#talking angela. and when i found out there was possibly a man in there used to flip him off

[sunny44]

What about us?

Pairing: Lewis Hamilton x ex!Reader

Warnings: mentions of loneliness, sadness, breakup, co-parenting and maybe more

Summary: Where Lewis hasn't been himself lately.

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Lewis and I met when I was working in the media department at Mercedes, I wouldn't say we fell in love at first, but he was definitely the guy I loved most in my life.

But unfortunately not everything we love stays in our lives forever.

We dated for 3 years and then when 2021 came, he was so devastated that the title was taken away from him that our relationship didn’t last.

He was so out of himself that u didn’t recognized him anymore, I seem like the man I love was taken away from me when he lost that day.

So that when we decided to go in separated ways.

But 3 months after i found out that u was pregnant with our daughter and we had to get our path together again. He said to me the day I told him about my pregnancy that I saved him for making the stupidest mistake of his life because he was about to retire from formula 1.

The internet already new that we weren’t together anymore but they just discovered my pregnancy when he posted about it.

We obviously will have a connection for the rest of our lives and I am extremely happy that we manage to be in good terms or co-parenting would have been harder.

I would be lying if I said it was easy because it wasn’t, the fact that we are separated makes Harley's schedule and routine harder than would be if we were together.

Today is Harley’s 3th birthday and I’m was going crazy with everything, she wanted a formula 1 themed party and it was all thanks to her father who got her addicted to the sport.

So here I was running around my apartment to decorate everything while she was with Sebastian and his wife.

Kika is here with Pierre and the other boys helping me with the party.

Lately he was kind of absent, he obviously came to see Harley but when I tried to talk to him, Lewis answered as little as possible and my messages he didn't even answer.

I had been trying to get him to help me with her birthday but now I was worried that he wouldn't come.

I hope he is only busy now in the afternoon because I will kill him if he doesn't show up.

We live in Monaco so some of the drivers came since they are all passionate about Harley.

This includes George, Pierre, Sebastian, Charles, Carlos, Daniel, Max and Lando.

Max and Lewis were not biggest fans of each other, far from it, but Benjamin his son was best friends with Harley so we met occasionally. And above all they treated each other with respect so we had an acceptable relationship for the sake of our children.

And Lewis hated that Harley adored Uncle Max.

The party had been going on for two hours and nothing came of him, I didn't know whether to be worried or angry.

"Mommy, where's Daddy?"

"I don't know my love, he should be here soon." She agrees a little discouraged but runs to where Ben and Max were.

"Anthony do you know where Lewis is?" I asked his father who was talking to my parents.

"I don't know darling, he said he would be a little late but he would come." I sighed in frustration. "I'll try to call him."

"Thank you."

He left to try to call his son and I went off to try to concentrate on distracting Harley with play.

…

He appeared in the middle of the party and I sighed with relief when I saw him coming through the door with Angela with him, Harley ran up to her father and I was happy to see her smile.

"How nice of you to come." I hugged Angela and she smiled.

"You've done well with the decorations." She said and I thanked her. "Can I talk to you? I want to take advantage of the fact that he's distracted by her."

I looked at the two of them and Harley was talking non-stop and he was listening attentively.

"Sure." We went into the kitchen where no one was around. "Is everything all right?"

"I'm not sure, I'm a bit worried about him."

"What happened?"

"I arrived at his apartment today and everything was a mess and he was asleep on the sofa." I was surprised because he rarely slept during the day and his apartment was always spotless. "I tried to talk to him but you know how he is, Lewis doesn't open up easily but he ended up saying that he wasn't happy and that he missed you both a lot."

"But we're always here."

"I think he misses a family." I sighed because I understood his feeling. "You know that he loves you both more than anything in the world and I remember when you were together he was planning to marry you, have children and have you live in a more secluded house so that you wouldn't be swallowed up by the media but from one moment to the next his plan became just a dream."

"I understand."

"And the only thing that's kept him going over the last few years is that little girl and the fact that you're her mother because that's what's kept you in his life. But he hasn't been the same for a while."

"I've noticed that he's been acting strange lately, he doesn't talk to me directly and avoids me whenever he can."

"Because he knows that you know him like the back of your hand and that you would know what was wrong with him." She takes my hand. "I'm not telling you this because I want you to feel guilty or anything, but I wanted to ask you to talk to him and try to help him in any way you can."

"All right, I'll talk to him after the party."

...

I said goodbye to the last few people and the only ones that were still around was Max, Ben and Lewis

"Buddy it's about time we go home." He says trying to talk the boy off the trampoline.

"Not yet Daddy, wait a little longer." He says short of breath from jumping around.

"If you don't mind I can take him to your apartment later."

"All right, thanks." He said goodbye and went home.

They kept jumping on the trampoline while Lewis was inside grabbing the trash.

After 10 minutes Bem said he was tired and i asked Lewis to watch Harley while I take him to his father and when I came back I could hear them in her room.

"I've missed you so much, Daddy." She says, already lying on her bed.

"I missed you too baby bear." She smiles tiredly and closes her eyes. He kisses her forehead and stays there for a few more minutes until he sees that she's asleep.

"Hey." He smiles as soon as he sees me outside her room. "I'm sorry I couldn't help, I got caught up with some work stuff."

He was lying but I knew it was juts for me not to worry about him.

"It's okay, I sorted it out." He smiled and went back into the living room. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Maybe because I know you better than you think." He sighs. "You don't have to tell me what it is, but I want you to know that I care about you."

"It's just that everything's been a bit too much lately."

"What do you mean?"

"The constant pressure at work, the media, the fact that I'm not there for you two every day. Everything." He turns to me. "I just don't know how much I can take anymore."

"Lewis..."

"I miss you, and I miss us, I miss Harley and this feeling that I'm good at what I do has been haunting me."

"But you are good."

"Apparently not so much because I can't even stand on the podium." I sighed. "I don't expect you to understand but I don't think I want to do this anymore."

"What do you want to do then?" He looks at me. "You know that Harley and I don't care if you're a driver or not, we care about you too much to worry about whether you're still in Formula 1 or not."

"It's just that I've lived this for so long that I just wish I could be with you every day without worrying about having to catch a flight to the other side of the world."

"I understand and I'll support you in whatever you decide.

"Thank you." I sat down on the sofa and nudged him to sit next to me, which he did, resting his head on my shoulder. "You know I love you, don't you?"

"I know, I love you too."

"But I love you in a way that..."

"I know, and I love you the same way." He looks at me. "I understood what you meant from the start."

"And what does that mean for us?"

"I don't know but we don't need to find out today, we have plenty of time." He smiles and we lie down on the sofa.

Bonus scene!

Yourusername instagram post

Liked by @lewishamilton, @susiewolf, @cherlesleclerc and others 293629

@yourusername I still can believe my baby is turning 3 years old today.

I’m so happy that I’m your mama and that I’m able to watch you grow and turn into this beautiful little girl.

I can’t imagine my life without you and I’m grateful for having you in my life.

Thank you @lewishamilton for making me a mama and for giving me the best gift anyone could ever give me.

Happy birthday sweet girl, mama loves you so much 🩵.

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Guys I have so many ideias for another chapters of Lewis being Harleys dad so if you guys want to read the next chapters let me know so I’ll tag you guys.

#f1 fanfic #f1 imagine #f1 x you #f1 #f1 instagram au #lewis hamilton #lewis hamilton angst #lewis hamilton imagine #lewis hamilton fanfic #lewis hamilton art #lewis hamilton fanart #lewis hamilton edit #lewis hamilton wallpaper #lewis hamilton icons #lewis hamilton headers #lewis hamilton one shot #lewis hamilton x reader #lewis hamilton x you #lewis hamilton instagram au #lewis hamilton aesthetic #lewis hamilton smut #lewis hamilton social media au #lewis hamilton drabble #lewis hamilton fluff #lewis hamilton lockscreen #lewis hamilton masterlist #lewis hamilton blurb #lh44 #mercedes amg f1 #mercedes amg petronas

[maleyanderecafe]

Dear Devere (Visual Novel)

Created by: Katy133

Genre: Romance/Supernatural

This game was something that I found on TVTropes of all locations and is very beautifully done. It's more or less a kinetic novel, only really having one important choice at the end, and most of the illustrations are the letters that Devere and Angela send to each other, but it's done in a way that makes the story well done, along with the voice acting for both of them.

The story starts with Angela writing a letter about her book club. She talks about a particular person named Eliza, who seems to hate her, and how she has been giving her rude remarks. She gets a letter back from someone, telling her how he sympathizes with her, signed Mr. Devere. The two continue to write back and forth with each other, with Angela and Devere plotting to have some revenge on Eliza. Devere seems to be unable to visit Angela despite being close in proximity, however, comes to visit Angela in her dreams, and eventually as the two talk, they start to fall in love.

Between the love story, we actually see that we are an inspector who has come to see the missing case of Angela, checking through letters to find where she has gone. We also see later that when Angela and Devere attempt to communicate with each others with lights, there are a couple of agents watching them to make sure that they aren't spies for the other side.

During this time, Devere gets a forged letter from a man named Cailin Calwood, pretending to be Angela and asking for him to not write to her anymore. Devere catches this right away and writes back to warn Angela. We learn that Cailin is one of the guys that has been trying to court Angela, however, Angela finds him rude and pompous and has trying to been stay away from him. Angela finds that her house has been broken into, and suspects that it's Cailin, as he's also been stalking her after he's been rejected. The two of them are able to meet up thanks to a riddle that Devere ends up hiding in his letter, and the two are able to meet up where Devere lives, inside of a cave. However, Cailin catches on, sending another letter to Devere telling him that the two of them don't belong together. Cailin continues to threaten Devere, even trying to get the police to take him down, stating that he is a spy that lives in the woods. They find a body that seems to have been eaten by Cailin's dogs, believing that it was Angela's body that was found. It's later revealed that the body is actually Cailin's, and that the bite marks actually comes from the wolves. The inspector is able to find the cave that Devere resided in and finds a list of things that Devere wanted to do with Angela, like going out into the world and travel. The inspector then has the decision to lie and destroy the evidence, thereby letting Devere and Angela go or to tell the truth.

Lying and destroying the evidence leads to the good ending, where Devere and Angela are seen talking to each other. It's fully revealed that Devere isn't quite human and that the two are able to go out and travel with each other as planned.

Telling the truth will lead to handing over the list to the chief inspector, and waiting as they hear wolves at night, possibly the last sounds of Devere as he dies.

This visual novel is extremely pretty and I love the way that it presents information. We never see what any of the characters look like, but we do get to see the beautiful letters and envelopes that the character writes on. Everything else follows suit in a sort of picture paper cutter kind of way, with photos used for the chairs and everything else that we find inside of the cave Devere lives in. The voices as well add to the experience and I think it really shows just how much the two of them love each other and what kinds of lengths they have to go through just to be together. We never really get to know exactly who Devere is, though based on the fact that he can go into dreams, can tell what people use to write letters (or type them) and can (I would assume) shapeshift into a wolf, we see that he's not quite human, though it seems to be implied he might be some sort of demon of sorts considering the end image of the famous painting, and the names of Angela and Devere themselves. The mystery kind of adds to the allure of the entire thing, which is already whisked in classiness.

The yandere in this one is of course our villain character Cailin, who causes the big problems between Devere and Angela. Yanderes of course, make consistently excellent villains in a lot of media, so Cailin is no exception. He exemplifies the worst for yanderes, being constantly persistent, attempting to kill any suitors (well, specifically Devere), manipulating others into getting rid of Devere (as well as impersonating her to try to get him to stop writing to each other) and breaking into Angela's house. I will say that he makes for a good force against Devere and Angela, forcing them to become more secretive and making their relationship stronger as a result. Of course, in the end, Cailin attempting to kill Devere backfires, leading him to be killed by Devere himself, and possibly in the end getting Devere killed if the investigator tries to tell the truth to find Angela. I honestly did think that Devere himself might be a yandere considering that he killed Cailin afterwards, but I think my interpretation of the letters was a little off, considering that it seems like Devere did it out of self defense rather than protecting Angela (I mean, he probably did it for both reasons, but I think self defense is a higher priority), and that he seems to have been killed in the ending where the investigator tells the truth. Some of the scenes are left a little more vague on what exactly happened, so sometimes there is room for interpretation.

Overall, extremely well made visual novel that I really enjoyed playing. While the yandere is more or less the general bad guy, he does push the narrative and does his job well. I would highly recommend playing it and experiencing it for yourself.

#Dear Devere #male yandere #yandere #yandere boy #recommendations #visual novel #completed

[18caramel]

Before I leave (Ponyboy Curtis x Curly Shepard)

Curly Shepard, a known prostitute around Tulsa. And Ponyboy Curtis, the one who fell for him.

tags: aged-up characters, angst, romance, family issues warnings: smut, prostitution, drug use and pejorative speech word count: 3.7k ao3 link: here A/N: my song suggestion would be anything heartbreaking or tragic by LDR ofc

pics from pinterest

When Sandra Shepard, mother of three children, went missing on a random Sunday evening, Shepards went silent. Darrel Curtis, naturally preoccupied with everyone, just like his younger brother Sodapop, tried talking it out with Tim, forcing him to go to the police. 

Three years later, they still didn’t know what happened to her. She was an alcoholic and used to disappear from time to time, so the cops didn’t give it much thought, leaving Tim, Curly, and Angela on their own. They had to survive. Do something to make ends meet. And it wasn’t easy to contribute to the family. Especially for Curly Shepard.

It was another summer without Johnny and Dallas by Ponyboy’s side. A few years flew by, and he found new friends, got accepted to college, and impatiently waited for the next chapter in his life. Nothing was holding him back. Or at least he thought so. 

He didn’t remember when he first started seeing Curly downtown, erratically walking with a girl under his arm, but mainly with guys Ponyboy had never seen before. These men sometimes looked to be the same age as Curly, but often they were quite older. He had never seen Curly leave off alone. As Darry used to tell him - whatever that hoodlum had become, it was none of his business. Shepards were trouble. As soon as Angela hit the majority, she got married off to some idiot, and Tim was planning on doing some paperwork to discuss the heritage but was quickly troubled by his mother’s missing status. He could barely afford to live in that house.

Pony didn’t know how to approach his old friend at first. Curly dropped out of school a while ago, even if he had only a year left. And now Pony saw him every day standing by the liquor store, smoking a cigarette, his eyes constantly drifting from left to right, waiting for someone, maybe even anyone. Pony didn’t understand at first what was happening to him. He wanted to come up to Curly and have some kind of small talk, but his legs wouldn’t walk, and his tongue stood still. He never felt anything like that. Never.

Curly didn’t lose his charm over the years. Yes, he seemed a little worn out, but his clothes were always tight and neat, showing off his slim, perfect figure. His curly hair was usually slightly greased, and his teeth were nicely polished. Pony saw them shine from a mile away whenever a stranger passed by, and it always seemed to Pony that Curly was trying hard to impress all of the mystery men. And all of it wasn’t for Ponyboy Curtis.

Curly’s eyes blazed with desire and wildness each time he’d notice Curtis stare at him bluntly, secretly biting his tongue, not daring to come and say hello. He noticed him right away - Shepard learned to read through people too, and Ponyboy surely wasn’t there just to greet him and talk about the good old times. No, Curtis wanted more than that. Curly watched him come out of the library at about six, his school bag hanging from his shoulder, his hair all ruffled, and his shirt halfway unbuttoned. He was growing to be a gorgeous young man, soon going off to college. And Curly would remain standing there, in the corner of the street, waiting for his regulars to show up.

There was something about Curly Shepard that Pony tried hard to figure out but couldn’t.

At first, Pony thought Curly was dealing. Because who didn’t? And then why would he wait for all of these random people? There was no other possible answer for Ponyboy Curtis.

That was until Two-Bit came by on a Saturday evening and started debriefing a few rumors going around the town. Steve Randle sat in the recliner, clearly a bit drunk, and was giving his honest opinion about Angela’s marriage which none of them was invited to.

“She married that dork last week,” Steve finally laid off his beer, keeping his eyes closed for a second, “Shepard didn’t even call Darry. Hell, he probably wasn’t even there.” 

“Yeah,” Two-Bit carried on, pinching the hole in his sock, as if he could magically fix it with his touch, “I saw Curly downtown the day Angela was tying the knot. It surely didn’t occur to him at all.” 

“Curly Shepard,” Steve stretched out his arms, almost spilling his beer, “That manwhore…” 

Pony almost choked on his saliva when he heard it. His body began to tremble, and his cheeks grew slightly pink, and then he knew, he knew it must’ve been true. But he still couldn’t stop waiting until the next day he’d come to the library and see him in the corner of the street. And he couldn’t stop gazing at him. He learned all of the unfamiliar faces, their walk, their gestures. He couldn’t believe it to be true, no, Curly couldn’t have been doing it. Only women did. Not Curly Shepard. 

But then it did seem that way. He surely must’ve smelled good, as Ponyboy often imagined it, and wore the freshest clothes. He never had anything else with him, not even a bag, only his jacket in the evenings, where he shoved his masculine hands, protecting them from the cold breeze. Pony was the last one to get out of the library every single time he went there. He got used to seeing the same old lady surveilling the books, and they even ended up forming some kind of friendship. The lady told him about an available summer job, and Pony started seriously considering it. Yes, Pony went to the library even during summer, but less than in spring. At first, it wasn’t for Curly but for school, then for his obsession with English and American literature, but quickly Shepard did become his main intention. He came during the weekdays, but then mostly on Friday and Saturday evenings too. 

It was becoming a mania. Pony ran his hands through his hair, adjusted his collar, put on some cologne, and was convinced that Curly was going to come and finally talk to him. They saw each other every single fucking time, but no one made the first step. And that’s what made it so obvious and irremediable - Curly Shepard and Ponyboy Curtis desired to get closer with each other. 

Pony wasn’t capable of stopping going to that damned library, on the contrary by the beginning of August he went there almost every day. But then, suddenly, Curly wasn’t in the corner of the street anymore. Pony panicked that day, and went to sit by the window, peeking through the glass, as if was tracking him down. He didn’t come. The next day he wasn’t there either. 

It finally happened at the end of August. Something clicked in Pony’s head, something terrible and tormenting and Pony got frightened by one simple thought - what if Curly had left?

What if someone kidnapped him? What if he was found lifeless on the floor? What if Pony would never see him again? What if he lost his chance?

And then Steve and Two-Bit weren’t helping Pony at all. They often talked about Shepards, especially about their money problems. But he never dared to participate in their talk. So one day Ponyboy swallowed all of his pride and decided to ask Darry about them. 

“Dar, how is Tim doing?” 

“Not that good,” Darry’s lips formed a straight line, “He’s always talking about selling the house these days since he’s the only one living in it. But I don’t think he will.” 

Darry continued talking about heritage, how Tim would mostly spend all of the money in a casino the following day he’d sign the papers, and how it was probably impossible anyway, but Pony had no interest in his talk. He wanted to know where Curly lived. Was it right there next to the liquor store? And why wouldn’t he be living with Tim anymore?

When Pony sprinted to the library that same evening, he quickly realized how dear Curly was to him. Their childhood memories reappeared, and Pony could swear that he felt an aching sensation up in his gut. And then he was mad. Angry with Shepard for choosing to live like that. Angry that he saw other men. Disappointed in him. 

He intended to address him and give him a piece of his mind. That it was wrong and he shouldn’t have been giving his body away to make a living out of it. Anything, but this. 

Curly was there, wearing a white tank top, showing off his broad tanned shoulders, smoking another cigarette, making sure not to stain his clothes. There was a tad of surprise in his dimmed eyes, and he quickly adjusted his posture when he saw Ponyboy running to him. 

“Something’s wrong, Curtis?” Curly frowned his eyebrows, scanning Ponyboy from head to toe. Pony just stood there, trying to catch his breath. 

“You know,” Curly looked left and right, searching the road, “You shouldn’t be out here so late, all by yourself.”

“You’re here right?” Pony wanted to make a joke out of it but saw that it didn’t please Shepard. 

“I am.” Curly mumbled, “And I’m not.” 

Pony always wondered about those draining words he had pronounced that evening. And he thought of his lonely eyes, his stolen dim, those eyes that had seen it all. 

“You better leave, Curtis,” Curly whispered to him, making a step closer so that his friend could feel his breath on his lips. “You don’t want to be seen by my side.”

“What if I want to?” It took him a lot of courage to say it. He trembled on the inside, but he was being honest with Curly for once. He couldn’t live without it any longer. And the idea of leaving for college frightened him even more. 

“I know you do,” Curly’s voice sent shivers down Pony’s spine. It was as if he was in a trance when he followed Shepard to his apartment, his body floated, and his stomach ached as he climbed up the stairs to a sketchy door, waiting for Shepard to put the keys into the lock. 

They were in complete darkness when their bodies collided and their tongues twisted in a dance they’d been longing for the past couple of weeks. Pony was no good in any of it, he was still inexperienced and a bit shy, and Curly was the polar opposite, but it didn’t matter that night. Curly stripped down his clothes, ripping the buttons of his shirt, sending them on the floor - another memory Curly would keep for whenever he needed to feel warmth. And Ponyboy was a fool for Shepard, he brushed his hand through his curly hair, hearing a slight moan escape from his lips, and couldn’t help but think about all those times Curly would moan for other men. He suddenly felt his stomach twist and he sat on the bed, his chest filled with sorrow. 

“Pony, what’s wrong?” Curly sat beside him, gently pressing his head against his. If only they could stay like that forever. 

“You don’t have to keep doing it.” 

Curly knew exactly what he meant, so he stayed silent. There was no way to explain to Pony everything he had gone through these couple of years. Pony had two loving brothers, and all Curly had left was a broken family. He managed well to hold his tears and kiss Pony’s neck, his lips trailing down to his naked torso. Pony let go of his thoughts when Curly’s teeth met his skin, and he felt butterflies in his stomach, his cheeks were burning up too. He never felt anything like that before. 

The pleasure was unmatched. When Curly dropped to his knees, there was not a single hint of fear or disgust in his eyes. He wanted to do it. Maybe Pony wasn’t a simple client, he was more than that, or at least he believed it each time he’d go back to that sweet memory of Curly’s lips wrapped around his length, his tongue underneath, sliding up and down, making Pony’s soul leave his body. 

Curly probably did it all the time anyway, Pony imagined but quickly realized that he couldn’t continue having these kinds of thoughts. He had to relax. He wanted it. 

Curly sucked him off pretty well. There was nothing special about giving another blowjob to someone, but he did enjoy it with Ponyboy. He always liked him when they were still friends, Pony was handsome, shy, and a bit weird from time to time, but Curly could never call him lame or boring, no, he always respected him. And now being able to kiss his lips, feel him, was a real treat for Curly Shepard. Because he longed for it for all these past months. 

That’s what made it so sweet. They waited a long time before doing it, almost like a normal teenage couple, almost as if they just recently got married. But the reality was different. Curly was prostituting himself. Giving his body to all kinds of men. And he deeply despised it. 

Curly wanted to take Pony so hard, that he abruptly stopped the pleasure he was giving him, and got back near Pony’s face to kiss him. Pony was so gentle. He was still a virgin, but even if he wouldn’t be one, Ponyboy Curtis had always been a good person. He could never hurt Curly Shepard.

Pony was ready to get laid with him. When Curly helped him undress and pulled his jeans off completely, Pony understood that he was the one who was about to lose his virginity. He didn’t mind because he had never given it much thought. But no, it wasn’t true. Pony thought about sex all the time. It’s just that he has nobody to talk to it about, but he genuinely wanted Curly to fuck him. 

Shepard needed it too. Sex had become a horrid duty to him, and he wanted to finally feel like himself again. He kissed Pony’s neck and left there a hickey, a small violet spot that would remind him of their time together. 

When Ponyboy lay on the bed, getting ready to be penetrated for the first time, he saw that Curly kept a lot of pills on his nightstand. Pony was no fool, he understood quickly that Curly ended up doing drugs like most of the Greasers around town. Pony closed his eyes, imagining what it could’ve been like for Curly if he had at least some kind of support in his life. Would it be different if Tim and Angela cared for him? Of course, it would. 

Curly’s kisses slowly made Pony’s thoughts disappear. Curtis was already very relaxed down there since he had been discovering his body for a some time. That is why when Curly lubed the area and fingered him, it wasn’t painful at all. Pony moaned, living the best experience he thought he ever had in his life. 

Curly, on the other hand, had swallowed a few pills before he’d get his hands on Pony’s body just in case he couldn’t feel like himself. It was a part of his routine. When his mind was finally free, he entered Ponyboy and gave him what he wanted - his first time. Curly still remembered the first time he experienced it, but decided not to visualize the scene again, because it reminded him of the simpler times when he was still living with his siblings and used to go to school, had some money in his pocket that he’d waste on anything he wanted, and not fuck with guys just to have a roof under his head. 

Pony turned him on. Curly grabbed his waist when they switched positions and fucked him so hard, almost forgetting that Ponyboy was still new to it all. Curtis came, and when Curly saw the liquid splurge all over his bedsheets, he came too, inside Ponyboy. Curtis was in a euphoric, but also tired state for a few minutes, and when he finally opened his eyes, Curly was long gone to the bathroom, where he spent at least twenty minutes under the cold water, cleaning himself up. 

Pony got pretty nervous, blaming himself for everything they had done. Maybe they shouldn’t have. Maybe Curly didn’t enjoy sex any longer, maybe Ponyboy only reminded him once again of his job. Biting his lip, he got up from the bed and went to check on him. But Curly seemed fine. He still had a wicked smile on his face when Pony entered the bathroom. And Pony concluded that maybe Curly had enjoyed it, at least a little bit. 

Pony stayed to spend the night with him, almost forgetting that he had to leave the next day. And he felt horribly bad for seeing the reality in which Curly had lived, a small apartment, pills everywhere, dirty clothes, broken window… 

“Curly,” Pony cleared his throat, looking him in the eyes. It was dark and he could barely see his pupils, “Why aren’t you living at your house anymore?”

“This is my place now,” Curly’s lips formed a straight line, “I just wanted to be independent. Wanted to show my siblings that I didn’t have to sell or marry someone to get somewhere in life. But look at me now, I’m getting evicted next week. And Tim told me the house won’t be ours anymore.” 

Pony couldn’t even imagine Curly going homeless even for a day. Angela got married off to someone so she could have a home. And Tim, well, they didn’t know what he had become, probably rented a room somewhere or lived with a friend. Curly was all alone. Pony wanted to suggest something, at least anything, but he quickly ran out of options. Their family bond was broken. It was nothing like with Soda and Darry. They could never let him live on the street all by himself. 

Pony had a sudden urge to tell him how dear he was to him. He forgot about the awkwardness, swallowed his shyness, and began to speak, “Curly, I…” 

But Shepard saw it in his eyes right before he’d say it. His eyes gave it all away, but he didn’t believe them. He didn’t want Pony to say things he’d later regret, or say them out of pity, or worse - because Curly was his first time. And there was no such feeling of love for Curly Shepard. Everyone eventually left. And Pony would too. 

“This could never work out. You are better off without me, I promise you, Ponyboy,” Curly mumbled, his eyes closing, his body drifting off to sleep. 

Ponyboy didn’t cry. He wanted to, but the tears never came. He was so flabbergasted and inspired by what he had experienced that all he wanted to do was scream it to the world, but there was nothing to be so surprised about. He had just slept with someone who was having sex with multiple men all year long. Nothing seemed to make this time more special than the rest. 

But it was. To Pony it was everything. Curly was everything. The way he took him so gently and made love to him, even if usually it was a dreading job. 

Ponyboy was grateful. 

Curly’s future was Pony’s last thought before he drifted off to sleep. All these pills, random men… Everyone knew where it could end.

Pony tossed and turned in his sleep, not being able to let go of his intrusive thoughts about Curly leaving this world. He had another nightmare, but this time it wasn’t about his parents, it was about Curly. In his dream, he had become a junkie. His face was pale, and his perfect teeth had gaps in them, just like the skin of his arms. 

Pony glanced at Curly the second he had opened his eyes. No, he was alright. He was alive and breathing, he was young and careless, the same Curly he always knew. And he loved him for it. 

It struck him like lightning. Curly wasn’t going anywhere. He was going to stay, stay the same, stay here in this horrid place, with these worthless men, and Ponyboy would leave to build his future, leave Curly alone. 

Even if Shepard didn’t allow him to pronounce the big word starting with the letter “L”, Pony couldn’t have left without him knowing. He took a piece of paper on Curly’s desk and began writing.

When Curly woke up in the morning, he couldn’t remember what had happened the night before. He stood up, stretched his arms, and went to brush his teeth. But before he could reach the bathroom, he glanced at the desk. He grinned, taking the paper in his hands. His smile disappeared. 

"Dear Curly,

Sometimes I hate myself for not coming to talk to you sooner. I have to get back home early in the morning because I have to finish packing for college and say goodbye to my brothers. I still can’t forget the words you told me, that you’re always going to be here, but someday you won't,”

Curly took his eyes off the paper for a moment, trying to recall him saying it. 

“This is for you, Curly before I leave.” 

Curly lifted the paper and saw an envelope stuffed with paper bills. He couldn’t believe his eyes. His hands started to shake as he flicked them. The sum in his head rounded up to another month of rent. 

He smiled, cursing himself for having Pony’s money. Of course, if it was another man paying that much he wouldn’t mind. But it was Ponyboy Curtis and he was genuine. There was a paper that came with it, and Curly suddenly realized that it was Ponyboy’s salary. 

He must have been working in the library all summer long. But it wasn’t to pay himself a whore. Pony sincerely wanted to help. This was different. Pony could never leave knowing that Curly was going to be homeless in a few days. 

Curly’s eyes shifted back to the letter and then to the clock above the bed. It was too late now to catch him and give him back the money. But he needed it. He really did. 

Shepard felt a tear slip down his cheek as he read the postscript. 

"Please wait for me, 

Ponyboy Curtis."

hope you enjoyed! if you want to leave a comment on ao3 here’s the link, thank you <3

#the outsiders #the outsiders fanfiction #the outsiders oneshot #ponyboy curtis #ponyboy michael curtis #curly shepard #ponyboyxcurly #the outsiders fanfic #the outsiders mxm #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #the outsiders ponyboy #outsiders fanfiction

[wafflesinthe504]

The Rookie 5x22 Thoughts

Spoilers for The Rookie 5x22 below. If you've watched the episode or don't care about spoilers, please enjoy!

^ Me during this entire episode.

This was easily one of the best finales that I've seen. The only other shows that I've watched have managed to make feel this worried and anxious for the characters during a finale were Agents of Shield and Criminal Minds.

I've been excited for this episode ever since last week when they showed the promo and they exceeded my expectations for this episode. I was on the edge my seat the entire time.

Can I just say how heartbreaking the cold open was. Seeing Celina and Aaron just bonding and talking about DnD was cute and wholesome. Even though I sort of knew what was going to happen I wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt to actually see it. Seeing Celina cover Aaron's body with her own in an attempt to stop the bleeding was so emotional. Lisseth honestly did a great job in the scenes she was in and just portraying the grief and the guilt over what happened.

Everything from Celina fighting to give Nolan the riddle and then staying by Aaron's side as soon as he got out of surgery and trying to encourage him to wake by using DnD metaphors was extremely compelling to watch. Celina was desperate to help in any way possible and I felt like I was just right there next to her during those scenes.

Aaron flatlining at the end leaving him in limbo until the next season will probably be something that just continuously reruns in my head for the next few months until I know he's okay.

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When Leah was taken from Nyla and James my heart dropped. I couldn't breathe for a moment, when they found Leah by the tree I was so relieved. For a moment I thought that the Rookie was about go down a really dark path, but I'm glad that they didn't. I don't think my heart would have been able to take it.

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I really enjoyed seeing the Luna, Wesley, and Angela team up tonight. It was a lot of fun and interesting to see the three characters together. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that we've ever seen three of them interact with each other at the same time and it was really great to see them all working with each other.

Angela really doesn't know what a break or vacation is does she? She's really over here trying to postpone giving birth in order to solve a case. Can't blame her though considering she managed to succeed with some help. Once everything calms down I would really like to see a chill episode where Angela, Nyla, and Luna all hang out together, enjoy some wine, (and maybe end up solving a case together.)

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The fights in this episode were amazing. John and Bailey's fight at their house was so freaking good. At first I was worried that they would make it so that they would just breeze right through the fight and not take any damage, but man I was wrong. I actually felt like John and Bailey were in real danger and that for once they might not make it out alright. It was a really solid fight scene.

And then of course Tim and Lucy's fight scene. Yeah, I will absolutely be going back to watch that over and over again. I for sure thought one of them was going to end being out for the count. They really fought like a dozen people and managed to make it out alive without getting any major injuries. There are just so many things that I can talk about in this scene. Lucy grabbing the shield and pushing the man down the stairs. Tim with the two batons and beating the crap out of people. Lucy throwing someone over the stairs. Tim ushering Lucy to safety.

Everything was just so good, I can't wait to see season 6 and how everything ends up playing out.

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Side notes: The Rookie writers are really good with call backs and there were quite a few of them tonight. Aaron getting shot in the back just like Jackson. And us being able to see Wade's reaction to Aaron being shot and how Jackson's death and Aaron's life hanging in the balance are effecting him.

Tim and Lucy's hug was probably a call back to the first time they hugged at Tim's place after Jackson's death. And then Tim saying 'you know me so well.'

(Also can we talk about that hug and the little kiss that Tim placed on Lucy's head. It was so cute and short reprieve from the rest of the insanity going on.)

Overall, I really enjoyed the more thriller/horror vibes of this episode. I wonder if the Rookie will end up doing more episodes like this in the future or if this is just a one-off. With how dark and serious this episode was I wouldn't be surprised that if the storyline ends up being one that lasts for a significant portion of the next season that The Rookie will end up leaning more towards its drama side than its comedy side for next season. At least for a couple of episodes where this storyline is at the forefront. But we'll just have to wait and see.

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Anyways that's it for now hope you enjoyed. If you want come chat with me in the comments about anything The Rookie related.

Until next time have a good day or night!✌🏾

#the rookie #lucy chen #tim bradford #chenford #celina juarez #aaron thorsen #angela lopez #wesley evers #nyla harper #wade grey #john nolan #bailey nune

[motorcycleboy9]

HIII 8 9 11 16 FOR ASK THING

thank you sm for the questions!

8. How did you get into The Outsiders?

ohhh. man.

well I moved to the US last year and in december my english teacher made us divide into book-reading groups in the realistic fiction genre. there were about 4 options, and I did not pick the outsiders btw, and for some reason I thought it was about musical bands? I also remember liking the cover of the book

anyway at the two last days of school before the christmas break we watched the outsiders movie in class. and when it got to the church sunset scene I fucking lost it. and when it was the johnny and dally death scenes, I was freaking out in my mind. AND I KNEW IT WAS WHAT I NEEDED

after the end of the break I asked my teacher to read the book, and that's how it went. by the way, while watching the movie I didn't understand anything but gayness and tragedy (my listening skills suck), so when I read the book it made much more sense.

9. What's your favorite scene/moment from the book?

1) Hospital reunion

the moment that made Pony realize all the feeling Darry had for him. while watching the movie for the first time, I didn't get much of it, mostly because I was still at the point of trying to remember who is who. but reading the book I was fighting to not start to cry. I still do.

2) Johhny, Dally, and Pony talk in the car before fire in the church.

the moment that shoved most of dally's concern for johhny, him not wanting johnny to get hurt and go through the same thing he did once. and his voice changing to a different tone when saying that. uhh. I just can't do it.

3) Pony and Dally talk in the car on the way to the hospital. or more like monolog. whatever.

4) Johnny's death. No comment. I'm still not over it.

Other ones: (I'm not gonna take pictures anymore I'm tired)

5) Johnny's letter

6) Dally's death

7) Ponyboy with busted bottle and Socs, at the grocery store with Steve and Two-bit.

8) Pre-rumble

11. What's your opinion on the movie?

as I already said, I watched the movie before I read the book, so I wasn't really critical of it.

7/10 for the cast lineup, the hell are they all dark haired for? whoever picked ralph macchio for johnny should know it was the best decision ever. I got a crush on matt dillon when I watched the movie so who am I to blame others for that 😭😭 though even if it wasn't the best fit for dallas I'm still glad I found out about him

8/10 for book-accuracy. I would love it if it had been PERFECTLY in line with the book, but I know it isn't possible, so... it was good enough, I guess.

9/10 for the picture. that was indeed beautiful. my mom kept bugging me about the size of johnny's knife though, and that it wasn't possible to kill a person with such a small blade. well I don't know about that.

16. there isn't going to be any explanation because it's too hard to think of at 1am, sorry

1) johnny and cherry

2) sylvia (thought we didn't even see her) and angela

3) bob and johnny. and I mean actually talk, not just beat one up and then kill another.

#the outsiders #dallas winston #johnny cade #ponyboy curtis #se hinton #the outsiders 1983 #nicktalks #the outsiders ask

[grandmaster-anne]

Gyles Brandreth's Exclusive Extract Part 2

The Mail Plus | Published 26 November 2022

WHENEVER the names of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex come up in court circles, courtiers flinch and change the subject or refer to them as ‘persons who live overseas’.

If Harry and Meghan are mentioned to members of the Royal Family, they simply smile briefly and say ‘we wish them all the best’ and nothing else.

As I write this, members of the new King’s communications team are bracing themselves for what may come when Prince Harry publishes his much-talked-about memoir – the ‘accurate and wholly truthful’ account of his life – in January.

‘I’m writing this not as the prince I was born, but as the man I have become,’ said Harry when the book was initially announced. In fact, of course, he was not writing it at all: he was telling his story to a ghost-writer.

Harry’s tell-all memoir, for which he received an advance of $20 million (£16.53 million), was originally promised for the autumn of 2022. It seems he’d been informed his grandmother was quite poorly and decided to pause publication in consequence. Was he worried about adding stress, worry and disappointment to her final months? Possibly.

There is no evidence, however, that the Queen was distressed by her grandson’s decision to go ahead with the book in the first place. She ‘understood’ Harry’s desire to write his book, not only for the money but because he wanted to tell his story – to speak his truth, as Meghan might put it.

He wouldn’t have been the first member of the Royal Family to do so: the Queen remembered ‘the fuss there was’ in 1951 when her uncle, the Duke of Windsor, published his own ghost-written volume of memoirs, A King’s Story. He too had wanted to tell his truth, and he needed the money. The memoir itself has long since been forgotten.

Although the Queen had never read any of the books about the Royal Family, her attitude towards them had changed over the years.

Indiscrete: Marion Crawford with the then-Princess Elizabeth and her sister in 1939

In 1950, when Marion Crawford published an innocuous memoir about her years in the royal household as governess to the then Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret, the Royal Family was utterly appalled.

But by the time ‘Crawfie’ died, aged 78 in 1988, Elizabeth II had forgiven her, though I am not sure Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, ever could.

More recently, the Queen’s dresser Angela Kelly published two books – Dressing The Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe and The Other Side Of The Coin: The Queen, The Dresser And The Wardrobe. And she did so with her royal boss’s full blessing and approval.

As time went by, the Queen was increasingly able to take the long view. She had lived so long that she did sometimes feel that she had ‘seen it all before’.

For example, when the Duke of York (who did himself no favours with his self-justifying interview for Newsnight in 2019) was harrumphing about Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey on American television in 2020, the Queen chipped in gently: ‘Didn’t Sarah do something similar?’

She did. In 2011, the Oprah Winfrey Network in the US aired Finding Sarah, a six-part TV series in which the former Duchess of York shared her tears and her heartache with a TV psychiatrist and the viewing millions.

It was by no means Sarah’s first transgression – those infamous photos of her having her toes sucked by her financial adviser come to mind. Yet the Queen continued to go out of her way to stay in touch with Sarah, even though Prince Philip found his former daughter-law ‘beyond the pale’.

The Queen’s greatest quality,  her husband told me once, was tolerance. ‘She is infinitely tolerant,’ the Duke of Edinburgh said, ‘and forgiving.’

Famously, in 2012, in a historic encounter at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre, the Queen shook hands with Martin McGuinness, formerly an Irish Republican Army commander, despite having lost a close relative, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, to an IRA bomb in 1979.

Although she remained instinctively conservative, she was always tolerant of the traditions and beliefs of others and became increasingly accepting of the changing mores she saw around her. In the 1980s, she’d encouraged her then footman Paul Burrell to marry, and offered he and his wife a honeymoon at Balmoral.

The marriage later collapsed, and in 2017 Burrell married his new partner, Graham Cooper.

Discreetly, a few months after the marriage, a wedding present arrived from Her Majesty. ‘The Queen has always been incredibly broad-minded and accepting and generous,’ said Paul.

The Queen believed, too, in the reality of redemption. She looked for the good in people, not the bad.

So what does all this have to do with Harry and his wife, Meghan?

I can tell you, because I know this, that the Queen was always more concerned for Harry’s well-being than about ‘this television nonsense’, meaning both the Oprah Winfrey interview – which caused so much controversy – and the lucrative deal the Sussexes made with Netflix.

Again, her view differed from that of Prince Philip. I know from someone close to him that he thought Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah was ‘madness’  and ‘no good would come of it’.

I also know that the Queen liked Meghan’s mother, and was sorry the Markle family was ‘fractured’. And I know she was anxious  that Harry should ‘find his feet’ in California and ‘find really useful things to do’.

The Queen was devoted to Harry. She loved him, she thought him ‘huge fun’, and she truly wished him well in his new life abroad.

Whenever Harry called his grandmother from Montecito, he was always put through to Her Majesty immediately.

The truth is that when her grandson told her he was marrying Meghan Markle, she was truly delighted by the prospect. She liked Meghan and told lots of people so. And she did everything she could to make her future granddaughter-in-law feel welcome.

She was concerned for her future happiness. At their first meeting, the Queen said to Meghan: ‘You can carry on being an actress if   you like – that’s your profession, after all.’

She would have been totally understanding if Meghan had decided to continue her career. But the former Suits actress was ready for royal duty and, of course, the Queen was delighted by that. She was particularly delighted by the enthusiasm Meghan showed for the Commonwealth and by the commitment she made to do ‘whatever you think we should be doing for the Commonwealth’.

Indeed, Meghan promised that when it came to the Commonwealth, she wouldn’t let Her Majesty down. 

The Queen (who, of course, had seen it all before) understood that Harry’s girl might find adjusting to royal life ‘challenging to begin with’ (as she put it). ‘It is very jolty, but you soon get used to it’ – that was Her Majesty’s experience going back many years.

To help Meghan, the Queen suggested that her daughter-in-law, Sophie Wessex, would be an ideal mentor. ‘Sophie can help show you the ropes,’ said the Queen.

Meghan made it clear that she did not feel she needed Sophie’s help. She had Harry. The Queen was a little concerned at that, and concerned, too, when word reached her that Meghan was reportedly occasionally a bit ‘high-handed’ with staff. The Queen put it down to pre-wedding nerves.

Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018 was warmly welcomed by all and sundry. No great play was made of it, but it was generally reckoned ‘a good thing’ having a mixed-race person joining the Royal Family.

Harry’s father expressed his genuine delight; Harry expressed his dewy-eyed devotion; Meghan announced she would retire from acting and become a British citizen (this may not happen, since you need to be resident in the United Kingdom for three consecutive years before you can apply for citizenship as a spouse).

Less than a month after the wedding, the Queen took Meghan on her first solo outing – to my old constituency, the City of Chester. The date marked the first anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and the Queen wore a green outfit in memory of the victims of the fire.

Meghan (in cream-coloured Givenchy) looked beautiful – and did her bit, effortlessly and well,  to the manner born. She kept a step behind the Queen without fail, she smiled, she chatted, she coped with her hair in the blustery weather and she admitted she had never been to the North of England before but was ‘loving it already’.

‘Top marks,’ said the Queen, who had chosen this particular day for her new granddaughter-in-law’s induction to royal duty, in part because it was ‘a fairly typical day’, but mainly because the programme included a visit to a theatre – ‘and she is an actress after all’.

The courtiers accompanying the royal party that day included Samantha Cohen, former assistant private secretary to the Queen, who had been persuaded to stay on in royal service to help Meghan as she began her new life as a member of the Family Firm.

Unhappily, as we know, it did not work out. During their short time as working members of the Royal Family, quite a number of staff left the Sussexes’ service, including Cohen and another private secretary, two personal assistants and two nannies. Cohen, after she had left, reportedly said it had been like ‘working for a couple of teenagers’. Others called Meghan ‘an outrageous bully’ and ‘a narcissistic sociopath’. Meghan’s solicitor denied the allegations, saying they were part of a ‘calculated smear campaign’.

The only concern the Queen let slip in the early days of the Sussexes’ marriage was to wonder to a friend if Harry wasn’t ‘perhaps a little over-in-love’. This was as far as she came – to my knowledge at least – to ever uttering a word against the new Duchess of Sussex.

On June 4, 2021, at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, gave birth to her second child and first daughter and she and her husband, Harry, Duke of Sussex, decided to call their newborn Lilibet Diana – in honour of the Queen, Harry’s grandmother, and his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Lilibet had been King George V’s pet name for his favourite grandchild, based on the way Princess Elizabeth pronounced her name when she first began to talk. It was a very personal nickname: only a tiny handful of people outside the Queen’s immediate family called her Lilibet throughout her life.

According to the Sussexes, Harry sought his grandmother’s permission to use her family nickname as the Christian name for her 11th great-grandchild. The Queen’s recollection was a little different.

According to the Queen, Harry told her the Sussexes wanted to call the baby ‘Lilibet’ in her honour and she accepted their choice with good grace, taking it as the compliment it was intended to be. 

Others in the family found the choice ‘bewildering’ and ‘rather presumptuous’, given that ‘Lilibet’ as a name had always been intimately and exclusively the Queen’s.

Later, the Queen said: ‘I hear they’re calling her “Lili”, which is very pretty and seems just right.’

Now that the Queen is dead, Lili Mountbatten-Windsor is seventh in the line of succession to the British throne – one behind her brother, Archie, and one ahead of her great-uncle, Prince Andrew.

As a male-line great-grandchild of a monarch, she was not a princess during Elizabeth II’s lifetime, but, technically, under a letters patent issued by George V in 1917,  she could be entitled to become a princess now that her grandfather Charles is King.

This is not a likely prospect, however, given that Lili is being brought up in America and the Sussexes have withdrawn from official royal life in the United Kingdom.

The Queen took firm action in January 2020 when Harry and Meghan announced their desire to ‘step back’ from their lives as ‘senior royals’.

They planned to divide their time between the United Kingdom and North America; they wanted financial independence; they hoped to be able to continue to serve Queen and Commonwealth, but on their own terms. It was a naive hope and not to be. The Queen convened a family meeting at Sandringham – attended by Charles, William and Harry – and a way forward was agreed.

Harry and Meghan could do as they pleased, but they could not represent the Queen while doing so. Their HRH titles would be put in abeyance and Harry, to his dismay, was required to give up his royal patronages and military appointments. Harry was distressed, as he put it, ‘that it should come to this’. So was his grandmother.

In a personal statement, she made it clear that Harry and Meghan would always be close members of her family, and she went out of her way to praise her American granddaughter-in-law. But she was equally clear that she wasn’t going to have a couple of freelance royals roaming the world doing their own thing in any sense in her name.

The Duke of Edinburgh was not pleased: he did not believe Harry and Meghan were doing the right thing, either for the country or for themselves. ‘It’s a big mistake to think about yourself,’ he told me, more than once. ‘No one is interested in you in the long run. Don’t court popularity. It doesn’t last. Remember that the attention comes because of the position you are privileged to hold, not because of who you are. If you think it’s all about you, you’ll never be happy.’

Although Prince Philip regretted Harry’s decision, he did not get involved in its aftermath. On the day the Queen held her Sandringham ‘summit’, he made himself scarce, deliberately leaving the main house at Sandringham and retreating to Wood Farm.

‘I’ll soon be out of it,’ he said, ‘and not before time.’

George Harewood, the grandson of Queen Mary and King George V, remembered a family where emotional inhibition was the order of the day. ‘We did not talk of love and affection and what we meant to each other,’ he said, ‘but rather of duty and behaviour and what we ought to do.’

That was the Windsor way – and the world Elizabeth II was born into, a million miles from the world of Meghan Markle who, famously, said of her relationship with Prince Harry ‘we’ve just focused on who we are as a couple’, and ‘this is for us. It’s part of what makes it so special, that it’s just ours.’

There was a streak of hysteria in Diana, Princess of Wales: you sensed it even with a brief acquaintance. Some see a streak of narcissism in Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The Queen was not like that.

The Queen was as sane and sensible as they come. She kept her feet on the ground. (Actually, spending time with her, I noticed she stood for long periods, feet slightly apart, moving her weight regularly from one foot to the other.)

She was rarely flustered: however hectic the schedule, however many stops on the tour, her own steady pace did not vary. ‘Steady as she goes’ was her way – but it wasn’t all plain sailing. Now and again, she did hit choppy waters.

But if you asked her ‘how are you?’, she would invariably reply: ‘Very well, thank you.’ She would never say, as Meghan famously did: ‘Thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK.’

Unlike Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, she did not avoid unpleasantness by putting her head in the sand but nor was she an interfering busybody.

Time heals so much and ‘least said soonest mended’ is a policy that often pays dividends. The Queen believed in prayer and patience and hoping for the best.

Sometimes she admitted to being tired at the end of a long day, but Elizabeth II never complained – ever – of doing her royal duty.

‘I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this,’ Meghan is reported to have said, in an aside, while meeting Australians on her first royal tour. That was not something the Queen would ever have said – or thought.

Nor, according to the Duke of Edinburgh, did she ever cry. Some thought they detected tears when the Royal Yacht, launched by the Queen in 1953, was taken out of service in 1997. ‘It was the middle of December,’ snorted Prince Philip. ‘It was bloody cold. We all had tears in our eyes.’

Crying in public is not the Windsor way. The only person seen to conspicuously shed a tear on the day of the Queen’s funeral was Meghan.

To the Queen, the parallels between Harry’s marriage to Meghan and that of her uncle David,  the name she used for Edward VIII, to Wallis Simpson, would have been obvious.

The Prince of Wales (who became Edward VIII) and the Duke of York (who became George VI) were brothers, born only a year or so apart in the mid-1890s, and very close when they were young. The present Prince of Wales (William) and the Duke of Sussex (Harry), are brothers, too, born only a year or two apart in the early 1980s, and they, also, were very close when they were young.

With each set of brothers, the arrival of a 35-year-old American divorcee changed the dynamic of their relationship and ruined everything. And, like the Duke of Windsor, Harry opted for a life in exile. In 1956, the Duchess of Windsor published her own book – The Heart Has Its Reasons – just as surely as Meghan will one day publish hers, possibly with a not dissimilar title.

That same year, the Windsors even gave a no-holds-barred television interview to the Oprah Winfrey of the day, Edward R. Murrow, appearing on the legendary broadcaster’s Person To Person chat show.

Four years earlier, the Duke had returned to England for the funeral of the late King, his younger brother, and reported to his wife that, superficially, he was handled impeccably by courtiers and relations alike – ‘but gee,’ he added, ‘the crust is hard & only granite below.’

Is that how Meghan feels? We may know one day when she ‘speaks her truth’ in full.

The Duke of Windsor returned to England again in 1953 to attend his mother, Queen Mary’s funeral, but was not invited to the family dinner at Windsor Castle that followed. He wrote to his wife: ‘What a smug, stinking lot my relations are and you’ve never seen such a seedy worn-out bunch of old hags most of them have become.’

Whether Harry, when talking privately to Meghan, has ever been as vitriolic about his family as the Queen’s Uncle David was when writing privately to Wallis, we shall never know. Or perhaps we shall.

Seventy years on, Harry chose not to attend the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service at Westminster Abbey. And when he and Meghan came over from California for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June, they were welcomed at some, but by no means all, the family gatherings.

‘Family rifts are always sad,’ the Queen once said to her cousin Margaret Rhodes.

In later life, the Queen came to regret not having been closer to her uncle David. Had she lived on for a few more years, she would almost certainly have continued to provide loving support to Harry and his wife.

Would that have made a difference? Shortly before Elizabeth II’s death, Meghan let slip in an interview that she was not obliged to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) when she and Harry stepped down from their royal duties in 2020.

She also revealed that when she returned to their home at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, she’d found a journal that she had kept during her days as an active member of the Family Firm.

This sorry Sussex saga will run and run, just as the earlier sorry saga of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor did from the time of the Abdication in 1936 until their dying days.

When we get to the Coronation of Charles III, the issue of ‘Harry and Meghan’ – where they are seated, what uniform (if any) he will be allowed to wear, what her body language is telling us, etc,  etc – will be unavoidable.

And, from the new King’s point of view, deeply regrettable.

In 2022, when she heard that Harry and Meghan would not  be attending the memorial service for the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen reportedly said: ‘Thank goodness.’ 

What did she mean? Thank goodness they’re not coming? Or thank goodness, because they’re not coming the press coverage won’t be all about them? I suspect the latter, but I don’t know. I do know that in 2020, when she read that Pope Francis had used his Sunday morning homily to urge the faithful to steer clear of gossip, calling it ‘the devil’s work and more deadly than the coronavirus’, she heartily agreed. 

Tentatively, I once raised all this with the Duke of Edinburgh. I suggested to him that he and the Queen were both ‘emotionally self-sufficient’.  He agreed, but added: ‘Being emotionally self-sufficient does not make one unfeeling.’

The Queen was delighted when Zara and Mike Tindall named their middle child Lena Elizabeth. She was, however, confused when told the name is pronounced ‘Lay-na’. 

‘It is short for Elena,’ explained Zara. 

‘What’s wrong with Elena?’ asked the Queen, ‘Elena’s a lovely name.’ 

‘Her initials would then have been E.T.,’ said Zara. 

‘I’m afraid you’ve lost me there,’ said the Queen.

#i missed part 1 yesterday #will post it right after this one #elizabeth: an intimate portrait #gyles brandreth #queen elizabeth ii #biography

[12romy]

I'm afraid things got out of hand. It was supposed a cute and fluffy SHORT snippet and somehow it ended up with a 1.7k fic with Britcedes being possessive as hell over Mick. Gotta admit, it's a nice turn of event XD

Enjoy!!

Lewis couldn't help but glare as he passed in front of the McLaren hospitality with his scooter. It was stronger than him, he couldn't help it.

Mick was staying with them this weekend since he was driving Piastri's car during FP1. Lewis was happy for him, really. If it were up to him, Mick would be in a car every single race. Sadly, it wasn't, and he wasn't ready to let go of his own seat. Not quite yet.

So, he was condemned to watch Mick wear the McLaren ugly papaya orange, and drive a lame car because let's face it, the only not-lame car was their dear W14. She was a forever unmatched beauty and Lewis would die on this hill.

He found George wearing the same expression of displeasure as he parked his scooter in a corner of the garage.

"I don't like it," announced the young man with an upset expression, a bit like a pout, and Lewis felt his own expression soften.

"I know, love," he sighed. "I don't like it either."

George groaned, and plopped his head against Lewis' shoulder, defeated. He always did this when he wanted a hug, and Lewis found it adorable because he had to lean down to do that. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, pulling him into the hug he had requested.

"He should be here with us," George muttered, the sound of his voice hushed against Lewis' neck.

"He'll be back soon," Lewis murmured in answer, trying to convince himself much as George.

As he drove into FP1, Lewis had mix feelings each time he passed Mick in the McLaren. Mick waved at him, more than once, and Lewis was happy to see him drive. But it pissed him off so much that he was with another team.

He belonged with Mercedes. Throughout the weekend, Lewis found quite a lot of pictures of Mick at Mclaren. The PR team had decided to use him as much as possible, because why wouldn't they? It was Mick. Bright smile, soft laugh, puppy eyes Mick. It would be stupid not to make everything about him.

"I want to skin them alive when they touch him like this," George said, glaring at the picture of Lewis' phone. It was a Mclaren mechanic who had an arm over Mick's shoulder as they were talking animatingly. George had just voiced out Lewis' thought, even if he was rather thinking something around strangling instead of skinning. They shouldn't be allowed to touch him. Mick was theirs. He was Mercedes'.

And Mick knew it as well. They caught his longing glances toward their garage, and even if he was supposed to stay with McLaren, he kept somehow ending up near their hospitality, chatting with the team or asking about Lewis and George.

They had, obviously, no claim as official as they wished. Lewis and George, that is. It wasn't like they were dating Mick, no matter how badly they wanted to. They hadn't found the guts to confess just yet and were still trying to find the best, most romantic way to do it. They were working on a Plan, with a capital if you please. They were practically sure Mick felt, if not the same, at least something for them.

They'd have to say something soon, or they would go crazy with possessiveness before that.

Mick fit in so well with the team. In just a few months, he had everyone wrapped around his little finger without even meaning to. 

Bono had all but adopted the kid. With anyone else, Lewis would've been jealous to see Bono so fond of them. But it was Mick, so it was okay. Lewis certainly couldn't hold it against Bono. Angela was fiercely protective of Mick, and even Toto looked softer around him. 

Lewis and George, well, they were head over heels for him, and half the garage had already given them a shovel-talk, even though they weren't dating yet. Everyone also said it was a matter of time when ether of them answered that, which reassured them every time that their feelings might not be unrequited.

The entire weekend was pure torture. The atmosphere in the garage was gloomy because of Mick's absence, and to add to everything, both cars had issues. George during the qualifying and Lewis during the race. He had to retire the car to his dismay, and George didn't even make it to the podium, barely getting in the points.

A bad, bad weekend for Mercedes.

The post-race debrief was positively depressing. Everyone was in a mood, pulling long faces, and exhaustion didn't help.

Bono was going over some data with a tired and monotone voice when someone knocked at the door.

"I brought you guys hot cocoa!" Mick announced in a cheerful voice, a tray of drinks precariously balanced on one arm as he opened the door.

It might as well have been a divine apparition, with the way everyone was struck with pure, unaltered joy at the sight of their reserve driver.

He was still wearing a bright orange McLaren shirt under his Mercedes jacket and had probably come straight to the garage as soon as he'd been released from his duty at McLaren.

He skipped around the table, giving out a mug to everyone.

"Yours got almond milk in it," he winked as he gave Lewis his mug. He was gone a second later, which was a good thing because Lewis would've kissed him right then and there. He and George exchanged a meaningful look. Nevermind for the Plan, they couldn't wait anymore.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it," Mick exclaimed, still smiling.

"No, no, you can stay," Toto interjected. "We're almost done anyway."

The rest of the debrief was much more animated. Questions and ideas flew around, and everyone's depressed mood was gone and forgotten.

"Well, I think we're gonna do great next race," Toto announced at the end. "That'll be all for today. Rest and relax, and I'll see you all tomorrow morning on the plane."

Lewis had found himself flying more often with the team when it meant both George and Mick would be there.

The three drivers drove back to the hotel together, and instead of parting ways in the lobby, George offered Mick to join them in their room for a movie night. He agreed immediately, and they made their way to the suite Lewis and George were sharing.

"Man, that shirt has to go," Lewis growled the second they closed the door, glaring at Mick's shirt as if it personally offended him. Mick blushed, looking down at the McLaren shirt, and Lewis realised his words could've been misinterpreted.

"What- What are you guys gonna do about it?" Mick stammered, face flustered but with an unexpected glint of confidence in his eyes.

"I-" Lewis hesitated. He looked at George helplessly, and his boyfriend sighed.

"This was not how we planned to do this," he lamented but took a step closer to Mick. "We had a whole plan, you know... But then, McLaren had to try and steal you from us."

"I think we should help you get out of that shirt," Lewis added, a seductive smile on his lips. "If you want to, of course."

Mick nodded shyly, and Lewis took another step forward. George gently took off the Mercedes jacket off Mick's shoulders, and Lewis pushed the tip of his fingers under the hem of his shirt, grazing at his stomach. Mick was breathing hard, and Lewis wanted to press his palm against his heart, just to feel how fast it was beating.

He started to lift off the shirt, searching Mick's face for any sign of discomfort that would've made him stop immediately. He pulled the shirt above his head and took a moment to admire Mick's naked torso.

"God, you're so beautiful," George breathed out, stealing the words out of Lewis' mouth. "Can I kiss you?"

"Please," Mick pleaded softly, and George wrapped his long fingers around his neck to pull him in a gentle kiss. Lewis took in the sight in front of him. It was one of the most overwhelmingly beautiful things he'd seen in his life. And he'd get to have this, to have them both. He was one lucky guy, for sure.

Mick expectantly turned toward him after they broke the kiss, extending his arms toward him. Lewis snatched him in his arms, chuckling a little at Mick's neediness, and kissed him.

He noted distractingly that his lips tasted like cocoa, and he licked along his lower lip as Mick opened his mouth to deepen the kiss.

"Let us take care of you," he whispered in his ear, enjoying the shiver that ran through Mick's body.

"Only- only if I get to take care of you, too," Mick negotiated, flustered and timid.

"Gosh, what did we do to deserve you?" George hummed l, kissing Mick again.

"If we do this, we need you to know, Mick..." Lewis started, hesitating. "That I- we- er..."

George came to his rescue, a hand on his forearm to appease him.

"We love you, Mick," he said with a confident smile. "Lewis isn't very comfortable to say it aloud, but it doesn't mean he doesn't feel the same."

It was Lewis' turn to turn red with embarrassment. He buried his face against Mick's neck, who giggled.

"We had planned to do better," Lewis grumbled. "We wanted to wine and dine you, do things properly..."

"You've been doing that, though," he pipped up. "You've spent the last four months or so taking me out to dinners, and surfing and movie nights and boat rides... In my head, that counts."

"Oh," George breathed out.

"Were we that obvious?" Lewis inquired.

"Kinda," Mick giggled again. "But I like it. It's cute."

He kissed them again, one after the other, taking his time. Lewis hummed against his lip, pulling him toward the bed.

"Ah, I haven't said it yet, did I?" Mick stopped right as they reached the bed. "I love you both."

George basically tackled him to the mattress under Lewis' amused expression. He didn't wait any longer to climb onto the bed, joining them.

Later, that night, they fell asleep curled up in bed, Mick between the two of them and wearing a Mercedes hoody. He was where he belonged, and everything was as it should be.

#merc boys #f1rpf #rpf fic #f1 #fluff #getting together #no smut even if it's suggested #mick does end up shirtless but he had it coming #mick schumacher #lewis hamilton #george russell #not mclaren friendly :)

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Identity: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.5k

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there is any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

"An earthly kingdom cannot exist without the inequality of persons," Francis says on one of his videos. You already sent them to Penelope, and you're watching them at the station with the others. "Martin Luther understood the weak will always serve the strong. Like me. He had dreams and ideas."

Francis is sitting on a chair while talking to the camera, but he's sitting in the chair as if he's better than everyone else.

"It's funny, he uses the chair like it's a throne, and he's framing himself intentionally with a low angle to give him power and dominance in the frame," Spencer points out.

"In feudal times, the lord lived on high ground to spot the invader," Francis continues. "He had serfs to serve his kingdom. The lord never had to leave his castle. The serfs would bring him everything. They were the appendages of his will."

"There are eleven more tapes of this?" Emily asks in shock.

"It's his manifesto."

"First, I will build a compound, a kingdom. Second, I will arm, protect and fortify my kingdom. Third, I will keep women as serfs to serve my every need. This is my right. As a man with free will in America, I will make my kingdom a reality."

"Hey, he talks about keeping women to serve him. It's possible all these women are still alive."

"I don't think so, Emily," you say quietly.

"Excuse me. Goehring's wife is here."

"Excuse me."

You get up and follow JJ out to Diane who clearly doesn't want to be here. Everyone voted that you talk to her, and you give her a gentle smile as you take a seat next to her.

"Thank you for coming to speak with us, Mrs. Goehring."

"Did I have a choice?" she says, clearly uncomfortable.

"Everyone has a choice, Diane, but we'd really appreciate your help."

"If I don't have to be here, goodbye."

She moves to get up, but you quickly remove a picture of her and Francis that must have been taken at the beginning of their relationship.

"Is this you?"

"Where did you get this?" she gasps softly and grabs the picture gently.

Instead of answering her questions, you lay out the pictures of the missing women, noticing that they all look like her.

"Have you seen any of these women before?"

"Today on the news," she sighs.

"We believe all these women share one thing in common... they all look like you. That's what we like to call a pattern or a type. You and these women are Francis' type. When did you last see your husband?"

"I... I haven't seen him since we threw him out. The militia, I mean. What he did to me... when they found out... they threw him out."

You look to your right and up at Rossi without saying a word.

"Listen to me, Diane. Francis killed himself the other day after being caught driving this woman's car," you point to Angela's picture. "Is there anywhere you can think of that he might have taken these women?"

Diane opens her mouth and closes it a few times like a fish. She clearly knows something, and it's your job to help her get there.

"Diane, I need you to think really hard on this one. The things he did to you, he did to these women. The only difference is, that they didn't have the militia to protect them. We got a hold of Francis' tapes and he mentioned something about a place with nine acres. Do you know what he's talking about?"

"My parent's land," she says immediately when she recognizes what you're saying. "He made me give it to him when they died."

"Where is it?"

Spencer walks over with the map he drew, and with one look at it, Diane points out the plot of land.

"I know it's hard to live with the things he's put you through, but you really helped us today. Thank you so much. You're free to go home." She is already out of her seat before you can finish your last sentence. "Let's hope they're there."

Your team drops everything to go out to this plot of land. Everyone went with shovels in case they needed to dig up spots, and you have a feeling you'll be needing them very soon. As soon as you step out of the car, you know that the women are all here, but they aren't alive. You can feel their spirits.

"Sheriff, let me know when they've swept the house for explosives. In the meantime, check the perimeter. Let's find her," Hotch says to the sheriff.

You look around and spot a woman standing off in the distance, and after a few moments of staring at her, you recognize her to be Angela.

"Rossi, you need more proof that I know what I'm doing? Follow me."

You really don't mean to sound like a know-it-all, but you can see Rossi teetering on the edge of disbelief and belief. You lead him over to where Angela's spirit is, and she looks at the ground beneath her feet, and you know this is the spot where she is buried.

"How many acres is this?" you ask him.

"Nine."

"I've never been here before, Rossi. I've never met any of these people. Nine acres of land, and I should have no clue where she is buried, much less where she is. Four feet below your feet is Angela, and if you have these officers dig in this spot, you'll see that I'm right. I know there are people who claim to be psychics and con people to give them money, but I'm not that. I'm real, and all I want to do is give justice to people like Angela and the other women that Francis has killed."

Rossi believes that you believe everything you're saying, and yes, you know things that he can't explain, but it's hard for him to believe in what you can do. He's been around too many people who have done nothing but bad, and until he can know for certain you're not one of those people, he will continue to have doubts.

However, Angela deserves better, so he opts to believe you this one time.

"We might have something! I need shovels!"

A few officers rush over with shovels and begin digging in the spot where you told them to, and you look up to see Angela's spirit mist away. All spirits stay on Earth because they have unfinished business, but you know Angela's spirit has found peace. She needed to know that someone found her body, and now that you have, she is free to move on.

Three minutes later, Angela's body is recovered from the site. Everyone crowds around her to examine her, and it looks like she didn't suffer much.

"Two exit wounds, upper torso," Derek says.

Francis shot her, so she died quickly.

"I promised her son we'd find her alive," Will, the sheriff, sighs.

"She's still warm. Look at the blood, it hasn't dried yet. This is recent. Very recent."

"How is that possible?"

"Francis didn't do this. He has a partner," you say. "If his partner just killed Angela, then he isn't far. He could still be somewhere close."

"We set up roadblocks within a forty-mile radius," Will says.

"Sheriff, somebody around here must know who Goehring's partner is. We should try Goehring's pals, the militia. Maybe they can help."

"The Militia leader is Harris Townsend. He owns a bar called The Horse Post. "

"I'd suggest sending Morgan," Rossi says.

"What? All due respect, Rossi, but you've got an entire team to pick from. You're choosing me? Are you serious?"

"No offense, but do you really want to do that?" Will asks Rossi.

Derek is black, and this is a redneck county. They won't take well to Derek whether he is a good person or not. Not all rednecks residing here are racist, but the ones waving the Confederate flag might be.

"Take JJ with you. They know we're here, but you're the last face they expect."

"Let's do it, JJ," Derek sighs.

Both of them leave, and you send them a silent "good luck".

"Sheriff, we need to get into the house," Hotch says.

"Not until I get the all-clear. Goehring blew himself up. God knows what else he's got in there."

"Search what you can until we get in. Anything to build a workable profile," he says to his team.

The team splits up as Will's team searches the house. You're not coming up with anything good, but Rossi and Reid found something that could make this search a lot more dangerous. They found a gun locker with all the weapons missing which means whoever Francis' partner is, he's heavily armed. He's got at least an assault rifle, you know that much. Hotch found two sets of men's shoes in different sizes, and Will found fresh tire marks that belonged to a car around the size of a small pick-up truck.

"If he's as prepared as Goehring, he'll have a police scanner and a two-way radio."

"We can tune into the state geological survey frequency. Nobody ever listens to that," Will suggests.

You focus on the surrounding area outside of the house, and your eyes lock onto a bed of roses. There are four rows of roses in all different stages of growth. You look past the bushes and see four women who look like Angela and Diane, and you know they are four more victims of Francis. One of them points to the rose bushes before misting away.

"Guys, we need to dig up the rose bushes," you announce loudly, heading over to the flowers.

"What did you see?" Hotch asks.

"Four more victims," you say with tears in your eyes.

wanna be tagged? add yourself to this document! if your tag has a strike through it or it’s not linked, it means doesn’t work. find out why!

@averyhotchner​ @lets-be-gay-for-the-angel​ @fan-girl-97​ @inkstainedwritergirl​ @estrela-rogers​ @werewolfbansheelove​ @kwbaby24​ @redsalv20​ @joonie-centric​ @xs​ @sixpencespencee​ @boygenius-reid​ @meganskane​ @prophecyflame​ @babydee17​ @darlingisntit​ @fandoms4ever97​ @spencerreid-187​ @snakeythesnake​ @nomajdetective​ @scarletstarrs​ @hc-geralt-23​ @fairytalesforever​ @bluetreecloud20​ @lucyysthings​ @slightlyvicked​ @zephyrmonkey​ @aysixdy​ @louderfortheback

#identity #series rewrite #criminal minds series rewrite #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fic #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fan fic #spencer reid fan fiction #spencer reid fiction #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid angst #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fic #criminal minds fan fic #criminal minds fan fiction #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds fiction #criminal minds fluff #criminal minds angst #cm #cm fic #cm fanfic #cm fanfiction #cm fiction #cm fan fiction #cm fan fic #cm fluff

[theladycarpathia]

What waits in the woods part 1

There’s something terrifying about flickering campfire lights.

Or maybe that’s just Steve, because no one else seems to care. 

“Lighten up,” Robin insists, jabbing an elbow into Steve’s side. He winces and shimmies along the bench away from her.

“It’s creepy,” Steve insists, sulkily. He looks out at the long line of trees next to their campsite and tries to forget about every ‘crazed whack job hunts kids in the woods’ horror film plotline that he’s ever seen. Robin rolls her eyes and bites down on a marshmallow.

“You do realize that you came to be a camp counselor, right?” she says dryly, mouth gummed up by hot goo. “And that there was a distinct possibility of there being woods, trees, and general nature.” Steve looks away from her open mouth and towards their kids, making sure that the little assholes aren’t messing around with fire or something. Angela had tried dropping a worm down the back of El’s dress earlier and Max had responded by kicking her in the shins. But everything is quiet now, the kids in a stupor after hot dogs and chocolate and are now content to watch the dancing flames.

“I thought we’d stay at camp, not trek half a mile out into the woods to sit out in the dark around a campfire,” Steve hisses. Robin wearily passes him his own marshmallow, possibly hoping it’ll stop him from talking. 

“It’s fine. Really fine…hey, Hop?” she calls out, spotting the camp owner passing by with an armful of logs for the fire. “There’s no legends about wandering murderers or curses around here, right?”

“Not recently!” he says, without stopping. Robin glares at his departing back.

“What does he mean by ‘recently’?” Steve asks warily and Heather Holloway leans over from the bench one over. Her long dark hair falls over her large gold hoops, an accessory she’s not supposed to wear when she’s sitting by the pool, but that somehow make their way into her ears every evening anyway. She went to this camp as a child and knows every trick - the place on the dock where it creaks, the patch of poison ivy by the back of the Art hut, how to get the fresh doughnuts right after they’re put out.

“He means that there was a murder here, like twenty years ago,” she says, with an excited glitter in her dark brown eyes. “A little girl in the woods. Her family used to own this land, before they sold it for the camp.” Nancy leans forward from the other side of Robin, and Steve can tell from her face that something has caught her reporter’s interest. 

“You mean the Creels?” she asks curiously. Steve frowns, struggling to place where he’s heard the name before.

“Creel?” Robin pipes up, licking marshmallow off her fingers.. “Like Henry Creel?”

Oh. Several mornings, when his kids have had early swim time, Steve has seen clear across the lake to the large, imposing house that sits on the other side. A towering old mansion, with shuttered windows, a tower to the south side of the building and a long porch that runs around the house, it's a striking image to see rising out of the fog on an early morning. More than once, Steve has spotted a man with blonde hair sitting on the front steps, holding a coffee mug. He waves sometimes, if he sees them looking. Steve’s never really wondered before how he came to live out in that house all alone. Now he knows. 

“Shit,” Steve says. “His sister?” Heather nods.

“She was only eight at the time. I think Henry was maybe ten? Eleven? Really sick stuff. Like whoever did it stabbed her so viciously that her hand was basically severed at the wrist. The first stab to her heart killed her and the murderer just kept going until she was full of holes.”

Robin makes a face and drops the rest of her marshmallow to the ground. 

“Fucking mental,” Heather continues, shaking her head. “My aunt lived around here back then. Said it screwed the whole family up. They arrested some local boy for it. Apparently, they found the knife hidden in his book bag.”

“That’s a stupid place to hide a murder weapon,” Nancy points out, wrinkling up her tiny nose in confusion. There’s an intense look on her face that says the wheels are turning away, looking for angles, an idea. Give her a microfiche and a notebook and she’ll have drafted up a rough article inside the hour. 

“No one said killers had to be smart,” Heather says, with a shrug. “I’m going to get another coke. Anyone need anything?” 

Robin asks for one too but Nancy and Steve both shake their heads. Nancy is still thinking and Steve’s dinner is sitting rather uneasily in his belly. He doesn’t like this.

“What happened to the Creels?” he asks aloud, so both girls look up at him. “Henry’s parents. I’ve never seen them.”

“Maybe they don’t live there anymore?” Robin suggests, rather sensibly. “Maybe they live in a home, or they just didn’t want to live near where their daughter died.”

“Maybe they’re dead,” Nancy says, voicing the one idea that they all weren’t entirely willing to say. 

“Yeah,” Steve says, looking across the line of trees. This little clearing has been used by the camp for twelve years now, since Starcourt opened. Every summer, everyone in the camp eventually takes a trip out here, one year group a week, to eat junk food and watch the stars and tell stories. It’s the turn of the tree-themed name cabins - the thirteen to fourteen year olds - which means that Steve and his friends have to come too, to keep watch over the brats. Aspen, Rowan, Oak, Briar, Willow and Ash. Steve’s Aspen. Robin is Briar.

Something soft pelts Steve dead in the back of the head and he turns, reaching a hand up to inspect the back of his head. There’s some powdered sugar clinging to a few strands of hair.

“Did he just throw a marshmallow at you?” Nancy asks, sounding scandalized. Billy Hargrove sticks out his tongue when he sees her looking. The lifeguard is still wearing his bright red pool shorts, and flashing a toned bare belly in his cropped top, a fact that has not escaped just about every female counselor here.

Steve hopes he gets fucking pneumonia.

“Yep,” Steve says, looking down. A bright pink marshmallow lies in the grass just behind their bench. “Good shot.”

“Steve,” Nancy says, reproachfully. “Watch my kids.” She gets up from the bench and deftly scoops up the marshmallow as she passes.

“I think she’s going to give it back to him,” Robin comments, watching Nancy storm off to Billy’s table, ignoring the heckling of Jason, Tommy and their ilk. She means to lob it at Billy and no one will stop her.

Steve twists back around to face the fire again, unable to look at Billy Hargrove any longer. The boy is an absolute asshole ninety percent of the time.

It’s the other ten percent that’s becoming a bit of a problem. 

“He’s pulling your pigtails,” Robin says quietly, tossing a pine-cone onto the crackling fire, even though Hop has repeatedly told her not to. 

“He’s a dick,” Steve responds, because the only way he won’t fall completely in love with Billy is by constantly reminding himself of this fact. “He’s arrogant and vain and smokes too much in front of the kids and…”

“You love him, you wanna kiss him,” Robin sing-songs, before a yawn swallows the rest of her words. She drops her head onto Steve’s shoulder, the sugar crash finally kicking in. Everyone is flagging and it won’t be long before they pack up and trek back through the woods to camp.

“This is nice,” Robin mumbles sleepily. Steve sighs, still not entirely sold on the whole premise. But there is something magical about the flickering flames, the full moon hanging overhead. He rests his head on her’s, and wraps an arm around her back to stop her falling backwards when she inevitably drops off to sleep right where she is. 

“Yeah,” Steve reluctantly agrees. “This is nice.”

#harringroveweek #harringrove week 2022 #prompt: campfire #Day 5 #part 1 of 2 #part 2 will be posted as part of Hellcheer week #it's another fic I want to add to #billy hargrove #Steve Harrington #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #steve is right to be suspicious #genre savvy steve is my favourite #see part 2 for more #eventual hellcheer #harringrove

[the-axel-angela-storiesyt]

Mystery Incorporated

"Wrote by Axel Angela StoriesYT"

Disclaimer: These are not my characters, this belong to the creator of Scooby doo and the gang, this is just my version of the mystery incorporated I wanted to do and share with everyone, enjoy.

2- The mystery Begins part II

It was Tuesday, so it was a difficult day to everyone, one of the students was missing, a guy very popular put also respect, of course it wasn’t a bully, it’s one of the people that like to help a lot of people so everyone was so worried about him, and his family was loosing hope, there was a reunion at the gym with the teachers, the students and a police.

Police: I know that everyone is woried to be the next, put right know we need that everyone stays alert and if you see anything that is not right, Call us imietially.

Teacher: and we talk to the principal and you guys don't have to come to school until it's safe, just stay in your houses and don't go out alone, that will be all go home Kids.

With that a lot of People start to go out and walk away and in a distance we see Fred, Velma and Shaggy.

-Ok this is just…. too much

-Yeah, agree... Well I know this isn't a really good time, but I found out something about this book...

With that she opens her bag to get the book, while they walk.

-With what I have found, all of this name are from differents workers from industries and factories.

-Maybe this guy had some anger to all of These people

-It can be a possibility, and acording to what I have found, These places used to treat their coowokers horrible, that even the People that work there, get into a lot of fights

-Maybe they didn't get pay?

-Something like that, more like some People do very well in their job, and some don't do their work so they get less money

-Well, we May have a possibility to know why this guy started to kill

-Put It still remains, why go after the Kids?

With that they hear a scream and even get scared that they jump.

With that Fred decides to investigate what was that scream

Velma and Shaggy: ¡¡Fred NO!!

And they even run begin him

They keep running with that, Fred goes to a building (a bit down), when he enters, he sees a man pulling the hair of a girl and trying to get her in a band.

-¡Hey!

He run to him, push him and helps the girl get up and they run out of the building, and even on the way they see shaggy and Velma on the distance.

-¡Start running!

-¡¿Again?!

And they see the guy running at them, they scream (again) and run with Fred and the other girl.

They keep running, even some people see them and get scared or even get to their houses, It take some minutes to lost that crazy dude.

With that they finally can calm down.

-¡¿what was that?! ¡We almost got caugh by him!

-¡¿And who was he?!

-Hey don't look at me, I just wanna know what was that sound and..

He sees the girl crying in a cooner

-... ¿And what?

Fred points at the girl and Velma see her

-Winkies...

With that the Tree go to see her and try to confort her (like seiing if she is ok after everything that happend)

With that they stay and talk, it the only thing they can do a help the girl feel more safe, and with time she told something’s to them.

-Let me understand, so like you move there with your family.

-Too get away from this guy, because he started to stalk your family and you, put your dad knows something and didn’t even tell your mom or you.

-…Yeah and…I’m really sorry for bringing this man in your place, it just-…

-It not your fault, your family just wanted a place to feel safe…don’t blame yourself

-…

-…Well we kinda didn’t introduce ourselves, she is Velma, he is norville, put we always call him Shaggy and I’m Fred

-…I’m Daphne

And some minutes pass, with that we can see the four walk on the street talking

-So that what you have been doing with all of this…

-Yeah, like I didn’t wanna be drag into this, put know I’m more scared and hungry with all of this…well more hungry and scared *he laughs*

-He thinks of food all the time, isn’t he?

-Sometimes, put you get used to it

They laugh and the Day goes fine after everything that happend, in sometime later they are talking about what they have found to Daphne

-So one of the things that may be the reason of all of this are one of the employees from the factory’s?

-Yeah, and we gotta say Velma help us a lot with the names of this places

-Oh it’s nothing, really.

Edit:I didn’t feel inspirated to draw some scene, sorry

#axelangelastoriesyt #scooby doo #mystery incorporated #velma scooby doo #daphne scooby doo #fred scooby doo #shaggy scooby doo #whats new scooby doo

[hotchley]

the green light of forgiveness

FIRST MENTALIST FIC WHOO!

Hi?

This is my first fic since March. Since then a lot of life has happened (as I'm sure you're all aware.)So my writing is a little rusty. And I've never written for The Mentalist so I don't really think I characterised anyone properly, but oh well. I basically watched Red John today and I kept waiting for someone to say something about Lisbon (the moral dilemma about Red John) was so interesting. So because I didn't get my line about Lisbon, we are now here.

I haven't actually watched the episode after. I got carried away. Anyways, I've been AWOL for ages so the writing is… questionable and hasn't been proofread (like always) and I will probably go AWOL with fics again, because I'm trying to keep this fun! So yeah! Title is from happiness- Taylor Swift. It's the best song off evermore and you can't change my mind /j

Let me know if I missed any TWs, it's 12:30am and I spent my morning talking to ten different children about multiple books and I am tired.

read on ao3!

All you want from me now is the green light of forgiveness You haven't met the new me yet And I think she'll give you that

Thomas McAllister is grinning at Patrick Jane.

He can't stand it. How dare he. How dare this pathetic coward, who murdered an innocent woman and child and hundreds of other people, grin at him? He isn't smart. He hasn't won. He is just a man, who has fears and weaknesses. Now that his identity has been revealed, there are no cards left for him to play.

Jane knows he is a wanted man, but there is a dead body lying two feet away from him and he didn't put the bullet there. It will be selfish and unfair, but if he escapes, he can get to Lisbon and the rest of his family. He can get them out of whatever situation they are in. Because he knows something has happened to them. It's the same prickling feeling he used to get when Angela gave Charlotte a bit too much sugar before bed since she wanted to say goodnight to him, or when Charlotte accidentally spilt glitter on one of his jackets.

The point is, he is a wanted man, but Red John is desired. The FBI will let him and the rest of the team go if he leads them to their worst enemy, especially now the public is so aware of his existence. He has learnt, that for better or for worse, they will do anything to protect their image. And if that means letting him go because the public perceive him as a grieving man that simply wants closure, they'll do it.

Which means McAllister shouldn't be grinning.

"You shouldn't do it," he says, as though it's simply a conversation about a haircut.

"Shouldn't do what?" Jane asks through gritted teeth.

Red John has seen his full range of emotions without him ever intending to showcase any of them. Red John is his nemesis. Red John is the monster under his bed, the figure he sees out of the corner of his eye when he feels paranoid. Red John is undefeatable.

But Sheriff McAllister is a man who is afraid of death as all people are. Even Jane is afraid of dying. There are so many things he hasn't done. So many words he hasn't said. He hasn't told Charlotte that there's nothing to be afraid of anymore. Hasn't told Angela that he found peace. He needs to tell Cho that he's brave, tell Rigsby that he's going to be a good father, tell Grace that she must never lose that childish hope.

He needs to tell Teresa more things than is humanly possible. He needs to say sorry. That he's proud of her. That she is the most beautiful woman he has ever known. That she needs to loosen up. That he can't afford to lose her and that's why he always runs and leaves her behind. That he loves her.

So whatever reason he's about to be given for keeping him alive is going to be born out of self-preservation and it will be easy to rationalise it into something that means he can pull the trigger. But more than pulling the trigger, he wants his hands to end his life. He wants to watch as that pathetic man starts pleading, wants to make him as helpless as every other victim, wants to witness the light leave his eyes and the panic and realisation set in-

"Teresa won't ever forgive you if you do," McAllister taunts. 

Just for a moment, his hand falters. But then he thinks of her. The real Teresa Lisbon who loves with patience and laughs at his awful jokes and never rolls her eyes at the team with any emotion other than humour. He thinks of the Teresa Lisbon he loves, not the woman that has hidden her personality from so many people for her safety. 

It’s why his voice doesn’t waver when he speaks.

"You're wrong."

"Oh?"

"Agent Lisbon will find it difficult to reconcile the image of me with blood on my hands with the gun-fearing man I appear to be on many of our cases. She will understand that I likely acted in self defence and will eventually come to terms with what I was forced to do."

"And are Agent Lisbon and your sweet, darling Teresa two different people? She wears a wonderful perfume, I'll have to find out what it's called. And she looks so peaceful when she's unconscious. Likely because she isn't burdened with your shenanigans."

The image of Lisbon, breathing and seemingly relaxed, but Partridge’s blood on her face as she became another on a long list of Red John’s victims comes to the forefront of his mind. He made a vow that day. Never again was he going to wipe the blood off someone he loved because of something he had done. It made him even more determined to find Red John. Because nobody should hold the power to make Lisbon vulnerable unless she had already given it to them.

He had abused that power once. To make her annoyed, so she wouldn’t question where her birthday gift was. He hadn’t expected her to hurt, and the look she had given him- one of pure disgust, as though she had always believed she would be immune to his barbs- had stung more than he’d ever admit to anyone.

“Teresa is simply a woman who is a human. She’ll forgive me in the blink of an eye because she cares about me. And when she cares, she forgives. In fact, she’ll be grateful that I killed you. You abused so many people. You have used them and you have ruined lives and you do not deserve a jury or a trial. She believes in forgiveness. Lord only knows how many times she forgave her father and brothers in order to move on with her life.  She cares for me, and she knows this is the only ending to the story. Whilst she may not want to accept it, she will.”

“She loves you.”

“She loves many people.” He can’t afford to give into this game. Not now he is so close. 

“She loves you more. And I know you love her also. I wondered what you would do when you found out I hurt her. I was disappointed in your reaction. I was hoping for a more romantic gesture. Perhaps a declaration of love, given that you won’t ever get the chance again.” 

“I will. And she knows. This is your downfall.”

“My love for love? Now, now, Patrick, let’s not be silly.”

“Your desire for theatrics. It makes you blind.” He only has a few moments to work with.

“Does it?” There is the cockiness he has needed.

“I need to show you something,” he says, and when McAllister smirks and leans forward, he acts.

The gunshot sounds unnaturally loud. Everything else happens too fast for him to process. All he can think of is the last time Charlotte smiled at him and the last kiss Angela blew him. Tom McAllister, not Bertram, not Red John, took them and so many others. It’s only right that he joins them.

He does doubt whether or not Lisbon will truly forgive him, but he can hardly focus on that when he’s so close to revenge.

He gets it. McAllister begs as much as he’s able to, and then it’s over. It feels shockingly anticlimactic, but he supposes he should’ve been prepared for that. After Lisbon finally arrested Walter Mashburn, she came and sat with him. And when he asked how it felt, she shrugged and said it was just another closed case.

He wonders if the feelings will kick in later.

He knows he needs to leave.

So he does.

In his first letter to Lisbon- he rewrites it several times, knowing that she’ll know but quite frankly not caring enough to send the first copy because there is too much and it is too soon- he details exactly what he did.

He sends four more letters with zero reference to the events that led to this method of communication. Because if nothing had happened, he would’ve been sauntering into whatever office she had and saying whatever he wanted regardless of who was there. He sends four more with zero reference because Teresa sent five with no acknowledgement beyond thank you.

Six months later, at the same time that she starts a new job, she sends a letter. It deviates from their usual pattern. 

He fears the worst as he opens the letter. He won’t go back unless he has to. He wanted that “has to” to be something like Cho’s wedding or because Grace and Wayne are expecting, but if Lisbon is writing early it’s unlikely it’s something good.

 But the letter is blank save for three words.

I forgive you.

He breaks down there. He clings to the letter as his legs give out and tears stream down his face because she forgives him. She forgives him, and even though he knows he had nothing to apologise for and that she would always grant him this, to see the words written in her own handwriting is like a weight lifted off his chest.

If Teresa can forgive him, then he will be okay. Because yes, Teresa is a forgiving person, but he hurt her again by running away. At some point, her mercy was going to run out. He assumed it would run out when he tried to bury a man alive because that almost jeopardised her career, and when she still let him use her for his vendetta, he knew he needed to be careful.

Teresa’s forgiveness feels much like her love. He doesn’t want to think about that. He wants to think about how beautiful she is. How much she’s changed, for better or for worse. Because the Agent Lisbon that let him look at the files wouldn’t have dreamed of letting him near Red John. The Agent Lisbon that still writes him letters despite saying she can’t has forgiven him for killing.

The first time she sees him, she flinches.

Patrick wants to make her hurt. He wants to shout at her. How dare she say she’s forgiven him if she’s going to look at him like he’s not her friend?

But then he thinks about it for half a second longer. She flinched because she was afraid of what she’d done to him. She was terrified that it was seeing how many criminals they caught walk free for one reason or another that drove him to the edge of a cliff you couldn’t come back from. She thought it was her fault he’d dived off it with no regard for the landing.

He wanted to say he’d desired revenge long before she ever said hello to him, and that she had remained his one tie to the world. That he’d started living- not just surviving- because she looked at him without pity and without sorrow. He wanted to say that he didn’t feel like there was any more blood on his hands because they’d done what they could.

But all those words died when she looked at him with those wide eyes and that slightly hesitant smile since she’d had a moment to compose herself.

So he said the words that said all of that and more. And he did the thing that proved he wasn’t lying.

“Lisbon,” he whispers, and then he embraces her with all the love he still holds for Angela and Charlotte, as well as all the love he’s grown to hold for her. 

She smiles, and in some strange way, she feels forgiven too. Perhaps it’s for waiting so long to write the first letter. Perhaps it’s for something she can’t remember she felt guilty about because Jane is back and she’s in his arms and he feels like home.

“Jane,” she replies, the same teasing lilt emerging.

And he knows then. It’s definite. It’s certain. There are now five indisputable facts for when he can’t sleep.

One: Lisbon loves him. Two:  they’re back together to solve cases and tease each other. Three: forgiveness is possible, even for people like him. Four: he can keep his vow.  And five: he is home, and it is filled with a brightness he has never seen before. 

#the mentalist #sumayyah writes the mentalist #jisbon #jane x lisbon #patrick jane #teresa lisbon #tw death #tw child death reference #tw grief

[missmcspooks]

UNSOLVED But Not Forgotten: The Abduction of Angela Hammond

During the evening of April 4th, 1991, a man would try to rescue his pregnant fiance who was just abducted by a man they didn’t know, just for his transmission to fail during the chase… She would never be seen again. 

Angela Hammond was a 20 year old college student, who worked as a bank teller in Missouri. She was a popular, beautiful, smart young woman, and was recently engaged to an athlete, Rob Shafer, who planned to join the military. The couple were expecting their first child together, and she was four months pregnant at the time of her abduction. Rob was babysitting his brother on the evening of April 4th, and planned to meet up with Angela once his mother came home. In the meantime, she went to spend time with her friend Kyla. Around 11:15 PM, Angela called Rob from a payphone that was just seven blocks from his home. While talking on the phone, she noticed a truck that kept circling around the area she was in, and described the truck to Rob, and the man who was driving it. The car then pulled up to the curb and the man got out and walked over to the other payphone. It seemed like it wasn’t working, and he then took out his flashlight and started shining it around near his truck. Angela asked the man if he needed to use the phone, and he told her he was going to try the other phone again in a minute. She went back to her conversation with Rob, when he suddenly heard her scream, and heard the man say, “I didn’t need to use the phone anyway.” Rob sprinted to his car and took off to where the payphone was located. The abductor's truck sped past him and he heard her screaming his name. Rob threw his car into reverse, damaging the transmission, and followed the truck for 2 miles before his car broke down. The truck drove away, and Angela was never seen again. 

A massive search began for Angela, and everyone was looking for her, the truck, and the abductor. Hundreds of trucks matching the description that she gave were checked, and every single one of them were cleared. There weren’t many leads in the case, and in the beginning there were no witnesses, so investigators made Rob their main suspect. He underwent a polygraph test, which determined that he was telling the truth. Thankfully, two witnesses ended up coming forward, claiming they saw a suspicious man around the payphones between 11:30 and 11:45 PM, right before Angela was taken. Rob was cleared within a week. According to witnesses, the abductor was a dirty man who was around 50 years old, with a beard and a mustache, and was wearing overalls. He drove an older 

POSSIBLE SERIAL KILLER?

Shortly after Angela’s investigation began, her case was linked to two other unsolved cases that were within a 100 mile radius of where she was taken. The first case took place on January 19th, 1991, when 42 year old Trudy Darby called her son to notify him about a suspicious man walking around outside the convenience store where she worked. Her son arrived less than 10 minutes later and found the store completely empty. Her body was found on a riverbank two days later, ten miles from where she worked. Autopsy showed that she was raped and shot twice in the head. 

The second case involved another woman who worked at a convenience store, 30 year old Cheryl Kenney. She disappeared on February 27th, after locking up her store for the night. Her car was found abandoned in the parking lot, and it was assumed that she had also been kidnapped. Her store was just 70 miles away from where Trudy was taken. Angela was abducted a month later. Authorities believed that there was a serial killer on their hands, but they had no further evidence to go off of. There have been many unconfirmed sightings of Angela throughout the United States, and even in Canada. Serial killer Kenneth McDuff, who was on a killing spree from 1996-1992, was looked at as a potential suspect, but was never officially linked to the case. 

Trudy’s case was eventually solved, convicting her half brothers Jesse Rush and Marvin Chaney for her murder. Investigators believe that they also had something to do with Cheryl’s and Angela’s case, but they didn’t have any evidence to prove it was them. In April 2021, thirty years after Angela went missing, authorities announced that there was a new theory to the case. A confidential informant  that helped authorities in a narcotics case received a “cut-and-paste” letter that read: 

“Hello No [redacted], we know who you are no. [redacted]. People like you deserve what you get we know where your foxy daughter is at she will see us soon tell [wife’s name] she has our deepest sympathy in her future loss Goodbye.” 

The letter was postmarked April 4th, 1991, the day Angela was abducted. The letter also knew the accurate informant's court issued number, along with his estranged wife’s first name. Their daughter was also named Angela, and authorities believe that the abductors were people who were linked to the narcotics case, and their daughter was the original target, and the wrong Angela was taken instead. Police haven’t been able to rule out this suspicious letter yet, and they even had an anonymous caller who had some information regarding Angela, and even mentioned things that were said in the letter. They’re hoping the caller will call them back at some point. 

To this day, their cases remain unsolved. I can’t find any information on where Rob Shafer is today, but Angela’s mother passed away in May 2021, not knowing what really happened to her daughter. 

#true crime #true story #truecrime #true crime blog #true crime community #Crime #blog #blogging #blogger #blog post #blogpost #Writerscommunity #writing #writers on tumblr

[maryangelasblog]

"I'm shy, please come say hi.”

Blog #1

“Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”

Hello there, everyone! I am delighted to conquer and introduce myself here in the blogging community. I am Mary Angela D. Lagutao, a 15-year-old girl from the Corn Capital of the Philippines City of Ilagan, Isabela. Faith and hope are wonderful to me. Having someone tell me, "You got this." or "Don't give up." is the best feeling; those three words motivate and inspire me. It's a tough life, and it's the little things that help us get through it, sometimes the smallest things mean the most. I am motivated to do better because I have hope.

I used to be a talkative, humorous, and cheerful kid, but where has that funny little girl gone to now? I have no idea what happened. In Elementary, I found my passion in participating in quiz bees and essay writings, I also joined the majorette club, student council, radio broadcasting team of our school. But that was a very long time ago, and I can't even twirl and spin a baton now. I used to be one of the happiest and active students in our school before. When junior high school arrived, I don't know why, but I suddenly became dull, quiet, shy, or to put it simply, introverted. This is where I experience crying over poor test scores, my first time taking remedial after failing quizzes, and cram because I procrastinated, but I'm not going to deny it's the best part of my student life. There, I met my friends—or, perhaps more accurately, my soul mates—who look out for me whenever I'm silent. I feel so fortunate to have them in my life.

Where do I see myself 10 years from now? To be completely honest, neither I nor any of us really don't know what will occur today or tomorrow. The realization that I'll be twenty five years old in ten years from now and that my teen years is coming to an end frightened me a little. However, if God grants me the opportunity to live to that age, I may very well make the most of it by dedicating all of my passion, heart, determination, and commitment to becoming a successful doctor as well as a happy, strong, independent, and fulfilled woman. Picturing my person ten years from now I hope I have already pursued my aspirations, wishes, and goals. The only person we need to believe in, is ourselves because no one else will. Although others may view you differently, in the end, only how you see yourself will matter. Your main goal should be to prevent feelings of worthlessness. To light a fire of possibility inside of you that will lead to success, you should be grateful for the little things in life.

Let's start with where I am right now; I am a Grade 11 STEM student at Saint Paul University Philippines, and I am grateful to be a student there. Saint Paul University is one of the most reputable universities in our region. It is huge and beautiful. However, I was actually anxious prior to enrolling at this university because I had so many "what ifs" racing through my head regarding how this academic year would go. I am initially hesitant to venture outside of my comfort zone, but who would have thought that my biggest discomfort would also be my greatest teachings. If the opportunity arises, seize it and work to become a better person. As they say, "remain motivated and have fun while you're in school." The school has a joyful, productive atmosphere; it's a brand-new beginning and a brand-new journey. From the security guard to the teachers, everyone on staff at the school is very friendly and welcoming. I adore being a student and going to school. I enjoy being here with my classmates and pick up new skills every day. The professionalism and discipline I have learned from my teachers will help me in the future. I'm proud to be a student here, and I'll never stop missing it when I leave. I have learned a lot from my time in school, and I have given the chance to be with the most wonderful classmates.

Was STEM the best best choice after all? I am a STEM student, as I already mentioned, and I believe it was a good decision in the end. Simply because STEM or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math is suitable and related to the course I wanted to pursue in college. For those who plan to pursue a medical course in college, the STEM strand offers numerous career opportunities. Additionally, the topics are very interesting and challenging.

Hopefully and if all goes well I would like to Major in Nursing or Medical Technology. Growing up, I saw some homeless people begging for money so they could pay for healthcare. They motivated and inspired me to pursue a medical allied course because I wanted to help those people. Last but not least, I aspire to be a doctor. As a child, I enjoyed playing my medical kit toy, I act like I’m the doctor whose giving prescriptions to my patients. I am choosing either nursing or medical technology as my pre-medical course because of this.

Let me tell you something!

I know it's crazy to admit it, but I still don't know what my real purpose is; I just simply function and go with the flow of life. Finding my mission in life is though, but is more crucial than i might realize. In the process of still finding my purpose, i discovered that there is so many things like my passion to share to others.

#10 years #purpose

[junebugzzz]

ok now im going to think really hard. if you want to see me slowly realize i’ve played more than five games in my life, go on 

#hmmmm what games did i forget about. what games was i obsessed with. #OH FIREBOY AND WATERGIRL sob i still play it with my cousin whenever we meet #pappa's pizzeria too :^) #basically anything on friv.com #oh i played pacman a bunch how did i forget that #there was aaaa uh a shrek game and a mario game on the nintendo ds #the arcana obviously (thank u for the reminder seph) #OH bounce tales!! on my grandma's flip phone #god i loved that game so fucking much #tetris obviously #oh another on the same flip phone though i dont remember the name - a snake goes around eatin bugs and increases in length with each snack #TONS of dress up games (im gay) #talking angela. and when i found out there was possibly a man in there used to flip him off #hhh if i think of more i'll probably end up crying.

[therealvinelle]

What do you think the Cullens would do if some person they were talking to, out of nowhere just quite literally exploded in front of, and on them? Kinda like in that movie Spontaneous. Would they lose control and slurp up the mess on the ground, (and themselves) or would their bloodlust be curtailed by shock of wtf just happened?

I'd say something witty about how this is a strange anon to receive, but holy jesus you've sent me down a rabbithole.

Here's a trailer to the movie Spontaneous. It looks amazing. Kevin Feige wishes this had been his plot for Infinity War.

Here's a trailer for the movie Spontaneous Combustion, which I found by accident while searching for your fic. This looks amazing too. Can't believe Marvel didn't buy the rights to this guy.

I'm serious, people, you definitely want to watch these trailers. I just about died laughing.

So, on to your ask.

In the spirit of your ask, which implies a level of randomness, I thought the people blowing up should be random too. So, being in the mood to procrastinate through spending way too much time on tumblr things, I wrote a program that'll generate for me random Twilight characters.

Unsure whether the explosion should kill vampires or not, I generated an answer. The answer is yes, any generated vampire dies.

Without further ado:

Alice watches Vladimir blow up.

Alright, alright.

The first question to be answered here is why Alice is in Vladimir's presence in the first time. In canon they only meet once, at the end of Breaking Dawn.

For the sake of simplicity, we'll have Vladimir blow up then.

The Cullens and the witnesses are all celebrating being alive, when Vladimir suddenly explodes.

For the sake of the ask, Alice is sitting closest to him when this happens and making conversation.

Her first thought is utter shock. Not just that he blew up, but that she didn't see it coming (she wouldn't, because I randomly generated him. No decision was made). Her second thought is horror.

The Cullens just confronted the Volturi, now mere hours afterwards their allies are blowing up.

Holy fuck, Aro has a gifted ace up his sleeve, and he's using it to kill them remotely.

Panic ensues, not just for Alice, but among all the witnesses. Some of them refuse to leave, Bella has to shield those 24/7, though given the belief that her gift is psychic that doesn't make them feel very safe.

The others decide to go after the Volturi and beg for mercy, assuring them they never meant to challenge them.

Aro, of course, is very confused, but agrees. Why, yes, he does have a vampire who blows people up. Yes, yes he does.

Bella watches Aro blow up.

Oh I'm dying laughing at this one. And wishing I'd put this down for Carlisle, that would be even funnier, but alright.

Bella is walking about post-Breaking Dawn, minding her own business, when suddenly Aro appears in front of her. He looks around himself, utterly surprised by his sudden deplacement, and then blows up.

Bella has been living in terror of this man for years.

In Volterra he had his servant torture her and Edward and then made ominious threats, then a few months later the Eclipse disaster unfolded, finally we have Breaking Dawn where he showed up to murder her and everyone she loved.

Her shield may be powerful, but for as long as Aro was alive her family was never truly safe.

His untimely implosion changes all of that.

I imagine after a long moment of incredulity, Bella burns the rubble, just to be sure, then tells her family the joyous news.

Carlisle gives the guy a funeral. It's weird.

Carlisle watches Vassilii blow up.

Close call, due to my not switching out the names we almost had Angela. In which case Carlisle have stood there, covered in blood and in shock for several long seconds, before bringing out the bleach and gasoline for a crime scene clean.

As it is, Carlisle is minding his own business when suddenly an immortal child dressed like a medieval Eastern European appears before him. It says something in a foreign language that might mean "hi", he doesn't know but he says "hi" to it back, then the child blows up.

Carlisle stares at the rubble for a very long time, wondering if he is perhaps losing his mind. If, perhaps, Aro was right about animal blood being a slow suicide, and Carlisle has finally hit the limit for how long a vampire can go on without human blood.

He burns the rubble and prays for the child's soul, as an immortal child is doomed anyway, and keeps his silence about what happened. In part because there's a solid chance this was all in his imagination.

If Aro ever touches his hand again, and sees the immortal child that he burned a thousand years earlier resurrect, travel through time, all in order to blow up in front of Carlisle, he... well there comes a point where you say "nothing to see here" and refuse eye contact with the universe glitching.

Edward watches Randall blow up.

Randall, for the ignorants, is one of Carlisle's friends that came to witness for the Cullens in Breaking Dawn.

Suddenly he appears in front of Edward, says hi and how do you do, and then he blows up.

Edward tells Carlisle, who is saddened by this, and they try to piece the guy together. They fail.

Edward sends a somber thought to this noble man who agreed with Edward that the Cullens are awesome enough to be worth dying for.

Emmett watches Mary blow up.

Emmett will never admit it, but it's the coolest, raddest thing he's ever seen.

Esme watches Eleazar blow up.

Oh boy.

The Cullens are visiting the Denali. Irina has not been dead for long, but given the crystal clear memory of vampires, and the loss they already suffered (Sasha's death traumatized them) it doesn't really matter how long it's been, the Denali are devastated anyway.

The whole coven is as fragile as it can possibly get.

Then, Eleazar goes to join Esme in the kitchen, and explodes all over her and the kitchen.

The remaining Denali and the Cullens are called to the kitchen by the sound of Esme's screaming, and find her in hysterics, surrounded by gray rubble.

The Denali are near catatonic with grief at this point, while cooking has been ruined for Esme. One moment you're making food, the next people are exploding all over your kitchen.

Yeah.

Esme is not okay.

Jasper watches Nahuel blow up.

It's a shameful moment in his life.

But, hybrids are edible.

And that blood was splattered all over him.

Jasper has the worst control fail of his life, worse even than when he failed with Bella because this fail means he can't be around Renesmée anymore.

It's miserable all around.

The one highlight here is that it didn't happen when they were headed to the Volturi trial together.

Rosalie watches Emmett blow up.

Jesus christ, random Twilight character generator, just when I thought you were just going to give me boring results.

Not only does Rosalie lose the love of her life, the guy who kept her together, the one good thing she had going for her who made her life worth living, but he did so right in front of her, blowing up out of nowhere.

There's no explanation to be had, no culprit to be found, no reason for it. She had no goodbye, just as she can have no revenge.

She will never have closure.

Renesmée watches Renée blow up.

We go out on a high note, my god. Well done, generator, I'm laughing.

Renesmée is curious enough about her grandmother to go to Florida. She was going to watch from afar, but finds herself talking to the woman who raised her mother.

It's all going well until Renée suddenly explodes all over Renesmée.

Renesmée's first thought is nothing, she's in shock.

Then...

Well, she was controlled as an infant, so I don't think an adult Renesmée would lose it unless under extreme circumstances, like if she encountered a singer.

More, though, Renesmée might have any reasons of her own not to drink human blood, but she has been raised with this being a big no-no.

So she shouldn't.

However...

Is she ever going to get a better chance?

Ethically, she could easily argue this is the right choice. No one will be negatively affected by this, at least not directly.

The human is right there, already dead, and there's no body so while Renesmée does have to clean up the gore. Hell, if she laps up the blood on her clothes and the ground she will be cleaning up. Why waste perfectly good blood?

If Renesmée Cullen is ever going to have human blood, this is it.

It will come down to how much she respects her grandfather, and how important she believes Renée was to Bella.

-

Bonus, because I'm having way too much fun with this:

Bree watches Atheonodora blow up.

Bree is minding her own business when suddenly a vampire unlike any she has ever seen before, one with hazy eyes and odd skin, appears before her. They stare at each other. Then the woman blows up.

Bree takes this to mean that exploding is apparently something vampires just do sometimes, runs off in a panic and, sobbing, tells Riley.

Riley, having no idea what to make of any of this, tells her it was those evil yellow-eyes with their witchcraft and sorcery.

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight renaissance #jasper hale #alice cullen #edward cullen #esme cullen #emmett cullen #carlisle cullen #rosalie cullen #renesmée cullen #renée dwyer #bella swan #aro #athenodora #bree tanner #vladimir #nahuel #randall #mary #vasillii

[mayraki]

✧ chapter one: the girl on fire - b. barnes x oc series ✧

-> hvlf’s gif

‘let’s play fire with fire’ series masterlist

my masterlist

summary: when bucky barnes and sam wilson find themselves on a awful situation on a mission, sam decides to get help from an old friend ignoring the complaints from his partner.

“Bucky! A little help here!” Sam yelled when he noticed the guy in front of him was already throwing another punch towards his face. He ducked down and avoided it with ease, but that little victory didn’t last long since his opponent’s foot was now going towards his stomach. “What the hell is taking you so long?!” He asked while he opened his wings to avoid his stomach from getting badly hurt.

“Sam, you flew there!” Bucky yelled on Sam’s ear. “I have nothing but my motorcycle! Just keep him busy.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem, man. This guy has some really bad anger issues.” Sam said while lifting his body up in the air to use the momentum to help his punch against the giant guy. But that didn’t seem to get him at all, he just made a couple of steps back and then soon regain his strength to go against Sam once again. “Damn! What do you eat?!” Sam yelled before opening his wings and flying towards the ceiling of the abandoned building they were at.

“Aaaaaaah!” The guy yelled annoyed while looking upwards to Sam.

“We don’t want you to get more angry, oh no.” Sam said before quickly flying towards him to get another good punch on him, but when he was close enough to him, for Sam’s surprise the guy grabbed his wings and threw him into the ground making a big loud noise in the process. “Oh shit!” Sam opened his wings once again to move away and avoid the big guy wanting to end him while he was on the floor, so moving backwards as soon as he could he saw how the guy was getting further away each second.

Once away enough, he got up ready to keep fighting as the guy was getting closer and closer, but then the sound of metal hitting something hit his ears. And then, the guy fell to the floor to let Sam see Bucky standing right in front of him.

“Took you long enough.” Sam said which made Bucky let out a sarcastic little smile. “Let’s take this guy out of here before he wakes up, not ready to see him more angry than before.”

Bucky nodded as they both kneeled down to grab the unconscious guy with their hands, but before they could get to it, the sound of a bomb going next to them hit their ears.

Their bodies hitting the floor and the pitch sound going on on their heads was making it difficult for them to regain control of the situation. The smoke surrounding them made their sights useless, they both felt like the air was getting thicker and thicker as the seconds were passing while waiting to gain full control of their senses.

“Bucky?!” Sam yelled coughing to get the smoke out of his lungs.

“Sam?!” He heard Bucky yell from a couple of feet away from him. So walking some steps to meet him he moved his feet trusting the voice he heard a couple of seconds ago to find his friend. A luckily for him, he soon felt a cold metal arm touching his arm. “Are you alright?!” Bucky asked with a loud tone.

“Yeah! You?”

“Fine! Let’s get out of here!” Sam was about to shook his head since they needed to find the guy and take him out of there with them, but seeing the fire approaching them and the floor empty where the guy was before the loud noise hit the building, he kept his mouth shut and followed Bucky outside to take some fresh air again.

>>>

“Well, that was a success.” Bucky said sarcastically when they both arrived at their tiny apartment that they rented for the mission.

“It wasn’t pointless.” Sam added. “At least we know how the guy looks like.”

“And that helps us how?” Bucky asked loudly turning around to face Sam. “It’s not like we know more than before.”

“We know that he belongs to an underground group that’s trying to build illegal weapons. That’s something.” Sam said in a calming tone to help calm Bucky and his frustration. “We’re not screwed because we still have information about them.”

“And the place where there was more about them just, somehow, burned to the ground.”

“I know. I was there, you know?” Sam said with his joking tone.

“Alright, where do we go now? It’s not like this group is extremely known and it’s out in the open.” Bucky let out a loud sigh while taking his jacket off to grab a drink from the tiny fridge.

“We just have to look somewhere else.” Sam sat down thinking of every possibility that his mind was letting him to.

“Do you have something in mind?”

“I know where we can go next.” He said after a couple of seconds in silence.

“Where?” Bucky asked intrigued raising an eyebrow.

“I know someone that knows about this sort of things.” Sam quickly got up to take his suit off and put on something more casual. “And she happens to live close to this town.”

“No, we don’t need anyone helping us. You know what happened last time.”

“John Walker wasn’t helping us-”

“But it ended badly anyway, so we don’t need anyone on the team but us and if we need help, there’s people we can trust.”

“I trust her.” Sam said quickly. “C’mon, man, we don’t have any other choice. It’s either her help of nothing.”

Bucky let out a loud sigh realising that Sam was right, there was nothing he could do about it. “Who is she?”

>>>

“Seraphina Thompson!” Sera heard her roommate calling her name from her room. “Come here right now! I need help! C’mon! Please!”

Sera dropped the book she had on her hand quickly on the couch to walk with speed towards Angela’s room. “What’s wrong?!” She asked worried that something happened to her, but once she stepped inside the room, she found her roommate holding two dresses on her hands while standing in front of her mirror.

Angela looked so worried that the situation may we worse than Sera imagined it, but not in the same way. “Which one?” She asked turning to face Sera with worry all over her eyes.

Sera entered the room and crossed her arms around her chest to look at Angela. The dresses she was holding looked very similar to one another, both black with little flowers in them. So taking a little sigh out Sera just shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the bed. “I don’t know. They look the same to me.”

“Look closer!” Angela frustrated, walked closer to Sera to get the dresses closer to her eyes. “They’re not!”

“Angie, is this about the date you have tonight?” Sera asked. “Because no man deserves this much preparation.” She looked at the dresses and then pointed at one of them, not giving much importance to the situation. “But I like this one more.”

Angela let out a big smile and then dropped the other dress to the floor to quickly take off her clothes and put on the dress Sera picked for her. “You’re right, no man deserves this much preparation. But this one does. You need to meet him, he’s not like the others ones I dated, this one is a man.”

“And you dated girls before?” Sera asked in a joking tone to annoy her friend.

“You know what I mean! This one looks like a God, believe me. When you see him you’ll know what a God looks like, because he looks like those pictures we see all the time about Greek Gods and... stuff. His name is Jayme Jefferson. Ugh! Even his name is God like.” Angela said while struggling to put on the dress while Sera let out a tiny laugh, enjoying the fact that Angela didn’t know about Sera and her relationship with Gods.

“I doubt it.” Sera said more to herself than to Angela, but being so close to each other she perfectly heard her.

“It’s the truth! You just have to wait and see.” Angela said before finally putting the dress on and watching herself in the mirror. “Damn, you have good taste.”

“Thanks.” Sera said letting out a tiny smile.

“Alright. Outfit is done, now I have to-” Angela was saying but then was cut off by the door bell ringing. “Oh my God!” Angela yelled with horror on her face. “What if that’s him?!”

“Then he’s like three hours early.” Sera said getting up.

“Where are you going?!” Angela stopped her from walking away.

“Going to my room so you can make the guy walk in if you want, moving myself from the way.”

“No, no, no.” Angela quickly shook her head multiple times. “You can’t! You need to open the door for me!”

“Me? Why me?”

“I need to do my makeup! Go! Go! I’ll be out in fifteen minutes!” Angela was quickly pushing Sera out of the room.

“And what do I do in the meantime?! Make him some tea?!” Sera yelled but the door was now closed behind her with no response coming her way.

Letting out a big sigh she walked towards the door to let the mysterious man that had her roommate going all crazy inside. But once she opened her door, she found outside something that she never expected to see again.

“What are you doing here?” She asked seeing Sam Wilson in front of her. He looked the same as the last time she saw him, with that beard that Sera used to joke all the time, those kind eyes and energy around him that would usually calm her down. Her old mentor was there in front of her after three years of being apart and nothing seemed to make sense anymore since it caught her so off guard her thoughts completely shut down. Until she noticed another man behind him.

“Nice to see you again, Sera.” Sam said with that calming and deep voice ignoring the surprise on her face. “This is-”

“The winter soldier.” Sera said locking eyes with Bucky. As soon as their eyes connected some electricity hit her body, but not the one that she would usually feel. Something different, and that caught her attention even more. “I know who he is.”

“I’m not the winter soldier anymore.” Bucky said not showing any emotion on his face whatsoever. Without breaking the eye contact, Sera kept her mind focused on Bucky waiting for something else to happen. Him noticing this got confused on the way she was staring at him, wondering what she was doing he looked at Sam who seemed to know what was happening because he didn’t seem to be confused at all. Just waiting to talk again.

“He’s not here to hurt you.” Sam said and Bucky’s shoulders tensed themselves as he noticed what she was thinking or getting ready for, but then Sam spoke again: “But you already know that, don’t you?” The way Sam said that caught Bucky’s attention. For the first time after a couple of minutes, Sera moved her eyes to Sam and it looked like they were talking with their eyes. There was something else about this girl than being the girl with some information like Sam told him, and Bucky made a mental note to figure it out. “Can we come in?” Sam asked pointing with his head inside but Sera didn’t respond immediately, she looked back and stared at the hallway behind her for a couple of seconds.

“No.” She finally said firmly after turning to face Bucky and Sam. Sera knew that her roommate was going to ask about the two strange men on her apartment. She knew that it was going to make her ask questions she didn’t want to answer and didn’t want Angela to know in the first place. Not wanting her roommate to be involved, she grabbed a jacket that was laying on the couch and some shoes next to the door to leave the apartment behind and text Angela that it wasn’t her date on the door and that she left to get some groceries.

>>>

“How did you find me?” Sera asked as soon as they all sat down at some coffee far away from her apartment where she knew she wouldn’t walk pass people from her life.

“I never lost sight of you.” Sam answered. “So it wasn’t something hard to do.”

“Then why are you here now?”

“Maybe being a little nice won’t hurt you.” Bucky said starting to get annoyed at her attitude and Sera locked eyes with him annoyed.

“Coming to my apartment without telling me and almost making my roommate involved with you guys wasn’t very nice either, was it?” Sera asked and the way she said it caught Bucky off guard because she didn’t seem the type to talk back, but he was definitely wrong. Not wanting her to see that, he kept the eye contact with her until Sam spoke next to him.

“Guys. Stop it.” Sera looked around trying to keep her low profile before going back to Sam, waiting for him to talk. “We need your help.”

“I told you last time-”

“You’re not in this anymore, I know.” Bucky noticed some disappointment on Sam’s voice. That made Bucky even more interested and intrigued on the girl’s story and how was she connected to Sam. “But we have no other choice. Trust me, I wouldn’t have bother you if you weren’t my last resource.”

Sera let out a tiny sigh while closing her eyes for a couple of seconds. She knew that she wasn’t being the nicest to Sam, and she hated it, but the fear of repeating her last mistakes came back to her head when she saw Sam on her apartment again. “You’re not... bothering me. It’s just- I don’t want anyone around here to get involved with this. With me.” For the first time, Bucky saw some vulnerability in her eyes, she didn’t want someone to get hurt because of her. Something that Bucky was familiar with.

“I know.” Sam said. “I understand that, believe me. And we’re sorry we just showed up but we need to ask you some questions.”

“What about?”

“We’re investigating a underground group of people that’s making illegal weapons.”

“And we need to know if you have some information about them.” Bucky talked for the first time without his annoyed tone. “They’re not very known and Sam tells me you know about all those sort of things.”

“I don’t. But I know someone who does.”

“Can you tell us who they are and where can we find them?” Sam asked intrigued but Sera shook her head.

“He’s not going to see you unless you come with me.”

Sam let out a sigh and then looked down. “I know we’re asking too much-”

“I can’t, Sam.” Sera said quickly not hearing what Sam had to say.

“I know this is hard, Sera, but without you we just hit a dead end so we need your help.”

“Yes, but helping you means that I have to go back.”

“Back where?” Bucky asked as soon as those words came out of her mouth bur neither of them answered to the confused Bucky sitting next to them. They stared at each other like the memories of their mysterious past together were flying around their heads like an old movie playing.

“It doesn’t matter.” Sam finally said softly without breaking the eye contact with Sera.

“Ok so now you two are going to talk about some super secret stuff I don’t know about and won’t bother telling me? Yeah, sounds fair.” Bucky said letting his back rest on the back of the chair annoyed.

Sera locked eyes with Bucky but then quickly went back to Sam, to point at his friend sitting next to him with her head. “You didn’t tell your partner about me?”

“We’re not partners.” They both said at the same time like it was record playing.

Sera lifted her eyebrows and slightly tilted her head to the side getting ready to say her next words with curiosity. “Boyfriends?”

As soon as she said that word, she saw how both of their eyes went wide open and how Bucky got closer to Sera by leaving the back of the chair. “What? No!” Just like before, they yelled at the same time.

“Why would you think that?” Sam asked confused.

“I don’t know.” Sera shrugged her shoulders. “It’s always better to ask than to draw conclusions.”

“We’re co-workers.” Bucky said firmly. “Boyfriends, like you’re my type anyway.”

Sam quickly turned to Bucky like he was offended and shook his head. “Why am I not your type?”

“Are you serious right now?”

Sera smiled to herself when what she wanted to do was working, but she clearly wasn’t over. “Don’t worry, you’re not his type either.” She said looking at Bucky while pointing at Sam with her finger.

“That’s fine by me.”

Sam opened his mouth even more offended. “Seriously? That easy?”

“What do you want me to say?! Jesus! Can’t you see she’s trying to change the subject?” Bucky asked annoyed while Sera was just trying to hold on her laughter.

“Sorry, I’m just a little hurt because you wouldn’t date me.” Sam said and then waited for Bucky to say something else, but since he didn’t he went even more offended. “Even if I was a girl?!” He asked, but still not answer. Just Bucky killing Sera with his eyes. “Damn.” Sam said before turning his face towards Sera, who immediately erased the smile on her face.

Bucky let out a sigh before giving Sera a fake smile. “Can we go back to the main reason we’re here please?”

“You’re right, even though I’m not your type.” Sam said sounding offended but jokingly at the same time, which made Sera let out a tiny laugh and Bucky to roll his eyes. “So?” Sam asked changing his prior tone to a serious one like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Sera let out a tiny sigh while looking at those eyes she would used to go for comfort years back. But this time after all those years, it wasn’t the same. So much pain, and so much tiredness between those years it felt like nothing was going to change the way she felt every day. No matter how much she tried. “You need me, and I owe you that, right?” She said softly.

“You don’t owe me anything-”

“Yes I do. So I’m going... but that’s it.” Sera said locking eyes with Bucky but then going back to Sam, who did a little nod.

“It’s more than enough.”

>>>

The moment Sera stepped out of the black car she soon smelled the smoke coming from the building she was familiar with. The same giant and old building she used to visit all the time when she was still working on missions was there in front of her after years. It still looked the same, rusty and abandoned, but what was happening inside wasn’t abandoned at all.

She noticed the same guys with black suits standing outside and then turned to Sam and Bucky, who where staring at the building curious. “Stay here. I’ll come back when we all can go inside.” Sam nodded but Bucky stayed put without moving a single muscle of his body carefully staring at Sera walk away. Even if Sam trusted her, Bucky didn’t seem to have that feeling as well. He didn’t know why, maybe it was the fact that her story was a total mystery to him, but he couldn’t take his eyes away from her as she was making her way inside that building, just like she owned the place. How did she knew these people anyway?

“We can trust her, Bucky.” Sam said like he knew what he was thinking about. “And she knows what she’s doing, it’s all we’ve got.”

Bucky nodded still not taking his eyes away from where she left. “I know. Still don’t trust her.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, Sam, I just do. How do you know her?”

“It’s a long story.” Sam shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, all you need to know is that I trust her and she’s going to help us.”

Sam was right, Bucky knew that. But he also knew that Sam always tried to see the good in everyone, and maybe this girl was one of those cases. Or maybe her story was way more connected to Sam than Bucky thought and that’s why Sam didn’t want to tell him. Did something happened between Sam and Sera? Bucky thought and that made his stomach make a weird twist and confuse his brain, not knowing what that was all about. But before he could think of something else, Sera appeared again waiving at them, letting them know it was alright for them to walk in.

“How do you know we can trust this guy?” Bucky asked once they were all walking inside a long dark hallway following Sera.

“We can’t.” Sera said without looking back at Bucky. “This guy is a piece of shit. But, he knows everything that has to do with underground groups. If something illegal is happening, he definitely knows.”

“Alright. But how do we know he’s going to talk?” Sam asked.

“He won’t.” Sera said and then turned around with a little smile on her face. “But I have my ways.”

“No.” Sam shook his head. “You won’t do anything. Let us talk.”

“He’s smart. He won’t listen to you unless you’re ready to give him a lot of money. What are you going to do? Turn him to the good side?” Sera said jokingly.

“Let me talk.” Sam said serious. “I’ll see in the moment.”

“Yes, because that always works.” Bucky said sarcastically and for the first time Sera laughed at something Bucky said making him let out a tiny smile, but soon erasing it.

“Fine, I won’t talk. But remember he’s your only choice and I’ll be there-”

“I’ll be there too, you know?” Bucky said and Sera turned to face him. “I have a metal arm... I can make him talk.”

“What are you going to do? Show him your arm and make him pee his pants?” Sera said sarcastically and that made Bucky roll his eyes.

“And I wonder what would you do. You know? I’m really interested in what you can do, c’mon, do you read minds? are you a witch? can you move things with your mind? are you super strong?” Bucky started to named things. annoyed. “Tell me. I’m open to hear anything. But don’t expect me to get surprised because I’ve seen so many things in my life that nothing surprises me anymore.”

“Right, you’re like a hundred years old, right? And you didn’t even get close on what I can really do. But I won’t waste my energy on you.” Sera gave Bucky a sarcastic smile letting him know she was over, but he wasn’t.

“Oh, c’mon, because I know you’re dying to surprise me. I know your giant ego won’t let an opportunity like this go to waste. C’mon, show me what you got, I can handle it.” Bucky was testing Sera so much that this time, Sera locked eyes with Bucky and let out a tiny smile. No words were coming out of her mouth like Bucky was expecting, but no comeback at all.

“Sera. Don’t.” Sam spoke and that made Sera erase the smile and face towards Sam.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“What?” Bucky asked but when two tall guys appeared in front of them his full attention went towards them.

“Name?” One of them asked.

“Buddy, you saw me a hundred times.” Sera said. “Jackson knows we’re coming. Don’t waste our time.”

The guy stared down at Sera but didn’t move a single muscle from his face. “Name?”

“Sam Wilson.” Sam said while Sera let out an annoyed sigh. “Bucky Barnes.” “Seraphina Thompson.” Both of them nodded before opening the door behind them and letting them through it. They were now inside a giant room, with dark red walls and velvet furniture with gold details on them. Even if the building looked old and abandoned, this room was completely the opposite.

“Seraphina! Dear! How are you?” The old man asked. He had a big coat on and some black boots, which lead to everyone realise it was a man of money. Something that Sam and Bucky clearly needed to deal with, because men like him weren’t the easy to talk to type.

“Good, Jackson.” Sera said with a little fake smile before crossing her arms around her chest.

“I see you brought some friends that need to talk to me.” Jackson said slowly going back and forth between Sam and Bucky.

“I’m Sam Wilson-”

“I know who you are, Mr. Wilson. And you,” Jackson slowly turned to Bucky who was killing him with his eyes. The eye contact seemed to be on Jackson’s liking since a little smile escaped his lips “The winter soldier. You are very known amongst my people.”

“I’m not the winter soldier anymore.” Bucky was in the corner and not much light was hitting him, but Sera did noticed that he didn’t move a single muscle from his body. The dry and deep tone he would usually talk with was the only thing that left his body on that second. And some part of Sera liked that. Something about him being mysterious and being under some poor light, made her wonder who was the real Bucky Barnes. Not the winter soldier, not even a soldier, just Bucky Barnes. But wanting to focus on what Jackson was saying, she erased all those thoughts away and with her whole strength, moved her eyes away from Bucky.

“Good to know, dear.” Jackson did a little nod and then turned to Sera to lock eyes with her. She knew that he was surprised to see her with people like them, people that were trying to caught what was once her.

“We need to know if you have any type of information on an underground group.” Sam said gaining the look of Jackson once again.

“What kind of information?”

“Anything that you have on them can be useful.”

“Well, Mr. Wilson” Jackson let out a tiny grin and moved on his seat slowly “I have a lot of information and I have to see what to give you and how much. Depends on what you can give me.” With his tone Sera knew that Jackson liked to be the one with the advantage. He always did. But the way Bucky moved towards him made Sera notice that he didn’t like it at all.

“How about getting out of here without a scratch?”

“Funny that you say that, Mr. Barnes. Because if I snap my fingers,” he moved his fingers together letting out a tiny noise that couldn’t be heard from a far distance, but that didn’t seem to be a problem, because as soon as the sound hit their ears three men walked into the room with big guns on their hands and nothing more but anger on their faces “and I have ten more men outside my doors waiting to hear any kind of noise they don’t like or that they think it could mean I’m in some sort of danger. So, go on, Mr. Barnes.” Sam and Bucky looked at the guys leaving the room after Jackson moved his hand away, but Sera kept her eye contact with him watching his moves very carefully.

“We don’t want this to end in violence, Mr. Jackson. We just want the information that you have.” Sam said with his calming tone.

“And what do you have that could help me?”

“What do you want?”

Jackson let out a tiny smile and then said, softly: “I want the world, Mr. Wilson.”

“That’s a little ambitious, don’t you think?” Sera said jokingly after letting out a little laugh.

“It’s very ambitious.” Bucky agreed.

“What can I say? I like to be an ambitious man.”

“This group is making illegal weapons,” Sam continued ignoring Bucky and Sera killing Jackson with their eyes “they need to make a lot of transportation trips since their equipment is big and heavy. We know the leader is known as The Red Wolf... do you know anything about that man?”

“I don’t know.” Jackson said without changing his tone. “Do I?” His cocky smile made Sera’s inside burn, so without waiting another second she uncrossed her arms and started walking towards Jackson with decisive steps.

“Alright I’m getting bored.” She said rolling her eyes.

“Sera-” Sam tried to stop her but when a little spark came out of Jackson’s hand as he was about to snap his fingers made him turn to face him, as well as Bucky.

“Jackson, I want you to listen to me very carefully.” Sera said getting real closer to his face, so close that she could see the fear on his eyes as soon as she moved closer to him. “You know me, right? You know half of the things I’m capable of. So let’s cut the crap, shall we?” Sam and Bucky were carefully listening to Sera’s words and actions. But Bucky more than Sam. The way she confidently walked closer to him not fearing Jackson and his men. How she said those words softly but yet intimidating to the man to the point where he shut his mouth immediately. Bucky wanted to see more, and the expression and desire on his eyes were definitely showing it. “You’re going to help them because I can just look at you and burn everything that’s on your mind before you could snap those two fingers of yours.” Bucky turned to Sam as soon as those words left her mouth, but he didn’t seem to be bothered at all. It looked like Sam knew that Sera wasn’t going to do what her words were saying, even if they sounded more convincing than anything else she let out before to Bucky. The fear in Jackson’s eyes were clear that he believed her, and that’s all that mattered to Bucky. He feared her, and that made Bucky even more curious. But because of Sam’s calm expression, Bucky just went back at Sera and kept hearing her words very carefully. “So before we decide to do anything stupid you’re going to tell them what you know, got it?” Sera took his hand and grabbed his cheek softly, but for the way Jackson closed his eyes made Bucky understand that it wasn’t something so calming like grabbing someone’s cheek casually, but something completely different. That hand could do something that Bucky was dying to know. But before anything could happen Jackson quickly nodded multiple times and Sera moved back to turn and walk back to where she was before, but not before letting out a little smile enjoying the surprise and confusion on Bucky’s face.

“The Red Wolf. I know him.” Jackson said after getting his breathing back to normal and going back to his prior confident position. “He wants to build weapons because he wants to create something even bigger than Hydra and SHIELD combined. Something than not even the most powerful superheroes can defeat.”

“And what’s that?” Sam asked.

“That, my friend, I don’t know. Truly. But I know where they’re hiding. It’s an old building like this but it’s underground, very difficult to get through.”

“We’ll managed.” Bucky added, already tired of listening to the guy.

“It’s on street 719. You can’t miss it.”

“How do you know we can trust what this guy says?” He turned to Sam and then Sera, who stayed silent without breaking her sight from Jackson.

“I’m telling the truth. If it’s not there, you know where you’ll find me. Always.”

“You better not be lying.” Sera said. “Because if you are, I won’t be so nice.”

“Sera.” Sam stooped her by moving back and gently grabbing her arm to walk her out of the room. They were all about to leave but then Jackson spoke again, not breaking the eye contact with Sera, and a little grin on his face.

“Good making business with you, like the old days... I’ll see you again, Sera.”

>>>

“Yeah, that guy sucks.” Sam said once they were all outside the building walking towards the car.

“Told you.” Sera said and they both let out tiny laughs.

“Hello? We’re not going to talk about the whole ‘I could burn everything in your mind’ situation?” Bucky said moving his hands around him and then turned to Sera, who had a smile on her face enjoying seeing Bucky like that. “What kind of things do you do?”

“What? Impressed?” Sera asked teasing him but Bucky just shook his head.

“It’s gonna take you a lot more to impress me.”

“Oh, really? Because if I recall correctly your face was really impressed back there.” Sera opened the door of the car but then stopped once she noticed Bucky wasn’t finished.

“Impressed of what? You talking nonsense to that asshole?”

“I wasn’t-” She was saying but then shut her mouth and closed her eyes, feeling that familiar electricity going through her body.

“What? No comeback?” Bucky raised an eyebrow jokingly but when Sam walked closer to Sera worryingly, his cockiness went completely away.

“Sera? You alright?” Sam asked touching her shoulder.

“Something’s coming.” Sera said looking up and immediately moving away from the car.

Bucky looked at her confused and then at Sam when he followed Sera, getting prepared for something. “What? How do you know-” he was saying but the sound of an helicopter flying towards them shut him off.

Immediately, five men came out of it ready to attack the three of them standing next to one another. “Bucky?” Sam asked and Bucky nodded.

“I got it.” As soon as he said those words he started walking towards the five man while preparing his arm. Even if it was one against five while Sam put on the wings he had on the car, he walked confidently and with decisive steps. He done it before, he could do it again.

He quickly saw how one of them lifted his gun and pointed at Bucky but the moment he started to pull the trigger, Bucky lifted his metal arm and stopped the bullets with ease while getting closer and closer to him. Once close enough he grabbed the gun and broke it apart, threw it into the floor to kick the guy on the stomach. The guy flew backwards getting him out of the fight but as soon as Bucky was over with him, another guy was already throwing a punch towards his way. But witch a quick move, he moved to the side and avoided it to throw a punch with his other arm in the side of the guy’s stomach. He fell to the ground but the fight wasn’t over, he still had three other guys wanting to kill him right on that moment. “A little help here guys?” Bucky asked without looking back before moving his arm to accommodate it and to keep going with his fight. But the moment he was close enough to the next guy to throw another punch, something unexpected happen.

A big red ball of fire flew next to Bucky and hit the guy in front of him, throwing him backwards and ending a lot of feet away from him. He looked at it confused and surprised, the guy was now on fire trying to turn it off while the fire was also on the floor, close to where the other guys where which made it difficult for them to walk through. Bucky, surprised of what his eyes were seeing, turned to his back to see where it came from and what he found, surprised him even more. Sera had her eyes fully red and her hands were surrounded by fire while her hair was slowly moving even if there wasn’t any wind around her. Her eyes were so red that it made the impression they were going to let out fire at any second, but instead, they slowly went back to normal as well as her hands, which now didn’t have any fire on them and were just red, until they were back to their normal color.

“Didn’t you just ask for help?” She asked seeing the surprise on his face but she couldn’t help and let out a tiny grin. A second later, she had Sam by her side with his wings ready to lift him up and join the fight. Without wanting to break his sight from Sera, Bucky forgot about the fight behind him and didn’t realise another punch going his way. But before he could do anything about it, he saw how Sera’s eyes went back to red and how her hands lit up in a matter of two seconds. The moment she lifted her hand into the air it all happen in slow motion for Bucky, seeing her hand on fire move upwards and how her eyes were becoming even more red as her body was moving. He was so into her movements that he didn’t noticed the big ball of fire going now his way, wanting to avoid it he ducked down and slowly saw how the fire flew right above his head and hit the guy that was right behind him. With a quick move of her hands Sera flew towards Bucky and pointed at the guy now on the floor. “You’re welcome.”

“Hey, you two.” Sam said arriving next to both of them. “Care to pay attention to the now ten guys wanting to kick our asses?” Bucky and Sera both turned around to see the men walking towards them with suits and big weapons on their hands. Sera, ready to fight she lifted her hand into the air but then stopped when her sight turned to Jackson, and quicker than he could look at her, a ball of fire made the men that was covering him fall to the floor.

“Sera!” Sam yelled while trying to take one of the guys down. “What are you doing?!”

“He’s trying to kills us! I’m not going to let him get away!” She moved her hands and with ease lifted her body upwards.

“Sera, no!”

But without hearing any words stopping her, Sera was already in front of Jackson who had fear on her eyes just like moments before. “Where do you think you’re going?!”

“Sera, please! I just want to be left alone!”

“You know I can tell when someone wants to hurt me, right?” She asked once her feet touched the ground and started to walk towards him. “Stupid to go out with only one man, Jackson.”

“Me? Stupid?” Jackson spited out. “Stupid of you to work with the people that once wanted to hunt you down.”

“They’re not the same people.” Sera answered angrily. “Why are you doing this, Jackson? Do you think killing us will prevent those people from killing you after they found out you talked?”

“No. They won’t kill me, Sera. You’ve always been good at telling if people wanted to hurt you, or to see if someone’s on your mind, but there’s one thing you can’t do, see the big picture.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t understand why people do those kind of things. See? Like this.” As quick as his words where out of his mouth, his hand was moving quickly towards Sera’s shoulder but before he could touch it and Sera to avoid it, a metal arm stopped it.

Jackson let out a loud yell but Sera didn’t look at him, she turned to the side to lock eyes with Bucky who seemed to be already looking at her. The same electricity that appeared through her body the first time they saw each other was now running on her skin as they were staring at each other. Soon, just like a quick switch the fight that was going on behind them turned off and nothing else but the other was on their minds. Sera noticed how Bucky’s face relaxed for a simple second before going back to serious the moment another loud scream came out of Jackson’s mouth.

Coming back to reality, they both stared at him as he was looking at his hand struggling under the strength of Bucky’s metal arm. But then, when a little grin escaped his lips as he was staring at something behind them, they both turned to face Sam and his fight with three man. “Maybe you two should go and help Mr. Wilson.” Jackson said with a cocky tone but when Bucky moved his hand with even more strength another loud scream came out of his mouth.

Without waiting another second, Sera flew towards Sam to help him end the fight he was on. But before she could get there, a loud noise his her ears and Sam went to the floor before letting out a scream in pain. “Sam!” Bucky and Sera yell at the same time.

Seconds later, they were both surrounding Sam while the three men that were fighting him turned back and went inside the helicopter, next to Jackson and the rest of his man. “The Red Wolf will win, Sera!” He yelled with a smile as the helicopter started moving upwards getting ready to leave the building behind. “And it will go after you three, my dears! Just wait for him!” He started laughing as the helicopter turned around and with speed, left Bucky and Sera behind with their hurt friend defeated on the ground.

>>>

“Yes! Trust the girl with fire powers! Great plan!” Bucky yelled once they were inside their apartment and Sam sat down on the bed, grabbing the side of his stomach.

“Hey! It’s not my fault that asshole decided to do that! I didn’t know he was working with the underground group!”

“Well, we were there because of you so there’s that!”

“We were there because you two needed help!”

“Bucky. Sera. Just drop it. You two are acting like children right now.” Sam said trying to calmed them but they both turned to him annoyed.

“He started it.” Sera said pointing at Bucky with her head.

“Yes, very mature.”

“Oh, you’re going to tell me off? What? Grandpa is going to ground me?”

Bucky let out a loud sigh and then looked at Sam, who seemed tired of their stupid fight. “Why did we decided to follow the kid?”

“I’m not a kid!”

“You know what? I was right about not trusting you.” Bucky turned to face her and pointed at her. “You took us there on purpose.”

“What?!” Why would I do that?”

“You knew he was going to attack us, didn’t you?” Bucky was getting closer now, but Sera didn’t step back.

“No!”

“Bucky, she’s not working for them.” Sam added but neither of them turned towards him.

“Well, she knew him in the first place! How do you know she’s telling the truth?”

“Bucky, man. You’re being crazy right now.”

“And control fire? That’s your power? Turn into a torch?”

Sera opened her mouth offended but then quickly pointed at his arm. “And you? With that metal arm? Are you a screwdriver?!”

“Oh, we’re calling ourselves names now?” Sam said annoyed and let his back rest on the bed, trying to ignore the fight the two children were having.

Bucky let out a fake laugh and then waved his hands in the air annoyed. “I would love to throw you a bucket of water to see what you do then!”

“Oh, really? A bucket of water? That’s very brave of you, winter soldier! I’m so scared right now!”

“Stop it!” Sam yelled so loudly that it caught both Bucky and Sera’s attention. “If my ass didn’t hurt so bad I would be kicking both of yours right now. Now, please, I’m going to take a nap since we can’t move like this. You two, screwdriver and torch, make up and talk about you differences like grown adults.”

“I’m not talking to him.” Sera said quickly crossing her arms around her chest.

“You will because he’s taking you home.”

“What? I’m not.” Bucky said defensive.

“I can take a taxi, the bus, or walk. Anything to get away from this guy.”

“He’s taking you with the car, end of discussion. Now, if you two can excuse me, my ass needs a rest.” Sam said ending the discussion by walking towards the tiny room that had on that apartment.

“You don’t have to drive. He won’t notice.” Sera said once Sam was out of their sight, but that didn’t stop him.

“Yes I will!” He yelled from the other room and that made them both roll their eyes.

After letting out a sigh Bucky walked to the door and grabbed the keys from his pocket. Sera opened the door with anger but didn’t walk out, she stepped aside and let out a fake smile to Bucky before pointing with her fingers towards the outdoors. “After you.” Bucky, letting out the same little smile he always let out when he was annoyed, walked passed Sera to leave the apartment but as soon as his feet walked through the door he felt a shoe touching the back of his and in the process taking it off. He stopped and that’s when Sera walked passed him with a proud smile on her face while trying to control the laughter wanting to come out.

“Damn you!” Bucky kneeled down annoyed to fix his show. “Yes, very mature!” He yelled but she was already inside the car.

It was definitely going to be a long car ride.

-LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED-

(i also took the liberty to tag some people who liked the masterlist so they didn’t miss the first chapter, if you want to be removed let me know!)

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