to, so it’s weird that she won’t get to experience everything about pregnancy that she would have if she wasn’t infertile.

“Hey.” Santana runs into Brittany in the waiting room after she is done with her appointment. This time, she’s wearing a shirt with a bone on it that reads I find this humerus and Santana is still a little confused about how to interact with her.

“Oh, hey. I guess you want to give me a list of crap I can and can’t do while you wait to hear if I’m pregnant, huh?”

“You don’t even know me.”

“I totally know your type though. You probably eat all organic granola and nasty shit like that.”

“I really don’t know why seem to hate me so much.”

“I don’t hate you, I don’t even know you to hate me. Just must be nice to have a boatload of money.” Brittany shrugs, then turns away. “I’ll call you when I know.”

#brittana #surrogate!au #she's having my baby

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truthbeetoldmedia · 6 years

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The Bold Type 2x08 "Plan B" Review

Hello friends, and welcome to another week of me reviewing The Bold Type. Let’s dive right into it by starting with Jane.

Plan? I Don’t Even Have a “Pla”

As you can guess by the title, Jane and Ben suffer a “mishap” while having sex. Jane postmates Plan B (yes, you can do that) and all's well that ends well, right? For Jane, however, a visit to her doctor about some side effects of the pill spark a much deeper conversation.

We learned in Season 1 that Jane’s mother died of breast cancer when she was very young. We also learned that Jane is positive for the BRCA1 gene. Long story short, this means that she has a much higher risk for developing breast or ovarian cancer than someone who doesn’t possess the gene mutation. A positive result doesn’t mean that cancer is inevitable for Jane, but it does mean that she has to take pretty drastic preventative measures that most people don’t have to worry about.

Because of this, Jane’s doctor tells her she needs to think about her fertility options right away. One part of Jane’s preventative options, and a common one, is a total removal of her ovaries. Jane is faced with a very serious and time sensitive issue. She could commit to not having children, freezing her eggs, or having them right away, either with Ben or a sperm donor.

Jane struggles a great deal throughout the episode with this dilemma, something that 25-year-olds don’t usually have to worry about. Luckily the nature of her job at Scarlet is asking people questions about things she wants to know, so she pitches an article about how being a mom affects 20-somethings in the modern age. Instead of helping Jane make a decision this actually complicated the issue, forcing Jane to consider things she wouldn’t have before.

Motherhood for Jane is complicated. To put it simply, it's just too early for Jane to know what she could possibly want. There’s also the worry that if she decides to have kids now, she’ll lose out on parts of her life. That’s not to say that moms don’t have full lives, but having a child is a monumental life change that requires time and energy. Her life wouldn't just be about journalism and friendships. At a time when she just got her job back at Scarlet and is starting to fully grow into her career, having children wouldn’t necessarily be ideal.

Jane’s situation is also complicated because of her own mother. Because her mother died young, Jane doesn’t have any real memories of her that don’t take place in a hospital. She never really got to see her mom being a mom, so motherhood is especially foreign to her. She also doesn’t have her mother around to be a source of advice or help, something that almost all of the moms she interviewed mentioned as being their saving grace.

Jane, Sutton and Kat have a conversation about motherhood while at a playground, after Jane had interviewed some of the moms. This conversation is one of my favorite parts of the episode. It definitely sounds like a conversation I’ve had with my own friends, and it was refreshing to see a show portray a typical millennial conversation so accurately. Kat doesn’t feel the need to have kids; there are enough people in the world as it is, resources are drained, and everything generally sucks. I have to agree with her here, and when she says she doesn’t feel the allure of “being a human kleenex,” it was like she read my mind. Kids are great and all, but I’d love to be able to give them back when they get antsy.

Sutton, on the other hand, is a little more open to having kids than Kat. Like Jane, if kids are in the picture, she always assumed it wouldn’t be for a while. The Bold Type has already established Sutton as career driven first and foremost, so this definitely fits. She’s also not shy in naming her mother as a reason she might want kids. As briefly discussed in last week’s episode, Sutton basically served as a parent to her alcoholic, hard partying mom. It’s very common for people from situations like this to want kids just so they can do better than their parents did.

Later on in the episode Jane tells Ben what’s been going on, both about her BRCA status and the complex decision she’s facing about having or not having children. This is the first sign of Ben being a little less than perfect: he’s way too much of a doctor about Jane’s BRCA gene and not enough of a boyfriend. He immediately starts asking medical questions involving the type of cancer Jane’s mom had, which is definitely not the best (or most comforting) response. They end the episode on a strained note, the future definitely not looking bright for these two.

#GIRLBOSS

Ah, Sutton. Everyone seems to be having a time of it this episode, and she is no exception. Oliver is in Paris for fashion week, so Sutton serves as his replacement in a Scarlet budget meeting. They’re cutting every department budget to allocate some funds, and Sutton took Oliver’s advice to “smile and nod” as permission to authorize a 10% cut to the fashion department. I really doubt that Sutton would be given power over the fashion department budget, but hey, it’s a plot device so I’ll let it go.

In a story that they’ve given Sutton about a million times, she faces a dilemma at her job that could possibly be career threatening, tries to fix it the traditional way, and ends the episode excelling at resolving the problem in a method that’s usually a little out of left field. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see Sutton kicking ass left and right, but at this point in the season I would expect something a little more substantial for her. Sure, her relationship with Richard was a plot point for a while, but as for now that’s been pushed to the back burner.

The most we’ve learned about Sutton was actually in last week’s episode, “Betsy,” when we learn more about her childhood in rural Pennsylvania and where her need for control comes from. We also know that Sutton grew up poor. She had to be extremely resourceful, sewing all her own clothes and retreating to the pages of fashion magazines when things got tough.

Despite how small of a view we’ve gotten into what makes Sutton tick, her backstory is actually one of my favorite parts of the show. Aside from her affinity for guns (you guys know how I feel about that), I’m super impressed with just how perfectly her life before and during Scarlet fits together. It makes sense: her love of fashion and her ability to be creative and resourceful with almost nothing make her a perfect fit for her job, bringing skills to the table that people who simply went to fashion school wouldn’t have. I’m so glad that this episode provides her with some much needed traction: she’s going to Paris for fashion week! This is obviously a huge step in her career, and something that indicates real change for her. I can’t wait to see what she excels at next.

Make America Black and Queer Again

Kat, meanwhile, is facing her own dilemma. She’s approached by Cleo, the newest board member at Scarlet’s parent company, Safford. Ah, Cleo. Love to hate you. See, with Cleo, I enjoy her time on the show because it’s usually accompanied by Jacqueline putting her in her place. It’s pretty satisfying to watch, and this episode doesn’t disappoint in that regard.

Cleo has been in talks with a skin care company called Whole Spa, and they want Kat to be the face of their new campaign. At first Kat is flattered, and at her meeting with their brand rep it all sounds great: the company aims to be all inclusive, the packaging is eco-friendly, and they want to work with Kat because of her unique story. She is, after all, a queer black woman who happens to be the first person of color department head at Scarlet. Who better to represent your company, right?

Turns out, Whole Spa chose Kat very, very carefully. In a casual run in with Pinstripe in the lobby at Safford (he’s freelancing for a garden magazine now: hemp is the new corn!), he notices the Whole Spa products that Kat is carrying and asks about them, so she tells him about the sponsorship. Unfortunately for Kat, Pinstripe has a reporter friend that is in the middle of a story about Whole Spa’s CEO donating to some prolific hate groups, specifically anti-black and anti-LGBTQ.

Now Kat realizes why Whole Spa wanted her in the first place: to be their “one black friend” when this news hits the public. As Sutton puts it, they want her to be their “black, bi bandaid.” She’s stuck now, since she already signed the contract and would almost definitely be sued if she didn’t follow through with the terms of it. Saying positive things about a company that disagrees with your very existence is not something that Kat’s comfortable with, so in typical Kat fashion she finds a way to speak her mind.

She does everything she’s contractually obligated to: she tries the products, posts about them on Instagram, and lists three things she likes about them. She also just so happens to sneak in a bit at the end of one particular Instagram story that the Whole Spa CEO is corrupt and using her to cover up their bigotry, but hey, no problem right?

Wrong. Actually, the only ones mad about it are Cleo and Whole Spa themselves. Cleo drags Kat to a private meeting with Jacqueline, playing Kat’s instastory for her and waiting for Jacqueline to enact some kind of fury on Kat.

Sorry, Cleo!

Jacqueline staunchly defends Kat and ridicules Cleo for rushing into this partnership without doing her full research. Jacqueline isn’t upset about the possibility of bad press or a reaction from Whole Spa. Instead she’s angry that Cleo would compromise the integrity of both Kat and Scarlet. Cleo isn’t as phased by Whole Spa’s bigotry, saying that there are members of Safford that have been known to sport MAGA hats on the weekends.

Jacqueline then calmly informs Cleo that maybe next time, she should choose one of them to be a brand rep for Whole Spa.

YAS, JACQUELINE!

For me, Jacqueline is the true highlight of this episode. We don’t get enough of her in most episodes, so her constant support of both Jane and Kat this week was great to watch.

From the beginning of the show, Jacqueline served to be the polar opposite of Miranda Priestly a la The Devil Wears Prada. She’s kind and supportive of her staff, destroying the domineering and intimidating female boss trope.

While Jane is struggling with her article, Jacqueline is understanding. She recognizes that this might not be one of those times that Jane needs to be pushed, so instead she gives her support. After the incident with Whole Spa, she also encourages Kat to seek out progressive companies that she would feel good about supporting. She easily could have banned all future sponsorships or endorsements, but didn’t let this particular debacle ruin anything. Also, getting her eyebrows threaded in her office? Goals.

This was a fantastic, solid episode. I’m truly excited to see how this season wraps up Jane, Sutton and Kat’s journeys. The Season 1 finale was so great that I cried, so I’m looking forward for the last few episodes of this season to really pack a punch. With Kat struggling with her relationship with Adena, Jane dealing with her medical dilemma, and Sutton visiting her hometown next episode, I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.

The Bold Type airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Freeform.

Alyssa’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝🐝

#The Bold Type #Plan B #Parenthood

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extra--credit--for--you · 7 years

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requested imagine #2

request: Is it ok if I ask you for a tc imagine about a kinda awkward nerdy history teacher confessing to you? I loved your fic about the gym teacher!!! <3

A/N: I feel like I never do the confessions justice but I hope you enjoy!

I sat at my desk and my fingers drummed against my paper in a rhythm. We only had a few minutes until class got out. Unlike most of my class, I wasn’t looking forward to it at all -- today was Friday and that means I won’t see him for another two days. The thought of it all brought down my mood completely.

“And, um, make sure your maps are complete when you walk in on Monday,” he instructed, clapping his hands. “No excuses or exceptions.” The class groaned in unison and I saw how his jaw ticked in frustration. “This project has been assigned for two weeks now -- not my fault you all seem to think you’re procrastination masters.”

This earned a few laughs as we all started to pack up our stuff to go home. The energy inside was buzzing -- kids around me started talking about their plans. The spring semester was almost done -- with only a few more weeks left of school, then we hit the big milestone. Graduation. Then no more seeing him again.

I sighed, a little louder than I had meant, and leaned against my hand. Two years of pining had left me with nothing but a broken heart and a mediocre high school experience.

“Are you ok?” He questioned, looking at me concerned.

I nodded, losing my voice with the nervousness that bubbled into my throat any time that he looked at me with his gorgeous eyes.

“Hmm...” he hummed, I could tell he wasn’t entirely convinced.

“I’m okay, really!” I said, finding my voice again. “Just thinking about summer.”

“That wasn’t much of an excited sigh -- it sounded like a forlorn sigh.” he pointed out matter-of-factly.

“It was bit forlorn too,” I admitted. “Just reflecting on my high school experience and all the things--” The bell cut me off and I sighed once more, slinging my backpack and all its contents on my shoulder as I stood up. “Anyway, see you Monday.”

“Um...wait!” He said, his hands coming up in a spastic movement as he jumped into my path out the door. I halted, walking right into his Captain America shield on his shirt.

“Oomf!” I said ungracefully as I staggered back a little bit. His long, surprisingly strong arms, reached out to me to try to center me. Of course, not used to this contact, I squealed and squirmed enough to get him off balance. I’m sure it looked like some weird dance between the two of us as we both stumbled into each other until we both eventually fell.

“Yikes,” I grimaced, as I fell on not the floor, but the damn cutie himself.

“Yikes indeed,” he agreed, laughing a little bit. “I’m sorry!”

“What’s there for you to be sorry about?” I questioned as I rolled off his body and decided to just lay on my back for a bit. “It was my fault.”

The classroom was emptied awhile ago, probably by the first minute of the bell and I could hear the commotion of my classmates joining up with their friends, their laughter and mindless chatter overtaking the halls. I sighed again.

“Need a hand,” his deep voice broke me from my reverie as he stood over me with his arm reached out.

“Nah,” I declined. “I’m just going to continue to lay here for a bit, if that’s alright with you.”

“I don’t mind,” he chuckled. “Is there something going on?”

“Why would you ask that?” I wondered aloud, closing my eyes.

“You seem kind of...down.”

“Is that supposed to be a pun?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Not intentionally. Sometimes I think I’m so good at puns that they slip into my everyday conversations without me consciously knowing.” His tone was light -- he was trying to make me laugh.

It worked. He earned a few chuckles from me. “That can be your superpower: Pun Master.”

“Great,” he grimaced playfully, “of all the superpowers I get puns. Can’t even be cool as a superhero.”

“I used to think I’d want to read minds,” I mused. “But come to think of it, I really do think ignorance is bliss.”

“I do not like the idea of you reading my mind,” he rushed out, almost like he didn’t mean to.

This caught my attention, “Why not?” I quirked an eyebrow. “Got something to hide?”

“No,” he said, assertive. His subtle blush and the anxious scratch he did on the back of his head told me differently.

“I won’t push,” I relented, sitting up from my sprawled position. “I am curious now, though.”

“I’ll tell mine if you tell me yours: why so down today?”

I was taken aback by his offer -- it was probably as easy for him to tell if I am lying as it was for me to see the signs in him. I could dance around the truth as much as I could, however.

“I am not...,” I chose my words carefully, “the biggest fan of weekends. Or summer breaks, honestly. And the graduation thing is freaking me out a little bit.” I hoped my answers would satisfy him enough.

He sat down on the floor across from me, looking at me intently. “Why?”

“I don’t really know,” I lied as I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s not like I’m obsessed with this place. There are just certain factors that I like and don’t necessarily want to part with at the moment.”

“Ok Miss Half-Answers, I won’t continue the investigation,” he said, offering his hand the second time. This time I took it.

“Not so fast, I believe I am owed your answer -- or least half of it,” I corrected myself.

He strolled over to his door and shut it, the lock automatically engaged for protection reasons.

“I think thoughts are the ultimate private things someone should be able to keep to themselves -- we can’t have an eighteen year old girl running around getting to invade people’s innermost thoughts,” he smiled.

“I’m sure your thoughts are just the Star Wars main theme on a loop,” I joked.

I got a hearty laugh from that. After he was done he leaned against his desk casually, “I’ll miss having you around here,” he said sincerely.

Automatically my eyes pricked with tears, damn my over-emotional self, “Really?” I asked, my tone seeping with vulnerability and uncertainty.

He was taken aback by my sudden attack of emotions, “Of course I will! You’re one of my favorite people to talk to!” He stepped over to me and took my hand in a reassuring manner. “Sometimes I dread what the summer is going to feel like without getting to talk to you everyday, much less what the rest of the years are going to feel like.”

If I wasn’t crying before, I was now. “I didn’t want to say anything... but that’s one of the main reasons why I dread weekends, summers, the end of my high school career... there’s no one I can quite talk to you like I can with you. I guess there’s just so many unanswered questions that comes with endings.”

My words hung out there in his classroom. I was in dangerous territory now, hedging closer and closer to my deepest desires. Him with me. Forever.

I looked into his eyes and his pupils were dilated and his Adam’s apple was bobbing nervously. “I... I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”

I waited patiently, swiping my sweaty palms against my jeans. There was a feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach that something big was going to happen -- almost like the feeling right before a deep plunge down a rollercoaster hill. I have dreamt about something like this for what it feels like hundreds of nights and the fact that this conversation was playing out towards my fantasies had me feeling nervous and unsettled. It was happening. Was it happening?

My brain willed itself to shut off as he opened his mouth to continue his part of the conversation. “I’m not quite sure what happened,” he stuttered out, “or even when. All I remember is that sometime over the last month and a half I started thinking about you more than usual. Like if I was watching a movie, listening to a song, a joke my brother tells me -- it’d all somehow come back to you. Reminded me of you. Made me wonder if you’d like the same things I like. What life would be with you like.”

That’s it. That’s the plunge down. My breath caught in my throat. Here we go.

“I know...I know these thoughts were wrong. I have contractual obligations that specifically outlines that these type of thoughts are inappropriate. But here we are.”

“Here we are,” I murmured quietly to myself.

“I don’t blame you if you never want to talk to me again, or if your view lessens of me,” he said sadly.

I broke from my freeze-up and stepped toward him, grabbing his hand. “Why would I do that? I have been crushing on you since the first week I was in your class. Wasn’t it obvious?”

He looked a little startled, but pleasantly surprised. “No! I had no idea, actually. I’m not very good at picking things up like that.”

I smiled shyly, “Well, it’s true. You’re the reason why I hate weekends. You’re the reason why I don’t like summer break and why I don’t want to graduate. I didn’t like the thought of leaving you and never talking to you again.”

He turned towards me, tentatively putting a hand on my face and smiling brightly. “I feel the exact same.”

LOL I hate to end it here but I have no idea how to wrap this puppy up.

#tc imagine #requested #tcc #teacher crush #teacher crush community

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