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callsign-magnolia · 11 months

Text

Undiagnosed // Ch. 9

Mature Content 18+

Jake Seresin x Neurodivergent OC

Summary: Katie Blair grew up trying to be the perfect daughter. She always struggled to be the prim and proper little girl her parents wanted. Big personality as a kid, but now at 25, she's the shy admiral's daughter who just keeps her head down and tries to get through law school. So what happens when she's had enough and with help from a certain Lieutenant, she gets out.

Warnings: Emotional abuse, trauma response, abusive parents.

Word Count: 6.9k

Chapter 8 | Masterlist

I eventually fell back asleep on the couch before waking up and making breakfast. I changed out of my pajamas and into some yoga pants Kelly convinced me to buy and a soft shirt. I attempted to watch a movie, but without glasses or contacts I couldn’t see clearly. I had to stand smack in front of the tv to see and it was annoying so I gave up. Once the movies were over I got bored and the thoughts crept in. What if my dad knew and confronted Jake at work? What if something happens to his jet and he crashes? What if I didn’t cut the stove off and catch the house on fire? At that thought I jumped up, going into the kitchen and making sure I did in fact, cut the oven off. I sighed in relief when I did and walked away, but suddenly stopped, turning back around and looking again because I forgot what I just saw. I huffed, turning back into the living room. I tapped my foot, and looked at my phone seeing it was only noon. I huffed, laying my head back. You’re nothing without us. My mother’s voice echoed in my brain. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing it to go away. I decided to distract myself by looking for eye doctors in the area. I looked through reviews finding a handful that I would consider until I finally found one. I stared at the number, it practically glared at me. Maybe I could have Jake call? God no. I need to do this myself. I’m a grown woman, I can do this myself. I dialed the number and it rang twice before a friendly voice answered. “How can I help you?” She asked. “Hi um… my name is Katie Blair and I need to make an appointment.” I heard typing on the other end and she hummed. “Have you been with us before?” I shook my head. “No.” More typing. “Okay, the next opening we have is Wednesday at four-thirty.” I nodded. “That works.” I agreed. “Great. We’ll see you Wednesday. Have a nice day.” She said and hung up. Once that was done, my mothers voice crept back into my head. You’re an ungrateful little shit. You’ll die out there on your own. You’re hard to love. Tears welled in my eyes and I grabbed my phone, pulling up Bradley’s number.

Can we talk when your free?

I text him, hoping he would respond eventually. I laid back on the couch, taking deep breaths and trying to clear my mind. Eventually my breathing evened out and I slipped into unconsciousness. “Darlin’.” I jumped awake, startled by the voice and the hand on my arm. “Hm.” I sat up as Jake sat next to me. “How long have you been asleep?” He asked and I glanced at the clock. “Shit. Four hours.” I said, face planting the soft couch. He chuckled, rubbing my back. “Must’ve been tired.” He said and I scoffed. “Something like that.” I said. “Well, I’m gonna go shower. I’m thinking steak for dinner? I put some in the fridge to thaw this morning.” He said as he got up, heading to his room to shower. “I can start it." I said as I sat up. "You sure?" He called down the stairs as I nodded, stretching. "Yeah." He's letting me live here rent free, the least I can do is make him dinner. I went into the kitchen, pulling out the steaks, then rifling through his freezer for sides. I found some asparagus and some potatoes in the pantry. I was halfway through cooking the steaks when he came in, shirtless. He didn't notice but it took me a second to avert my eyes. "Is it just us tonight?" I asked and he hummed. "Yeah, Kelly is working late tonight." I nodded as I finished the steaks, letting them rest as I tossed the asparagus into the same pan with some garlic.

"Damn that smells good." He said, coming to stand next to me. I smiled, practically keeping over the compliment. "My mom wasn't completely useless." I remarked and he laughed. "Guess not. Anything I can do?" He asked. "You can go ahead and cut the potatoes open. Give them a chance to cool a little before I burn the shit out of my fingers." He just chuckled and sliced them open. Soon dinner was done and I made him go sit down. "I can make my own plate." He said. "I can make my own plate." I mimicked. "No shit. But I'll bring it to you." I said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You're not winning this one Jake. Go sit down." I said with a more stern tone and after a second he did as I asked. I smirked, plating everything and walking it out. "See. Not that hard." I remarked and he rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah." I waited patiently with a smirk on my face as he took the first bite and his eyes went wide. "You're telling me that we ate out the past two nights and you can cook like this?" I laughed as he ate more. "And it's even medium rare! How did you know?" I shrugged. "It's the only way my parents eat it, so it's the only way I know how to cook it." I said, starting in on my food. "Yours medium rare too?" I nodded. "That's the only way I've ever eaten it. Mom would make steak and she refused to cook it differently for me."

Dinner was great and we talked about our day, but once we were done the mood changed. "I have something to tell you, but I need you to not freak out." He said, sitting up in his chair. My heart started racing a million miles a second. What could he possibly have to say? "We overheard your dad talking to Cyclone." Why would he be talking to Admiral Simpson? He doesn't like him. "He's going around asking everyone to keep an eye out for you. Apparently when they came home and saw that you were gone, they called the police and tried to say that you were kidnapped." My chest started heaving and I was trying to calm down. But now not only were the police looking for me, so was practically everyone on base. "Oh my god." I said as tears built in my eyes. "Hey, no darlin'." Jake said as he took my hand, squeezing it in his. "The police say you probably just left. You packed a bag and took your purse, so they think you just walked out of there. They aren't looking for you." I sighed in relief, feeling better about that. "But you should lay low for a while. If anyone from base sees you, then your dad will know." I nodded, taking deep breaths. "I can do that. I can lay low." I muttered. "Good. I'll clean the kitchen." He said, grabbing my plate and standing. "I can help Jake." I said as I stood. "You cooked, I'll clean. Go do something." He joked and I huffed but did as he said. I went up to my room to plug my phone in, setting it on the small white bedside table. But something light blue caught my attention. It was in my suitcase, wadded up at the very bottom. I grabbed it, feeling the soft material in my hands but even in the dark I knew what this was. My favorite Tiffany blue dress, and the one Blake ripped. I could still see the droplets of blood that fell on it.

Do you have any idea how this makes us look?

Sometimes giving people what they want makes life a lot easier.

The words flooded my brain, remembering every moment of that night. Including the way his hands felt on me, the way they practically slithered under my dress. I felt disgusted with myself. I should've done more than punch him and I should've walked out of that house no matter what. But I couldn't. I was a coward and I fell right back into their trap like an idiot. Tears filled my eyes as anger grew within me like a fire being fed oxygen. The rip in the dress reminding me just how close I came to having my own choices ripped away from me. I turned rushing down the stairs, stomping on the way down. Hard enough I probably shook the house. "Katie?" Jake asked from behind the couch. I attempted to blow past him, but he caught my arm and I stopped. "Jake. Let me go." I said calmly, trying not to have a breakdown. I was so tired of crying, I wanted to be done with my emotions. "Darlin', let me see it." I shook my head. I couldn't let him see it, he'd absolutely lose it. "No. Just let me throw it away." He shook his head. "Trash wouldn't have you this upset." We stood in silence for a moment, me not looking at him, when he suddenly yanked me towards him and he snatched the dress from my hands. "Jake!" I yelled and he held the dress up, furrowing his brows in confusion. “What is this?” He asked, he looked close at the blood stains, his jaw clicking in anger. “Is this yours?” He asked lowly. I shook my head. “No, it’s Blake’s.” He looked at me for a second. “When you broke his nose.” He said in realization. “But the rip…”

“That was when I managed to get out from under him and he grabbed the neck line. It ripped when I got out of his truck.” I muttered. “What?” His eyes flashed to me and I could tell he was angry. I opened my mouth to respond but he stopped me. “What do you mean, ‘Get out from under him’?” He asked. “When my dad forced me on that date, he stopped just before taking me home. He stuck his hand under my dress and I smacked it away. He said that Coop told him I could be difficult and then he yanked me down in the seat and-” I took a deep breath, looking at the ceiling to keep the tears at bay. “He pushed my dress up…” I was trying not to sob and took another deep breath and suddenly my face was grabbed. This was different from any other time my face was grabbed. Jake’s hands were gentle as he held my face, making me look at him. “Did he hurt you?” I wanted to shake my head no, but he kind of did. “Sort of.” He furrowed his brows. “What do you mean, sort of?” He growled. “When he grabbed my leg, he left some bruises.” I muttered, not meeting his eye. “So he didn’t force you into anything?” He asked. “No.” I shook my head. “I didn’t give him the chance.” I saw his lips twitch, as if he wanted to smile but he didn’t. “Can I please throw the dress away?” He looked at the dress in his hand and smiled. “I have a better idea.”

So he dragged me outside and off the back deck to a small fire pit in the yard. He handed me the dress and started up the fire. Once it was roaring he stepped back, looking over at me. “Ready?” He asked and I nodded, looking down at the dress in my hands. I took a step closer, stopping just in front of the fire before tossing it in. I watched as it went up in flames, burning away until it started turning to ash. Jake’s arm went around my shoulder, tucking me into his side. “How you feel, darlin’?” He asked and I took a deep breath. “A little better. But it’s gonna take some time.” He hummed, catching me off guard as he once again kissed my head. “Take all the time you need, darlin’.” We stood in silence until a thought crossed my mind. “Fuck.” I muttered and Jake looked down at me again. “What’s wrong?” He asked. “There are some pictures on my old phone that I need. If I access my old iCloud do you think my parents could get my new number or track me?” I asked and he shrugged. “You have a new email and everything so personally I’d delete the old one. One less thing your parents have to track you down with.” I nodded and rushed upstairs, grabbing my phone. I quickly got into my old account and grabbed the pictures I needed from storage and saved it to my phone before deleting it. I was sitting in a chair not far from the fire, looking at the pictures when I felt a presence behind me. I looked up to see Jake looking at my phone. “Is this after?” I nodded, allowing him to see the pictures. “I took them, just in case. I didn’t think about it when I left my phone at my parents.” He hummed, swiping over one. The bruises on my thigh glared at me. They weren’t bad but they were noticeably finger shaped.

Jake inhaled deeply before disappearing inside. I felt bad, these pictures seemed to bother him a lot and I didn’t want anyone worrying about me. I stared into the fire, my eyes locking on to the last piece of the dress burning. The beautiful blue color turning black from the immense heat, but I was brought out of my thoughts by something cold and wet. I looked over to see Jake offering me a bottle. I took it with furrowed brows, looking at the label. “Decided I needed one, so I thought I’d offer you one too.” He said as he pulled the other chair closer to me, sitting back in it as we watched the fire. He twisted the cap off, and set it on the arm of his chair, taking a sip. I looked down at my own bottle, attempting to twist the cap off but to no avail. “Oh, sorry.” He said taking the bottle from me. Irritation built in me at the action. I could’ve done it if he gave me another chance. “Kelly always needs me to take hers off. Didn’t think about you possibly needing it too.” I huffed. “I almost had it.” I muttered. His head snapped to me and his brows furrowed. “You okay?” Don’t let him know you’re mad, it never ends well. I looked at him with a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” I asked and he leaned back in his chair again. “You just sounded mad.” I shook my head. “Oh, no I’m good.” I took a sip of the beer immediately spitting it out. “Oh my god! How do you drink that shit?” I asked and he laughed, attempting not to spit his own beer out. “Do you not like it?” I shook my head, handing him the bottle. “God no!” He set the bottle down next to him as I attempted to get the taste out of my mouth. “Have you ever drank before?” I nodded. “A few times but it’s only ever been wine. Mom doesn't drink anything else so that’s really all I’ve ever had.” I said and he nodded. “I’ll get you some when I go to the store next time. What’s your favorite?” He asked. “Chardonnay.” He chuckled. “Fancy.” He said in a posh tone, making me laugh.

The next day Rooster agreed to talk to me and came over once him and Jake were done for the day. I slipped on a square neck floral dress and opted for some of the white platform sandals Kelly bought for me on Sunday. It was weird to put on shoes that were flat but they were so comfortable. I grabbed my purse just as the doorbell rang and rushed downstairs. “Rooster? What are you doing here?” Jake had been home all of twenty minutes and I had been getting ready so I hadn’t even spoken to him yet. “He’s here for me.” I said as I walked over. “You?” Jake asked, looking at me and I nodded. “I asked if we could talk and he agreed.” Jake nodded, motioning Bradley in. “Oh, then come on in, I'm cooking and Kelly will be here soon.” I bit my lip, wondering how to tell him we were leaving. “Uh, Jake?” I asked and he turned to me. He looked at me with a wide smile. “It’s a private conversation.” I said, pointing out the door. “Oh, then y’all can sit out front, I don’t care. I have a porch for a reason-” “We’re leaving.” I said and he stopped again, looking at me once more. “Leaving?” I nodded. “Bradley thought it would be a good idea for me to get out of the house so we’re going for a drive.” Bradley nodded. “Figured we’d stop for dinner too.” He said with a wide grin. “But I’m cooking.” He said and I immediately felt bad. “Well… you and Kelly haven’t had much alone time since I got here!” I suggested. “We’ll probably be gone for a few hours so that’ll be good and if there’s leftovers I’ll eat them tomorrow for lunch.” I suggested. “Uh yeah. Yeah, that works. Um, Rooster? Can I talk to you for a second?” He nodded and stepped inside. “I’ll wait out here.” I said and stepped outside, closing the door.

After a few minutes Bradley and Jake came outside. “Ready?” He asked and I nodded. “I’ll see you later.” Jake said, kissing my temple and dipping back inside. The door shut and I stared at it for a second. “You have quite the protector there.” Bradley said as we walked out to his car. “I’ve come to see that.” I said. “Oh, I love your truck.” I said as he opened the passenger door for me. “Thanks.” He helped me in and he shut the door as I buckled the seatbelt. He got into the driver's side, smiling at me. “Jake was going on and on about how I had to be careful that no one from base saw you, as if I haven’t been hearing the same things he has.” He said as he started the truck. Once we started down the road, the wind picked up and it felt nice. He had the top off, allowing the sea breeze to blow by as we drove along the coast. The sun blinded me as we drove, my hand resting on my forehead to shield them. Rooster reached into the glove box in front of me and produced a pair of raybans identical to his. “You sure?” I asked and he nodded. “They’re my spares.” I smiled, taking them from him and putting them on my face, getting instant relief. “So what’d you wanna talk about?” He asked as he pulled up to a red light. “Um…” I said, not knowing how to start. “Shit, this is harder than I thought.” He chuckled, looking at me. “Lay it on me.” He said, his smile making me feel more comfortable. “I hear my mom’s voice in my head.”

He nodded slowly. “I do too.” I was a little shocked at his statement, looking at him from across the bench seat. “What does she say?” I asked and he smiled. “That she loves me. If I'm struggling she reminds me I can get through it.” I nodded, just wishing those were the things I heard my mother say. “What does yours say?” He asked, glancing over to me as if he already knew. “Basically that I’m a fuck up. On Sunday I thought I pissed off Kelly and I heard her voice in my head saying, ‘you probably did. you’re good at that.’.” I huffed, playing with my fingers in my lap. “Katie, I’m sorry.” He said and I shook my head. “I’m used to it.” I said and he shook his head. “But you shouldn’t be.” He was completely right. I shouldn’t be used to it, but I am. “Jake suggested therapy. He said his was mostly work related, but you have experience with personal things.” He hummed, nodding. “I do. My dad died when I was two in a training accident here at Top Gun. Mom died when I was seventeen. Brain tumor.” My heart broke for him. “I wish I could trade with you.” I said, leaning my head back against the seat. He didn’t say anything, but a part of me felt like he agreed. “When was your first time?” I asked and he was quiet for a moment. “I was six. Dad had been gone four years at that point. I got off the school bus and mom met me on the porch. She had on one of his naval academy jackets. It still smelled like him because she never washed it and when I hugged her, I had a panic attack. She decided at that point I should see a therapist.” I nodded. “Did you ever stop going?” He nodded. “Around high school. But I started again when mom died.” I nodded. “Did you know Mav is my godfather?” I looked at him wide eyed. “Really?” He nodded. “My dad was his RIO and they were best friends. Mav was there the day I was born and he was there the day mom died. We had a falling out when he pulled my papers for the naval academy.” I frowned. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to Bradley.” He chuckled. “But I wanted to, plus it’s easy to open up to you.” I smiled at him, happy he felt comfortable enough to share this with me. “I used to be so angry at the world, people around me, for things they had no control over. Being in therapy has made me a better person. I used to be hot headed and I can still be occasionally, but I’ve learned I don’t have to be mad anymore.”

“What’s therapy like?” I asked. “A lot of talking. In my case a lot of yelling, a lot of tears but I always feel a hundred times better coming out than I did going in.” I nodded. We drove a little longer till we got to this pier and he pulled into a parking spot. “What are we doing here?” I asked. “Getting dinner.” He said with a smirk before he got out. “Oh.” I unbuckled and opened my door. “Woah.” Rooster said, coming over and helping me out. “I can do it myself.” I said and he chuckled. “I know. But my mom is probably rolling in her grave because I didn’t open your door.” He said and I giggled. “She seems great. I wish I could’ve met her.” I said as he placed his hand on my back, guiding me to the pier. “She would’ve loved you,” He said, making me blush. “I can hear her now, ‘Oh, Bradley! She’s just adorable!” I laughed at his imitation. We quietly walked over to this little shack and we stopped outside of it. “This place has the best burgers.” He said as he looked at the menu. “What do you want?” He asked and I looked at the menu. Everything looked good, but I stuck with the safe bet and got a burger and fries. The conversation was light and fun while we ate, but as I was finishing my fries it took a turn. “So, when you hear your mom in your head, what’s the most common thing she says?” He asked. You’re so hard to love, Katie. I took a deep breath, wiping my hands on the napkin. “The night I went on that stupid date with Blake,” His hand tightened around his cup, practically squishing it. “I attempted to leave. But my mom forced me to sit down and was telling me they did the things they did because they loved me.” I scoffed at my own words. “Just after that she told me I was hard to love.” I said, my eyes falling to my lap as tears formed in my eyes.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t be crying about this.” I said as I wiped my tears. Bradley got up, coming around and sitting next to me. “They’re still your parents, Katie. A part of you is always going to want their love.” I sighed shakily. “I don’t want to want it.” He sighed, pulling me into a hug. “Trust me, I wish you didn’t either.” He held me for a moment until I calmed down. “You done?” He asked and I nodded. “Come on. I got something that’ll make you feel better.” I stood and we went back up to the window and he ordered two chocolate milkshakes. “Glad I like chocolate.” I said and he laughed. “I had a feeling.” We walked back over to the bronco and he stopped, taking my milkshake. “Take your shoes off.” I furrowed my brows at him. “What?” He motioned to my shoes. “Take them off.” I knew there was no point in arguing, so I did it anyway. He handed me my milkshake and took his off before we tossed them into the bronco. "Come on." We made our way to the hill that the parking lot was perched on and he started down. I followed behind very slowly and very cautiously. "Need help?" He asked, holding out his hand for me and I lunged for it as I tripped. I grabbed it and he helped me steady myself as we continued down. "Don't let me fall." He just chuckled. "I won't." Once we were on flat ground he let go of my hand, chuckling at me. “You’re not gonna trip over your own feet are you?” I shook my head as we started walking down the beach. “It’s so nice out here.” I said as we walked along the beach. The sun was setting, there weren’t many people and the breeze was warm. “I like coming out here when I’ve had a hard day, or if I’m missing my mom.” I smiled at him. “And when you're missing your dad?” I asked and he chuckled. “I spend every day doing what he loved. I get up in that jet and I feel close to him.” It was nice knowing he had some way of feeling close to his parents.

We spent the next few hours sipping our milkshakes and walking along the beach. My parents never brought me to the beach the few times we’ve lived close to one so this was really my first experience. “So where did you grow up?” He asked and I shrugged. “Everywhere. We moved almost every year it seems like.” He nodded. “I never really got the chance to make friends, but we moved out here when I was sixteen and we’ve been here since.” He hummed. “Where were you born?” I chuckled. “Coincidentally, here. My dad was stationed here for a while and my mom went into labor with me.” I sighed. “She called it the worst twenty one hours of her life.” He scoffed. “She deserved the pain. But I’m happy you’re here.” He said, nudging me with his elbow. We made our way back up the hill and Bradley dropped the tailgate on the bronco. “Sit up here.” He said and I placed my hands on the tailgate behind me. As I jumped he grabbed my waist, making sure I got up and seated. “What are you doing?” I asked as he pulled a black bag closer to him, looting around in it. “Aha!” He said, pulling out a container of baby powder. “Baby powder?” I asked with a quirked brow. “Yep, helps get the sand off.” He sprinkled some on my legs and his before grabbing a towel and wiping them off. Once he was done there was no sand to be found on my skin. “Remind me to get some of that if I go to the beach.” I said, hopping down from the tailgate. Once he closed the tailgate, Bradley helped me into the car and shut my door before we took off down the road. It was dark now but the wind was still warm. It blew my hair around as we drove in silence, nothing but the radio on. But a few miles before we got back he turned to me. “So… gonna go to therapy?” He asked, looking over at me. “I think I’m going to try. I’m just scared.” I said and he smiled, grabbing my hand and holding it up. “You’ll be okay. It may take a few tries to find the right therapist for you, but when you do, it makes a world of difference.” Once we got to the house I noticed the lights were still on, which was odd. Jake seems strict about his sleep schedule and he should be heading upstairs by now. Kelly’s car wasn’t in the driveway so I assume she went home. Bradley helped me out, taking my hand in hopes I wouldn’t fall out.

The bang of the front door made me jump as Jake threw the front door open. “WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!” He yelled as he stormed off the porch and towards us. “Oh my god. Oh my god.” I whispered, quickly moving behind Bradley to shield myself. “I’VE BEEN PACING FOR THE PAST TWO HOURS!” He yelled and Bradley held his hands up. “Jake-” “I have tried calling and got no answer! I had no idea where the fuck she was, if she was still with you!” My hand gripped Bradley’s shirt as my heartbeat thrummed in my ears. “Hangman-” “No! Do you know how stressed I have been? I had no idea if someone saw you, if you ran into her parents-” “Hangman!” Bradley yelled and I became light headed, my adrenaline flooding my body. “She doesn’t need someone controlling her life! What she does need is someone who lets her have her freedom!” Bradley yelled back. Jake’s eyes shifted to me and immediately a look of guilt crosses his face. He sighed deeply, as if letting go of all the tension he’s felt. “Fuck.” He muttered, running his hands through his hair. “You’re right.” He said and it was like all the anger disappeared. “You can’t spend all your time worrying about her. She’s an adult.” He nodded, smiling at me. “I’ll be inside.” He said, motioning to the door before walking that way. “You okay?” Bradley asked, turning around to face me. “Yeah… he just really scared me.” He hummed. “I could tell. If your grip on my shirt was anything to go by.” he joked and a blush covered my cheeks. “Sorry.” He laughed before pulling me into a hug. “Don’t worry about it.” As if he could sense my emotions, he squeezed me tightly and immediate relief washed over me as I squeezed back. After a few seconds he let go and I felt a little better. “Something else your mom taught you?” He beamed with pride at my words. “Yeah, it’s something she did to me when I was stressed or overwhelmed.”

“Well, I’m tired so I’m gonna go in and go to bed.” I said and he nodded, yawning. “I’m gonna go crash in my bed.” He said, walking around the bronco. “Goodnight, Katie.” He smiled at me and I waved as I walked towards the porch. “Goodnight, Bradley.” I replied. He got in the bronco and started it, but waited until I was inside to leave. I triple checked that the door was locked before making my way through the dark house and into the guest room. I immediately stripped out of my clothes and grabbed some of the pajamas I packed when I left. It was a tank top and shorts combo. They were emerald green and satin and so comfortable. The little ruffles on the hem on the shorts made it cute, not that that really mattered. Once I changed I sat on my bed, pulling out some of the lotion I bought and started putting it on my legs. I thought back to Jake out in the driveway. He scared me so bad with all the yelling and when he rushed over, it was like my dad was stalking towards me and I just wanted to bolt in the other direction. Tears streaked my cheeks and my chest constricted. I sniffled, trying to stop my tears, but of course I couldn't. So I sat there on the bed, rubbing lotion in my legs as tears dripped onto the white sheets. “Katie?” Jake’s voice caught my attention as he knocked on my open door, breaking my dead stare from the chipping polish on my toes. I quickly wiped my tears, not wanting him to see me upset. “Oh, darlin’.” He said, coming over and sitting next to me on the bed. “Katie.” I didn’t want to look at him. I knew if he did I would just start crying again. “Katie. Please look at me.” He said and I didn't move. I was startled as his hand gently touched my face, turning me to face him. “Katie, darlin’. I’m sorry.” I shook my head, turning away from him. “No, it’s my fault. I should have looked at my phone and called you back.”

“No, Katie. It wasn’t your fault. I was just so worried and when I saw you get out of the car I was so… relieved. Then I was angry at Rooster.” I furrowed my brows. “Rooster?” He nodded. “Why Rooster?” I was the one that asked if we could talk, not him. “I know you’re safe with him, I know that.” He said, flopping back onto the pillows. “But just the thought of something happening to you, and I’m not there to…protect you? It kills me.” I chuckled. “Aw, do you care about me Jake?” I joked and I felt him grip my tank top, tugging on it to catch my attention. “It’s not a joke, Katie. Of course I care. I worry about leaving you here alone, when you left the house with Rooster.” He sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “When I woke up that morning, and you were gone, it was like pure panic took over. I was ready to go over to your parents house and kick the door in.” A feeling swelled in my chest at his words as I looked back at him. Having someone who cared for me was a new feeling and it’s gonna take some getting used to. I sighed, flopping back next to him, resting my hands on my stomach. “I wish you did.” I muttered and he turned to face me as I continued to look up at the ceiling. “I was stupid to think anything would change. But they played the part of loving parents so well.” I said as anger swirled inside me. “That’s one of the first times I remember my mother hugging me. I know damn well it was the first time my father did.” I started pulling on my thumbs, wondering if I would pull one out of socket.

“They apologized for everything. For the first time in my life they told me they loved me.” I said through gritted teeth. Jake sat up, leaning on the wooden bedframe. “Then I wake up the next morning with a lock on my door, my mother telling me i'm an awful daughter and that they could no longer handle me.” Tears filled my eyes again, but this time out of anger. “That feeling of hopelessness when I pulled and pulled on that door. I finally stopped beating on it when my hands started to bleed.” I wiped the tears, not wanting them to fall. “I begged and begged them to let me out. I leaned against that door for three days, hoping they would change their minds. I gave up on hoping it was a dream, I knew better. It didn't matter how much I begged and pleaded, all it got me was a day without food.” I felt his fingers thread through my hair, and it felt so good. “Katie.” I looked up at him through my lashes and he stared down at me in silence for a moment. “You didn’t deserve that. You know that right?” His words made my bottom lip quiver and I started to sit up when he stopped me, pulling me into him. I had never been held like this, but it was so comforting and I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around his waist. “What’s so wrong with me, that they couldn’t love me?” I asked as the tears flowed freely now, soaking his t-shirt. “Nothing, darlin’. Absolutely nothing.” He said. His words soothing me until I drifted off to sleep.

The next day when Jake got off work, he was swinging by to pick me up for my eye doctor appointment. But I was so distracted watching a show that I was running late, that being signaled by the sound of Jake’s horn on his truck. “Dammit!” I yelled, grabbing my shoes and hopping to slip one on before putting the other on at the bottom of the stairs. I rushed towards the door, purse in hand and I barely remembered to lock the door on my way out. I ran through the yard, yanking open the door and climbing in. “What’s going on? We’re gonna be late.” He said as we back out of the driveway. “I know we’re gonna be late.” I snapped, buckling and sitting back in the seat. “Gee what’s got you in a mood?” He asked and I scoffed. I wanted to snap at him again, but I thought better of it. He might just leave me on the side of the road, I joked to myself. We were silent the rest of the car ride, which was nice. I just couldn’t get it together today, which was odd for me. My hair was up in a bun with my bangs hanging loose, I didn’t put on any makeup or jewelry, not having any time. I just managed to slip on a sundress and sandals. Once we were there, I didn’t even wait for Jake. I just got out and walked up towards the door. “Katie. Katie!” He hissed and I stopped, turning to him. “Wait, let me go in first.” He said. “Why?” I asked in an irritated tone. “What if someone from base is in there?” He asked, walking in with me on his heels, ignoring his words. We went in and I pushed past him, going up to the front desk. “Katie Blair.” She immediately pulled up my info and I looked around. There was no one in the waiting room, making me feel a little better. “Hi, you must be Katie.” I looked over to see a very tall, very built man about my fathers age standing before me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, the fear settling in the pit of my stomach. “H-hi. yes… I’m Katie.” He just smiled at me as he shook his hand. “Well, if you’ll follow me.” I immediately turned to Jake, hoping he wasn’t so mad he wouldn’t come with me. “Would it be okay if my friend came with me?” I asked and Dr.Sparkman smiled.

“Of course.” We went into an exam room and I sat in the chair, Jake taking the chair beside me. We went through the usual motions of testing my eyesight, including dilating my eyes. “Well Miss Blair. It looks like from the last prescription you brought me, your eyesight has in fact gotten worse, and that goes for your astigmatism as well.” I sighed, hating that it got worse. “Do you want contacts and glasses?” I immediately shook my head. “Glasses only.” He nodded. “Very well, if you go out here we can get you set up with frames.” I grabbed my bag and Jake held my hand as we walked out, seeing as my eyes were still dilated and I felt unsteady on my feet. “Can you even see these?” He asked and I nodded. “Up close I can.” I said, grabbing a set of frames and holding them close to look at them. He chuckled as I looked around, holding each set close. I quickly noticed a pair of Kate Spade ones. They were a metal frame and the lenses were back and mostly rounded and rimless on the bottom. The stems were gold in color and the tips were black on the outside, but white on the inside with black polka dots. I looked at the price before quickly putting them away and moving on, but nothing caught my interest like they did. “See anything you like?” Jake asked from behind me, startling me. I sighed, setting another pair back on the rack. “No. I can get the prescription and order some online.” I said and he hummed, nodding. When I didn’t find anything I got my prescription, and we headed out. “Anything else you want to do while we’re out?” I smirked, rolling my head to look over at him. “Yeah, actually. Can we go to the bookstore?” He just smiled at me before busting out laughing. “Anything you want, darlin’.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @wkndwlff @alltimereverie @cherrycola27 @daisydaisygoose @rosiahills22 @deanoheartspie @cornishkat @high-speed-r @fogle97 @mygyn @ohgodnotagainn @emma8895eb @senjoritanana @genius2050 @sandaltoesocks @mayhemmanaged @dempy @itsdesiree86 @callsign-athena @jstarr86 @brooke-stinson @rachkon @topguncultleader @bethbunnyy @topgun-imagines @clancycucumber230 @seitmai @kkrenae @djs8891 @shanimallina87 @wildxwidow @eugene-emt-roe @hisredheadedgoddess28 @littlewhiterose @formulapierre @wade-wilsons-chew-toy @bethabear12 @halstead-severide-fan

#undiagnosed #top gun maverick #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #hangman #jake seresin top gun #jake hangman seresin imagine #hangman seresin #ADHD OC #jake seresin x neurodivergent oc

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aerodaltonimperial · 4 months

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✨Fic Writing Review 2023✨

Tagged by @rosabellebelieve and oh girl. Ain't nobody ready for these stats LOL. Uh oh. Also, I've removed all collab fics for purposes of this, as it doesn't really seem fair since I only wrote, like, half of them lmao.

Words and Fics

268,626 words in 2023 (mother of god)

52 fics on AO3 (dear christ)

I'm not even counting Tumblr ficlets, oh god, don't make me

Top 5 Pairings

💚🖤Jack/Darby (24) (NUMBER ONE???? how tho)

🧡🖤Hook/Danhausen (23)

💚🧡Jack/Hook (5)

🔮🍑Julia/Anna (4)

🧡🎤Max Caster/Hook (3) & 🧡🍊Orange/Hook (3) (HAHAHAHAHA)

Top 5 by kudos

i found love where it wasn't supposed to be (right in front of me) [Hookhausen]

man of lesser words [Hookhausen]

don't need a cure for love [Orange/Hook]

baby please (would you read my eulogy) [JungleCorpse]

you're the realest thing i've never had to fake [Hookhausen]

Top 5 by hits

baby please (would you read my eulogy) [JungleCorpse]

i found love where it wasn't supposed to be (right in front of me) [Hookhausen]

now you know how i feel [Hookhausen]

Weekend in Fresno: or, a Hook choose your own dating adventure [Hook/everyone]

threat level: euclid [HH, JC, SP]

Fandom Events in 2023

I made it to a wrestling show! Since they never go near me and my life is what it is, I really can't manage more than one a year, and I've got to be lucky to get that to work, but this was a big deal and I'm so happy that I could make it happen!

ALSO I MADE UP A FUCKING PAIRING AND GOT IT TO THE #1 FOR BOTH PARTIES INVOLVED you know what this counts as an event LMAOOOOO i'm thinking no one should actually have this power

Upcoming Projects

If I ever stop bemoaning my perceived lack of skill, I've got 2/3 of a fic that Vamp prompted dialogue for, largely me writing something fluffy and saccharine because she was trying to write smut and we were both trying to write out of our wheelhouses lol

Writing reflection

Well! 2023 was quite a year, honestly. I was going to be like OH HOLY SHIT about my word count but when I took our collabs, it dropped so fast, so that's good, I guess (???). I'm still so happy I discovered wrestling, because it's been easily 12 years since I had this amount of creativity for a single fandom. And this year I really stretched out and started writing new stuff within the wrestling fandom! That's exciting (depending what you followed me for, I suppose LOL).

But more than anything else, this year I looked at what I wanted to write and said, FUCK IT, I'M WRITING IT. And I started dropping horror shit I fully expected that no one would read, because I didn't think people came to fandom for spooky stuff??? And lo and behold, y'all really showed up for those fics! I'm forever grateful you saw me writing absolutely batshit horror and were like yes, Katy, we will also read this creepfest. So much love.

I also tried to write more smut, which I am not particularly adept at, and also some darker themes. I do try to write lighthearted things, haha, but my own mental state has been not stellar, and I think that tends to come out in my fics. And I started writing femslash, which this fandom needs so much more of! So. All in all, a real banger year for me in fandom. I'm pretty proud of a LOT of the fics I wrote this year.

And, obviously, 2023 would not be complete with me mentioning that Vamp and I produced an epic shit ton of words together, and MORE IMPORTANTLY had an absolute blast in doing so. What a whirlwind writing together has been!!! I think we've really gotten to this point of just great flow, and I'm super proud of how we work so well like we do. We DO HAVE SOMETHING ELSE COMING but we've been "planning" it since August and haven't written it yet, so HAHAHA. Anyway. Expect that in 2025, or something. ;)

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please do eat glass, I’ve heard it’s good for your gums.

Tagging: @whysamwhy123 @meeplanguage @fille-lioncelle and anyone else who wants to take a stab at this!

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jajanvm-imbi · 3 months

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Hazbin Hotel 4 episode premiere review Part 2

Part 1 | Part 3

I'm gonna preface this by saying that I am enjoying Hazbin in the same way I enjoy Helluva Boss. I've been following the series since the pilot's release, I've gotten more and more excited with every announcement leading up to it's offical release and I've already watched every episode several times.

HOWEVER, just like with Helluva Boss, there are a lot of issues with Hazbin that I feel are very fair criticisms worth talking about.

This isn't going to be another bad-faith rambling about how the show is shit, how everyone who likes it is stupid, and how Viv and her creative team deserved all of the harassment they've gotten for the past couple of years. Like I said I've been enjoying Hazbin and Helluva for what they are a lot, but just because I enjoy both shows doesn't mean I don't think there are many issues with it.

This post is going to be discussing Hazbin's issues ofc, but I'd really like to sit down and write up all of my issues with Helluva one day as well because any issues in Hazbin are almost always 10x worse in Helluva.

So now with that our of the way, here's my critique on Hazbin Hotel as someone who enjoys the show:

Buckle up cause this post is gonna be long

What I believe the main issue for Hazbin Hotel boils down to the same issue for Helluva Boss:

Pacing

The pacing in Hazbin is......not great. Don't get me wrong, its waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the pacing in Helluva Boss, by like, a lot. But that doesn't mean its, well, good.

The Over-Reliance on the Pilot's Popularity.

So, there's no actual introduction to any character but Charlie and mayyyyyyyybe Vaggie. But the rest of the cast is just, there, and the audience is supposed to know who they are automatically. And even then, the introduction to the premise is almost non-existent in the first ep.

For those of us who have been following the series for years know who these characters are and what the plot of the series is, but for the causal viewer who's scrolling through Prime and stumbles upon Hazbin, there's no proper introduction to what's happening.

It's almost like its required to watch the pilot before watching the actual series in order to have any idea whats happening. And thats a problem because the pilot isn't an episode its a pilot. For like 99% shows, the audience never sees the pilot. Season 1 episode 1 has to start from square 1, reintroducing who's who and what's going on.

The first ep of Hazbin takes place one week after the pilot. Which means they all acknowledge the pilot happened, its not retconed or anything, but it's still not an episode.

The pilot takes the time to establish Charlie's base personality, her motives, how the rest of hell treats her, and the significance of Alastor's presence at the hotel. Charlie getting bullied by Katie Killjoy at the news station does more for establishing Charlie's character and her motives than anything in all 4 episodes of the official premiere. There isn't really anything to show how hell doesn't take Charlie seriously, either. (The closest thing we get is how Valentino talks about Charlie when she's not there) Yeah Adam bullies her in ep 1 but that heaven not hell. S1 ep 1 "Overture" just expects the audience to already know what's happening.

There is literally no reason why they couldn't have just remade the pilot into an actual episode with a few changes and the new voice cast (obv), and then pick up the next day instead of the next week.

Like is the whole terf war still happening? Cause it isn't acknowledged at all in the premiere. Maybe they could have added Alastor's mysterious 7 year "sabatical" into Vaggie's explanation of Alastor to Angel.

It would have been so easy to just remake the pilot into an episode since the pilot does such a good job of establishing whats going on. A well known example of a show doing just that is the Gravity Falls pilot. The pilot is obviously shorter and the supporting cast is missing, but the plot of the episode is still the same and it establishes the personalities for the 3 main characters. Anyway-

2. The Hotel Isn't Even the Central Focus

They introduced the conflict between Heaven and Hell waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too soon.

This is the exact same thing that happened with Helluva Boss. The pilot displayed a clear premise for the series and then when the series officially airs it turns out the premise isn't even the central focus.

It isnt as offensive in Hazbin because at least Hazbin's central focus is on something still somewhat relevant to the plot which is "helping sinners". In Helluva Boss the central focus is "Owo angsty gay relationship drama", which is completely irrelevant to the initial "imps in hell are hits for hire up on earth and shenanigans ensue" premise.

Why are we being introduced to heaven's schemes to do more than one extermination a year before Charlie even gets a chance to prove there are some sinners interested in being redeemed? It would have been a MILLION times more impactful if Charlie got maybe two or three sinners actually looking to be redeemed to stay at the hotel, who were hopeful that they still had a chance to live a better life, only for all of Charlie's hopes to be crushed by Adam's rejection.

If Charlie had people who believed in her, if she saw how much faith they had in her to help them change their lives around, only for her to come back from her meeting not only saying the angels rejected her but that the next extermination was sooner than anticipated, OUGH would it have hurt.

Instead, the hotel is treated like a background or just a thing to do in the meantime while the characters focus on the Heaven vs. Hell conflict or other stuff.

The show just immediately jumps into the whole Heaven vs. Hell thing without really even focusing on the hotel and what Charlie is trying to do, AKA the title of the fucking show. Why even bother calling the series Hazbin Hotel if you aren't going to even focus on why the hotel exists in the first place????

We as the audience need to spend time at the hotel with the characters in order for us to get attached to Charlie's cause before you dash all our hopes away. Then we can root for Charlie as she overcomes Heaven's hypocrisy with the help of her friends. (which kind of goes back to the over reliance on the pilot)

And the cherry on top would have been that this is the perfect set up for some fun ""filler"" character establishing episodes while Charlie works with the sinners.

There's a reason why most people seem to recognize ep 4 "Masquerade" as the best episode out of the 4 despite also being the most graphic, followed by ep 2 "Radio Killed the Video Star". Both ep 2 and ep 4 are more one off self contained stories you would usually see in a more episodic series, and they're wonderfully entertaining because they're still being treated like introductions. Ep 2 takes the time to properly introduce the Vs and their connections to the main cast, particularly Vox and Alastor's rivalry. Ep 4 introduced Angel's situation with Valentino to the audience, which is a major part of his character, and Angel is part of the main cast so this isn't out of place. The conflicts between the Vs and the main cast aren't resolved by the end of either of these episodes, but thats because they're still only introductions.

The problem with ep 1 and ep 3 is that we're charging ahead with the whole Heaven vs. Hell conflict with characters we still barely know.

The issues with ep 1 mainly tie back into point 1. with how there was no proper reintroduction to anything in the series, and the show immediately crushes Charlie's dreams before we are even properly introduced to them again. Adam being an asshole to Charlie and them moving up the next extermination date has no impact because we as the audience barely knows who these characters even are.

In episode 3, the hotel and the team building stuff is the B plot while Alastor and his meeting with the other Overlords is the A plot??? In the third episode of the series????

I was confused with why ep 3 featured a Velvette and Camilla duet and a Vaggie and Camilla duet because we barely know who Velvette and Camillia are. Why did Camilla get a whole ass power ballad about protecting her daughters from an exorcist if we barely know who Camilla is??? Why was she paired with Vaggie, a character we've already grown attached to for the past 2 episodes??? Vaggie had some nice character moments in ep 3 but it was overshadowed by Camilla's presence because we don't know nearly enough about Camilla for a parallel between her and Vaggie to feel appropriate.

Velvette had some fun banter with Vox in ep 2 but only for like a minute, why is she singing about being better than everyone else?? Vox and Valentino had way more screentime than Velvette so far, so why should we as the audience believe that she's the "backbone of the Vs" and thats why she's feels like she can be disrespectful to Camilla and Zestial? The show doesn't even directly acknowledge that Velvette is the newest and youngest of the overlords, thats information given to us from????Instragram??? Why is Velvette the "backbone of the Vs"?? I'm not saying they should have done a whole backstory episode before this scene, I'm saying there should have at least been a scene foreshadowing Velvette being the mastermind behind the Vs' power or something.

And both the issues with Camilla ad Velvette tie back into how they're talking about starting a fucking WAR with HEAVEN?????????? We barely know anything about the conflict between Heaven and Hell why would a war between the two being a real threat in the mind of the audience??? And what does any of this Overlord drama have to do with Charlie's mission to rehabilitate sinners??? They don't care about the new extermination date because of Charlie's mission they just don't want to fucking die.

Its way too soon to be talking about all this with characters we as the audience barely know. None of this had anything to do with the hotel or Charlie's goals.

So in conclusion to this section, the writers at Hazbin have done the same thing they did with Helluva, which is: They expect the audience to care about the characters and the plot without actually giving us a reason why. Because the pilot was so popular and was the only thing we had of Hazbin for 4 years, they decided that the pilot's popularity was good enough to take the place of actual character establishing work. They felt like since the pilot already generated a large fanbase, they didn't need to do any of the work to get the audience to care about the characters and the plot because they already do. So now the writers are charging ahead with all this fluff and drama, talking about things that are irrelevant to the premise without re-establishing anything because they felt like the pilot are did that for them. Long time fans are gonna eat this all up regardless because we've been waiting for more episodes for YEARS, but Hazbin is going to have a very hard time gaining any new audience on a mainstream platform like Prime Video because the show is incomplete. No casual viewer scrolling through Prime is going to want to click off of Prime, log onto YouTube and watch the 45 minute pilot in order to then understand Hazbin Hotel the series. Causal viewers are going to watch the first episode thinking "Oh I've heard of this lets see what the hype is all about" and then be super confused on whats happening and who all these characters are and quickly loose interest. No one wants to do homework in order to enjoy a show. At least with Helluva Boss the entire show is on YouTube and the official playlist with all the episodes includes the pilot so new viewers don't have to leave the platform. Hazbin already has a second season confirmed right out of the gate, and the fanbase is already large enough to keep the show going (hopefully), but honestly I fear Viv and her team are gonna have a really hard time getting their numbers to grow because of these choices. Lets see how all this plays out.

There's one more thing that I wanted to bring up because it is a glaring issue but people have been talking about it since the pilot so I'll keep it brief.

Character Designs and Color Palette

Yes, Viv's artstyle suffers from "Tumblr Sexyman Syndrome".

Every other character wears a suit and bowtie. Which makes sense for some of them, Charlie and Vox in specifically. Charlie is a princess so she dresses formally and Vox is a business man. (Although why does Vox wear a bowtie and not a regular necktie?)

Alastor, Sir Pentious, and Angel however? Why? I get how a suit and tie could fit into their respective aesthetics, but there are also different outfits from their respective time periods that could have made more sense and would have easily solved this issue.

By having every other character wear the same outfit, we loose the sense that all these characters are from different periods of time and places. Which is a shame because Hell is the PERFECT setting to have all these different time periods collide in a way that makes sense.

No one questions why a 1940s gangster from New York, an English inventor from 1830s London, a radio host from 1930s Louisiana, a housemaid from the 1950s, a Vegas gambler from idk when, etc... are all in the same location because they're all in Hell. They all died at different periods in time but they all ended up in the same place! It was such a missed opportunity to have fun with this hogpoge of different aesthetics and it sucks because it would have been so visually interesting and engaging!

It also doesn't help that almost everyone is wearing red. And not just red, but the same shade of red as the fucking SKY. Like look at this shit:

Like rip to any colorblind person trying to watch this.

I'm genuinely shocked that this wasn't corrected while redesigning the main cast. Viv went to the School of Visual Arts (SVA), one of the top schools for animation on the East Coast. I refuse to believe she didn't learn how bad this in school.

This is one of the only areas in which Helluva Boss is actually better than Hazbin. The imps all have the same color palette, red white and black, but because they regularly travel to other rings of Hell, earth, and interact with other beings in Hell like, sinners, succubi, hellhounds, the Sins, etc.... they stand out. The imps don't blend into the background (as often) like the Hazbin cast does.

But because the Hazbin cast can't travel to the other rings of Hell according to the lore (which I don't mind), then it was up to Viv and the other designers on the team to find a creative solution to make the characters stand out against the bright red sky. Instead they made it infinitely worse than the pilot by putting everyone in red.

At least in the pilot, Charlie wore pink and black, Vaggie wore grey and white, Angel wore white, Nifty had a splash of yellow etc... But now literally 90% of the cast is in the same shade of bright red as Alastor and the SKY. Like we get it they're in Hell they don't need to wear red to convey that because the SKY is red and has a fucking PENTAGRAM IN IT. We know the hotel is in Hell it doesn't need to be red either

The best scenes in the show visually so far are when the characters aren't outside or in the hotel. For example:

Charlie in the Heaven clocktower, Angel dancing in Poison, Angel and Husk outside the bar (I know I just said when they aren't outside but that background has enough variety of color that it actually works very well)

I am honest to God baffled how this wasn't corrected. Its like, Character Design 101, how was Viv allowed to get away with this?

Anyway

CW: brief mention of abuse

Those are my first impressions on Hazbin Hotel the official series. I know there are only 4 episodes out but the fact that the series started like this is genuinely concerning. Viv was given the opportunity of a lifetime, what started as a indie project was picked up by a well respected studio and distributed by Prime Video. She gained a massive fanbase right off the bat and had all the tools to make this series something special. People are tired of the oversaturation of remakes and reboots and sequels and prequels and spin offs and live actions and whatever that seeing a new show with a whole new concept and setting and characters is exciting! Not many big studios are willing to invest in bold new ideas anymore. People are starving for something new, but when the new stuff is, well, this, its pretty disappointing.

I'm going to continue watching Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss because despite the many glaring issues both shows have, I do still find them entertaining.

I don't mind all the swearing, (even when it does get annoying), I don't mind the sense of humor, I'm not too offended by the Tumblr Sexyman artstyle. I'm a musical theater lover, so I don't mind the musical numbers, especially with such a stacked talented cast. I can personally handle darker, more intense topics like Angel's abuse.

I was excited for the series to premiere, I'm excited for future episodes, and I honestly believe the reason why I still find these shows enjoyable is because I love doing breakdowns like this. I love analyzing the media I consume, I love understanding how and why shows fail, and bad shows have more to analyze than good shows do lmfao.

And don't get me wrong, there are things about the series that I really love as they are! But that's for a different post lol.

If you're still reading this I hope you enjoyed my review Hazbin Hotel so far. I know in the past I said I was prepared to not engage with the fandom at all because there was too much drama and the hatedom is honestly equally, if not more annoying than the fandom, but I couldn't resist doing a whole long ass post about the show, jaja. I have too much fun with this sort of stuff!

#yall better appreciate this cause I was trying to upload those screenshots instead of getting ready for work #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel spoilers #helluva boss #vivziepop #vivienne medrano #spindlehorse toons #spindlehorse

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love2write2626 · 2 years

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I Wouldn’t Be Complete Without You

Summary: Tom and Reader have known each other since high school. Best friends... never anything more... even though in secret he always wished something happened between them. As Tom became more and more famous he was in need of an Assistant so who better than his best friend? 20 years later Tom is married... but separated from his wife Katie Holmes, Trying to fix his marriage, raise a child, and work is becoming a lot.

Reader has known Tom since high school. Best friends never anything else... which is very hard for her, she’s been in love with him forever. Now, still best friends, hiding her love for him has become harder and harder over the years. She’s not an actress after all. Now, Tom needs her more than ever with everything going on in his life.

Read Chapter 2 HERE

Read Chapter 3 HERE

I Wouldn’t Be Complete Without You One-Shot Masterlist HERE

Here is chapter 1: Hope you Enjoy!!!

Chapter 1

Y/N’s P.O.V

“No! No. No. No” I said into the phone walking down the stairs, juggling folders, and my shoes which I still hadn’t had a chance to put on yet. “Jackson. No. You have been telling me for two weeks now, that the article is almost done.” I sighed “Jackson, listen” I groaned this man is being a pain in the ass and it’s much too early for this shit. I walked into the kitchen and saw Tom getting breakfast ready for him, and Suri. When he saw me, he gave me a bright smile.

“Morning” He said

“No. No. I’m tired of this, Jackson I need to have a rough draft of that article by noon today, or you will lose the right to print it at all.” I listened as he tried to babble some threat back to me “Jackson, the article was supposed to be printed a week after the interview, which was 2 months ago”

“Coffee?” Tom asked, I gave him a kiss on the cheek as a thank you, and grabbed the cup walking around the kitchen

“Jackson, I’m done with your excuses noon today, or I will have the whole interview retracted and we will take it to literally any other magazine” I said and hung up the phone. I threw my phone on the counter and let out a groan

“Wow, He must of made you really mad Y/N” Suri said in an adorable voice and I giggled

“Don’t worry I’m not mad Suri”

“Nope, I’ve known Y/N for over 20 years… she’s not mad, you’ll know when she’s mad” Tom said with a chuckle, I threw a towel at him which he easily dodged and went back to making breakfast

“Ready for school?” I asked her, as I took another sip of my coffee

“Yup, I got to take lots, and lots of notes today there’s a math test on Friday and today is the test review”

“You’ll do great sweetheart” Tom said, he placed some eggs on her plate, and kissed the top of her head.

“Y/N?” she asked

“Yes?” I asked with a smile

“Will, you help me study for my test tonight” she said with a pouty face, that was very difficult to say no to.

“Sweetheart I would love to, but I have something to do tonight…” I looked at Tom and I didn’t miss the confusion that crossed his face before he went back to making breakfast for himself.

“Please, please… just a few minutes… you always help me study”

“Ok, fine… but only for a little while” she gave me a hug

“Thank you, thank you” she jumped up and started to run for the door

“Sweetie sit down, you haven’t finished breakfast”

“Dad I’m going to miss the bus” she said

“I was hoping I could take you to school today” he said

“Dad” she gave him a look, and I couldn’t help but giggle. She is only 8 years old, but she is a sassy girl… can’t even imagine what’s she’s going to be like as a teenager.

“Ok, I surrender go on” he said, she ran over and gave him a hug before running out the door. He turned back to the stove grabbed the pan and put some eggs on his plate. “I would offer you some, but I know how you hate eating breakfast” I rolled my eyes

“Someone is grumpy this morning” I said

“I just don’t like the idea of her riding the bus” he said

“Tom…”

“She’s only 8”

“Tom, she’s going to be ok. I know you have security following that bus”

“What?” he asked

“Tom, when are you going to learn I know all” I said with a smirk “I have access to your email, texts, phone calls, bank accounts… I see who you call, email, text, and pay… hell I know your social security number… could have stolen your identity years ago, and be living alone on an island” he rolled his eyes

“Very funny, you would miss me” he said

“No, you would miss me, you might be the extraordinary, bad ass actor/stunt man… but you wouldn’t be able to function day to day without me”

“Please” he said with a scoff

“Ok, what’s your social security number?” I asked with a smirk, he glared at me “I’ll try one easier what’s your phone number?” I continued to smirk as I took a sip of my coffee

“Ok, fine you win… jeez you are on a rampage this morning”

“Ok, save the dramatics for the screen Mr. Reacher” I said with a smile.

“That’s Jack Reacher” he said

“Ok, Jack Reacher get ready to go to work”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I am sitting in Tom’s chair staring at my lap top going through email after email, making appointments, and working my way through Tom’s schedule when my phone dinged

Can’t wait to see you tonight.

I smiled when I read the message from David. I’ve been seeing David in secret for a few months now… and when I say secret I mean secret to Tom. I know if I told him I was seeing someone he will go into all protective mode. It always annoys the shit out of me.

“What’s got you smiling?” he asked, I looked up I didn’t even realize they cut

“Oh, this pathetic excuse of an article Jackson sent me” I said giggling

“So what are we doing tonight?”

“Huh?” I asked

“You said you couldn’t help Suri tonight because we had plans, I didn’t realize we did”

“No… I said I had plans”

“You have plans?” he asked

“Yeah, isn’t that strange? I have a life outside of you”

“So what are Your plans?” he asked

“My plans are none of your business” I said, he smirked

“I’ll figure out your plans”

“What?”

“By refusing to tell me, you have given me a challenge… I’ll figure it out”

“You’re an idiot, go back to set” he kissed my cheek

“I’ll figure it out” he said walking off, I bit my lip and gently touched where he kissed me… even though we kissed each other on the cheek very often it always made me want to blush whenever he kissed mine. I walked closer to the set, and watched Tom. He is an incredible actor, and no matter how hard I try I can’t help but fall in love with him over and over again. It might sound strange but I have loved him since I was 17, the moment I locked eyes with him… I was done for

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

20 years ago

I am sitting reading my book for English class, as always I am drawn in by the beautiful literature before me. Shakespeare is my favorite author… so far, I know as I get older I will be exposed to more and more authors that are equally as good… maybe even better.

I am currently sitting outside on the bleachers away from everyone, not one you would call popular. I keep to myself that’s how I like it, since I live in a time where liking to read is known as a loser thing to do, I just accepted that fate and stay away from everyone.

“Excuse me” I looked up and locked eyes with Tom Cruise… he’s one of the popular boys in school. I looked around trying to figure out who he was talking to. This gorgeous man can’t be talking to the weirdo who likes to read, and wears glasses.

“Me?” I asked, and he chuckled

“Yeah, I mean there’s no one else here” he said, and I blushed “Y/N, right?” he asked

“Yeah… um that’s my name” I said hesitantly

“Well, we’re in the same English class, and I forgot to write down the assignment I was hoping you could tell me what it is”

“Oh, sure. One second” I put the book down, and reached for my bag to pull out my binder

“Romeo and Juliet?” he asked “Didn’t we read this one already?” he asked

“Um yeah… but the assignment is to pick one of the Shakespeare plays and write about it, and as clique as it is, this is my favorite… I think I’ve read it 10 times” I said, I blushed and reached for my binder again and he chuckled. Great now he’s going to start making fun of me.

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou her maid art far more fair than she.” I looked at him expecting him to be looking at the book but to my surprise we was looking at me

“You know Romeo and Juliet?” I asked

“Yeah, we already read it” he said with a chuckle

“But you know it by memory” I said, he just smirked

“I may have read it a few times myself”

“You like to read?” I asked

“Why do you seem so shocked?” he asked confused

“Well… I mean… um… I’m just going to let you copy the assignment and not say anything else” I said

“Is it because I’m popular?” I shrugged my shoulders

“Well, yeah”

“Eh, it’s not all its cracked up to be… I’m not really sure how I got wrapped up with them. We really don’t have much in common”

“Well, you dating the cheer captain probably has something to do with it… and the fact you are ridiculously good looking”

“Really?” he said smirking

“Did I say that out loud?” I said, and he just kept smirking “Well, now that I just made a complete fool out of myself, I’m going to leave…” I ripped out the paper in my notebook with the assignment. “Take it, I don’t need it”

“Hey, hey… you don’t have to leave… I’m sorry for embarrassing you. It’s ok, many people tell me I’m good looking”

“Now you’re just being arrogant” I said

“Well, I think you’re very beautiful” he said, and I’m sure my heart stopped “I think your glasses are adorable, and your hair is really pretty” suddenly I got angry, this is got to be a joke. One of the popular guys coming over here to complement me?

“You’re just here to make fun of me aren’t you?” I stood up, to walk away but he grabbed my hand

“I’m not making fun of you” he said, but I couldn’t ignore the feeling running through my body as he held onto my hand “I’m not lying, I’m not an asshole”

“Why?” he laughed

“Why, do I think you’re pretty?”

“Why, are you here talking to me? I’m a nobody”

“Everybody is somebody… social status means nothing… and I like you, you seem really nice. You never give me the chance to talk to you, you always run out of class before I can reach you”

“I don’t understand why you want to get to know me”

“Because you don’t care about me”

“What?”

“You are the only person in the school who doesn’t run to my side and want to talk to me”

“So you’re making it your mission to talk to me?”

“Not a mission… I just want to talk to someone who likes things other than popularity” I looked at him confused “I like school, I love reading, history, and drama. I love it all. I want to talk to someone who also like learning things, my favorite thing to do it learn new things” I opened my mouth to speak, when Jessica appeared

“Tom” she said in her annoying voice “Tom, why are you here, you’re supposed to walk me to practice” she said

“I was just talking to Y/N… we were talking about Romeo and Juliet” she looked at me with disgust

“You sit with my boyfriend for 2 minutes, and you already infected him with your nerdiness” she said with disgust “Tom, let’s go before she turns you into a complete nerd” she said giggling

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that”

“What?” she asked him

“You can’t talk to her like that”

“Why not? She’s a loser”

“No, she’s a person like everyone else… and no one deserves to be spoken to like that”

“Tom, let’s go”

“No, I’m going to stay here and talk to my friend, you can take yourself to cheer practice”

“Tom, if you don’t walk me to cheer practice then we are done” she said

“Ok, fine” he said standing up, I sighed he was doing so well then she threatened him with a break up and he followed her. I watched as she leaned in to kiss him, but he stepped back. “Ok, fine I’m breaking up with you.”

“You’re breaking up with me, because of this loser?” she asked

“No, I’m breaking up with you, because I’m tired of you being so controlling, being a bitch to everyone… oh, you having sex with the quarter back in the locker room”

“That only happened one time” she said, wow she wasn’t even going to deny it

“I know for a fact it happened 4 times” she looked shocked “So, goodbye” he said

“You’re going to regret this Tom, no one breaks up with me” she stormed off, and he walked back over to me and sat down.

“Are you ok?” I asked

“Yeah, I honestly feel free” he said with a smile

“So, what do you say… you wanna be my friend? I know for a fact she’s going to turn the whole school against me… I need someone on my side” he said with a chuckle. I smiled

“Sure”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I looked at myself in the mirror, putting the finishing touches on my makeup getting ready for my date.

“So I guess you going to the spa is not your plans for the night” I jumped

“Tom, you can’t just walk in here” I said

“It’s my house” he said

“Yeah, but this is my room. Which I pay you rent for” he rolled his eyes

“Please, that money you give me every month goes into your next paycheck… I would never let you pay me to live here” I groaned

“What, do you want?”

“Where are you going?” he asked, I pushed past him and went downstairs to get my purse

“Tom, you don’t need to know everything I do” I said as he followed behind me

“I don’t need to know, but as your best friend I want to know” I sighed he is never going to give this up

“I’m going on a date” he gave me a blank stare, after a few seconds he finally said “anyone I know?”

“No.”

“How, did you meet?”

“Through a friend” I said

“What’s his name?”

“David”

“David…”

“You don’t get his last name, because I know you’re going to do a back ground check and tell me all the reasons I can’t date him” he looked shocked

“No, I…”

“Tom, you’ve done that for every guy I have ever dated. Trust me, we’ve been seeing each other for a few months… he’s a nice guy” I said with a smile

“I just worry about you, You and Suri are the most important people in my life. If anything happened to you…”

“Tom, I’m going to be fine… now go help Suri study. I’ll see you later” I said walking out the door.

“Wait” I turned around

“He’s um… he’s a lucky guy, you look beautiful” he said. I walked over and kissed his cheek

“Thank you for not being over bearing about this” I said

“Go have fun” he said with a fake smile. as I reached the door, I heard “Just be careful, and be sure he treats you with the respect you deserve”

“I will” I turned around to look at him, but he was already headed up the stairs. David a really nice guy, and I really like him… but why am I so heart broken? When will I stop loving Tom?

So what did you think?

Next Chapter will talk more about Tom’s upcoming divorce.

@luckyladycreator2 @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @blue-aconite @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @peaches-1999 @callsign-blue @dempy @roostersforevergirl @allivingstone01 @harper1666

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bedtimestoriesforbrokengirls · 2 months

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The Daily Dad — Feb 23, 2024

Things you might want to know:

Alan Cumming plays a character on Traitors, but season 2’s surprises snapped him back to reality ❝ "Do you mean you want it to be sort of like a James Bond villain?"

Here are the full dimensions of the 2024 iPad Air and iPad Pro 💭 A 12.9” iPad Air will be a very compelling device. I’d miss FaceID, and the iPad Pro’s Mini LED screen is frequently gorgeous, but other than that… a big-ass M3 Air with TouchID would be the sweet spot for a lot of people.

Vice Media to halt publishing to namesake site, cut 'several hundred' jobs in restructuring | CBC News ❝ The head of Vice Media Group has informed employees that the company will stop publishing content on Vice.com and will be cutting several hundred positions.

'Community' Movie Script Is 'Almost Done,' Says Dan Harmon (EXCLUSIVE) ❝ Show creator and the film's writer Dan Harmon confirmed to Variety that work on the "Community" film is "almost done."

Bluesky starts letting users host their own servers ❝ The decentralized social network is rolling out the initial phase of self-hosting, letting users host their own data and run their own servers on the AT Protocol.

Scheana Shay Granted Sole Ownership of New Home With Husband Brock Davies ❝ Scheana Shay's husband Brock Davies has agreed to grant Scheana with sole ownership of their new $2.5 million home.

90 Day Fiance's Mary Clarifies Colon Cancer Claim: 'I Made a Mistake' 💭 Even accounting for the language barrier, this is a bizarre “mistake”. But given Mary’s history of panic attacks, I can actually see her hearing “your colon” and immediately jumping to a cancerous conclusion. And her idiot husband would buy whatever she said without asking for details. So I can believe the whole thing was the work of two nervous nitwits, not a couple grifters.

A little US company makes history by landing on the Moon ❝ “We’re not dead yet."

'Drive-Away Dolls' Review: Ethan Coen's Queer Crime Joyride ❝ It's the first solo Coen film suffused with personality, thanks mostly to Margaret Qualley's free-spirited queer horndog.

Katy Perry's 'American Idol' Exit: Son of 84-Year-Old Vet Says Pop Star Should Be 'Run Out' of Showbiz as Vicious Court Battle Rages on 💭 It’s hard for me to give a shit when the 84-year old vet in question is a rich fucker whose kid is pissed that his drug-addled daddy sold a piece of his inheritance.

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty Reportedly Getting a New Title - IGN 💭 I have never understood why anyone liked Kang. The prize of my teenaged comic collection was Avengers #11 —I paid $10 for a tattered copy in 1981– which featured Kang as the villain, and I thought he was boring and pointless even at the height of my enthusiasm for such things. I get why Feige didn’t want to do Doom, Galactus, or Dark Phoenix at this point, especially when this whole phase has been devoted to establishing the norms of the multiverse. But still… Kang is a bad visual with zero gravitas.

Apple’s iMessage Is Getting Post-Quantum Encryption ❝ Useful quantum computers aren’t a reality—yet. But in one of the biggest deployments of post-quantum encryption so far, Apple is bringing the technology to iMessage.

Can I Tell You a Secret? review – this superb documentary perfectly evokes the horror of cyberstalking ❝ Detailed, personal, terrifying … this excellent two-parter follows a Guardian investigation into the recipient of the longest ever sentence for online stalking – by focusing on the victims

Frozen embryos are “children,” according to Alabama’s Supreme Court 💭 What I’ve learned from this: we’re all six to nine months older than we thought. And we’re going to have twenty-six year olds with baby teeth starting grade school. And Alabama is ruled by morons. (That last one isn’t a new observation.)

Signal will soon let you share a username instead of your phone number ❝ Signal is rolling out a new feature that will let you create and share a username to connect with other users in the app instead of revealing your phone number.

Another wall crumbles in the console exclusivity war: Sony is bringing official PSVR2 support to PC 💭 This is very interesting. Meta needs competition, and Sony needs a reason to manufacture more headsets.

Newly spotted black hole has mass of 17 billion Suns, adding another daily ❝ An accretion disk 7 light-years across powers an exceptionally bright galaxy.

The top streamed shows are almost all old. Why? 💭 For starters: twenty episode seasons. Continuity Lite. Old school filler scenes/episodes and the rhythms of dip-to-black breaks are actually as good for multitasking viewers as they were for pause-free households. And every single broadcast episode was an on-boarding opportunity, not a piece in a narrative puzzle.

Babs Reunites Crossed Creators Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows - IGN ❝ Crossed creators Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows are reuniting for Babs, a new series that puts an irreverent spin on sword and sorcery comics like Conan and Red Sonja.

Micheal Keaton Refused to Let 'Beetlejuice 2' Use Green Screens ❝ Michael Keaton said the only way to make 'Beetlejuice 2' was for it to be handmade and not rely on too much technology.

#news

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mandareeboo · 10 months

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Total Drama Island Review, “Not So Happy Campers- Part 2”

Last time, on Total Drama Island! The campers arrived, set their bags down, and were instantly told to take a swan dive off a massive cliff. This is where things get juicy.

Unlike last time, where the review was bare bones, this parter will also include various character mistakes- evidence, shall we say- and a chance to vote off who you feel should've been the one to go! I'm thinking of making this a weekly thing- just like the episode airings!

SYNOPSIS

(Gwen) "I did NOT sign up for this."

After the opening credits, Chris explains the challenges for today: jumping off a 1,000-foot high cliff, grabbing supplies from the beach, and building a working hot tub.

The lake itself has been stocked with man-eating sharks, a trope that's haunted the shark community since Jaws. To survive unscathed they must land in this tiny little circle in the center, as shown below:

Winners get a hot tub party. Losers send someone home. Owen suggests that the stunt is mostly for show thanks to TV criteria, but we see a flashback that proves that A.) Chris is a terrible boss and B.) 'survivable' is a massive stretch.

Killer Bass are up first. Bridgette lands perfectly in the center, cementing a strong lead- something arguably lost when Tyler lands directly on a buoy. But he gets into the safe zone, so we'll take it. Goeff, Eva, and Duncan all land off-screen, but it's implied they make it to the safe zone.

DJ, scared of heights, refuses to jump. Chris says that's fine and gifts him a chicken hat to wear for the rest of the day.

"Scared of heights?" "Yeah, ever since I was a kid." "That's okay, big guy. Unfortunately, that also makes you a chicken."

Stakes proven, the next contestants yeet themselves without a fuss. Ezekial and Harold (who does a bit of an owie on his balls with a shit landing) make it safely. Courtney, strong in common sense, also refuses to jump, making two chickens for the Bass.

Katie and Sadie, desperate to twinsie their potential smut film, beg Chris to be put on the same team. Izzy agrees to swap with them, making the girls both Killer Bass and Izzy a member of the Gophers. I'll have an updated team listing at the bottom.

They make it, and it's the Gophers' turn. Chris offers the Gophers a pull cart for their load if they can beat the jumper-chicken ratio the Bass set.

Heather refuses to jump. Lindsay refuses to jump if Heather won't, offering Heather a strong asset early on.

Leshawna, not giving a single fuck, demands Heather jump. They get into a discourse that's probably pretty scalding if you're a teenager, also it maaaaaay borderline on slightly racist at times. Leshawna decides to yeet Heather off a cliff and into the safe zone with pure badassery.

Heather, Leshawna, Lindsay, Gwen, Cody, Trent, and Izzy all land safely. Justin is almost eaten by sharks but woos them instead. Beth decides she's unable to jump, leaving only Owen at the top.

"I'm going to die now. I'm going to tot-ally die now."

Owen, a self-proclaimed bad-swimmer, delivers what is quite possibly his obituary before leaping. He makes it with a belly flop!

The next part of the challenge proves to be a simple task for the Gophers, but the Bass quickly run into their own troubles.

Tyler wanders off to pee, followed by Katie and Sadie. Katie and Sadie use poison ivy as a toilet seat. Chris finds this absolutely hilarious.

After opening the boxes with their teeth (Chris' idea), Heather comes over to apologize to Leshawna. She admits to Lindsay later that it's entirely bullshit, and she's just hoping to keep Leshawna close for safety purposes. Lindsay asks if they're friends and Heather agrees, "for now".

The Killer Bass FINALLY arrive with their crates, having ditched Katie and Sadie to let them work through the poison ivy alone. Courtney rallies the team to no avail, and the Gophers quickly win.

(Katie) "So... what do we do now?"

Things get tense at the Bass table during dinner. Consensus is that either Courtney or DJ should be the first to go, as they both refused to jump. Odds are looking more in DJ's favor, however, as his muscle could be really useful in later challenges.

Squabbling ensues. Courtney tries to pin blame on Tyler, but is quickly rebuffed. Then Ezekial opens his mouth.

"Well, I just don't see how we lost, ey? They're the ones that got six girls."

Turns out homeschooling has left a bit of a bad impression in Ezekial's head. Namely that he truly believes women are weaker than men. There's plenty of semantics that can be argued here about his shitty dad for telling his all this junk, but they're sixteen and no one's gonna do that kind of introspection on reality TV.

But, hey! Useful target to keep the chicken-hats on the team.

"Killer Bass. At camp, marshmallows represent a tasty treat that you enjoy roasting by the fire. At this camp, marshmallows represent life."

The passing of marshmallows goes quickly, leaving Courtney and Ezekial as the final two. Courtney, for refusing to jump and not having proper building technique. Ezekial, for being a sexist.

Courtney lives to see the next round. Ezekial gives no farewells as he leaves the island.

Courtney swears vengeance on the Gophers and the episode ends.

FINAL REVIEW

Lads, lasses, and those of the beyond, it's time to see- did this episode win a marshmallow? Or did it walk the dock of shame, board the boat of losers, and go home?

Overall, I think this two-parter is decent. It's a great way to show us the camp, the characters, and the kinds of challenges they'll be facing. But it lacks a lot of the bite of later episodes. Certain characters just don't fit into their later characterizations at all- Heather would never apologize even as a falsehood, Harold didn't do any fancy ninja moves on the jump, and Chris seems to be almost medicated in his calmness. The challenges are disproportionate as well- a great jump followed by... building? I think a more Total Drama-esque one would've started with the building of the hot tub, then be followed by a leap from the cliff into said hot tub.

Verdict: Five out of ten marshmallows. Could be better, but it's a pilot, so it's gonna be a bit rough.

Character Mistakes:

DJ refuses to jump

Courtney refuses to jump

Tyler ducks off to take a whizz mid-challenge

Katie and Sadie also duck off to take a whizz, but are then handicapped by poison ivy

Duncan refuses to share important tools during building

Ezekial was sexist

Character Remaining:

Screaming Gophers: Gwen, Trent, Heather, Cody, Lindsay, Beth, Izzy, Owen, Leshawna, Justin, and Noah

Killer Bass: Goeff, Bridgette, DJ, Tyler, Sadie, Katie, Courtney, Duncan, Eva, and Harold.

#Total Drama Island #Total Drama #Not So Happy Campers #Manda Reviews

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debbiechanclub · 2 months

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I've never wanted to get someone fired more in my life.

My idiot-ass coworker keeps undermining me in front of our colleagues AND IN FRONT OF ME. I already mentioned how last week during our team meeting, he put words in my mouth by basically saying the job was being made too confusing for me to learn. Thankfully, my DPM stuck up for me and flat-out asked him if he was projecting because he hadn't heard ME say anything about the job being too confusing. In fact, the DPM mentioned it to me again today and said he hoped he wasn't out of line saying that to idiot-ass, and I was like no, I'm glad you did.

BUT NOW.

I overheard idiot-ass complaining to my other non-idiot-ass colleague about how he'd brought up to our supervisor that we should review 1-2 documents per week instead of 5-6, "to go at Katie's pace."

BITCH?!

I'm going to say something to our supervisor about it. HE'S bad at the job, WHICH HE HAS FLAT-OUT TOLD ME, and I feel like he knows I'm making him look bad just by being competent, and so he's saying passive aggressive shit like this. Fuck off 🖕🏻🖕🏻

#I feel like our supervisor has been looking for a reason to let him go #I'll fucking give her one

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wiypt-writes · 2 years

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Stark Spangled Banner

One Shot: Love Me Like You Do

KINKTOBER DAY 19: Comfort

Cowritten with @spectre-posts

Summary: Sometimes, even the toughest and bravest of people need comfort…

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Bad language words, smut (NSFW), no under 18s. Mentions of past trauma…

A/N: The second and last Stark Spangled instalment for Kinktobe3r. Once again, huge thanks to my cowriter and collaborator for Kinktober for allowing this indulgence. This slots into the SSB timeline after Chapter 22: I Don’t Like People Touching My Stuff, just after the team have found the Sceptre. If you haven’t read any of the Stark Spangled Universe fics, then be aware this DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR A MAJOR PLOTLINE. However, you can just appreciate the smut in itself if you don’t want to read the rest. And please feel free to check it all out and chat to me with comments and reviews.. Stark Spangled Man is the first starting point…it’s my absolute favourite epic I’ve written. Its’ long as hell but…my total guilty pleasure. I love these babies!

W/C: 3.4k

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist // Kinktober Masterlist

Steve stepped out of the elevator onto the training floor of Avengers Tower, wiping his brow. He’d just been for a run and was now ready to hit the shower and kill a few hours before dinner. He intended to drop in on Tony and Banner, see if they’d made any more headway with whatever it was they were doing with the sceptre.

But first, he wanted to find Katie. She’s been a little quiet that morning. And whilst she insisted she was okay after the whole ‘Dani-with-an-I-’thing, he knew his girl was absolutely one for holding grudges.

Before he had left for his daily jog (or sprint as the case may be for people without super strength and speed), he’d checked the training rota and knew she had a sparring session with Widow. So he passed the Drill Simulation Suite and headed to the main gymnasium room at the back where he knew the girls held their sessions. As he turned the corner at the bottom of the corridor, he narrowly avoided colliding with Natasha.

“Oh, sorry, Nat…”

“Not as sorry as you’re gonna be if you go in there.” She jerked her head towards the doors and snorted.

“What do you mean?”

“Katie is in there…kicking the shit out of a punch bag.”

Steve groaned inwardly, “I though you guys were sparring.”

"Yeah, we were until she clocked me twice, a rarity." Natasha jutted her chin upward.

Steve arched a brow. “She did?”

"Yeah, so I'm gonna hit the showers. Good luck, pal."

With a deep breath, Steve continued towards the door of the gym. It was no secret, his fiancée scared the shit out of him at times. And he also wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with another display of petulance like yesterday, especially seeing as he was under the assumption they’d talked it through, and fucked it through, in the car lot.

The sliding door was opened by JARVIS and the Captain stepped in. Sure as told, Katie was masticating the hung canvas bag. Her hands were wrapped to protect the knuckles but it didn't seem to be doing much good, for Steve's keen sight picked up the tinge of blood peeking through the white gauze. She was covered in a glistening sheen of sweat and pieces of her hair were drooping wetly in her face. Her black leggings clung to her legs while her sports bra kept her shapely breasts secure.

"Doll..." he said with a soft but loud tone to be heard.

She gave no response, no indication she knew of his presence.

"Katie..." Steve tried again as he stepped closer.

This time she'd heard him, but her only reply was a heavy round house kick to the bag, sending it swinging towards Steve's face.

It was a futile shot at him, his cat like reflexes easily saved him as he caught it, holding it in his strong arms.

“Sweetheart, your hands are bleeeding.”

She looked down at the pinkish stained wrap and shrugged, huffing the hair from her face.

“Hey…” Steve frowned, still holding the punch bag, “what’s wrong?”

"Don't know." She grunted. "Just....rage. Frustration, irritation? What do you want, Steve?"

“I came to find you, I knew you had a session with Natasha. Although she seems to have bailed early as you got the better of her. Twice by all accounts.”

Katie stalked to the bench where her towel and water were and grabbed the bottle. She took a big chug and flopped down.

“She faltered, I saw an opening."

“Clearly.”

A huge sigh escaped her chest. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm, I don't know..."

Steve sighed and let go of the punch bag. “Doll, you’ve been quiet since last night. What’s eating ya?”

"Dani with an I, I suppose."

Steve groaned, “really?” He walked towards her and took a seat to her left on the bench. “I thought we went through this on the drive home.”

"I know we did. I know." She sighed. "And worked it out in the garage." She groaned. "I just, I had this awful dream and I needed to just wreck it out. I don't know."

“Wanna tell me about it?” Steve asked softly, not a shred of annoyance in his tone. He knew only too well how vivid and real dreams could seem and feel, way after the night had gone and the sun was out. The woman to his right was the person to whom he credited with the fact most of his night terrors and flashbacks had stopped.

"Long and the short, you were in our bed, with her, and it was.... You were...."

Steve looked at Katie, shaking his head. “You know, if it hadn’t upset you so much I’d laugh and call you ridiculous.” He nudged her gently with his elbow. “Sweetheart, look at me.”

She swallowed and brought her eyes to his. "It's stupid, I feel ridiculous, but it felt so real.”

“I get it, you know I do.” He looked at her, “you’ve seen me wake up in cold sweats from my dreams. And I you. But you know, I’d never do that to you. Ever. I love you.”

Katie nodded. "I know."

"JARVIS, lock down the gym. Systems offline," Steve asked of the AI, ensuring no one would disturb them as he knew she hated anyone seeing her vulnerability in such a way. "Let me see your hands, sweetheart."

The AI replied with his obliging confirmation as Katie twisted on the bench and held her arms out.

With slow and delicate movements, Steve held her right hand in his as he unwrapped the gauze. Over her knuckles and between her fingers he went, exposing the bruising and cuts she'd inflicted with each punch to the canvas and leather sand filled bag. When the right was through, and his lips pressed into her closed fist, he moved to the left and repeated the actions. Then in both his large hands, he held hers, attention brought to her engagement finger where he gave a tender, long held kiss.

"Better?" He wondered.

“They don’t hurt,” Katie wrinkled her nose, “not yet anyway. Although they’re not really gonna look pretty tomorrow at the party.”

She moved to stretch them both out, and Steve watched, this time his eyes lingered on the slightly bent pinkie finger of her left hand. Katie was still unable to fully straighten the misshapen digit; it was unlikely she ever would and that it would simply remain as of the few physical reminders of what she’d been through little over six months ago at the hands of Hydra. Mind you, it was a miracle (in the shape of a damned good orthopaedic surgeon) that a misshapen finger was the only lasting sign that her left hand had been all but shattered to pieces when they’d brought her home.

"Doll...." Steve cupped Katie's face. "What can I do?"

She blinked back her tears as she shook her head. “I don’t know.” She licked her lips, “I know everyone was on about movies and pizza tonight but…do you mind if we don’t? I’m feeling anti-social.”

"Of course, we don't have to do anything you don't want to. We don't even have to go tomorrow if you're not feeling up for it. Even if it's last minute."

“No, tomorrow’s… I wanna go. I got a new dress especially.”

"Alright." Steve nodded with a soft smile. "Tell you what, why don't we go back to ours, clean up and fuck off the rest of the day? I’ll make us a grilled cheese…”

“Language…” she muttered softly, her lips curling up into a little side smirk.

Steve snorted with a playful glint in his eyes. "Shhhh." He leaned forward and kissed her.Katie melted into him, her hands resting gently on his thighs as his cupped her face once more.

Steve was measured in the way he moved his lips over hers, cautiously looking to kiss her a little deeper to show her that he understood he was giving her what she needed. She took what he was offering, almost greedily, like she was seeking comfort from whatever it was that had gotten her so upset. And Steve has a suspicion that it was more than a stupid dream about him bedding some random woman they’d only met the day before. But he also understood that she might not completely understand herself why she was so wound up.

His hands slipped from her face to down her neck and curled over her ribs the further they went. Her bare skin felt hot. He felt her shiver at his touch, her hands now in his hair, her nails raking over his scalp.

Steve groaned at the tick of pain. It felt good. Strong hands now gripped at her waist and tugged her a bit closer toward him as they both were straddling the bench.

It was almost automatic, the way he leaned forward to gently lay her down on the wooden surface. For a second or so, it all seemed to be going the way it usually did for them in a moment like this, and then Steve felt Katie go rigid, and her hands pushed at his chest.

Steve backed off, sitting right back up, pulling her with him. "I'm sorry."

“It’s not…it’s not you.” She shook her head, “its not, you know it isn’t. It’s the…the bench, it’s cold and hard and…the lights in here…looking at them…”

Steve immediately understood. She was suffering from a sudden sensory recall, a flashback even, and it wasn’t the first time either.

“C'mere," he pulled her close. It was hard for him, not frustratingly, but to not know where, when, how even the simplest action might trigger her. It damn well broke his heart every time. Bruce had warned him it was likely to continue for a long time, possibly the rest of her life. Just like certain things still triggered memories of the war and being drowned in the icy ocean for him.

This time, it was clearly the feel of the bench against her back, the lights in her eyes that had sent her back to that cell she’d been kept and brutalised in.

He cradled her head against him, his arms wrapped around her, one cupping the back of her head at the base of her neck. The other, slung over her mid back to press her into him. "I'm sorry, doll."

“Stop apologising, this isn’t your fault.”

"I know," he sighed. "You're safe. It's just me."

It took a few deep breaths, but eventually he felt her relax in his hold, her cheek pressing to his chest.

"Thassit, sweetheart," he breathed deep with her. He pulled back a second and looked down at his girl. "C'mon, let's go back to the loft."

She nodded and wiped her eyes. “I don’t wanna feel like this, Steve. I hate it…and I don’t understand it.”

“Katie, there’s nothing to understand.” He shook his head, “you…what happened to you was…it was unbelievably traumatic and…”

“I know, I get that bit and I can understand the flashbacks and dreams but I don’t get this…” she waved her hand around. “Why does my back hitting a hard surface make me clam up? I’m with you. It’s not like we ain’t had sex since…well, since I recovered. We’ve had quite a lot, as it happens. You even got a little bit forceful in the elevator the other day after the mission and I liked it, Steve…so why…why…”

"No one really knows why this stuff happens. It just does. Something does or doesn't connect right, and processing it goes to shit."

Katie remained silent for a moment, looking at her hands. “Well, I’m pissed off at it all. If we can bone in the seat of a car in the parking lot, we should be able to here.”

Despite himself, Steve felt a smirk curl on his face at her downright, petulant tone and he chuckled. “Oh, sweetheart. I don’t think it’s as simple as that.”

"Well, it fucking should be. I need you, Steve, and I'm either wound up or entirely spent and not in a way you make me. I raged this morning after that senseless dream and when I woke up you were already gone from the God damn day. And I was even more pissed because my fucked up brain at first thought you'd left!"

“Woah, woah…” Steve held his hands up, “I’m not gonna leave you, ever. You know this. And despite what you think or want, or wish…life isn’t that simple. You really think I still wanna have flashbacks about crashing into that damned ice berg? I don’t, but I do.” He reached for her hands, “can you remember that first birthday I spent with you, on the boat that Tony had hired.

"Yeah."

“And how I was in a blind panic when those fireworks went off, and you…you just pressed your hands over my ears and made me focus on you?”

Her eyes misted, "yeah."

“Well, I knew they were fireworks. I knew I was on that boat, with you. I knew I was safe, but that didn’t stop my mind from telling me I wasn’t.”

Katie swallowed hard. She sniffed and took a long blink.

“But just like you were for me,” he reached out for her left hand, slipping his fingers between hers, “I’m here for you, and it don’t matter how many times this happens or doesn’t…I love you. And I ain’t going anywhere.”

A big tear slid down her cheek but Steve was quick to pull her in and kiss it away. "I love you, Katie," he spoke against her cheek.

“I love you too,” she managed between hitched breaths, “I love you so much.”

Steve smiled, his hand smoothing her hair back. “You ready to go back up to the apartment?”

"No."

“Alright…” he frowned a little.

Timidly, Katie closed the gap between them, a soft kiss to his lips.

Steve let her take the lead, allowing her to set the pace, tell him what she wanted and needed. In a beat, she was in his lap, straddling him as he straddled the bench. He didn’t protest, try and warn her not to push herself. If this was how she wanted to deal with things then he was dammed if he was gonna stop her.

She was soft, not shy, but just careful. As if she was seeing how far she could take herself.She pulled back a little, her forehead pressed to Steve’s as she brushed her nose against his. Without a word, she took his hands which had been lightly gripping the edge of the bench, and placed them on her hips.

"You sure, sweetheart?"

Katie nodded, “I need you. I want you.”

"Yes, ma'am," he snorted and pressed into her lips.

Soft, gentle flicks of her tongue against his made him sigh against her as his large hands wrapped round her back and held her to him. Gently her hips rolled against his lap and Steve's hands moved to pull at her thighs. He opened her up a little, pulling her even closer as his lips trailed warm, soft kisses across he jaw to the hinge of her jaw.

“Sweetheart, tell me what you want.”

“Love on me, Soldier…please…”

Words weren't needed, Steve merely gave a soft smile and kissed her. His hands snaked up her thighs to her naked waist and stuffed his fingers under the band of her sports bra. With a tug, he effortlessly stripped her of it and it hit the polished floor.

A smile curved over her mouth against his lips and he couldn’t help but mimic her expression as her hands reached for his compression top. He helped, pulling the item over his head by a fistful at the back of his neck. Those heavy, large hands came back to her frame, just at her ribs. Two thumbs dragged over her nipples, up and down.

Her head tipped back, a soft sigh escaping her plump lips, her hands back in his hair.

"How much do we like these pants?" Steve wondered.

“Well, I mean they’re not my best pair of gym leggings…”

"Good." He chuckled and quickly ripped them open at her hips.

“So…how do I get back to our apartment now you’ve literally ripped my pants off. Again?”

"Towel?" He smirked with a pop of his naked shoulder.

Katie couldn't reply, for Steve pulled her perfectly into his lap, seated over his growing bulge. His hands sat at her hip and her jaw, fingers entwined in her hair as he met her with a deep but soft, tongue filled kiss.

Her nimble fingers plucked at the string of those navy joggers, undoing the knot at the waist.Steve gave a grunt as she brushed his skin, still kissing her, hands where they were. Her palm was soft and warm as it wrapped around his hardening cock and he couldn’t help the moan the slipped from his mouth into hers.

Lips broke away from hers and landed on her jaw downward towards her neck as the hand from her hip coaxed its way towards her panties. Steve's hand dipped inside the material against her skin, past her mound. The tip of his middle finger brushed her clit and Katie shuddered. When his finger slipped between her dampening folds she sighed in a whimper combination.

Steve began to slowly curl his fingers as Katie started to move her wrist, both of them using an almost identical, slow rhythm.

"Fuck, doll," Steve hissed.

“Need you, Stevie…please…”

"I got you baby," Steve whispered in her ear.

“I know…” she pulled back a little to look at him, “you always do.”

"Come closer, sweetheart," he crooned.

Katie shuffled on his lap, a soft sigh flowing from her nose as his fingers were still inside her. Her legs were draped over his as she sat facing him, thighs either side of his slim waist.

"Thassit, doll," Steve responded. He fingers were palm deep inside her.

Their faces were inches apart, but Steve kept his eyes locked on his fiancée’s as her hips softly rolled into his touch. His own pelvis thrust into her palm as she tightened it around his cock.

Breaths mingled as Steve was bringing her close to orgasm, with just the touch of his fingers. He knew how to work her, get her to really feel good and sing for him.

Her little noises of pleasure were quiet, but still as arousing to the soldier as always. The way her eyes were wide and slightly glazed, blinks heavy was a sure sign she was teetering on that precipice.

"So good," Steve praised, his voice nothing but a soft baritone.

"Stevie..." Katie whimpered.

"Cum, beautiful," he crooned.

A few more rolls of her hips and Katie was shaking in his lap, her eyes wide, pupils blown as he felt her walls squeezing her fingers.

"Oh good girl, doll...."

She whimpered a little at his praise before her body sagged forward, head on his shoulder.

“Stevie…” she whispered, her lips brushing his ear.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For loving me like you do.”

“Oh,Doll. I’ll love you till my last breath.” He kissed her cheek and then he moved a little so he could see her.

Her eyes were misty, her face flushed. He felt the lump form in his throat. She was so beautiful, so loving, tender. And she was all his.

Her hand still held him, but he didn't care. It wasn't about him, his desires. It was about his love, taking care of her. Helping her through.

The hand that filled her gently came away, slowing pulling out and covered her hand over his cock. He moved her hand and a look of confusion came over Katie's face.

"Not right now," he rasped. "Let's go home, take a bath and a nap."

“And snack.” She managed, “I’m kinda hungry. You mentioned a grilled cheese?”

“I did, yes.” Steve chuckled as he placed both his hands on her hips and helped her stand. With a sudden smirk, she reached down and pulled his tee on over her head and Steve arched a brow as she then picked up the shredded remains of her Lycra leggings.

“You ripped em,” she shrugged.

Steve snorted as he too stood, pulling at the front of his pants a little before he grabbed Katie’s towel and water bottle. He then held out his hand for her to take.

“C’mon, Doll.”

With a smile she took it and let him lead her from the gym.

#kinktober 2022 #kinktober #stark spangled banner #steve rogers x oc #steve rogers fic #steve rogers x original female character #Steve Rogers x Katie Stark #Steve rogers #marvel #marvel fan fic #mcu #mcc fan fic

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