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scoonsalicious · 2 months

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Unwanted, Chapter 1: Unarmed, Pt. 1

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Fem!Reader

Summary: (For this part only) Following the events of CA:CW, Tony Stark has offered Steve Rogers an olive branch of sorts to bring The Avengers back together. You, CTO of Stark Industries and head of Innovation & Technology for the Avengers' Initiative, have your doubts, as you're not quite ready to forgive Captain America for ripping your family apart just yet. Steve had one condition, however, when agreeing to return to the team, one that's going to turn your life upside down and inside out: If he's coming back to join The Avengers, he's bringing his best friend, Bucky Barnes, with him.

Warnings: (For this part only) Language (obviously), minor mention of alcohol, I'm obviously on Team Tony during the CW; don't come for me, awful jokes, minor use of (Y/N). As always, if I missed any, please let me know.

Word Count: 3.2k

A/N: Here's a little preview of Unwanted. In it's current form, it's standing at about 50k words, with about 25k still in editing, and I'm maybe about half done with writing the entire thing? I'm not going to lie, it starts out cute and fluffy, but it's gonna get real angsty and painful. Dear Reader has unresolved emotional trauma and Bucky doesn't understand the importance of boundaries in 21st century relationships. This piece has been my baby for several months now; I really hope ya'll enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Banner By: The absolutely amazing @mrsbuckybarnes1917

Taglist: (Please let me know if you'd like to be added!) @blackhawkfanatic

"You're sure you're cool with this, Boss?" you asked Tony Stark, for what was probably the ten thousandth time in the last hour. The two of you were sitting by yourselves off in a corner of the common area of the Avengers Tower while the rest of your team congregated around the bar, eagerly anticipating the official return of Captain America to the Avengers. That, by itself, would be enough to warrant a gathering of Earth's mightiest heroes, but what had everyone in attendance talking was the fact that Steve Rogers wouldn't be returning alone.

Your billionaire employer sighed and swirled his glass of Laphroaig, the amber liquid sloshing along the sides of the tumbler. "I don't love it, Pocket, but it was Cap's only condition for coming back into the fold, and since Barton, Wilson, and Maximoff all went off the reservation with him, it seemed a small price to pay to get everyone back under one roof." He took a swig of his whiskey and smacked his lips.

You couldn't help but smile at his use of your nickname. Thor had inadvertently given it to you when you first met the God of Thunder years ago, remarking for everyone to hear that you were so small and tiny, he could tuck you into his pocket and abscond away with you to Asgard. Somehow, it stuck. You'd hated it at first; it had felt dismissive and condescending, which of course meant that it soon became the only thing the members of your team called you, but the more they used in their daily lives, the more you actually came to love it. It was a brand new, unique identity that came to embody the person you’d become, and the past you’d worked so hard to put behind you. You were more likely to answer to 'Pocket,' now, than you were your legal name, and you were grateful for it.

"Besides," Tony continued with a shrug, "if letting the Barnes thing go means we get the band back together, I'm willing to be the bigger person about it."

You stared at him, impressed. "Well look at you. When did you get so emotionally evolved?"

"Since Pepper told me I needed to start seeing a therapist or she’d leave me once and for all," he admitted to you with a cheeky wink; you both knew that, though Tony drove his partner, Pepper Potts, absolutely insane sometimes, she loved him far too much to ever walk away from him for good. That didn’t stop the threats, though. Lord knows he tried her patience. In your opinion, the woman was a saint.

Your eyes widened at the revelation and you let out a low whistle of appreciation. "You're going to therapy? Wow. Tony, That's amazing. I'm proud of you."

"Oh please," Tony scoffed, "I have much more important things to do than sit on a couch and spill my feelings. Besides, my secrets are too valuable to divulge to an actual human being. I just trained FRIDAY on therapeutic conversational datasets so she can handle all that psychological mumbo jumbo and then I paired that with BARF's augmented reality-- it's seriously the platinum standard in mental healthcare. No awkward silences or judgmental stares, just pure efficiency. You should try it; it’d do you wonders. And the best part? No copays."

You chuckled as you took a sip of your pineapple and Malibu. "Yeah, okay. That completely tracks for you," you told him with a smile. "So, what did Dr. FRIDAY tell you that got you to change your mind about the Barnes situation?"

Furrows appeared between Tony's eyebrows as he took another sip of whiskey to buy time for collecting his thoughts. There was still so much pain in him where Bucky Barnes was concerned. You'd worked for him in some capacity for nearly fifteen years and you'd never seen him as defeated as he'd been when he got off that Quinjet from Siberia. He'd been bloodied, battered and utterly broken, body and soul. Seeing him like that had shattered you, and you never wanted to live through something like that again.

Tony ran you through his experience with his therapeutic innovation, and you had to admit, it was impressive. The system had helped him realize that Bucky Barnes wasn't responsible for the heinous crimes Hydra had brainwashed him into completing, and so his anger over the death of his parents, while justified, had been misdirected.

"Once I processed that, it was a quick jump to realizing we can't be the best version of the Avengers if we only have half the team at home, and it's innocent people who would pay the price for it. So, when I reached out to Cap and he agreed to come back if I agreed to let him bring Barnes with him, well..." Tony trailed off, gesturing vaguely with his hand toward the where the rest of the team was waiting.

"So, you and Rogers are just, what? Good then? All water under the bridge?" you asked him, mild irritation clouding your voice.

"Oh, absolutely not." Tony took another sip of whiskey. "I can work with him again, and I'm glad to, but we're not going to be braiding each other's hair anytime soon."

"Good," you said, raising your glass in a mock toast to Tony. "I'm not quite ready to forgive him on your behalf just yet." Tony had essentially saved your life when you first met him, and he’d continued to support and guide your career to heights you could have never imagined. You'd started as a systems analyst and mechanical engineer at Stark Industries fresh out of college, and under Tony’s mentorship, it wasn’t long before you found yourself rising to the position of the company’s Chief Technical Officer, second in command only to Pepper, now that Tony had passed on the reins to her. All this happened long before he'd ever brought you in to work with him on the Avengers Initiative, and now you spent the majority of your time heading up their Technology and Innovation Department, as well.

Any kind of healthy respect you might have had for your boss had died out a long, long time ago, because Tony Stark was Tony Stark, but now he was just Tony-- more like an annoying older brother you loved dearly, whose name just happened to be on your paychecks. You owed him everything and that had earned him your unwavering loyalty. You'd follow him to hell and back again if he asked it of you, though he knew he’d never have to; you’d be paving the path there right alongside him.

The sound of laughter made its way across to you from the other side of the room and you felt warmth at the sound-- everyone, together again and happy. Just a few short months ago, you never would have been able to imagine the scene before you, not after the fight in Berlin and its brutal aftermath. You had thought for sure that this little family you'd found yourself in the middle of had been destroyed beyond repair.

So, you might have had your own reasons to be pissed at Steve Rogers.

"What's Barnes like?" you asked Tony. Having only ever glimpsed him from a distance, or from behind a computer monitor, you'd utilized all the resources at your disposal to dig up as much information on the Winter Soldier as possible, but even your skills hadn't been able to get you what simply didn't exist. "You know I don't like unknown quantities."

Tony seemed to think for a moment. "You mean, aside from being a brainwashed, murderous assassin?"

"Tony," you chastised. You knew that Barnes had spent a good deal of time in Wakanda before coming home to New York, working on having the words that triggered his homicidal alter-ego neutralized. Rogers may not always acted rationally when it came to making decisions about his oldest friend, but you were sure he wouldn’t be bringing Barnes back to the Tower if he posed a serious danger to the rest of you. Right?

"Fine," Tony said, with a typical exaggerated sigh. "Aside from being a former brainwashed, murderous assassin; better?" You rolled your eyes but nodded. "Don't really know, didn't care enough to ask. I'll be happy as long as he doesn't start murdering us all in our sleep. Cap vouches for him, so that counts for something. Maybe not as much as it did once upon a time, but something. But T’Challa seems to think he’s harmless enough now, so that’s good enough for me."

You nodded, taking another sip of your pineapple and Malibu, then leaned back, pensive. "Oh, God," you said after a moment of thought, sitting up in alarm. "You don't think it’s going to be like having an entire extra Rogers around, do you? All '40s morality and emotional repression? Because I am so over having him police my language." It wasn't that you had anything against Captain America as an Avenger, but there was only so much of the Boy Scout act you could take before you started getting nauseous. And okay, fine, you weren't too proud to admit it-- there was a not-so-small part of you that still hadn't forgiven him for what you saw as his blatant betrayal of Tony when he refused to sign the Accords. You'd promised to play nice, though, for the sake of your family, but your personal relationship with The Star-Spangled Man had taken heavy damage since Berlin.

Tony chuckled. "As if you'd ever let Cap's presence keep you from a good profanity. I should put out a swear jar. We could fund that crisis algorithm project of yours off your mouth alone."

"Fuck you, Tony," you uttered with a chuckle, fully aware that he had your number. You never met a four-letter word you didn’t fall immediately in love with.

"And look at that," Tony said with a smirk, "I just made another dollar. Hey FRIDAY, open up a new savings account and deposit a dollar into every time Pocket has a potty mouth."

"On it, Boss," the AI replied cheerfully.

You swore at Tony a few more times for good measure. "I fully intend to financially bleed you dry now, asshole."

"Oh no, I'm shaking in my custom Tom Ford's," Tony mockingly bemoaned, putting his feet, enclosed in the aforementioned ridiculously expensive loafers, up on the coffee table.

Raised voices from the other side of the room caught your attention. You stood up and craned your neck, trying to see what had caused the commotion. "I think they're here, Boss," you said.

"Alright," Tony said, standing up and putting an arm around your shoulder, "big smiles, kiddo. Remember, we're supposed to be happy about this." You suppressed a chuckle as you watched Rogers present Bucky Barnes to the rest of the team. Everyone was welcoming; you wouldn’t have expected any less, but as you watched their body language, the only word that came to mind was guarded. And you completely understood; The Winter Soldier’s reputation had preceded him, after all. There were hugs for Rogers, of course, but no one made any attempt to reach out to his friend.

Despite your overall annoyance with Rogers, you couldn't help but feel some degree of happiness for the giant oaf. When you'd been assigned on a mission with him (which happened fairly frequently, as he was so pathetically abysmal with anything having to do with technology) and ended up having to hole up in a safehouse for an extra couple of days while waiting for extraction, he'd started opening up to you about James Buchanan Barnes, and the reminiscing had made him so happy, you encouraged Steve to tell you everything about this Bucky. After that, the trouble was getting Rogers to stop telling his Bucky stories. If he wasn't sharing tales about growing up with his best friend during the Great Depression and all the absolute mischief they got into, he was sharing war stories of their time together with the Howling Commandos. He'd even shared his grief with you– how painful it had been to watch Barnes fall from that train and the guilt he carried for not being able to save him. He’d confessed to you once that, when he went into the ice, fully prepared to die, there was a part of him that was relieved to be reunited with Barnes in the next life, and waking up some 70 years later to a world where he was still alive but Bucky was still gone had broken his heart all over again. And yet, here they were– together in the next life, after all. If you were a different kind of person, you’d say it was a goddamn miracle.

Because of the way Rogers described his best friend in those old stories, you were expecting Bucky Barnes to come swaggering along next to him, with a cocksure tilt to his head and a panty-dropping smirk playing along his lips, but the man who accompanied Steve was the furthest thing from that.

He shuffled behind Rogers slowly, looking at the floor and avoiding making eye contact with anyone else from the team. His hair hung long and limp, curtaining off his face as though it were a protective barrier. Though, if it was keeping him away from everyone else, or everyone else away from him, you couldn't be sure. He was much thinner than you'd anticipated, especially for a super soldier– though still extremely muscular, giving you the impression that it had been a long time since he'd let himself indulge in anything more than the bare minimum amount of calories he needed for survival. Tilting your head, you tried to steal a glance at his infamous metal arm, the thing of legends that had turned him from a run-of-the-mill assassin into the stuff of waking nightmares.

But the sleeve of his jacket hung limp, only empty space where the appendage should have been.

Curious. He'd come to Tony Stark's home unarmed. Your hand flew to your mouth to try and stop the uncontrollable snicker that broke loose at your own stupid joke. Tony elbowed you gently in the ribs to shut you up, and you hoped you were too far away and the others too distracted by Steve's introductions to notice you, but that thought flew right out the window when Bucky Barnes' head snapped up at the sound, his eyes locking onto yours from across the room.

"Holy shit," you breathed, knowing another dollar would go into Tony's digital swear jar, but damn if the man didn't have the most striking blue eyes you had ever seen. There were dark circles under them, and he looked incredibly tired, yeah, but they were beautiful. You didn't mean to stare, but you found you couldn't look away, either, and so the two of you were locked into some sort of impromptu staring contest. The longer you looked at him, the more you could sense an overwhelming sadness coming from him, as well as a level of wariness at being in a room full of strangers. It was almost overwhelming.

But then, just as suddenly as it began, the spell was broken. Blinking once, Bucky looked away and you felt the tension vanish from between you.

"What was that about?" Tony asked you in a low singsong voice.

"I have no idea," you answered, honestly. There had been so much pain and loneliness in his eyes. You'd seen eyes like that before, when you were younger and looked at your own reflection in the mirror following a scalding shower with your skin scrubbed raw and bloody. You suppressed a shiver.

Finally, Steve managed to disengage himself and Bucky from the other Avengers and began making his way toward you and Tony. Up close, you were struck by how tall Bucky was. He had to be at least a foot taller than you, if not more. And God, he was handsome. Granted, in a kind of heroin-chic sort of way, but still. A couple of good nights' sleep, a few good meals, some light personal grooming, and... well, there was a very good chance you were going to be in trouble once he got his shit together, that was for sure.

"And Buck," Steve was saying, drawing you out of your ogling, "This is our resident computer genius, Pocket (Y/L/N). You ever need help with anything technology-related, she's your girl."

"A bit of an over-simplified version, Rogers," you said, sticking your hand out to shake Bucky’s, "but yeah, that about covers it."

Bucky looked at you, then down at your hand, making no move to take it.

"What the hell kind of name is Pocket?" he asked, voice rough as though he hadn’t been using it a lot. Pulling your hand back, you shot him an annoyed glare.

"I don't know," you oozed back sarcastically. "What the hell kind of name is Bucky?"

"It's his nickname, Pocket," Steve supplied helpfully, though not without a trace of confusion. You gave him an annoyed, pointed look.

"No shit, Rogers." You turned back to Bucky and spoke slowly, as if to a child. "So, what do you think Pocket is, then?"

"Oh," said Bucky, catching on. The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. "Gotcha; m'sorry about that. My manners are rusty from a severe lack of use."

You didn't mean it, but your mouth curved up into a hint of a smile, too. And then, almost as if you couldn't stop yourself from doing it, you found yourself saying "I see you've arrived unarmed."

There was a long, heavy beat of silence as Steve and Tony stared at you, mouths slightly agape, and you wondered if you'd made a critical error. You were just about to punch yourself in the face and claim you had a concussion and therefore couldn't be held responsible for what you said when Bucky burst into laughter.

It was the most beautiful sound you'd ever heard, and it was contagious. Through your own laughter, you risked a glance up at Steve. He was looking back and forth between you and Bucky, an indiscernible look in his eyes, and you couldn't help but wonder how long it had been since he'd heard his best friend laugh. Hell, you wondered how long it had been since Bucky Barnes had laughed at all.

"Pocket," Tony groaned, palming his face, "that was truly terrible, even for you."

"I'm sorry," you said, trying to catch your breath through your burst of giggles. "It just slipped out-- I couldn’t help it. You know once these things come into my head, they just bounce around in there until they fall out. I didn't mean it."

Steve smiled at you. "So that's what you were snickering at," he said, amused. Damn that enhanced super soldier hearing. Rogers didn't need to be so nosy with it.

You shrugged. "What can I say? Bad jokes are my superpower. Don't be jealous that all you got was super strength and a six pack, Rogers."

Bucky laughed again, then nudged Steve playfully with his elbow. "I like this one, Stevie," he said. "She's funny."

You weren't sure why, exactly, but something in Bucky's words turned your insides into a warm puddle of goo.

Oh, you were going to be in trouble, indeed.

Next Part ->

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colourstreakgryffin · 2 months

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Hi I’m the anon who submitted the ‘Hi! I hope you’re having a good day, I was wondering if you could do a platonic fanfic with parental Husk and Angel dust with a teen reader who tries to sneak out to prove their ‘adult’ enough to go out on their own. Maybe they get caught w a secret S/O 🤔’ ask and to answer your question I think a Huskerdust parental duo would be killer, thanks!

Hmmm… okaaay! That can work! This is my first Angel Dust writing as well! Let’s just pretend HuskerDust isn’t built on sexual harassment and that these two get married after a healthy relationship— just a little AU for a, could be, cute couple… if it’s handled better! Also, sorry… this is kinda short

Husk and Angel Dust- Growing Up

Before anything starts. Let’s establish how these two gay dads treat their adoptive teenage child!

Husk is a doting and caring but also strict and wise father. He gives off the most brutal but truthful advice and reality facts. He is a loving parent and won’t tolerate his child being mistreated or bullied so you can always turn to him when upset or in need for help, he is emotionally intelligent and protective after all

Angel, on the other hand, is the most affectionate and mindful father you’ll ever meet and have. He isn’t the one to deal out the punishments, he’s the fun one. Playing with his child, giving them unconditional love, support and encouragement but he is also quite protective. He will come running at the drop of a hat

Whilst both Husk and Angel encourage their kid to be independent and not rely so much on them, they aren’t a fan of letting you out on your own. You are still fifteen and therefore, completely vulnerable to this nightmarish hellfire realm called H E double hockey sticks

However, you’re determined to prove to both of your dads that you’re capable of defending yourself and be an adult so you’ve been recently sneaking out of your home and going around Pentagram City. On your own, no protective powerful Overlord father or protective infamous actor father

You’ve been doing it for weeks now. Going behind your dads’ back to prove to yourself, then to anybody, your complete and utter independence… but of course, all good things must end

And both of your dads had caught you escaping the house through the window and your beloved partner, a demon you fell in love with and begun dating in secret, just waiting in the backyard of your home whilst you climb out

Husk is very annoyed and ordering you to explain yourself, not at all happy with what you’ve done whilst Angel is dragging you off the windowsill and is resisting the urge to cry since his heart is broken

Your dads fend off your lover, not wanting to deal with them at this moment whilst they are trying to scold their child for doing this… and yes. This causes a big old fight with your parents. You just wanted to prove that you can handle yourself whilst your dads aren’t happy that you did something so reckless and harmful to yourself

Husk takes a bit longer to own up to his accident. Making you cry and angrily go to bed. You’re nearly a legal adult and they are shackling you… Angel can sense how you feel and immediately apologies for his lashout and tries to encourage his husband to do the same thing

When they do. They talk to you, accepting and encouraging, to try make a compromise inbetween you wanting to go outside at night to have fun with your lover, and talking to them and informing them about your location so you three will be happy

Husk lays down the must text them rule with this accommodation himself and his husband have made for you, their precious baby, that you must follow this at all causes whilst Angel is actually excited about you going to have fun on your own but begs you to inform either himself or his husband if anything bad happens to you

They just love you… please. Give them a break, they’ll try their best to let you do whatever you want on your own… as long as they know you’re okay

“Heartthrob. Do you have your present for your partner? Yes? That’s good. When you get to the party, text me or your father so we know you’re okay. That’s all we ask now. Here, let me finish rolling you up before you go”

“Fluffball! Fluffball! Fluffball! Aww! You look so precious! You’ll blow the competition off the dancefloor and you’ll make that partner of yours’ jaw drop! Make sure to shoot me or your dad a text when you’re there, ‘kay?“

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queenshelby · 20 days

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The Law Student (Rewritten)

Part Two: Tutoring

Pairing: Cillian Murphy (20) & Reader (30)

Note: This plays in 1996, just before Cillian drops out of law school.

Three days after you had agreed to tutor Cillian, you also began to tutor a young woman by the name of Siobhan. Siobhan was in her second year of the Law program; hence, you didn't have her for any of your lectures.

Siobhan was twenty-one and straight-forward, independent, and easy-going. In addition to her obvious academic prowess, she possessed a strong and assertive personality, something that could only be described as an asset in such a demanding field while, at other times, it would be rather frustrating.

Confidence was Siobhan’s middle name; you respected her for it, although you could tell that she struggled with her own insecurities and self-doubt at times, something that she masked through her feisty behavior and sharp wit.

"Are you okay Siobhan?" you asked half way through the session when you noticed the frown on her forehead and her restlessness while you were trying to explain the intricacies of a particularly challenging legal precedent.

Siobhan sighed deeply, almost defeatedly. "Sorry Miss Y/LN, I am just distracted," she admitted. "I have a lot going on at the moment. There is this guy who's really messing with my head. He is such an eejit," she confessed, raking her slender fingers through her mane of chestnut hair, evident as she glanced downwards, avoiding your gaze.

"Well, I am afraid I can't help you with that, but I can give you a little break if you like. Maybe getting some air will make you feel better?" you suggested, offering a gentle smile in her direction.

Siobhan looked up, meeting your gaze gratefully. "Thank you, Miss Y/LN. A little break sounds good," she confirmed and you both stood up, setting your books aside and allowing the fresh air to fill the room. You could see the relief in Siobhan's features as they relaxed into a more natural state of being while you started talking about less academic-related topics silently acknowledging the need for a distraction.

Siobhan was from a wealthy family with high expectations and you learned later in the day, after your tutoring session had already come to an end, that the young man who was causing her grief was no other Cillian, the student who had captured your undivided attention ever since the first day of classes.

You did not know what happened between them and you knew that, under no circumstances, could you get involved. Not only were you his professor, but you were also her tutor and as such you had to keep your distance both physically and emotionally.

As such, you made a mental note to keep a comfortable distance between Cillian and yourself, hoping that this would solve your ever growing attraction towards this much younger man.

**********

Thursday arrived faster than you expected. You had spent the last two days preparing your lesson plan for Cillian's tutoring session.

You wanted to make sure that the material you covered was relevant to his struggles in Contracts and Torts and, as you reviewed his previous exams and assignments, you noticed a pattern in his mistakes. He often misapplied legal principles to specific cases, highlighting his lack of confidence in his understanding of the subject matter.

Just as you had planned, you arrived at the small lecture room early as your heart was beating a little faster than usual. You had prepared extensively for this session, and you were eager to help Cillian work through his challenges.

The room felt strangely intimate with its small round table and four chairs placed in the center of it. You took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves. You were a seasoned lawyer who had tutored many law students before either at work or through a university project you were part of, but there was something about Cillian that made you feel a little more off balance than usual.

You heard a knock on the door, and Cillian walked in, a sheepish look on his face.

"Sorry, I'm a bit early," he said nervously, biting his lower lip as he walked in and you smiled at him, trying to hide your nerves.

"No problem at all, Cillian. Come on in, take a seat," you told him with a smile, and he sat down across from you, and you could feel your heart racing.

"So, we're going to focus on Contracts and Torts today. I see that you've been making some good progress, but there are a few areas where you could use some improvement," you observed and Cillian nodded, looking serious.

"I appreciate the help, Miss Y/LN," he told you before admitting that, perhaps, he had not spent enough time studying for these subjects in recent weeks.

"It's just so boring ," he said quietly, and you could not help but laugh at his honesty.

"Yes, it can be, especially when you don't fully understand the material," you agreed, recalling your own experiences as a student when you found certain legal concepts dry and tedious. But, you continued, "it's important to push through that and find ways to make the material interesting and applicable to real life situations. That way, you're less likely to forget it and more likely to excel in both the classroom and as a lawyer."

Cillian nodded, appearing to take in every word. "Yeah, I don't even know if I want to be a lawyer which might be part of my problem," he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. "I wanted to study theatre, but my father didn't think it was a practical option. He wanted me to have a stable career, and I kinda just went along with it because I didn't want to disappoint him."

You paused, taken aback by the vulnerability in his voice. "Well, Cillian, it's important to do what you love," you said gently. "And it's never too late to change paths.

If you are passionate about theater, then you should pursue it. Life is too short to spend it doing something you don't enjoy," you said, empathizing with the young man who sat across from you.

You has been in his shoes before, feeling the pressure to conform to others' expectations rather than following your true passions. You knew firsthand how it felt to sacrifice one's own happiness for the sake of others.

Cillian looked up at you, his deep blue eyes searching yours. "Yeah, I know. But, it's not that easy," he responded with a hint of frustration. "I need to figure things out. I need to know what I want to do with my life. But, that's really not your problem," Cillian said, attempting to diffuse the sudden heaviness in the room with a weak smile as you sat there, watching his actions intently.

You returned the smile, albeit a little more sympathetically. "I understand, Cillian. Trust me, I do. Just know that I'm here to help you figure things out, whether it's with contracts, torts, or just finding your path," you offered, hoping to reassure him while, almost inadvertently, placing your hand on top of his in a comforting manner.

Cillian's eyes widened at the contact, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he looked at you with a mixture of confusion and gratitude. The tension between you was palpable, and you both knew that something had shifted in the room, which is when you quickly removed your hand , returning it to your lap.

"Uhm, so how about we start with Torts ?" you suggested, hoping that diving into the lesson would help to dispel the tension.

Cillian nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, sure. That sounds good," he replied, fidgeting slightly in his chair.

Over the next hour, you worked through a series of Torts in painstaking detail, hoping to help Cillian understand the subject matter more fully. He took notes diligently and asked insightful questions that revealed a deeper level of understanding than you had initially anticipated.

Cillian's curiosity about the subject matter was infectious and you leaned in to look over his shoulder as he wrote down some notes .

Your proximity to him sent a flutter of butterflies through his stomach and he seemed to tense up slightly under your gaze.

Inhaling your scent , a blend of vanilla and jasmine, did not help his composure in the slightest, and for a moment, a faint blush surfaced on his cheeks which was a blush that grew even heavier when you leaned in and pointed to two of the sentences he had written down.

"These two points are crucial. Without proving both of these doctrines you cannot possibly establish a case of negligence," you stated as you traced the lines with your finger while accidentally brushing against his hand, sending sparks flying between you.

Cillian swallowed hard, nodding his understanding. "That makes sense," he said, his voice barely above a whisper and, by this point, the intensity in his gaze was enough to make your heart race.

"Your hair smells really nice by the way," Cillian then added suddenly as your curls had been so close to his face and you blinked in surprise, your face heating up at the unexpected compliment.

You didn't know how to respond , that simple gesture had caught you off guard, and you took a moment to recover before replying with a soft, "thanks" before stepping back to create some distance between the two of you.

You wondered if Cillian could sense the tension in the room, tension that went beyond mere physical attraction and veered into uncharted territory.

Taking a deep breath, you decided that the most professional thing to do would be to focus on his education, putting your own feelings to the side.

"So, shall we continue?" you asked, although your voice trembled slightly and Cillian nodded, his own breathing uneven.

"Yes, sure," he replied, his eyes never leaving yours and, for a moment, the world outside that little lecture room seemed to fade away.

You cleared your throat, trying to refocus your attention on the task at hand. "Okay, so let's go over this next case together," you said, picking up a folder and handing it to him.

Cillian took the folder and opened it, his eyes scanning the pages as you began to explain the details of the case.

You noticed, however, that his gaze constantly drifted towards you, and a flush of warmth crept up your neck as the weight of his stare settled on you and it was almost like he did not even bother to hide his attraction. Every now and then, you would catch him glancing at you from the corner of his eye, the smallest of smiles playing at the corners of his lips. You cleared your throat and shifted uncomfortably in your seat, trying to focus on your lesson instead of the young man sitting across from you.

Eventually, time passed and you managed to finish the session without any more awkward moments, though not without a bit of difficulty. You couldn't help but feel a constant tension between the two of you, as if you were both dancing on a knife's edge.

Cillian packed up his things, managing a smile as he did so. "Well, uhm, thank you, Miss Y/LN," he said. "This was really helpful," he admitted before pausing for a moment, his eyes searching yours.

You smiled at him, trying to make light of the situation. "You did all the work, Cillian. I'm just here to guide you," you told him truthfully, proud of the progress that he had made.

Cillian grinned, a hint of playfulness in his eyes as he stood up, ready to leave.

"Well, you did a fantastic job of guiding me then," he replied as he slung his backpack over his shoulder but, just as Cillian walked towards the door, he hesitated, turning back to face you. "And I was wondering whether, maybe, you would like to grab a drink with me?" Cillian asked, his eyes sparkling with an unexpected boldness that was both endearing and intriguing.

Your breath caught in your throat as the request took you by surprise. "What? Now?" you stammered, your mind racing as you tried to think of a polite way to decline.

Cillian shook his head, his cheeks coloring underneath your surprise. "No, not now, of course. I just thought maybe, on the weekend or whenever you are free?" he said, his voice softer than before, as if he were afraid of scaring you off. His proposal caught you off guard, sending a surge of conflicting emotions through you. You hesitated, unsure of what to say and how to say it.

" I uh, I appreciate the offer, Cillian," you stammered, trying to regain your composure. "But, I think that this would be highly unprofessional of me." You knew that giving into your temptations would only lead to trouble. Not only was there a significant age gap between the two of you, but you were also his professor. Such a relationship could only result in disaster.

Cillian looked disappointed, but he nodded, understanding. "I understand, Miss Y/LN. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," he said, and you could hear the hurt in his voice but, before you could respond, he quickly turned and left the room, and you were left alone, feeling even more conflicted than before.

Tags:

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

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

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

#cillian murphy imagine #cillian murphy x you #cillian murphy x y/n #cillian murphy x reader #cillian murphy smut #cillian murphy

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theggning · 1 year

Text

One thing I think the game and fandom gloss over a bit is the fact that Godot has a very understandable reason for his grudge against Phoenix. By and large, both canon and fandom focus on Godot's anger at Phoenix as a projection of his own guilt and grief at Mia's death (and fandom likes to willfully misconstrue this as sexism, a take I'm sick to death of.) But it is also pointed out that Phoenix was very much an accessory to Diego's poisoning.

I mean, not willingly, of course. Phoenix is another unwitting victim of Dahlia's manipulations, and he clearly has no idea he's being used to hide the necklace that would implicate her in a crime. He would never be found legally culpable of Diego's attempted murder. But I feel like it is completely natural and understandable for Godot to be angry about it, learning after the fact that his blatantly obvious "murder" was an unsolvable mystery for nearly a year because some dingus walked off with the evidence. How could anyone have fallen for Dahlia's act like that? How could he have been so stupid and gullible? And now that idiot has "inherited" Mia's legacy? Of course Godot's pissed off about it. I would ALSO be pissed off if someone I perceived as culpable in an awful, life-ruining crime against me were enjoying what I perceived as unearned success tangentially on the back of my suffering!

There are also, no doubt, plenty of desperate "what ifs" in his mind, what could have happened if the necklace didn't go missing. What if having a sample of the poison could have helped the doctors save him? What if there was a way to reverse it, or mitigate the damage to his body? What if he could have woken up sooner than he did? What if he could have been there and saved her?

Is Diego's poisoning in any way Phoenix's fault? Of course not. Would having the evidence in hand have saved Diego, or changed any of the horrible toll the poison took on his body? Who knows? Is any of this rational? No, but human feelings rarely are, and Diego falls into a particularly awful place mentally and emotionally when he awakens. With his life ruined, his body a wreck, and his love gone forever, he feels nothing but hatred for the oblivious idiot who fell for Dahlia Hawthorne's act. The man who let his guard down and let her manipulate him. The man arrogant enough to call himself a "defense lawyer" who wasn't there when Mia Fey was brutally murdered. And what if he could have saved her, if only he was?

And also he's mad at Phoenix. But only incidentally for the more concrete fact that he unintentionally "helped" Dahlia poison Diego. I think this is partially why so many people accuse Godot of holding a grudge "for no reason." The narrative gives much greater weight to the self-hatred/projection aspect of Godot's anger, and that's a lot more nebulous and hard to nail down than a straightforward "I hate you because you did X."

Phoenix didn't really "do" anything. Neither Diego's poisoning nor Mia's death were in any way his fault. But crucially, that's one other thing glossed over too easily: it wasn't Diego's fault either. Though T&T leaves off with Diego once again heaping the blame on his own shoulders, I desperately hope that in the aftermath, Phoenix or Mia or a licensed therapist get to sit him down and help him realize this.

Diego doesn't need to forgive Phoenix. He needs to forgive himself.

#ace attorney #trials and tribulations spoilers #aa3 spoilers #ace attorney meta #godot #diego armando #well this started as a rant on one idea and turned into another #but hey i haven't pepe silvia'd about sad funny coffee man in a while so here u go #i think it's extremely notable that neither maya nor phoenix nor mia are angry at godot #maya especially #the compassion of this cast is one of my favorite things about it #and i believe the narrative's position on said compassion is very clear and obvious

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lily-orchard · 18 days

Note

Chuds keep saying that you “need to answer Courtney’s claims” that “your silence is only hurting you” and it only brings the sole realization that none of those idiots seem to get. Isn’t it fucking wrong to be in the business of two siblings who had a rough upbringing that literally NONE OF US have the right to know about nor indulge in its details? Like i get that it’s because of this extremely hatred for you, but these people don’t have the fucking moment to step back and simply ask the question “wait, why is this our business”

I know you’re pursuing your own legal response that basically tells Courtney to put up or shut up, but goddamn you shouldn’t have to deal with all of this.

It's worth mentioning that none of that is helped by Courtney playing "Uno Reverse" with our entire lives. Courtney explicitly made it everyone's business through an act of vindictive spite and dishonesty.

And people have been obsessed with gossip for years. Nosy assholes have long been the favoured weapons of abusers. Gossiping in the cafeteria/office water cooler is old as dirt, and only made worse by the mouthbreathing social rejects who actually use Twitter (which if you're feeling grim about the state of humanity is about 5.9% of the global population, compared to the 30% that uses Youtube, lol).

Couple that with the fact that most of the people who believe Courtney's bullshit only do so because they already don't like me, and the unfortunate truth about internet harassment is that your willingness to believe accusations is directly tied to your personal feelings on the target in question and not the merits of the allegations. And this also includes you, the person reading this.

Everyone loves to believe they're personally above this shit until the target is the e-celeb they don't like. A lot of the people who were gung ho about Courtney eventually realized that she's a delusional nutcase when she started accusing them of sexually assaulting her as well, but their hatred of me is too strong to make them go "Wait a minute..."

A lot of them have invested so much of themselves into their hatred of me, rethinking it would be too emotionally devastating. So they double down and go "They're both bad" rather than clue in to who Courtney was doing this shit with first.

Courtney likes to blackmail and threaten people, we've seen her do that in real time. And I was the first person she did that to. She did it the same way, taking advantage of the fact that there was someone in the house who would believe literally anything bad said about me to disastrous effect. That creature had me on a fucking leash with that kind of threat for two years.

But the fact that she mirrors these tactics with people, crying "SA" the moment someone has the audacity to cross her increasingly fragile ego and temper doesn't make a lot of her newest victims go "Wait hang on" because I'm still "That evil bitch who is dumb and annoying."

This is their soap opera. This is how nosy Twitter Tardigrades have fun. Mikaila showed me a screenshot of one person calling the accusations Courtney has made about me "Banger content" (I'll ask her for it when she wakes up). That's all this is to them.

It's why they want my side of the story in the first place. They don't actually care, they're just hoping it has some shocking twist. My silence isn't hurting me, it's boring them.

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whumpty-dumpty-doo · 28 days

Text

“We Are TroubleD” Masterpost

Welcome to the "We Are TroubleD" masterpost! Here you will find a list of things related to my OC whump fic "We Are TroubleD"! If any links aren’t working, please let me know!

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Story Overview:

Two college boys have their peaceful lives ripped apart when a ransom-seeking stranger abducts D, the son of wealthy parents. The kidnapper gets more than he bargained for when T, D’s roommate is home during the invasion. In captivity the friends must lean on each other to survive their harrowing situation and find a way out of their shared hell.

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Rating:

18+ - contains mature themes

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Series content warnings, Chapters, FAQ and more below the cut!

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Content warnings:

Please note that each chapter/entry will have its own individual content warnings listed at the top of its page. Not all of these elements will appear in every chapter (especially the more intense and mature things, those will come much later in the story and will have clear warnings, so you should be safe for a while if you want to avoid that stuff!)

Overall warnings for this story’s content include (but aren’t limited to):

abuse (physical, emotional, and mental), blood, bondage, cages, captivity, crying, distress, drugging, dub-con, emotional whump, fear, forced participation (in sexual and non-sexual acts), gaslighting, hunger/starvation, hurtful language, injuries, insults, kidnapping, manhandling, non-con (both sexual and non-sexual), pet whump, physical violence, shocking, sickness, stress positions, swearing, things that are neither safe nor sane, thirst, threats, restraints

This list will be updated as things come up or need to be removed.

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Character Profiles:

Coming Soon!

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Canon story:

Coming soon!

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Misc. entries and one-shots (some might be worked into the canon story later):

Listed in chronological order, even if they were posted out of order due to an event/whump prompt.

The Capture (D's POV) – D comes home to an unwelcome surprise after a night out on the town – Day 1 of WoW's Birthday Whump Event!

It's Never Enough – D and T are in need of sustenance, but their captor likes to play sick games – Day 2 of WoW's Birthday Whump Event! --- 3 part mini story ---

Cut Me Loose – Part 1 of 3 - A crazy stroke of luck allows the boys a chance to escape if only they can cut through their bonds. – Day 3 of WoW's Birthday Whump Event!

A Shocking Offence – Part 2 of 3 - T must find help if he hopes to save both D and himself. – Day 4 of WoW's Birthday Whump Event!

Feeling Bushed – Part 3 of 3 - With their captor so close, T must be very careful to avoid being spotted. – Day 5 of WoW's Birthday Whump Event! BONUS CHAPTER!

Feeling Bushed - Trailing Behind - You never know who's watching...

A Breathtaking View - D is desperate to buy T more time to find help - Day 14 of WoW's Birthday Whump Event!

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak no Evil - D's captor returns from searching for the escaped T, and D is left wondering just what happened to his friend. - Day 8 of WoW's Birthday Whumpe Event!

White Out - D slowly loses himself mentally, physically, and emotionally. - Day 6 of WoW's Birthday Whump Event!

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Alternate Universes (AUs):

Coming soon!

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Art:

Coming soon!

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FAQ:

Are “T”, “D”, and “Their Captor” really these character’s names? For now, yes, but probably not forever! They are stand-in placeholder names until I can think of proper names for these guys. I wanted to get the entries that I wrote for WoW's Birthday Whump Event! posted in time, so they don’t have names yet. Can’t rush those things, yanno? Hopefully when I’m ready to post the actual canon story they’ll all have real names!

How old are the characters in your main story? D and T are college age, though Iʻm not sure what specific ages yet. Theyʻre both beyond legal drinking age, and D is slightly older than T. Thatʻs all I know for now, as Iʻm still writing the main canon story. They might be older or younger in side fics/AUs. If so, Iʻll state it in the post of the story entry itself.

Why is the “D” capitalized in “We Are TroubleD”? Because right now the characters stand-in names are “T” and “D”, so “T”rouble"D”! “We” are T and D, and they are in trouble because they are whump characters.

How often will you update the canon story? Hopefully frequently once I get it off the ground, but you can never really predict that. Iʻm going to try to have as much as I can done of the whole story before I start posting in earnest, so hopefully once it starts going you wonʻt have to wait long!

Can I draw/write about your characters? Sure! Though it might be a bit challenging without references or profiles for them yet. Fingers crossed Iʻll have those made for the future! The one thing I ask is that if you create anything with my characters, please link back to me and donʻt claim them as your own. Thanks!

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cinematicnomad · 5 months

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i'm 32. i've never had an abortion. i grew up moving around the world. at all points of my life, i have always, always, considered in the back of my mind what i would do if i needed one. college in particular stressed me out—from 2009–2013, i lived in a rural small town that didn't have an abortion provider, just one of those malicious "crisis pregnancy centers" that PRETEND to provide options but really guilt and shame and lie to people with uteruses to deny them care.

so i always made sure to know where the closest abortion provider was. my friends and i talked about this, shared our individual plans with each other. at the time, it was a good 2 hour drive away, and i didn't have a license, let alone a car. but i did have older siblings and friends that i knew i could rely on. people i could turn to if i really needed help. my fears at the time mostly surrounded potentially having to reveal any personal details about my private life to them—i have a hard time asking for help, and tend not to share my thoughts or emotions with others, especially family (case in point, i almost posted this on twitter but then DIDN'T bc my sister and brother follow me). i'm in therapy, i'm working on it!!—but i never worried about being able to access abortion care.

i've never had an abortion, but i did have a miscarriage. i was 18 and i didn't even realize i was pregnant. my miscarriage was, thankfully, early and painless and i didn't know what it was until my period came for real and i spoke with my OBGYN about what happened.

i think about that 18 year old version of me all the time. i had just finished my freshman year of college. i had ended things with the guy bc i was hoping to (and would shortly) get back together with my other ex. i was more concerned with watching the latest true blood episode and meeting up with my friends still in high school at their after-prom, than with worrying about whether or not the guy at college had knocked me up.

abortion in austria (where i was at the time) has been fully legalized since 1975. if i had not had a miscarriage, i would have had options. if i had not realized until later in that summer, once we were back in the states, i would have had to have an incredibly uncomfortable and upsetting conversation with my conservative parents. but even then, i know, i would have had options. miscarriage for many people is a traumatic event. a painful loss, both emotionally and physically. for me, it was a blessing. but even if it hadn't have happened, i know i would have an abortion.

reading the latest NYT article (free link!!) about the dobbs decision fucking kills me. i keep having to stop. i keep welling up with tears. these 5 justices calculatingly (and at least some of of them, i believe, maliciously) stripped the country of roe v. wade. they turned back the clock and denied millions of people access to safe abortion, to their right to choose, to their bodily autonomy. just because i never had an abortion does not mean that this loss is felt any less keenly.

i find, time and time again, that i do not understand how some people go through this world and their life seemingly looking for ways to harm others. seeking to strip them of their rights. to deny them their humanity. i cannot comprehend how they seem to take glee in punishing people they view as other for the v basic fact that they exist.

this is long and i don't even know what point i'm making except for: i am so grateful for the fact that when i was 18, i had options, and i am so very, very, very fucking sad for the fact that there are 18 year olds today (and 20 year olds, and 28 year olds, and 15 year olds, and 36 year olds, and WHATEVER) who are being denied their right to choose. it's not fair. it isn't right. i want, so desperately, to change this.

and now the plea: please vote. please care. please advocate and donate and protest and be loud and be heard and demand better rights for yourself and others. please consider the courts when you cast your ballot: not just the supreme court, but the lower courts as well. if you don't, there will only be more decisions like this, the consequences of which will continue to ripple out for years on end causing harm to untold numbers of people.

#this is long #and random #i don't know #this article has made me so upset i'm sorry #abortion #politics #kat liveblogs her life

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adventuresinobx · 2 years

Text

The Advocate - Chapter 1

AU Rafe Cameron x fem!reader

Summary: Rafe Cameron looks like he has it all. He’s 32, has a great job as a lawyer and what seemed like the perfect marriage. Only it wasn’t behind closed doors and now he’s in the middle of a divorce, forced to return to his hometown in the Outer Banks. Back where it all began, with all the bad memories, can one resident help him get his life back together or will he slip into old habits?

A/N: Sooo here it is! Chapter one of a new AU Rafe fic! @starkeyobx and I have been throwing ideas around for this and I think we both love how it came out. 💕

Warnings: Very light hints of controlling (not Rafe being controlled / doing the controlling), Rafe struggling a little emotionally.

It had been years since Rafe Cameron had made it back to the Outer Banks. His family still lived here - and a few of his old friends - but life had just got in the way. Firstly there was his job, then he met the woman of his dreams, and well, he just never seemed to be able to make it back to North Carolina. His life moved on, and he wondered whether the others had got out of here too.

He turned the corner sharply, his flashy 2022 plate Tesla screeching as he made his way through The Cut and into Figure Eight. This had been his stomping ground for years, but returning to this town, he felt more out of place than ever. He was 19 when he walked out of here to study law and he never looked back, and whilst everything looked the same, it looked different too.

When he walked out at 19, he had needed the new start. His older teenage years had been plagued by his drug addiction, him desperate to hurt himself after causing so much pain to his first love. He broke her heart and so he felt something had to give too, and his addiction was a way for him to cope with what he had done. He couldn’t save her from the pain so he decided to cause his own.

He had been clean for 12 years, nine months and 16 days now. Something he always reminded himself of in bad times. He just hoped being back in his hometown wouldn’t skew his hard fought progress.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone going off; it was his assistant from the New York office of his legal firm, where he had his base for years, but now he was being forced to move back to the Outer Banks, no longer able to support his own luxury lifestyle in New York and that of his soon to be ex-wife’s too.

“Yep, hi,” he said rather sharply, as he answered the phone and quickly swerved to avoid hitting a chicken that had escaped from one of the Pogues’ gardens nearby, “Talk to me.” There was a moment of silence before he heard a voice the other end of the phone.

“Uh hello Mr Cameron. Lovely to finally speak to you,” the voice came through the phone. She was obviously new and trying to impress. “It’s Maria here, from the office in New York. It’s about your case, do you have time to talk? I’m just finalising your paperwork for the Williams and Garcia case. It’s all come through from the court now.”

“Yep go on, please,” he said, listening as she double checked a few details with him. He pulled up at some traffic lights, tapping his fingers against the wheel as he waited for them to change from red to green, surveying the crossroads in front of him. It was then he spotted someone he knew very well.

“Maria is that all you need from me today?” he asked, desperate to wrap up the phone call, as she told him it was. “That’s great, thank you love, thanks for doing that. Call me if you need anything else from me. Bye, bye.”

The lights went green and Rafe swerved across the other lane to pull up next to the sidewalk.

“Top, hey Topper,” he shouted, jumping out the car and heading over to his friend he hadn’t seen in years.

“Rafe?” he said, surprised to see him back in Figure Eight after so long. “Hey buddy, how have you been?” His daughter stood there close by, waiting to be introduced and Rafe immediately made a fuss of the little one, kneeling down to her level to say hello.

“And who’s this? Hi princess,” he said, smiling at the shy little girl who was holding her daddy’s hand and swinging the edge of her dress nervously.

“Eden, this is your uncle Rafe,” he said, introducing his little girl to his best friend. Him and Topper had spoke a few times over the years, but they had fallen out of contact for the last couple. It wasn’t like anything had changed in their friendship though, it was like jumping back into old habits and old times straight away. Life has just got in the way, as it always seemed to do.

“Hi sweetheart, how are you today?” he asked the little girl, her looking back at her dad unsure whether she should approach the stranger.

“Go on, it’s ok,” Topper said, lightly tapping his daughter’s shoulder and she took that as a sign it was all ok and made a few steps towards him.

“Hey princess, so nice to finally meet you. I only saw you on FaceTime a few times when you were a little baby, and now you’re so grown,” he said in a cute singsong voice. “How old are you now?”

“Three,” she said, beaming at him, “And did you know I have a little brother on the way? Then I will be a big sister and I get to boss him around.” Rafe looked up at Topper, shocked at her words; he had no idea him and Amelia were expecting another baby.

“Top, another one?” he said excitedly, standing up to give his friend a congratulatory hug. Seeing her dad hug Rafe must have made Eden more comfortable too and she moved closer to hug Rafe’s leg.

“Oh Eden come here,” he said, pulling away from Topper and lifting the little girl up and sitting her on his hip, “How about a group hug eh?” The little girl nodded excitedly and stretched her arms out and around Rafe’s neck, holding onto him tightly like her life depended on it.

“What brings you back to the Outer Banks then?” Topper asked, rubbing his daughter’s back reassuringly as he clung onto Rafe, excited to be seeing the world from a different perspective now she was in the arms of someone who was 6 foot 4 in height.

“Life,” Rafe said and Topper instantly realised it wasn’t the best thing for him that he was back. “I’ll fill you in some other time, but me and Grace have, you know, consciously uncoupled. Is that what they call it now?” There was almost a hint of laughter in his voice, probably masking the pain that he felt that his relationship hadn’t worked out now they had both hoped.

“Oh I’m sorry man,” Topper said, taking Eden off him and resting her on his hip. She grimaced at the sudden change in height; she was about eight inches lower down in the world now. Topper patted his friend’s shoulder in a reassuring way. “But it’s nice to have you back here. Maybe we should grab a beer sometime?”

Even after all this time, it was like they were back to the old times. Just older now with kids (well on Topper’s part) and life behind them.

“A beer sounds great Top, still on the same number?” Rafe asked and Topper nodded in response.

“Same house too, my parents have moved out to be closer to my Aunty, so yeah, we have the family home now,” he said, “You should come over sometime; come and see Amelia and bump. We could go take a boat on the river, for old times’ sake.”

“Sounds awesome, I’ve gotta go, but give Millie my love,” he said, before putting his arms out and bagsying one last cuddle with Eden. “I’ll see you soon princess,” he said, his voice going back into that singsong variety as she excitedly hugged him goodbye.

“Bye Uncle Rafey,” she shouted back, waving excitedly, after he handed her back over to Topper. Rafe smiled to himself as he walked back to his car; maybe being home wasn’t going to be too bad after all.

He was two streets away from the family home of Tannyhill when he saw Y/N for the first time. She was almost ethereal; like an angel sent from above. Nothing like the women he had encountered in New York.

Her summer dress hugged her perfectly, it floating along with her which made her seem like she was walking on clouds. He admired how beautiful she was, even from afar. It had been a long time since he felt that way about any woman; the last time was when he had met Grace.

She was beautiful. A goddess was the wrong way to describe her but it’s the only word he could manage to think of. There was something about her that drew him to her and even though she was physically long gone now, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. As he turned into the drive of his family’s home, he shook his thoughts of his mystery woman and tried to focus on the here and now.

Rose and Ward were there to greet him when he drove up to the front doors of the house. Smiles on their face as they waved at him and Rose excitedly rushed to hug him. He was ready for that line - the one everyone said now that he and Grace had split. As he stepped out the car, he prepared himself for it - and it came almost instantly.

“How you holding up son?” Ward asked, hugging him reassuringly. And then came Rose with the other line he had heard so many times over the past month.

“It gets better Rafe, I promise,” she said.

He was so tired of those two phrases, but he managed to brush them off, instead turning the conversation over to the two of them and how they were doing. He asked about Sarah, who had moved to South Carolina with her boyfriend, and Wheezie, who was at college now, as he settled back into his life in the Outer Banks.

They all sat down in the kitchen, catching up about life - but Rafe tried not to mention too much about the divorce. Frankly, it was all a bit raw - and anyway his mind was on that woman he had seen. He couldn’t get her out of his head. He felt almost drawn to her.

“I know you said not to make a fuss, but you’re our only son, and it’s a privilege having you at home,” Ward began over the table as they all sipped fruity tea from perfect china tea cups, “So we’re organised a little welcome home party tonight. Some of the neighbours are coming and then there’s your friends. You know Topper, Kelce, um.” He paused. “Yeah it’ll be good.”

“Oh I saw Top today, in town, he didn’t mention it,” he mused as Ward had explained it was meant to be a surprise, but “you’re not 16 years old anymore son”.

“Dad, that’s kind of you, but I don’t need a happy divorce party,” Rafe added, confused on why everyone had to make a big deal of his split, tell him it was all going to be ok, the usual. If there’s one thing Rafe hated, it was a pity party. He dealt with divorces every day of his life. This, apart from being his, was no different at all.

Rafe was sat upstairs in his old bedroom, it still exactly the same as the day he left. He wondered how it ever went so wrong; how he ended up going from being such a successful lawyer to now living back with his parents with a failed marriage under his belt.

19-year old Rafe would have been happy he made it through the last few years, but 32-year-old Rafe was just disappointed this is how it all ended. He had dreamt of a great job, falling in love, marrying the girl of his dreams, buying a dream house with her, maybe even starting a family one day. That wasn’t to be, for now at least.

But if there’s one thing Rafe Cameron was good at, it was fronting. He was great at that and as his dad called him downstairs for the party, that’s exactly what he planned to do. Front like his life depended on it.

“Coming,” he shouted back, feeling like he was 16 again as he responded to his dad’s call. He paused for a second, stopping to fix his shirt in the mirror, smoothing it down. He didn’t have his life together, but he wanted it to seem like he had. Desperately wanted it all to look ok, even if it wasn’t. It would be. It would be.

Downstairs, he did exactly as he planned. Said hello to the Smiths - some of the elderly neighbours - listened as they told him he would “get her back soon”. He stayed quiet, his hand balling into his fist beside him as he tried to brush off all the anger he felt. Inside he was fuming, externally he looked like the most relaxed man on the planet. Fronting, that’s what he had planned to do.

He managed to excuse himself after a few minutes, heading towards the house for a brief moment of calm before everyone started arriving. His mind was in overdrive already, and it was made worse when he saw a big sign hung by the back doors, which read “Welcome home son”. Like cmon, why did this have to be such a big thing? It was normal, happened to everyone. He saw it happen in front of his eyes every single -

“Oh shit, I’m so sor-,” he said, taking a step back, shaking his head in confusion, before looking up at the person he had just collided into. It was her.

He recognised her almost instantly. The girl on the sidewalk. The aura surrounding her was even more powerful now she was up close, smoothing her dress as he finally realised he had almost spilt his drink on her. He couldn’t speak, words failing him as he tried to mutter out another sorry, apologise for being so clumsy.

Say something, Rafe. Say anything. Speak.

“Did I hurt you?”

Ok don’t say that, that doesn’t even make sense.

“No you’re fine, you must be Rafe. Ward’s told us a lot about you. I’m sorry to hear about what happened.” This was not the first impression he wanted to leave.

“Hi nice to meet you,” he said, putting out his hand to shake hers, “I’m Rafe - Rafe Cameron - but uh you know that already so that’s uh pointless for me to say.” He paused, thinking what was best to say next. “Your name, um, yeah, so what’s your name?”

“Y/N,” she replied, taking his hand in his. She shook it, her grip strong but not too iron fisted. The moment their hands met, he felt like sparks were flying off each of his fingers. She must have felt it too, he thought, as she almost went to step back for a moment but her hand clung onto his for dear life. “It’s really nice to meet you Rafe. I’ve heard so much about you,” she repeated.

“And not all bad, if that face of yours is anything to go by. You can smile,” she joked, making him suddenly realise he must have looked so miserable. A smile quickly appeared on his face, him desperate not to appear so - moody - that was not the impression he wanted to give her. It wasn’t the impression he wanted to give anyone, but especially her.

It sounded crazy to him, to even admit to himself, but it felt like her soul was speaking to him. Her warm smile, the way she was looking at him and that softness behind her eyes. He hadn’t seen that in someone for a long time. He didn’t know how to explain his feelings but they were all bubbling up; every single emotion coursing through his veins. He felt sad that his divorce was being made into some big spectacle, but without it, he could have never laid eyes on this beautiful woman now in front of him. Ethereal, it was the best way to describe her.

“So I guess you’re sick and tired about talking about your divorce eh, so tell me about you,” she began, a smile forming on his face at her words, “And I mean you as you. Not as one half of someone else.”

Rafe tried his best to hold in a big grin. No one ever asked about him. Since their engagement, it was always about him and Grace and when they’d be getting married (“October 3 2020”) or when they’d have kids (“soon when the time is right”). But no one ever asked about him, his dreams and hopes and ambitions.

“Um where do I start?” he said, a light chuckle filling the room. He began to tell her about his childhood, growing up in the Outer Banks, his friends, family. He couldn’t stop; it was like word vomit. She stood there for what felt like hours - probably only a few minutes - her eyes scanning over his, a grin spreading on her face which broke out into a laugh as he recalled the time he fell off his motorbike and scraped his leg really badly.

“Didn’t hurt your pretty face though did it,” she chimed in, her eyes instantly locking with his. The heat rose to his cheeks at her words; him keeping that solid gaze on her. The tension in the room rife.

Suddenly, as if he’d returned back to earth, he laughed off his embarrassment, covering his overeager grin with an awkward cough. He was just about to speak when the sound of a kid shouting interrupted them.

“Mommy, mommy, need you,” the little boy screamed as he ran into the kitchen where the two of them had been talking. Rafe awkwardly stepped back from her on hearing another voice as he realised what was going on; it was her son. She had kids.

“Hey baby, how are you?” she said, instantly bending down to her son’s level.

“Hi mommy, who’s this?” the little boy said, spinning around to look at Rafe, who immediately crouched down too, knowing his 6’4 frame could be intimidating for someone so small. Still, he had to look up to look at Rafe.

“Hi buddy, I’m Rafe. What’s your name?”

The little one suddenly went shy, mumbling something incoherent and covering his face in his mum’s chest.

“This is my son, Oliver,” she said with a smile as she looked at Rafe, him smiling back at the kid. He was obviously shy but Rafe had a way of getting him out of his shell as he spotted a clue on his t-shirt.

“Hey do you like the Knicks?” Rafe said, glancing down to the shirt. The little boy nodded, looking back at his mum and fidgeting with his hands, obviously nervous. “They’re my favourite too.”

“Who’s your favourite player?”

That was all he needed to say and suddenly Oliver settled in completely, he loved talking about the Knicks. He was obsessed with basketball and told Rafe how he had always dreamed of going to a game one day. The two got caught up in an animated discussion - players, the game and all of that as Rafe told him what it was like being at a match. He promised to take him one day.

Rafe’s eyes kept flicking back to Y/N, his gaze constantly switching. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. She was so beautiful, so captivating. And it was the way she looked at her son too, her eyes lighting up the more animated he got. She loved seeing him so comfortable with a stranger; maybe it was Rafe’s energy that helped him settle quickly. Either way she was grateful for it.

“Oh my gosh mommy, guess what? Rafe said he’d take me to a game. Mommy, mommy,” Oliver said, so excited by the idea of it. He could barely contain himself.

“That’s very kind of Rafe,” she said, her eyes flicking from her son to Rafe’s as she smiled at him sweetly, his heart beating extra hard after meeting her gaze. “What do you say to Rafe?”

“You’re the best oh my gosh, I love you,” the kid said, running back over to Rafe, who chuckled as he was nearly knocked down in the process. He immediately opened his arms, wrapping them around Oliver and picking him up. He sat him on his hip, the little one still clutching onto his neck for dear life, so excited by what Rafe had proposed as they continued to talk about it.

Y/N watched on silently, smiling to herself at their interaction, completely captivated by how good Rafe was with Ollie. As they chatted, the little boy moved his hands and started to play with Rafe’s chain which hung around his neck. Rafe didn’t seem to notice, but she did.

“Don’t do that please sweetheart,” she told him as he looked over, smiling guiltily.

“Oh no it’s ok, I don’t mind,” Rafe jumped in, the boy settling back in his arms and continuing to play with the chain on his neck, his tiny fingers running over the gold metal. “It’s fine with me.” He gave the boy a reassuring smile, rubbing his back to settle his nerves.

“What’s going on here then?” a softly spoken but firm voice came from the other side of the room.

Rafe immediately clammed up, noticing how Y/N had stepped towards him and made a grab for her son.

“Oh sweetheart this is Rafe, Ward’s son,” she said.

Sweetheart. But that must mean -

“Rafe, this is Alex, my husband.”

A/N: Ahh so that’s it for chapter one! Let me know what you think and if you’d like a second chapter 🤞🤞

tagging all my taglist and some people i think *might* want to read it and other people i’m inspired to write AU rafe by but pls feel free to ignore if you’re not keen 💕 i won’t be offended 💓

main taglist (pls let me know if you want to be added 🥰)

@starkeyobx @lovelyhedgehog44 @gryffindorpouge11 @jjmaybankmakesmecry @pankowforlife @bayy2452 @proactivetypeofgirl @hoebx @fangirlfree @severa-kane @lovedetlost @slutforsmutsstuff @drewbooooo @raiinyhood @samxslaughter @valeriiecameron @burgstead @mayceelou @my-baexht-ls @i-always-come-back-xoxo @0fucsgivenon @heesbestlover @babeyglo @infatuatedjanes @ailee-celeste @malums-trash-can

@wannabestarkeysgirl @storytellingwitht @mackenzielovee @strokesofstokes

#the advocate #rafe cameron #rafe cameron au #rafe cameron fanfic #rafe cameron fanfiction #rafe cameron fic #rafe cameron imagine #rafe cameron fluff #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron x y/n #rafe cameron x you #obx #outer banks fanfiction #outer banks fic #rafe outer banks #rafe x reader #obx fic #obx fanfic

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after-nine-at-the-oasis · 2 months

Text

I watched the The Rookie Season 6 premiere!!

I started it last night and finished it this morning and just OAUGH it was so good :D

I expected them to not figure it out for a while but I low-key love the way they did it. Because it shows that they (the characters) aren't dumb and gives some action but still keeps a huge mystery to it. Theory wise, I keep thinking of the Dream (nightmare) Team (Elijah and Oscar) but it's been like a half season so I don't think it's time to bring them back yet. Idk tho, we'll see what happens!

Also Lucy is going through it xD like genuinely she is and :(( but everyone (even Wesley xD) knowing about the clown thing was just HILARIOUS lol

Also after Tim said "maybe she just had a fight with her girlfriend" I was like "oh cool we're casually using a gay example- he's talking about him" soo as I said at the time, diversity win! The random person you're projecting your problems onto is a lesbian through you <3.

Anyway xD lowkey, I get both their sides, but I'm lowkey on Tim's lol. I do get being stressed out and just wanting support though, totally, I just think Lucy's going to realize she needs to talk it out with him

Also I'm glad for their development! I'm also kind of glad Tim's not the "instigator" (there's not really one but yk) of the fight since he's been the "mean one" a lot lol. Anyway I hope my babeys work it out (soon - I figure they will eventually) :((

Also this makes it seem like I love chenford and barely about wopez and I do love them but HUGAOAPGHY BABEYS I GOT THEM BACK <3333

Not much but I did :'D

Talking about wopez by the way lol

Also HALLELUJAH AARON SURVIVED!! HE'S OKAY :'DDD!! P H E W :'D 🥳🥳🥳🎉🎊😌🥰.

Thank goodness lol

Also :(( that he wants to help catch the guys that almost killed him but can't - probably for the best though :/. Just don't let it get pent up in any way xd. Also please don't date your therapist or have any kinda funky relationship with her lol.

Also aaahhhhHHH Bailey and Nolan (John just wasn't right) are getting married :D. I'm glad everything ended up working out (for now lol, that promo is scaring me xD I figure it'll be fine but just once I want an uninterrupted wedding, in anything, but especially The Rookie lol) <333. They're adorable 🥰. Also am I crazy or was that Mr. Kevin Kozner as the neighbor guy? At first I thought it was then wasn't then wasn't sure so I figure not but I don't know xD

Also poor Harper :(( I know she'll get through it but it just sucks. And it sucks that she can't talk to James about it (like not legally but emotionally lol), though I do like that they have differing opinions on stuff. It's nice to have couples that don't have all the same views, you know?

Anyway!! I didn't mention them but Celina and Gray are slaying as always <3. And for Celina (and everyone)'s sake I hope we catch this guys soon (but not too soon ;) - I love me some drama)

Also reminder that I love Wesley with my whole soul, thank you <3.

So excited for this season!! Especially the 100th episode, it's so great that they get one :D. I think both of those are gonna be really good and I'm just so looking forward to it :D!! This was an amazing episode, lots of good stuff all around, and I'm so excited for the next one :D. The promo looks wild (also AAAHHHHHH THE WEDDING!!! :DD) but so good and I'm looking forward to it :D 🥰.

This is gonna be a great season :))!!

See y'all later!! ❤️🥰

#the rookie #oasis's rookie chatter #chenford #wopez #bailan #whoops that's a spanish word xd #sorry besties #anyway!!#so excited #I love you all :DD ❤️❤️❤️❤️!!!!#byeeee :))) 🥰🥰🥰🥰 <33!!!!

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fantasyfantasygames · 2 days

Text

Falling

Falling, 20xx Games, 2015

Falling is a game about having a really, really hard day while being so badly depressed that you literally fall into an alternate spacetime below our own, and your climb or flight back out.

There's a big content warning right at the front of this game - Falling focuses on depression. It was written by someone with chronic chemical depression, the sort that's part of your brain chemistry. It's very good at getting you to understand what that's like. If you also suffer from chronic depression, this game is very explicit about not being the right place to get help.

You make a character by drawing a hand of cards, writing a hundred-word summary of your character (a la some other games I've reviewed), and giving a short explanation of what pushed you into Underspace. During play you use descriptors from your character bio and inciting incident to draw more cards and change the ones you have. You need specific combinations of things in your hand in order to do specific things, so it's not just a matter of "better poker hand wins". Black cards are strength and toughness (both emotional and physical) but also depression. Red cards are connection and wisdom but also either mania or obsession, player's choice at chargen. You might need three red cards for one thing, or a small straight in black, or one very specific card. It's all about adapting to the situation. Go too hard and you'll regret it. XP lets you boost traits by underlining them, or cross out some that aren't helping you and write new ones.

Underspace is a massive vertical shaft, a gaslamp fantasy idea of what an enormous abandoned mine would look like. You encounter its odd denizens, many of whom are part fungus. Some of them will try to help you leave. Others are there to drag you down metaphorically or physically. There's no shortcut to get out - it's step by step. As the name of the game implies, you're probably not going to make it out in one smooth climb. The book details one particular settlement with the idea that you could use it as inspiration for others.

The art aims toward DiTerlizzi. It doesn't quite get there, but the rough lines and dark shading make it a good fit. Fans of Planescape will definitely feel at home here. Layout is fairly standard, and there's nothing wrong with that.

One of the rules for the endgame is "It's not about the inciting incident." Whatever pushed you into Underspace was a side-effect, the straw, or a total coincidence. You can't fix your depression and return to Superspace just by fixing or reversing that event.

Falling is ultimately a hopeful game, but not an easy one to play. You're going to get pulled in emotionally, and there will absolutely be serious setbacks that erase a whole session of progress. I wouldn't say you need to be a masochist to play, but you do have to want to do something emotionally challenging.

20xx Games isn't in existence any more. Falling didn't sell particularly well in PDF, never made it to print, and their other big project ran into unspecified legal issues involving Capcom, so the whole company tanked in 2017. I'm not sure what Falling's copyright status is these days. Hopefully one of the company's partners still has the rights to publish it - I think it deserves to be out in the world.

#ttrpg #imaginary #indie ttrpg #rpg #review #depression #cw depression #recovery is not linear

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mlwritersguild · 1 year

Note

for the february event

super random kisses 🕶️

square modified brilliant, by @alexseanchai

AO3 link; post reveal, post hawkmoth defeat, wedding fic

Summary

A year after Monarque's defeat, Ladybug and Chat Noir are getting married. (Nobody mention the part where they're not yet old enough to get married.)

---

"I will always do anything in my power to help the two of you. All of Paris will." Mayor Bourgeois does not look nearly as confident in this assertion as he sounds. "But the law requires public notice, under your legal names and in advance, for a reason."

"Super," mutters Chat Noir.

"We would never dream of suggesting you break the law," Ladybug says, without a hitch in the dexterity practice game of cat's-cradle she's playing with her yo-yo cord. Chat Noir, who kind of was suggesting exactly that, says nothing. Ladybug continues, "We're just hoping you will say some things that are true. Like, it is true that almost everyone who has ever gotten, or will ever get, married at this city hall is not a superhero. It is true that superheroes are only celebrities when we're wearing the masks, and when we're not, we're just ordinary citizens."

"Certain exceptions apply," Chat Noir says. "President of the United States Camilla Hombee, alias Victory, for example." To say nothing of Chloé Bourgeois, alias Queen Bee. And definitely to say nothing that might give away Chat Noir's identity if Chloé's father doesn't already know, just in case he doesn't already know.

"Which is a choice President Hombee made for herself," Ladybug agrees. "With the consent of her family, especially her spouse and her minor children, who are after all the first people an enemy might target if they wanted to emotionally compromise her. But as I was saying: as far as you know, it is true that when we get married, we will be following all relevant laws. Yes, we know it's illegal to have a religious wedding ceremony before the legal ceremony, but unless you're planning on tracking down the girl I play-married in the park when we were six and arresting both of us over it, you're going to need more than just 'we said we're married now' to say we're breaking the law."

"As far as you know," Chat Noir adds, grinning, " 'when Ladybug was six' could mean anytime from 2000 to 2006. For all you know, you officiated at our wedding a year and a half ago. I could say I remember exactly that and it wouldn't be a lie."

Ladybug rolls her eyes. "It is true that going through back records of posted banns to figure out which couple is us would be an invasion of a lot of random people's privacy, which you ought to remind everyone of if anything makes it relevant. It is also true that we have no plans to lie about any of this, and saying we remember something happened would be weird enough phrasing if we knew it happened. Since we know it didn't happen, it's too close to a lie."

Chat Noir turns away and starts licking his gauntlet, radiating sulkiness. He wasn't really going to say that anyway.

"…One of you is younger than Chloé," Mayor Bourgeois says, in the slow tones of someone coming to a realization. (Chloé turns eighteen next week.) "It is possible that not one of Paris's superheroes became one as an adult. You are asking the city of Paris to protect your secret identities by implying you are older than you are."

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchange glances.

"We're also asking the city of Paris to hold off on the anniversary celebration of Monarque's defeat until the anniversary of knowing we were both going to survive defeating him," Ladybug says. "But yes. That's it exactly."

---

Marinette elbows the door open and holds it for Adrien, then keeps pace with him as they head for the Métro. He's not exactly ready to go back to rock climbing or parkour, but he'll definitely bet on himself in a 5K race against, uh, anyone whose personal best is over an hour forty-five.

"Just think," Adrien murmurs, "we didn't even have to play the 'teenage parenthood' card."

"Isn't it hot out?" Marinette says in a rush, face redder than the warmth of a mid-June afternoon can explain. "I didn't think it was supposed to be this hot out."

"Now you mention it," Adrien says faux-thoughtfully, "I could take off a layer or two…"

Marinette makes a teakettle whistling noise and pulls a sun hat out of her bag of holding just to hide her face in. Plagg's cackling laughter doesn't quite drown out Tikki's giggles.

---

[image: An oddly familiar young woman with black pigtails, wearing a pink raffia sun hat, mirrored sunglasses, pink capris, white gloves, and a white T-shirt depicting a red and black hydrogen atom that says "think like a proton: stay positive!", and an oddly familiar young man with ruffled blond hair, wearing a black raffia sun hat, mirrored sunglasses, blue jeans, black gloves, and a black T-shirt depicting bare hands pouring from flasks of lime-green liquid that says "forget lab safety, I want super powers". They're sitting together on a bench on the Pont des Arts and grinning at the photographer, with all their hands stacked on his cane in a pose that shows off jewelry on their left hands: she has a rose gold wristwatch and he has a rose gold ring with a princess cut diamond.]

alya.ladyblogger: Yes, this is exactly the announcement you think it is!

---

[image: A little black cat plush with a gold collar bell and a black top hat with one red rose; a little ladybug plush with a crown of red and white roses; a pair of stud earrings with green gemstones arranged in heart shapes; a golden wirework lapel pin shaped like a cocktail glass containing two red dice with black pips; two pieces of lilac cardstock with gold text, arranged so that the only text visible on one reads "13 juillet 2018", and on the other, "vin d'honneur sur le Champ de Mars".]

alya.ladyblogger: I am told I'm to remind you that though dethroning Monarque was 21 June 2017, the thing worth celebrating the anniversary of was mid-July. The tragic part is I think they think they're being subtle.

---

[video: A toddler belonging to a favorite Fromagerie Trèfle Violet customer claps and dances along as another customer sings, "One thousand oranges two thousand plums, Windemere Vladimir Carl Alexander, raspberry blueberry strawberry gooseberry François Reginald Lancelot Herman son of Her Majesty Queen Constantina chocolate cheddar and Charlotte and Maisie son of his camembert King Maximilian—"]

fromagerie_trefle_violet: Catering the Ladynoir wedding celebration is getting intense enough even the little kids have noticed. A cappella by Luka Couffaine of @kittysection!

---

[image: A map of the restaurants, bistros, cafés, bakeries, crémeries, food trucks, and other participating food service locations in Paris.]

tomsabineboulangeriepatisserie: We're proud to be among the Parisian locations offering a special food item from the Sunday before Ladybug and Chat Noir's wedding through Bastille Day, with a portion of proceeds to be donated to the super causes funded by Ladybugs In Flight Foundation. Ours will be paired dark chocolate macarons: strawberry and wintergreen!

pink_silk_meteor_hammer: We won't have time to drop in everywhere, so we'll be stopping by a random selection over the course of the week. But we're not putting T&S in the randomizer, because my kitty and I absolutely have to try those macarons!

---

[image: Ladybug and Chat Noir. Paris's prince is draping himself over Ladybug's shoulders in a way that simply isn't possible if this black metallic material is any sort of metal; it would work with his old leather catsuit, but his wedding look bears more resemblance to full plate armor. Our Lady herself has, for the happy occasion, traded her practical outfits for what looks like a red silk gown with a sweetheart neckline and an A-line silhouette, speckled with black roses in full bloom outlined in gold, and a red capelet with mandarin collar, similarly embroidered; black opera gloves, black boots with wedge soles, and a black modesty panel mean she remains covered from neck to toe.]

marinettedesigned: I asked what their wedding outfits were made of, and she said "husband material". Photoshoot promptly derailed. Not shown: about eighteen kisses.

---

[video: Time lapse recorded on the roof of Le Grand Paris, compressing thirty minutes into thirty seconds. The city goes from full sun to full thunderstorm to full sun.]

theofficialchloebourgeois: Rain on your wedding day when you have the Dragon Miraculous. Who would have thought? It figures. I hope there's real rain when my brother gets married; he's having his engagement party in Restaurant du Grand Paris today!

---

"We aren't having a wedding Mass," Marinette tells her grandfather patiently. "Adrien hasn't been to Mass since his mother died. I'm not sure I've ever even set foot inside a church."

"Yes you have," Adrien says, setting two champagne glasses mostly full of sparkling orange juice by Marinette's elbow. "I remember thinking it was funny we had to hide in a church on Ash Wednesday from Monsieur Pigeon episode thirty-three when Jesus died at age thirty-three."

Marinette snorts. "Was that one of the times you got hit hard enough you were contemplating your own mortality? Never mind, I don't want to know."

Grandpa Dupain makes a face like he also regrets asking.

"Anyway, we don't need a church for the part where we say, 'I, Marinette, take you, Adrien, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health'—"

"In calm times and in times the entire city's celebrating like mad," Adrien interjects.

Marinette laughs. "When it's magical and when it's mundane, 'I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.' "

Adrien nuzzles the side of her neck. " 'I, Adrien, take you, Marinette, for my play-pretend wife until we do the actual legal part at which point I will take you for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in'—"

Boom.

The orange juice glasses go flying. Marinette glances frantically around—everyone she expects to see is present and nobody looks akumatized—

Boom.

…Oh. Right. Her wristwatch says 22h30. She was supposed to be bracing for that.

" 'In sickness and in health,' " Adrien continues, wrapping both arms around her and pulling her gently down to where she just knocked him to the floor, "even when she forgets about the scheduled fireworks display and the anniversary of no more akumas, to love, honor, and cherish all the days of my life."

"Cheers," mumbles Marinette, ignoring the sticky spots for the moment (and certain he's ignoring a leg cramp for the moment) in favor of scooting up to where she can press kisses to his pulse point and cheek and the scar beside his eye.

#ml writers guild #february event 2023 #alexseanchai #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fic #mlb #ladynoir #ladybug x chat noir #ladybug #chat noir #lovesquare #love square #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir

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cycat4077 · 2 years

Note

Hello. So I have this thought that maybe Sonny Carisi is comforting his best friend after another awful date or break up. She's upset because she thought she be settled, married and have children by now. He also thought he'd be settled etc as well.

So they jokingly make this deal that if they aren't both married by a certain age, they will get married.

Totally makes her laugh and kind of cheers her up. But he's totally crushing on her. Time passes they are both still very much single and are now both much still crushing on each other.

So now they are like what should we do? It was a joke right. He doesn't feel that way....

I'm sooooo sorry that this took so long to reply to. I really wanted to write a little ficlet for it and even started it...but I got super busy with school stuff that I lost motivation for this. So, I scrapped the original and jotted this down. Hope it's okay! I really love this idea and think Sonny would be the mushiest romantic over something like this ♥

When you call Sonny up he's there in record time. He's always been there for you and a bad breakup is no different. Being with the same person for nearly 3 years really got you thinking about the future. Marriage, kids and nearing 30, they seemed like reasonable things to think about.

But Sonny reassures you that it's not your fault. That the guy you were dating was manipulative and tried to dictate your life too much and that you shouldn't feel ashamed for standing up for yourself and leaving.

Sonny wants nothing more than to blurt out his feelings for you. He's the one person who has supported you unconditionally for years - through the good and the bad - and it's through that close friendship that Sonny knows he loves you. Except, now isn't the right time to say it. You are emotionally vulnerable and he would never want to take advantage of that vulnerability for his own gain. Besides, would you even like him like that if you had a clear head?

Instead, Sonny simply listens intently and reassures you of your decisions. You tell him about your fear of getting older and not finding someone to settle down with, which tugs at his heart strings even more.

Finally the tears turn to laughter and you blurt out what's meant to be a joke: "Let's make a deal, Son," you smirk. "If neither of us are married in say, 7 years? Then we marry each other, 'kay?"

"Why 7 years?" questions Sonny.

"That's the part you're hung up on?!" you giggle.

Suddenly the chuckles devolve into something different. There's a tension in the air. The space between the two of you suddenly feels heated. You don't know what it is but you can't help but look into Sonny's eyes which seem somehow even more alive.

You abruptly avert your gaze and quietly thank him for being there for you. Sonny reiterates that there is no thanks needed. He will always be there for you. The two of you share an embrace before he leaves for the night.

The years pass by and the two of you devote yourselves to your careers; Sonny even becomes an ADA. This new focus causes you to see less and less of each other, but as the old saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Sure you try dating, but no one seems to fit together with you like Sonny does. And it suddenly dawns on you that you had made a promise 7 years prior.

Your heart thunders thinking about it. All these years, you realize that it was him you liked - loved. He's the person who can make you smile and can make you feel whole when you've been torn down. Plus, his hugs are the absolute best thing in the universe!

The question is, does he feel the same? If he hasn't said anything after all these years it must be because he thinks of you as only a friend...right?

---

Sonny hears a knock on his apartment door and jogs over to answer it. He wasn't expecting company and had been neck deep in reviewing the legalities of his latest case.

But it's you. Immediately he opens the door and asks if everything is okay. Afterall, your infrequent visits are normally scheduled into your busy lives.

You simply say that you need to talk.

No questions asked, he welcomes you inside. Busy as you two may be, if it is important you are there for one another.

"Sonny," you begin softly. "Do you remember that breakup I had 7 years ago?" He nods affirmatively. "Well, we made a promise that day - I guess it was kind of a joke, but it's been on my mind lately."

Sonny swallows thickly. He knows the exact promise you are referring to. It's haunted him for 7 years.

"I - I guess we're 7 years older and both still single."

Sonny's heart feels like it's about to beat right out of his chest.

"I not here to demand we get married or anything crazy like that," you play with your shirt hem nervously. "But I think I need to tell you something and I hope it won't change our friendship. I - um, well...It's you, Son. It's always been you. I wasted so much time looking for something that had been right in front of my nose the whole time. There's no one I care more about and no one who makes me feel more cared about than you. I think I'm in lo-"

"I love you, too," blurts Sonny, unable to hide the brightest of smiles.

#my fanfic #an ask! in my askbox #misscharlielulu #sonny carisi #sonny carisi x reader

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storiesofsvu · 1 year

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Elana Barth SFW Alphabet

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

While she may be harsh or hard on people in court or in her professional life, she’s always soft with you. She adores the tender moments and will always show her affection to a point, even in front of others. A small kiss on the cheek, a squeeze of the hand, an arm around the waist at events.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

She’s going to be supportive, someone to bounce laughs and jokes off of despite her professional appearance, she’s a good friend, if you ever need some legal advice she’s the first person to go to. She’s supportive and makes sure that you make the right decisions in your life, guiding you in the right direction to make sure you succeed and that you’re happy. She values her friends happiness just as much as her own and her partner’s.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

She’s not the biggest cuddler. She’s kinda not used to it, I don’t think her ex was super physically affectionate so the first time you drop against her on the couch wrapping your arms around her middle and snuggling up into her body she stalls for a minute, unsure of what to do but her hand does naturally fall to your hair to start to play with it. But over time she does find that she likes it and enjoys curling up on the couch with a nice glass of wine and a classic movie at the end of a long day.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

She doesn’t want to get married again, it’s an absolute no and she won’t be talked into it no matter how hard anyone tries. She’s a judge/lawyer, she’s seen too many divorces, and her own wasn’t an easy one. She knows that she loves you, and that you love her, but she’s completely okay with just having a life partner. She will buy you a ring if you want it though. She’s good at cooking, and does her best to keep up with the cleaning (canon wise she has I think two boys, who are college aged) so she’s kinda been through hell with learning how to clean stuff over the years. While they are probably out of the house now so that helps. She’s not a gourmet chef or anything, but she’s a home cooked kind of gal and knows how to make some fancy stuff for at home date nights.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

She’ll always do it in person. She doesn’t want to make anyone feel like they’re inadequate of that. She’ll be gentle, but also to the point and firm, if she thinks/says it’s over, it’s over. She’s either not in love with you, or doesn’t think that you’re on the same path or ever will be, and she’ll explain that to whatever extent you need. She’ll hope you can remain friends, but understands if there’s a little buffer period where you simply need some time before that can happen.

F = Fiancé( e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?) oop. Covered this one already. She will commit to you and will gladly say that you’re the love of her life maybe even refer to you as her wife but she doesn’t want to go through all of that again, it’s a once and done.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Physically she’s almost always gentle. A tender touch of her hand on the small of your back, a soft kiss pressed to your cheek or hairline to remind you how much she loves you, her fingertips trailing across your skin after a lovemaking session. Emotionally she does her best but can be a little clipped, short tempered when it comes to certain things.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?) She’s more of a hand resting on someone’s forearm while she kisses their cheek type. She’s not a big hugger until it comes to her kids and lbr, they’re at the age where hugging their mom is the ultimate of uncool. She will hug you in private though, lingering ones where she lets the two of you sink into each other’s embrace after a long day, the way to say the words without having to speak them.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

She’s a little hesitant because of her failed marriage and issues with that kinda thing, but she can feel it long before she says it. She does her best to show it with actions instead of words too, making sure that you’re incredibly well taken care of, always have a nice hearty, healthy meal to eat, are supported mentally, physically and the like. She will shower you with affection to make sure you know you’re cared for no matter what.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?) She’s not crazy jealous. She does get some insecurities when it comes to your relationship based on people flirting with you while the two of you are out, but you’re always quick to turn them down and move back to her side, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek. Most of the time it’s just cause for a little eye roll and she ignores it, knowing you can handle it and will always come home with her.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Her kisses are sweet and soft, a hand cupping your cheek, thumb stroking across your skin while her lips move against yours. She loves to kiss you anywhere she can, but is partial to the tip of your nose and your temple, little ‘I love you’s’ without having to say it. You have a habit of kissing the inside of her wrist that she absolutely adores and it makes her melt.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?) She’s great with kids! She really likes them and will gladly pick up babysitting shifts for friends and coworkers because she loves the younger ones but doesn’t want to have any more of her own. With her own kids/teenagers/older ones she can be firm, but fair. She reminds them to be smart and safe on the daily basis and they know that she’s not about to pull strings to make things “go away” if they get in trouble. I think that, especially post divorce as long as both her boys are in college in nyc, she insists that they come over for Sunday dinner weekly. And they’re not gonna complain about free food or help with laundry and assignments.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Her mornings are lazy, especially once she’s moved to defence, and especially if she’s not needed in court first thing in the morning. She likes to wake up before the alarm, limbs tangled with yours as the sun starts to move through your room, soft kisses and little laughs as you both start to wake up and murmur sweet nothings to each other. She’ll likely get up to grab coffee, fixing yours exactly how you like it, bringing it back to bed as the two of you work through the crossword, sudoku, read the paper and get caught up on things before starting your day. On weekends she’ll likely throw together an easy breakfast that she brings back to bed and the two of you eat together in pure comfort before finally getting out of bed.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Evenings are usually spent talking over your days, catching up on your weeks if you don’t live together yet. Elana will pour you out a nice glass of wine so you can perch up on the kitchen island while she flits around the space starting to make dinner. It depends on the week, how tired she is, dinner ranges from simple things like a spaghetti Bolognese or cheese ravioli, up to an herb crusted rack of lamb with double baked potatoes or the fancy nights when she goes all out and makes you a dinner of beef wellington and crème brulee for dessert.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

I think she’s pretty open about most things. She’ll tell you right away that she has kids, even if they’re old enough to be out of the house already because she knows it can be a deal breaker, and she’s always pretty open about her divorce and how things went down, even if they weren’t great. Though she might hold back some of the details if they’re a little gruesome. You likely won’t find out about her getting shot until you’re in bed after a night of lovemaking and you’re curled into her sides, your hands tracing patterns across her body and you ask about the scar. She assures you that she’s fine and has dealt with all of that, it’s nothing to worry about.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

After raising two boys and years on the bench, she knows how to control her anger and can be incredibly patient. You know she’s at her limit when her face hardens and she simply raises a brow in your direction and you immediately shut up. She likes to talk things through and is thankful that you know how to read her so there are rarely ever any yelling matches and you’re able to communicate like adults.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

I think she’s got a very good memory. I think that has to be a trait of a lot of judges, they’ve got to remember details for each case and the like to make the appropriate ruling when the jury isn’t there. So she’s sharp, quick, and will always add reminders to her calendar for the super important days like fancy date nights, anniversary’s, birthdays and such. She’s also very likely to remember the little details, she knows exactly what your favourite comfort food is when you’re sick, vs what your comfort food is when you’re on your period (cause they’re different, from the meal down to the type of ice cream). She knows your favourite shows, and your favourite movies. She also knows which ones you watch when you’re having a bad day, or are struggling through something so she’ll always notice that when she comes home to you watching one and gently nudge her way in until you’re talking to her.

R = Remember (What is their favourite moment in your relationship?)

She’s partial to something like the first time she came home after a terrible and long day to find you in the kitchen, all cozy and cute, maybe even having stolen one of her sweaters while you move through the space with ease cooking the two of you dinner. You had no clue she’d had a bad day, you just felt like doing something nice and she absolutely melted at the gesture.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

She’s protective and always a little worried, especially thanks to her job and all the risks that come with it, but she’s not overbearing. She’s not going to get extreme until there is a threat against her and whatever level of protection she gets she makes sure you and her kids get the same.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Weekly date nights are out on the town, usually a nice dinner followed by drinks or a movie. They’re at little bistros, nice little family owned places and sometimes up at fancier places for the more important nights. Her gifts are always well thought out and very sentimental and you adore every single one of them. In every day life Elana brings you coffee every single day, whether you wake up together or she makes a pit stop at your apartment or work place, she adores you and that’s one of the easiest ways for her to show how much.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

The usual overworking. That when she’s tired she can get a bit snippy, nothing too over the top ever but when she does you simply raise a brow, pulling the case file from her and telling her to get ready for bed, that it’s time to relax.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

She’s not anything crazy, but will always make sure she looks presentable before she leaves the house, especially if going out or going to work. She’s not one to be caught with a messy top knot kinda thing.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?) I don’t think she would. She spent a good chunk of her life with her ex and was always her own woman/human being/had a substantial reputation without even needing to look at her ex. So she’s very much her own person no matter what, but she does always remind you just how much she cares about you and just how much you help make her a better person.

X = Xtra (A random head canon for them.) Thanks to her sons, she’s super invested in sports and will never even really understand why, but she doesn’t miss a game, and if the kids are in town, it’s their nice way of bonding.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?) She needs a partner that has some kind of drive, some kind of motivation, a life outside of her/your relationship. She’s already had an entire life, and not that she ever says that it’s more important than you, because it certainly isn’t, but she needs for you to have your own life before her too kinda thing, if that makes sense?

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?) She’s got a little bit of trouble sleeping. A frequent flyer in he department of melatonin, or staying up far too late marathoning television because she just isn’t tired or maybe even has anxiety about going to bed and lying there not being able to turn her mind off. She much prefers the nights that you’re with her, where she can hold you to her, feeling your heartbeat, your steady breath as you sleep, it relaxes her and grounds her, lulling her into a relaxing sleep.

______________ @anya-casablanca @mickey-gomez @swimmingstudentchaos891 @momlifebehard @borg-queer

#elana barth #elana barth x reader #law and order svu #law and order special victims unit

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polyamorouspunk · 8 months

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My girlfriend keeps hinting at/joking about getting married. We talked about it once before - we'd both generally be in favour, but have some differences re: having children, level of tidinesscin a home, interior design styles and idk. Stuff. Plus, we've first gotten together a literal decade ago and it's been a bit of an on and off relationship through the years (not helped by us living in different countries for like 8 of those years), and she's hurt me quite a bit on one or two occasions, and I'm still having a bit of a hard time sometimes believing that she's not just with me out of convenience and a desire for company (and knowing I'd forgive just about anything, probably, though that may be unkknd of me). So, when she mentions marriage, I don't know how to be sure she's not just worried about running out of time somehow and "settling" for me in a way. And it's really fucking difficult bc I've been thinking about marrying this person since I was 17, I want to marry her, pretty fucking badly, I'm just. Worried. That she'll end up resenting me and feeling trapped, and I'll have my heart broken once more.

I'm sending this bc your sleepover Friday thing suggests asking for advice lol but if you feel in any way uncomfortable with this, no need to respond! I also promise I won't base any life decisions on a single anonymous conversation with an internet stranger, I just thought it might be nice to get some outside perspective, insofar as that's possible from my one-sided account of the situation lol.

Anyway, have a good day/night/etc

Well reading your first paragraph, my initial reaction was “well if you don’t feel ready to marry her then don’t”. But you can want to marry someone and not be ready! My ex and I had plans to get married, but we weren’t ready at 19/20/21 etc. I’m assuming you’re older than that, and of traditional “marrying” age.

If you have been with someone for over a decade, I hope you feel comfortable enough to talk to them about how you’re feeling. While in the end my ex decided to cut me off, while dating we were fine with having open and honest conversations about marriage, even while living apart.

As someone who is polyamorous, I can understand the idea of being “trapped” in a marriage, but marriage isn’t permanent. You can very much reverse it. Is it going to suck if she decides she wants to divorce you? Yes. But is a divorce going to be more emotionally devastating than a normal breakup? Obviously there are going to be some legal stuff that goes on. In fact, at the end of the day, marriage is just a legal contract between two people. There are plenty of people in love who never get married, and plenty of people who are not in love who get married just to have joint assets, tax breaks, and an overall better financial situation. Yes, as an American society we treat marriage as the ultimate show of one’s love for someone. But in reality it’s really just a legal contract. I’m not suggesting you go and tell her “yes I would like to join our assets”. I think you should uphold the notion that marriage is romantic. But it’s not the end-all-be-all.

To me, though, someone wanting to marry someone isn’t “settling” for them. I didn’t want to “settle” for my ex when we talked about marriage: I wanted to solidify that they were my soulmate and that we would last for years (evidentially they did not feel the same lmao).

There were absolutely sacrifices I had to make to be monogamous to that one person. When they did eventually dump me, that left me free to explore things I couldn’t with them: and I learned some things about myself and what else I like in a sexual / romantic / other relationship! And that was nice! But I would have been willing to not have room to explore that to stay with them. It didn’t feel like “settling” it felt like “what I have is enough for me and I don’t need to look for more”. In terms of partners, yeah, of course I wanted to see other people, and throughout the course of our relationship I did. But I also decided that I wanted to be with them only for the time being when they broke up with me. Maybe that was a “sacrifice” but that was what I wanted.

Difference in what you want in life can be complicated, though. My ex and I agreed on everything. We knew the kind of life we wanted to lead. We “yes, and”ed each other. There was no differences on how clean we wanted to live, how many children or if we wanted children, etc. none of that. We wanted the same things, and that was important to me. I don’t know how I would feel if someone I was with wanted kids and I didn’t, or if they were fine with a messy house and I wasn’t. I can’t say for sure that it would be a “make or break” because I don’t really believe in that kind of thing outside of extremes. You can love someone in spite of their differences, but is that going to take a toll on you over the years? Possibly. I can certainly say I would much rather have someone who agrees with me on not wanting kids and wanting a clean house. I don’t want to have to compromise on those things in particular. I can compromise on what color to paint the bedroom, but not on lifestyle differences that are going to cause me internal stress I think.

I’ve also never had an on-again-off-again relationship with someone: but I imagine if I did I would want to keep them around unless I was the one breaking things off because they kept hurting me- but even then I know that I have unhealthy tendencies to want to be with people who aren’t the best. I can break things off with someone if it gets to be too bad, but it’s permanent when I do. If I’m breaking up with someone, I’m blocking them. If they break up with me, I’m blocking them. I’ve never gone back to someone I’ve broken up with. I can’t let myself get into a cycle like that because it’s too unhealthy for me. If I’m going to marry someone, I really can’t see it being someone I’ve had to break up with or who felt the need to break up with me multiple times. But that’s just me.

#punk gets mail #the punk gives advice

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emotionalsupportjedi · 2 years

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A Heart of Goldenrod

(The Tommyinnit’s Clinic AU where a tiny lad does his best, featuring flore’s character Spidey because omg them) Goldenrod wasn’t a hero, technically. People thought he was just some kind of vigilante or just a good samaritan with powers. A few people thought he was cursed due to his heterochromia, but most people loved him. He was always helpful, and giving gifts- whether they are something that a person desperately needs, or just a little trinket to lighten their day. He called it the blessing box, this little golden box that he could pull trinkets out of. It seemed to be connected to him, the bigger or more emotionally intense the object was, the more drained he would be after making it. Goldenrod had a goal to help five people a day. Sometimes he helped more people, but never less. He liked seeing people smile when they saw him, and no matter who they were, he would help.

That was how he met Siren and Spidey, two members of the syndicate.

They were in an alley, getting ready to hop back into a fight with some hero when they saw him. He looked up when they approached his hiding spot, before quickly making a couple chocolate bars to give them, despite who they were. Siren looked confused about what the hell this kid was doing, giving him candy, but after glancing at Spidey, he found himself accepting the gift. He was just a kid, that Siren was sure he’d seen helping people on the street. Heroes had named him a vigilante by now, since he didn’t legally do any hero shit.

It was only when Siren accepted that Goldenrod noticed that Spidey was hurt. Goldenrod cautiously got out of his spot, giving her a chocolate too, before seeing the blood on her arm. Getting his little golden box out, he made her a roll of bandages, holding them out to her.

“You’re hurt..” It was the first thing he had said to either of them, and seemed to catch them by surprise. “Here, these and the chocolate will help!” He gave them both a smile, before turning to go back to hiding. He wasn’t stupid, he didn’t want to get hurt in whatever fight was happening, so he left two very confused villains in his wake.

“Was that, what just happened?” Spidey asked, looking at her partner. He looked about as confused as she felt.

“Honey, I have no idea.” Siren shook his head, before turning back to the fight at hand.

The next time they had seen him, he was stopping at a convenience store they were attempting to rob. He seemed confused by what was happening, staying in the back to make a plan. He didn’t notice Siren nudging Spidey, pointing him out. He didn’t honestly see either of them until Siren was practically in front of him. He looked a little nervous, giving him a wave. He knew who Siren and Spidey were, he’s seen the news, but he wanted to help them if they needed it. Not help them commit crimes, mind you, the boy doesn’t like hurting others. He just wanted to treat these villains as if they were anything else.

“So it is you, uh, what a coincidence.” Siren said, glancing back at Spidey. Goldenrod was confused by why Siren sounded so awkward, trying to figure out if maybe he did something wrong. He seemed to forget to respond, lost in his thoughts.

“Listen, kid, my partner and I just wanted to uh, thank you for the chocolates and bandages.” Siren met the kid’s eyes, noticing just how young he looked. Siren quickly glanced back at Spidey. “Listen kid, do you have a name?”

Goldenrod thought about it, deciding to give out his alias rather than his real name. “Goldenrod, m’ name is Goldenrod.”

Siren nodded at that, before Spidey pulled him out of the store. Goldenrod stayed where he was for a bit, only remembering where he was when a hero approached him. Dream was there, which was weird enough, but Goldenrod chalked it up to him being there because members of the syndicate were there. He still looked like a civilian right now though, so he hoped Dream would be nice enough. He had heard the stories about his dislike for vigilantes, and he was technically one of those, so he was a little on edge.

“Are you okay, kid? Did they hurt you?” Dream asked, seeming surprised when Goldenrod quickly shook his head. It made his heart hurt a bit, seeing Dream immediately assume the worst about Siren and Spidey. They seemed nice enough, despite doing illegal things.

“Can I go?” Goldenrod asked quietly, glancing up at Dream. The hero seemed to think about it, making goldenrod fidget a bit.

“Fine, but if you know anything, you know where to report it.” Dream finally said, watching as Goldenrod left. He couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling he had seen him before.

Goldenrod would run into them over and over, to the point where he was technically classified as a villain. No one believed that though, with how hard he worked to make things better for the others. He became closer to the Syndicate than most thought, often hanging out with Siren and Spidey, to the point of him being their surrogate kid. Dream had noticed this however, he saw how he was always near their crime scenes, fixing things afterwards. He figured that by now, he would know everything he needed to know, so Dream made his move.