#sorry for any emotional damage caused by this but you have to share in this w me

[emergingghost]

i fear this is too much for me <3

#HELP #sorry for any emotional damage caused by this but you have to share in this w me #something something how fast the night changes #boygenius #julien baker #lucy dacus

[mitfloya]

𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐘𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬: 𝐑𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐥

pairings. Rafayel x gn!reader

wc. 6.8K

synopsis. He believes that by isolating you, he can protect you from the outside world and ensure your happiness together. In his twisted mind, this is his way of creating a perfect and eternal bond, you’re his muse, his statue of beauty, his own aphrodite.

warnings. The following content contains elements of obsessive behavior, yandere thoughts, stalking, possessive behavior, and may include poorly written narratives. Reader is referred to as 'you'. Proceed with caution, as this writing may be unsettling or uncomfortable for some individuals.

a/n. Hiyaaa! Thank you so much for the people that have helped me make my post manage to slip through the timeline! I kid you not I had to break my spine with this issues I kept running into (the ori yandere Zayne post is gone, I’m sorry for the inconvenience), if any of you have any suggestions on how to make my post made it into the tags please tell them on the comments section. Get ready and have some snacks and hope you enjoy reading another hc I made

♡ Please reblog and comment on this post are much, much appreciated ♡

A manchild…? you love this guy? Me being a slander and simp at the same time

To put it simply, Rafayel is always the damsel in distress and YOU are his knight shining armor. He needs your attention and protection 24/7, you don’t want him to end up dead, do you? The whole universe will miss him. 

First of all, he loves you. Second of all, he hates you. 

You’re like a goldfish, how could you not remember the vows you both made when you were just a little kid?! The mere fact that you failed to recognize his face shattered his heart into pieces, for you hold immense significance in his life.

The weight of your indifference crashed upon him like a tidal wave, leaving his emotions in ruins. It was like a tornado tearing through his soul, causing a gut-wrenching ache that seemed to consume him from within.

It creates a twisted cycle of emotions that he struggles to contain. He yearns for the love you once shared, yet despises you for not remembering the bond you had. 

Perhaps he regrets not taking action in the past to ensure he could always locate you, to have left a distinctive mark upon you as a means of tracking your whereabouts.

You should’ve recognized him at first glance. Where have you been? He thought he lost you, he doesn’t even want to wish upon your death but you make it harder for him not to.

You’ve grown so much and so many changes but you’re still the same person he met at the beach, and it makes him feels so many emotions at once, it’s the first time he has managed to put a rein over his emotions, he could’ve coax you to come to his studio and locked you up, if you were to recognize him.

His heart longed to show much he misses you yet his mind tells him to seek revenge. It’s like his body and soul is splitting. Do you know how much damage you are causing him?

You must understand, my dear, that he is determined not to repeat past mistakes. It is time for him to take drastic measures, to make a promise that will bind you to him forever. He sees you as his ultimate protector, his unwavering shield. From this moment forward, you will never leave his sight again.

In his eyes, you have always belonged to each other, from the very beginning. Your destinies intertwined, your fates entangled. He craves the security of knowing that you are by his side, guarding his every step, his every breath. No longer will he allow even the smallest sliver of distance to separate you.

From the beginning you are his as much as he is yours.

His artistic talent is both his greatest strength and his greatest weapon. Through his art, he immortalizes his love and hatred for you, capturing the complexities of his emotions with every stroke of the brush. His creations serve as a constant reminder of his twisted desires. 

Initially consumed by hatred, he concealed his love, allowing it to resurface gradually, in subtle and tender ways. 

It’s the slowest burn you could ever imagine. Painstakingly slow.

As Rafayel's hatred gradually diminished, he began to express his feelings more openly, albeit subtly, leaving significant hints about the depth of his emotions towards you. Similar to a small forest fire that grows steadily, each progression was deliberate and methodical until it consumed the entire forest, an uncontrollable blaze that can’t be extuingish.

Say goodbye to freedom and welcome to his world, now that you’re his. He will be the center of your universe.

Clinginess is an inherent trait of Rafayel's nature. He craves your presence and attention, unable to bear the thought of being separated from you even for a moment. He will go to great lengths to ensure that you never leave his side.

You've grown accustomed to his playful nature and constant need for attention, but be prepared for an amplified version, as his demands intensify. Good luck dealing with your man ♡

He is a man of pride, he immortalizes you through his art, proudly showcasing pieces dedicated to you at his exhibitions. While abstract in form, this exclusivity serves to intrigue others, leaving them pondering what makes you so special in his eyes.

Unknown to you hidden away within his personal stash, there is a gallery dedicated solely to you. Every piece of artwork revolves around your existence, capturing his obsession with meticulous detail. The walls are adorned with portraits, each stroke of the brush reflecting his twisted love for you.

But at the very least, he showers you with lots of love and affection, no more holding back.

In relationships, he presents himself as a calm and romantic partner, radiating an aura of serenity akin to the sea. He enjoys spending quality time with you, whether it be casual outings or simply sharing space in silence. With him, you will never feel alone.

But do not be deceived by the calm waters, for they possess the ability to draw you into the depths of darkness, leaving you submerged and unable to resurface. His obsession remains unpredictable, much like the ever-changing tides of the sea. 

Oh, how you've stumbled into his clutches the moment you made that fateful vow. There is no turning back, my dear. You have fallen into the siren's trap, lured by his haunting charm. You are now forever entwined in his grasp, unable to break free. You should have thought twice before crossing paths with him if you weren't planning to stay.

He has two preferred methods of dealing with nuisances. He may choose to be smug and show off his superiority, rubbing his success in their faces. He revels in flaunting his success and talents, using them as a means to intimidate and belittle those who dare to steal you away.

However, if they persist, he is unafraid to resort to physical means, utilizing violence to eliminate them from your life. He goes to extreme lengths, even shedding blood and concealing the evidence of his actions, all in the name of safeguarding your well-being and maintaining his possessive hold over you.

His possessiveness knows no bounds, his desire to claim you as his own overpowering any sense of reason. He will go to great lengths to ensure that no one else can possess you, viewing you as his ultimate masterpiece.

When faced with difficulty or resistance from you, Rafayel won't hesitate to take drastic measures. He is willing to use any means necessary, including drugs, to put you to sleep and kidnap you. He will isolate you in his studio, ensuring that you will be together forever.

His studio, the place where he creates his art, becomes both a sanctuary and prison for you. Within its walls, he controls every aspect of your existence, dictating your every move and stifling your individuality. It is a place where his obsession can flourish unchecked.

You will forever remain under his possession, as he claims you and binds you eternally.

© 2024 mitfloya — all rights reserved. kindly refrain from altering, translating, or repost my works on any platform without my consent, do not claim my content as yours.

#love and deep space #love and deepspace #love and deepspace headcanons #yandere hcs #rafayel love and deepspace #rafayel #qi yu #yandere rafayel #yandere rafayel x reader #yandere rafayel x you #yandere rafayel x yn #rafayel x reader #rafayel x you #rafayel x y/n #dividers by cafekitsune

[aphrodisiac-siren]

Home~ Neteyam x Metkayina!reader

Summary: Leaving behind everything he knew was hard for Neteyam and then adapting to the ways of the new clan was even harder. He'd push himself, overwork and exhaust himself even, to live upto his family's expectations; never really giving his own wants a second thought. That's why Y/N was the prefect companion for him, someone who kept things in his life balanced, who made sure to let him know that what he wanted was just as important, perhaps even more so, than what everyone else wanted of him.

//slow burn, cute fluff, Neteyam being a sad bean//

masterlist, Part 4

Part 3

🫧

Jake was sure his eyes would pop out of their sockets any minute now. With every word his sons uttered his blood pressure only went higher and higher to a point where he was sure he was due for a stroke. From what he was hearing he was affirmative he passed down only a singular braincell that was being shared by his sons.

"You said what" Jake's voice cracked, hand flying up to pull at his hair "Neteyam she is the chief’s daughter!"

"I know, I screwed up" the older boy hung his head in shame, still cringing at how he handled the situation.

"And you didn’t disappoint as well did ya? You beat up the chief’s son" Jake turned to Lo'ak who was also looking everywhere but at him "He takes us in, trains us and this is how you show appreciation? By harassing his kids"

"He was picking on Kiri" Lo'ak tried to defend himself, knowing well that it wouldn’t work.

"Go make peace with Aonung" his father sighed "I don’t care how you do it but just.. go"

Lo'ak walked away in defeat, in no mood whatsoever to argue. Besides, he did agree that the situation could’ve been handled better and they both did contribute to making the situation worse than it already was.

"And I didn’t really expect this from you of all people" Jake continued once his youngest son was out of earshot "what were you thinking, talking to the poor girl like that?"

"I'm sorry, I was being an idiot" Neteyam apologised. He had kept his own feelings under wraps for so long, only concerned with looking after his siblings to a point where he had finally reached his limit and like a bomb, exploded earlier that day "I'll go fix it"

"Damn right you will" His dad let out another disappointed sigh "now get outta here"

_

Neteyam dragged his feet through the sand, absolutely dreadding having to face Y/N again. He was sure she hated him now, she'd made it pretty clear by letting them know that she wouldn’t volunteer to train them any longer and he wanted to run into a wall for ruining everything. His siblings liked her, they loved every second they spent with the girl and he made a mess of it by allowing his emotions to possess him.

He begrudgingly searched around the village, not really sure of what he could possibly say that would fix the damage he caused.

What he did not expect, on top of all of this, was to find Y/N with his mother. They both were practising archery, or more like Y/N was struggling to keep up with Neytiri.

"Yes, keep your shoulders pushed back" She circled the younger girl, giving her helpful critique "no, don’t hold on to the arrow so tightly"

The boy sheepishly approached, a bit more nervous than what he already was.

“Neteyam?” His mother called out when she finally saw him, shifting even Y/N’s attention to him. The moment her saphire eyes landed on him, he felt small, all his pride and confidence from before withering away under her gaze.

“Am I interrupting?” He asked, offering a polite smile nonetheless.

“No, you can come and help Y/N” Neytiri responded. She knew her children liked to spend time with the girl, completely oblivious of the events that took place earlier that day.

“It’s okay” Y/N immediately butted in, keeping her voice steady “he’s probably got other stuff to do”

“Not really” Neteyam knew she didn’t want him there but he wasn’t going to leave until he had a chance to properly apologise “no lessons today, remember?”

“Why not?” His mother asked, curiously.

“I got held up with something” Y/N lied convincingly and Neteyam understood that she wasn’t planning on telling anyone about what happened earlier. He was a smidge grateful for it, he wasn’t really wanting to earn a scolding from his mother as well.

“I can help you with this you know” he tried again, pushing his luck and hoping she’d just let him stay.

“No thank you, I’m fine” she snapped without missing a beat, looking toward the makeshift target once again and away from him.

Neytiri glanced between the two teens. The tension among them was intense and evident. What had suddenly caused such a weird atmosphere between them?

Her eyes searched her son’s and he stared right back her pleadingly and she could tell that he wanted to be around Y/N whilst she was actively trying to be rid of him. Something clearly went down between the both of them and the best thing to do was to take a step back and let the two of them sort things out.

“I have to make sure Tuk is with Kiri” the older woman made up a reason to excuse herself “I will be back, keep practicing”

She gave her son a look before she walked away, leaving behind a thankful Neteyam and an annoyed Y/N.

“Here” he sweetly approached her, reaching out to fix her form but she simply shifted away with an ‘I’m good’ and continued to shoot arrows that missed the target “trust me, I’m just trying to help”

Still not meeting his gaze, Y/N silently nocked another arrow. This time she didn’t scoot away from him so Neteyam took it as a ‘go’ for him to help her out. He was quite good at archery, he’d earned good praise from the other hunters in his clan.

He placed his hands under her forearms to raise her hand a bit that had begun to droop from tiredness. He then lifted her elbows slightly, inching closer until his nose was almost grazing her cheek.

“Loose” he whispered, right before she let the arrow whizz through the wind and hit the target. Not the centre, but still quite close. Impressive really for someone’s first lesson.

“I did it!” She happily chirped, as if she’d forgotten she was upset with him. Her face lit up and she chuckled with pure joy before she cleared her throat, regaining her stoic composure.

“I’m sorry about what I said” he wasted no time, lest she picked up her stuff and left. She already seemed to not want him around “it was arrogant and ungrateful of me. I was trying to defend my siblings but I guess I ended up letting out all of my pent up frustration on you, a-and that was wrong of me”

He was relieved that she at the very least was listening to him so he continued.

“I didn’t mean what I said, that you’re nothing more than a privileged girl” he looked at her, hoping she’d meet his eyes but she didn’t “we both know that’s not true and I fully understand why you wouldn’t want to be around me anymore. I won’t show up to your lessons if that’s what you want, but don’t distance yourself from Lo’ak, Kiri, Tuk- they like to be around you”

“That’s not what I want you know” she put away the bow to go retrieve the many arrows that had missed the target, now scattered in the sand “I thought we’d all get along. I liked being around them too, you included”

Neteyam’s ears pointed upward, like a child hearing praise from a parent.

“But then you said the most cruel things today, things I never thought you’d ever utter” she continued sadly “and I thought maybe I was wrong about you-“

“I’m sorry” he said again, feeling really stupid that that’s all he could really say “it’s been hard leaving the forest. That was my home, it’s all I’ve ever known. And then all of a sudden I’m in a place where I don’t know how to do the simplest of things, I feel useless”

“You aren’t useless, I know Aonung likes to poke fun and I know you miss your home but I really wished you’d just come and spoken to me about it instead of being mean to me” she finally looked at him, her pretty eyes saddened “I thought we’d be friends”

“We can be!” He said almost too enthusiastically, cheeks heating up slightly at his childish eagerness “I’ll make it up to you”

“How” she crossed her arms and tilted her head, patiently waiting for him to come up with something.

Neteyam pouted as he thought for a minute, wondering what he could possibly do for the daughter of Tonowari that would make her give him another chance. She was already a princess of a sort, probably too used to receiving gifts.

After another minute of thinking, he broke into a grin.

“Wait here” he held his hands out in front of him, asking her to stay put

“Huh-“ Y/N walked behind him, her hand dropping the arrows to the ground again “I’m still mad at you Neteyam”

“You won’t be after this” he smirked at her before fully breaking into a sprint “hopefully”

Y/N watched the boy run off into the distance, wondering what he could possibly do to change her mood.

Knowing some of the boys here on the island, most of them would give her shells or wild flowers when she’d be upset. And if not the small gifts, then a forced apology that Aonung bullied them into.

She loved her brother, despite his pride and snarky attitude. Which is why she was also very protective of him. If he was at fault, she’d confront him no doubt but privately, away from the eyes of the public. She wasn’t the type to tell him off and embarrass him in front of anyone else who wasn’t their family. Which is why when she saw him scuffed up earlier, her initial response was for him to go and get himself looked after.

Did she really not deal with it correctly?

Did she favour her brother to much for his own good?

No, definitely not.

The familiar sound of flapping was what made her look up, taking away her thoughts completely from the situation she was thinking about.

“Y/N” Neteyam called out to her even though she already knew it was him.

His majestic ikran let out a screech as it made its descent, landing in the sand gracefully a few feet away from the girl.

“It’s really cool that you can swim fast and all, but I think you’ll find flying even cooler” he patted his ikran’s back, at the space right behind him on the saddle “come on”

Y/N was excited, probably a little too much. Her heart began to flutter and eyes were probably doing that thing again of just staring at the beast with wonder. She slowly walked toward the boy, trying to conceal her enthusiasm.

Neteyam chuckled at her reaction. It was obvious she was dying to get on but he knew she wouldn’t just show it on her face.

“First time seeing an ikran?” He joked, quoting himself during their first encounter when he caught her gawking. He held his hand out to her, looking at her with that same boyish grin he’d have on his face whenever she was around.

“Shut up” she rolled her eyes playfully as she took his hand, swinging one leg over the saddle and seating herself right behind him.

“Hold on tight” he turned around slightly to look at her, faces merely inches apart. Her eyes had flecks of lilac in them, he noted, something he hadn’t really noticed before “you’re going to love this”

Y/N did as she was told, wrapping her arms around his middle as he clicked his tongue a few times. His ikran spread out its large wingspan, letting out a short screech before flapping its wings and taking off.

Y/N shut her eyes tightly at the first gust of wind that blew against her face, tightening the grip around the boy’s torso.

“Open your eyes, you have to see this” she could hear the laughter in his voice as they arose higher and higher into the night sky “don’t worry, I won’t let you fall ma Y/N”

Blindly trusting him, since she was already a couple feet into the sky, she opened on eye and then slowly the other. A smile formed on her lips at how beautiful her home looked from up here. The waters glowed in its bioluminescence and sky was littered with stars.

“You know my dad came from that star” Neteyam pointed it out to her, looking back to see if she was too spotted it “you see it?”

“I see it” she confirmed, her laughter sounding like music to Neteyam’s ears amidst the wind.

As they circled around the village, Neteyam kept glancing back to look at her, as if he wanted to make sure she was truly enjoying this and to admire the smile for which he was responsible.

She doesn’t hate me now, he thought to himself, there’s no way she does anymore.

After a few more rounds around the islands, Neteyam landed his ikran near their shack. He wanted to keep flying, that was the one thing he loved to do even back home but he knew the poor thing was probably tired.

“Had fun?” he asked Y/N on their walk back, knowing the answer already.

“Mhm, I did-“

“Y/N!”

Both her and Neteyam looked toward the source of the sound: Aonung. He looked troubled, still bruised, but not the point.

“I screwed up” he told his sister, throwing a nervous glance at the Sully boy next to her.

“What happened?” His sister asked, looking at him with concern.

“I took Lo’ak to hunt outside the reef” he hesitantly said, refusing to look his sister in the eye and disappoint her even more than he already had “we left him behind as a joke but it’s been a while and he hasn’t come back”

“What” both Neteyam and Y/N exclaimed in sync, eyes going wide with panic.

“Oh my this is bad, this is bad..” Y/N was beginning to grow anxious, pacing around both the boys as she worked herself up even more.

“Hey okay, calm down” Neteyam held her by the shoulders, trying to keep her from falling apart. They needed to keep their heads cool, despite him wanting to punch Aonung in the face again “look Lo’ak might be an idiot but he can handle himself, he’s fine”

Y/N only nodded.

“Now, I’m going to go find my dad and tell him what we know” he glared at Aonung before looking at Y/N again, face softened “you go and tell your father”

“Right” Y/N nodded again, patting his arm “take Aonung with you pretty boy, and I’ll arrange for a few people to go look for Lo’ak”

“Sounds good” he then turned to her brother who was dead silent. He caught him by the back of his neck, not caring if he was rough about it “come on”

The three of them split up, hoping to hurry and find Lo’ak. He knew he’d only just mentioned that his brother was probably fine but he couldn’t deny he was worried shitless. This was a new turf, some place they were still unfamiliar with and getting lost out here was not something either of them could handle alone. And not to- wait..

She thinks I’m pretty?

#avatar #avatarimagine #avatar way of water #neteyam x reader #writing #fanfiction #neteyam imagine #avatar imagine #avatar fanfiction #lo'ak imagine #lo'ak x reader #lo'ak fanfiction #neteyam fanfiction #jamie flatters

[lottesreads]

Why Me? - Part 7

Pairing: Bob Floyd x Mitchell! Female Reader (Callsign Mantis)

Warnings: Mentions of past abuse, bruises, mentions of getting punched, details of panic attacks, swearing, mentions of being kicked out and homelessness, pining, smaller Rooster warning, mommy issues, mentions of death, insecurities, mentions of cheating

Word Count: 6900

Summary: The aftermath of your and Rooster's fight weighs heavily on your emotions and you turn to Bob once more. Plus, dinner with your dad, Penny, and Amelia can't possibly go wrong, right?

A/N: I apologize for lying to literally all of you three weeks ago... But it's finally here and I am so sorry!! Work got crazy around the holidays and ya girl got a little burnt out

Masterlist

Once your breathing had evened out, Bob continued to rub your back until you were ready to let him go. You wouldn’t say you were exactly ready, but if you didn’t pull back you knew you wouldn’t be able to eventually. He was so warm, and his arms provided a comfort you haven’t felt in a very long time. You felt safe, and seen, and it wasn’t just a hug for a hug's sake. It was something to show you that he cared, that he saw you, and he didn’t want you to feel this way anymore. You squeeze your arms around him once more before sliding them off his shoulders.

You spend the next few minutes diverting your attention back to Sylvia who has since been getting closer to you. It’s almost as if she can sense your sadness, and much like Bob, wants to make you feel better. Bob hasn’t moved back to his original seat, and your thighs touch as you move your good hand to gently caress Sylvia’s head and ears. Bob huffs out a small laugh as he watches the two of you, unable to hold back a smile.

“What?”, you ask softly, looking back at him as Sylvia does the same.

“Nothing”, he shakes his head, “it’s just I’ve never seen her open up to someone so quickly.”

“Oh yeah? Who else have you introduced her to?”

“Just Phoenix and Fanboy. Nat’s only come over a couple times and she hasn’t approached her yet, but when Mickey comes over she won’t leave my side.” You look back down at the wide-eyed border collie and share a look with her.

“We just have a special bond then, don’t we Syl?” She moves her head further up your leg at your remark, causing your smile to widen. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Unbeknownst to you, the two of you did share some similarities. There is a reason she’s hesitant to approach new people, afraid that they’ll do to her what her last owners did. Bob can’t help but think that Sylvia can feel a certain energy radiating off of you. The two of you unknowingly bring a sense of belonging and comfort to each other.

Noticing her dad staring at her, she moves over to rest her head atop both of your thighs as you readjust the ice pack Bob brought you earlier. You wince as you attempt to stretch your fingers out, immediately demanding Bob’s attention. Removing his hands from Sylvia he reaches over and touches the wrap around your own hand, “May I?” You nod as he takes the ice pack off, gingerly taking your injured hand in both of his. Even through the pain, you can’t help but admire the prominent veins tracking through his large hands. The rough pads of his fingers assess the damage, as you follow their path across your knuckles. It’s funny really, you didn’t think anyone, a man especially, could be so gentle. So thoughtful. That was Bob you supposed.

He turns your hand from side to side, checking for any real injuries other than tenderness or bruising while you stare at his face. His eyes are concentrated at the task at hand as he hums. “Just as I thought.”

“What?”

“I’m afraid we’re going to lose the hand” You scoff and lightly push his arm as a sly smirk crosses his face. “No, it’ll be fine, just sore and bruised for the next few days.”

“Is that your professional opinion Dr. Floyd?” Bob clears his throat at the remark, glancing back down to where he holds your hand, his thumb tenderly rubbing your fingers.

“That it is, Lieutenant Mitchell”, you look back at his head, bowing down as he continues to caress your hand. There’s a freckle that sits right beneath his hairline that you first noticed when he drove you home from the bar. You were so drunk you must have forgotten about it until now. The urge to brush the hair away from his forehead and kiss it is very hard to resist. But you resist nonetheless as your eyes are drawn to his as he looks up.

Your eyes are still a bit red and puffy from crying, but it doesn’t deter you from giving him a slight smile. There’s an underlying hint of sadness coming from it, but Bob doesn’t mention anything as a tear falls down your face, his thumb immediately moving to wipe it away. Your eyes flutter shut at his soft touch. He doesn’t tell you to stop crying, he doesn’t pester you to open up, he’s simply there for you.

You don’t even know why you started crying again. Maybe it’s the fact that you’ve never outright told anyone what your mom had done, or it’s been a long while since you were able to talk about Carole, but deep down you know it’s the fact that you feel safe telling Bob all of this. You feel comfortable. Something you have been without for too long.

-----------------------

The drive back to your house is quiet. Bob doesn’t bother turning on the radio in case you want to talk. You stare out the window the entire time, looking a lot more tired than you were when the day began, but the radio remains off anyway.

When his truck pulls up to the curb you don’t make any motion to move. You remain still, staring out the window at you and your father’s shared home. The tears have since dried up, but the close of Bob’s door jolts you out of your daze. He opens your door, helping you out while his other hand carries your bag. He follows you inside and notices the lack of lights and other life.

“Is your dad home?”, he says as he cranes his neck attempting to look to the kitchen.

“Uh”, you look around the house, “No, he’s probably with Penny or-”, the name gets caught in your throat, but you force it out anyway, “Rooster.” His eyes land back on you as you get quiet again.

“Hey”, you look up to meet his eyes, “are you gonna be ok by yourself?”

“Oh yeah”, you wave him off, “I think I need to be alone for a little bit. Thanks for- well thanks for everything you did today. I’m sorry to trauma dump on you.” You attempt to laugh the last half of the day off, but Bob’s not letting you let it go that easy.

“I don’t mind one bit. I gave you the penny, remember?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget that now”, you give him a small smile, resting your hand at your side and fiddling with the penny in your flight suit pocket. It’s hard to feel it under the material, but you know it’s there.

“If you ever need anything or want to talk, if you call I’ll pick up.” Your heart melts a bit at the sentiment.

“Thanks Bob, and I’d do the same for you. I hope you know that.” The want to hug you again is clawing at every fiber of his being, but before he’s able to make a move to soothe you, your phone is ringing in your pocket. You give Bob an apologetic smile and clear your throat to collect yourself before answering. “Hi dad”, your attempt to sound normal comes off as forced, at least Bob thinks so. “No, it’s ok I got a ride home. How was your meeting?” 

He nods and gives you a small smile before heading out the door. And there you are once again. Alone in your own home, this time with bruised knuckles and a penny in your pocket.

After Bob left you were too tired to do anything other than take a shower and lie in bed. Your phone occasionally dings with notifications from Phoenix checking in, and you just tell her you’re ok as she threatens Rooster’s life. It makes you crack a slight smile as you type out a response.

Not right now, but thank you. Stay on standby just in case I change my mind, though

With that you turn your phone to silent and close the blinds, succumbing to the darkness of your room. The day had been too damn long and you were ready for it to be over.

You didn’t even hear the light tap your dad left on your door as you were fast asleep. He peaked in just to see your chest lightly rising and falling, and he decided to let you get your rest.

-----------------------

The next day you awake to the sounds of pans clattering in the kitchen downstairs and the smell of fresh.. smoke? Just as you rise to your feet, the shrill sound of the smoke detector being set off  has you booking your way down the stairs. There you find your dad juggling a pan of burnt bacon as he attempts to open a window.

“What the hell is going on?” Walking up to him, you take the pan of bacon leaving him to open the windows while you set it in the sink.

“Well”, he responds, “I was trying to make breakfast.” He motions to the disarray of bowls with lumpy pancake batter, and multiple pans still sitting on the stovetop. You both take a second to look around and back to each other with matching exasperated looks as the alarm finally stops screaming at you. “How do you feel about cereal?”

“Cereal’s good”, you smile.

He grabs your favorite out of the pantry and pours the both of you bowls. You give him a small thank you before shoveling a spoonful into your mouth.

“I invited Penny and Amelia over for dinner tonight ”  You raise your brows and try to hide your smirk.

“You gonna make them your specialty cheerios?”

“Very funny. And no, I will be grilling.”

“Ah, I see. There’s no smoke detectors outside.” He laughs and shakes his head while you continue to eat.

“So, how did everything go yesterday at work?” He asks, leaning against the countertop behind him. You stop mid-chew and catch his eye.

“It was fine”. In the 10 minutes you’ve been awake you honestly forgot about yesterday. It was just you and your dad again. Like it was all those summers after Bradley left. Except for the ones where he was deployed of course and you were stuck with your mom for all four seasons. 

“Yeah?” You nod in response. “Good, I was worried about putting Hangman and Bradley in a group together, but I figured you’d work as a good buffer. Plus it doesn’t hurt that I think Bradley could give you a few good pointers.” Relief is immediately followed by a feeling that leaves your jaw clenching. Just at the mention of Bradley’s name you become angry then tired. Tired of everything to do with him and how your father places him on a pedestal. Tired that your dad is so blind to your feelings and how lonely you’ve been. 

You can’t blame Rooster entirely for your dad’s shortcomings. He’s splitting his time between him and Penny, and yeah you’re an adult, but it still hurts not being picked first. In fact, the only time you’ve felt really seen was when you received the Top Gun trophy for first place. That was something your dad couldn’t even say he accomplished. And you just wanted to make him proud, to make him see you. To not compare you to the kid he wished he had, the son he so desperately wanted. Your heart and head start to ache at the thought.

“Kiddo?” His voice breaks you out of your thoughts, realizing you’ve lost your appetite you push your bowl away.

“Yeah?” He places his own bowl in the sink and turns to you, leaning back against the countertop.

“Are you feeling ok?” Your stomach sinks as you hope he’s not going to bring up anything else about yesterday. If he didn’t know yet you weren’t going to be the one to tell him. You could deal with the repercussions on Monday at work, but right now you just wanted to forget about the entire day.

“Not really actually, I think I’m gonna go back to sleep”, you tell him as you wash your bowl out. He takes you by the shoulders, placing the back of his hand on your forehead.

“You coming down with something?”

“No”, you push his hand away, “I’ve just got a headache.” He lets you go, albeit very skeptically.

“Are you going to be ok for dinner later?”

“Yeah I’m- I’m fine”, you breathe out. He steps forward, kissing the top of your head before you head to your room and fall back into your bed. It doesn’t take long for you to fall back asleep, and when the buzzing from your phone awakes you it’s already noon.

Reaching out for your phone, you blindly tap the answer button and groggily ask, “Hello?”

“Mantis?” Rooster’s voice has you sitting up immediately. Taking the phone away from your face you squint at the unsaved number. “Mantis, I am so sorry-” Not granting him a response, you hang up and toss the phone on the pillow next to you. You stare at it for a couple more seconds before the same number appears on the screen. Out of pure anger you answer and speak before he can even get a word in.

“Rooster, I am going to say this once and it better stick. Do NOT call me or text me. I don’t want to talk to you.” You hang up without hearing any response, hoping for once he’ll listen. You stare at the blank screen for a minute, waiting to see if he’ll follow direction, and to your surprise he does.

How dare he try to call you now? The audacity of this man to call you up, no more than 24 hours after completely humiliating you. God, you need to get out of this house. Get some fresh air. Looking down at your pajamas, you come to the conclusion that you’re done moping. And on a whim you text the only person who you know can make you feel better.

Any chance you’re up to do something?

Bob: What did you have in mind?

Before you know it, you’re knocking on Bob’s door. The skitter of paws on the hardwood makes you laugh as the pounding of feet gets closer. Bob swings the door open as he ushers you inside.

“Sorry, give me two minutes and I’ll be good to go”, he says, trying to hide the fact that he’s out of breath, presumably from running to answer the door.

“No worries”, you wave him off. You take a peak around the house trying to find a blob of black and white fur, but to no avail you come up empty. Bob’s sat at the couch tying his shoes as you whisper, “Where is she?” He laughs and looks up at you, still bent over.

“Is that the only reason you wanted to see me today?”

“How dare you accuse me of such outlandish-” He cuts you off with a whistle that echoes throughout the house and in less than a second you hear paws bounding down the stairs while Sylvia runs to her dad. Of course you’re standing in between them, but you’re on your knees instantly. She comes to you first this time as your thumbs soothe over her ears. “Not so shy now are we?” You ask her.

Bob smiles as he looks at the two of you. Sylvia’s still way more energetic when Bob greets her, but she didn’t run and hide this time, in fact she leans into your ministrations. “What were you saying about outlandish accusations?” You just turn slightly to smirk at him while Sylvia vies for your attention.

The three of you start your trek to the beach, Bob’s house only sitting a little over a mile from the nearest pet friendly one. You pass small businesses and bungalows that get smaller and more colorful as you get closer. An ice cream shop catches your eye as you walk by, their unique flavors intriguing you.

He doesn't treat you like you're fragile whatsoever, like if he asks how you are you'll burst into tears or fall apart. Which you appreciate immensely. It's like Bob can sense you're looking for something to do, a distraction, and he will gladly be that for you.

“How often do you two go to the beach?”

“Not often. I’ll usually just take her on a walk around the block, but I figured since you’re here she’d be more comfortable venturing out a little bit more.” You smile, bending slightly to pet her black fur as you walk. “You wouldn’t guess by how she acts, but she is a ball of energy.”

“Is that something else you two have in common? Are you secretly a gym junkie or something?” He gives you a small laugh before staring ahead, the smile slightly slipping from his face.

“Nah”, he lets out, the beach now just ahead of you. “What ya see is what ya get with me.”

“That is not true”, you say, shaking your head. “When I first met you I would have never guessed you have a great sense of humor”, it’s his turn to shake his head, trying to hide the small laugh that leaves his nose, “Or that you know the greatest cure for hangovers, or-” the two of you finally stop at the short wall that separates you from the sand. You stop to turn, taking in Bob’s features as he gazes out at the ocean, “Or that you are one of the most kind and generous people I have ever met.” He meets your eyes and notices the genuine look in your face, but all too soon tears them away.

“That is very kind of you to say.”

“Well it’s true.” He looks back for longer this time, and the smiles grow on both of your faces before Sylvia barks, disrupting the moment.

“Oh I’m so sorry”, he says to her, rolling his eyes. The two of you take off your shoes, placing them nearby on the sand while Bob reaches into his pocket to grab the ball he brought for Sylvia. “Is this what you wanted then?” Reaching his arm back, he extends and throws the ball far down the beach. Your eyes widen as you watch the ball fly through the air, all while Sylvia runs after it.

“What?” Bob asks, examining your features. You scoff at his cavalier question and motion to where Sylvia was retrieving the tennis ball.

“You just threw that like a mile down the beach!” He gives you a genuine laugh at your exaggeration and shrugs his shoulders.

“I played baseball in High School.”

“For who, the Orioles?” You gawk. He shakes his head and laughs while Sylvia runs back and drops the ball at his feet. He throws the ball once more, just as far.

“I played outfield in little league ‘cause I was terrified of the ball, but turns out I was good at throwing.” He shrugs once again while you shake your head and smile.

“Oh Bob”, you laugh, “You are just full of secrets.” He turns the ball over in his hand before throwing it and can’t help but think of how true that is. It may not be multiple but he has one big secret. The one that threatens to tear open his chest every time he’s with you. The one that causes his heart to beat faster every time you smile at him. The one that threatens to give way every time he dares to take a glance at you.

He continues throwing the ball to Sylvia while she chases it until she visibly slows down. He offers to let you throw, but you use your injured hand as an excuse not to embarrass yourself. Traveling further up the beach, shoes in hand, you find a taco truck and decide to stop while finding Sylvia some water.

You have an excuse to pay this time after ordering, all thanks to Bob’s hands literally being full. Smirking as you hand the cashier your card, he tries his best to look annoyed all while his lips betray him and twitch upward.

The two of you find a picnic bench to sit on while Sylvia laps up the water in the complimentary bowl. You can’t help but stare at Bob’s veiny forearms as he takes a bite of his food. Throwing the ball today had strained his muscles, and you weren’t mad at the view as he sits opposite you. You so desperately want to reach over and trace the veins from his arm to his hand, tracking each and every one… Shaking your head slightly, you remember where you are.

“So what position did you play in high school?” He takes a large gulp of water, clearing his throat before answering.

“I switched between left and centerfield, but was mostly left.”

“With a cannon like that, it makes sense.” He laughs and raises a brow, not disagreeing with you.

“Well, it’s what got me my first girlfriend.” He casually tells you while taking another bite.

“Oooh, you had a high school sweetheart?” He grimaces, wiping his hands on a napkin before responding.

“I wouldn’t call it that. We dated for three months senior year. She dumped me right before prom for our pitcher.”

“Like right before prom?” He nods, resting his elbows on the table.

“I went to her house to pick her up, her folks told me she had already left. I wore my brother's old tux and got a corsage and everything. I held out hope, but when I got to the school, I caught her with my teammate… in his truck.” Your mouth falls open.

“Oh Bobby, I am so sorry.”

“It’s fine”, he waves you off, “It was a long time ago.”

“Did you stay for the dance?”

“No”, he laughs, smiling at the memory, “I went home, but when my sister came back later she told me she caught them sneaking back into the gym and her and her friends slashed his tires.” You laugh with him, but that doesn’t stop your brain from imagining sweet baby-faced Bob driving all the way home from prom, wiping tears from behind his glasses. You give him a sad smile, and as if he can sense where your mind has gone, he coughs and changes the subject.

“How was your prom?” You scoff and give him a single laugh.

“Wouldn’t know, I didn’t go.” He raises his brows at your confession. He would have imagined people would have been begging you to go with them.

“Why not?”

“Well”, you swallow, “my mom was very strict-”, you give him a look, as if telling him he already knows what you’re implying, “and I didn’t have a lot of friends. Let alone people asking me to dances. And that definitely meant no sweethearts.” Glancing behind Bob at the orange tint of the sun, you think about the other reason. What was actually happening during your last months as a senior.

“I would have asked you.” He quietly responds, bringing your eyes back to his. They’re swimming with honesty, and it makes you wish you could have gone to high school with Bob Floyd.

“And I would have said yes, and we would have had the most fun on the dance floor.” You smile. “Although, I haven’t seen you dance before.”

“I don’t really dance”, he laughs out, “but with you I would.” Taking a deep breath in, your smile overtakes your face as Bob’s crooked one does his.

“I would have made you forget all about what’s-her-name.”

“Mandy”, he grimaces.

“Eugh, Mandy”, you remark in disdain. The two of you slip into laughter, the orange glow from the sunset creating a halo around Bob’s head. It’s fitting, you think. Bob is such an angel. Even if you prayed for whatever power above to send you a guardian one, you don’t think they’d do nearly as much.

With your food finished, and Sylvia all tired out after running down the beach some more, the three of you walk back to Bob’s small home. You pass the same bustling ice cream shop on the way back, and you tell Bob you’d like to try it next time. “Next time”, his heart beats a little faster at the thought.

Stepping through Bob’s front door, you follow him into the kitchen as he grabs Sylvia’s bowl.

“You want your dinner?”, he asks in that same baby voice he reserves just for her. She jumps up and down at his words while he fills her bowl. Oh shit, dinner.

“Shit, what time is it?”, you reach forward and grab Bob’s arm, turning it to check his watch. “Damn it!” You start putting your shoes back on as fast as you can, checking your phone and noticing the most recent missed texts from your dad.

“What’s going on?” Bob asks from behind you.

“I forgot that I’m supposed to be having dinner with my dad tonight.” You finish lacing up your shoe, and in a rush you kiss Bob’s cheek before running out the door. “Thank you so much for today, I’ll text you!” Bob is left reeling in his kitchen as his hand slowly makes its way up to his cheek where your lips had been seconds ago. He can feel the heat in his face as he puffs out a breath, staring down at Sylvia while she looks up at him. He gives the door you just left through one last glance.

“Daddy’s in trouble.”

-----------------------

The entire drive home you can't stop smiling. Maybe it was a bit bold for your situation and your body was running faster than your brain, but you could still feel Bob’s warm cheek against your lips.

You finally pull up to your house, throw the car in park and quite literally burst through the front door. Turning the corner you find Penny, Amelia, and your dad all sitting at the table looking at you with wide eyes.

“Hi”, you attempt to say, a little out of breath.

“So glad you could join us”, your dad offers, his tone dripping in sarcasm. “We were just about to start eating.”

“Oh good, I’m just in time then”, you say, taking the empty seat next to your dad. You look up and greet Penny and Amelia, the latter of which is very confused by your smiley and flushed face. “This looks great dad, a big step up from cheerios”, you joke. The table is full of steak, kebabs, potatoes, and surprisingly for your dad; a salad.

“Well thanks, proud to say I did it all by myself since my sous-chef was nowhere to be found when I got home from the store”, he chides. The four of you start filling up your plates as a knock comes from the door, your dad excuses himself to answer it. Reaching for a roll, you stop at the sound of Penny’s voice.

“What did you do to your hand?”, concern lacing her voice as she reaches out to hold it. Very slowly you pull it back and wiggle your fingers.

“Oh it’s nothing, I just accidentally slammed it in the car door.” The lie slips easily off of your tongue, just a little something to keep people from worrying or thinking about it too much. “You know how it is.” She gives you a look, one that says “I don’t believe you, but for your sake I’m going to pretend I do.” And you can’t thank her more in that moment.

“So how’s school going Amelia? You’re what, a sophomore now?” She gives you a nod, swallowing her bite of food before responding.

“Yeah, I’m a sophomore. And it’s good”, she shrugs, “school is school.”

“She just got asked to her homecoming”, Penny interjects with a coy smile on her face.

“Mom-”, Amelia groans, her face heating up.

“Oooh, who is it? Are they any cute?” She groans once more, covering her face in both of her hands.

“His name is Connor.. And yes”, she mutters. You share a look with Penny as the two of you stifle your giggles.

The sound of the door shutting has you turning your head in the direction of two pairs of feet making their way to the kitchen. Your dad enters the kitchen, followed by- of course, Rooster. You straighten up and clench your jaw at the sight of him. He’s wearing his aviators, but you can still see a shade of purple peeking out from beneath them.

“Look who I found on the front porch”, your dad jokes. You turn your back on the both of them as Rooster greets everyone else. Why would he show up unannounced? Or even if your dad invited him over, he knows you don’t want to see him, so why would he agree in the first place? Maverick ushers him to take the only empty seat… next to you, as you try your best to focus on the plate full of food in front of you that you’re not sure you’ll be able to stomach now.

He starts filling his own plate, noticeably only taking things from right in front of him. Your dad coughs in his direction, discreetly tapping the side of his face, asking him to take his sunglasses off. Hearing him sigh next to you, he reaches to take them off, pocketing them in the neck of his white undershirt. You cringe at the sound of your dad’s voice.

“Whoa, Bradley, what happened?” All eyes except for yours turn to take in his face. You’re honestly surprised he hadn’t run and told your dad you punched him immediately after it happened. But then again if he did, he’d have to tell him why you did it in the first place.

“It’s nothing, really-” Your heart rate is speeding up, anticipating the ultimate truth to come forward, “I tripped up the steps to my apartment and smacked my face on the stairs.”

Penny glances between your hand holding a spoon of mashed potatoes and back to Bradley’s cheek. She’s not buying this for one second.

“That looks pretty bad”, Mav assesses while tilting his head in Bradley’s direction.

“So Mantis, what were you up to today?”, Penny asks, changing the subject.

“Oh, I was just out with a friend. Spent some time at the beach.”

“Do I know them?” Your dad asks. Shuffling in your seat, you decide to respond truthfully. It’s not like you were doing anything wrong. Bob is your friend after all. And that’s all he is.

“Actually you do, it was uh- it was Bob.” Rooster chokes on his water next to you while your dad raises his brow in surprise.

“I know you wanted to get to know him better, but since when are you friends?”

“Probably since she got drunk and he had to drive her home”, Amelia comments from behind her fork.

“Amelia”, Penny chastises her.

“When did you get drunk?” You roll your eyes at your dads questioning, since when did he care?

“That was last weekend when you and Rooster were off doing god knows what at your hangar.” Your dad looks more confused than ever. “Thanks for the invite by the way.” It’s not like you even care anymore about not being invited, but Rooster showing up has you a little on edge. You start absentmindedly tapping your foot under the table at the building tension.

“I’m sure you and Bob had more fun than we did”, Rooster pipes up from beside you. “We were just cleaning stuff out.”

“Oh shut up, you knew what you were doing. And why the hell are you even here right now?”, you turn to face him this time. It’s the first time you’re seeing the damage you inflicted on him, and just before the large purple bruise fills you with regret, you stare at the rest of Rooster’s face and it makes you want to hit him again.

“Mav invited me in, I didn’t come here to crash your dinner. I came over to talk to you, actually.” He shifts uncomfortably in his seat, as he glances across the table.

“And I told you that I didn’t want to talk. So if you came here to rid yourself of guilt, go ahead and apologize. But after what you did I am way past accepting it at this point.” You grit out in his direction.

“Ok, wait a second. Time out”, Maverick interrupts. “What the hell is going on?”

“Mav, yesterday after you left-” Rooster starts.

“Rooster, don’t”, you grit out.

“Things got a little heated and I said something-”

“Stop it”

“Why are you protecting me?”

“I’m not protecting you, I am protecting myself!”, you emphasize pointing a finger to your chest. “Because nobody else did! And what you said was humiliating and I’m not gonna stick around and hear you repeat it, just to embarrass me all over again!” The seat slides out from underneath you as you retreat from the table. Pushing the back screen door open you let it slam behind you as you begin to take in deep breaths. Deep, calming breaths like Bob showed you yesterday. You place your own hand against your chest to feel your heart beating. You’re still here. You’re ok.

The sound of the screen door opening distracts you for a moment, but you already know who it is without having to look. They stay silent, waiting for you to either invite them to talk or curse them out.

“Why did you say it?”, you ask, trying to keep your voice even. “Out of everything you could have brought up.”

“I’m sorry”, Rooster speaks to the ground. Head hung in shame. “It’s no excuse, but I was angry.” A cricket chirps in the distance. “And I knew it would hurt”, he confesses.

“When Hangman brought up your dad, I was up immediately after you. Either to hold you back or help you I’m not quite sure. You haven’t seen it, but I have always been on your team, Bradley.” Turning to face him, he brings his head up. “Why haven’t you been on mine?”

“I got your voicemail.” Your heart feels as if it’s been dropped off a cliff.

The last voicemail you sent to Bradley consisted of you begging him to call you back. You needed him more than anything in that moment, and you thought he might understand where you were coming from. You sobbed through your words and pleaded with him to pick up the phone.

“I called you back, but by then you must have blocked me or something because it didn’t go through. Then I called your landline and your- your mom picked up. I asked how you were, and she told me you were on top of the world, and your dad must have been so proud of you, because you were just accepted into the Naval Academy.” He breathes a shaky breath through his nose, trying not to get too upset by the memory.

“Is that why you’re mad at me? You thought I was begging you to call me back so I could brag to you?” He furrows his brow, confused as he nods a couple times. Scoffing, you shake your head. Your heart aches at how much pain your mother caused and continues to cause in every person’s life she touches. There are tears starting to form in your eyes, ones that you’re sure you can’t control no matter how hard you try.

“Bradley,” you gasp, “She kicked me out. I wasn’t calling to brag, I was calling to ask for help.” His brow twitches as he looks at you.

“What?” he breathes out.

“She found my acceptance letter and we had a fight. I was scared if I told my dad he would do to me what he did to you, so I never told him. I was living out of my car when I graduated high school, up until it was time to move into my dorm.” Hot tears start to fall down your cheeks, but you’re quick to wipe them away this time. They’re more out of frustration than sadness. “She canceled my phone plan, that’s why I never answered. Thank god the car was in my name. I would have been homeless.”

“Oh my god”, Bradley rasps as he runs his hand through his hair.

“This entire time, you really thought I would have rubbed it in your face?”

“I don’t know. It had been six years since I last saw you, I thought maybe you were angry enough.” He shrugs.

“I didn’t have enough energy to be angry then. I’m angry now.” It’s quiet again. The two of you absorbing the explanations that were long overdue.

“You’re right you know”, Bradley breaks the silence.

“What?”

“My mom would be disappointed in me.”

“She’s not the only one”, you mutter.

“She explained to me pretty early on what your situation was. Cause she wanted me to watch out for you.” He swallows and takes in a large breath, attempting not to get choked up. For a moment you feel for him. Talking about Carole gets you the same way. But you are not about to comfort a man that has done nothing but bring you down. “Before she died- she told me the same thing. She said, ‘Watch out for Bug, and she’ll do the same for you. The two of you need each other.’”. You flinch at his use of Carole’s nickname for you. “I’m so sorry-”

“Just shut up for one goddamn second and let me think about this.” His mouth closes as you start pacing around the backyard, head in your hands. “So instead of using that information to keep me from getting hurt, you turn around and stab me in the back with it? And not to even mention my dad, but you seemed to have made up with him so easily after what he did. I didn’t even do anything to you Bradley! I was a literal child and had no clue what he did until YEARS later.” You pause, letting the weight of your words do their job. “So from where I’m standing you had no right to be mad at me in the first place, and you had absolutely no right hurting me the way you did when you know for a fact you were told that piece of information in confidence.”

He doesn’t respond for a brief moment, and you know he knows you’re right.

“How can I fix this, make it right?” Scoffing, you throw out your arms in disbelief.

“You can’t. It was broken a long time ago, and you’ve pulverized any chance of me believing you could be the person I thought you were.” He whispers your name as you wipe away the tears that have started falling again.

“Rooster”, the two of you look up to find your dad standing at the back door with his arms crossed against his chest. He takes in your tears and his face softens as you look away, embarrassed. Looking back to Bradley he hardens his gaze again, “I think it’s time for you to go.”

“Mav, I-” Realizing he has no real explanation he stops before he even starts. Bradley rings his hands out as he follows the door your dad has propped open with his body. But right before entering the house, he turns to you one last time. “For what it’s worth, if I could go back, I wouldn’t have done it.” Whether it being yesterday, or leaving you behind all those years ago, you’re not sure. “I’m sorry.”

You wipe your face of the straggling tears that continue to fall as your dad walks Rooster through the house, and before too soon he’s back as he softly says your name from across the yard.

“I’m fine”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Which part?”, you bite. He crosses the yard to reach you, but as he lays a gentle hand on your arm you shrug him off. “When would I have had the time to tell you? I swear you’re always off doing something with Rooster, or preoccupied with your newest project at your hangar or- or on a date or whatever with Penny.”

“I’m gonna rip that kid a new one, I swear-” “It doesn’t even matter. Cause he’s still a kid to you, your kid. He left us and after how many years you forgave him like it was nothing. So sorry dad, but forgive me for not telling you how he left me to fend for myself again. Because after a little bit of sweet talking I’m sure he’ll be right back at the top of your list.” He’s calling out your name as you storm back into the house and into your room. Penny and Amelia are long gone as you pass the kitchen on your way to the stairs and you couldn’t be more grateful. You just hope they didn’t stick around to hear too much.

Today was a good day. Up until you had to come back down to reality.

It’s almost like a dream every time you’re with Bob, and then you come home. Back to where the prodigal son gets praised at every turn while you work and work to be the kid your dad always wanted. But he already exists, and he’s made your life a living hell.

You went so many years trying to forget about how everyone left you behind, and you tried to make a name for yourself. You were successful for a bit, but even at the top Rooster’s already there, and he’s got your dad wrapped around his finger.

Taglist:

@lemmons1998

@itsmytimetoodream

@theamuz

@harrysgothicbitch

#bob floyd fic #bob floyd x reader #mavdad #robert bob floyd x female reader #top gun fandom #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick #why me?

[hookhausenschips]

Masterpiece (Songfic Mini Series)

Word Count: 1,262

Summary: Tyler comes to terms with his mistakes. Can he be forgiven?

Warnings: very sad, groveling, illusion to cheating

Masterlist

song: Masterpiece by Motionless In White

Hook taglist: @shawtys-things, @gethooked, @hope4more, @redpool, @lovethathookhausen730, @dgcrimson-garcia, @brideofinfamy, @boneyjones7777, @saramusazzi99

Join my taglist here!

A/N: this is my interpretation of the song!

previous extra

Third Person POV

All the stupid lies and the stupid games

Left a vacancy in this picture frame

A prisoner by my own hands

'Cause if I can't have me, then no one can

The rain fell relentlessly outside, matching the tumultuous storm brewing within Tyler's heart. He sat alone in his dimly lit apartment, the weight of his mistakes bearing down on him like a suffocating blanket. Memories of his infidelity haunted him, tormenting him with the pain he had caused his partner, Y/N.

As he stared at the empty space beside him, Tyler's mind replayed the events that had led to this moment. He had succumbed to temptation, seeking solace in the arms of another woman when he should have been cherishing the love he shared with Y/N. The guilt gnawed at his soul, consuming him from the inside out.

I need to heal what I inflict

But I'll burn that bridge when I get to it

As I play roulette with a broken gun

I confess these sins with a sharp and spiteful tongue

But now, as he sat in the silence of his remorse, Tyler knew that he couldn't undo the damage he had done. He couldn't erase the hurt in Y/N's eyes, the betrayal etched into her every glance. All he could do was try to make amends, to beg for her forgiveness, and pray that she would find it in her heart to give him another chance.

With a heavy sigh, Tyler reached for his phone, his fingers trembling as he dialed Y/N's number. Each ring felt like a countdown to his own reckoning, a reminder of the consequences of his actions.

So how do I apologize

And put the tears back in your eyes

When every canvas that I paint

Is a masterpiece made of my mistakes?

"Hello?" Y/N's voice was distant, guarded.

"It's me," Tyler replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "I... I need to talk to you."

They sat in silence, the weight of their unspoken words hanging heavy in the air. Hook could feel Y/N’s energy, filled with a mixture of anger, hurt, and disappointment. He knew he had caused her pain, and had shattered the trust between them with his careless actions.

The long pause on the other end of the line continued for a few more seconds, as if Y/N were debating whether or not to hang up. But finally, she spoke again, her voice tinged with bitterness. "What could you possibly have to say that would make any difference now?"

Outlined in guilt, my portrait stares

In a gallery where the walls lie bare

Tyler closed his eyes, his heart breaking at the sound of Y/N's pain. "I know I've hurt you, Y/N. I'm sorry," Tyler whispered, his voice choked with emotion. "I know I've hurt you, and I don't expect you to forgive me. But I need you to know that I regret what I did more than anything."

Y/N remained silent, her gaze fixed on the floor. Tyler could sense the tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment.

"I never meant to hurt you," Tyler continued, his voice trembling with sincerity. "I was selfish and foolish, and I let my own insecurities and fears drive me to do things I'm not proud of."

But he refused to give up hope. He refused to let his past mistakes define him, to let them destroy any chance he had of making things right with Y/N.

"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness," Tyler said, his voice barely above a whisper. "But I'm willing to do whatever it takes to earn it. I'll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I'm worthy of your love, that I'm capable of change."

As I modernize my antique ways

True colors can't escape the brush of fate

But his words felt hollow, meaningless in the face of the pain he had caused. Y/N had trusted him, had believed in their love, and he had betrayed her in the worst possible way.

The silence that followed was deafening, suffocating. Tyler held his breath, waiting for Y/N's response, praying for a glimmer of hope in the darkness of his own despair. 

As the moments stretched into eternity, Tyler could feel the weight of his guilt crushing him, suffocating him with its intensity. He wanted nothing more than to turn back time, to undo the mistakes he had made and erase the pain he had caused.

But he knew that was impossible. All he could do now was try to make amends, to find a way to rebuild the trust he had so callously destroyed.

"I don't know if I can ever trust you again, Tyler," Y/N finally said, her voice trembling with emotion, "You've broken my heart, shattered it into a million pieces. I don't know if it's even possible to put it back together again." 

So how do I apologize

And put the tears back in your eyes

On every canvas that I paint

Is a masterpiece made of my mistakes?

Tyler felt a pang of despair grip his heart, the realization of the depth of his betrayal hitting him like a tidal wave. He had destroyed the one thing that had meant everything to him and had pushed away the person he loved more than life itself.

The weight of her words are like a physical blow, each syllable driving home the magnitude of his betrayal. But he refused to give up hope, refused to let his own failures define him.

"I understand," Tyler replied, his voice steady despite the turmoil raging within him. "But please, Y/N... give me a chance to make things right. I'll do whatever it takes to earn back your trust."

Illustrate all my pain

And set it all ablaze

Burn

And set it all ablaze

There was a long pause, during which Tyler held his breath, his heart pounding in his chest. Then, finally, Y/N spoke again, her voice softening ever so slightly.

"I need time, Tyler," she said. "I need to figure out if I can ever forgive you."

"I want to believe you, Tyler," she said softly. "But I don't know if I can ever trust you again. You've hurt me in ways I never thought possible."

Tyler nodded, even though Y/N couldn't see him. "Take all the time you need," he said. "I'll be here, waiting for you."

So how do I apologize

And put the tears back in your eyes

When every canvas that I paint

Is a masterpiece of my mistakes?

As he hung up the phone, Tyler felt a glimmer of hope amidst the darkness of his own remorse. He knew that winning back Y/N's trust would be a long and arduous journey, filled with obstacles and setbacks. But he was willing to do whatever it took to make things right, to mend the bond he had broken with his own careless actions.

For in the end, Tyler knew that love was worth fighting for, even when the shadows of regret threatened to consume him whole. And as he stared out into the rain-soaked night, he vowed to himself that he would never again let his own weaknesses destroy the precious gift of Y/N's love.

And in the light of my demise

I see my failures in your eyes

Every canvas that I paint

Is a masterpiece made of my mistakes

#aew #aew wrestling #aew dynamite #x black fem reader #x black!fem!reader #aew rampage #x reader #aew imagine #x black!reader #x black reader #handsome devil hook #hook x reader #730 hook #hook aew #send hook #hook imagine #hook #hook 730 #730hook #cold handsome devil hook #the cold hearted handsome devil #cold hearted handsome devil #aew fanfic #aew collision #aew all access #aew fanfiction #aew fic #aew x reader #all elite wrestling #hookhausen's chips

[chillypowder]

Frozen Embrace

Characters → Kaeya x reader

Warning → Neglect, Fainting

Kaeya was relentless in his duties as the Cavalry Captain of Mondstadt, a role he had always taken with utmost seriousness. With the increasing number of threats faced by the city, his dedication to his work grew exponentially, causing him to spend more and more time away from the comfort of his home and the company of the Reader.

At first, the Reader tried to understand and be supportive, knowing that Kaeya's responsibilities were crucial for the safety of Mondstadt. But as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, the tension between them began to build. Every night, the Reader would wait on the couch, looking out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kaeya's silver hair in the moonlight. But more often than not, he never came home until the wee hours of the morning.

As Kaeya's absence persisted, the Reader's heart became heavy with worry and loneliness. The small notes and sweet messages they left for each other gradually stopped, replaced by a thick silence that only deepened their emotional distance. The Reader longed for Kaeya's presence, for the reassurance of his arms wrapped around them, and the comfort of his soothing voice.

One fateful night, the Reader's body couldn't bear the emotional strain any longer. Exhausted from countless sleepless nights and anxious days, they collapsed on the floor, overwhelmed by the weight of uncertainty and heartache. When Kaeya finally returned home, he found the Reader unconscious, and panic immediately gripped his heart.

"Reader! Wake up, please!" he pleaded, gathering them into his arms. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

With adrenaline coursing through his veins, Kaeya rushed to Barbara, the city's beloved Healer, seeking her help. When Barbara arrived, her expression was a mix of concern and disappointment. She carefully examined the Reader's condition and sighed.

"They're physically exhausted, but I can heal them," she said, her tone stern. "However, this situation could have been avoided if you hadn't neglected their well-being, Kaeya."

Barbara's words weighed heavily on Kaeya's conscience, causing his heart to ache even more. He watched as she healed the Reader, her soothing aura enveloping them, and it was in that moment that Kaeya realized the extent of his mistakes.

Once the Reader regained consciousness, they were greeted by Kaeya's tearful eyes. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. "I never wanted to hurt you. I thought I was doing the right thing, protecting Mondstadt, but I never realized how much I was neglecting you."

The Reader looked into his eyes, seeing the genuine regret and concern that radiated from him. "I understand your duty, Kaeya, but it hurt to feel so forgotten," they admitted, their voice soft and vulnerable.

"I promise things will change," Kaeya said firmly, determination etched on his face. "I'll find a way to balance my responsibilities and our relationship. You are important to me, and I never want you to feel like you come second."

Over the next few days, Kaeya made a conscious effort to spend more time with the Reader. He delegated some tasks, sought help from other knights, and made sure to prioritize their well-being. He surprised the Reader with heartfelt gestures and thoughtful gifts, slowly rebuilding the trust that had been damaged.

With time and effort, their relationship began to heal. Kaeya's presence became a constant in the Reader's life once more, and they cherished every moment they shared together. They also saw how hard he worked for Mondstadt and understood the burden he carried.

Together, they found a way to navigate the challenges that came with Kaeya's position, openly communicating their needs and concerns. The tension that once defined their relationship was replaced with understanding and empathy. Both Kaeya and the Reader grew through this experience, realizing the importance of balancing one's passion with the people they loved.

As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, their bond deepened, and the love they shared flourished. Kaeya learned to lean on the Reader for support when needed, realizing that he didn't have to face the burdens alone. The Reader, in turn, found comfort in Kaeya's arms, knowing that they were cherished and valued.

With the city's safety still at the forefront of his mind, Kaeya continued to dedicate himself to his duties, but he always made sure to come home to the Reader, to the warmth of their embrace. And while the challenges they faced were far from over, they knew that together, they could weather any storm that came their way.

In the end, it wasn't just the bitter cold of the Mondstadt winters that brought them together. It was the warmth of their love that melted away the icy barriers that once stood between them, leaving them with hearts entwined in a bond that would never be broken.

#kaeya angst #genshin angst #genshin impact #angst #genshin impact angst #kaeya #kaeya x reader #genshin x reader #genshin kaeya #kaeya ragnvindr #kaeya genshin impact #kaeya x reader angst

[queenshelby]

Yes! Mr Murphy (Rewritten)

PART 39: PRE BAFTA-RUMOURS

Pairing: Cillian Murphy x Reader

Warning: Lots of Angst, Age Gap, Teacher x Student, Pregnancy Loss, Infertility

PLEASE COMMENT AND ENGAGE!

A few days later...

As you arrived in London for the BAFTAs, sharing an apartment with Kit, you couldn't help but feel the nervousness building inside you. Dressed in a beautiful gown, you took extra care to ensure that your makeup and hairstyle were impeccable, wanting to make a lasting impression on Cillian.

Cillian's wife Danielle was there too, attending the event with her new boyfriend who was also an actor, and you took the opportunity to thank her for the things she said about you in her interview when you ran into her in the hotel lobby before getting dressed for the event. 

Kit, observing your preparations and clearly disapproved of your outfit. Jealousy was clearly building inside her as Cillian himself had to spend time with his agent and publicist, preparing for potential interview questions.

"Perhaps you should have gotten a stylist. Your dress and make-up look pretty basic," Kit remarked sarcastically, telling you that your boyfriend was outdressing you tonight. 

"Well, tonight is about Cillian, not me. Despite, I feel comfortable and happy with my appearance," you retorted, flipping your hair over your shoulder with a playful smirk.

"Honestly, I am not sure what Cillian sees in you," Kit continued her sarcasm, making it evident she was bothered by your presence.

Her jealousy was starting to become transparent, and you couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She wanted to be Cillian's partner, yet here you were, sharing a bed with him and receiving his compliments.

"As opposed to you, you mean?" you thus asked playfully, turning away from her gaze, feeling somewhat hurt by her bitterness.

Deep down, you knew she felt threatened by your presence, and it troubled you. You didn't want to cause any discord between her and Cillian, but it seemed inevitable. Your relationship with Kit was slowly becoming strained, and it seemed destined to deteriorate further.

Kit sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair. She knew that confronting the situation wasn't going to do anything but damage her relationship with Cillian. Yet, she couldn't contain her resentment. "Yes, as opposed to me, or anyone else really. Maybe he likes you because you're young and naive, easy to control," Kit spat venomously, her eyes narrowing with hatred.

Your heart ached at her vitriolic remarks, but you chose to ignore them. Your priority was enjoying the BAFTAs with Cillian, and you didn't want to let Kit's words ruin your evening.

"Kit, please stop. You're only making things worse for yourself and it is emberassing," you warned her calmly, trying to diffuse the tension.

"Make things worse? You've already done that! Just by being here. You shouldn't have come here tonight. You are the one who is going to embarrass him. This whole relationship you have together is a joke," Kit hissed, her voice laced with anger and frustration, which, even for her, was unusual. Something had happened to trigger this sudden outburst of emotion that day and you did not know what it was. She was usually a little more tactful than that.

Feeling upset by her words, you tried to understand where this animosity was coming from.

"Kit, please stop," you pleaded, desperately trying to maintain a sense of civility for Cillian's sake. However, her bitter response caught you off guard.

"I respect your working relationship with Cillian. You are his assistant, but other than that, you really need to stay in line, especially when it comes to Cillian's personal life," you stated firmly, standing your ground.

Kit glared at you, her eyes flashing with malice. Her jealousy had morphed into rage, threatening to destroy everything she held dear.

"You know we slept with each other, right? The last time we came to London. We stayed in the same hotel as we are staying in now and I just think that you should know about it. I am clearly more than just his assistant," Kit continued with a sneer, her lips curling into a malicious grin.

Your stomach dropped at her admission even though you already knew about it.

"I already know, Kit. Cillian told me. So, what are you implying? That he is in love with you just because you had a one-night stand?" you demanded, trying to regain composure.

"No Silly, I am just saying that we had sex, and it almost happened again, last night, when I came over to his place," Kit answered coldly, her eyes hardening with resentment.

Your heart shattered at her vicious words, feeling the weight of betrayal as you realized just how deeply Kit harbored her feelings for Cillian. The bond between you and Cillian had grown over time, and the prospect of him having an affair with Kit shook you to your core. But, you couldn't allow your insecurities to take hold of you. You needed to keep your composure and remind yourself that you trusted Cillian.

"Cillian is not someone who cheats Kit, and we are together. No matter what you tell me, I won't get involved in a conversation like this, so you need to mind your own business. I don't believe a word you are saying," you assured her, your voice steady and resolute.

You knew you had to draw a line in the sand, protecting your relationship with Cillian.

Kit's eyes narrowed, her face flushed with anger.

"You honestly have no idea what you got yourself in to Y/N. He cheated on Danielle, twice, and he will be cheating on you," she muttered under her breath, barely audible.

Despite her hostile words, you continued to stand your ground, determined not to let her threats intimidate you.

"Kit, I appreciate your concern, but you cannot scare me with this. This conversation needs to end right now. We need to prepare for tonight," you replied calmly, attempting to defuse the tension.

Kit's face twisted into a mixture of anger and envy, a dangerous combination.

She couldn't stand seeing you and Cillian together, knowing how much you meant to each other and, just as she was about to speak up again, Cillian finally walked into the apartment.

His gaze flickered between the two of you, and he could feel the tension in the room. 

"Is everything alright?" Cillian questioned calmly, trying to understand the reason behind the obvious hostility between you and his assistant Kit. He knew that you did not like her, but he also knew that you were usually respectful towards her.

Kit's eyes hardened with resolve, her jaw clenched tightly. She knew that this was her opportunity to undermine your relationship with Cillian.

"Yes. There is nothing to worry about, Cillian. We were just discussing our plans for tonight," you lied, hoping to divert attention away from the conflict brewing between you and Kit. You knew how much he hated events like this and you wanted to give him your unconditional support regardless of how desperate you were to know what happened the night before when Kit visited Cillian in his apartment.

"Good, I am glad," he said before laying eyes on you and smiling warmly. "You look beautiful by the way. Simply stunning. The dress suits you," he then complimented you sincerely, his blue eyes sparkling with admiration before he approached you and pulled you in for a kiss.

His warm lips pressed against yours, causing your body to shiver with excitement.

"Thank you Cillian. You don't look so shabby yourself," you whispered softly, feeling your heart swell with happiness. The gentle touch of his hands along your arms sent electric currents throughout your entire body, even as Kit evidently gave you both a look of disapproval.

"We need to leave in ten minutes," she reminded you both , still seething with jealousy.

"Alright, Kit. Thank you," you responded politely, trying to appease her as best as possible.

Despite her visible displeasure, you managed to share a few tender moments with Cillian before leaving for the awards ceremony.

During the drive to the event, your hands intertwined with Cillian's, sending waves of passion coursing through your veins. Your heart pounded in anticipation of the night ahead, filled with glamour and excitement.

And yet, you couldn't help but wonder how much about what Kit had said to you was true. 

You hoped fervently that it was all lies concocted to sow discord among you and Cillian. You believed in your budding romance, but hearing rumors like these made your skin crawl. It wouldn't make sense for Cillian to risk everything you had overcome in recent weeks just for fleeting encounters with his assistant. And while you had seen some chemistry between them during various events, there was something about Cillian's connection with you that transcended this superficial attraction.

His gaze held such depth, promising a lifetime of adventures shared together and yet, you found yourself lost in thought - wondering if perhaps there was truth in the allegations Kit brought forth earlier.

Tags:

@sunbeamseas @saint-ackerman @oatmealisweird @naxxsstuff @amanda08319 @r-m-cidnah @elysiannook @cillshot @infireddabdab @tastycakee @harrysbestiee @lilybabe22 @adalynlowell @henrywintersdearestgirl @ietss @thatgirlthatreadswattpad @ryiamarie @axionn

@heidimoreton @nela-cutie @futurecorps3 @delishen @nosebleeds-247 @thirteenis-myluckynumber @gills-lounge @hjmalmed @lost-fantasy @tiredkitten @sidechrisporn @smallsoulunknown @charqing-qing @hopefulinlove @aporiasposts @shycrybaby @me-and-your-husband @hjmalmed @lacontroller1991 @galxydefender @aporiasposts

@galxydefender @hunnibearrr @saint-ackerman @lunyyx @gentlemonsterjennie1 @ihavealotoffandomssorry @nadloves @lost-fantasy @nolucesn@mcavoy-girl @hjmalmed @bloodybagels @obeyme4life @richiesgroupie @blushykiss @tatumrileyslover @teawithsatanx @orijanko @rhaenyra4ever @xcinnamonmalfoyx @budugu @nadloves @kmc1989 @bloodybagels @obeyme4life @richiesgroupie @forgottenpeakywriter

#cillian murphy #cillian murphy smut #cillian murphy x reader #cillian murphy imagine #cillian murphy x y/n #cillian murphy x you #cillian murphy fanfiction #cillian murphy fic #cillian murphy fanfic

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Who does a (codependent) Camilla Tominey think she is to repeatedly demand that William sacrifice his own family for the (non-heir) traitor brother?

The good news is they actually located the malignancy. This isn't the first time a monarch or senior member of a monarchy has been diagnosed with something life threatening, however they tend to keep it a secret. I think it's a good sign that they've shared details because it suggests the BRF medical team feels confident about the prognosis. If they found a mass, it's possible that the malignant tumor was removed and any adjuvant or holistic treatment is more of a precaution.

I'm so sorry to see the Suck-It duo repeatedly capitalize off of the BRF's suffering:

Sadistic MEgain, licking her chops at the very thought of seeing another Windsor in the ground, while Sparry pays to publish his travel plan with every American celebrity media outlet. What happened to his "security" concerns? It's obvious that Sparry's PR is desperate to bury the African Parks scandal. Will he be forced to rush back to California to rescue the family from the storm?

Sparry is a Crazy Maker and Crazy Makers should not be near cancer patients. If Sparry wants his father to get well, then he should drop all the lawsuits and maintain a quiet, dignified distance.

I have to agree with this comment:

From Technical_Ant_7466 via Reddit

"I am really concerned about Duke of Hazard returning to the UK and visiting Charles. My fear is that Harry will fanagle himself back into the RF, and that he will expect to take on responsibilities or worse that he will but further pressure on the King and Princess Catherine. Just as their vile antics accelerated the death of the late Queen and Prince Philip, I firmly believe that the Harkles have caused a lot of damage, including the health of family members. ***For years I worked in the medical field as a scientist. The research I've read has not proven a definite cause-and-effect relationship between stress and cancer. The connection between emotional (psychological) health and physical health is very complex. Psychological stress can affect your body. Some studies suggest a link between various psychological factors and an increased risk of developing cancer.*** **1.Stress can weaken the immune system. The immune system defends the body against infections and diseases, such as cancer. A weakened immune system plays a role in the development of some types of cancer.** **2. Stress can alter the levels of certain hormones in your body. This may also put you at greater risk of developing cancer.** Stress has a profound impact on how the body’s systems function. Health experts are still sorting out whether stress actually causes cancer. ***There’s little doubt that it promotes the growth and spread of some forms of the disease. Put simply, stress makes your body more hospitable to cancer.*** Long-term/chronic stress is more damaging, and the damages comes from situations that last many weeks/ months/years with no definite end point. ( Ithink we can confidently say that 5+ years of mega mouth and her poodle have been extremely stressful for the RF. This no-end-in-sight stress weakens the immune system, leaving a person prone to diseases, like cancer. It also ups the risk for digestive problems and depression. Chronic stress also can help cancer grow and spread in a number of ways. At this point in time, the last thing the RF needs is Harry in their midst. I can't think of a single advantage their is for him to returning to " his father's side", when he's done nothing but say vile, evil lies about them, divulge members of the RF personal stories and has generally been a human version of POISON. I hope Harry drops in and leaves quickly. THERE'S NO POSITION FOR HIME TO FILL. WILLIAM PROBABLY DOESN'T WANT HIM THERE, AND I APOLOGIZE IF THESE SEEMS CALLOUS, BUT I BELIEVE THE PUBLIC DOESN'T WANT HIM THERE. Harry has proven to be poisinous and toxic. No amount of grovelling will change the perswon he is. His real personality may go into hiding, but make no mistake, he's as eveil as the ILBW. Removing the cause is the clear answer but instead that TREACHEROUS VILLIAN IS BEING ALLOWED BACK, WHICH IS A VERY BAD IDEA. This is a photo op for Harry and a chance to attempt to fleece his father for money/security and whatever else the ILBW has told him to get his grimmy paws on. HARRY CANNOT BE ALLOWED BACK, OR THAT WILL BE END OF THE MONARCHY."

author: Technical_Ant_7466 submitted: 04/02/2024 via r/SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7466429/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7466429/)

https://www.reddit.com/r/SaintMeghanMarkle/comments/1ajqp3v/the_gruesomes_have_been_stressors_since_before/

Then there's Fergie:

Why would Fergie release her private medical information as the world grappled with the sad news about Charles and Catherine? Fergie was not undergoing adjuvant treatment. There was no risk of anyone spotting her at a daily RTX treatment. I'm certainly thankful she's OK but I wish she would have waited until the working royals were out of the health scare news cycle before shouting "me too."

Fergie is not "battling alongside King Charles" 🤦🤦‍♀️🤦‍♂️ Aren't her grandkids just babies---except for a 3 yo?

#spare us #God save the king #Duke of Hazzard #BRF #get well soon #megxit #worldwide privacy tour #Camilla Tominey #royal rota #sparry #traitor

[shushiyuii]

Hello shushiyuii! I just wanted to share an Idea for a possible continuation of the "safety from exile" oneshot you made a while ago.

My Idea is that after Ranboo rescued Tommy he now lives with them to hide from Dream. But one day there is an unexpected knock on the door and they both panic so Ranboo noms Tommy to keep him hidden. However it's Tubbo at the door and not Dream like they feared. Ranboo invites Tubbo inside because he can tell that somethings bothering him. So the two(three) of them hang out for awhile and Tubbo slowly opens up about his problems. He admits he's feeling stressed because he's worried about Tommy and that he regrets exiling him. Tommy who was listening in from Ranboo's stomach wants to comfort him so he tells Ranboo to let him out. He does and what follows is a heartfull Clingyduo reunion where they make up followed by benchtrio cuddles. Possibly with Tubbo nomming Tommy to reassure himself that Tommy is safe and back with him. So yeah. That's my Idea. I'd love it if you could write something like that but I understand if you don't want to/don't have the time. I hope you have a nice day

Words: 1,342

Warnings: Mention of death, depression, starving and thirst. Other than that it's mainly hurt/comfort

Notes: I am impulsively writing this at 3am so im sorry for any grammar mistakes. this is the first time i've written in a while, i can't say itll be any good or anything. I don't think this is some return either

But in general regards to an update. Im doing fine and I love this idea btw, im sorry if isn't up to standard.

“N-no…I don’t want… STOP!”, whatever remained of his voice screeched. It felt forced, harsh. When was the last time he had drank anything besides salty sea water? When was the last time he had a proper food source that wasn’t something he could forage?

He lifted the sheets from his side and shivered from the rags that covered his body, despite being probably tucked in. The sudden change in temperature didn’t do his fuzzy head much favors either. 

“Fucking…”, he couldn’t finish the ramble. He fiddled with what remained in his pockets for anything but found nothing, no health potion to quell his aching head. Despite that, he stood up. Wiping his eyes from the uneasiness of waking up.

He let out a yawn as he examined his surroundings, they were not all too familiar to him. It didn’t feel natural. The other day he was handling explosions to the body as if it were any normal everyday occurrence. Anything ordinary felt the opposite. Nowhere felt safe anymore.

He knew where he was though, despite everything. A dried and empty sigh passed his lips, devoid of emotion. He was tired, so tired yet he managed. He wasn’t surprised that the emotional backlash was now hitting him.

He turned to a mirror, he’s surprised that Ranboo even kept one in his room. Typically endermen hate the stares of people, including their own reflections. Perhaps Ranboo was immune to its effects. 

He was sickly pale, his hair matted so far that he could hardly recall how he used to keep it kept. Whatever remained of his shirt was rotted, the bright red faded and shoulder exposed. His trousers that had stayed with him through war were now barely held together with strings in his opinion, they’d practically turned to shorts.

His eyes… People used to say they were full of ambition, promise… A burning passion that could surpass even the god’s wills, was now hollow and dull. Is this how Theseus felt during his fall?

It mattered not, whatever safety he had was only temporary. Even now, he should be cautious. He would be considered a fugitive. 

A knock came from the door, he was quick to alert. The next thing he knew was instinct was taking over him and he hid behind the door frame and grabbed whatever he could to be a weapon, a golden hoe.

It wouldn’t cause much damage but it could certainly knock them to confusion for a short while if hit in the right spots. He readied himself, prepared that it would take his last life. He was always prepared for this, it was what he had been trained for in war. 

He was pretty sure Techno taught him that.

Steady breaths, aim…

STRIKE!

An inhumane sound spat out from whoever tried to enter, alerted. They had managed to dodge the boy’s sabotage. The hoe had now struck into the floorboards, whatever strength or adrenaline he used during that swing was all that had remained of his strength as he fell to the ground.

“Tommy!”, the hybrid called out in a hurry, worried. He had no care for his near death, concerns immediately went to his friend. Tommy wiped his brow which had accumulated sweat and looked to Ranboo, deep in his eyes.

He flinched at the sudden eye contact but remained, usually that would trigger an enderman but Ranboo remained still, unmoving. 

He hadn’t noticed he wasn’t breathing at all and coughed out whatever was left of his charcoaled lungs. Letting out an old man's cough, he wasn’t even a smoker like Wilbur had been. How fucked were his lungs?

He eventually managed to get his breath back and stood up properly, still winded but having calmed down from his unnecessary reaction. He knew he was in no danger, but his body still reacted that way.

Some things just don't change, do they?

[...]

After the unnecessary scare, Ranboo had brought him to a common room and only now he had realized how big this place was. Wherever he was, it wasn’t familiar in the slightest. It was all new to him.

But even then, he could tell the place was new. The smell of freshly cut oak and lack of decorated pots and chairs or lavish tables, the place was newly constructed. It was probably an estate if he had to guess, Ranboo’s estate.

He had also been given a red sweater, stained with blue. He was told that it was a sweater handed out to guests, but by the faded blue stains. He knew who had come here previously, he shoved down any emotion that threatened his integrity. 

Ranboo had also given him a pair of tidy black trousers, although they were a little too big for Tommy, he didn’t mind. It was better than nothing but rags. He missed the feeling of clothes, it felt like some of his barriers had been rebuilt. Ever so slightly.

Across the table was Ranboo, trying to shove some bread in Tommy’s direction. It was neatly sliced but it was only simple plain bread, no butter nor jam. The hybrid said to eat small and soft, due to his starvation.

But he couldn’t help but start craving himself a feast of glorious potatoes, golden apples to quell any aches, the cleanest of water. But the thought also made him sick to his stomach, the thought of food was enough to make him dizzy.

He hated it. 

“You’re safe”.

Safety means nothing, not anymore. Safety was Wilbur, Techno, home. All gone, stripped away, abandoned or dead. It wasn’t worth anything to mourn anymore, everything he once had was already gone. Even the last person he’d consider close had tossed him aside in what he’d call hell.

He couldn’t bring himself to respond, only shaking his head.

…

“You’re already in a bad condition. Eat.”, a familiar voice spoke. But it wasn’t the person in front of him, instead it was from straight behind him. The enderian’s ears twitched anxiously before his pupils dilated his relief and what seemed to be happiness.

Though, he wasn’t happy. Far from it. He never wanted to see the face again, at least not now. Before he knew it, he had already thrown a punch to the already scorned face. The boy fell back a step yet remained upwards. 

He didn’t have enough strength to put him in the ground, funnily enough.

A blind eye stared back at him, he couldn’t discern any emotion. Since his face had been burnt and scarred from fireworks. It left him blinded in one eye, deaf in an ear. Though, from the body posture, he wasn’t mad in the slightest.

For what reason?

“Ow”, was all he mumbled before turning back to Tommy. His face in concern, no anger. Perhaps even pity.

It only fueled him with more anger.

He pushed the shorter one to the ground, straddling him as he put whatever remained of his strength and fury into beating the one under him, screaming as though he were in a war zone. 

Stop.

Stop.

Stop.

Stop. 

I'm so sorry.

Just please.

Stop.

None of his punches made any impact, the boy had managed to block them with ease. The first was now cradled gently within his palm.

Stop it.

He gently shoved Tommy off, enough so that he could sit up. 

Why?

Pity?

He embraced the boy over the shoulders, attempting to cradle him as though he were a child. 

He’s taking advantage…

Why aren’t I mad?

Didn’t I hate him?

His shoulders shook with sobs. Resting against his neck. 

“Let it out. Forget about anything else. Let’s just pretend for 5 minutes that things are like they should be.”.

A copy of mellohi started playing quietly and softly.

When had he shrunk? He didn’t know. All he could process was that he was in safety of his friends' scorned hands, promising to keep him safe. Nuzzling and muttering reassurances as he let out the cries of his own.

A small smile poked from Ranboo’s fanged lips.

#mcyt g/t #mcytg/t #dsmp g/t #shushi's writings #tiny!tommy #tw vore mention #maybe idk #giant!ranboo #giant!tubbo

[judgementdaysunshine]

Make up

Pairing: Zelina Vega x Fem reader

Description: After weeks of stress, you and Zelina make up with each other after an argument

You felt bad for yelling at Zelina, you were tired and stressed as you strip yourself and shower trying to ease your aching body and calm yourself down from the crying you were going through. The two of you had been busy due to your schedules from both of you busting your asses for Summerslam, your appearances on Smackdown and Raw along with feuds between Damage control and the Judgement Day, and the pure exhaustion from maintaining it all between both of you still trying to have lunch or dinner together in between trainings, practices, and matches but it was beginning to take it's toll on and between the two of you leading to the argument of taking some time off and the live angle you were forced to do with Jey Uso which added a further strain despite you admittedly denying to be apart of the storyline being thrown into it anyway without any thought at all for what could happen to the people involved. You sit on the bed trying to calm the tears that still pour down your face as zelina walks in feeling her heart break as the frustration melts away "I tried to stop from being that damn love triangle but they still threw me in it" she sighs as she grabs your hands "I know baby and we don't need to talk or worry about that for awhile cause I asked for time off for both of us cause we need and deserve it" you relax in her hold before calmly sighing as she kisses your neck before pulling you into a emotional gentle kiss that slowly grew passionate as clothes are stripped and thrown on the floor smiling as you kiss down her body burying your head between her legs hair strung around her legs and lower waist smiling against her lips sharing a heated kiss before you're having her a moaning mess again giving her time to recover before she wraps her legs around your waist flipping you over "My turn" she leaves small bites on you making you take quick action returning the favor until she was between your legs as well leading to breathless moans and panting as your head lays on her shoulder while the two of you are positioned scissor style before catching your breaths. The two do you get up and shower together "I'm sorry for earlier baby" she shakes her head as she washes your hair before rinsing domestically washing each other before getting out and drying off "I'm sorry honey but I should apologize more cause I yelled at you" the two of you hold each other after the two of you throw on underwear and a shirt before laying down wrapping yourself around her with your head buried in the crook of your neck "I love you mi amor" you melt placing a kiss on her neck "I love you baby".

#zelina vega x reader #wwe #wwe x reader #zelina vega

[viviennelamb]

Hi Vivienne. I hope you're having a good time of day! Thank you for sharing this wealth of information. I have few questions for you. I translate to Italian so maybe I didn't understand first time. My English and grammar not very good but l'm working for it, l'm thankful for any patience. Anyhow, only answer if it is pleasing for you to do so! I'm wondering about mothers who love her kids but wretched to everyone else. My mother is a fan of me and my sister, she always take good care of us as children, love us, and affectionate with hugs, kisses, and gifts, read to us at bedtime. (these things my grandmother never offer her sadly enough) But she is distant and sometimes even cruel on others, even family. she is only in true happiness when she is with me, my sister or alone painting with her cat Leona. I love to be her company as she is one of my favorites. She is sweetheart and not overbearing, not asking me about sex or me as lesbian. She protected us from my father while he's abusive and angry with a very rotten heart to the core of his chest. He never say sorry or change his way, no light in him but I always see the light in my mother since I was a small girl. I wonder why she won't be cheerful with others even when she is tender woman like me. I ask her if something wicked ever happened to her and she say no. We are close in soul and I think she would tell me if so. She is on her own now as a painter with no sex and does prayer, but maybe she still has the spiritual parasite and is permanent degenerate from my father? Or is this a good way for her to be in not liking others, just me and my sister? I wonder and worry for her sometimes. Maybe I just have to do prayer to wish more cheer for her, I don't know. Maybe there is not answer. If you do answer don't be afraid for honesty my emotions won't be hurting. May God bless you with peace and cheer! - @adreamfromtheclouds

Hello adreamfromtheclouds,

Oh no, you mother doesn’t have a spiritual parasite at all. Demonic behavior is very obvious and the person always complains about the result of their actions some manner. It sounds like she’s living very well and calm is still only interested in her children which is the correct way for parents to be. The individuals who bring people here should keep guiding them and sharing what they have learned in their later years because that's what people in a community do.

The purpose of pregnancy, which is a punishment for the sex act, is to teach the individual who has sex responsibility, devotion and selflessness. A lot of females say that being a parent destroyed their ego in the sense that they couldn't only think of themselves anymore... this is the next best thing on earth next to thinking only of God which most people aren't willing to do.

Those who bring children here and abuse or neglect them typically end up disabled or on drugs because they are not fulfilling their parental duties. The family is ultimately a community so people who create a community and abandon their community by kicking their kids out at 16-18 when mommy or daddy wants a life (i.e wants to have sex without guilt). These parents are then surprised that their children have moved on without them and they grow old with nobody to take care of them. The clown comes back to bite.

Your mother sounds blessed and has a life many dream of living. This is her reward for those who take a proactive stance against child abuse as she did against your mother's sperm donor. God protects the one who goes against evil. She isn’t cheerful with others because she is likely in a state where she doesn't want anything anymore ads she knows having worldly desires doesn't fulfill us. She probably just wants to spend time with her daughters and there's probably nothing more to it, so don’t worry.

Men cannot damage a daughter of God. Males are disgusting, weak and have no value unless they are living a spiritual life. Any damage he caused to your family is removed when you all rejected his evil because rejection is protection and refusal is renewal. If your family accepts him back, you will find the same diseases of the mind plague everybody in the household unless he really changes and becomes chaste in mind and body.

Even if something wicked did happen to her, she is still acting in perfect alignment as a mother. This world is ultimately a test of our will and the easy route is for a mother to take her negative experiences out on her children, but she can see the bigger picture. To become the perfect mother, one would have to pray to God, the Mother of All; many give an excuse of "well I didn't know, nobody gave us a manual to life." When we have access to the Infinite Mind, all we have to do is ask if what we wish to achieve is perfection.

The mother that struggles with her duties and curses her kids in spirit will suffer endlessly. Wine and Percocet moms are the most tormented because they resent the position in society they have chose. When they die, they will be filled with regret and they will come back to try being a better mother again and again until they get it right or turn to God and remain a virgin.

This may be a bit esoteric, but there is no “other people” - once an individual is comfortable with herself, she’s comfortable with the world. When one loves God, she loves All. Most people don’t like each other, it's okay if your mother only likes you and your sister. My mom is really big on socializing and has 100+ friends she keeps up with consistently in differently countries (she’s always taking calls and social media). She's also highly involved at work and well liked and missed and checked on if she misses a single day because she only takes vacation when asked. I wrote her a letter telling her how much she meant to me, she cried and said that me and my brother are all she has. She also has around an additional 20 step/siblings and she still only trusts me cause you know how males are. The friends, social circles, etc are all an illusion and your mother knows it.

Parents should not be inquiring about your sex life other than advising you to remain a virgin because that's normal, but it's still better not to bring it up at all. This is a sign she respects your personhood and she is not a pervert. I’m really glad to hear you’re in a situation like this. Your mother is doing extremely well and I hope she understands her good situation is a result of hard work and dedication.

#reply #need to hear more “my mother loves me a little TOO much??? is there something wrong?" #spirituality

[frymaform]

Paperhat Prophecy AU

So i forget that I can throw my half-written fic summary wips here but now that I’ve remembered, I’m gonna share one of my favorite paperhat AUs of mine, the prophecy AU It’s really just a poorly written summary I’m pasting from my notes but i figure if you enjoy it, then good, if not then whatever. 

Basically in this AU, when Blackhat and Whitehat were born in the underworld, his parents had a customary oracle reading performed shortly after their birth to look into their fates. The oracle recited a poem that I'll write later that said something alone the lines of:

The beautiful monsters, born of the same tree will share a fate parallel to one another and grow up with only discord between one another. One will be the fiercest creature across the cosmos and the other will be a creature of joy and harmony.

One will favor a race yet to be born out of wonder while the other will fight the creatures out of fear. Yet, their fates will truly begin at the hand of the beings and both will find their happiness lies within. In the millennia to come, a similar duo will be born into their worlds. Two creatures of inexplicable genius that live only to serve their monsters.

The creatures, one docile and one villainous, will many times appear in the form of disaster and mayhem. Only after many failures shall the pairs unite, in which each monster shall find their other half and truly rule their domain.

From each domain, a new beings' era shall then rise..

The two demons grew up hating on another as predicted, though pondering what the rest of their tale amounts to as they pass through era after era. They eventually learned that Humanity is the race the prophecy spoke of. Of course, Whitehat followed and protected the members of this race, hoping to one day find his other half, while Blackhat despised humans. He found them confusing and repulsive when he first tried to understand how they worked, it eventually turned to irritation. He didn't understand how his "other half" could ever be one of these short lived, emotional, worthless beings.

They found that Blackhat is the reason their first meetings with their beloveds' souls failed. Every time Blackhat met a human he found interesting, they attempted to show him to be human, to be a vulnerable and gentle being. He was disgusted and confused every time and he killed every one of them, thus causing some incident to kill Whitehat's love over and over again. The soul came to him every century or so, in the form of a beautiful and gentle woman with knowledge beyond most other humans, in some kind of freak situation. He admits, he almost fell for her time and time again, he knew she was made for him he could sense it but he just couldn't fathom a lifetime with a human.

Eventually, it seemed the universe had finally given up, Blackhat thought he had finally won the battle and that he would never have to experience affections again. Then, centuries late, a plane crashed into his manor and with it, an idiot boy already half dead. Blackhat was simply going to kill him and dispose of his body when the boy LAUGHED, he was nearly dead and just chuckled and said he was sorry about the property damage and that he had a convention to get to! Blackhat was obviously taken aback, he had only really met emotional and pathetic humans thus far, creatures scared of mortality, but this one laughed in the face of death. He simply asked if the boy had any skills other than piloting, because that one simply didn't count at the moment. Flug, confused, had smiled coldly and proclaimed himself the smartest man the world had ever seen. He had the most stunning evil glint to his eye and for that, Blackhat offered him a deal. He'd get to live and be provided endless resources for his inventions but he would have to sell his soul and work under blackhat for the rest of his life. Flug was kinda just like "sure why not" and passed out from blood loss. 

He's gonna feel dumb as hell for it later but because his soulmate always came in the form of a gentle woman, he absolutely did NOT realize Flug was the human in the prophecy. Flug began his work for him, Blackhat never truly knew the boys origin or identity but didn't much care as he owned him now in every sense of the word. Flug absolutely flourished in the environment provided and spit out genius invention after genius invention, each more evil than the last. He started to show his true darkness when he started to take  captives for experimenting from hero fights and various other places, usually miscellaneous assholes he finds skulking around. Blackhat loved to watch his demented little creature at work, as much as he mistreated the human and showed otherwise. 

It took a while but at some point, Flug had just invented something monumental and wicked and he showed it off to Blackhat proudly when Blackhat stopped dead at the realization that Flug is a human with unparalleled genius, one that he had truly fallen for. He didn't know when it happened but by the time he realized it had been too late to stop it, but he wasn't sure he would ever want to. He couldn't imagine living, let alone ruling, without the vile little scientist by his side.

Of course, instead of embracing this, he pushed Flug away. He couldn't bear to kill him like he did the rest but he treated him much worse than before, he tried to convince himself that Flug was simply another soul bound servant. Flug had simply taken the abuse and continued his work. Apparently though, while blackhat worked hard, the universe worked much much harder to complete its prophecy. Apparently, said universe was tired of his shit and running low on soulmates.

I DO have continuing notes that go into a more self indulgent fic bc I’m a sucker for demon mating cycles/rituals but I’ll save that for another post if anyone’s interested

#paperhat #villanos #blackhat #flug #whitehat #slug #soulmate #prophecy #paperhat prophecy au

[class1akids]

I'm not trying to desvalidate Shoto's efforts on saving Touya, and I feel bad that he's suffered so much on this situation. But something just doesn't make sense in my head. Shoto's distressed to have to fight Touya because he wishes he would've had a relationship with him? or because he doesn't want to keep fighting...?

I understand that Shoto sees himself in Dabi's situation and he feels like he should fix the problems in the family, and those are two big things that weight on him on the situations.

But the whole part of Shoto not wanting to fight his brother doesn't make much sense to me. Shoto and Touya weren't close, they were only ever called "family" because they share blood. So that just isn't clicking on my head and I was wondering if I could find an explanation.

Sorry for the confusing, maybe even nonsensical ask.

I'm not really sure what you are referring to exactly. Shouto never backed away from fighting Touya.

During the Dabi reveal he takes the initiative, because he sees Endeavor completely freezing

In the hospital he immediately sees the similarities between his old, full of rage self and Touya and decides he will have to be the one to face his brother.

Then after Rei's explanations he accepts that it's something the family (or at least Shouto and Endeavor) should do together, because Endeavor has the validation Touya seeks.

He confirms both to Midoriya and to Touya that he chose to face his brother even alone (as hero and as family) and clearly he was expecting a fight, since he developed a move to counter Touya's fire (without hurting him).

After Touya gets up again and gets transported to Gunga, there are two dilemma Shouto is facing. The first one is that he went over his limit (according to Iida) with the first Great Glacial Aegir. The second is that the Gunga heroes couldn't hold AFO back, so he's heading for Deku. Among the heroes still standing, Shouto is one of the most powerful, so he's torn on what to do and wants to help his best friend.

Shouto also knows that the likely scenario with Touya making it to Endeavor that both his father and brother die. And even as wrought as his relationship is with his father, we know he doesn't want Endeavor to die and even if he has no sibling bond with Touya, he feels a bond between them knowing the abuse / trauma they both went through. He's able to empathize with Touya.

Also, after Touya gets the warp to a location 400 kms away, Shouto doesn't think he has a way to get there.

This is where All Might's encouragement is crucial - he convinces Shouto that he is absolutely NEEDED at Gunga, not just for his family business but for everyone endangered by Touya's fire-explosion. And he tells Shouto that there is someone else who can handle AFO.

So I don't think that there is any point where Shouto doesn't want to fight Touya in the sense that he wants to face him properly. His goal is to stop his brother. To stop from hurting others, hurting the family, but also from hurting and killing himself.

But the narrative recognizes also that it's a hard thing to do for Shouto and a big emotional burden to clean up his parents' mess, to be the one who becomes responsible whether his brother lives or dies or innocent bystanders do, it's him being put in the position of maybe having to kill his brother and be the cause of the damage and pain it would cause in the family.

Todoroki Shouto: Rising talks about the need for conflict sometimes - it's something Shouto has learnt and during Round 1 of their fight he learns a lot about Touya. So when he faces him the second time, he can approach it differently than he did the first time.

#c1a asks #todoroki shouto #todoroki touya #dabi vs shouto

[mobydingus]

Hii um, really sorry about bugging you but I was scrolling through tags and I saw that you drew lovely Nathan and Leslie work a while back; I'm wirting a huge personal AU and one of the subplots is her breaking Nathan out of camp so they can do a world domination thing lol

I've never seen any headcanons of them ever so it's super hard to wirte (even if it is just for myself, but I love over analyzing both of them) so I was wondering if you had any cools ones that you're comfortable with sharing?? I'm really really sorry if this is random, from a random user but I'm just so content starved and your art on here is so comforting and I love the scene one so so much!!!!

So um, if you can please tell headcanons >⁠.⁠<

wow i really appreciate that! i have a few, nothing too exciting. im not sure if you meant for them interacting or independent headcanons but ill say what i remember. it might be a longer response than you asked for LOL

for more technical ones:

i headcanon that nathan knows at least a little about how leslie works as a robot so if she gets hurt he can help fix her (but hes no robotics engineer so he cant do much about major damage). i also think that she can continue to mimic voices (like when she pretended to be president). she can use this to help herself or nathan (usually blackmail) but she also uses it to taunt nathan (for example, mimicking jimmy to piss nathan off). i also think leslie can change her body temperature from colder than a human to scalding hot (sometimes not on purpose, if she isnt working properly she might overheat which could damage her). i always imagined that there was some sort of underground facility (i wanna draw this but lazy) where she went to recharge, but thats one of my more fantastical headcanons. i personally think she didnt have parents or a house to live in (only a facility) but thats just me. i imagined that after leslie died, nathan recuperated and went to the crime scene or wherever her body was held and either: a. she showed signs of being functional, so he broke her out. or b. assumed she was completely dead/a lost cause and left her there (and she was still alive but wasnt capable of showing signs). both are fun ideas . i imagine that nathan diverted a great deal of his savings from drug-dealing to help repair leslie if he had saved her.

as for their relationship, in my headcanon:

neither of them will admit that they care about one another, even though they do. leslie doesnt admit it because she thinks that being emotional could compromise her rational thinking. nathan does not admit it because i dont think hes ever admitted any true feelings of appreciation or friendship for anyone lol. he would not do anything that might make him emotionally vulnerable (not that hes really conscious of this).

they both taunt eachother and can be meaner than they intended to. they both have a habit of lying to others in canon, so i imagine they still do that.

from a rational standpoint, leslie considers nathan an important asset and his ability to keep quiet about important (and unethical) things makes him valuable for secret operations. from a not-so-rational standpoint, she appreciated his different approach to life and the fact that he is not phased by leslies bizarre nature (the way she acts when she drops her act of being some innocent kid). she has grown fond of him in a way that i believe resembles an unspoken friendship.

nathan first considered leslie as another person to harass, but after being "employed" by leslie, he began to actually appreciate her, and its probably the first time a girl did not instantly hate or pity him. he probably has some sort of crush, but maybe not because leslie is crazy. he also thinks leslie is scary (but so do most people who have dealt with her "mask-off"). i think nathan likes leslie more than leslie likes nathan, but nathan is the first person she goes to if she has a problem, so they are dependent on each other at least a little.

thank you for your ask. hope it wasnt too much of an answer

#ask

[anipgarden]

Tips on talking to HOAs about installing gardens in the shared spaces? I live in a condo, but the parking lot is /barren/

I'm sorry for how late this is! (This was sent in November for everyone's context), I simply had no idea how to answer it!

Though I live in an HOA neighborhood, I've never really been in a position where I had to talk to them about anything. However, a book I checked out from the library awhile back (Hellstrip Gardening by Evelyn J. Hadden, which I really need to take back soon) mentions a couple of tip in regards to talking to HOAs about gardening in the front yard. Hopefully it helps!

Come with an idea in mind! Being able to present a drawing or a description of what you'd like to do in the area will be a lot more helpful than 'I want to do A Thing', and may be enough to get permission! In other cases, you may need a formal presentation, but even then having an idea of what you'd like to plant and why and the benefits to the community will be helpful for building said presentation!

HOA's suck, I'll be the first to agree. But if you wanna get permission for a cool parking lot garden, you've gotta go over there ready and willing to compromise and talk nice. Maybe come up with a few alternative options--for example, if you want to dig in the ground but they don't want a permanent fixture, be open to raised beds instead. But that doesn't mean let them walk all over you! Be confident, and bring facts to back you up. And know what rights the HOA does or doesn't have in your city or state.

Try presenting the idea to some neighbors and get them to back you! The more people you can get behind the idea, the less likely a 'oh but what if the neighbors don't like the aesthetic what if they complain' concern will actually stick.

Focus moreso on practical benefits than emotional arguments when it comes to the HOA. Bring up things like reducing runoff, erosion control, less water usage, little to no mowing or blowing--anything that can add a dollar figure to how beneficial it is will likely tilt people towards your side if you're convincing enough, especially if you can show that the cost of planting and maintaining your parking lot garden idea long term will be negligible to or even cheaper than maintaining whatever's going on there now--if they're constantly planting sod there only for it to wither away, that could be a good starting point.

Visuals!! Again!! This comes from the book, but also from me convincing my mom to let me plant by the front yard mailbox--me rattling off names of plants and all is way less effective than me texting her pictures and descriptions of how tall they get. If you can get a general idea of what you'd like to plant and where, gather up a bunch of pictures of your ideal plants and maybe draw a quick mock-up of your design. If there's other places in your town that have similar gardens--someone's front yard, or a park, or anything of the sort--provide addresses so the HOA board members can drop by and see what it looks like in action, and further cement the idea that it has been done before and done well. Consider the aesthetic appeal of it all!

Get ahead of any questions or concerns that you think the board may have. This idea you have is for a parking lot garden--they might have concerns about cars and pedestrians existing around the space. Is there risk of plants damaging the cars? Being a trip hazard for people getting in and out of their cars, or existing around the space? Are the plants you have in mind known to cause allergies, are they toxic to kids and pets that may be around the area at times?

Maybe include like a stone bench or something, depending on how big the spot is. If the HOA can make the presence of the garden a fixture, make it look like a plus to moving into the condos, they'll love it all the more! 'Look at this lovely garden break spot you can chill in oooo!'

Do you have a plan in mind if the garden gets damaged--whether its a car driving over the curb, or someone intentionally messing with the plants? What is it? What do you think the potential cost of it would be? This may be something they'd ask.

That's everything I've got, between the book and my personal thoughts. If any of my followers have dealt with an HOA and have feedback or other comments to provide, by all means chime in!

#ani rambles #out of queue #answered asks #nvara-of-mortains-own #outdoor gardening #best of luck with your project!!!

[lenny-rambles]

About "SpyxFamily: Short Mission 13"

Manga: "SpyxFamily"

Update: Short Mission 13

Author: Tatsuya Endo

Relevants tags ig: the dog has ptsd, again

Honestly, I was mad when I initially saw it was a Short Mission. It's gonna be a month now since the last regular chapter came out, the plot was moving, my heart skipped at beat at the last double spread, the story was thriving, I could sense a lore drop any minute now. Then we got two short missions. TWO!!! But the newest short mission took me by surprise and now I'm sad about the damn cartoon dog.

Spoilers for the SpyxFamily manga and anime, more as in, characters that appear and not exactly plot stuff, BEWARE!

IT'S A GODDAMN SHORT MISSION, WHY DID YOU SHOW AGAIN THE SAD DOG'S BACKSTORY?!!! ISTG. You know what I was expecting? I was expecting a "funny haha, future seeing dog has a boring day home alone" maybe break some stuff by accident, maybe he goes to the neighbors' for attention, cute, sweet, nothing heavy slice of life chapter. BUT NO, I WAS FOOLED.

Like, most of the Short Missions are just, not that relevant. Like, it is more of a day-to-day life than the manga normally is. As in, last short mission (the chapter before this one) was about Anya sending Lloyd, and WISE, to an early grave with a High-Fashion dress for prom. It was funny, sweet, Anya wanted to help, then Damian messed up again and she wanted revenge, you know, the usual.

Why? Who gave Tatsuya Endo the idea to give Bond MORE flashbacks?!!! Poor dog's been through a lot, the Forgers becoming his safe place is just beautiful. THE WAY HE AND ANYA RESONATE, BECAUSE THEY ARE BOTH SECRET EXPERIMENTATION SURVIVORS!!!!!! Fucking dog making me sad because a big ass Penguin plushy has stiches. Stupid dog making me emotional over fish, FUCKING FISH. I HATE FISH!!!!

SpyxFamily makes me happy and sad. I think it's a great story to show how connections, friends, family, define a person more than what we'd like to imagine. No person is an island, so seeing characters like Nightfall or Franky, doing missions or getting bits of their backstory, makes it feel more real. Having a character like Anya, being capable of reading mind but not truly understanding most of it makes you think about how children navigate the world.

Oh gosh, I could talk about how SpyxFamily shares an anti-war message through its main characters, all of them victims of the war, one way or another. But it won't, 'cause this was supposed to be about the dog having what I'd call panic attacks because he accidentally broke a glass. BUT WE GET TO THE PENGUIN. In case you haven't read the manga (why are you reading this?) or simply forgot, Bond broke Mr Penguin!

It was an act of jealousy, Anya started playing with the plushie more, and he got lonely. So he destroyed it. He might be an oracle dog, but he is still a dog, I don't blame him. And he felt Bad. He made Anya cry. And he felt terrible because he just wanted Anya back and now Anya's crying and he can't undo it (dogs can't sew). In the end they made it better. I don't remember if it was Lloyd, Yoru or the neighbors, it was probably Yoru though, who fixed it. And the Penguin got cool looking stiches and "he and Bond made Peace".

That was nice, UNTIL THIS GODDAMN CHAPTER. I used to wonder if Bond also felt survivor guilt from being the only dog that managed to escape. TURNS OUT HE DOES, THE DOG HAS SURVIVOR'S GUILT FFS!!!! Poor Bond, realized that he inflicted damage to something like him (unable to defend itself, new/young, a play pretend animal and an animal no longer treated as such) and he tried to make it better. I can't change what I did but I want you to feel better, I'm sorry.

I'm overanalyzing here, it's probably Not That Deep. It's a funny haha manga about a family of dangerous people who end up loving each other by accident. But sometimes it's about Lloyd burying himself in a nameless grave by the time he was 18. It's about Yoru sacrificing her innocence for her brother only to do the same for her. It's about Anya needing validation from everyone because if the people in the lab didn't like her they'd get rid of her. It's about Bond feeling lonely and distressed because a vision he got is especially terrible and he is just a Dog.

I read the interview where Tatsuya Endo said he didn't like the characters that much. Maybe not Gege Akutami (you're going dow Gege) levels of hate, but a blunt indifference. And sometimes I find that hard to believe. Maybe he didn't want Anya to be cutesy-dumb-pink-haired little girl, or Lloyd a super-intelligent-spy-ikemen at first, or even now. But I don't think he doesn't like his story, or characters; we wouldn't have the short missions in the first place if that were the case.

All this to say, cartoon dog made me sad, and then happy, because there are better things coming for everyone in the end. Thank you for reading this far! I'd recommend SpyxFamily if you are up to something a tad dramatic, with a happy ending and endearingly funny. (Or if you have issues with your parents and want a bit of escapism, that's also fair)

#rambles #txt #spy x family #spy x family bond