#again for the none people who follow me who care about this tiny fandom

[n7punk]

okay it took me awhile because Journey Into Lost Memories is a cut scene simulator for a good chunk of the game, but i've finished the entire Another Code: Recollection remake and i have some final thoughts (balls to the wall spoilers, do not click if you haven't played the game)

not gonna talk much about the first game since i already wrote a fucking essay on it, but i will say having taken the collection as a whole now, i firmly prefer the original. the remake isn't a bad game, just not quite the game the original was.

for Trace Memory/Two Memories anyway. the sequel... i have more problems with

first of all i never played the original sequel because it didn't exist in america, and im too fatigued to watch a playthrough now but i do fully intend to. That said, i could still see changes just with the context of what changes they made in the first one.

there is like. one puzzle per chapter for the first chunk of the game. like max. chapter one has getting... aw fuck i just played it and i forgot his name, but the guesthouse staffer's attention. and then there's the "puzzle" to unlock the door (given what the RAS looks like, i assume this use to be motion control bullshit, so i'll take the series of button prompts instead, it's just kind of a ridiculous way to hack lmao) and proving your innocence (wow a whole two puzzles). and then... i think the next puzzle is rescuing matthew? which is being a bit generous.

the boathouse was the first time it felt like i was playing the same game as the original series, and there's like... chapter 2 or 3? the boathouse was good, but then it's not good (puzzle wise) for... several chapters. like im trying to list puzzles off and i know im missing some but off the top of my head: music box, finding the keys, the clock tower, the resort headquarters, then the whole thing in JC valley where it's a Trace Memory game again. all that is in pretty quick secession but the first couple chapters drag and are mostly watching cutscenes doing a lot of set-up that doesn't give you enough clues for you to feel like you're trying to solve something, and thus mentally engaged. i actually started cutting off dialogue, hitting A without listening to the VA the second I had skimmed through the dialogue, because there was just way too much cutscene. this is not a puzzle game for like five chapters, it's Life Is Strange or something.

i don't need to play the original to know they cut a ton of puzzles from this second game. i really felt like i was going insane without the lack of balance in the second game. and the thing is, once the story happens, it's interesting! but goddamn is there 2, maybe 3 chapters of story in a 7 chapter game.

for the story... the part with matthew's dad was interesting to me, but like i said, gathering (very little) information on that takes up the first half of the game and then it all happens at once. also why did they change the ghost rules for this game. why does kelly look like that. they should have standardized that in this remake. kelly plays by completely different rules than d and im not a fan.

the zipper on her doll being a red herring was pretty funny tho lmao. i was literally in the middle of telling my mom it was driving me crazy that ashley hadn't thought to try it yet when i got the chance to inspect it and found the actual secret.

the pollution plotline also felt nonsensical at points, and it does mostly get justified later (why the fuck did her dad just happen to make an app for the DAS - something with like 4 apps - for measuring water quality? ok later it gets tied into liquid memory, but it had me laughing out loud for how convenient it was at the time) and tbh the plotline with the lab did too at times, but the ryan plotline was good. im still not clear on what memories were taken from sayoka? like they made it sound like they wiped her memory at some points, but that straight up can't be possible so i just dont know. like the reason behind it made since and every but idk... there were a lot of little things here that were messy and i would have expected them to fix and unify across games in a remake, especially considering how much they changed. i can't tell when the hell sayoko went to lake juliet. was it like, a day before she died? a month? year? can't have been more than a year, but again, wiping her memory doesn't make a lot of sense.

also like. sorry. but ryan is supposed to kind of be 6 years old (he has been strong since the pollution) so did he just... god how the hell did he get involved in the bill and gina thing. bill had been using richard for 7 years already, ever since he killed sayoko, but when did gina get involved, and then when did ryan? he had to be involved for at least two years since bill sent the source code to jc but... god i have a migraine and i CANNOT make sense of this. i think bill thought he was the mastermind, he got in touch with gina through his "buyer" (no idea if she already worked there, or got a job "undercover" for more info on the prototype, or was placed undercover after blood edward island fell apart. i dont think a timeline for her and rex's relationship was given that would have helped place this, just his divorce which was a few years ago and could have happened before she arrived or after - maybe even because of - her arrival).

god im rambling so much. basically i think the ryan stuff was good (i out loud went "OH HE'S TRYING TO MAKE A NEW SAYOKO" when i figured it out and that was a good feeling), but things with the lab/another project history got very twisty and the early game (camping, matthew's plotline, and the band/music plotline that... didn't really go anywhere aside from making gina suspicious, which is fine, but trim down all the long ass cutscenes then) had way too little gameplay and especially PUZZLES that just made it drag on.

ive seen a few mentions of changes now im daring to look at the tag and it is making me excited to watch a playthrough to see the original version of the game too, but my current assessment is that the sequel probably suffered heavily from the cuts/changes. maybe it always had these problems, but i doubt it. i also might replay the original trace memory until i hit a brick wall. i doubt citra has support for it lmao.

oh also im never going to get over them just calling it "the Big Deal Band Contest" thats a fucking placeholder title i put in and then can't come up with anything better but they did it for a video game (post-remake!) and not a goofy fanfic

#mylife #again for the none people who follow me who care about this tiny fandom #ashley is still my child tho forever and always i love her

[jet-bradley]

So does this mean you're outta the TRONblr community for good?

That post was a joke, but... Honestly? Probably at least for a while. I need a breather from it. I think I've hit a point where I just don't take as much enjoyment from it anymore. I resonated with TRON 2.0 partly because it was a retro shooter, and I still fw it as that? You can pry the weapon sounds in that game out of my cold dead hands, lol. But I think I need a break from everything else.

I've honestly been growing uncomfortable with TRONblr for a while now. It's got a cliquey streak that people don't really address, because a lot of the drama is mostly just people whispering behind each others' backs in other apps. The fact that it's a small fandom where people know each other to be more judgemental than they let on, can make it really difficult to post about more niche topics. I don't just mean being a 2.0 blogger here; weird kinks, more exploratory meta, less popular character opinions, you name it. There's... reasons almost none of my plural Tron friends post about it on Tumblr.

And it's not something you can combat by just... All being friends and getting over it (tm). Someone who cyberstalked and doxxed me is in this fandom on Tumblr. I've got another friend who had the same thing happen to them from someone else in Tronblr. There's no amount of "sometimes you need to communicate like adults and stop holding things against people and just all hold hands and be nice to each other!" that will EVER get me to reach out to that individual again. Because of the tiny nature of the fandom, a lot of people I care about are mutuals with him. I just have to let go.

I still consider myself to be good friends with the people I know from Tronblr. But I'm mainly in contact with a lot of them through other places (like Mastodon and Discord), so I've unfollowed most of them on here. The ones I still follow, I really only follow for other things, unless they're largely a 2.0 blog.

Anyhow. You might see me around when there's more 2.0 content, but honestly? Aside from the next KA mod update, that's not happening, and we all know that.

#ironically I had my millionth idea for a tron themed doom mod the other day #so like. I'll be in the background. but I'm kinda over it on this website specifically #and I'm kinda over pretending I liked anything about legacy especially #tronblr #fuck it i'll maintag this

[elfstuck]

Gettin the Band Back Together

Finally watching the Homestuck Recap and trying to catch up. (It is 8pm on Apr 13 for me, as I write this. I want to post something for Homestuck Day that's not just 'hey I am aware it's Homestuck Day.') I have not given up on this blog, but as you can see, it is not at the top of my "do this now" priority lists.

(Since I last did serious blogging here, I have created two (tiny) solo TTRPGs, watched BNHA and Untamed and read ridiculous amounts of fic for both, and gotten a Real Job. With. Like. Union benefits. Also my father died in the early Covid era (not of Covid) and this made the whole lockdown thing much easier to handle because I had no interest in being social for at least six months after that.) (And every week, my Google calender says "Reminder: Homestuck liveblogging!" which has served as a weird touchstone for normality throughout the hellscape years.)

GENERAL NOTES: I want ZERO SPOILERS. NONE. I have a friend (@chibipaw) to help me by reading my inbox, but that just means "she will delete stuff that has spoilers" and I won't see it. I have a broad definition of spoilers. Like. I do not want to hear "oh you'll see that one again" or "wait'll you see what happens when they meet." I was not happy to be told that the people chatting with Our Protagonists were the trolls I'd heard so much about. Don't assume "everyone knows that"; I have managed to block out an incredible amount of knowledge about this fandom.

I am here for the tentabulges. Eventually. I will be reading all the depraved fic. Eventually. I ship them all. Eventually.

…I may ship them all before eventually.

Lemme see if I got this:

It's John's 13th birthday. It has been John's 13th birthday for longer than John has been alive.

His neighborhood got blown up. But he's safe (…for some values of "safe") in the Medium, where things are weird.

Kernelsprites. More than one of them.

Rose is playing with the server version of Sburb

Dave is arguing with trolls

Jade is doing something with a dreamscape something or other

Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey

Wayward Vagabond yay

Midnight crew. Midnight crew song. (Not actually part of the story.) (I want Midnight Crew song fanfic.)

Prospit. Derse. Multiple peoples with the same initials in different settings.

Chess war something (I have kinda stopped paying attention to the recap.)

Multiple strange worlds: Land of Wind and Shade; Land of Light and Rain; Land of Heat & Clockwork, all of which I want custom dragons for. This is complexified by the fact that Flight Rising expanded its color scheme while I was reading Homestuck, and also there are now swarms of new dragon types so I will have to rethink my plans for LOWAS and LOHAC dragons. I don't think I've seen Jade's realm yet.

Trolls with initials that are all "lower case letter followed by capital letter," with meanings that maybe attach to zodiac signs. (PLZ NO SPOILERS I already know too much.)

Flash has died but I have the Unofficial Homestuck Collection and also there's something kinda-sorta like Flash support in Firefox now although I may not have all the features I used in the past.

I have lost both my place in the story and my awareness of context so WHO CARES HERE WE GO.

…Is this too long? Should I bump the actual liveblogging to next post? Should I put it under a read-more tag? I have lost all sense of how I normally pace these things.

gC gives John (eB) a map. An FL4 map. Because that was a thing when Homestuck was written. FL4 files are no longer viable ways to give information. However, given what I know of HS trolls, that would not prevent them from using it.

(Huh my HSLB folder already has a "Google LOWAS.png" file which means this is probably ground I have already covered. Oh well.)

GOOGLE LOWAS

John goes to gate on top of mountain, sees pretty swirly colors that are LOLAR, and crashes into Rose's room. Talks to Dave on Rose's computer.

…Yeah, this looks familiar. Huh.

Look this is the last pic from my regular liveblogging days:

if someone could give me a link for that page, I'd be grateful. In the meantime, I'll go through from where I am and try to catch up. I probably backed up some deliberately but I am now entirely lost.

John is chatting with two Daves. One in orange. One in red. There are timeline issues. I think.

John goes poking through Rose's room. (The wone with MEOWMEOWMEOW all over the walls. Rose: Not the sane one.) He grabs some books with his captchalogue. Or into his sylladex. Dammit, I have forgotten the terminology attached to my favorite feature of this game. Story. Webcomic. Whateverthefuck this is.

Gets the codes from the books.

…and then we're back to… Dave in Derse? Dave and Rose in Derse? Back to John, getting his birthday gift from Rose: some kind of purple-black stuffed rabbit. More bunnies in boxes for John. John is happy with all the bunnies in boxes.

(Huh I already had a 'Chaos Dunk' image too, but not the animated gif. Apparently years of ignoring this have not changed my ideas about which images are interesting & worth sharing.)

This section has NEW RELEVANCE since I am now into Untamed fandom and gifts of rabbits are emotionally meaningful in ways that they were not when I started reading Homestuck. If John loves receiving bunnies, does that make him a Hanguang-Jun analogue? I will have to explore this idea.

John leaves a salamander for Rose in thanks.

There are pesterlog conversations of which I understand almost nothing. Timey-wimey shenanigans. Gonna hope I can pick up the gist of it later because I am not rereading the whole damn thing up to now to get context for these, which I kind of had before but have long lost.

There is a jam session with Dave and Rose in Derse, with 5 musical options. These are selectable by having Dave press buttons. Or by clicking on them directly in the new app.

These open in separate tabs in the Homestuck Collection. Right. The other reason to work my way through Homestuck: The music is awesome.

Of these, I like Derse Dreamers best.

Huh. the Collection and the website have DIFFERENT CONTENT wtf. Website: Page 1720. Altered from the original - the sound button is at the top because Flash support is now all wonky. Fine. But the second picture here isn't in the collection. (I am fine with this. I don't like the second picture. But it means, sigh, I really will be needing to go back and forth between the Collection app & the website. Ghah.)

Plz throw thoughts at me so I will be inspired to keep doing this.

Only. Not spoilery thoughts. Please.

#homestuck liveblog #act 4 #homestuck #elf meets trolls #homestuck music

[spacewassocool]

Hello again.

Could I request the space crew + crew! mack and he! mack conforting a tired and depressed captain

many things on the ship want to go kabom! and the cap is running from one thing from the other and they haven't called any of the crew because they were also tired from all the work

sorry if this is to especific...

today was a difficult day at work :( I just want to be conforted by my favorite people

I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG AAAAH

Many chaos happening

PLEASE ENJOY!!!

Fandom: ISWM Pairings: None Pronouns: You/Yourself Warnings: Blood mention, mention of guns and shooting Word count: 800ish?

I don't think I've said this but my first language is not English. please do not go after me for saying something wrong.

What a wonderful week it has been.. Not. Everything has been going wrong, stuff exploded, all your notes had accidentally been thrown away, you were constantly running into stuff being moved around. Yet you never got to complain. You were the Captain of the Invincible II, you could not let your crew down. When ADS went off and started shooting everyone, you were there and fixed it, despite being shot in the leg, you kept on going. Oh no, looks like Cyro is freezing everyone, off you go captain. 

Now you were tired, there were purple bags under your beautiful and/or handsome eyes. Your legs kept giving out, you didn't get any sleep for ages. You didnt really eat or anything a normal human should do. 

Mark

He found you passed out outside Cryo. My man was terrified.

Being the strong boy that he is, he brought you to the bedroom that was for emergency purposes

When you wake up, you can see him sitting next to your bed, bumping his leg up and down.

“Oh my gosh I’m so glad that you’re okay. Here have some water”

Then he hands you a croissant instead of water because he’s so distracted.

After talking to him about what has been happening the past week, he connects the dots in his tiny brain.

So that's why you were avoiding him, you were tired and sad

He gets it now.

Immediately patches up any wounds that you have, gets you to do it by yourself if its in a place you dont want him looking.

Cries and hugs you when he sees you because my boy is scared that you’ll pass out again

Follows you around because he wants to help you forever now

Gunther

He sees you laying down at your desk, just mentally screaming

Immendly squats down to your level to ask whats wrong.

Shoots your chair leg to force you to go to bed

Don't ask questions

Get in the bed

Asks a lot of questions

Thats how you know he’s serious

Wants you to rest

He’ll get Mark to take charge. The Captain cannot be workin in this condition

“Okay, next time ADS goes off, tell me.”

Threatens to shoot anyone who goes near you while you’re sleeping

Celci

Sees you outside Cryo leaning on the door for dear life

“Woah Cap, whats going on?”

Escorts you to her private room

Defo makes you hot chocolate

Talks to you about everything

Reasons to you about why you shouldn't feel the need to fix everyone else's problems

A Lot of cuddles to make up for everything

Rechecks all of the security systems to try and figure out what caused the mess

Just a huge sweetheart

Helps you get more sleep

Burt

This man notices right away that you arent okay

But he does not say anything due to social anxiety

Sends you messages but gets worried when you don't respond

When he finally gets the courage to go ask what's wrong, you are nowhere to be seen.

After searching for 10 minutes, he finds you crying in a cupboard

Hugs you like the MAN he is

Asks you what's wrong and takes you to his safespace

Comfort baking anyone?

Yep, you guys make cookies together

Forces you to get a good night sleep

Just a really good guy

Crew Member! Mack

Since he is such a good member of the crew, he likes to keep logs on everyone

And there is not a person whom he cares more for than the Captain.

However, he has become rather concerned lately 

His favourite person is not doing so great

He knocks on your office to try and talk to you, only to find you in the corner looking done with life, and also fast asleep

Much like Mark, Mack has big boy strength, so picking you up is no problem.

Take you to the Captains quarters!!

Tucks you in and does a scan of your injuries, covers up the most serious ones

Tracks your breathing because he loves you so much (Why am i making him a yandere)

When you wake up, bombards you with questions

When he realises he’s overwhelming you, shuts himself up

Just lets you talk

Pets your shoulder

He’ll be here for you

Head Engineer! Mack

Just another day in the ship, say where is his Captian, he wants to complain.

Notices a trail of blood leading up to your room

Immediately panics

Uses his override code to open the door

Sees you at your desk, crying and just being done with all the work you have to do

Hugs from the back people

This is huge guys

He does not like physical touch

The fact that he willingly gave it to you is a privilege

Honestly, just holds you while you cry

He knows how tough space can be

Must be even worse when you’re a captain

Listens to all your problems (that's a first)

After you’ve calmed down, leaves to go find whomever fucked everything up

In all, he’s here for you, and will never leave your side.

#in space with mack #mack #head engineer #ISWM #In space #iswm part two #in space with markiplier #writers on tumblr #markiplier #celci #burt #yandere? #fiction #iswm #request

[forever-rogue]

If you're looking for Bucky requests, may I perhaps request something to do with Dad!Bucky? Like maybe he's surprised on how much his kid (I always see him with a daughter but that's just me) grabs onto his metal hand when they're walking or just gravitates towards it more than his flesh hand and he's always throwing major heart eyes whenever the child does this. 🥺

A/N: Dad!Bucky? Please I’m so heckin’ soft right now - no one touch me 🥺

Pairing: n/a

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: none

BUCKY MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

»»————-　♡　————-««

"Daddy!" Bucky was pulled back into reality as he looked up from the ground. A small flock of pigeons had gathered around him as he fed them some seed. They were cooing and chirping happily at him and in some ways had become steadfast friends over the years. But when he looked up and found his daughter grinning and waving at him, his entire heart melted, "daddy! Come and catch me!"

Sofia displayed a gap-toothed grin,  her dark curls windswept and blue eyes wide and excited. She was his little clone in almost every single way. You'd told him that since the day she was born and, almost as if you had a sixth sense, you'd insisted that she would cling to him like glue. You'd been right. Very right.

He couldn’t help but grin as he watched her running around, attempting to catch some butterflies as Falcon, the beloved family dog, followed closely behind. You’d had him since before she was born and they were thick as thieves.  Quickly pulling out his phone, he made sure to snap a few photos of them to send to you before getting up and chasing after her. He was on solo-father duties today as you had a few things for work you had to attend to that day.

Of all the things in the world Bucky thought he would ever have, a family of his own was never one of them.

But as he ran after his daughter, making quick work of catching up to her little legs, and swooped her up in his arms, a wave of peace and calm washed over him. She squealed in delight as she tried to squirm out of his arms, Falcon barking happily at the two of them.

“I’ve got you, little monster,” he peppered gentle kisses over her face as she giggled and attempted to wrap her small arms around his neck, “so easily defeated, little one. One day you’ll be strong enough to fight me off.”

“I don’t want to, daddy,” she insisted as she snuggled against his chest, “I like when you hold me. Besides, my legs are getting tired.”

A lump welled up in his throat at her little declaration; in some ways he wished that Sofia would stay this young and carefree forever. But in others, he couldn’t wait for her to grow up and reach different milestones that he could help her grow through. He still struggled, here and there, with the idea that he was actually good and hoped in some ways that raising her would give him the chance to prove to the world he could do good. Perhaps it would prove it more to himself than anyone else, but that was beside the point. He just wanted to be a good father, just as he worked to be a good husband.

He already was - the best ever - you had consistently told him such. Nothing you’d ever done that had shown him otherwise. It was something he still found to be a miracle at times.

“That’s what happens when you’re a shrimp,” he laughed softly as he kissed the top of her head, “one day, you’ll be tall and running over me. But that’s a long time from now - want to get ice cream before we go home?”

“Yes,” she grinned and looked at him with wide, ocean blue eyes, “mommy said no ice cream though...she said I had too much when I went to Uncle Sam’s the other day.”

“Mommy isn’t here right now,” he put a finger up to his lips and whispered softly, “it’ll be our little secret, okay?”

“I thought secrets were bad, daddy!”

“Only when they hurt other people,” he slowly set her back down and smoothed out her wild curls, “we don’t keep important secrets to ourselves and we don’t do anything to hurt others, yes?”

“Yes!”

“Exactly - and us getting ice cream doesn’t hurt anyone,” he reminded her as the little girl nodded eagerly, “we’ll make sure to brush your teeth extra well and then we’ll bring some home for mommy too. She can’t be mad then, right?”

“She loves ice cream too,” Sofia insisted as Bucky laughed, “we can all get ice cream! Falcon too!”

“Maybe not Falcon,” Bucky into his jacket pocket and fished out Falcon’s leash before clipping it onto his collar, “he can’t eat the same food as us, baby. But we can stop and get him a special treat too at the pet store. We can do that first, get our ice cream, and walk home. Mommy should be back by then too.”

“Okay daddy,” as soon as he straightened back up, he held out his hand to her, expecting that she’d gravitate towards the warmth and gentleness his normal hand offered her. Instead, she reached for the black and gold vibranium of his left side and clung onto it without reservation. She held onto him as tightly as possible, giving him an expectant look with a happy smile.

In some ways, he shouldn’t have been surprised at all. She’d never, even as a baby or toddler, had shown any fear or hesitation when it came to his vibranium arm. When she was tiny, even smaller than she was now, she didn’t understand the difference. She just knew that daddy has a different arm, but she’s never questioned it or made any sort of situation out of it. Even when people would stare, whether they knew of his past or not, Sofia was never phased. In turn, it gave Bucky the confidence not to care either.

You’d started the process of slowly helping to get him comfortable with being who he was, not hiding from the world, and the small girl had aided as well. These days he was able to go out without fear or worry about how he looked. He wasn’t anyone or anything he was just...Bucky. Bucky the husband, Bucky the father, occasionally Bucky the sidekick to Capitan America. And it felt good. For once in his long life, he was just a normal man.

And frankly, that was all he had ever wanted. What a thought - the man that had been through hell and back, several times, and all he wanted was a quiet and peaceful life. It had been a long time coming, but now that he had it, he didn’t plan on ever letting it go.

“Daddy?” Sofia asked softly as she started walking and noticed he wasn’t coming, “what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he promised softly. Bucky squeezed her hand gently before taking a step forward with her and Falcon quickly matching his stride, “Sofia?”

“Yes?”

“How come you never ask about my arm?” if he didn’t ask, curiosity would kill the cat. Typical Bucky Barnes, he knew you would say, asking a mere child for an explanation of something much more complex than anyone of her age would understand.

“Your arm?” her little brows knitted together as she looked up and gave him a confused look.

“You have to have noticed it’s different,” he shrugged as they walked out of the park, “it’s metal - vibranium - no one else has one like it.”

“That’s okay, daddy,” she stopped and quickly turned his hand over in hers, tracing over the palm gently, “it’s pretty. And it’s okay to be different! Mommy always says that and you do too. It doesn’t matter what anyone looks like, as long as they have good hearts. Right? If you’re kind and nice, nothing else matters!”

“Yes,” he felt himself getting choked up again as she started to race along the sidewalk, attempting to pull him with her. Sage wisdom from a five-year-old, “you’re absolutely right. I love you, little monster.”

“I know! I love you too, daddy,” she grinned, “now hurry up before they run out of all the good ice cream!”

»»————-　♡　————-««

Marvel Taglist (add yourself to a taglist here!)

@qhbr2013  @greeneyedblondie44  @april-showers-and-flowers  @softboiipascal @im-an-adult-ish  @patzammit  @niki-xie  @xxlovingfandomsxx  @startrekkingaroundasgard  @welcometothepedroverse  @actual-spawn-of-satan  @punkerthanpascal  @lazybeeches @someday-when-you-leave-me @justgivemethekeys @salome-c @rosiefridayrogersunday  @neptunesglow  @artsymaddie @haildoodles @amneris21 @star017 @irepostthingsiwanttoseelater @its–fandom–darling @ayamenimthiriel @alyispunk @djarinbarnes @edencherries @ashamed23 @sunsetskywalkerr  @nikkixostan @spookispunk @cable-kenobi

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #Sebastian Stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x you #dad!bucky #i am soft

[thefanficmonster]

Time And Time Again

Dream x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Swearing

Genre: FLUFF, Romance, Humor, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: Basically a rundown of some of the most recent cute moments brought to you by the most adorable will-they-won’t-they couple: Y/N and Dream.

Requested by Anon. Hi dear! Thank you so much for your wonderful request, it really made my day when I received it! I hope I captured what you wanted and what you had in mind in the fic and I hope you enjoy the read! This is my first time writing for Dream so I hope I don’t mess it up hehe. Love, Vy ❤

“I don’t wanna go in the cave!“ Y/N squeals in terror when she realizes that in order to make progress in the game and continue moving onward with the story, she has to walk Blake through the dark, dingy and danger-ridden cave in Outlast 2. The gang’s all there with her on a Discord call to keep her company, knowing she’s a scaredy cat underneath that tough girl exterior. And being the scaredy cat she is while also having a preference for horror games has made Friday nights very interesting for her and her friends: her, Clay, George and Sapnap sit on a Discord server while she streams whatever horror game she had planned for the evening to her close to her thousands of viewers. 

“Don’t worry, Y/N! I’ll come with you, imma hold your hand the whole time.“ Clay volunteers wholeheartedly without a second to waste.

Much to his disappointment, however, Y/N’s reply to that is: “Not until you go wash off all that cheeto dust that’s all over your fingers.“

Clay gasps dramatically, “How DARE you? I offer you help and comfort and this is the thanks I get? I hope one of those heretics in teaches you a lesson!”

While the pair are now in a full-on ‘heated’ dispute on their manners and politeness, bringing back things they did wrong as far back as three years ago, George and Sapnap are just connecting the dots silently.

“Wait, Y/N...“ George is the one to finally speak up, “How’d you know he’s eating cheetos?”

Taking a momentary break from the bickering, Y/N reassumes her more sweet tone of voice as he addresses him, “He freaking raided my cabinets and has eaten all my snacks already! He’s only been here for two hours, damn it!”

“Don’t make it sound like I inhaled a mountain of snacks in two hours! You literally had only two bags of snacks - meant for one person, mind you!“ Clay argues back, neither him nor Y/N realizing that this accidental outing will send their fandoms in a fit.

Of course, people hang out at their friends’ all the time, nothing weird there. This wouldn’t have been such a big deal to anyone if Sapnap didn’t say:

“How come Clay has the privilege of coming over to place and George and I don’t?“

Oh boy...

                                                             *  *  *

“Hi everyone! I know you guys couldn’t care less for an intro so Imma get right into it...“ Y/N says, all seemingly in one breath, “You see this masked man next to me? This tree of a man right here? Yes? Good, well judging by that poorly made cardboard mask he’s wearing - curtsey of yours truly - you probably already know who he is. If not, meet Dream, aka Clay, aka the raincloud above my parade.“

That specific laugh echoes throughout the room as the said tree-of-a-man wraps an arm around the significantly smaller girl’s shoulders, pulling her closer till their sides collide, “She loves me, trust me, she does.”

“Only when you bring me food though.“ She corrects him, wiggling his shoulders to see if she could set herself free from his grip but relaxing in his embrace when she realizes she won’t be going anywhere unless he willingly lets her go.

Clay tilts his head to the side to look at her through the holes poked into the mask before lifting his free arm to reveal the plastic bag he’s been holding all this time. “Oh, well then I wonder what I’ve got over here...”

“Oh my God, Panda Express! You’re the best, Clay.“ She squeals, grabbing him by the collar of his hoodie and pulling him down while she simultaneously pushes up on her toes to place a kiss on his cheek which is a tiny bit exposed to her between the mask and the hood he’s got over his head.

Before the man could even recover, he finds himself empty handed, having lost the girl and having lost the bag of food to the girl.

That kiss was worth it though.

                                                             *  *  *

“Ok, so I’ve seen this ‘my girlfriend does my makeup’ challenge going around and since I’m single as all hell, I got my best friend Y/N here to do my makeup.“ Clay points to Y/N who’s holding a makeup bag in one hand and is giving him a very disappointed look, “Judging by the look on her face, she’s not at all impressed but I promise to make her a bit more excited to be here in editing.“

“Of course I’m unimpressed, this is the troll video of troll videos!“ She complains, throwing her arms up, “Sure I’ll do your makeup and get a kick out of it myself but none of them will see it!“ She points to the camera, “None of them will know what amazing makeup artist skills I’ve got.“

This leaves Clay speechless for a moment, uncertain of how to reply to her statement before just deciding to say: “Well, at least you’ll be getting a kick out of it, that’s all that matters to me.”

“Aww...“ Y/N bats her eyelashes at the camera as her bottom lip forms an emotional pout, “Please don’t be so sweet to me after I just verbally kicked your ass. You always do that and make me feel like the meanest person in the world.“

“Aww Y/N, I’m so sorry.“ He says, sounding genuinely apologetic as he wraps his arms around the girl that’s tiny in comparison to him, bringing her closer to him with his tight hug.

“YOU’RE DOING IT AGAIN!“

                                                             *  *  *

“Hey Clay, I bought lunch on the way so I hope you’re-” Walking into her friend’s recording room abruptly, Y/N finds herself face to face with his webcam, the light next to which is glowing, suggesting the device is on and she’s currently on the screens of the thousands of people watching Dream’s stream. His mask is on - the one she made for him - of course, but she can still feel the aura of him smiling, relieving her of the worry that he’ll be irritated by her walking in like that - unannounced and without knocking. To be fair, they never announced to one another when they’d be stopping by and by this point in their friendship they have also stopped knocking too. “You’re streaming, huh?”

“Yup!“ The word is said in such a teasing manner she almost allows herself to blush, “What you got there tho?“

“Chipotle.“ She answers shortly, “And I’m starving so can we please turn your stream into a Mukbang?“ She furrows her brows as she inspects what’s on his computer screen, looking at a comment section instead of the usual screen of a game she’s used to seeing. “What are you doing, anyway?“

Looking back at his screen for a brief moment before turning back to her, Clay replies, “Oh, just reading mean comments, as one does to boost their self-esteem.”

The flash of anger he sees on Y/N’s face is most certainly not what he was inspecting to see. Mockery, yes. Humor, yes. Faux sympathy followed by some mean comments of her own, definitely. But he anger he did not see coming at all.

“Who’s talking shit about you? I’ll end them!“ Putting the plastic bag of delicious food aside, forgetting all about it in the process, Y/N grabs a chair and drags it over next to Clay’s so she too can look at his screen.

And that boy has never felt so much adoration for his best friend. Their fans - and especially their shippers - would’ve lost it if they had been able to see the look he was giving her.

                                                             *  *  *

(back to the ‘girlfriend/best friend does my makeup vid’)

“Ok, so what kind of look do you want me to give you?“ Y/N asks as she sits down on the stool in front of Clay, her makeup products placed on the dining table which is to her right.

“You ask me as though I know what I want.“ Clay laughs, the sticker of his mask floating above his face, following his movements as to keep his features hidden, “Just do the look you do on yourself everyday. It looks really cute on you, who knows, I might be able to pull it off too.“

“Sure thing.“ She smiles at her friend’s compliment, “Just stand still, ok?“

“Yes, ma’am.“

                                                            *  *  *

“Y/N, no! Stop!“ Clay warns her via the Discord call while the two are streaming Minecraft together alone for once, “Not another word!“

“But I really do feel bad!“ Y/N whines in response, “Why don’t you allow me to apologize?“

“Because there’s nothing to apologize for!“ He says, clearly done with the conversation, “I willingly gave you my jacket, you didn’t ask for it.“

“And now you’ve got a cold because of it!“ She continues arguing her case, “The least I can do is come over to take care of you.“

“I don’t need a pity nurse, thank you very much.“ Clay bites back, “But your company would be nice. Though I don’t want you to catch whatever cold I have.“

“I’d catch any cold for you, Clay.“ She replies teasingly - with a ton of honesty underneath that teasing.

Honesty both her and Clay are aware of. As well as the mob of people watching their streams right now.

              ��                                              ~  ~  ~ And so the snowball effect continues with little moments sprinkled throughout their online presences that make the snowball of shipping get bigger and bigger. Every now and then, both Y/N and Clay let little bits of their true adoration and admiration for the other slip through. And time and time again do those moments send their fans in a frenzy. 

Rightfully so.

@kia-isabelle

#dream #dream fandom #dream fanfic #dream fanfiction #dream imagine #dream x fem!reader #dream x you #dream fluff #dream x y/n #dream oneshot #clay #dream smp #georgenotfound #sapnap #dreamwasfound #dreamwastaken #clay x reader #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #fandom #smp #fluff #friends to lovers #request #requests open #x reader #reader

[greensaplinggrace]

honestly THANK YOU for saying all that abt baghra bc i thought i was going crazy from not liking her??? bc i haven't read the books and only summaries of them on wiki and like. i dunno why ppl like her actually even in the show bc this guy, her son, is like "i wanna make the world better for us grisha" and she's just like "no." even tho he sees that she's MAKING HERSELF SICK from suppressing her powers! she's literally like in bed coughing in the flashback yet seem much healthier at the little palace. also like after everything, after her disapproval, after the fold, after centuries of waiting for the sun summoner.. he never abandons her. he makes sure she's cares for. he doesn't harm her. and i have to wonder if baghra has ever thanks him for that, for just not leaving her alone. like i dunno how im suppose ro believe aleks is a heartless villain when he still cares for his abusive mom like this. like has baghra even told her she loved him (honestly she reminds me of a classic emotionally unavailable asian parent but maybe that's just me). also im wondering if baghra ever told aleks that he had an aunt.. bc like.. now that u bring up her isolating him it's like hmmmm...

not at me being like alina... why do u trust the bitter old woman who literally beats u with a stick and verbally abuses u every chance she gets.. just bc she showed a bad painting... like.. pls use two braincells to see that who u figured out as his mother... is also using his protection..

like baghra could've upped and left with alina. but no. she stayed bc she knew she was safe under aleks's protection.

alsoim just impressed that after his first friend tried to drown him and harvest his bones... he didn't go into hiding???? he still wanted to make a safe heaven for grisha!!! HE STILL WANTED TO PROTECT GRISHA EVEN AFTER HIS GRISHA FRIEND TRIED TO KILL HIM FOR HIS FUCKEN BONES. like... this is the guy im suppose to believe is the villain???

honestly i feel like part of the reason why LB's plotlines seem so bad and disconnected (and sometimes outright racist but that's another rant) and why darkles is disproportionately more violent and villainous in the later books is bc she didn't expect the darkling to be so popular and wanted to stick with her guns of making him the villain. but also wanted the money from aleks's popularity. but like you can't have ur cake and eat it too.

Well thank you for sending this ask! It's very sweet and very passionate. I'm glad you liked my post! I didn't put as much thought into it as some of my others lol. I kind of just talked. But it was nice to be able to finally talk about some of the problems I have with both her character and the fandom/author's perception of her.

HERE is the post this is referring to, in case anyone's wondering.

👀👀 You've hit the nail on the head for so many things, here!

Baghra is extremely emotionally unavailable, basically to the point of neglect. She's also verbally and physically abusive, traits which I doubt were only reserved for her students and not her son. Baghra claims she would do anything to protect him, but I've known a lot of parents who have that mindset and yet still harm their children because they think it's "good for them".

Aleksander stays at Baghra's side for years, and even when they're opposing each other she's never too far away from him. Idk if you've read the books but he does eventually hurt her. And as much as I don't like Baghra, I think his actions were horrid. But I'm also honestly kind of surprised it took him so long lmao.

Yeah I mean, in terms of isolation, let's not forget that she never wanted to introduce him to his father, either. Baghra's sense of eternity clouds a lot of her judgments on relationships, which means she views most people as dust and therefore teaches her son to as well. The problem with that is that he's a growing child, and he needs those social and emotional attachments for healthy development.

I would bet quite a bit of money that Baghra has either never told him she loves him or she has told him so few times it's practically forgettable.

And everything becomes more complicated because so many of Baghra's actions are understandable because of her life and her history, but the impacts they have on the people around her, especially Aleksander, are permanently damaging. And the fact that that's never gone over in critical depth in the books or how it's glossed over in fandom is just very disconcerting. Like, acknowledging Baghra's failings doesn't mean we're excusing Aleksander's actions, it just means we're holding Baghra liable for her own. Which the fandom should be doing, considering she's the epitome of an abusive parental figure.

And Alina trusting Baghra over Aleksander is even more confusing! Especially in the show!! This is the woman who beat her and abused her and tortured her friends when they tiny little children (and who probably still does so now that they're adults). This is the woman who mocks you and harasses you and insults you on a regular basis. Why does Baghra revealing she's Aleksander's mother make Alina change her mind?! Like fuck, I'd just feel bad for Aleksander. No wonder he kept it a secret, I would too! And that painting is enough evidence?! Really?! A random painting shown to you by this abusive mentor that's been making your life hell. That's what you're going to betray your new lover over?

The friends trying to harvest his bones thing is a good point, too. I think Aleksander, especially show Aleksander, is incredibly idealistic. I think he cares too much for others - those he's deemed worth his care (a sentiment given to him by Baghra). Despite everything she's tried to teach him about hiding and abandoning others and never caring and never doing anything to help or reach out or connect with people, Aleksander still continues to do so. It's likely because he never got it from Baghra growing up, and so is desperate for those emotional needs to be fulfilled elsewhere.

His turning point, when Baghra tells him it was understandable that those kids tried to kill him because the world is such a hard place for them - that's crucial. And the reason it's possible as a motivating factor is because of that idealism and that desire to help and that desire to be everything his mother isn't. Baghra tells him this trauma he just experienced was because of the oppression of his people, and instead of following her lead and accepting that, going into hiding and abandoning everybody to their misery, he goes I can do something about that. I can make it so this never happens again. Which is usually how trauma like that combines with one's core personality traits at a young age, especially when there's none of the essential support systems in place to aid in recovery (ie, the role Baghra should have been filling but wasn't, because she decided to exacerbate the problem instead).

And yeah, one of my biggest problems with the ham-fisted "beating you over the head with a sledgehammer of evil deeds" look-how-bad-this-character-is! portrayal of the Darkling in the later books comes from the impression I get that Bardugo doesn't trust her readers. She's so desperate to have us hate this character and think him an irredeemable villain, not trusting any of her readers to engage critically with a morally gray character, that it feels quite a bit like condescending fucking bullshit. Which ew, I know how to engage with literature, thanks.

She really does seem to look down on a large part of her fandom, and imo, the infantilization of the female characters in her books seems to carry over to her impression of most of her female readers as well. Which is why the Darkling's character arc gets fucking destroyed. But he's still a good cash grab, of course, so she'll shake his dead corpse in front of the fandom for money every time she wants something from it.

Also! Another reason I think her plotlines feel disconnected (I'm sorry Bardugo I respect you as a person, but shit-) is because the writing in SaB is just bad. I mean, nevermind the absolutely nauseating implications of the way she portrays the Grisha as a persecuted group who's situation is never actually fully addressed as it should be, considering Grisha rights is what her main villain is fighting for (imo for a series called the Grishaverse, LB seems to be pretty anti Grisha), but her characters and story alone are just wrong for each other. They don't fit together.

And the ending is one of the main pieces of evidence in that regard! You can’t say the ending where Alina isn’t Grisha anymore is her “going back to where she started” when she’s always been Grisha. She just didn’t know she was Grisha because she denied that part of herself that she was born with.

Alina is reluctant to move forward or change, she struggles with adapting, and she’s very set on the things she’s grown attached to throughout her life. She also has some latent prejudices against the Grisha, and so denies the possibility of being Grisha for those reasons as well.

Alina’s lack of powers in the beginning of her life because she willfully doesn’t learn about them to avoid change versus her lack of powers at the end of the book when she’s accepted them and then they’re stripped away from her by outer forces are two entirely separate circumstances. You can’t make a parallel about lost powers and lack of Grisha status bringing her back to the start when she was always Grisha and she always had powers and she simply refused to come to terms with it because of personal reasons.

The first situation is an internal conflict that indicates a story about growth and a journey of self acceptance. Denying herself the opportunity to learn about her heritage and to find acceptance with a group of people like her because she’s tied to the past and because of the way she was raised is the setup for a narrative that tackles unlearning prejudice and learning how to connect with a part of her identity that was denied her and learning how to grow independent and self assured. It’s the setup for a different story entirely. The second situation is an external conflict that centers around the ‘corrupting influence of power’... for some reason.

In a world where Grisha do not have social, political, or economic power and they are hunted, centering your heroine’s journey of self acceptance and growth around an external conflict about... the corrupting influence of power (in a group of people that don’t actually have any power?!) just doesn’t work. It is literally impossible to connect the two stories Bardugo is trying to push in Shadow and Bone without seriously damaging the main character’s developmental arc.

The only way a narrative like this would work, claiming that she has gone back to where she started, is either a) if the Grisha weren’t actually a persecuted group and instead were apart of the upper class, or b) if the one bad connection between the two instances is acknowledged - that Alina denied a part of herself crucial to self acceptance and growing up, and that losing her powers at the end has also denied her. It is a tragedy, not a happy ending.

Alina suffered because she didn’t use her powers. She grew sick. It was bad for her. This was not a resistance to 'the corruption of power and the burden of greed', it was her suffering because she couldn’t fully accept herself.

Framing the ending as a return to the beginning can’t be done if you don’t address how bad the beginning was for your main character. You brought her back to a bad point in her life. You regressed her. This should be a low point in her arc. It should be a problem that’s solved so she can finish developing organically or it should be something that is acknowledged as a tragedy in it’s own right, for the future the world (the writing) denied her.

This is a ramble and it makes no sense and I’m really sorry, but my point is that Bardugo put the wrong characters in the wrong story. The character arc required for organic development doesn’t match the story and intended message at all. The narrative doesn’t fit the cast. She's got two clashing stories attempting to work in tandem and she ends up with both conflicting messages that fans still can’t comprehend in her writing and an ending that doesn’t suit her main character to such an impossible degree that it’s almost laughable.

So yeah, there's a few reasons why I think the story and the plot feels so bad and disconnected. I hope you don't mind me making this answer so long! 😅 I was not expecting to write this much.

#shadow and bone #sab #grishaverse #alina starkov #aleksander morozova #mymetas #the darkling #baghra critical #anti leigh bardugo #sorry! #sab salt #sab meta #fandomcourse #negative #negativity #myramblings #asks and answers #joonmono #anti baghra #leigh bardugo critical #abuse tw #torture tw

[writings-of-a-hufflepuff]

My Liability, My Deadweight

Fandom: The Chronicles of Riddick

Collection/Series: My Liability, My Deadweight

Pairing: Richard B Riddick x Female Fat + Glasses Wearing Reader

Writer: @writings-of-a-hufflepuff aka @hufflepuffing-all-day-long

Rating: T (Swearing, Riddick is Riddick, violence)

Warnings: Swearing, violence towards deadly alien creatures, violence from deadly alien creatures towards the reader

Summary: None of this was supposed to happen. You were supposed to be on a holiday resort planet, relaxing by glistening waters and forgetting your troubles. Not traipsing through a deadly jungle on an uncharted planet with a just as deadly companion who seems torn between helping you and hating you.

Notes: So I guess this is going to be similar to Western AU Din in that i’ll probably write some stuff in the same sort of world/vein as this. I’m just interested in the idea of Riddick with a reader who is the opposite of a survivalist, who isn’t fit or strong, who is scared. The idea of Furyans having mates or soulmates that they don’t really get to choose and the idea of Riddick having to come to terms with the idea that the person he wants to protect so bad needs his protection more than most is interesting to me.

This is probably such a niche thing to write, not only because the fandom is tiny, but also because people tend to write Riddick fanfic where the reader or OC is extremely capable, but I wanted to write it. So self-indulgent fic coming up.

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Kratos is a horror show of a planet. It’s the sort of planet you’d never thought you’d end up on, the sort of planet that you saw on horror vids and read about in the tales of survivors of tragedy. You weren’t supposed to be on it. You were just on a short trip, just supposed to go to a stupid holiday planet, at the insistence of your boss that you needed a break from your desk, that you worked too hard. You were a city slicker, an urban citizen, not an outdoorsman or an adventurer, certainly not the sort of person who’d come to a planet like this. But, your pilot had needed to make a stop, said there was a problem with the fuel cells that he needed to check out. So you’d made a pit stop on a barely charted planet. Nothing good ever happens on a barely charted planet. 

Covered in dense, muggy jungle, the planet would have been beautiful had it not been trying to kill you and your, for want of a better word, companion at every turn. It was covered in vibrant green forest, tropical plants, exotic and brightly coloured flowers (many of which, it turns out, were deadly themselves). There were brightly coloured bird-like creatures and primitive mammals that scurried through the trees and across the ground. It would have been beautiful, except for the limp in your walk from the burning claw marks deep in your thick thigh, except for the blood that followed in your wake, the dead bodies of the crew you’d left behind, and the yellow eyes that seemed to follow the two of you under the dark canopy.

After a stupid decision by your group to go out into the jungle to try and find a settlement of some sort, just because it had seemed like (as if there was any real reason to leave), you’d been picked off one by one. You could only describe the beasts as fucked up panthers. Two tails with stingers at the end, sharp spindly spines along their backs, an elongated neck, venomous fangs and sharp teeth and claws. They were hard to spot, silent in the underbrush and decidedly and most definitely deadly. The only reason you were still even alive was because of Riddick, because for some unknown reason the man, the murderer, had decided to stick close to you, like glue. You weren’t complaining.

At the time of boarding the ship for your trip it had seemed horrifying, to know that you were travelling on the same transport as Richard B. Riddick, escaped convict, known murder, predator. He was the sort of man your parents whispered about, the sort of man that you never wanted to meet. He was someone from your worst nightmare. Now he is your saving grace and surprisingly not what you had expected of a notorious big bad. While he meets many of your expectations, crude at times, harsh, and physically intimidating, he defies them too. He is at times oddly gentle with you and, the mere fact he cares about someone’s survival other than his own, is in itself a surprise. A fortunate one for you. 

“Are we nearly back to the ship?” You ask because your leg is killing you, because you so desperately just want to get off this planet even if it means being stuck in a confined space with a convicted murderer. You hate this planet, you hate the constant feeling of fear and of uselessness. You hate the truth of it all, that you are weak, vulnerable, prey not the predator. It has you realising your many weaknesses, many vulnerabilities, many failings. 

“Shhh…” Riddick raises his hand out in front of you, a universal sign to stop, while the other comes to his lips in a shushing motion. If he were a dog, his ears might very well have pricked up at the slightest sound. 

To you nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were no unusual sounds or movement in the brush. You couldn’t see anything out of place. Just as you begin to notice the silence, the lack of sound, that is the moment everything goes terribly wrong.

“Riddic-” You were cut off by your own scream. 

Things happen so fast that you don’t really have time to process them. One minute you are standing behind Riddick attempting to get his attention, the next a dark shape crashes into you and you’re on the jungle floor a heavy weight pressing on your chest and stopping your breathing. Your hands reach up instinctively, pushing against the creature in an effort to keep sharp gnashing teeth from your face, but you’re not strong and you’re not a fighter and you can feel your arms beginning to collapse already. Can hear yourself screaming for Riddick even as part of you thinks he’ll leave you there, abandon you to be eaten alive. There is a deep fear that this is it, this is the end. That it shall be painful, terrifying, lonely, and unfamiliar. 

Claws scratch at your arms, blood runs over your skin in rivulets as you scrabble in the dirt. Then as suddenly as the weight came it was gone, hefted off of you with an angry roar and the sound of a knife hitting flesh over and over again. You don’t look, can’t bring yourself to look, just lie there and breathe, in and out. You don’t want to see him do what he’s good at, don’t want to see alien blood, a dying creature, the parts of him that are less than gentle. So you stare up at the canopy and catch your breath, feeling the blood flow down your arms, the bruises that ache over your stomach, hips and legs. Feel the relief flow through you, combat the shock, as you realise you are not dead, you are alive, and he did not leave you to die. 

You’re rather numb in truth until you hear him muttering above you, “goddamn liability, deadweight…”, it shouldn’t upset you because it’s true. But it does, it upsets and angers you because you didn’t want to be here, you didn’t want any of this and you didn’t ask him to hang around, didn’t ask him to help you. You had no say in this. This was not your idea of a holiday, your idea of fun, or your fault. 

It forces you to your feet, forces you, despite the blood dripping from your wounds, to stand and face him, despite the bruises, despite the pain, despite the fear. You find yourself planting your feet even as you sway unsteadily, standing with hands on your wide hips and a scowl aimed at a man that could kill you easily. For the first time you’re too angry to overthink your actions towards the man. For a moment you stop thinking and start acting. 

“If i’m such a goddamn liability, then just leave me here! I didn’t ask for you to stay, Riddick! I didn’t ask for your help! If it’s such a fucking chore to have me along, if i’m really dead weight then leave me! Go!” You didn’t normally scream at anyone, it wasn’t your personality type. You were quiet, shy, retiring. A wallflower. You didn’t scream. You didn’t start fights. You didn’t do any of that. Anger wasn’t your natural response to anything. Fear was. But after being hunted down, time and time again by giant alien cats with venomous fangs and an uncanny ability to hide on a jungle planet, all while being called a liability, a dead weight by the one person you had to rely on, well, you were finally at your wits end. You were in pain, you were upset, frustrated and ready to just go home. 

You didn’t understand it. Why Riddick even bothered with you, practically a stranger. You knew you were a liability, that’s why it hurt so much when he said it. You were soft, emotionally and physically. You were a slow runner, a poor fighter, had terrible eyesight that required glasses, you weren’t light on your feet or graceful and you certainly didn’t know much about survival. You were overweight, unfit and unsure on your feet. You were prone to panic and tears, you were easily emotionally and physically unbalanced. Until this trip from hell you’d been content in the inner rim, working a normal job, a safe life. Your day to day had been comfortable, safe. Easy. You weren’t cut out for this, for danger and potential death and had Riddick, this known criminal, one of the most sought after murderers in the verse, not decided to stick by your side you’d have died at least ten times already. It didn’t make any sense and your frustration at yourself, the situation and at him had tears pooling in your eyes. You didn’t ask for any of this.

“I can’t.” He’s so impassive, so calm, that it pisses you off more. It pisses you off how hard it is to read him, how he hides his eyes behind black goggles that stop you understanding him. How he hides all emotion from you so easily. How is he okay with this? How is he so calm when everything around the two of you wants to kill you, when he could have left this goddamn planet already if you weren’t slowing him down at every turn? How could he stand there above the body of some hell spawn creature and just stare at you like that, like everything was just fine, just normal? Like he wasn’t covered in it’s blood. Like you weren’t dripping in your own. Like you hadn’t almost died. Again. 

“I..I don’t get it…? What do you mean you can’t? You could walk the fuck away right now. I can’t stop you! No one else is here to stop you! If you want to leave, leave! No one’s holding you back, Riddick! No one is going to stop you! I can’t bloody well can’t! Look at me!” You sound hysterical even to your own ears but you can’t help it. You are so scared, so confused, so frustrated, so panicked by all that’s happened, all that could happen. You gesture down to yourself, to the bloody coating you, the way you protectively hold yourself off of your hurt leg, the sheer stature different between the two of you. All the things that make it very abundantly clear that if he chose to simply walk away you couldn’t stop him. 

“Listen, princess, it’s not that fucking simple!” The snap is almost relieving, that he’s not as cold, not as impassive as you thought. That he could break too. That he could be angry, that he could be upset, that this wasn’t just normal. Even as his steps closer cause your back to hunch, cause you to second guess your antagonist behaviour. 

“I don’t understand!” 

With a growl he’s crowding you against a tree, thick arms caging you in. He’s imposing, large, a head taller than you and the action has him taking over every one of your senses. He never touches you in anger and while the display is intimidating, it oddly enough doesn’t scare you. It almost feels secure. Perhaps because not once has he done anything to suggest to you that he would hurt you, every move he’s made has been to keep you safe. Every time he’s touched you has been to pull you from danger or bring you back to your feet. Despite his harsh appearance, his foul language and the deadliness that he displays at every turn, he has never once given you cause to fear him. To fear how he would treat you. 

“You’re my mate, got it?! I don’t get to choose, I don’t get a choice! I can’t leave you! I just fucking can’t, so you’re a fucking liability and dead weight, but you’re my dead weight, got it? I ain’t fucking leaving you, we either both get off this motherfucking planet or we both get eaten by these fucks, princess. There’s no inbetween, understand?” Silver eyes flash at you as he tears the goggles from his eyes,  his brow furrows and the muscles in his thick neck and broad shoulders bunch and move with every piece of tension that bursts through him. You are distinctly and sharply reminded that Riddick is a predator in every sense of the word, while you are prey. You are on two separate ends of the spectrum. 

“Mate…?” Your eyes flit across the landscape behind his head, trying to process all those words and all their meanings. You don’t understand, you don’t understand any of it. But, those words soothe you in a way you can’t explain. He isn’t going to leave you. For whatever reason, for whatever this is, whatever he means, he isn’t going to leave you.  You let out a breath you didn’t even realise you’d been holding. He’s not leaving, even if you’re a liability, a deadweight. Even when things get bad, he’s not leaving. He is, at this point, your only chance at getting home, getting away from him, of surviving. The panic in you begins to soothe, calm and settle. 

“We don’t have time for this.” You’re startled by the sudden display of affection as the man cups the back of your neck and presses his forehead into your own, “Just trust me.”

“I do, Riddick, I trust you” It’s hard to explain, the trust you feel for him, the safety as you let him lead you once more through the jungle. You are bleeding, in pain and still ever so aware of the dangers around you, but you have an implicit belief that with Riddick you are as safe as you can be. That if there was ever a person to carry you through this it would be him. 

You might still be confused, might not understand what he means by you being his mate or by his obligation towards you, but you know that he isn't leaving you for dead and that is enough right now. That is more than enough.

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

                                                   All Works Taglist

@charradelange @belfry-bat  @gabile18 @beccaboo929​  @trasheater

#riddick x reader #richard b riddick x reader #chronicles of riddick #richard b riddick #plus size reader #my liability my deadweight #fat reader #readerinsert #reader insert

[fandom-imagines]

New Start

Fandom: Stardew Valley

Pairing: Shane X Reader; slight Sebastian X Reader

Words: 5.1k (I love him)

Warnings: None other than non-proofread writing I don't think, let me know if there are any that need tagging ^^

Note: There could be a part two if anyone would like x)

“Pelican Town,” the name fell involuntarily from Y/N’s lips as she hopped from the bus that had dropped her at her new home. “Guess we’re here, Luna.”

The midnight black cat rubbed itself against her owners’ leg, hopping onto the ground beside the suitcase that had landed mere moments before. A purr escaped the felines’ lips at the feeling off Y/N’s fingers gently caressing her fur, back arching in pleasure.

The cold air blew through the girl’s body as she stepped from the bus with once final ‘thank you’ aimed towards the driver. A shiver ran through her, arms wrapping around themselves to keep a grip on the little warmth she had left. Luna, who was now pressed tightly against Y/N’s leg, seemed to feel the same as her.

“Come here,” she smiled, kneeling with an open arm to allow the cat to hop into, soon surrounded with the warmth of the jacket Y/N had luckily worn for her journey. “Good girl.”

The sound of a young girl’s laughter sounded throughout the street, blending into her eyes along with the roaring engine of the, now departing, bus. A small grin crawled onto the Y/H/C-haired womans lips as she spotted a young, dark-haired girl holding hands with a man who seemed just as happy as she sounded.

“Shane, who’s that?” The young girls’ eyes were now fixated on the newest arrival to Pelican Town, legs shuffling themselves to move behind Shane’s body.

“Not sure, Jas.” The man’s own attention was now on Y/N, unsure as to what to say to her, if anything.

“She has a kitty!” Jas, or at least who Y/N assumed to be Jas, pointed towards Luna whose head had popped out from the jacket once the chatter had begun.

“She’s called Luna,” Y/N smiled brightly as she, once again, pet Luna. “You can pet her if you’d like!”

Jas seemed to ponder this for a moment, small fingers playing with the strands of her hair, “can I, Shane?”

“Sure, Jas. Just stay close, okay?”

The kitty owner smiled at their interaction, kneeling down to the ground so that the girl could have easier access to the kitten when she came over.

“Wow, she’s soft. Shane, feel!” Whilst her words were mostly directed towards the taller man, Y/N still felt slightly flattered at the compliment.

Shane, who was sporting his usual blue jacket, kneeled beside Jas, cautiously petting the cat with such care that it seemed like he feared he would break her.

The three of them remained on the ground for a few moments, Jas still as excited as before at the kitten, until an elderly man’s voice caught their attention.

“You must be Y/N,” he grinned. “I’m Lewis, mayor of this town. I see you’ve met Shane and Jas already.”

“I have, it’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Y/N returned his friendly smile, shaking his outstretched hand with pleasure.

“Likewise. I suppose I should get you to your new house, hey?” Lewis chuckled, brown cap falling down his head slightly as he did so.

“I’d appreciate that,”

“Come on, Jas. We should let Lewis show this girl to her new house.” Shane gave Jas a small, almost unnoticeable, smile as they climbed back onto their feet. “Thank you,”

“They were nice,” Y/N commented as the two people from before left.

“They are. That’s Jas and Shane,” Lewis began speaking whilst leading Y/N towards her new home. “Jas is his goddaughter, very shy but talks a lot once she’s out of her shell. And Shane, well there’s more to him than meets the eye, but I’m sure you’ll figure that one out.”

The two of them walked in a comfortable chatter, occasionally being stopped by the townsfolk to either greet the new villager, or to say hi to Lewis who then introduced Y/N to them anyway. Everyone she had spoken to had seemed extremely kind, not having a single rude thing to say to either of them, some aweing at Luna who was now hidden inside the jacket, fast asleep from the long journey.

“Here we are!”

The house in front of her was small, but it was cute and big enough for herself and Luna. She knew that it only had a single bedroom, something that was to be expected considering her situation. The place seemed as though it had been deep cleaned recently, which was likely.

“It’s pretty, I like it.”

Lewis let out a soft hum, handing her the keys to her new place, “I’m glad! I’ll leave you to get settled in! You should try and meet some people tomorrow, everyone here is friendly; I’m sure you’ll get along well with them all.”

“Thank you, Lewis,”

“Anytime!”

*

The house was cosier than she had expected.

The fireplace was already lit, filling the entire place with warmth during the cold weather. In front of the fireplace stood a couch, placed just on top of a blush rug which Luna gladly hopped onto, curling up into a ball, enjoying the fires heat.

“Get some sleep, Luna.”

The kitchen was neatly laid out. Everything was pressed together whilst still maintaining the comfortable feeling of the house. It was clear that this place was cheap. She couldn’t complain, it was perfect for her; away from her old life, tiny yet comfortable, everything about this place screamed ‘perfect’.

The bedroom was larger than expected, a double bed seated in the middle of the room with a cabinet placed at the end of the frame. Other than that, the place was ready for her to make it her own.

Ditching her suitcase on top of the duvet, Y/N grabbed her shower supplies along with some night clothes and headed towards her new bathroom.

“Here’s to a new life,”

*

Early the following morning Y/N rose to the sounds of birds chirping.

Luna was laid asleep beside her, snuggling into the duvet alongside her owner who was doing the exact same. The unexpected noise didn’t startle her, it simply confused her. Having forgot where she was, Y/N was incredibly confused as to why birds were singing in a dull city.

“Wait,” her voice croaked. “We’re in Pelican Town.”

The sound of her owners’ voice seemed to wake Luna from her own slumber, tongue sticking out to lick the human before cuddling into her warmth, the duvet seemingly not as comfortable as her favourite person.

A silent giggle left Y/N’s lips at the kitten’s actions, hands raising from the cover to stroke the dark fur which Luna seemed to enjoy judging by the soft exhale that she let out, something that simply made Y/N continue her actions.

“Morning you little rascal,”

The two lay in bed for a few more moments, the clock soon hitting 7:00 which was when Y/N decided she should, most likely, get ready for the day having planned to go around town and meet some of the others that live here.

As though she sensed the sudden idea to get out of bed, Luna snuggled further into Y/N as silent plea not to leave just yet; to stay and enjoy the warmth and comfort of the creaky oak bed.

“I know you want me to stay, but I need to meet people,” a soft sigh escaped her lips as she spoke. “I promise I’ll bring back some treats, okay?”

The mention of treats alongside a promise seemed to be all the motivation that Luna needed to get up. Her small frame raised itself up from the warm sheets, dropping herself onto the floor with a soft thud, something that earned a giggle from the human.

“Come on, let me get ready then you can have some treats.”

*

“Be good for me, okay Luna?” Were her final words as Y/N left her new home, locking the door behind her.

The ground was layered with autumn-coloured leaves, the sound of them crunching beneath people’s feet being oddly satisfying to those hearing it. The wind blew threw Y/N’s Y/H/C locks, tossing them into her face which caused an annoyed from to coat her lips as she tugged the strands away, back to their original place.

In the distance, a large building could be seen with a sign that simply read ‘Pierres’ above it. Deciding to head there first in search of treats, Y/N took off with a newfound spring in her step. It wasn’t everyday you get to have a new start in a new town now, is it? A chance to be who she wants to be, without anyone saying otherwise; it was perfect.

“Welcome, you must be new here!” A polite man with glasses greeted from behind the counter. “I’m Pierre, owner of the shop. This is my daughter, Abigail,”

“Hey,”

“Please feel free to have a look for anything you need.” Pierre finished once Abigail had also greeted the newcomer, pointing around at various displays and their signs.

“Thank you,” Y/N gave them both a polite smile, immediately heading towards the pet aisle.

“What’re you looking for?” A soft voice startled her, pulling her away from her search for treats. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Abigail,” The purple-haired girl, now known as Abigail, introduced herself.

“I’m Y/N. I’m just looking for treats for my cat, Luna, I promised I’d bring her some back.” A blush crawled onto her cheeks, embarrassed at admitting how she talks to her cat as though she was a human, despite knowing many do it.

“I’m sure she’s sweet. The treats are just down here!” Abigail said with a smile, the two of them walking down towards the end of the aisle, determined to find Luna some treats. “I always wanted a cat, my dad would never let us though. Shame really.”

“Cats are great, they can be a pain sometimes though,”

“I’m sure they can.”

It wasn’t long until they finally found what they were searching for, Y/N quickly choosing a pack of treats she was sure Luna would like judging by the flavour; all the items in the store being homemade meant she couldn’t get anything that she would usually buy, not that she was complaining,

“If you ever want to come hang out, I’m usually around here somewhere,” with one final smile, Abigail was heading back to her previous place when Y/N had first entered the store.

After paying for her items, Y/N left with one final waves to Abigail.

*

One long walk later, Y/N somehow found herself seated inside the local saloon with her new friend Abigail who had looked for her, inviting her for a drink with herself and a few other of her friends which they were currently waiting for.

“So, Y/N/N,” the use of the nickname made the named blush. “What made you move to a town like this?”

The question made her freeze, drink still raised slightly to her lips; she was certain that the shock was evident on her face.

Having not had time to come up with a perfectly constructed lie, Y/N simply said the first thing to come to mind, “new start I guess.”

“Makes sense. A nice quiet place where nobody knows you, I wish I were able to do that,”

An internal sigh of relief formed inside Y/N’s mind, relieved to have gotten away with such a short and simple answer; it was something she wasn’t used to. In fact, being able to get away with anything was a miracle in itself.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to someday,”

“I have some good friend, but sometimes I want something new, you know?”

Y/N gave a simple nod, completely understanding what she meant.

The saloons comforting warmth floated throughout the room, the background noise being ignored as the two continued to chatter about anything and everything, Y/N blissfully unaware of the gaze of another drinker fixated on her and her friends.

*

A banging head was what Y/N awoke to the following morning, only made worse by the ringing of her alarm clock which she switched off, a disgruntled groan leaving her lips and she did so. The noise simply made the pain in her head worse, a sigh sounding from her once she realised this. The sun shining through the open window also added to the pain.

Luna meowed from beside her, placing her paw on her owner’s face in an attempt of waking her.

“Sorry,” she apologised to the cat. “Want feeding?”

Feet padding across the cold wooden floor, Y/N headed towards the kitchen, both to take some painkillers and to feed Luna.

A smile crawled across her face as Luna sat at her feet, desperate for her food. Chuckling once Luna darted for the food, Y/N decided to finally get some painkillers to ease the banging pain in her head.

The wooden cabinet stood high in the air, too high for the girl to reach.

“Are you kidding me?” She sighed, attempting to jump to the height of the shelf. “I just want some painkillers,”

It took a few minutes for her to finally give up, a sound of defeat echoing throughout the room. Unfortunately, there was only one chair currently and it was plastic, no way anybody could stand on it without it breaking in two. So there was only one option: give up and suffer, at least until she was able to get some.

“Maybe Pierre’s sells some,”

It was a simple decision, her only idea as a matter of fact, and so she decided to head to Pierre’s and hopefully she’d bump into Abigail.

*

The autumn air was chilly yet still retained some type of warmth within. The leaves were, once again, coating the ground with their coloured patterns, blowing away on an adventure throughout the town. Despite the temperature being colder than she would have perhaps liked, Y/N pressed on, desperately praying that the fresh air would provide, at least some, relief to her head.

“Morning, Y/N,” Abigail smiled upon seeing her enter, evidently not as hung over as she was or maybe she just had painkillers, who knows?

“Hi,”

“You look hung over,”

“I am,”

The two continued to talk whilst searching for something to ease the pain.

“I hate to say this, but I think you’ll have to try Joja Mart,” Abigail sighed. “It’s up the road, just past the blacksmiths, you can’t miss it.”

“Oh, thank you.” Y/N gave one last smile as she left, ready to continue her search for what she needed.

*

Joja Mart was just what she was expecting, bold and flashy; everything she hated. Perhaps the hate stemmed from working for companies similar to this, or maybe she had always hated bold and flashy things, perhaps a mixture of the two. Either way, she had no choice but to go inside and find her painkillers.

The inside of the building was just as bad. Spotless and bright with posters plastered all over the walls advertising their own business, despite the customers having been inside their shop already. It was strange to say the least.

Y/N wandered the aisles of the store, searching high and low for any sign of painkillers; sadly, there were none. At least, not until she reached a shelf in the middle of the store that seemed to hold painkillers. Unfortunately for her, somebody was blocking the shelf.

“Excuse me,” her voice was meek. “Could I get some painkillers please?” Despite her pain, Y/N still mustered up a smile for the man, hoping to ease the clear annoyance on his face.

Wordlessly, the worker grabbed a box for her and gave her it before turning his attention back to stacking the shelves.

“Thank you,”

*

Swallowing the pills with a sip of water, Y/N was looking forward to feeling better again.

It was always fun drinking with friends, but the aftermath was not so fun. Despite all this, it was still worth it, at least in her opinion. Spending time with Abigail, Sebastian and the others of their crew was enjoyable, and it was fun to finally be able to let go and be who she wanted to be, who she is, with other people around her. She had thoroughly enjoyed doing so.

It was nearing late afternoon, the sky darkening and the moon replacing the sun that once sat high in the sky. The masses of people around Pelican Town had faded, leaving only a few lone wanderers to explore the territory; quiet and beautiful.

Deciding to remain outside instead of heading home, Y/N wandered to a place she had found yesterday with her friends.

The bridge was long, holding itself above the water with various wooden pillars below the surface. The water itself was a calming blue, moving steadily down the river, moonlight reflecting from the waves.

A content smile crawled onto Y/N’s lips as she took a seat at the end of the bridge, placing her shoes that she had removed whilst walking here on the ground beside her whilst dipping her, now bare, feet into the warmth of the water.

Time passed, the only reason she knew this was having watched sky darken further until it was a deep shade of blue, bordering on black.

“Hey!” A woman’s voice sounded behind her. “You look like you could use a drink, I’m Pam, and this is Shane.”

Looking behind her revealed both a man and a woman.

The woman was shorter than the man, whom she recognised from when she arrived at the bus stop, with short curly hair and a slightly distorted facial expression which Y/N assumed was caused by alcohol.

Shane looked the same as he was her first day there, blue jacket and green t-shirt keeping him warm and the tiniest bit of stubble covering his chin. He seemed slightly unhappy to be here, even more so when Pam flopped down beside Y/N, dragging Shane with her as she offered them both a drink.

“No thank you,” she politely declined the drink that was held out to her.

“More for me then, kid,” Pam’s voice was slurred, the stench of alcohol leaving her open mouth as she spoke. “What brings you here anyway? I know you’re new around here,”

The same question Abigail asked yesterday, why did everyone seem so intrigued by her sudden appearance? Then again, it’s not like you get many new faces in this town from what she had both seen and heard.

Shane’s attention seemed to be caught by this question, ears wide open to hear her answer but gaze fixated on the bottle of beer in his hand.

“Uhm- “hesitation was evident in her tone, something that only piqued the man’s interest. “I needed a new start.” It wasn’t entirely a lie; a new start was desperately needed for her. “Personal stuff I suppose,” she giggled nervously, running her hand through the warm water.

“Sounds about right, hey Shane?”

Shane wordlessly nodded, raising his beer to his lips to take a sip.

The three of them sat in a comfortable silence, the occasional sound if wind blowing through and the clanking of beer hitting wood being the only sounds that could be heard between them. None of them knew how much time had passed, only that it was nearing midnight.

“I should probably get home; my cat will be hungry.” Y/N sighed, lifting her feet from the water and putting her shoes back on.

“Be a darling Shane and walk her home,” Pam smiled at him, chuckling as Shane rolled his eyes in annoyance yet no remarks left his lips, simply standing up alongside Y/N.

“Come on,” Shane muttered, walking down the bridge with Y/N following quickly behind.

The short walk back home was quiet, Shane ignoring her attempts at making conversation, disregarding them along with a rude comment. It’s not that he wanted to be rude to her, she seemed lovely, but he had to.

His behaviour was confusing to say the least, leaving Y/N worried that she had done something wrong. This thought was clearly written on her face, almost making Shane apologise to her, feeling bad for making her doubt herself but alas he didn’t.

“Uhm- thanks Shane,” despite his rude behaviour towards her, she still offered him a smile. “I appreciate it.” And with that, she headed inside her house.

“Yeah, no problem,” Shane whispered once the door had shut behind her.

*

A few weeks had passed, and Y/N was getting along with most of Pelican Towns residents, especially Abigail and Sebastian who she would definitely say are her best friends with Penny being a close second.

Much to her disappointment, Shane was still quite rude towards her which sucked considering that she found him pretty cute.

“He’s like that with everyone he doesn’t know,” Abigail told her. “Don’t take it personally.”

“I guess,”

Despite all this, she was starting to feel safe and at home here in this small town. It was a small step towards her desired future, but it was one that she was proud of. Baby steps.

It was a quiet Saturday morning, Y/N on a usual morning walk to pick up some food for both herself and Luna. This was a routine for her, one she was used to by now. Less than a month ago she had found herself stuck doing everything for her mother, and now everything she did was for herself and her cat, just the way she liked it.

“Morning, Shane,” Y/N gave the dark-haired man a soft smile, watching as he directed his gaze towards the ground.

“Will you just leave me alone,” he snapped, not enjoying the way her smile dropped slightly before swiftly changing back into a bigger one.

“Sure,”

Shane watched with slight guilt as the girl walked away from him, desperately trying not to let his words get to her.

He knew she was nice. She had helped Jas and Marnie quite a bit in her first few weeks here, but he couldn’t let her get close to him. He didn’t want to ruin her innocence and kindness with his harsh and troubled personality, no matter how much he wanted to talk to her.

He couldn’t apologise.

*

More time passed and Shane found himself missing his, albeit small, interactions with Y/N. Instead of wishing him a good morning, she simply ignored him, staying true to her agreement of leaving him alone.

He would watch out for her of course, silently praying that she would say something, anything, to him so that he could politely reply to her. Nothing was said, not to him at least.

The small smiles and touches she shared with Sebastian at the Saloon irked him for some unknown reason. Shane hated the way Sebastian’s hand brushed hers as he handed her the drink that he had just bought her. The mere sight of Y/N and Sebastian together was enough to ruin Shane’s mood for the rest of the day, especially when they were alone together. It was clear Sebastian liked her as more than a friend, but the question was, why did Shane care so much?

*

The dark nights sky hung high above Y/N, the moon shining brightly alongside it to provide at least some light to anyone who may be out this late. It was a relatively clear night, not many stars littering the sky.

She had skipped meeting up with Abigail and Sebastian to instead sit alone, dipping her feet into the water much like she had done a few weeks before.

She was too deep in her thoughts, that she missed the sound of somebody walking down to sit beside her. It wasn’t until they were sat next to her, that she realised.

“Y/N,” they said.

“I thought you didn’t want me to talk to you, Shane.”

Her words made Shane wince. Despite the words seeming harsh, there was no harshness in her voice.

He hesitated for a moment, before doing what needs to be done.

“I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I shouldn’t have said that to you, you were only being kind. There was no reason for me to be so rude, so I apologise.” His own words made him feel uncomfortable, not used to apologising like this.

“It’s okay, I get it. You’re scared of getting close to people, so you push them away,”

Shanes eyes widened at how accurate her deduction on him was; he didn’t know what to say in response.

“I-“

“You don’t have to say anything, Shane. It’s fine, I forgive you.”

Sincerity laced her tone, words being completely truthful. He didn’t know what to do, so instead he watched her. Her gaze was fixated on the night sky, feet gliding through the clear blue water. She looked truly beautiful.

That’s when it clicked inside his head: he likes her.

“I should get going, it’s late.”

Shane watched as she lifted herself up onto her feet, picking up her shoes soon after.

“Wait,” he called when she began to leave. “Let me walk you home?”

*

And that was how their friendship began.

The pair would greet each other each morning, meeting up in the morning to walk together, Shane going to work and Y/N going for her daily walk. In fact, that’s where they were now.

“It’s a bit chilly, isn’t it?” Y/N giggled, wrapping her arms around her bare arms in a vain attempt to avoid the cold winter air.

Shane glanced at her cold frame, shaking his head slightly. “Should’ve worn some clothes then, shouldn’t you?” His words were clearly a joke whilst he laughed, slipping off the blue jacket covering his own arms, gently placing it around her.

The jacket itself was too big for her. The sleeves fell below her hands and the body buried her body; it was comfy.

“T-thanks,” Y/N smiled, praying that the cold weather had made her cheeks red, hiding the blush that had just formed.

“Don’t mention it,” Shane was praying the exact same thing. “Why aren’t you wearing a jacket anyway?”

“I uhm-“unsure as to what to say, Y/N glanced down at the ground, silence filling the air whilst she fiddled with the sleeves on Shane’s jacket.

“Hey, what’s up?” Shane halted his movement, noticing that Y/N had done the exact same.

Nervously, he walked towards her until he was stood in front of her. She remained still. Shaking his head slightly, Shane raised his hand to her chin, tilting her head to face him. “What is it?”

“I’m not supposed to wear them in winter,” her words were rushed as she immediately tried to turn away from his concerned gaze, but to no avail.

“Why?”

“M-my mum told me not to,”

Shane’s eyes widened at her words, finger unconsciously running across her red cheeks. He had no idea what to say to her, no idea how to comfort her; it was clear that she was getting upset. So he did the only thing he could think of and enveloped her in a tight hug, resting his chin on top of her head, enjoying the way her arms wrapped around his body whilst her head rested against his chest. His hand moved from her back to her hair, wordlessly stroking to hopefully provide some comfort.

Neither of them knew how long they stayed there, both just enjoying the others touch.

“You should get to work,” Y/N said, pulling away from his embrace. “You’re probably already late.”

“Being late is worth it as long as you’re okay,”

*

“Hey, Y/N/N!” Sebastian yelled as he saw Y/N outside Pierre’s, looking at the calendar.

“Hey, Seb,” she smiled sweetly towards the man who gladly returned it. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going,” he chuckled. “Hey I’ve been meaning to ask you something!” Despite his attempts at seemingly calm, it was clear that he was nervous.

“Oh? What’s up?”

“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a date? … With me…”

Surprise covered Y/N’s face, unsure as to how to react.

Sure, he was nice, but she didn’t like him, not like that.

“I, uh-“her sentence was cut short by another man behind her, someone who had clearly heard the question.

“Let’s go, Y/N,”

“Shane?”

Y/N felt Shane’s hand grasp her arm, the gentleness of the grip contrasting the dark look on his face.

“I-okay?”

And with that, the pair left a confused Sebastian behind.

“Shane, are you okay?” Y/N asked once the two were alone. “You’re kind of scaring me,” her hand reached out to Shane, resting itself on his arm.

“Do you like him?” His voice was merely a whisper, gazing at the ground as though he was too afraid to look at her.

“Well yeah, he’s my friend so of course I like him,”

“No, do you like him?”

“Shane? No, I don’t. I like y-“ Y/N’s eyes widened at her words, realising that she had almost confessed to her crush without thinking. “No, I don’t like Sebastian.”

Shane’s eyes glanced towards her, noticing her blushing cheeks.

She was still wearing his jacket; he could feel the sleeve on his bare arm as he melted into her touch. She looked adorable.

“Good,” Shane sighed, stepping closer to Y/N who was simply confused. “Because then we might have a problem,” his hand rested itself on her blushing cheek which darkened further at the contact.

“What do you mean?” It was her time to avoid looking at him, hoping that the blush wouldn’t get any worse. “I mean, it’s not like we’re anything, so why would we have a problem?”

“Because I like you,”

Y/N’s eyes widened at his confession, gaze darting up to the taller man. “You what?”

“I like you, okay? I have for a while now. If you don’t feel the same, just say and I won’t bother you again.”

Y/N stared wordlessly, unsure of what to say to him.

“Got it, I’ll leave you alone,” Shane’s hand dropped from her cheek to his side, slowly walking away.

“Shane,” she called out to him, only to be ignored. “Shane!” This time she ran towards him, taking hold of his hand to spin him around, lifting herself up to his height to connect their lips.

Her spare hand reached up to his neck, pulling him down to her. The faint taste of beer could be tasted on his chapped lips. Shane’s own hand moved to her cheek, melting into the kiss.

“I like you too,” she whispered against his lips once they pulled away.

Shane simply kissed her again.

#Stardew Valley #Stardew Valley x reader #Stardew Valley imagine #Stardew Valley imagines #Stardew Valley shane #Stardew Valley shane x reader #Stardew Valley shane imagine #Stardew Valley shane imagines #Sdv #sdv shane #sdv x reader #sdv imagine #sdv imagines #Stardew Valley fanfic #Stardew Valley fanfiction #sdv shane x reader #sdv shane imagine #sdv shane imagines #sdv fanfic #sdv fanfiction #shane x reader #shane imagine #shane imagines #shane sdv #shane stardew valley

[unrequitedloveletter]

Peaches- Pin Hawthorne

Before we get into it, I have a few things to say

Yes, this fic is a bit of a vent for me, but I respectfully ask that you don’t ask whats wrong or whats happened. I do love and trust you all and I’m endlessly grateful for each of you and all the support I’ve found in the fandom and our tiny little community of readers and writers, but whats been going on is something I don’t really feel comfortable disclosing.

Anyone who doesn’t respect that and like, comes into my inbox asking what’s happened will be blocked. I understand curiosity, as a curious person, but I don’t want to pass my issues onto you all; my burdens are mine to carry and mine alone. I will not be disclosing any more of it than what I feel comfortable with, and right now, that’s none of it. 

Thank for understanding and, if you actually read my word vomit, thank you for reading that and respecting it :) onto the fic!

Fic type- hurt/comfort (I think? It’s either that or its fluffy angst. I don’t really know!)

Warnings- mentions and depictions of depression, anxiety and mentions of suicidal ideations, and, since it’s a pill combo I’ve been prescribed in the past, there’s mentions of Zoloft and Xanax

!!This fic, as I’ve said, is a bit of a vent for me! Thus, the depictions of anxiety, depression, and the brief mentions of suicidal ideations are based purely off my own experience! This fic was not meant to romanticize mental illness in any way, shape, or form, and if you feel it does, please let me know and I’ll make the adjustments needed!!

Pin had known you as long as he could care to remember. He’d known you from the moment you walked up to him and introduced yourself with a forced smile on your face. He’d said hello, took your hand, and that was that. 

He was the first one you told about your depression diagnosis, too. It turned from early onset Major Depressive Disorder, something you’d experienced through childhood, into just major depressive disorder, and the symptoms you’d shown for anxiety turned into Generalized Anixety Disorder. 

You were prescribed meds, and you took them every day, but sometimes, you did happen to run out. Sometimes, your dad forgot to pick up your prescription refills and wouldn’t be able to until the following week. 

You called the days without your medication the sleepy days. When unmedicated, you were almost like a walking contradiction. You’d wake up and feel completely utterly unable to do anything but move your head, blink, speak when spoken to, but also, the anxiety would kick in. 

The anxiety would kick in and you’d feel like shit until you got your meds again. You’d feel like shit, like everything in the world was meaningless and your existence wouldn’t matter in the end, but your anxiety would demand that you be productive. 

The anxiety is the thing that tells you that people will get pissed at you if you don’t show up to the stables and help Pin with his chores, make sure that Zoes on the right track with Raven, help Becky look after Bob or help Jade out with tracking the wild horses. 

Some days, even without the medication, you’re mostly okay. You survive without the Zoloft to combat every suicidal thought that runs through your head, you deal without the lowest dose of Xanax to chill your nerves and shut your brain up until it wears off at home.

Until it wears off and you can sleep until you wake up the next day and roll the dice, hoping that your brain will let you be productive again, instead of insisting that you just lay there while it wages a war on itself. 

The eighteenth of December happened to be a day in which you felt decent enough to get up and head to the stables. Your dad would be getting your medication the next day, finally giving you the refills that your brain needed to balance the fucked up chemicals in it, and you forced yourself to push through the morning to get closer to your meds. To the artifical happiness and calm, eased mind the pills created for you. 

Jade and Becky had spent the night to get to spend time with you, putting on movies and doing weird little comedy skits to cheer you up. You’d woken up before they did, surprisingly, and begrudgingly, you grabbed some clothes from your armoire and walked to the bathroom across the hall, swiping a towel from one of the cabinets and turning on the shower. 

You willed yourself through the process, though you knew it was slower than any other shower you’d take on a decent day where you’d taken and allowed your medication to set in first, but you felt marginally proud of yourself. 

Even though, by the time you got out, your fingers were pruned and you knew that Jade and Becky had probably left, you felt proud of yourself. You brushed your teeth, doing a tired little dance to commemorate it. You got dressed into a pair of leggings and one of Pins sweaters thereafter, careful to keep the hood away from your still somewhat soppy hair.

When you walked back across the hall, you were a little startled. 

You’d thought that Jade and Becky had left, but when you came back into your room, you saw that they hadn’t. In fact, as Becky sat on your bed, Jade turned, pointing a hairbrush at you as she tossed becky the small bottle of detangling spray that you kept for when you’d gone months without brushing it. 

Becky brought the bottle to her nose with a grin. “This smells like peaches,” she said enthusiastically. “Pin is going to hug you and do that thing where he puts his lips to your hairline to kiss it and he’s gonna smell peaches!” She patted the spot next to her, and you settled without so much as a word.

“It’s been five months,” you said. “Since I brushed it. I hadn’t brushed my teeth in three weeks beforehand, and I only showered because even the body couldn’t really cover how up how I smelled.” That was the truth to depression. 

It wasn’t cute. It wasn’t quirky or fun or a delight. Depression fucking sucked. Anxiety fucking sucked. Depression wasn’t just the occasional feeling of loneliness or sadness. Anxiety wasn’t nervousness or knee bouncing or being a little afraid of getting the results of a chemistry test back. 

Depression was loneliness and emptiness and sadness and emotional pain dialed up to eleven. Anxiety was nervousness and nail biting and knees bouncing so quickly that it almost felt like they were vibrating. It was a constant, nagging worry that bit down on your stomach and stayed there in almost every waking moment. Anxiety and depression together was terrifying. 

“Sit down,” Jade ordered, grabbing a fine toothed comb to go along with the brush she’d grabbed. “Sit, and, Becks, here!” She tossed the comb to Becky, who just watched as it fell into her lap.

You sat down, towel still in your hands. 

Jade noticed it, taking it from you and tossing it over your head. You felt as she towel dried your hair a moment later, and when she was done, she threw the towel across your bedroom with a grin, adding it to the basket of clothes that your mom kept in a corner of your room.

Becky got to spraying the detangling spray seconds after, and a minute later, the scent of artificial peach filled your nostrils.

“You guys shouldn’t have to do this,” you mumbled. “I should be able to take care of myself.”

“You don’t get your refills until tomorrow,” Jade answered simply.

“Medication or not, I shouldn’t go five months without brushing my hair. You guys shouldn’t be the ones needing to worry about doing it.”

“We don’t know what it’s like to have what you do,” Becky said. “We know what you’ve told us, and we know what we learned from the websites Pin gave us about it, but we don’t know.”

“All the more reason,” you said, closing your eyes as Becky moved around to the back of your head. 

“All the more reason to help, yeah,” Jade quipped. “We don’t know very much of what you’re going through, but we’re going to help you when we can. If it means making your hair smell like peach fragrance and brushing it out for you, then it means making your hair smell like peach fragrance and brushing it out for you. You’re our friend, Y/N, and you make Pin smile. We love you.”

“I love you guys too,” you said. “But I should be able to handle this on my own, right?”

“Not everything is something like that,” Becky momentarily wrapped you in a hug, giving your shoulders a squeeze. “People are around to help. Marcus, us, Pin, Zoe, even bloody Mia!”

“Mia hates me,” you countered as you felt the bed dip while she moved to the left side of your head, drenching it in the peachy detangling spray. “I get called lazy by her at least once or twice a day.”

“Yeah, well she’s wrong about a lot of things,” Jade dismissed. Becky, satisfied with the amount of detangling spray she’d put in your hair, ran her fingers through it a couple of times before you heard her rustling around. “She doesn’t know that in your head, your fighting bloody hand to hand combat all the time!”

You scoffed, opening your eyes to meet Jades gaze. “Please,” you said, almost grinning as you felt the comb go easily through your hair. “Its more like knives drawn, pistols blazing kind of combat!” Jade rolled her eyes.

Becky combed through your hair and Jade used the brush on it, sweeping it back so that you could tuck underneath the hood of Pins sweater. 

Jade and Becky got dressed quickly after that, and you shuffled into a pair of boots with some ease. The two of them helped you down the stairs and made sure you had everything you’d need for the day packed in your bag as you shuffled into the appropriate winter atire.

A beanie with the Peace Tea logo on it that you’d stolen from Pin. A coat that’d keep you warm enough, given to you by Pin when he’d realized it didn’t fit him anymore. Mittens given to your by your mother. 

In your bag, Jade put a lunch and Becky put a couple of water bottles, as well as some more food in case you got snacky or if Pin had forgotten to bring food of his own. Some iced tea and an entire small box of your favorite hot kind that you could make using the kettle in the offices. A spare pair of mittens in case yours didn’t work out for some reason. A pair of earmuffs in case Pin decided he wanted his hat back. 

You didn’t want to leave without giving your mother a hug, so you made sure to do that before the three of you left. 

“Take it easy there today, okay?” She said, gently sliding you a to go mug of coffee. “Don’t do anything that you don’t want to, and if that Mia gets on your arse about any of it, let me know and I’ll have some choice words with her father.” 

“Pins running it now,” you told her. “I don’t think I have to worry about Mia being any amount of an inconvenience.” 

“That’s debatable,” Jade joked, gently taking your arm as you brought the to go mug of coffee to your lips. “Okay, you’re riding with me, because Bobs, well, Bob.” You nodded as Becky opened the door and stepped out, Jade after her and you last out the door, closing it with one last wave in your mothers direction. 

---

You arrived at the stables at an inopportune time.

Zoe, Pin and Mia mid fight. 

“They’re useless and they do nothing! Sometimes, they refuse to come in at all!”

“They’re mentally ill,” Pin fought back. “MDD and GAD aren’t easy to deal with, Mia!” 

“I don’t care! I want them fired!”

“You don’t run things anymore,” Zoe reminds, meeting your gaze. You shake your head at her, motioning for her to continue as Jade and Becky slowed the horses to a stop. “Pin is in charge.”

“They have depression,” Gabby says. “Mia, I don’t know you or all that well, but I know them. They have depression and anxiety.”

“Then they need to take their bloody medications!”

“They do,” Pin looked like he’d kill Mia if it were an option. “They take their meds everyday, but sometimes they can’t get refills! Their father has to go out into the bloody mainland to get it! It takes a couple of days!” 

“That’s no excuse!”

“Mia,” Marcus was behind her. Gabby and Zoe on Ravens right, Pin to his left. “They were clear about their mental health stuff when they were first hired! Whys it such a big deal now when it wasn’t before?”

“They’ve been gone two weeks without so much as a word!” 

“They don’t like talking to you,” Zoe said dismissively. “I really can’t blame them, to be totally honest!” Jade leaned back a little, and you rested your cheek against the back of her shoulder, closing your eyes as you did.

“You can’t seriously be pissed at them for this,” Marcus was mad. Pin was mad. Zoe was mad. Gabby was mad. You could feel Jade and Beckys anger as it radiated off them in waves.

“I am! They have to grow up at some point!”

“They’ve had it since they were a kid,” Pin spat. “You have no idea what it’s like to be in their shoes!”

“I have an idea!” Mia argued. “I know what it is to be sad!”

“Depression and sadness are not the same fucking thing!” Jade rested her head against yours and moved her horse forward, successfully catching the attention of everyone else. 

Pin was at your side in an instant, helping you off the horse and onto the ground. “How is it today?” He asked.

“Jade and Becky are the two reasons that you can run your hands through my hair again. I showered and brushed my teeth on my own, though!” Pin grinned shamelessly, pressing a kiss to your forehead as you walked toward Mia.

“You don’t get it,” you were trying to be calm. You were trying to will yourself not to get angry at her, much less waste the energy you had on doing so. “The coffee in this mug is the closest thing to an antidepressant I’ve had in two weeks because my father was busy with work and couldn’t run to grab me the refills I need to function as your little fucking worker bee.” Pin kissed your hairline and as he caught a whiff of your hair, you felt him grin slightly against your skin.

“Peaches,” he whispered. “Detangling spray that your passive aggressive aunt gave you last Christmas?” You gave a nod in response, turning your attention to Mia once more.

“I’ve come here four times over the last two weeks. I’ve come here on my good days, the ones wherein I can get up and be a person. I could’ve used the energy I had on other things. I could’ve raced Pin on the beach. I could’ve invited Zoe over for a couple of hours. I could’ve been wrapped up in Pins arms and away from you, but I didn’t choose those things.” 

You took a sip of the coffee, almost humming with delight as the taste of how you drank your coffee met your lips and cascaded down your throat and into your stomach from there. 

“I chose to be here, I chose to work, and I chose to burn myself out with working instead of pacing myself so that I might’ve had another okay day in the one after. Today, however, I think I’ll pace myself and work closely with Pin,” you glanced up at him for confirmation, and got an eager nod in response. “I’ll pace myself today. Take a break when it’s needed and if I, for some reason, need to go home, I’ll do so.” You weren’t normally so confrontational, but to you, you were just saying what needed to be said.

“Remember, Mia, I run this place now. You aren’t in charge anymore, and you can’t demand that I fire someone, especially after I’ve continually told you I wouldn’t be firing anyone.” Mia scoffed, walking off to Firefly as Pin lead you toward the offices, Zoe, Marcus, Gabby, Becky and Jade following not far behind the two of you.

You all were quick to settle, with you cuddling up to Pin, Jade and Becky settling beside one another, Gabby to your guys right while Becky and Jade were to your left, and Marcus and Zoe standing on either side of the door.

“That was amazing,” Zoe praised. You shrugged, blushing as you felt Pins hand gently pull the hood off your head, freeing your still-damp hair from the hood. His hand went to your hair immediately, running over it and through it and grinning all the while.

“They haven’t let me do this in five months,” Pin quipped as he caught the delighted stares and grins of the people he begrudgingly called his family.

“How bad is it?” Zoe jumped right to the point, so quickly that you got defensive again.

“Why do you need to know?” Was the first thing to come out of your mouth. You apologized seconds after, leaning further into Pin as though his scent would save you from the embarrassment. 

From there, after a couple of seconds of silence, the seven of you lapsed into conversation quickly. The topics varied from horses to races to relationships, bouncing from one thing to the next.

Eventually, everyone began to filter out. First it was Zoe, needing to train with Raven, then it was Marcus who wished you well before leaving to write a reminder to order pizza on a sticky note and reprimand Mia for her words. Then it was Jade who left and said that she’d have a surprise for you when the day came to an end. After her it was Becky, who needed to look after Bob.

Gabby was the last to go.

“Y/N?” She asked. You tilted your head up, the only indication that you’d been listening as your eyes had closed while Pin ran his fingers through your hair. You opened your eyes to look at her, though, taking in her tan skin, beautiful eyes and brown hair.

“Gabs?” You asked.

“What you did, standing up to Mia. It was brave,” she said. “If she says something like that shit again, I swear to fucking heaven above, she’ll know what the word ‘fear’ truly means.” Pin grinned at that, nodding in agreement.

“But seriously,” she went on. “You’re incredible. You woke up, showered, brushed your teeth, got dressed, and came down here to help us out,” she turned a pointed glare to Pin.

“If he’s not already proud of you for that, well, A, kick him where the sun doesn’t shine, and B, you should be. Everyday, even the smallest of victories count as victories.” With that, she left.

You waited a couple of minutes, enjoying the comfortable silence, before you opened your mouth.

“It’s bad,” you said. “Even on my decent days, it’s been bad lately. Without my meds, it feels like I’m drowning and everyone is watching, speculating as it happens, and I’m constantly terrified of what will happen next.” Pin didn’t say anything, just pulled you a little closer.

“Even with them, though? It’s like I’m drowning but nobody is around to see me and I’m scared and I want it all to go away but I know it can’t because depression and anxiety are two disorders. They don’t come up with cures for disorders, Pin.” You wished that you could feel okay without your medications. You wished that you could feel like yourself without them, but you couldn’t. When you didn’t take your meds, some days you couldn’t so much as move more that your eyes. You needed the medication to stay happy. To stay alive.

That explained well enough for the occasional suicidal ideation, didn’t it? The want to die because medication is what gives you joy. it creates it and it lets you feel it and you can’t exist without your meds because how the hell are people with depression meant to function without their fucking meds? How are they meant to feel the motivation that others do? How do they get out of bed without the motivation to do it? How do they do any of it without the medication that keeps them going?

“Sometimes I just want to die,” you admitted. “That feels like it’d be easier.” Pin gave you a kiss on the forehead.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “Regardless of how good or bad things get for you, you happen to be it for me.”

“I wish that you’d found someone who’s not currently relying on caffeine to give them the happy chemical,” you mumbled. “Caffeine is my only serotonin at the moment, aside from you, of course. But still. My stomach is going to make me hate myself for this later!” 

Pin laughed, and you let yourself relish in the sound. You’d laugh with him tomorrow, when the medication kicked in and you’d begun to feel like yourself again, but for the time being, you chose to listen to how his sounded. How it reverberated against the walls as he moved his hand from your hair to the base of your neck, gently rubbing soothing circles into it.

“I love you,” he says. 

You know that it doesn’t fix anything, that it doesn’t cure your depression or make everything in life a million times better, but it’s enough for the moment. The way that his voice sounds and the fact that you can hear the genuine weight to the words steadies your heart just a little. 

“I love you too, Pin.” You were enough for him, and he was more than enough for you. In the end, that was all that mattered.  

#pin hawthorne #pin hawthorne x reader #free rein #freddy carter #kaz brekker #kaz brekker x reader #shadow and bone #six of crows

[middleearthpixie]

Damaged Goods ~ Chapter Six

Author's Note: Just a reminder that this story follows the events of the miniseries Stay Close and will contain spoilers.

Title: Damaged Goods

Fandom: Stay Close

Pairings: Ray Levine x OC female Theodora (Theo) Bailey

Summary: Following the events of Stay Close, Ray Levine has come to the US to begin a new life and is staying with Theo Bailey, the friend of a friend, who is quickly becoming his best friend and Ray is starting to wonder if there isn’t something more there between them.

Like Ray, Theo has her own demons and although she wonders the same thing about Ray, fear of repeating past mistakes keep her from moving forward. Or do they? Somehow, these two damaged people will come together and discover that maybe—just maybe—second chances are worth the risk.

Over dinner, Ray tries to convince Theo why they really should take a chance on them as a couple…

Warnings: None

Rating: T

Word Count: 4,285

Tag List: @tschrist1 @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @bitter-sweet-farmgirl @linasofia @fizzyxcustard @legolasbadass @kibleedibleedoo @xxbyimm @ocfairygodmother @exhausted-humxn-being @shalinizhara @rachel1959 @laurfilijames @sketch-and-write-lover @sherala007 @enchantzz @knitastically

If you’d like to be added (or removed) to the tag list, please just let me know!

Previous chapters can be found here and AO3

After her hour with Mrs. Adler ended, Theo made her way across the gym back to the trainer’s desk to fill out the paperwork. Donna finished with her client and joined her. “So, tell me more about Ray.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Donna. There is nothing more to tell. We kissed. We fooled around a little and that’s it and it’s not going to happen again.”

“See, now that’s where you lose me.” Donna tapped her perfectly manicured fingernails on the counter. This week, they were shocking pink, with tiny green flamingos drawn in. How she kept them looking as if she’d just stepped out of the nail salon, Theo would never know. She only did her nails on occasion and an hour in the gym was enough to chip them to hell and back. “Why is it not going to happen again?”

“Because I cannot compete with this former girlfriend, Don. I can’t.”

“That’s stupid,” Donna replied flatly, shaking her head. “He’s not with her any more, is he?”

“No. She’s married with a couple of kids.”

“So…”

“That doesn’t mean he’s not still in love with her,” Theo said. She sighed softly, rubbing her forehead. “And I’m tired of settling for men who want me as a fill-in for what they’re really missing. I don’t want to be the one they settle for because they can’t have the one they want.”

“Are you so sure this guy’s doing that?”

She stopped rubbing to give her a long look. “I’m not so sure he isn’t.”

“That’s kind of crappy, don’t you think? I mean, you aren’t exactly being fair to him.”s

“Don, I can hear it in his voice when he talks about her. And, I mean, it’s not like he’s always going on about her, but the couple of times I’ve asked him, I hear a definite longing. And honestly, I’d rather be cheated on than have a guy pretending he’s with someone else when he’s with me.”

Donna’s forehead furrowed beneath her fall of black curls. “I can’t blame you for that. But what if you’re wrong?”

“What if I’m not?”

“Theo.”

“Look,” Theo shook her head at the note of disappointment in Donna’s voice, “I know I might be wrong. But I also know I might be right. And I don’t want to settle. I just don’t.”

“Be careful,” Donna cautioned, as two women approached the desk, “and don’t blow it if it turns out this guy really does like you. Take the chance, Theo. If nothing else, you deserve some really great sex. Will you get that with him?”

Theo nodded slowly. “Yeah, I probably would.”

“Then do it. Enjoy yourself.” Donna shrugged. “Sometimes a fling is all you need.”

“Um, excuse me” the shorter of the two women said with a hesitant smile, “are one of you Theo?”

Theo smiled despite her dark mood. Maybe Donna was right and a fling with Ray would be exactly what she needed. And maybe—just maybe—it would lead to something more. There was only one way to find out. “That would be me and you,” she glanced down at her training list, “must be Ms. Peters?”

“Aurora, please.”

Theo slid down from the stool. Aurora was about her height, a bit on the round side, with a friendly open face. “Hi, Aurora. so, why don’t you go over and get warmed up on the treadmill for a few minutes and then we can get started?”

“Thee, take the chance,” Donna said, patting her shoulder as Aurora headed toward the treadmills. “I think you’ll kick yourself if you don’t, because this guy is going to eventually meet someone else and then that woman will be sleeping with your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Yet.” Donna winked.

After her session with Aurora, Theo hit the gym shower, and after drying off and dressing, scowled at her reflection in the full length mirror mounted on the far wall opposite the rows of lockers. It was a leggings and hoodie sort of day, but for some reason, she just felt frumpy in her black leggings and too-big white hoodie. Once upon a time, she’d have made sure her clothes are anything but frumpy, so when had she given up? And how the hell was Ray even the slightest bit attracted to her as a result?

It had to be the beer. Neither of them had been drunk, but that doesn’t mean beer goggles hadn’t formed.

Of course, that didn't explain why he’d kissed her before he left that morning. She looked even worse then—too-big clothes, bedhead, dragon breath.

And yet—

She vowed not to dwell on it as she wrapped her damp towel about her hair to squeeze out the rest of the moisture, then let it air dry while she did what makeup she wore, and by the time she was ready leave, her hair was only partially dry. It froze over when she stepped out into the frigid afternoon, crunchy by the time she got to her car.

Her cell phone rang and when Scott’s name showed up on the Apple Play, she hit decline. Christ, what would it take to get it through his dumb thick head that she had nothing to say to him? Especially after last night. He had to be a special kind of stupid to keep calling her.

The voicemail tone went off and although she knew she’d regret it, she hit the speaker icon.

“Hey, Theo, it’s me. Uh, I just wanted to apologize for last night. I was just such an asshole and I don’t blame you for being mad. Uh, but I really want to talk to you. I made such a mistake, y’know? And I want to fix things. So, uh… call me back. Bye.”

She rolled her eyes as she deleted the message. But then the tone rang out again. He’d called her again.

“Yeah, uh, it’s me again. Are you really sleeping with that loser who answered your door last night? Are you fucking kidding me? We just broke up and you’re already fucking someone else?” A snorted laugh and his voice was even angrier as he added, “Whatta fucking whore. Don’t bother calling me, you fat cow.”

Delete.

A third fucking message popped up. “Don’t bother calling—”

She didn't hear the rest of it as she hit delete with a shaking hand, then leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes.

Her text tone went off and her stomach knotting as she toggled through her contacts and blocked Scott’s number. She did not need his bullshit right now. Enough was enough and she should’ve done it long before now.

It took a few more minutes for her to calm down enough to trust herself driving and by the time she was pulling into the small lot behind the old Victorian, she was more angry than anything. How dare he get angry at her for moving on—such as it was—when he’d been screwing god knows how many women behind her back?

She got out of the car and moved to open the rear driver’s side door to grab her bag when someone screamed. She spun around, her bag hitting the icy pavement, and sank back against the car when she realized it was just the toddlers across the street playing in the snow again.

“Damn… more shook up than I thought,” she muttered, slipping the strap over her shoulder to lift the bag back up. Sh’d had plenty of breakups over the course of almost fifty years on the planet, but none of the other guys were ever anywhere near as vile as Scott turned out to be. They might have been jerks, but they owned up to they jerkiness and she was just as glad that they were no longer her problem.

But Scott was the only one to ever keep calling with the hopes of getting back together. Although, why he would think she would want anything to do with him after the last twenty-four hours confused her to no end. What sane man would think hurling insults at a woman was the way to win her heart?

Her thoughts strayed to the conversations she’d had with Ray about Cassie. She’d just up and vanished on him for almost two decades and yet, he didn’t speak a bitter word about her. Not a single derogatory remark regarding her passed his lips in Theo’s presence. True, she didn’t know what he said to his own friends, but somehow, she didn’t think it was much different from how he spoke of her in front of Theo. Although, it also certainly didn't help give the impression he was over her, either.

Her key stuck in the lock after she opened the door and it took a few minutes of wrestling with it to free it, but free it, she did and when she closed the door, it seemed to echo louder than usual.

The apartment was quiet. Ray was still out. She dropped her bag inside the door, tossed her keys onto the breakfast bar, and sighed softly. He’d passed through at some point. The mail lay on the breakfast bar, a small stack of what was probably either bills or junk mail, and she ignored it for the time being as she moved around to sink onto the sofa.

The remote control lay in the middle of the coffee table and she debated about putting on the television, but decided against it. She couldn’t remember the last time she watched anything on television. Little appealed to her these days. The last show she could remember watching on a regular basis was probably CSI, the original Vegas show. And that had been off the air for probably close to ten years.

A hint of restlessness swirled through her. She wanted Ray to come home so they could talk and clear the air, but at the same time, she didn't want that. She knew she’d regret it if she pushed him away. But she was terrified she’d be crushed if she let him in. Opening her heart carried such risk, and she just didn't know if she was strong enough to take the chance. She tried to look at each failed relationship as a learning moment, but lately, it seemed all she learned was that it didn’t seem anyone considered her worth the time, worth the energy, worth even being faithful to, and she was tired of learning that about herself.

And as she’d told Donna, she was tired of being the woman guys settled for and not the one they actually wanted to be with. Being the placeholder just flat out sucked.

The door opened and her heart lurched as Ray said, “Hey, you’re back. How were your sessions?”

“Fine.” She twisted on the sofa to peer over the back at him. “Mrs. Adler is my favorite client in the world, and I started working with a new one today. She’s struggling a little, but I think she’s determined to do what she’s set out to do and that’s half the battle right there. What about you? Did you talk Drew off the ledge?”

He shrugged out of his jacket and hung it up, then came around the sofa, easing his camera bag strap over his head to set the bag next to the remote. “I did, actually. He was happy. Sickened by how young the girl was, but happy overall.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“Good.” He sank onto the edge of the coffee table, hands clasped and dangling between his knees. “How do you feel about pizza? I know carbs are evil and all, but I thought Russo’s sounded liked a good idea.”

“I don’t worry about carbs any more. Life is too short.” She managed to smile. He looked adorably windblown and she once more cursed out Scott for interrupting them last night. It should have ended much differently and perhaps if she didn't have to think about it to the point where she wanted to smack herself, she wouldn’t be arguing with herself over whether or not to just give in to her own desires and just fuck his brains out right then and there.

It was just a tempting thought.

So tempting, indeed.

“So, Russo’s is acceptable?”

“They have the best pizza down here, but I have to admit, I didn't know you knew about them. I didn’t think pizza was high on the list of food an English guy would want.”

“I’m in America,” he told her with a grin as he rose from the table. “It seems like there is a law that says everyone in America not only has to try the pizza, but has to find a favorite pizza restaurant.”

“Parlor,” she told him with a grin. “We call them pizza parlors.”

He winked at her over his shoulder, moving down the hallway to his room. “You know what I meant.”

“Well, it is English, even if it isn’t our English.”

He paused at his door and with a wink, said, “Yank English is a whole ’nother beast.”

“Yank English?”

“Yeah. You’re a Yank.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re on our territory, remember. And we have no qualms about kicking English ass.”

“Ah, but don’t forget, you had help from the French that first time.”

“How do you feel about being homeless?”

A low laugh rolled her way as he stepped into his room. “Why do I not think that is a serious threat.”

“It could be.” She rose from the sofa and went to his doorway. The door was only halfway closed and she bit the inside of her cheek as he skimmed off his shirt and tossed it toward his laundry basket. “What are you doing?”

“Changing. Why?”

“Well, there was nothing wrong with what you had on to begin with.”

“I took a walk along the beach,” he explained, turning toward her, “and the spray was pretty strong today, so I probably smell to a certain extent. So, I’ll hop in the shower, get changed, and we can go.”

As he spoke, he unbuckled his belt and whisked it through its loops to toss on his haphazardly made bed. A bit of heat stung her cheeks as he just held her gaze. “Oh, right. I guess you’d like to get undressed.”

“Makes showering easier.”

“Yeah… sorry…” She backed out of his room, facepalming once she was back in the hallway. Smooth. Real. Smooth.

She went into her own room and closed and locked the door, then as she heard Ray go into the bathroom, followed by the sound of the shower starting, she tore through her closet in an attempt to find something not dumpy to wear.

Twenty minutes later, she stood before her mirror, not totally unhappy at the woman looking back at her. She’d swapped out leggings and hoodie for comfy Levi’s and a loose dark gray sweater with a cowl neck, and had brushed out her mop of dark gold hair, then attacked it with the wide-barrel curling iron, and it almost looked how she’d wanted it to look. Almost.

Ray rapped on her door. “Are you dead in there?”

“No. I’m coming.” She took a deep breath, took hold of the door handle, and pulled open said door.

Ray looked almost good enough to eat. Jeans. Dark blue henley with enough of the buttons undone to allow a bit of dark chest hair to peek up. The familiar red and black flannel (was it bad to be turned on by flannel?) A pair of dark brown Doc Martens. Damn…

He smiled, his gaze moving down along her length as he said, “You ready to go?”

“I just need my jacket.”

His hand came to rest at the small of her back as she came out of her room, and her belly fluttered at the gentle touch. It seemed to be a natural reaction for him, as he did it every time she passed by him. Not that she minded, of course. It was a nice gesture, as far as she was concerned.

She glanced at the keys dangling from his hand. “Do you even know how to get to Russo’s?”

He offered up a long look. “It’s not difficult to find things around here, you know.”

“No, but it can confusing.”

“I know where I’m going.” He winked. “And I promise not to get us lost.”

“I’m going to hold you to that. For all I know, we could end up in the Pine Barrens and then we’d be in real trouble.”

“Pine Barrens?”

She smiled at the confusion furrowing his forehead. “I’ll tell you all about them on the way to Russo’s. Trust me, we do not want to end up in there at night.”

Like seemingly everything else in New Jersey, Russo’s was located in a small strip mall off Fischer Boulevard in Toms River, which was across the bridge from Seaside and as Ray eased his Jeep into a parking spot, he said, “Do none of your shops stand alone ever?”

“They do, but we really love our malls.”

He slid the gearshift into park and shifted to look over at her. In the nearly two months he’d known her, he’d never seen her look quite as pretty as she did right then. No, pretty wasn’t the word. She was downright gorgeous. And more than anything, he wanted to lean over and kiss her again. Actually, he’d wanted to do that back at her apartment, but was afraid if he did, they’d never make it out for pizza. In fact, if he kissed her now, he’d probably revert to being seventeen years old again and pull her into the backseat. Trouble was, that while seventeen-year-old Ray kept the clichéd condom in his wallet, fifty-year-old Ray was not that optimistic. He didn't even remember the last time he’d needed a condom, let alone bought any. He couldn’t even call it a dry spell, since it was more like self-inflicted celibacy. The last time he’d been with anyone was probably back at the beginning of the summer. Christ, it was long enough ago that he wasn’t at all sure exactly when he’d last had sex. He just knew it was recently enough that he hadn’t forgotten how to do it, but long enough ago, that Theo’d probably be hugely disappointed in his staying power at the moment.

But, what wouldn’t disappoint her was what he would do to make up that pathetic lack of stamina that came from said self-inflicted celibacy. Of that, he was sure. And it wouldn’t take long to get his form back. At least, he hoped it wouldn’t.

She smiled as two more cars pulled into the lot. “We should go inside before it gets too crowded. The wait can be an hour long on any given night.”

He pulled the keys from the ignition and thrust open his door. “Well, we don’t want that, do we?”

As she came around the nose of the Jeep, he reached down to let his hand come to rest at the small of her back. He couldn’t help it. He had to touch her and this was the only way he knew of being able to without being too obvious. She didn't seem to mind, even as she glanced up at him. She was tiny—only maybe an inch over five feet, whereas he was almost six foot three. He towered over her.

He reached to tug open the door and as they stepped inside, the warmth from the brick ovens behind the counter rushed to greet them like a loving mother, wrapping around them to ward off the cold. It was softly lit and quiet, with booths along the right side, and tables to the left. About half of each were occupied and a pretty little brunette bounded over to them with a smile.

“Hi there! How many?”

Ray glanced down at Theo as he said, “Two, please.”

“Of course. Table or booth?”

“Booth.”

“Right this way.”

She grabbed two red-leather bound menus and gestured for them to follow her along the right to a small booth in the corner. She set a menu on each side and said, “What can I get you to drink?” when they settled in.

Theo looked up. “Do you have Apothic Red?”

“We do, yes.”

“I’d like a glass of that.”

Ray smiled. “I don’t know much about wine, so I’ll trust you, Theo, and have the same.”

The hostess nodded. “Two Apothic Reds coming up.”

As she bounced back off, Theo met his gaze. “Not much of a wine drinker?”

“Not really, no. I’ve never had the time to really learn anything about it.”

“Oh, I know nothing about wine aside from what I like.”

“And that’s why I trust you with my choice.”

A small candle in a small jar flicked int the middle of the table and it was dark enough that the single candle made her eyes glitter as she held his gaze. She looked as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders and he wondered if his own expression mirrored it.

He didn't want to bring up the elephant in the room just yet. If she was going to push him away again, he’d rather be a little more fortified with wine.

A different server came over with the glasses of wine and he bit back a smile as Theo took a rather large swallow of hers, lowered her glass, and said, “So, no stakeouts tonight?”

“No. No stakeouts. I think I got just what the wife needed to hang her husband out to dry, so Ray gets the night off.” He lifted his glass and took a sip. He didn't know much about wine, but this one was good. Trusting Theo paid off.

He lowered his glass and took a deep breath. “Look, Theo, about last night—”

“Hi there! I’m Lacey and I’ll be your server for this evening.” A willowy brunette smiled at him. “Can I start you folks off with appetizers?”

He sat back. “No, thank you. Theo?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m good.” She looked over at him. “Still want pizza or do you want dinner-dinner?”

“Dinner-dinner would go better with the wine, so…” He flipped open the menu and while Theo ordered penne vodka, he chose chicken parm, and when Lacey finally left them in peace, he took another drink. “So, about last night—”

“We really don’t have to—”

“No,” he cut her off gently, “we do. I wanted to apologize if I crossed a line with you. I mean, I know I crossed a line and I’m really hoping that you aren’t holding it against me.”

“Why would I? You didn't do anything I didn't want you to do.” She folded her hands to rest atop the somewhat scratched table between them. “And if Scott hadn’t shown up… Well… I think we’d be having a different conversation.”

His heart hammered his ribs with enough force, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she could hear it. His mouth went dry even as he drained the glass. The wine’s warmth spread through him, calmed him to a certain degree. “Theo, look… I like you. I like living with you and I don’t want to lose your friendship. It’s too important to me.”

She traced her index finger along the stem of her glass. “I know, I don’t want to lose yours, either, Ray. I—I feel comfortable with you, and I know that doesn’t sound like a compliment, but it is because I don’t feel comfortable around a lot of people. But I do with you and I’d hate to see anything happen to that. So, I totally understand and I think you’re right. We really should just keep it as friends.”

“No, that isn’t what I—” He sat back as Lacey approached to ask if they would like more wine. He managed to smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

She flitted off and he took a deep breath. “That’s not really what I meant, Theo. Look, what happened last night… well, I didn't plan on it happening, but I’m not sorry that it did happen, either. And to be honest,” he sat back as Lacey returned with their wine, “I’d like it to happen again, only this time without the interruption.”

For a long moment, Theo just stared at him, but then, she sighed softly. “I would, too, actually, Ray.”

He smiled. “So, let’s give it a shot, shall we?”

“It’s just…” Her gaze dropped from his, but then met his once more. “What if it all goes to hell?”

“What if it doesn’t?”

“I—I don’t know,” she confessed softly, lifting her wineglass. “I don’t let myself be that optimistic, I guess.”

“Yeah. I know that feeling,” he said and as he did, he reached across the table to catch her hand just by the fingertips. For a moment, he thought she was going to pull her hand from his, and the urge to tighten his hold on her swept through him. He tried to ignore it, since he certainly didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. “But, does that mean you shouldn’t try?”

“Does it mean we should?”

He couldn’t hold back his grin. “I think we should.”

“Ray.”

“Theo.”

She just stared for a long minute, and before she could say anything, Lacey returned with their dinners and that was the end of the conversation for a while.

#richard armitage #stay close #stay close fanfic #fanfic #ray levine #ray levine x oc #romance #friends to lovers #damaged people #healing #love story #some smut

[shijiujun]

i feel kinda bad for shl cos all the fans of hyx and spl are blaming shl since their dramas are being delayed :(

LMAO I really don’t get that altho i can see that the timing might be a little back to back, and i’m not a SHL-only stan by any measure but:

For HYX especially,

Firstly it was already having problems since the end of last year with censorship and review. This is mostly due to the reason that 2ha is a pretty big fandom and is the cult fave in the danmei industry - what this means is that there are three types of fans basically right, (1) Normal fans who love the novel + show (2) Those who fanatically love the novel in some extreme ways haha (3) Those who hate it and/or are HYX-onlys - so you get it all in a bag. 

The first type of fans is definitely the easier ones to deal with, but unfortunately in big fandoms you get a lot of (2) and (3). It’s not something that’s exclusive only to 2ha/HYX but because it’s a cult fave, and a controversial one at that, problems definitely arise.

(2) are the ones who head down to the filming scenes, take photos and footage despite crew telling ppl not to do it, not to sneak around filming sites and definitely not to leak photos or footage. They do it anyway. Yeah sure of course it’s a couple of photos every few weeks or a tiny video every few weeks but word gets out. They’re inevitably hurting the show and the fandom with their actions, because shit trends on Weibo really fast, and the censorship committee (not just for the film industry or shows) is always lurking on the site to catch any sign of you know, hate speech for the country etc. and more. Not related, but the point is that social media is watched very closely. It’s not a myth or an exaggeration, you really just got to be careful, and HYX is a show that, despite not having been broadcasted, has consistently trended on Weibo over the last few months. Not always because of leaks, but yeah, HYX is in everyone’s faces. Fans themselves put a fucking huge spotlight on the show BEFORE we even have any content at all, and of course this isn’t enough to like create huge trouble for the show but then we have-

(3), which I believe creates the most trouble - the thing is 2ha and meatbun who wrote the book, has a long line of haters and antis, way before HYX came into the picture. I shall not go into details of how I’ve seen some big accounts on Tumblr here spit vitriol at the book without even reading it just based on the content/trigger warnings and playing the morality card (and I think most ppl who’ve followed me for a while know just what I think about that). Like this was way before any footage or leaks or even HYX being a thing came about - as a cult fave it has its share of haters, and this share is a huge. There are those who get off on their moral high grounds XD and I think especially these ones are the most troublesome, all they have to do is report that HYX is immoral, bad for culture etc. etc. hahaha and yeah the censorship team is always ready to step in on reports, especially on BL stuff.

And of course the larger part is the change in censorship processes - honestly even way before SHL came out in end Feb, HYX was no closer to getting passed by the review committee than it is now. Maybe yes, SHL scenes may be now used as reference for comparison but seriously? People are deluding themselves if they thought pre-SHL HYX was going through the review process smoothly and only hit roadblocks after. I mean, we’ve all seen the leaks, some of them are truly like god-tier scenes that may be hard to explain away. It’s not like they can repackage the script especially because they have to submit everything to the review committee.

I mentioned this in a post yesterday but how SHL passed reviews is due to the fact that they didn’t have to submit a full script. They only had to submit a partial script, and that makes a world of difference. Basically a team, under these requirements, can repackage the script to include the more het looking parts even I feel, and of course some heavy misdirection by the team, it could work. Now that you have to put an entire script up for scrutiny.. I mean, it’s hard. This is just a game of probability.

And the last reason I think is still Tencent. Honestly, I’ve never seen a huge ass MNC like this handle a show this terribly.

1. No control over leaks - This is honestly the dumbest shit to do

2. Terrible crisis management response time - When fans leak footage, it’s standard and practical business sense to control it IMMEDIATELY. They shouldn’t just leave it up to the crew to put up notices and as the company that owns the rights to the show, it’s up to them to possibly threaten legal action as well. Basically a sterner stance would have helped a lot, but Tencent is a motherfucker of a company who only cares about free marketing and publicity without any considerations over impact to the show itself 

3. Terrible at communicating with fans - Seriously, I’ve never seen a company or team that’s been this bad at confirming delays etc. and providing updates about a show. I understand that it’s mostly due to them not wanting to affect the review process or create more chaos within the fandom but lmao Tencent allowed the hype to build so much and then goes absolutely silent at crazy rumours. I mean we had to find out about a delay from Cai Bao, their cat mascot, like??? In a really veiled and poetic message that didn’t outright say the word ‘delay’ like damn these ppl have a lot of time

As for SPL,

Lol we don’t know anything about this show. We don’t know if they took out or left in the Yifu part that would supposedly make it less gay or whatever, we don’t know anything about how gay it should have been or could have, so this one might be a tad more ridiculous. I mean none of us have seen any good leaks, and we haven’t seen any of the script, we got ZERO idea about this. Maybe they really went hard on the bromance, how would any of us know hahaha so all the more it’s like people have zero basis to go on, to say that it’s because of SHL. Seriously, everyone’s shooting in the dark.

Technically if laws didn’t change last Feb, I think SPL/WIK should have been passed in the same way as SHL did, but it’s just inopportune time for them.

===

- So tl:dr HYX already had tons of problems, that I doubt were going to go away just because SHL didn’t air, honestly. For SPL, it’s really hard to tell what failed the review, because none of us know what’s going on in the script.

No one cared about SHL, even I only realized the show was airing on the day itself and then made a rec post after I watched the first 4 eps. And if it truly was anything to do with SHL, I’m telling you that the first thing the censorship committee will do is basically shut SHL down, get Youku to take it off sites etc. until it’s reviewed again etc. etc. That hasn’t happened yet, at least not before HYX and SPL were stalled.

===

ALSO!! Don’t have to feel sorry for SHl fans hahaha I’m telling ya a lot of us definitely weren’t OG SHL or TYK fans, seriously! All the bigger accounts I see on Twitter are a combination of CQL/SHL or MXTX/SHL, SPL/SHL and I am personally 2HA/HYX/SHL. The fight is all out on Twitter HAHAHAHA but it’s not that bad, we’ve all got practice. Seriously WHO ACTUALLY is an SHL only stan I’ve honestly not seen much?! HAHAHA the point is we’re all yelling on behalf of SHL as a cross fandom fan, easier for us to do so as well. We’re talking about 2ha/HYX/SPL/Priest dedicated accounts that delved deep into SHL championing for no-nonsense in the space hahaha

#asks #shl #hyx #spl #and while i've never worked for the chinese film industry #i was in film and production #so i half know what i'm talking about #and i did ask a friend who works in a chinese film company #and yep ;/ #if you need to know how disastrous big companies are #tencent is a prime example

[slowpoke-fics]

The Run | The Good Doctor pt 3

Fandom: The Walking Dead

Pairing: Negan x Reader slow burn

Summary: You had a bit more responsibility than you'd expected, not to say you didn't know what you were doing

Warnings: none really, cussing, ooc Negan, slow burn, it's cute, I miss some and am not perfect, read at your own risk

A/N: This is part three to the Good Doctor Part 3! Thank you for being patient and I hope to have part four up much quicker. I liked this even though it's just some logistical stuff and insight, here is part two!

Maybe he thinks he can fix me, sucks for him, I'm broken beyond repair.

When you woke up, Negan had his hand on your shoulder, you immediately grabbed the gun under your pillow, holding it under his chin. He immediately grabbed the gun and twisted it out of your hands, your eyes now fully open and awake. You didn't realize he was eye level with you, how hot it was for him to control your gun like that, how hot he was staring into your eyes, waiting for your next move. You were frozen, you're not sure he equated it with anything but sleep, but he was captivating.

He laughed, hands up, "Damn, doll, just trying to fuckin' wake you up without fuckin' scaring you, see that was fuckin' pointless," his eyebrows raised as he shook the gun by the barrel at you, "you want it back or not?" You shook your head in disbelief as you took your gun and put it down, shocked that you held a gun to someone for just trying to wake you up. "I-I'm sorry, I guess it was just-" Negan laughed, "No worries, doll, at least I know you can take care of yourself."

You smiled, throwing the blanket off of you and swinging your legs over the couch, “So,” you stood up and began folding the blanket, “what’s the plan?” He watched you fold the blanket, not trying to hide the fact that his eyes roamed your body. Taking in the battered bluejeans that hugged your body, the scratched and slightly torn tank top, your hair shining against the sun, really popping the color out. “We’re going to drive a little longer than I’d hoped but,” he huffed, “the towns supposed to have some more supplies left than we’d originally thought, we should be back by dark.” You shrugged, “Should be fun, are we ready to leave now?”

Negan leaned against the desk, you took all of him in. He was wearing his classic leather jacket over the tattered t-shirt and blue jeans that laid over his steel toe boots. He watched as you put your hair into a pony tail, shirt playing peekaboo with the skin on your torso, “Right after breakfast doll. You ready?” You nodded at him, heading to the door with him following close behind.

Once you had sat down for breakfast Negan started shoveling food down, a full plate compared to your half rations. You didn’t really have much of an appetite, worried about everything that could happen with Negan today. He didn’t seem to notice, and by the time you’d finished your small plate, he was already done eating too. He grabbed your plate so he could return it with his own. You picked up the bags and followed suit, following him out the door and to his truck.

The truck was huge. Had to have been able to fit half of Alexanndria's storage. You’d wondered how much he was planning to come back with. It started to make a little more sense when a small portion of his crew jumped into the back, probably for protection. You climbed into the truck after Negan opened the door for you, closing it once he’d known your feet were out of the way. Then proceeding to climb in his own side.

Negan started the truck, taking you in before he started rolling. Your legs crossed, fingers interlocked at the top of your thighs, thumbs picking at each other, ankle continuously moving. You watched the trucks behind you, following close, at least three others. Did all of them have people in the back? How big was this run?

You were clearly nervous and he hated that, he wanted to make you as comfortable as possible. He tried to ignore it, but after fifteen minutes of non stop thought through his head, he had to say something. "God damn doll," Negan bellowed, "you're gonna roll the damn truck if you don't stop shaking so much," Negan lightly rubbed your forearm, a foreign thing to you, "what're ya so fuckin' nervous about anyway princess?"

You shrugged, a look of uneasiness resting on your face at his nickname for you that didn't go unnoticed, "Just don't know how to act with your group, what're your run rules? Where do I not be in the way? Will I distract you and your men? I'm used to going solo, or with one or two people. There's so-" Negan had to stop your monologue, knowing you've asked these questions twenty times since yesterday. "Don't fuckin' worry about it," Negan smiled, "I made sure this was gonna be fun for you." Your eyebrows curled, needing him to explain.

Negan blushed? No way, you thought and left it alone. "What do you mean?" He shrugged, "You'll see, won't you doll?" You huffed, "Well that just makes me more nervous." Negan let out a hearty laugh, "Damn girl, pull at this old assholes strings huh?" He shook his head, "I'm your personal companion today," he giggled at your slap to his arm. "I don't need a baby sitter!" He raised he hands very quickly to show defense, "No! But, wherever you go, I do. Whatever you fuckin' say, that's law. Everyone else goes at your direction too," he paused, looking at you, "but you don't leave my fuckin' sight," his eyes bore into you, demanding confirmation. "Yeah, okay," you smiled lightly.

"So," Negan's fingers drilled the steering wheel as he hummed at you to continue, "what's in this place?" Negan shifted, "It's a little town, the rest is a surprise." He looked genuinely excited, and you wondered how this apocalypse had changed him as a man. He couldn't have always been this heartless. "Do I get any hints?" Negan hummed again, this time searching for something to give you, "You'll fuckin' like it." You shrugged, "Maybe." He glanced to your bag where you keep your notebook, a gentle reminder of his broken trust. "Oh," you cleared your throat, "hopefully." He beamed at you, "Come on lil' fuckin' firecracker," he pressed the gas a couple more times, gently swerving the car to play with you, "be more fuckin' excited! I'm fuckin' kidding!"

The rest of the way you could believe how different Negan was being. He was intently talking to you about the grid of the town, what his crew already know about, how his crew has already been briefed that you're running it, explained the teams to you and that you're header, leading the team leaders, and he's told you that he's confident you have this ability. You were shocked about him being completely different man that with other people. You were sure that you could be with the man sitting in the truck with you, and you were sure that you couldn't be with the man who murdered someone you considered to be your brother. You were torn between seeing his good and never forgiving him for killing Glenn, how could he do something so vile? You shook your head, drawing attention back to the road and off of your thoughts.

When you arrived, Negan placed his hand on your thigh, just barely touching you. "There is one rule," he smiled, "stay here." Negan was gone for no more than two minutes. He finally came to your door, opening it and revealing his many men standing behind him, "Make sure you're safe." He reached for your hand, dropping you down to the same man who stole from you in your clinic, you glared him hiding behind Negan.

Negan stepped out of the way, the man looking guilty, "Hello, Doctor Y/n," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry for stealing from an honorable woman." He handed you a gum pack, missing a few pieces, and a small pack of skittles, "I couldn't find gum to replace what I'd stolen, so I hoped that the skittles would excuse my poor manners." You smiled hatefully at him, taking what was in his hand, "Apology accepted..." you waited for him to say his name, but Negan chimed in. "Brady," and he slapped the other man on the shoulder eliciting a smile, "and Simon." You smiled, reaching your hand out to shake Simon's hand, "I've heard." Negan smiled at you, "Good we're all fuckin' aquatinted," he roughly slapped Brady's shoulder, you didn't miss the wince he tried to hide, "these two travel with us period. So, Y/n," a bright smile, "what's the fucking plan?"

With that you noticed the other men had cleared a path for you, letting you view the town. At this point you took in the town, looking at the tiny shops and small streets. Negan wasn't kidding, it's a small town, surely the four trucks you bought could fit everything. You thought for a second, and it hit you, how much work he had put into this. You smiled to yourself, knowing that he wanted to make this go smoothly for you, hence the perfect amount of trucks, a grid, briefed men.

You walked a little behind you, looking at the different streets, looking at Negan, he smiled, giving you some confidence. "You said that you'd already separated these men by trucks? With their usual teams?" You whispered to Negan, "Yes ma'am, they're with their usual team leaders and already armored, just need you to tell them where to go n what to do."

"Okay, so here's my plan-" Negan put his hand up, gesturing to the men when you realized you should be talking to them. You cleared your throat, "Okay, so here's the plan," Negan's body was just barely pressing against you, standing behind you on your left side, his hands in his pockets, watching his men intently listen to you. How hard did he work on this for you?

"If you came in Negan's truck, you're with us on main," you motioned with your hand to have them move to the side, "Truck two-or rather-team two, you're going to our left, Combs Street, when you get to the library, we're looking for education books, if we have time and space after you've gotten everything else essential on the street, comb the library taking the fun books, that's a good part of life now." Negan nodded, liking your plan for education first, noting that the houses on the street might hold value, but acknowledging that we still need distractions like 'fun books' if circumstances allowed.

"Truck three, hit the residential area, on Langley Street," you continued when the men nodded their heads, "Truck four, hit the shops to our right on second street," everyone started moving and you shouted, "wait!" You cleared your throat once again, "Team leaders, I need you and your right hand man, everyone else stay put."

You pulled out the grid as the men surrounded you, "So you've got the left and right sides on your street, split in half, half on Side A, the left, half on side B, the right, this will increase the time we can spend in the houses and avoid stepping on each others feet. Every time you clear a house you call it in, for example, team four A, you would say 'Team Four, A1 clear, moving to A2,' or 'Team Four A Trapped, requesting Four B at A3.' I need you to do this so I can designate resources and men, keep up with the lives and walkers. No need for needless death, check in." Everyone nodded, you smiled, "Anybody have questions, comments or concerns?" The men shook their heads and you turned back towards the crowd, "Alright, everyone knows what you're doing, no-one goes anywhere alone or unarmed. Take everything useful. Do not let your guard down and watch your backs. Dismissed." At that the men dissipated, going on their own assignments.

"Was that okay?" You looked to Negan, the need for approval swimming through your eyes, Negan nodded, "I think it was great, Simon what about you?" Simon chirped up, "Oh yeah, couldn't have done it better myself, I don't make them check in that much but that's okay." You smiled at Simon, wondering how he could not worry about his men that much. You watched as Team One had already started moving toward the first building, them the first check-ins started.

"Team One, heading to A1," a pause, "Team One, heading to B1," another pause, "Team Two, heading to A1." You listened to the team list off their locations, smiling as everyone checked in. "Alright, doll," Negan leaned against the truck, "Where to first?"

#twd negan #twd fanfic #twd fanfiction #negan x y/n #negan angst #negan fluff #negan x you #negan imagine #negan fic #negan fanfiction #negan x reader #the walking dead fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #Jdm fanfic

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 10 first part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Palaver) 

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Meet the Hotties

Since there have been only 7 or 8 brutally hot men in this show so far, which is clearly not sufficient, this episode drops three fresh ones right from the jump. Meet true loves cultivation partners travel buddies SongXiao. The ethereal one, Xiao Xingchen...

The forceful one, Song Lan...

...and their nemesis Xue Yang.

Xue Yang has some Yin Metal...oh hai I just noticed, his name is Yang and he has Yin Metal. Which...probably doesn’t mean anything. When he first appears he’s so fey and over the top he could be taken for a comic relief character, except for all of the corpses he’s scattered around, and the one moment where he is caught off guard in the fight and looks genuinely angry. 

Later, of course, we discover that he’s a fucking psycho an extremely complex person with a fascinating range of emotions, none of which are good. 

Did OP make a fighting fanvid just for this charming asshole? She did. Spoiler: Hanguang Jun fucks him up. [Is OP a shameless self-linker? She is.]

(more after the cut!)

Not Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

Wei Wuxian tells Jiang Cheng not to join the fight but just to watch Xiao Xingchen’s moves; then he proceeds to join the fight by using his web shooter binding talisman to keep Xue Yang off guard and in the field of battle. 

Do as I say, not as I do, bro.

It’s all right it’s all right it’s all right, Cocaine

Far from comic relief, Xue Yang is one of the strongest fighters in the show and is a master of his own variety of crafty tricks--the chemical variety. He launches a devastating white powder attack at our gang. His powder attacks later in the show will blind Song Lan and will poison the junior cultivators. 

This powder attack does...nothing. Well okay then. 

Fanmeet

After Xue Yang has been properly suspended tied up to a rafter, the cultivators introduce themselves, and Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng proceed to squee over their idols. Lan Wangji drops some flowery titles for both of them and offers to organize a mass donation of their brand of spring water. 

Jiang Cheng is so happy he shows nearly all of his teeth without being angry. 

Xue Yang butts in to harsh on their fandom and call them hypocrites. Can’t let the nerds have too good of a time. 

Two Minutes in the out of the Closet

Now we have an interesting moment in which characters discuss queerness directly, albeit briefly. Wei Wuxian searches Xue Yang to see if he’s carrying the Yin Iron. 

Most other instances in which queerness is lampshaded in CQL are about Lan Wangji’s discomfort, or growing comfort, with Wei Wuxian and his stripping flirting. 

In this instance, Wei Wuxian fondles Xue Yang’s chest and ass while Xue Yang  asks “what will people think about this M/M action?”

We Wuxian responds, for the whole room to hear, that he DGAF; in fact, he’s proud of being a disaster bi “cheeky.”

I don't give a damn 'Bout my reputation I've never been afraid of any Qi deviation An' I don't really care If ya think I'm strange I ain't gonna change An' I'm never gonna care 'Bout my bad reputation

While Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes, Lan Wangji takes note. 

Clan with a Plan 

Nie Huaisang and his entourage arrive, and once again the Netflix subtitles take away the meaning of his words as he calls out for Wei-Xiong, Lan-Xiong, and Jiang-Xiong; Netflix has him using surnames only, like an English public school lad. 

The group decides to send Xue Yang to Nie Mingjue for judgement. Meng Yao invites them all to come hang with Nie Mingjue at the Unclean Realm, to decide how to best fuck up the Wen clan.

Note: “Unclean” seems to be an accurate translation but it has particular connotations for western audiences who grew up steeped in the Bible or Monty Python. Like, “would you like to come to the plague castle?” type of connotations. 

Meng Yao: Can you all come with me? I’ve got another hot man to add to this episode. 

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian look deeply into each other’s eyes in order to decide if they’re going to go to Unclean Realm with the Nie gang , and they opt yes. 

SongXiao do the same thing and opt no, with a speech about how the clans are a bunch of eugenicist snobs, or words to that effect. 

This speech convinces Wei Wuxian to immediately join their fan club.  He is...really not cut out for clan life. 

Night Swimming Hunting

September's coming soon I'm pining for the moon And what if there were two Side by side in orbit Around the fairest sun?

Wei Wuxian praises SongXiao for their egalitarian values, and compares himself and Lan Wangji to them, giving Lan Wangji one of his sweetest, warmest smiles.

This moment is clearly embarrassing to Lan Wangji, but most things are embarrassing to Lan Wangji, and unlike the “shut up!” moment in Episode 09, this time it doesn’t make him angry, barely earning a tiny glare. 

It’s different this time for Wei Wuxian as well, because he’s not teasing or being provocative; he’s genuinely moved to tell this roomful of people that he cherishes Lan Wangji. 

It does make Jiang Cheng angry, and he tells Wei Wuxian, not for the first time, that because of his attachment to Lan Wangji, he should not come home. 

This is a standard jealous response from Jiang Cheng, and he doesn’t mean it...yet.  But there’s a direct line between each of these false banishments, and the moment when he actually does banish the two of them from the Jiang family shrine. 

Baoshan Sanren

Wei Wuxian quickly goes from being cheerfully aflutter over these kindred spirits, to being stunned and even devastated when he discovers an unexpected family connection. 

Xiao Xingchen: My grand master is Baoshan Sanren

For once Lan Wangji doesn’t seem all that attuned to WWX’s feelings, while Jiang Chang super is. 

Jiang Cheng: Should I say something? Words? About feelings? Yeah no.

Outside of the compound, Xiao Xingchen and Wei Wuxian talk about WWX’s mother. In this moment we see how kind Xiao Xingchen is, when he carefully softens the blow of his revelation that Baoshan Sanren is not accepting students or visitors or new patients at this time or at any time. 

I hope that finding Baoshan Sanren is what Wei Wuxian did with his solo road trip at the end of Episode 50. 

XXC and WWX acknowledge their clan relationship, which takes Wei Wuxian another step away from his membership in the Jiang clan, and creates a filial obligation to his newfound shishu that he will fulfill much later, in Yi City.

Once again Jiang Cheng sees and understands Wei Wuxian’s pain, and gazes at him with love and concern, but he doesn’t reach out or speak. They are not a reaching out & speaking pair of people. Once we see their whole family together, we will understand why.

Farewell to SongXiao

When SongXiao hit the road, Lan Wangji watches them with a look of pure yearning, and then turns that look, with total openness, to Wei Wuxian. 

Lan Wangji: Ow

The open road and the chivalrous path pull equally at both WWX and LWJ, but Lan Wangji lives under a weight of formal obligation that he will carry for his entire life. During WWX’s second life he will find ways to compromise between the forces that are pulling him, but not escape them.

Wei Wuxian’s obligations are just as heavy, eventually costing him his family and his life, but they are dictated only by his heart and conscience. Yet he never suggests that Lan Wangji should follow his path. He constantly insists on LWJ’s attention, but he accepts that their roads are different, which is part of what makes Lan Wangji’s declaration on the Carp Tower steps so touching; he is giving Wei Wuxian something he never, ever asked for. 

Here, WWX acknowledges both of their sorrows with a nod, and they walk away together to play their parts in the coming war. 

Keep an Eye on the Psycho

Nie Huaisang sighs in admiration of the departing hotties, while Xue Yang tells Xiao Xingchen not to forget him. Which is very, very, very good advice.

Meng Yao is put in charge of guarding Xue Yang. I hope that doesn’t awaken anything in him. 

Soundtrack: 1. Joan Jett, Bad Reputation  2. REM, Night Swimming 3. INXS, Devil inside

Smut Prompt: If the story of Wei Wuxian searching Xue Yang does get out among the clans, what will it have morphed into by the time Clan Leader Yao hears it?

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #wangxian #songxiao #the untamed meta #the untamed gifs #restless rewatch the untamed #my gifs #canary3d-original #the untamed spoilers

[randomfandomimagine]

Here With You (Barry Allen x Reader)

Character: Barry Allen

Fandom: Justice League (Snyder) / DC

Tags: Hurt / comfort, cuddling, fluff

Warnings: Tooth rotting fluff

Word Count: 2,2k words

Summary: Y/N is having a bad day, but still doesn’t want to reach out. When Barry still appears at Y/N’s place, worried, they will realize it’s not so bad to need cheering up.

A/N: Apparently I’m not done fangirling about this cutie, so here’s another Barry Allen ficlet for you! Hope you like it! Remember to please reblog it and leave feedback if you like it, it would mean the world to me! 🙏💕

Barry Allen x Gender Neutral Reader

You were so tired and so on edge that everything bothered you. Even the background noise of the city outside your window seemed to hurt your sensitive ears and fuzzy mind.

Sneaking a quick glance to your phone, you considered making a call. You knew Barry would be there with you in a second, and that he would magically solve everything. Still, something kept you from calling him. You could deal with that day on your own.

If only you had the energies, you would get up and do something. There you were, feebly lying down on your bed and staring at the ceiling. No music, no TV, no phone, no nothing. All you wanted to do was lie there and dwell on your misery.

It had been a bad day. First your alarm didn’t work and you were late, then you ran out of hot water and couldn’t shower. And not only was your work day awful, but you also had tiny little things that only worsened your mood. You spilled your coffee, you had to stay late, you dropped your suitcase with all your paperwork that scattered on the ground, and on top of all people kept bumping into you as you walked home. It was a multitude of small things that became all too big.

A demanding knock on your door startled you in your loud silence. What now? Cautious as to who it could be, you apathetically sat up and waited. They knocked again.

“Y/N?” Came Barry’s familiar voice. “Are you in there?” 

A part of you wanted to ignore him, to pretend like you weren’t home so he would leave. You didn’t have the strength to face even him, everything overwhelmed you. But he sounded worried, and he was your best friend after all.

Tired and resigned, you stood up and dragged your feet as you walked to the front door. Barry kept on restlessly knocking.

“C’mon, Y/N, open the-” When you swung the door open, he showed you a smile. “There you are!”

“Hi, Barry…” You mumbled, letting the door open and idly moving to the  couch. You plopped down there, assuming he would follow in tow.

“Are you okay? You haven’t answered my calls”

“My phone’s on silent”

“O-kay…” Barry slowly sat by you, intently staring. “What’s wrong?” 

You sighed, hating that you were so transparent. Or that he knew you so damn well. Or both.

“I had a really bad day” You pouted, feeling like crying just at the thought of it. Why was it bothering you that much? Nothing catastrophic had happened.

“Wanna talk about it?” He kindly offered, but you shook your head.

“No…” You had to tightly press your lips together when a sudden urge to cry overwhelmed you. A sob was already reaching your throat.

“Oh, gosh, please don’t cry” Barry stared at you with wide eyes, fidgeting on his seat. “I-I mean, cry if you need to, but uh… it’s okay”

His hand fell on your shoulder, then gently lowering to your arm so he could comfortingly rub it up and down. You nodded your head, trying to tell yourself that he was right. It was okay, nothing you couldn’t handle.

“It’s okay, Y/N” He whispered. “You want a hug?”

A single rogue tear rolled down your cheek, but you grit your teeth. You refused to cry, especially not in front of Barry. His heartbroken look as he stared at you was enough to make you want to hold it in. Frustrated, you only wiped your face with your hand.  

“I’m…” You sighed, trying to control yourself. “I’m okay”

Not believing you, he kept staring. In an attempt to reassure him, you forced out a smile. Barry still didn’t seem convinced, but he knew you better than to try to insist.

“Great!” Barry said in the end, kindly patting your arm. “But you know what we gotta do now, right?” 

“What?” 

“Emergency movie night!”

“Barry…” You began to say, but he was already on his way. 

Now that he knew you were upset, nothing would stop him from doing everything in his power to cheer you up. Barry wouldn’t rest until he saw you smile. 

“Here you go” Your best friend sped through again, suddenly appearing next to you and dropping a bunch of DVDs on the table before disappearing again.

“Stop that!” You jumped to your feet and scolded him, barely managing to follow him with your gaze. “Don’t tire yourself, it’s not worth it!”

“Of course it’s worth it!” Barry appeared next to you again, bearing a playfully serious expression as he handed you something. “It’s my mission as your best friend to cheer you up” 

You rolled your eyes a little, fondly watching him as he went off again. Looking down to your arms, you saw that what he had given you were many bags of snacks. You absently put them on the table.

“Besides” Barry nudged you, standing next to you so suddenly that you wobbled a little. He was ready to hold you up.  “I can always raid your fridge after” 

You were suddenly fighting a smile. He had only been there for maybe a few minutes and he was already making things better. How could you not adore him?

“Okay” He returned, followed by the sweet smell of popcorn. “Now we have everything” 

In such a flamboyant way that you almost laughed, Barry tugged at your hand until you were sitting on the couch again. Then he put a blanket over your legs and placed the bowl of popcorn between the two of you as he joined you in the seat.

“But don’t hog the blanket” He made a funny face as he also covered his own legs with it so you were sharing it.

You heaved a sigh, resigned to letting him look after you. It wasn’t so bad after all, even if you weren’t as used to his blatant cares as he would like to. 

He pulled the first smile out of you when he picked up the remote and turned the movie on. Just with the music and the starting credits, you recognized it was your favorite movie. He knew you well.

“Oh, and the best part” Barry seriously peered at you, opening his arms. “Cuddles!”

You chuckled in spite of yourself, and his sudden grin in return was so bright that it could have light up the room by itself. Barry wiggled his arms still, suggestively raising his eyebrows too.

“Fine” You snuggled closer to him, getting comfortable against his chest. “You win, Allen” 

Barry smiled still, clearly satisfied with the result. He laid back, grabbed such a big handful of popcorn that many of them fell right out of his hand, and shoved the rest into his mouth. You shook your head at him, fondly watching. It was incredible how easily he made everything better.

“This movie’s really good!” He suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the screen. His voice was muffled by the enormous amount of popcorn still in his mouth.

“You’re a lost cause” You giggled, wondering if he realized how happy he made you.

Even as he chewed on the popcorn, he was smiling. Once he finally swallowed, he glanced at you and dedicated you an innocent grin.

“But you love me”

“How can’t I?”

“You’re smiling…”

“And whose fault is that?”

He didn’t say anything, only looked ahead to the screen. However, his satisfied smirk was telling enough. It warmed your heart to see he was so happy over seeing you smile. 

The silence suddenly felt comfortable as you both returned your glances to the movie. In reality, you weren’t even that interested in it. You knew the movie by heart, and taking in consideration that Barry was with you, you preferred to focus your attention on him.

Resting over him, feeling his arms fondly squeeze you, the stress started to melt away. The exhilarating feeling of coziness enveloped you, and you dearly treasured it. You absently reached out to grab one of the snacks that you had put on the table. Coincidentally, Barry was reaching out for the very same on. When your hands grazed, you both chuckled and looked at each other, stuttering apologies.

“S-Sorry, Y/N, go ahead”

“No, it’s fine… you can have it” 

You both paused for a moment, forgetting about the movie and the snacks and everything. The world itself seemed insignificant compared to the sudden beauty in his loving eyes, in his gentle expression. You gawked at him, wondering if he had been always this adorable. None of you said anything at first, only lingering in that position and staring at each other still.

Barry didn’t look away from you either as he picked up the wrapper and softly put it on your hand. His fingers lingered, gently brushing against yours. They were soft and warm.

“You… you don’t want it, Barry?”

“No, I know you like them…”

“Thank you”

“No problem, Y/N”

He gave you butterflies. The tender way in which he spoke, in which he looked at you, in which he said your name, how determined he had been to improve your day. Just… him. Barry Allen. You realized it was now hard to breathe, but in a surprisingly wonderful way.

“Uh… is that better?” He piped up in the end. “Are you comfortable?” 

“Y-Yeah” You blushed when you realized your head was leaning on his shoulder still as you looked up at him. “Thanks…. thanks for everything” 

Barry nodded and smiled, staring at you. He didn’t say anything about your head on his shoulder. You didn’t move, afraid that if he noticed he might say something. The last thing you wanted to do was move from that position.

His fingers brushed against yours some more, moving to be slowly placed in the spaces between yours. It was a nonchalant movement at first, mindless and familiar. Then it changed. Hesitant, asking a silent question. You brushed your fingertips against his in return.

Just then, something appeared in his eyes as they widened, a realization just like yours. This certainly wasn’t like your usual movie nights. You could nearly hear the missing beat of his heart before it continued racing.

Barry opened his mouth, ready to say something. The only thing he managed was awkward stutters. You smiled, knowing you would accomplish just as little if you tried to speak.

“I, um… oh!” He finally said, picking up the remote. “This is your favorite part” 

Your friend increased the volume of the movie. It came to your attention that it was quite advanced now, and it made you feel silly. Nonetheless, you wouldn’t change a thing. Everything was absolutely perfect.

As you two pretended to watch the movie, you started getting sleepy. The sudden exhaustion that washed over you was shadowed by immense comfort.

“So… do you, uh…” Barry uttered. “Do you wanna talk about it?” 

“About what?” 

“Your bad day”

“Oh, that…” Your eyes closed, and your free hand moved to rest against his chest. The other was still grazing against his. “It isn’t such a bad day anymore”

Maybe that was why you hadn’t called Barry before. You didn’t want to admit to yourself that you needed him. Yet there you were. Now that you were with him, needing him didn’t feel like such a bad thing. In fact, it felt right.

Barry’s chest moved under your palm as he took a deep breath. For a moment, you feared your touch was making him uncomfortable. Just when you were about to retrieve your hand, however, his free hand pressed against yours as well in a delicate gesture. 

You smiled and moved your hand up until it held on to his shoulder, allowing you to snuggle even closer against him. Barry chuckled, pressing your palm further into his chest.

“I’m glad I could make your day better, Y/N” Barry paused for several seconds, but you didn’t answer. “Y/N?”

When you still didn’t reply, he didn’t insist. Instead of it, Barry heaved a dreamy sigh. The sweet embrace of slumber was starting to take over you, and you couldn’t remember being so happy as you were in that moment. So much for a bad day.

Threatening to end your perfect tranquil, you felt Barry try to pick you up without stirring you. His hand gingerly snuck under your legs as he tried to gather your form in his arms.

“Mm... what are you doing?” You uttered, rubbing your cheek against his shoulder.

“I thought you fell asleep” He whispered, causing his voice to be barely audible over the background noise of the TV. “I was taking you to bed, it’ll be more comfortable”

You shook your head, nuzzling his chest and pressing further into him.

“No, it’s perfect” You groggily said, holding on to him. “It’s perfect, here with you”

“Aw” Barry let out a flustered chuckle. “Y-You’re gonna make me blush, Y/N”

Although sleepy, you made an effort to peer up at him. You felt slightly delirious both from the exhaustion and from how stupidly happy you were at that moment, but you still didn’t care when you started giggling. Barry was blushing, and smiling so wide that his cheeks had to hurt.

“Will you stay with me, Barry?”

“Of course, Y/N”

Tag list: @call-me-harley-quinn / @wonderlandfandomkingdom / @locke-writes / @emmacata / @galactic-magick​ // If you want to be added or taken off the tag list for these fandoms or characters, send me an ask!! 

#barry allen x reader #barry allen imagine #justice league #justice league imagine #snyder cut #dc #dc imagine #ficlet #barry allen ficlet #justice league ficlet #dc ficlet #rfi writings #reader insert #not requested #faves #barry allen

[cyhyr]

Summer of Whump Day 16: Touch Starved

Fandom: Naruto

Rating: G

Pairing: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, pre-relationship

WC: ~1870

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

A/N: Are y'all ready for some whumpy fluff??? Cuz I got some kinda cavity-inducing treat here for those that're into that.

~

In theory, Kakashi should have been assigned a touchstone during his ANBU service. Looking back, he’s ambivalent about how he feels on the subject. Sure, a touchstone could have been helpful if they were trained well and able to calm him down from the nightmares he had as a teenager; but he’s also historically one of the deadliest shinobi enlisted in ANBU and the possibility of accidentally killing a touchstone would have gotten him discharged early at best or put down because of a psychotic break at worst.

He doesn’t casually touch people, and hasn’t since his fist went through Rin’s chest ten years ago. He’s okay with this. He doesn’t want to touch people anyway—it registers a part of his instincts that equates touch with mission and he doesn’t like being “on” while in the village. Even Gai keeps a respectable distance unless they’re sparring, especially after the last time they had been walking through the village and brushed elbows and Kakashi flinched hard enough that two on-duty ANBU flickered into view on the rooftops.

But really, he’s fine.

~

Then he becomes a jōnin-sensei and formally meets Uzumaki Naruto and, by extension of Naruto, Umino Iruka. And see, after a week of training with the genin, he thought he’d gotten used to being casually touched again. Naruto, in particular, likes to take Kakashi’s palm in high-fives without permission and run circles around his legs like an over-excited pup. But Sasuke also will lean against him for a breath if no one else is looking, and Sakura is a hugger.

This does not prepare him for meeting his team’s old Academy teacher, who invites all of Team Seven—including Kakashi—to his home at the end of their first week for dinner. It seems odd that Naruto knows where everything is in the home enough to help Umino-sensei finish cooking and set the table; even more odd is Umino ordering Naruto around and Naruto following those orders without question. After the meal, Kakashi resolves to pick the man’s brain to figure out how he does that.

But then he notices how the man is moving around the kitchen; stiffly, limping, one hand bracing his lower back if he needs something out of his reach. And how Sasuke and Sakura are also hovering, asking if there’s anything they can do to help—and Kakashi realizes that he’s missing crucial information.

He gets the story about the scroll, the betrayal, and the fuma shuriken after dinner, while he’s helping Umino-sensei clean up. They had sent the genin out of the kitchen—Umino hadn’t wanted to recall it around them, worried it might “upset them”—so it was just the two of them in a tiny space.

And he’s not ready for it. Every time Umino passes behind him while Kakashi’s washing up at the sink, he presses a gentle hand to his upper back. Their fingertips brush occasionally when Kakashi’s handing Umino freshly washed dishes to dry.

His fucking laugh is a touch of its own.

Kakashi starts out tense but minutes go by and Umino doesn’t seem to recognize that his actions are distressing so Kakashi just… breathes through it. And relaxes. And lets himself feel.

And, gods, it’s nice.

~

It doesn’t stop. Umino—

“Iruka, please,” he smiles and it’s like sunshine after a month in the Land of Frost. “I’d like to think we’re friends, Kakashi-sensei, and my friends call me Iruka.”

“Then just ‘Kakashi’ is fine,” he replies—

He’s still wondering why he said that, but it certainly happened; it was at the Mission Desk and there were witnesses—

Anyway.

Iruka doesn’t stop with these friendly, gentle touches. But after that first night he is always careful to do them in places where no one else can observe Kakashi’s reactions, which Kakashi is immensely thankful for.

He doesn’t ever turn on Iruka, but there are some close calls. He once followed Iruka down into the archives and while they were down there he said something—likely a crass joke, remembering Iruka’s flush and that particular smile. In hindsight, Kakashi realizes that the jab on his arm was meant to mean oh gods why are you like this in an amused air; at the time, he froze and his heart had started pounding and he briefly saw Iruka as a threat.

Iruka didn’t move, either away or closer, just waited until Kakashi’s tension released. It took almost a minute. He did, however, continue speaking; going into a story about Naruto and Shikamaru from their earlier days at the Academy. Once Kakashi was back to himself he stuck his hands in his pockets and Iruka finished his filing in the archives, walking around again as though he hadn’t just been in potential danger.

Kakashi wonders if Iruka has touchstone training. He wonders if Iruka would entertain being his touchstone; but, no, he’s not ANBU anymore, he doesn’t need one anymore.

~

It’s too much.

It’s not enough.

~

One day after training his team, he catches sight of Iruka lounging in the grass by the river, reading a novel. The sunset warms the deep tones of his skin even more than usual and Kakashi groans because he’s been psyching himself up to do something like this for weeks and here, here is the perfect chance. And he could absolutely keep walking down the road and keep his hands and body to himself and Iruka would be none the wiser; and even if he does find out, Iruka will never hold it against him or call him a coward.

He can do it. He takes a few steps down the hill.

He can’t do it—he turns back up to the road and puts his face into his hands. He resists groaning, as that would alert Iruka to his presence and then he’s fucked.

He turns back around and looks at Iruka, turning the page of his book and tucking an arm under his head. Gods, he’s…

If I go down there, I’ll destroy him.

If I don’t, I’ll destroy myself.

Kakashi doesn’t whine, he doesn’t. He fought in the Third Great Shinobi War. He’s a hardened ANBU operative—retired, but. He’s one of the deadliest shinobi Konoha has on its roster. He can approach a chūnin Academy sensei, his friend, for no other reason than to just sit near him.

His legs move before he can form the thoughts to stop them, and he’s dropping into a cross-legged seat beside Iruka.

“Hello, Kakashi,” Iruka says. He sets his book aside and sits up, shifting so he’s more facing Kakashi. And gods that smile. “How are you?”

Kakashi finds that he can’t quite get the words out, and so just holds out a hand between them hoping Iruka will understand.

“Ah.” Of course, Iruka does. He slips his fingers between Kakashi’s slowly, giving him the chance to pull away if he needs. But Kakashi isn’t here for need; he’s here for want.

He pulls Iruka’s hand up to his cheek and presses into it, his pulse quickening.

“Kakashi, is everything alright?” Iruka murmurs.

He nods. The lump in his throat eases enough that he’s able to mutter back: “Exposure therapy. My apologies, sensei, for using you this way.”

Iruka’s palm is warm through his mask. He wishes he hadn’t done this in public, that he could feel Iruka’s hand on his bare face.

“I understand. I have done this before.”

“Y-You have?”

Iruka nods, shifts closer and lays his other hand on Kakashi’s shoulder. “I’ve had other friends in ANBU,” he whispers. “I was a touchstone for, ah, three years? For them.”

Kakashi can’t help the bubbling laugh. “I had wondered where you got these kinds of instincts, sensei.”

“It’s certainly not from teaching pre-genin.”

Iruka continues lightly stroking his shoulders and cheek where Kakashi placed his hand, until Kakashi fidgets and shifts and reaches up to rub at the back of his neck.

“I was wondering if—um—could you—that is—”

“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” Iruka nods.

“That’s just the thing,” Kakashi sighs. “I’m not comfortable with any of this.”

“Okay, so then just ask,” he says instead. “I promise, it’s neither the oddest request I’ve gotten, nor will I refuse you.”

Kakashi quirks an eyebrow and Iruka chuckles.

“I’ll tell you later. Ask.”

He takes in a deep breath and on the exhale says it at once: “CanIputmyheadinyourlap?”

Iruka takes a second to decode what he says, and then his grin widens and he turns back to where he’d placed his book. He shifts it further aside and situates himself better, and then nods, making a subtle come here gesture with the hand near his book.

Kakashi turns and just about falls into Iruka’s lap, now laying parallel to the river and looking up at the reddening sky. In the east, a few early stars are coming out. But here, on the riverbank, Iruka runs his fingers through Kakashi’s hair and it’s heaven. Fingertips from his other hand stroke gently down the side of Kakashi’s face and neck. After a few minutes, Iruka settles his arm over Kakashi’s chest in a loose embrace and it causes a hitch in his breath and a stutter in his pulse but—

But he’s with Iruka and he’s in the village and the fingers through his hair are so nice and he’s safe and Iruka’s safe—

He relaxes.

“Let me know if it’s too much,” Iruka says softly.

“This is wonderful, sensei,” Kakashi breathes. “You’re just enough. Exactly what I needed.”

Iruka lightly scratches at his scalp and Kakashi groans. The arm across his chest gets a little heavier and Kakashi notices but doesn’t care because he’s in the village and safe and with Iruka—

“Can I… um. No, nevermind.”

Kakashi opens his eye, looks up at Iruka, flushed in the sunset, and says, “Ask anyway?”

Iruka bites at his lip and hesitates, but Kakashi has all the time in the world right now. Eventually, the sun goes beyond the horizon and Iruka asks barely above a whisper, “Can I kiss you?”

He’s honestly surprised, thinking that he was the only one harboring a crush. But then he thinks about the sensitivity of lips on lips and tongue and teeth and being that close and I’ll destroy him—Kakashi stops that line of thought fast and clears his throat to fight off the bile wanting to rise. He swallows hard and says, “Not yet. I don’t know if I can—”

“Shh,” Iruka presses one finger to his lips over the mask; it’s excruciating. “You don’t need to explain yourself. A no is enough. I’ve got this,” gesturing to Kakashi, laid out beside him, and then threads his fingers back in his hair, “and I'm more than happy.”

Iruka eventually relocates them to his apartment, where Kakashi goes along quietly and eats what he’s given and washes up beside Iruka like he always does at the Team Seven dinners he hosts. And when they move to the living room and Iruka sits in the corner of his couch and pats his lap questioningly, Kakashi falls into place like a good soldier and spends the rest of the night trying not to tear up at how good it feels to be touched so carefully, so gently, so lovingly.

#summerofwhump #summerofwhump16 #touch starved #fanfic #hatake kakashi #umino iruka #kakairu #my writing