#(and so this is just an educated guess on her part and on mine. but a decent one)

[sollucets]

hi everyone :’) i havent been on tumblr much lately because i am 1) not watching anything and 2) still dealing with the effects of a bunch of fun medical stuff! i am doing ok but my body hates me so so so much lately. i have the energy and ability(?) to do only a few very specific things right now (play elden ring, let youtube forcefeed me kpop videos, languish) and that does not include watch show or make gif or even write no matter how much i might want to. so. this is how it is haha. miss u guys

[alagaisia]

And another thing. I know it’s unpopular right now to criticize individual choices as contributing to waste and pollution and overuse of resources and climate change, etc. But I am going to.

I was brushing up some environmental stats/discussion questions in a kids’ activity packet for work the other day and when I was looking for some up-to-date and sourced things to sub in for what was in there, I found a National Geographic study from I think 2008? (Ironically I don’t have the source available to me right now because I was at work) that found that the average American- based on surveys of regular people on individual consumption, right, not stuff done by American corporations or celebrities- uses between two and twenty times as many material resources in a year than somebody in the rest of the world. Twice as much as someone from France. Twenty times more than somebody from India. There were other countries surveyed and mentioned with numbers between that that were all inarguably developed/industrialized/“first-world” countries.

I saw a post on here this evening that asked “what’s a little luxury you buy when you can? Something a little bit fun or expensive that you just can’t have enough of?” And I was all set to talk about the chai latte concentrate I like to splurge on from Costco which is much more expensive and I go through it more quickly than tea bags but it’s just really delicious. And then OP finished the post with “mine is phone cases.” What????

You’re buying and collecting phone cases? Something you can only use one of at a time? Made of plastic and cheap enough that they’re definitely primarily made by people being paid next to nothing for their labor? Something that is not going to be usable long term because phones do not last more than I suppose several years at best? And that having lots of them doesn’t like convey any sort of utility or advantage because I can think of barely a handful of vague situations where one phone case might have different features from another that makes one more or less convenient in different situations and you might want to switch them out. But only if you couldn’t find or afford a phone case that included all of your desired features at once, which if you’re wasting who knows how much money on “never having enough” phone cases, you could have done.

And like, I don’t know if OP was American. And I know tons of things use plastic and are useless in one way or another but it just struck me as such a specific example of such specifically wasteful behavior like. You don’t need that. Nobody needs that. And there are worse things and more wasteful things and yes corporations are bad and everything else. And I am more environmentally conscious of small things like that than most people I know (and yet I still drive to work every day because the bus would take two hours. Curious I am very intelligent meme etc.) and it’s unrealistic to expect everybody to do everything all the time all of that I know all of that.

But this study had also talked about how Americans, the most wasteful demographic on the literal planet, are also the people a.) most likely to believe that individual choices and consumption do not make an environmental difference, and b.) least likely to feel any guilt over their use of resources.

People who use and waste less than half of the amount of useless junk each of us uses in the US feel more compelled to pay attention to and limit their use of energy and material resources than we do. And not hypothetical billionaires or corporations or whoever. Regular people.

We live on a planet with a lot of finite resources! And we are wasting so many of them on dumb useless bullshit like single-serve individually packaged fucking idk pudding containers or getting a new cell phone every six months or buying your kid a rubber duck or three every time you go to target and a hundred other small things that people in specifically the US just don’t think about and they SHOULD. And I know we can talk about how some people need those single-use plastic squeeze tubes of apple sauce, and I’m sure it’s true. I’m not saying anyone should go around to individuals and question and harass them about their choices. But we should all be thinking way, way more about our own personal choices and the choices made by our families and social circles because the fact remains that 90% of kids would be just fine with a bowl of apple sauce poured from a big glass jar.

[targaryenfelikayt]

Could you write about Thomas Hewitt admitting to Luda Mae, just one random day in the kitchen that he got a woman pregnant? Like no context before it, just straight on admitting it as he told her not to panic. He has been seeing somebody, didn't know what he was doing because his education on intimacy is severely lacking. And he dosen’t know what to do about it.

Big boy. |Thomas Hewitt|

wc: 532 summary: the moment when Luda Mae realizes her boy has grown up. tags/warnings: emotional hurt/comfort, family dynamics, domestic, slice of life. Notes: who would have known that Thomas has such a big fan club🤭

part II.

The afternoon was unbearably hot: the few hens had hidden in the barn, and the old radio played static on each of the three available stations. Luda Mae kept herself busy by washing the breakfast dishes. Her baby Tommy hadn’t shown up by morning.

Lately, he’d been leaving the house more and more without explanation, only scrawling clumsy notes telling her not to worry. Thomas was certainly a grown man by now, but in her motherly eyes, he was still a little boy who used to gulp down two bottles of formula at once. Seeing his untouched plate, she could only sigh quietly. First, he would be gone for a couple of hours, then longer and longer, until his absence stretched beyond two full days.

His appearance had begun to change too, from combed hair to clean shirts he specifically asked her to wash more thoroughly. It wasn’t hard to guess her son had fallen in love. People in the area had always been cruel, oh, she knew that all too well from her own experience, until they either died out or left in search of a better life.

The front door opened, and the old floorboard creaked under his weight. The younger Hewitt stepped inside, peeking into the kitchen.

“Oh, Tommy, baby, I’ve been waiting forever. Are you hungry?” the woman wiped her hands on the towel resting on her shoulder, checking him for cuts or other signs of trouble.

But he only gripped her wrists tightly and led her to the table, urging her to sit down.

Luda Mae didn’t resist, she could tell something was wrong. Silent as ever, Tommy avoided her gaze, like a guilty kitten, just as he used to when he knocked over a cup or scraped his knees bloody.

“Did something happen, Tommy?” her voice softened. “You didn’t… you didn’t do anything bad again, did you?”

He shook his head and stepped back. A few seconds. His back to her. Then, still silent, he reached for the drawer, pulled out a scrap of paper, a pen with dried ink, and began to write. Slowly, messily, crossing out letters and starting again. Finally, he awkwardly handed her the note.

“She’s pregnant”.

For several long seconds, she stared at the paper as if she couldn’t comprehend the words. No, it must be a mistake, a mix-up — anything, even aliens in flying saucers, but not this.

“What?” she finally whispered. “Tommy, what are you saying?”

The younger Hewitt crouched in front of her, placing his large hand on her trembling knees. It took her a moment to breathe properly, her hand landing on his head. Images flashed through her mind: little Tommy, scraped knees, Tommy clinging to her chest with bits of blanket… And now, Tommy, a man. And now, a father.

“Sweetheart… who is she? Did you… did you really…?”

Another nod. Firmer than all the previous ones. Suddenly, everything made sense: the frequent absences, the requests for clean clothes, the dreamy look in his eyes that Hoyt always scolded him for — her boy, no longer so little, no matter how much she wanted to keep him that way.

He scratched another word onto the paper.

“Mine”.

Dear ladies, let's chat a little so you understand what awaits you next: another portion of headcanons, a drabble with Bo and a possible series of wedding one-shots. That's all for me, thank you🥰

[daycourtofficial]

Prophesize Me

Summary: Everyone finds out you and Azriel are mates before the two of you do.

Author’s note: I really love this concept, and I hope you guys do too!! 💕

“I would ask you how my niece is doing, however I have an inkling that she’s doing quite well, and will be better soon.”

Rhysand hated whenever Helion got like this. With all of Helion’s knowledge, occasionally he would like to speak in riddles. After receiving confused looks from Feyre and Rhys, Helion handed them a piece of paper, with the words,

“6 becomes 8,

Shadows dance in his wake,

Cobalt light, night skies,

Golden string ties”

Rhysand and Feyre look at each other, both looking incredibly confused, when Helion chirps in.

“My sister was loved by the Mother and the cauldron. When she had all 7 of her babes, the cauldron blessed each of them with a mate.”

Their eyes go wide, searching for you in the crowd of partygoers, and Feyre’s surprise makes her blurt out, “she has a mate?”

Helion chuckles. “Yes, she and her brothers all do. But none of them know who their mate is. Just that they have one somewhere. They were each blessed with a prophecy denoting the identity of their mate.”

He looks pointedly at the paper in Rhys’s hands.

“I started having suspicions when I visited you in Night a few weeks ago, so I went back and reviewed their prophecies and I think we can take an educated guess as to the subject of hers.”

All three of them look at you and Azriel, the two of you engrossed in conversation with one of your brothers.

“Six becomes eight. Azriel has two brothers, me and Cassian. She has six brothers already.” Rhys says, shock all over his face at knowing his brother, who deserves this so much, is going to get his mate. He’s almost vibrating with happiness.

“Do they know?” Feyre asks Helion.

“No,” Helion sighs, “The curse of the prophecy is that the subjects can’t know. If you talk to them about it, it’ll just sound like you’re speaking nonsense.”

“Could we tell Azriel?”

“My assumption would be if he were her mate, if you tried, it would just sound like nonsense. It could be a way to test the theory.”

Feyre and Rhysand couldn’t stop smiling at each other, speaking mind to mind.

“This is incredible. She’s wonderful, she’s adorable! We’ve known her for a while, we all like her, she’s already part of the family.”

“And we know her family! She’s related to Helion - whom we love dearly.”

“How the hell are we going to keep Azriel’s mate a secret from him?”

“How the hell are we going to keep Azriel’s mate a secret from Cassian?”

Cassian wasn’t a spymaster, but he always had a sixth sense when it came to knowing things about his friends. One look at Feyre and Rhys and he’ll know that they know something.

“Do you know what the golden string ties?” Helion asks, genuine curiosity on his face.

Feyre and Rhys look at each other, trying to recall a golden string. Feyre’s eyes go wide as she remembers, “I saw a box In her room a few days before solstice with a gold ribbon around it, but I never saw it in the pile of gifts.”

Rhys turns to her, “I saw Azriel carrying a tiny box with gold string around it a week ago. He wouldn’t tell me anything,” Rhys thinks for a moment, “and I don’t recall seeing them exchange gifts.”

Helion is interested in this - you confided in your uncle about most things, but your love life was not one of them. Helion loved gossip, but when it came to you, it wasn’t just fun gossip. It was your life.

“Solstice was just yesterday - if the prophecy is directly mentioning something that happened on Solstice, then if they are mates, the bond should snap any day now.”

The three of them continue watching you, Azriel, and one of your brothers converse, when Azriel says something that makes you and your brother howl with laughter.

“It can be hard knowing how things will turn out - prophecies are a deep interest of mine,” Helion says, watching you with a smile on his face, “it’s nice that this one will have a happy ending.”

-

Feyre and Rhysand kept the secret from Cassian for twelve hours, a brand new record for them. They were all standing in the kitchen of the house of wind, telling him what they knew. They weren’t too concerned with you and Azriel finding them because the two of you stayed behind in the day court for a few extra days.

When they told him, they honestly thought they had short-circuited him. He just kept going “her… and him… and her…” until eventually the biggest grin spread across his face and he lunged and pulled Feyre into a bone-crushing hug.

“I have to get the feelings out and she’s not here for me to do this to so I’m pretending you’re her!” He says, while spinning Feyre around while she giggles.

Once Cassian is done spinning, he sets Feyre down and looks at them and goes, “okay, so what do we do now? Any schemes?”

“Why are we scheming?” Feyre asks, a little wobbly from the spinning.

“Well we could lock them in a room together,” Rhys says, not answering his mate.

“We could send them on a dangerous mission together, and they’ll be so shaken by how close they come to death, BOOM, the bond snaps,” Cassian says animatedly.

Feyre looks at him, assessing him, “Cass, are you reading romance books?”

He stutters a little, “sometimes Nesta reads out loud so I can fall asleep more quickly.”

“Aww reading really is so boring to you it puts you to sleep,” Rhys coos, reaching over to pinch Cassian’s cheeks, “she reads you bedtime stories.”

“Anyway,” Cassian draws out, trying to draw attention back to the matter at hand, “what are we going to do about our little shadowsinger and our little princess of day?”

-

Cassian was asked to keep his mouth shut and tell no one. So naturally by the time the sun rose the next day, the entire inner circle knew, as did Cassian’s favorite barista and Rita.

“He’s going to be pissed you’re telling all of Velaris his private information, especially before he even knows it,” Rhys tells Cassian, in their war council like meeting.

“He won’t be pissed in the slightest - it’s going to snap any day and we won’t see them for months. Besides, he already struts around town with her, no one was going to be surprised at this,” Cassian says, and Feyre’s shocked his face doesn’t hurt from how hard he’s been smiling since he heard the news.

Cassian did have a point - tons of Velaris citizens had come up to Feyre to ask if the you and the spymaster were together, most feeling disappointed when she said no, none being brave enough to ask the shadowsinger himself.

Mor was buzzing with excitement, her guilt from leading Azriel on has dissipated since you entered their lives, but now even moreso that you’re his mate. She’s especially happy that that means you’ll likely become a more permanent resident in the night court. The inner circle adored you, but they were always afraid you’d eventually just go back to your home in the day court to be with your brothers and Helion.

“I mean, they’re still in day, so maybe the bond did snap, and we just won’t see them again until the spring!” Mor laughs, true excitement coming from her. “Is there a way to know about the bond long distance?”

“I like Cassian’s idea of sending them on a mission, send them to winter so they’ll have to snuggle for warmth,” Lucien, who happened to be one of your oldest friends, speaks up. Elain hits him on the chest, rolling her eyes at her mate.

“Oh oh oh,” Mor pipes in, “we get a male to hit on her, oooh that would really piss off Azriel.”

“He’s already going to be super territorial once the bond snaps, if that happens he genuinely might try to hide her away for years,” Rhys replies, knowing how territorial Azriel already was over you.

“What if we all just disappear for a few days? Leave the two of them here in the townhouse?” Elain says, and Lucien rubs her thigh.

The group considers it - most of them do have their own homes in the city, leaving you and Azriel mostly by yourselves in the townhouse, but the inner circle usually drops by throughout the day. Cassian alone probably comes by five times a day - even more when Nesta’s upset with him.

“None of us visit, and we can’t allow them to come visit us.” Feyre says.

“Just want to point out this was essentially the first idea I had of locking them in a room together,” Rhys grins.

The group continues arguing, with Elain’s idea being the frontrunner.

-

You and Azriel stayed in the day court for an extra night. You got incredibly drunk at the late solstice party with your family, and you also wanted to show Azriel around the day court palace.

You two spent most of the day in some of your favorite libraries - just the sight of one taking Azriel’s breath away. You two spent hours walking around the libraries, telling him about growing up here. You also showed him around the museums - noting to him one of the paintings that was donated by Feyre. You had joked that of course it featured Helion on his pegasus.

Now you were back in your private chambers, showing him your much less impressive personal library.

“Do you miss living here?” Azriel asks, the question on his mind since you all came to the party, after seeing how happy you were with your family.

“Mm, yes and no. I like spending a few weeks here out of the year, I love coming for holidays or just to visit, but it feels like a distant home, like I’m 9 years old,” you say, turning to face him, “I’ve traveled a good bit around Prythian, and honestly I never felt as at home as I do in Velaris.”

The confession hangs in the air. The unspoken words sitting on your tongue, not being brave enough to utter them - “I never felt at home until you.”

He can’t help the grin on his face as he says, “if I may, night court black suits you very well.”

Your cheeks flame as you reply, “it suits you very well, too.”

The two of you somehow closer than you were, only about a foot apart, when a knock shatters the moment. Azriel swears he hears a tiny groan from you as he steps away from you, looking over the shelves of your books, when one title catches his eye. As your attention is focused on the fae who came in to let you know that dinner is ready, he slips the book into his coat pocket.

-

The two of you had winnowed back to the townhouse, directly into your private chambers.

“Can I ask you about something?” Azriel looks at you, curiosity all over his face.

“Anything,” you reply, neither of you moving from the tight hold you had on each other while winnowing.

“Why do you own this?” As he says it, he pulls out a book that you received for Solstice from Amren, one you were especially trying to keep hidden, which is exactly why you brought it with you to leave in your library in the day court.

“Ilyrians: Pleasing a Partner with Wings?” He asks, reading the title. Your mouth is wide open, looking like a fish without water.

“There’s an inscription,” you reply, and Azriel can barely hear it. He’s a little concerned his teasing has gone too far, when he opens the inscription to find Amren’s handwriting.

“Sun Girl,

make a move on the shadowboy. Here’s a guide on how.

Lukewarm regards,

Amren”

Azriel was shocked that Amren would get involved in any of their love lives, much less yours. He didn’t even know if Amren liked you, as much as Amren can like anyone.

“Amren gave you a solstice gift?” Azriel asks. You nod, still hiding behind your hands in embarrassment.

“And she wants you to fuck me?”

You choke on air at his bluntness, “well - uh- I mean - yes but maybe like not in a casual way?”

He looks at you, taking in how clearly embarrassed you are at this gift, at his discovery of it.

“So not in a casual way?” He asks, loving how cute you are in this moment.

You look at your hands, you look around your room, for anything, really, when you say, “not um in a casual way, yes.”

“So you would fuck me in a non-casual way?” He asks, clearly enjoying watching you squirm through this conversation.

You pause, and Azriel’s again afraid he’s gone too far, when he hears you say, “yes.”

“Do you.. have feelings… for me?” He asks, none of his own feelings showing on his face.

You look up at him. Now or never, you think.

“Yes,” you say, looking him in the eye, “yes.”

He continues looking at you as he responds, “good.”

“Good,” you say, not sure what he means, but not wanting to ask.

“Good,” he says, and before you can say the same, he pulls your face into his. Kissing him was an experience for your entire body- you could feel his hands on your face, his body pressed against you, when you felt something in your chest go pop!

You stopped kissing him to look at him in shock, when he’s already smiling at you. “You know!” you shout, “you knew!”

He laughs at your reaction, taking a moment before telling you, “it snapped when we exchanged gifts. I uh needed a few days to process it.”

You nod, Azriel was not someone who took change well, and this was a big one. You can understand him taking a few days to tell you.

“Needed time to process it, but do you uh regret it?” You ask, trepidation coating your voice.

“Not at all. I just… never thought I’d have this. I didn’t want to start things off by saying or doing the wrong thing.”

You smiled at his thoughtfulness, feeling the warmth of the bond in his chest.

-

Rhys was no fool - he knew you two were in day and could return at any minute, so he shielded the room so if either of you came you wouldn’t be able to hear the discussion. He didn’t account for the fact that maybe you were already upstairs, and if you walked by and saw all of your friends gathered not making a noise, it would terrify you.

Which is exactly what happened.

They all heard you scream and turn to see you in the open doorway, Azriel’s shirt hanging off your body. Rhys starts to pull the shield down, wanting to make a crack at you wearing his brother’s clothes, when they’re all hit by the smell. It was so incredibly strong, they all were practically suffocated by it. It smelled like the early morning, when the moon kisses the earth, allowing for night to meet the day.

It all happened so fast, your scream, the shield coming down, Azriel winnowing in a defensive position after hearing your scream from upstairs, all of your friends screaming at the scent of the bond.

Azriel’s in front of you, ready to defend you, only to find Cassian charging at the two of you. He engulfs both you and Azriel in a hug, picking you both up and spinning you. You, in Azriel’s shirt, and Azriel, in his undershorts.

“It’s been like six hours, I thought they wouldn’t know until at least tomorrow,” you muffle into Cassian’s chest at Azriel, who huffs in response.

After what feels like a lifetime of spinning, Cassian sets you down, and you have to brace yourself on your knees to keep from throwing up.

“What are you guys doing here? In a shielded room?” You ask, hands still on your knees, and no one wants to meet your gaze, until Amren speaks.

“They discovered your prophecy, girl.”

Azriel looks to you, confusion on his face. You had honestly forgotten all about the prophecy - you didn’t know the contents, so you didn’t ever let yourself think of it.

You turn to Azriel, “my brothers and I have prophecies about who our mates are, but we can’t hear our own prophecies until they’re fulfilled. I never knew what it stated, just that I had a mate somewhere.”

“And you all heard it?” Azriel asks, looking around the room like everyone was a threat. If the smell didn’t give the bond away, Azriel’s hyper focus on his family as threats certainly did.

“Well,” Cassian interjects, “Helion told Feyre and Rhys, who told the rest of us.”

Nests hits his arm, “they told Cassian and he told the rest of us, big blabbermouth.”

“We just found out last night, and we were meeting to see if there was anything we could do about helping it snap, but it seems like that was a bit pointless.”

You look at Azriel, everything is so new, you have no idea how he would feel about being a pawn in your prophecy, much less about his family knowing something so important with you two being the last ones to know.

The room is still loud, Mor and Cassian found wine bottles and are popping them open. Everyone’s celebrating, while Azriel leans down and whispers to you.

“So, the mother made you for me,” he quirks his mouth into a grin.

“Actually, I’m three days older than you, so I think the mother made you for me,” you retort.

“Oh no, however will I go on? Being made for such a thing of beauty and brains?” He asks. Then he pauses, insecurity taking hold of him for a moment, “are you disappointed? I mean surely growing up knowing you had a mate, you dreamt up imaginary males whisking you away. How do I compare?”

You really take a look at him, a rare moment of vulnerability from him, as you consider a reply. “The males always whisked me away, off to foreign lands.” You look ahead at the chaos of the sheer joy your shared family is experiencing at the news. “You have brought me home.”

You grab his hand, rubbing your thumb across the back of it, hoping that that answer was enough for now. You have centuries to show that the imaginary males are nothing to the real thing.

[lawliet-ryuzaki-ryuga]

The Hunt

Shouma Toriashi X reader ( chapter 1)

Word count: 1163

TW: not really just so strong language…

Summary: life as we know it can change in an instant, and so do feelings and the people you meet.

MASTERLIST

chapter 2

A/N: HEY GUYS this is just a small project I wanted to start! I just got done reading the manga so I’m going to re-read it and hopefully I can better depict the characters better!! I HOPE YOU ENJOY ( p.s. DONT WORRY IM GOING TO HOP BACK ONTO MY OLD STORIES OF L AND LEVI! )

It was another day of school and homework on homework that’s been passed out.. I never understood why they bombard us like we don’t have other classes to work on.i look over to see Yoshino already walking towards my desk, with that I sit up straight ready to hear what she has to say .

“ hey Y/N do you want to come over? Shouma and I are going to study together?” Yoshino asks while putting both her palms flat against my desk and looks down at me.

“ oh yeah sure..” I nod in agreement. Behind me is shouma but he’s usually in his own world .

“Great, well I guess this is where we part ways, we’ll meet at the school entrance after this period.” With a firm nod Yoshino walks away and out of the once shared classroom we had. I stare at the class room door watch as students walk out together all looking the same as the other. Ever since I was younger I saw majority of everyone the same. Bland and simple, each face the same as the last.

At first glance people might look at us and think what an Odd group, then again we are really only each others friends. But it was for the first time that I saw people. I saw character in both Yoshino and Shouma. Deep in thought I shake out of it, and With that I get up and gather my things getting ready for the next class, physical education.

Oh how I dreaded that class, simply because it’s where both shouma and I lose our cool.

“ Hey” you kick Shouma’s chair to grab his attention. “ get up before we miss our last class.” With a look that could kill Shouma glared at me but gets up to follow.

I finally changed into the PE outfit but as always the bottoms are just too short. “ are you kidding Me I literally got then in a bigger size to hopefully be longer!! CURSE YOU ABNORMALLY LONG LEGS!”

You and Yoshino are one of the tallest girls in your class, in the whole school in fact and everything you’ve come to wear has always been an issue with length. With a sigh I muster up the courage to leave the changing room, and to my disappointment none other than Toriashi Shouma is waiting outside the female dressing room.

“Couldn’t find any shorter shorts Y/N?”

“Shut up Toriashi, these are the longest pair I have.” I huff walking away from him.

Today was a game of volleyball, not my favorite but one that i can stand. That is until I found out Shouma is on my team! Ugh I swear if I lose because of him, he’s dead meat.

“ better not fuck this up Shouma.”

“ Don’t worry, maybe if you had a bigger ass I’d be distracted.”

How dare he… that’s it he’s dead. I try to ignore his comment and walk to my center position like the team agreed on, waiting for the game to start.

During the whole game I could feel someone’s eyes on me, analyzing every movement. I should be used to it, considering being friends with Yoshino, she has hundreds of eyes watching her every move anytime we go out in public. But this gaze is different .. much different.

As the game continues on, And like always Shouma and I are fighting for dominance on our side of the court.

“ you idiot, I said it was mine! Why did you jump forward!”

“ because it was clearly in my side Y/N”

“ no it was not Shouma and you know it! You did it on purpose, there was no reason for you to be that close to my back!”

Mid game while we were taking the 3 min break trying to switch sides of the court, Shouma comes up wrapping something around my hips.

“ what are you doing?” I look down at what’s around my hips and up to the person who’s hands are tying The Jacket into a knot.

“ just keep it on”

“ Shouma you’re supposed to keep your arms covered” I whisper yell at him, I swear he never used his brain.

“Just keep it on.” He mumbles before walking away, with a sigh I just brush it off and try to focus on the game. Shouma has always been so annoying like my brother. Always trying to boss me around and oh does it make my blood boil. What makes me more upset is i always try my best to make sure he’s always covered at all times and no tattoos peak through, but he just doesn’t care.

The game finally ends and I walk up to him ready to hand him his jacket back.

“ here take it ba—.”

“ I said keep it on Y/A.”

“ the game is over, I’m giving it back to you now.”

“ No, go change, once you are changed you can give it back.” He grabs the sleeves of the jacket and ties it back firmly around my hips. I’ll be damned if he thinks I’m just going to listen to him.

“ I said take your damn jacket bastard!” I untie the jacket and chunk it at him and walk away back into the changing room. This man infuriates me, it’s not like I wasn’t Thankful but I will not be bossed around, especially by him! Who does he think he is , my father?

I quickly change out of my outfit and back to my regular uniform once I’m showered and clean. With that I grab my bag and belongings and walk out the changing room, that is until I see what looks like a fight about to happen.

“ Keep your eyes and comments to yourself.” Shouma is holding one of our male classmates against a wall. I can only imagine why this is happening.

“ Shouma that’s enough, let's go.” I grab his other hand that was free and pull him away from the poor boy. The thing about Shouma, he’s well behaved for the most part, but there are times where he’s a ticking time bomb.

“ This is why I tell you to cover up your tattoos, if you don’t want people looking Listen to me.”

“ and the next time I tell you to keep the jacket ,listen to me. There won’t be a next time actually, next time you’re wearing my jogging pants.” He fights back with an attitude in his tone.

“ Like hell I am, they are too big on me.”

“ i don’t care.”

“ I’m not going to wear them, focus on covering your tattoos and stop focusing on me.” I bite back with the same attitude.

“ and rather they focus on my tattoos and not on your whole legs!”

“ Hey, what’s going on guys? You guys can be heard miles away.” Yashino walks up to where I and Shouma are standing .

“ He’s blaming me that my shorts are too short. That’s what he’s complaining about Yashino .”

“ Excuse me ? Shouma do you think we want to be this tall where nothing fits!” Yoshino jumps into the argument.

“ I’m not blaming anyone, both you and Y/N need to just wear pants instead during physical education.” Shouma closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“ you don’t tell us what to do!” Both Yoshino and I yell in unison.

“ you know what… I don’t give a fuck , lets just go home for fuck sakes.” Shouma pushed through, leading the way back to both him and Yoshino’s place.

[thatrandyalexfroma03]

Zach and the PHD

So people on here, and A03 are far too kind and lovely so while my other half was watching rugby, I did some jotting down of a bar scene....

There are many things in life that Tommy regrets. 

Lying to Abby.

Losing Buck.

But right now, as he sits in a booth with a cold beer and stale peanuts surrounded by the Lucy and Zach, he’s regretting not punching Zach in the face the moment he had slid onto the bar stool next to him at the dive bar.

Mostly. After all, he did end up back with Buck. 

But at what cost.

Speaking of Zach, he spun a bottle cap on the table before announcing for some reason (granted, Tommy had willingly zoned out of the conversation.)  “I have a PHD.”

Tommy guessed that he looked as shocked as Lucy did, her face not masking the blatant disbelief at all. 

“You…” Lucy started, face twisting as she tried to picture Zach attending University to study and not hit on the chicks. "You have a PHD?”

“Yup.” Zach replied, popping the ‘p’ with smug fucking satisfaction still focused on spinning the bottle cap. “Pretty proud of it too, women love it.”

They say hindsight is a wonderful thing Tommy will think to himself as he repeats this story to Buck later, but in the moment, both Lucy and Tommy stumble along.

Tommy clicks his tongue, staring down the little liar, “You had to get your phone out to divide twelve by two when we were doing the checks the other day.”

And that was a legit true story, granted, Zach had then gone ‘Oh, I could of worked that.’ but he hadn’t. There was no way that, simply no way, that man had a PHD. Tommy would lose whatever respect he had for the American education system if that was the case. 

The same education system that had led them to elect a man who imposed tariffs on penguins. So he already had little respect for it. 

“What in.” Tommy challenged as Zach smirked. 

“My pants.” 

You could hear a pin drop as the sentence went in their ears, then hit a brick wall of confusion before both Tommy and Lucy sighed so deeply you could probably hear it from space. 

“I don’t know what I expected,” Lucy groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “This is on me. I should’ve seen it coming.”

“You wish you could see it coming,” Zach insisted, leaning forward with a level of sincerity that should’ve been illegal. “Pretty Huge Dick. It’s a blessing. And a curse.” 

He fucking grinnned. 

God save them. 

Half cursing himself for not seeing it coming (no, not like that) and half cursing himself for continuing to tolerate Zach, Tommy physically turned in his seat to look at Lucy, “So Lucy, how’s your mom.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty good, flying out to see her next week.”

Tommy nodded solemnly, pointedly not looking at Zach. “Well, please tell her I said hi. Her brisket is to die for.”

“And mine’s not?” Lucy asked, faux offended as she raised her beer, although the challenge to fix it was clear in the air. 

“Clearly you learned from the best,” Tommy replied with the faintest smirk as he smoothed over the faux offence like a pro.

“Good save, Kinard,” she said, clinking her bottle against his.

Zach blinked between them, lips parting like he was about to speak until Tommy casually raised a hand between them, the universal sign for don’t… just don’t. Which, Zach can’t obey because he doesn’t know the word don’t. 

So, Zach slumped back against the booth, muttering, “It was funny.”

The next thing that happened was Tommy’s fault; he knew better but the sassy side of him had to get it out of his system.

“What, funny that you would have a huge dick?” he asked, deadpan.

Lucy didn’t miss a beat. She leaned in, eyes gleaming with menace. “Yeah, see, most fuckboys like you are lucky to be packing three, maybe four inches, and that's at the most.”

“I’m sure women have told you it’s big,” Tommy added.

“They just didn’t want to hurt your feelings,” Lucy agreed, her smirk wicked and victorious as Zach fumbled in his pocket, pulling out his phone and furiously pressing the screen like young people do. 

Then he shoved the phone screen in Tommy’s face with a triumph huff and…

“Fuck Zach!”

Because he did not need to see that.

Then.

“Fuuucck Zach.”

Just, damn. Part of him wanted to look away because this was Zach, and he might be twenty four (so legal) but he was almost half Tommy’s age. Tommy shouldn’t be looking. 

Now, say what you want about Zach, but clearly presentation was important to him. The photo had good angles, great lightening and Zach had tided up downstairs, not that Tommy was a fan of smooth shaved guys but whatever, and the kid had a nice six pack.

And yes, that was a PHD. It was kinda hard to miss (and also, more than kinda hard).

But also, the idiot had his face in the picture and an LAFD helmet in the background.

Lucy looked over his shoulder before she made a noise between ‘oh shit’ and ‘OH SHIT’.

Trying to regain the ability to speak, and an idea on what to say, Tommy looked Zach dead in the eyes. “Neck down, probie, always neck down. No tattoos, no identifiable features. No LAFD uniforms in the photo.” 

Zach sat up, offended, pride clearly slightly bruised, “Hey, that’s what you have to say looking at this?” he tilted the phone screen back at himself, “I look good, right, I spent ages standing in the right spot to get the lighting.”

Wait till he tells Buck that he spent a good chunk of his evening at the bar trying to explain to Zach common sense when it comes to taking nude selfies. "You wanna end up online? this is how you end up online, crop the photo before you send it." Tommy repeated as Zach shrugged, playing with the bottle top. "I mean, it's not like I have anything to be embarrassed about right? hashtag wet dream cum true"

It really is like dealing with a drunk toddler, except he's sure a toddler would have more sense. "Fine." Tommy said simply, "Pass me your phone then."

Eyeing up Tommy, Zach refused to hand over the phone, "Why?" he asked, clearly smart enough to figure out something was up.

"Well, you're not worried about people seeing the pic..."

"No, it's a good pic. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of my body." Zach replied.

“Great,” Tommy said. “Let’s send it to the Harbor Station group chat. I’m sure they’ll love the lighting.”

“Oh!” Lucy chirped, wicked grin already blooming. “We should send it to the Captain too. You know. For morale.”

“And the Chiefs,” Tommy added, barely suppressing a smirk. “Make sure it gets the proper chain of command.”

Zach’s cocky expression dropped faster than a failed ladder drill.

“Hey.....hey..... you guys.....come on,” he stammered, face going tomato red. “That’s not funny, clearly I didn't mean... no.”

Lucy tilted her head, clearly enjoying herself as he leaned forward, all fake innocence. “You sure you don’t want to AirDrop it to the whole station? We could frame it in the breakroom.”

Never in all his life had Tommy send someone's phone disappear so quickly as Zach shuffled in his seat.

Lucy sat back in her seat, “I want you to know something Anderson"

“Yeah?” Zach's voice both curious and concerned.

“Everything I know about you has been against my will, including that.” Lucy said frankly, “You owe me a beer.”

“And me,” Tommy added as Zach shook his head like somehow he was the one with the right to be unimpressed. "Fine, but I'm not sure why I'm the bad guy."

[evans23]

Daughter of mine II

Pairing : Judge Turpin x Daughter OC

Summary : The great judge Turpin tries to adapt to his new role as a father. Awkward, he doesn't realise that his daughter doesn't find her place in this new world.

Tag(s)/Warning(s) : A bit of angst I guess. Mention of prostitution and death. Awkward father. If I forget something, please mention it to me !

A/N: Hello dear 😁 Here the next part of Daughter of mine. Enjoy !

Part I - Part III - Part IV - Part V

Also read on AO3

The first days were awkward, to say the least. Catherine was intimidated by her new surroundings and Turpin didn't know how to be a father. He didn't really try either. He didn't have any good paternal figure when he was a kid, his father being the kind violent. Besides, he couldn't stop thinking it would have been easier if he had been in the child's life from the beginning. 

Not only did he have to catch up with six years of his daughter's life, almost seven, which was utterly impossible, but also, he wasn't sure how to impose his authority on his daughter. His daughter... Even this word sounded strange to him. 

It had only been two weeks since the girl had moved in with him, in his mansion. The servants were totally enamoured with the child, who was reserved and overly polite. She never asked for anything and ate everything that was served to her, even when it was obvious she didn't like what was on her plate. Fortunately, her governess could read the little girl far more easily than her dad, and each time she noticed an imperceptible grimace of disgust, she warned the cook not to prepare this food for the child anymore. 

True to his words, two days after her arrival, Catherine got a tutor. In fact, more than one. One of the teachers had for a mission was to teach her how to write, read, and speak properly, like a well-mannered lady should do. Another one was there to teach her to speak French and Italian and another one to provide some music and drawing skills.

She probably should learn how to dance, sew, and many other things a mother would judge necessary for his daughter to know, but Turpin wasn't a mother, scarcely a father, and those trivial competencies weren't what mattered the most for Turpin. He wanted a well-educated daughter, with knowledge in his head and not just an empty brain as too much lady of his acquaintance. Turpin was a conservator, yes, but he knew how important it was to be able to think by itself, even for a girl, even more for his daughter !

The triviality would be learned later, when he decided it was time to introduce her to the high society, in a timely manner. For the moment, there was no place for any leisure. Anyway, the hectic schedule of Catherine didn't leave any room for that. She had a tiring day like she had never experienced before. 

She had to wake up at seven o'clock, half past six sometimes, and be ready with the help of her maid before eight. She had a light breakfast before the start of her courses, which only stopped once at noon to let her the time to have lunch and then at half past four in the afternoon. From half past four to five, she had some time to play on her own but she had to be quite imaginative, for there were no toys for her. Not because Turpin was too stingy but because it hadn't crossed his mind that the girl could need more than pretty dresses and coats. 

However, Catherine was so happy with those beautiful clothes that she wore them with unconcealed joy as she had never had new clothes before, even less expensive and elegant dresses like these one but only the old ones of her mother who took up it as best as she could, that she didn't dare ask for more. 

In addition, she had three meals a day, water at will, tea in the morning, and even orange juice and snacks during the day if she wished to. But what delighted her the most was the hot cocoa her governess brought her every night before sleep. A beverage her mother couldn't afford at all. Also, and for her biggest relief, she was allowed to keep her candles lit all night to make the terrifying shadows of her past disappear. And she knew how expensive was a candle, her mother told her so each time she asked to keep one alight for the night when she was alone and so afraid.

Unfortunately, despite all the affluence she was surrounded with, she felt alone. Terribly alone. She had no friends, wasn't allowed to go out, except for the backyard of the mansion, but anyway, it was too cold to play outside, but more than everything else, she missed her mom. She was also secretly longing for a father. But Richard didn't seem to appeal to the idea or at least, it was what she thought. 

Richard was never home. He left an hour before her waking time and came back far after her bedtime. He worked every day, including on Saturday morning, and during the afternoon, he was locked up in his office. The only room she was forbidden to enter in. Should she have been bolder, she would probably intruded into his sanctuary of peace to have the privilege of his company, but the natural severity emanating from the man was enough to keep her on track. 

Sunday was the only day during which she had breakfast with him, but he wasn't very talkative and she didn't know what to say to the man who, inevitably, dismissed her in her room or in the garden with her maid to let her have some clear air while he was, yet again, in his office, working on court cases or attempting some business with The Beadle. 

And because she couldn't have a piece of Richard, not necessarily his heart, not even his affection, even though she was in desperate need of a bit of that more than the beautiful dresses and the palatable food, she started to become sad. Sadder than she was when her mom died or when they were living in the paucity on the outskirts of London. Sadder than when she had lost her little cat, dead because he was starving and her mom couldn't buy enough food for the three of them, sadder than when she had been sent to the orphanage. 

In fact, she felt deceived by the man she had thought would be more than just his savior. The moment she had understood who he was, she had thought he would be his father, the one she had wished for on every birthday, and also for Christmas. She had begun to feel the need to fill in the hole in her heart with the presence of the man she had dreamt of. Moreover, the death of Elena, her dear mommy, had enlarged that hole, and the instant she had acknowledged Richard for who he was, she had wrongly thought he would embrace his role as a father. How stupid she had been. How a man who had left her mother with a broken heart could have loved her ?

The governess and the maids had already understood what the child was longing for. She needed her father's love to heal. However, Richard wasn't mean on purpose. He just didn't know how to step into the life of the child, how to take up his place as a father. Of course, he knew he just had to be himself, but the truth was that he was afraid to act like his father. Never could he forgive himself if his daughter was as afraid of him as he was of his own father when he was a child and even a young teenager. 

He had promised to himself, the day she arrived home, that never ever he would beat her, no matter her wrongdoings. Never she would hear the sound of a whip on her back and even less the feel of it. Nevertheless, he was a firm believer in the fact that a kid needed a sprinkle of authority. Even more than a sprinkle. 

Yet, he had to admit that she was easy to manage. She didn't run amok around the house and apparently, she didn't inherit the malicious and devious traits of the Turpin. Also, she never answered back, something Richard had done many times at the same age, which had owed him many slaps in the face. And surprisingly, he found himself wishing she would answer back because it would mean she was talking with him. In his presence, she was always silent and he didn't know if it was because she was impressed by him or just because she didn't adapt well to her new environment, but it was bothering him. 

"Sir, may I enquire how is doing the daughter of yours ?" asked The Beadle, that morning in the court office.

Richard looked down at him suspiciously. He didn't appreciate the attention Beadle thought necessary to have towards his daughter. He knew the man too well and didn't have any difficulties to figure out his intentions. He would be cold in his grave before a man like him could consider being betrothed to Catherine. The girl wouldn't have any suitor before her twenty-five. Or before his death. And he was able to defy God's authority on that matter just to be sure she wouldn't fall for a miserable like Beadle. A depraved man like him. In fact, after consideration, a man at all !

He dismissed The Beadle with a frown which said far more than his mouth. For God's sake, he thought, never come the day she would find man interesting. Not that they were all that bad, but Catherine's legacy would be substantial. Indeed, he had already found enough loopholes in the law to prevent his manor and all his wealth from being entailed to a stranger cousin he hadn't met in his life. All he knew about that man was that he was living in Australia with his wife and a son of sixteen named Elliott. 

"How is she ?" he asked as usual when he came back from the court to the maid.

"Asleep," answered merely the woman. 

She was the oldest maid of the manor, also the one who was able with Richard diplomatically enough to bring him around the right decision. 

"Did she eat ?"

If the answer was no, which happened sometimes, he always made sure she had a heavy breakfast in the morning, one she had to eat entirely if she wanted to have a break after her last course of the day. It only happened once that she was deprived of her playtime. Turpin knew it wasn't a solution to punish the girl when she didn't feel like eating, but she was so thin, even after two weeks of the best food that he was afraid to see her fall sick. Eating wasn't a pleasure, it was vital. 

"Yes."

The quietness of the maid made him suspicious. 

"What's the matter, Anne ?" he asked roughly.

The old woman wasn't impressed at all by the man. She wasn't afraid to stand up to him, even if she had already threatened to fire her or worse, to send her to a colony in the middle of nowhere in the upside-down. Perhaps the fact she had been his governess when she was a child had something to do with it. And even if she was grateful for the man to have hired her after her husband's death when he was still a young man, barely established as a young lawyer thanks to the influence of his family. 

"The girl is depressed," she stated frankly.

"Depressed ? We are not depressed at her age. She didn't know anything about the hardness of life," he prompted harshly.

"As you didn't know anything about it at the same age, I guess ?" Anne uttered perfidiously. 

The look Richard gave her would have made anyone else shriek with fear, but the woman didn't flinch under his stringent gaze.

"She is not mistreated here," he growled, his tone a dangerous warning.

"No, but she is alone. No friends, no toys, only studying the whole day."

And no father, she added for herself. 

"I've no acquaintance with child of her age," stated Turpin, "and for the toy, I'll leave money on the buffet tomorrow morning. Go into town and buy what you think is fit for her."

Anne shook her head with disapprobation.

"What ? Woman, do you want to live on the street ? It's where you would be if it hadn't been for my great kindness," groaned Richard, his patience thinner and thinner at each rolling eyes of the maid.

"The gift would have more valor if it came from her father," she simply pointed out. 

Richard, whose eyes were flashing with all his anger, hurried away to lock himself in his bedroom, slamming the door violently to let everybody know how angry he was in the whole house, but more peculiarly Anne, how displeased he was tonight.

The next morning, there was no money on the buffet, which made the maid smile. She was sure her words had reached Richard.

The day seemed to drag on for poor Catherine. She was too distracted to focus on her lesson, which annoyed her teacher who scolded her, promising her to give a report to her father about her bad behaviour. Catherine didn't say anything, even though she found it quite unfair as she just let her mind roam around. It wasn't as if she had disrupted the class by chattering incessantly. Anyway, except for the servants, there was no one to speak with. 

The second teacher was far more lenient with her, asking her why she was so lost on him. She shrugged her shoulders, but the man, who had three daughters and eight grandchildren, wasn't dupe. There was a heaviness in the heart of the little girl. He tried to incite her to open up, without success. He didn't insist as he didn't want to frustrate her. He understood that she was like her father : she didn't give her trust easily and the old man wasn't keen to damage the bond he had started to create with her.

At the Court of Justice, Turpin wasn't more focused than his daughter. He had adjourned the Court, even though he had found some pleasure in not temper justice with mercy. Anne's straightforward honesty had kept him up all night. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to hurt the child, yet he knew he would if he was too involved in her life. He hadn't had any good role model and it wasn't as if he wasn't providing the child with everything she needed. But deep down, he knew it wasn't what she really needed. He had been a child too and back in time, he would have traded everything he had, money, wealth, high education, and the best tutors for the love of his parents. Or at least their care.

Her mother didn't have any maternal instinct. She had been married by force to a cruel man. She had given him an heir, then another one, who had died at the age of fifteen. His younger brother, more sensitive, more fragile, had made the terrible choice to stop breathing by hanging himself to the attic load-bearing beam. Richard was already studying in London when it happened. It's the butler who had found his brother and the boy had been buried in the highest discretion. No one knew the truth, except for the Turpin's family. Richard would never forget the belt lashes of his father when he had made him swear to never reveal the real causes of his father's dead. The truth would have disgraced the family. 

Catherine deserved better than the heavy Turpin's legacy. She deserved to be happy. And because he had been raised by the worst parents, he could be better. He knew everything he mustn't do. He knew how he could destroy her, therefore he knew how not to. 

He left the Court earlier than usual and well-decided to have supper with his daughter. Yet, when he arrived he found the manor too calm, almost as if everybody was already asleep. It was only five, so the venue should have been alive with servants accomplishing their duties, not with the distant cries of a little girl.

Turpin strode up the stairs, worried that something had happened to Catherine when he stumbled upon Anne.

"What's happening here ?" he asked roughly, "while Catherine is crying and where is everybody ?"

"It has been a tough day for the little mistress. Her classes didn't go well. Mister Wosley, her morning teacher had been quite hard with her. He wrote a rapport about her bad behavior, but the governess was with them and she assured me the little girl was quiet as usual, she was just not focusing on her lesson."

"And she's crying for a rapport about her behavior?" asked Turpin bewildered.

"She's afraid you don't want her anymore. The paper is quite severe."

"Because you read it ?" asked Richard, his eyebrows arched, the slightest annoyance on his face.

"No. She did and then she read it to me because she couldn't understand some words. I explained them to her in a more... soft way. I also assure her that you won't send her away because of the angriness of a teacher."

"You did well," said Richard absent-mindedly. 

He pretended to go to his office to read the note, but the maid retained him by clearing her throat. He turned around to face her, a questioning look on his features.

"What else ?" he asked, annoyed at his highest.

"This afternoon, she went out with Mister Brandon. He wanted a change of scenery to cheer up Catherine and..."

The maid hesitated, biting her lower lip.

"Anne, I'm tired, my daughter is crying which, I have to admit despite my disgust at doing it, distraught me, and I'm terribly hungry, which only add to my annoyance. If there is more, then speak without any diversion," he chided, his square shoulders and his stern eyes leaving no room for argument.

"Well, they found a strayed kitten and Catherine had brought it back. Mister Brandon didn't see the harm in it. But once he left, Harry, the stableman, told her that you didn't like animals and that you would probably throw the little pet against a wall to kill it if she didn't get rid of it before your return. She and her governess were trying to find an appropriate hideout for the little cat when she heard you arrived. Yet again, we tried with her governess to tell her you wouldn't do that, but she didn't believe us and now she's afraid Harry told you about her new companion while she didn't find anywhere to hide it."

Richard sighed heavily. The weariness and tiredness put a strain on him. 

"Thank you for telling me, Anne. Ask the butler to thank Harry with no money and reference. The boy doesn't work in my stable anymore,' and with that being said, and the package in his hands, he headed towards Catherine's room.

The governess froze when, after having closed the door, she turned around, almost bumping into Richard.

"My lord," she said with a curtesy.

"How is she ?" he asked, ignoring her terrifying eyes on him. 

"I managed to calm her down, but she is very afraid that you scold her or worse for what Mister Wosley wrote about her. She swears it's not true. And also..."

The woman wasn't sure she should keep quiet. She knew everything she had to about Turpin's bad temper and she had been here for only two weeks, also she didn't know if he could kill or not an innocent kitten.

"What about the cat ?" asked Richard harshly.

If he hadn't been so concerned about the well-being of his child, he would probably have found the expression of the governess hilarious. Her eyes were wide, she was gawking at him.

"Well ?" he insisted, "did you find an appropriate hideout for it ?"

"Indeed," answered the governess with embarrassment.

"Well, let's see if I can find it."

And with that being said, Richard knocked on the door, then entered without waiting for any answer, as he was sure the girl wouldn't have given permission to anyone to come in. 

"Catherine," thundered Turpin's voice, making the little girl shiver.

Her sad eyes looked upon his. He opened his mouth, but he didn't have time to utter any words that the little girls rushed into his arms. Flabbergasted, Turpin didn't know what to do and stayed stunned while Catherine flooded his golden waistcoat with her tears. 

"Come on, come on, calm down," said Richard softly, "let's sit down, yes ?"

He led her towards the huge bed on which were laying Merlin and many other plush animals.

"There's a whole zoo on your bed. Are you aware of that ?" asked playfully Turpin, hoping to ease a bit of the distress of his daughter.

It seemed to work as she giggled discretely. 

"Where do all those animals come from ?" asked curiously Richard.

"The servants," whispered the girl. 

Of course, they were all so fond of their little mistress, and apparently, they knew her better than him as everybody but he knew her love for animals, that they had spent some of their pay into expensive kids' stuff. 

"Do they all have a name ?"

Catherine nodded, introducing him to each of her unanimated friends with enthusiasm, her previous outburst forgotten. Even though Richard was happy to see the mood of the child liven up, he needed to clear up the events of the day. He cursed himself for bringing up the topic when she started to cry with violent sobbing.

"Hush, hush. I'm not scolding you, am I ?" he said, bothered to not know how to talk without causing anguish to his child. 

He, eventually, took his little hand in his, frowning at how thin her little arm was. He could see her bones protruding from her neckline and her shoulders and he was sure that during bath time, her maid could notice the same things with her ribs and knees. 

"You're not angry ?" she asked bashfully.

"No," said Richard.

And it was true. He knew quite well the teacher and how harsh he could be with his pupils. Yet, he was one of the best in his profession and Turpin wanted nothing but the cream of the top for her. He would have a word with him tomorrow, asking him to be more indulgent with the girl. He wouldn't have to ask twice for the man restrained his sternness because no one could match up to the anger of The High Judge Turpin. The Death's Judge. 

"Yet, I would like to be acquainted with someone else," uttered Richard.

Catherine still, understood he was talking about her cat. 

"I put him out," she declared too quickly.

Her alarmed eyes wandered a second too long towards her wardrobe. Richard stood up in a flourish and walked briskly to the piece of furniture.

"NO !" shouted the girl.

"Hush !" prompted Richard.

He sharply opened the door and a little ball of fur ran through the room to find refuge inside a cardboard box that the butler had given to Catherine for her new companion. 

"Well, it seems to already feel at home," stated Richard.

"Please, father, do not kill him," begged Catherine, bursting into tears.

Richard felt his blood ran cold through his whole body. It was the first time she had called him father. And if he was honest with himself, it had made his heart beat faster. 

"Never would I do something like that, Catherine," he said genuinely concerned she could believe him able to do something like that.

Actually, if Richard was totally honest, he could do that without any qualms to blackmail someone or to torture an enemy. But never would he do that to this girl who had become so precious for him in such a short time. Also, for Richard, animals were the sheerest and most beautiful of God's creation. Nothing to do with the mongrel he had to deal with in his day-to-day life. 

"But Harry said..."

"Do not listen to this idiot. Anyway, he doesn't work anymore for us. Rather than being gullible and believing everything everyone's telling you, you should learn to trust me."

She looked down embarrassed but Richard forced her to look at him by lifting her head with the help of one finger under his chin.

"What's the name of this little opportunist ?" he asked, looking with an amused look at the pet tearing apart the old blanket Anne had put into the box.

"Arthur," answered Catherine with a bright smile.

"Arthur ?" questioned Turpin.

"Like the King !"

Obviously. Merlin, Mordred, Gwaine, Percival, Leon, Elyan were the names of her plush and now Arthur, thought Richard, suppressing a laugh. 

"Well, Arthur is more than welcome in this house. As long as he doesn't dare come through my office and he doesn't scratch the sofas of the parlor."

Catherine nodded vigorously, her smile and the happiness flickering in her eyes a reward for Richard's tortured soul.

"I've also a present for you. I'm sorry it's not another beast for your zoo."

With that, he handed her the box he had put down on the nightstand. Catherine looked at the box with surprise before opening it with the enthusiasm of a child who wasn't used to getting a gift. Inside was laying the most beautiful doll she had ever seen. A porcelain doll with curly brown hair and the same green eyes as hers, like the one she shared with her mother. The doll's dress was made of real cashmere and embroidered with golden threads. 

"Are you happy ?" asked Turpin with trepidation as he didn't know how to interpret the child's silence. 

"I've never had something as beautiful before," whispered Catherine, not daring to take the doll out of her box, too afraid to damage it.

Richard did it for her, placing the doll among the animals.

"She will soon have her own house. I'm sure Anne and your governess would be more than delighted to help you to install her in her new lodgings. Perhaps you may ask Anne to teach you how to sew so that you could create a whole wardrobe for your doll. I will provide you with all the pieces of furniture you could need for this new entertainment."

The little girl, overwhelmed with joy, didn't know what to say and Richard, as introverted as his daughter on the field of sharing his feelings, told her he would meet her for supper. But while he was ready to leave the room, he heard Catherine's hurried steps running towards him. He didn't have time to turn around when a mass of brown curls threw itself into his arms.

He gently stroked her back with one hand, the other one caressing with as much love as he could dispense her hair. She finally stepped back, diving her green eyes in his hazel one without quivering at the natural toughness his face was constantly bearing. 

"Thank you, father," she whispered quietly, almost as if she was afraid of his reaction, afraid to lose the little affection he seemed disposed to give her.

Richard's face softened, his heart swelling with a feeling he hadn't felt for long. The last time, it was when Elena, his beloved Elena, was in his arms after he had made love to her. Elena had betrayed him when she had left him with no explanation. And now she was no longer of this world. But Catherine, the fruit of their love was there and she wanted nothing more than to love him unconditionally. It was at this moment, when he saw all the gratefulness of his daughter for a mere doll and his permission to let her keep the kitten, that a thought struck him. A man could lose a woman, but never a father could lose his child if he was able to be a good parent for the said child. So, Richard silently swore to himself he would be the best father a girl could hope for. From now on and until death comes to take him away from this world.

"You're welcome, daughter of mine," he said with a smile matching his daughter's one. A Turpin's smile. 

[tomato-greens]

I’m really grading. I’m really doing it. this isn’t as bad as working during the height of the pandemic when the psychological, like, part of consciousness I relied on to do work disappeared and I had to literally relearn to work but it’s almost as bad, dudes, it’s been really really hard. but I’m doing it!

totally unrelated sorta vagueblog

I have followed someone for like, I don’t know, almost a decade who left her job training seeing eye dogs to become a nurse and it has been totally bizarre watching the transformation - but especially now that she’s about to take her final licensing exam. initially she wanted to become a psych nurse because she has been hospitalized/institutionalized for mental illness and wanted to change the culture of treatment. her time in school has seemed weird but I don’t follow her that closely so I figured she’d go to work and figure out her priorities again. but now that has completely disappeared from her professional goals, she will be working in a completely different department after licensure, she has distanced herself from her own experience of mental illness and taken on standard/troubling medical vocabulary about the mentally ill patients she works with as an aide, she has always been p defensive and like fair enough, but recently changed her URL to reflect a meme about nurses being mean, which is really shitty if you’re like…actually a nurse……….

I say this because I’m in education - comparable gendered helping profession, another extremely hierarchical & unevenly competitive field (paid worse though) where we are invited to not only notice and address but pathologize (though obv different context) our students for behaving in certain ways. it is extremely easy for teachers to abuse their power unknowingly, take out their insecurities on people they are supposed to be helping/in service to, etc. (I consider it an extremely important part of my job to professionally develop my teaching both formally and informally, mostly informally/through self-study, but NOT to adopt the shittier parts of education training, though I bypassed ever going to teacher school which probably helped in some ways & hurt in others.) good teachers learn to manage their own defensiveness because they ultimately have the power to do immense harm & they need to be able to listen to the people they are responsible for & assess their own behavior with care. the URL is just a joke but like is it…? if i called myself MeanAssholeTeacher & someone who is a student - not even of mine, but like, generally - found it, wouldn’t that potentially fuck them up in a way just calling myself MeanAsshole and blogging about being a teacher wouldn’t?

I think this feels vaguely like drdemonprince to me - like not nearly nearly nearly as egregious, but if you’re in a profession where you could potentially intimately harm someone, I guess I’m kind of a prude about how careful I think you should be about making that profession part of your immediately obvious, online, non-professional identity, rather than in a context where someone has to read your posts and engage with you and your personality and your more in-depth personhood.

like obviously I AM kind of a mean asshole myself sometimes, I can be defensive, I act out my asocial behaviors online so they don’t interrupt my offline life, & thus I am also visibly mentally ill on this blog, but I don’t think it’s unethical of me to mention being a teacher in the same breath. I don’t know. I also don’t do any of this attached to my IRL name in any obvious way for a reason. thinking through it.

…I’ve just found this transformation very alarming I guess. making me feel sad about who has power & what professional training does to people w/ good intentions. how limited ethics are!

[chizups]

Am new to your tumblr (got drawn here by your pretty ocs (✿◡‿◡)) and I hope that has not been asked before but: What are your opinions on each individual Seed? And what do your OCs think about them? I always think it is interesting to see where opinions are the same or differ (●'◡'●)

Welcome! Feel yourself at home 😊

Oh, boi, do I keep my unhinged to myself when answering that? I guess we'll see. When I just got through my first FC5 run, I didn't find John to be that interesting (I didn't understand at the time really), Jacob was absolutely terrifying in a best way possible for a character to be, and Joseph became most intriguing to me, which is the case still: I am enamored with his whole character, but the more I get to know about him, the less I understand WHY, because he is infuriating, but he also keeps my underwear wet, and it's harder to say WHY by the minute 😂😅

Now that I spent some time looking into these characters, I see them a bit differently and I love them even more. Jacob was somehow the easiest for me to comprehend. I really like him as a character, and his villain image was shining even brighter when I played New Dawn: there, looking at twins, I realized for myself how intimidating Jacob actually was. I really like him as a brother/father figure, as a protector and I sorry about his fate. Can't say I would have anything to tell him, no words can fix a man like that I feel. At least none of mine. The only support I could've give is maybe hold his hand. He was a fighter and deserved better from the very start.

John opened to me with time, or rather was opened to me by people who know their shit about psychology😆 I thought he just have brain damage or something, but what escaped me at the start is his complicated set of traumas. But I know now... Again, I am very sorry about his fate, I pity him as a child, he did not deserve what he got. But John is an adult, and he is a lot. Here's my level of unhinged starts growing, because as much as I love John, I want to slap him, or stab him, or dismember him and eat his parts, while keeping him alive, I... Y'know? Normal stuff. I also have a set of my own psy problems that makes me feel a certain way about men like John: John Duncan (as well as Seed I guess at least at the start of the project) for the eyes of unknowing person would be too good to be true and therefore unworthy of trust, that means any other handsome, educated and charismatic man is untrustworthy. John Seed fucking triggers me, I feel unwanted every time I look at him, but I like him as a character nonetheless. Fuck this brat💖

Faith has impressed me by the control she has over The Bliss, it's fascinating. But she doesn't stick to my mind like brothers do, I kind of sorry about it. She is clearly a puppet, and though I pity her, and I think she is the one that was actually the closest to possible saving, I do not care that much. I'd say I wish to protect her from Joseph's influence, but it seems I got into this trap myself.

Fucking Joseph... Love. I love this man. I do this basically all the time👇

He intrigued me from the first sight, and I even envy him in some sense. But I see him more clearly now. Started after FC6 Collapse DLC, where my desire to throw this man off a cliff grew with every phrase spoken in the game. This manic asshole... The infuriating thing is, I am an aggressive scaredy cat who IRL does not trust people or religious nature easily in general, but I FUCKING KNOW Joseph would wrap me around his finger, and I hate it. And I still enamored with him.

Imagining him being chained in my basement or thrown off a cliff is an erotic fantasy by now. I am so normal about him, you can't imagine...

***

My OCs think... a lot. There's a few Alternative Universes that vary their opinions a bit because of dynamics changing and switching, but overall it stays the same.

It really all started with Dina, I played ND and needed an avatar to express my opinions, though she quickly evolved into her own character. Dina Sommer is very loyal to Jacob in every story, she won't sleep herself to guard his peace, she won't eat if he has no food in his plate. In her eyes he is the best human being, she relies on him and is devoted to keep him safe. Dina respects Joseph. To a degree. He is not higher in her hierarchy than Jacob by any means and even more than that, with time Dina starts seeing Joseph as a threat to her commander's wellbeing therefore she doesn't like him in the slightest, though she won't talk about for obvious reasons. John and Dina barely meet and talk, and it was decided that they won't know what to do in each other's presence, because they both are fucking children. Let's say whatever opinion of John Jacob is translating to Dina, it is the exact one Dina has. Dina and Faith do not really know each other.

Salome Ann Clock is a caring soul, so no matter if my story of the day is angst or fluff, she tries to look for common ground and be a peace maker, to bring comfort to others, even when she is herself broken. She is able to find some pity in herself for Faith, respect for Jacob, forgiveness and compassion for John, but she is terrified of Joseph. Even in Twisted Untitled where she is married to him, Salome sees him as an idol first and foremost and is afraid of what he does to people and her, physically or mentally. Her basic was that she did not plan on killing so many people and Seeds too. Salome wanted to arrest them. To bring justice by the law, yes, but also because she wanted to do the right thing and save them. To realize she all this time was kept alive by Joseph's word alone was crushing to her.

My favorite warframe-witch-fairy-feetless-mystical-woman Wisp is enamored with Joseph, trusted most of the things he said for a very long time, they are very close friends. She is sorry for all his losses, loves him dearly despite understanding that he is sometimes goes too far. She is also the only character that can actually push that fucker around without consequences, and I love it for her. Because sometimes she actually does. She tries to protect his image in some sense, like a sober wife talks about her drunk husband, that she loves very much, but still embarrassed by him: he is not that bad, she swears, she'll grab him by the neck later if it makes you feel any better about the situation. Wisp respects Jacob very much since he is a soldier, hence a weapon, like she is, but because he is absolutely closed to her mental reach, they barely interact, which saddens her, but she accepts it as it is. Faith is Wisp's favorite girl, she is impressed by the Bliss control just like I am. They are definitely girlfriends on easy mode, but Joseph doesn't need to know it, hehe. If situation occurs, where Joseph and Faith will be in danger at the same time, there is a high possibility that Wisp will try to protect Faith first instead of running to Joseph. Wisp's relationship with John has two options: in any other story he is just a member of the family Wisp protects, because it is Joseph's family, but they are not even friends, bc John doesn't trust her; in Seeds & Witches however Wisp is John's long time friend, a nanny you could say, he trusts her 120%, and she cares for him like she never carried for Joseph even in any other story, John is her little mew mew baby princess boi💝

Recent addition to my group of cunts is Restless Mina. Originally started in Seeds & Witches, she is mostly indifferent in relation to all Seeds there, but Twisted Untitled helped me develop her, and it happens so she is in many ways a mirror image of John, so they are not very friendly to each other, but their hostility has more of a rival aspect than if they were actual enemies. Mina likes him, but hates to admit it, she teases and taunts him often just to make him mad. It is mutual. However this is a way for them to support each other, since they are not the same just as is, but in Joseph's eye as well, receiving the same treatment from him. Joseph wakes many complicated feelings in Mina, she is afraid of him, but sees no other light on her dark path, so runs to him when in need of a good word of wisdom. Which is often. She is also intrigued by Jacob and respects him highly, though is not very sure herself why that is. She is however tied to John (he introduces her to religion) and almost prohibited from visiting the mountains. So there's not much she can express about the older brother. Mina doesn't understand Faith, her field of work and influence is very confusing to the point of being scary to Mina, therefore she does not hold very high opinion about the sister.

I think that is all❣️

[lady-eris]

Please may I have Fairy tail Platonic headcanons of being the younger brother of Gray Fullbuster and he is a year older than Wendy (there is young romance between them as it is canon but it was Platonic as they are kids but apparently their opposites in Edolas were older and dating) is a nice kid and a member of Fairy tail and Team Natsu (he used ice magic too and he is a S Class Wizard despite only being 13) He is kinda like Asriel Dreemurr from Undertale *before the whole flower thing* and he pulled harmless pranks once in a while..not the type of pranks that were meant to hurt or humliate. He is a crybaby much as Wendy is. He always looked rather tearful and humliated when he realised that he had stripped again *he had unfortunately inherited his brother's stripping habit after training to be a ice mage from the age of 4*. Don't take him to a sad movie like the titanic..he will cry. He was raised extremely well by Gray despite their opposite personalities..and he is basically the gardener of Fairy tail regarding his love for flowers despite being teased for liking a girly activity by some of the less than accepting guys which was hurtful (he made the guild look extremely nice).

He was 3 during the incident with Deliora when the monster murdered his mom and Dad.

https://youtu.be/n2mTK1iuGqY?si=x2qot-WYOb022DaF (referring to this to describe his personality)

Relationships:

Gray Fullbuster's relationship with his younger brother

Team Natsu's relationship with the younger Fullbuster

Juvia Lockser's relationship with her future "brother in law"

How would the rest of Fairy tail get along with him

Lyon's relationship with him

Happy's relationship with him

Carla's relationship with him

Wendy's relationship with him

I encourage sending songs/theme songs, so i can listen to them while i write

TEAM NATSU

Gray would be protective of his brother i believe, We see how he is with Wendy (I Personally believe they have a familial relationship) and we know that Gray is generally protective over his friends, So i believe he'd be protective over his brother. Defintly the type that takes a lot of pride. Gray encouraging (Y/N) to hone his skills and teaching him new techniques. “You remind me of Mom and Dad sometimes. They’d be proud of you, you know?”

Natsu "Man, you’re such a crybaby. But I guess that’s what makes you so good at what you do.”

Lucy is generally really good with kids, and so she'd defitnly treat him like family. She’s one of the first to compliment his work, making him feel appreciated. If she sees him upset, she’s quick to offer a warm hug or some advice. She doesn't mind his crybaby side either, and would hit people that tried, giving them her lucy kick. “You’re such a sweet kid. Fairy Tail’s lucky to have someone like you.”

Erza is the stern caring older figure, tries to stop you from your habits. Also someone who values education, so good luck with her handwriting. if anyone dares mock him Erza steps in with an intimidating glare that shuts them up instantly. “If anyone dares to mock you, tell me. I’ll… have a chat with them.”

Happy: “Another one? You Fullbusters sure don’t like clothes!” teases you, and is very playful. CONSTANTLY tries to get you to play pranks on gray with him and Natsu.

Wendy Shares a close bond with (Y/N) due to their similar ages and personalities. They’re both crybabies, so they often comfort each other in emotional moments. Wendy sometimes helps (Y/N) with his flowers, and they cheer each other on during missions. “Don’t worry, (Y/N), I cry a lot too. It just means we care, right?”

Juvia loves you like how she loves Gray but in a platonic way? if it makes sense? She loves the idea of being a “big sister” figure and often involves him in her daydreams of becoming part of the Fullbuster family. Some of them are even versions, where shes More of a mom i guess. "It's like He's mine and Gray darlings child!" She would NEVER hold any jealousy towards you AT ALL.

Lyon "How does someone Like Gray have someone as sweet as you as a brother?" sees you as a mix of a brother, and a potenital protegee. He is the one you go to for advice. He's practical, and his advice is actully good. “For someone who grew up with Gray, you turned out surprisingly nice. Must’ve skipped the grumpy gene.”

Carla often giving quiet advice, Carla is the more mature one. Besides from Lyon, she's your best bet at advice. Having an eye for beauty (Your flowers) she'd compliment them, quietly encouraging you to continue with what you do “Though I don’t usually praise humans, I must admit your gardening skills are admirable.”

[chroniclesofbts]

Call Me Home Part 3

Idol hybrid BTS x hybrid foreigner reader

Warnings: implied sexual themes, smut, angst, fluff, polyamorous relationship

If you’re not 18+ please, do not interact.

As always, my works do not represent BTS in any way, this is purely a work of fiction.

*short chapter, I cut this part in half because it was so long*

Y/N's POV

Coming to, I can hear voices around me and an annoying beeping. Listening intently I hear the words, "not heat", "too risky", "trauma", and "management". The monitor attached to my heart gave away that I was waking up, the beeping increasing. My eyes flutter open, the light blinding me initially.

"Hey, welcome back. You really scared me there" Jin said softly, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. "I thought my face was just too handsome for you" he joked to lighten the mood.

"How are you feeling Miss... ?" A woman in scrubs asked

"Fine, head is a little heavy, I'm a little sore too. What happened?" I questioned

"You passed out in the shower with Jin. You didn't hit your head or anything, he managed to hold you up and call Jungkook for help." I flushed at the thought of Jungkook seeing me naked. "Can I ask you some personal questions?" The doctor asked gently, "Your pack can stay here or leave if you feel uncomfortable at any time"

"Um, s-sure" I stuttered

"Do you have any nightmares?"

"Oh, uh yeah, most people do though" I joke

"How many a week?" She says writing things down on a clipboard.

"Uh it depends, maybe like 5?" Jin's hand finds mine, and holds it in a comforting manor.

"Do you ever feel numb?" She continues

"Yeah, I guess if I get too overwhelmed I do." I answer honestly

"Do you feel like you startle easily? Have trouble concentrating?"

"Sometimes" I answer, starting to close in on myself.

"Last question, where do you see yourself in the future?"

"I mean, how far out? I see myself with the pack, for as long as I have left" I answer, feeling Jimin lean his head on my shoulder from the right side where he was sitting.

"I see, thank you for answering my questions, I will talk to your packs leader and you should be able to go back to their dorms in the next few hours." She smiled, motioning to Namjoon to follow her.

"How long was I asleep?" I ask Jimin

"3 days, you must have been tired and your body was recovering from the shock to your system with the pills you took." Jimin explained.

"Why was she asking all of those questions?" I ask him nervously, "Did I do something wrong, are you going to replace me?" I whimper

"No! No, baby, never" Jin said, squeezing my hand. "We just want to make sure we can help you, make sure we can be enough for you"

"Oh, why?" I mumble confused as I feel myself blush.

"Because you deserve the perfect pack" Jimin said, pushing his nose further into my scent gland.

"Wait, I thought I was in heat" I look at Jin, who looks away bashfully.

"Your body has never had a heat, it wasn't ready for a heat, your body was fighting the medicine, it caused you to get sick. Right before you passed out I could smell the shift in your hormones, I just didn't figure it out until you passed out. I, o-overwhelmed your b-body. I c-caused it, I am so sorry" He cried, "we don't deserve to be your pack, we couldn't even take care of you as soon as we got you"

"Jin, I don't blame you. It's not your fault, how could anyone have known? You caught me, right? I didn't get a concussion. It's okay"

Before he could respond, Namjoon came in the door followed by a man I had never met before.

"This is Sejin, one of our managers. After talking with the medical staff, we think it's best to start you on a month of medicine to encourage a natural heat cycle. This will also give your body time to adjust to being in a pack, as well as let your mind work through everything that has happened recently. With the rush of moving and education, now this, your body and mind are overwhelmed. We want to make sure you're completely healthy and ready." Namjoon explained as the nurses started to detach me from all of the medical equipment.

"Take it easy for the first week, bed rest for the first 5 days at least. Your body is recovering and we don't want anything to delay the process." The nurse explained.

"Here, we brought you some clothes, its ours, but we will get you your own soon" Jungkook said, handing me some clothes that smell like all of them. He helped me up with a blush and led me to the connected bathroom to change. I quickly changed into the sweatpants and shirt, pulling the drawstrings so they fit move comfortably. I opened the door and found him waiting outside, eyes widening, pupils dilating, at me in their clothes. He extended his hand to me and started to walk me over the the wheelchair.

"I don't need that" I said, trying to pull out of his grip.

"Okay" Jungkook smirked, sweeping me off my feet, "but you can't walk, doctors orders. I prefer this way too" he winked.

"W-wait, actually, the chair l-looks fine" I stuttered through my embarrassment.

"Sorry, cutie, I like this way" He smiled, staring at me with a fondness I haven't seen yet. He carries me through the lobby and outside to the waiting car. Jimin's mouth dropped open as he whined about how unfair it was that he got to carry me, causing a few others to grumble too. He hands me to Namjoon, who pulls me close in his lap, shoving his face into my neck and relaxing. The drive was filled with lots of joking and flirting, I swear my face was always flushed. Jin steals me away from Namjoon to carry me inside and up the stairs to their room. It has a large bed where they obviously sleep all together, lots of pillows and blankets resembling a den. Jin gently lowered me into their den, showing through actions that he could care for me. I immediately relaxed, realizing that even being surrounded by predators, I was safe. I let my eyes flutter closed, my body pulling me under with exhaustion. The last thing I register is a body laying down gently next to me, in their animal form, their purring lulling me deeper into dreamland.

Taglist open (please let me know if I missed you): @dachshunddame @minjianhyung @minhanbyeol

[indelen]

It’s tragic backstory hours so I’m fortifying myself with a chocolate loaf!

This is my reread of the Lockwood and Co. Books, organized by @blue-boxes-magic-and-tea, I'll make a general summary of several chapters and then post bits and pieces that jumped out at me.

Part II, Chapters 5-6:

I think it’s significant that Lucy comes from the north of England specifically. Northern England got the bad end of the stick multiple times in English history. The area was razed to the ground and starved viciously during the conquest of William the Conqueror. It was raided by Vikings. It suffered during England’s wars with Scotland. It’s a part of UK that saw a lot of violence and poverty. It has a lot of industries like mining, smelting, etc. and that means coal and factory towns and all the economic issues that come from them. A lot of hard, low wage jobs that are the first to go when the economy downturns or society changes. North of England was the worst hit my Margaret Thatcher’s policies and by austerity measures during the mid-2000s economic crisis. Knowing all that and from what Lucy tells us of living in Cheviot Hills we can guess that while life for people and especially kids sucks in London, it sucks a lot worse outside out it. North England post war had a lot of mines and factories with multiple shifts and late work hours. When The Problem kicked off and the curfew was enacted probably only the very wealthy owners could afford to make changes that would keep their factories running and there were probably massive layoffs. So the financial burden was shifted onto children and there are no competing agencies who try to poach the best kids here, just washouts like Jacobs who run The One Agency that’s your only option. If you’re born in that one town with Talent you’re stuck going to that one washout guy. And you don’t see the point in moving because the next town probably just has some other washout guy.

In the context of all this Lucy running away was an act of extraordinary risk, and yet you get it, because continuing working for Jacobs was both her only option and unbearable. She tried giving evidence against him at the trial and he was the only person who could complete her certification. This negligent alcoholic had untold amount of power over her and the law was on his side.

Odds and Ends:

The way Lucy consistently tries to be detached from this part of her life is so heartbreaking. She knew these kids from age of 8 to age of 13. She tries to separate herself from the horror of it all but the damage is so very much there.

Lucy simply wasn’t educated and apparently many children in this universe are not. Children’s brains until the age of about 8 can only focus on learning things one at a time. It’s why some kids pick up skills earlier or later than others. Something has to come first and the order of how the rest stacks up is different for every child. The ability to learn in parallel develops later and this is where proper education of multiple subjects really starts. In North America this is about Grade 3 level. That doesn’t mean the time before this is wasted, since that’s when you learn the basics of reading, writing and math but also things like social play, following instructions of authority figures, measuring time, adhering to a schedule and the general flow of whatever school system you have. But, in this universe this is all they teach agents! they teach just enough to make them obedient and no more. They learn to follow orders, read to do what they’re told, complete basic tasks, but nothing else. This is a world the people who do the most dangerous job are given no analytical or critical thinking education and if you display any independently, you’re told to shut up and die for your country like a good little soldier.

The most "this was definitely written by Anthony Lockwood"-ass ad imaginable. Spare a thought for poor Lucy alone and low on funds in a new metropolitan city trying to find a photo atelier for a portrait to staple to an application.

Lucy is often mean, but let the record state George fucking started it with her. Sir, she made an appointment and sent an application and presumably a photo. You know she's not Arif's girl. You're just crashing from a lack of snackies and are cranky.

Remember kids, always good to ask what happened to the guy you're replacing in any given interview!

Hang this dialogue in the Louvre, i don't care how

Now girl that's no way to talk about your future husband. But also, what I kind of love about this is that Lockwood is obviously conflicted here because her realizes Lucy quite literally too good to be true. She's obviously the most Talented person to ever apply for any position with them. And yet if she's really that powerful why hasn't another bigger agency scooped per up? He senses that there is some flaw, some lie beyond the fact that she doesn't have a reference. He extends her an offer and gives her a chance because she seems like a good fit and it's too good an opportunity to pass up, but he's not foolish or naive about this either. It's why for all his flaws he is a good agency leader.

RIP beloved "biscuit rule" slain in battle with a US publishing editor whose hands grow out their ass and who thinks brittle North American teenage brains will crack at the mere mention of certain British terms and idioms.

Lucy describes Lockwood's smile count: 5

[john-laurens]

The style of dancing [in Geneva] is such as accommodates itself better to the common English country-dance, than that of the best masters in Charleston does; but they have given into the rage for the waltz, and I confess to my great astonishment.* I should be tempted, I think, were I to see a daughter of mine dancing one, to act like the father in the Spectator on a similar occasion; and I acknowledge, that it requires my full and perfect recollection of Gibbon's observation on the errour, into which a Greek traveller had fallen,† who visited England in the reign of Henry the IVth, not to deviate in some uncharitable reflection on the subject of these waltz. *There was a dance in fashion some centuries ago in Europe, called the Volta, which was not unlike the waltz: it was thought, even in those days, so much at variance with decency and good manners, that the facility, with which it was every where introduced, was attributed by some to witchcraft. †See Decline and Fall. Vol. 12th. ch. 66. p. 86.

Francis Kinloch to his daughter Eliza Kinloch Nelson, from letter XXIV in Letters from Geneva and France, Vol. 1

When Kinloch mentions "the father in the Spectator," I believe he was likely referring to the following section published in The Spectator No. 67 on May 17, 1711:

I am a Man in Years, and by an honest Industry in the World have acquired enough to give my Children a liberal Education, tho' I was an utter Stranger to it my self. My eldest Daughter, a Girl of Sixteen, has for some time been under the Tuition of Monsieur Rigadoon, a Dancing-Master in the City; and I was prevailed upon by her and her Mother to go last Night to one of his Balls. I must own to you, Sir, that having never been at any such Place before, I was very much pleased and surprized with that Part of his Entertainment which he called French Dancing. There were several young Men and Women, whose Limbs seemed to have no other Motion, but purely what the Musick gave them. After this Part was over, they began a Diversion which they call Country Dancing, and wherein there were also some things not disagreeable, and divers Emblematical Figures, Compos'd, as I guess, by Wise Men, for the Instruction of Youth. Among the rest, I observed one, which, I think, they call Hunt the Squirrel, in which while the Woman flies the Man pursues her; but as soon as she turns, he runs away, and she is obliged to follow. The Moral of this Dance does, I think, very aptly recommend Modesty and Discretion to the Female Sex. But as the best Institutions are liable to Corruptions, so, Sir, I must acquaint you, that very great Abuses are crept into this Entertainment. I was amazed to see my Girl handed by, and handing young Fellows with so much Familiarity; and I could not have thought it had been in the Child. They very often made use of a most impudent and lascivious Step called Setting, which I know not how to describe to you, but by telling you that it is the very reverse of Back to Back. At last an impudent young Dog bid the Fidlers play a Dance called Mol Patley, and after having made two or three Capers, ran to his Partner, locked his Arms in hers, and whisked her round cleverly above Ground in such manner, that I, who sat upon one of the lowest Benches, saw further above her Shoe than I can think fit to acquaint you with. I could no longer endure these Enormities; wherefore just as my Girl was going to be made a Whirligig, I ran in, seized on the Child, and carried her home. Sir, I am not yet old enough to be a Fool. I suppose this Diversion might be at first invented to keep up a good Understanding between young Men and Women, and so far I am not against it; but I shall never allow of these things. I know not what you will say to this Case at present, but am sure that had you been with me you would have seen matter of great Speculation.

Kinloch also refers to The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon. He refers to a section in chapter 66 of volume 12, but I was able to find the likely section in chapter 66 of volume 11 from this edition available online. I believe he was referring to this line:

The observations of Manuel and his more inquisitive followers have been preserved by a Byzantine historian of the times; his scattered ideas I shall collect and abridge; and it may be amusing enough, perhaps instructive, to contemplate the rude pictures of Germany, France, and England, whose ancient and modern state are so familiar to our minds.

Essentially, Kinloch was self-aware and recognized that his distaste for the waltz may not be shared by the present Genevans or future generations, and he avoided discussing it any further to prevent making a fool of himself. (Me, a future generation reading this letter in 2025: Wow, I can't believe Kinloch hated waltzing that much. What a fool.)

[wiluv]

My Phobia (somewhat) Explained and my (toxic?) Relationship with Trauma Center (I might delete this later, idk)

Something totally out of the blue and a sensitive topic to me, but I feel like my fear has worsened a bit. I can’t describe it that well since I don’t really know/remember what it’s called, but I have a fear of the human body. Textbook diagrams, informational videos, and that sort of thing.

I’ve been bullied because of it in the past, and this phobia of mine makes me feel disgusted about some foods (like looking at chicken, raw beef, liver, etc.) and it would get to the point where I would be either afraid or disgusted of how my body feels and looks and I would try to avoid looking in mirrors. I don’t feel comfortable going to the doctor either because they would have images in the rooms and even in the bathrooms.

It’s also very strange because I don’t have a problem playing Mortal Kombat (involving the X-ray moves) or seeing blood. So, I think my fear stems closer to the medical department of games, like surgery simulation games. (Most of my phobia-related nightmares were medical/educational, so that could explain it.)

And guess what my stupid self decided to do one afternoon? I bought a Surgery Simulation game to try and conquer my fear once and for all. (Spoilers: It didn’t work.)

Trauma Center: Second Opinion.

And my opinion?

I kinda liked playing the game. It was surprisingly fun, but it also had its moments. (That one Operation of trying to put the broken bones together was a nightmare, no matter how many times I replayed to try and get a higher score. And don’t get me started on that spleen operation towards the beginning of the chapter… 😠) Unfortunately, I didn’t get far, not with just my phobia getting in the way, but I could not get past the practice part where I had to activate Healing Touch and draw a star with the Wii remote. (I feel like I spent almost fifteen minutes on that part.)

But the part that I really like about the game (and the whole franchise of itself) is the characters. Derek and Naomi are my favorites. (Mary is so sweet. Why did she have to go? 😭)

Again, I didn’t get very far, so I didn’t see any new characters in dialogue, but I feel like I could vibe with Cybil, maybe? I don’t know about Angie… (I’m a little afraid of her, and she was kinda mean at the start… ☹) I’d probably get on Victor’s nerves, though. Adam’s gotta chill. (Bro looks like moldy frozen lettuce.)

I took the game back a few days later. It was bittersweet, but at least it gave me a slight hint of clarity and relief.

I really want to draw these characters and other things, but my fear and anxiety keep getting in the way. I just don’t want to risk seeing the gameplay images and possibly failing to save the patient. Again, I love the characters, but just thinking about the gameplay makes me feel dread. I wanted to get more of an insight into the characters, but I’m chicken when it comes to trying to find resources for stuff somewhat related to my phobia. I eventually encountered a Manga that @theblueskyphoenix wrote (@yrptraumacentermanga), and I really enjoyed it. I feel like it summed up what Second Opinion’s story was, and the visuals didn’t freak me out that much! (At least I don’t think it did; I’m not sure…)

Bonus vent doodle.

[celticcrossanon]

Hi Celta, how sure are we that Meghan graduated with an International Relations degree? The way she dresses in this faux royal tour of Nigeria shows she lacks cultural awareness. She's so inappropriately dressed, showing open shoulders, peekaboo tummy, and slits up to there. Plus, she's wearing block colours whereas the Nigerian women are multi-colourfully bright in their traditional clothing; our late Queen would have fit right in with them with her bright colours and floral dresses!

UK royal ladies, when they visit other countries, always wear clothing that respect the culture of those countries. Just look at how Princess Catherine dresses when they visited Pakistan or Malaysia or even non-conservative countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

I guess this is the difference between class and crass. Meghan just doesn't seem to care to present herself appropriately. How can you be a royal like this? Thank God she's no longer one.

I saw a short clip of video when they were offered food on a plate by a little girl (who was part of the welcoming party I think) and Meghan didn't even acknowledge the girl or the food; she simply turned away while still holding Harry's hand, and pulling him away with her. How rude! She just does not have manners. Again, did she really have an International Relations degree? If I were Northwestern University, I would be so embarrassed to see my alumni behaving this way.

Hi Aran Pandora,

I do not know if Meghan a) graduated, and b) what her degree was. I have heard so many conflicting stories that I now need solid proof (eg an academic transcript) before I believe anything about her university education. If she did graduate with that degree, then I think we can all agree that she learnt nothing from the course.

I think saying that Meghan lacks cultural awareness is very kind of you. I agree, I just would have phrased it as 'Meghan does not care about her host country and its customs/culture/food and has no interest in learning about them'. Your way is much nicer than mine. :)

Meghan clothing and behaviour was revolting on that tour. It was clearly a trip that was all about her and how much flesh she could flash, and not an iota about Nigeria. As you said, other people on visits (royals and diplomats etc) manage to dress appropriately and behave politely, but that is obviously too much effort for Meghan.

At least the only person she embarrassed this time was herself, because, as you said, she is no longer a working royal.

[love1other]

My person // Rosé

Soulmate au

Genre - Fluff

Words - 2,991

----------

In a world where everyone is destined to have a soulmate, they possess the unique ability to share thoughts, views, and emotions telepathically. However, prior to meeting their soulmate, individuals have no control over what thoughts are sent to their partner.

—------------

No one mentioned how painful it was to be hit full force with someone else’s emotions and thoughts all at once. Of course, you've felt your soulmate's emotions or have heard their thoughts before but it was usually one or the other and wasn't as profound as it is now. 

Yet here you are in the middle of a target feeling like your head is about to burst looking at the most beautiful person you've ever seen. 

You recognize her, I mean how can you not, she’s part of the current biggest girl group. Beautiful blonde locks cascading down her back, and honey brown eyes staring back into your own. You never in a million years would have thought Rosé of Blackpink was your soulmate. 

You had a pretty good educated guess that your soulmate was involved in the idol world, but couldn't tell exactly what. You’d get glimpses of your soulmates' thoughts and realize they didn’t speak just English. Not gonna lie at first you were worried they didn’t speak English at all but you soon started hearing more of your soulmates' thoughts in English which you were really grateful for. 

You have a hunch that your soulmate realized you only spoke English so they started purposely thinking in English so when one of their thoughts got sent to you, you'd be able to understand. 

When images got sent over you’d see that your soulmate was in what looked like a dance studio and/or recording booth. There was a while where every day that was all that you saw from your soulmate or you'd only hear about how tired they were or how they needed to get steps right. You used to worry a lot about your soulmate but in the last couple of years it had calmed down and was more about food, traveling, and animals. 

‘Beautiful,’ I hear in my head, realizing it's my soulmate- it's Rosé. I feel a lot of emotions too, right now I'm so overwhelmed I can't exactly tell if it's my own or hers. I can tell it's the feeling of elation, adoration, fear, and gratitude.

The fear is most likely my own, I really was not expecting to meet my soulmate today, especially in a target of all places, or my soulmate being a freaking superstar. 

“Hi,” I mumble breaking the silence and our staring contest. Rosé smiles and my breath catches in my throat with its beauty. 

“Hello,” Rosé says still smiling at me. 

“So uh what brings you here?” I ask, and then immediately cringing, ‘common Y/n what was that? Could you be any lamer?’ I think and hear Rosé giggle, I panic realizing I'm not shielding my thoughts like we were taught to in school for when we do eventually meet our soulmate.  

Rosé goes to say something but is interrupted by who I assume is her manager. They speak in Korean and while I did pick up trying to learn Korean for my soulmate it's still not that good and I could only catch small things like “schedule time, show, soulmate,” and that's about it. 

It looks like Rosé is about to walk away and I panic, she can't leave just yet, we’ve not been able to properly talk, or exchange any information so we can talk later. And my chances of running into her again like I did today is very low. 

Before I can say something to get her to stop she turns back around and smiles her dazzling smile at me again. 

“If you could give me a couple of minutes to talk to my manager?” She asks placing her hand on my arm. 

Tingles erupt everywhere her hand touches and goes through my whole body making me noticeably shiver. I’m almost embarrassed until I see the same thing seems to happen to Rosé, as she drops her eyes from mine and stares at her hand on my arm after also having shivered. 

I feel better knowing I affect her as much as she affects me. 

After a few seconds, Rosé brings her eyes back to mine and before I get lost in them like a sap, I nod my head at her, knowing I'll sound stupid if I try to speak at the moment. 

Smiling once more and gently squeezing my arm Rosé retreats and walks back motioning for her manager to follow her.

After casting me one last look over her shoulder she rounds into a different aisle. 

—---------------------

Holy shit I found my soulmate! 

On top of that, it’s Rosé Park from Blackpink, I must have done some really good shit in my past life for my luck to be so good. 

But common Y/n you can’t act like an idiot in front of her again. 

When she comes back I’ll actually talk, and introduce myself to her. 

You got this Y/n, don’t think about the fact she has millions of fans who love her, and that she’s friends with other very attractive and better off celebrities… 

Okay maybe I actually can’t do this, I’m just going to disappoint her, I’m a broke college student who has no life, and ha- before I continue my spiraling I see Rosé making her way back to me.  

“Sorry about my manners earlier, I’m Rosé,” She says extending her hand to me. I grasp it and discover it's the gentlest hand I've ever held.

 “Hi, I’m Y/N.” 

“I believe I saw a Starbucks in this place, would you like to go and talk over a drink?” Rosé asks still holding my hand. 

“Yes!” I quickly say 

“I mean yeah sure that sounds good,” I try again not wanting to sound as desperate as I actually am.

Rosé stares at me as I try not to blush from my quick outburst, and then looks down at our still-enjoined hands. I withdraw my own after realizing we’ve been holding hands for our whole interaction. 

Giving me another smile Rosé mentions for me to follow her, and we make our way to the Starbucks. 

…. I'm so doomed 

—-------------------------

Neither of us has spoken yet, after having grabbed our drinks and sitting down at the small table in the corner. 

“You know,” Rosé starts and I look up from my drink.“I was starting to get worried that I’d be one of the unlucky ones who don’t find their soulmates until their 30s,” 

“Especially considering I’ve turned 26 and the most common time to find your soulmate is between 20 and 25.” 

Rosé takes a sip of her drink and then continues.

“But I realized you were younger when a couple of months ago I received the view of you blowing out a cupcake that had 23 on it. And was glad that you at least had another two years for us to find each other before we passed the timeframe where it became worrisome.” Rosé ends chuckling softly.

“Oh,” I mumble processing what she just said.

“Is it uncommon for idols to find their soulmates before 25?”

“Surprisingly no; It's usually just kept a secret until we decide to retire or think it's a good time to be more laid back in the idol scene.”

“That's understandable.” I fold my hands and place them on the table. “We’ll have to keep it a secret as well right?” I ask.

Rosé looks a little sheepish as she nods her head yes. 

It surprisingly doesn't bother me, I usually keep my private life to myself anyway, and I’m sure I'll be able to tell my parents who will also keep it a secret. 

However, I do realize one problem. She lives in South Korea, I live here in the States, and she's also currently on tour, we’ll have to do a lot of long distance. 

Before I can voice my concerns Rosé reaches across and puts her hand on top of mine. “Is that going to be an issue? I know it's pretty unconventional, and-” I stop her before she continues, “It's not an issue, but I did realize something.”

Rosé nods her head for me to continue.

“We’ll have to be long distance for a while, I live here and am currently in school. You live in South Korea and seem pretty busy with concerts and such.” I look back down at my drink before continuing. 

“And well I’ve heard stories of people not being able to make the long-distance work and just end up hurting each other,” I take a deep breath. “I just don’t want to end up burdening you.”

“That won't happen.” 

“How are you so sure?” 

“Because I’ve been dreaming about meeting my soulmate since I can remember and I won't let anything jeopardize us,” Rosé states gently squeezing my hand. 

I look back up at Rosé and see the sincerity in her eyes. 

 "Okay," I whisper, gently turning my hand to interlace our fingers, our palms touching as we hold hands.

—---------------

Rosé and I talked for a few hours before she had to leave to catch her flight for her next concert. We exchanged numbers and socials so we could stay in touch of course. 

The hug goodbye was the most bittersweet, I felt so safe and loved in her arms and to know it would be a while till I saw her again was just devastating, as was the emptiness I felt after she left. 

We stayed in touch for the next 4 months of her on tour, we Facetimed, texted, and talked on the phone every single day, even with the different timezones that occurred we found a way. 

We also got better at learning how to share specific thoughts, views, and emotions, with one another. I learned Rosé loved anything animal-related so I tended to share views of cute animals I saw around my campus. 

Rosé would send views of the different foods she ate, as well as the view she saw during her concerts, it was an exhilarating yet terrifying view that made me realize that I possibly have stage fright.

I got to meet her members, they usually liked to tease her while she was on the phone with me, it was adorable how shy she got. 

But each one of them would pop up during one of our facetimes and would talk to me and ask questions about my day, it was nice and made me feel less intimidated by them. 

Even Jisoo who struggled more with English would attempt to communicate with me and it worked with her limited knowledge of English and mine of Korean, which I picked up learning again and she took to helping teach me.

Rosé and I learned so much about each other and I could feel myself falling in love with her. Yet I still missed her even with us talking every day, I miss her touch that I only felt for a short time, I missed the safety I felt in her arms, and I missed seeing her eyes and smile in person and not through a phone. 

So I decided to fix it. 

I booked a flight to South Korea for her groups encore concert and was able to snag a ticket to the show.

I contacted Jennie and asked her if she would be able to get me backstage so I could surprise Rosé and she excitedly agreed. However, she ended up going a bit overboard by upgrading my simple back middle row ticket to that of a front row ticket. 

She also was able to upgrade my economy flight to first class, which I told her was not necessary but she brushed it aside and said I deserved it for making Rosé so happy and for the happiness I will bring her with the surprise.

—-----------

The flight to South Korea was long, partially because it was hard to sit still as I was so jittery. I land with enough time to check in at my hotel and then head to the venue to wait for them to open the doors.

I make it to my seat with a 30-minute wait period left before the girls start. I’m so nervous and excited that I fear I’ll lose the shield on my emotion and Rosé will feel it and question me. I’ve made sure to play it cool and not let her know I’m here which bothered me a lot having to lie to her, but it’ll be worth it in the end. 

The show starts and everyone is amazing especially Rosé who my eyes have been on the whole time. She looks and sounds absolutely immaculate. After a few songs, they walk to the front stage, introduce themselves, and talk about the show. 

Rosé is to the left of me and finally seeing her up close after so long has butterflies going crazy in my stomach. Gods she is gorgeous and I question every day how I got so lucky to be her soulmate. 

Rosé finishes talking and now Lisa has started. I’ve worn a mask so as to not be immediately recognized but I think now's the time. 

I usually make sure I don’t send Rosé any images during her shows but this is the only way I can think of to get her attention. I send her exactly what I’m seeing right now, which is her in all her glory. 

Rosé seems to zone out for a second and then immediately looks to the section I’m in, I take off my mask as the fans around me are screaming her name. 

Finally, we make eye contact and it’s like it’s just us in this arena that’s filled with thousands. 

Emotions rush through me: surprise, glee, awe, and adoration. 

Reality of where we are hits and I notice that Jennie is now talking and seems to be nearing the end and they’ll have to go back to performing. 

‘I’m excited to see the rest of the show, I know you’ll kill it.’ I send telepathically to her as Jisoo introduces the next song they are going to perform. 

Rosé gives me the biggest smile possible and sends me a wink before going to her place for the song. 

The fans next to me go absolutely crazy afterward and I don’t blame them, because holy shit her wink left me in a daze. 

—————-

Throughout the show, Rosé would make as much eye contact with me as possible and was definitely showing favoritism to my section. 

The other girls caught on to my being here, Jennie or Rosé having told them, and they would also come over a lot to wave and send me knowing smiles. 

The encore was my favorite, during As If It’s Your Last, Rosé came and sat down right in from of me and kept eye contact, it’s like I was being serenaded. 

‘Wait there and a guard will come and escort you to the back.’ Rosé says as she and the others are leaving the stage. 

I do just that, I sit in my seat and recall the look in her eyes when she first noticed me. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it or this show. 

After about 15 minutes of waiting a guard and the manager I saw with Rosé with when we first met came and took me to the back. 

It’s very chaotic, with people running around and others celebrating, we make our way past everyone and make it to what I assume is their dressing room. 

I go to knock but Kim, Rosé’s manager who had introduced herself, opens the door and says I can just go in. 

Walking in I was not expected to be immediately tackled into a hug, from the tingles erupting all over me I knew it was Rosé.

“This is the best surprise ever!” 

In response, I just wrap my arms around her and hug back with just as much enthusiasm. 

We stay like that for a while. I relish the feeling of safety and care that her arms bring me. 

“I’ve missed you,” I say leaning back to see her but still keeping my arms around not wanting to let go anytime soon. 

Rosé reaches her hand down and interlaces our fingers “I’ve missed you too.” 

“How long are you here for?” 

“Well I was able to convince my professors to let me finish the last of my assignments and exams online for the rest of this term, and then I was thinking of applying to the international university here.” I squeeze Rosé’s hand gently, “so for a while I suppose.”

Rosé then does something unexpected, she leans forward and places her lips on mine oh so gently. I stand still in surprise for just a moment, my heart racing, before I gently placed my hands on her hips, pulled her closer, and eagerly kissed back with passion and intensity.

Rosé reaches up and cradles my face, her tongue running across my bottom lip asking for entrance, which I abide parting my lips with a content sigh. I get my first taste of her and I’m overwhelmed completely, her taste, her smell, and the feeling of her pushed up against me has my heart doing summersaults. 

Before we can continue there's a cough heard and we pull apart both lightly panting. I don’t yet acknowledge the person who coughed I just stare at Rosé, lips slightly parted and swollen, her gorgeous eyes dilated and screaming with want. 

I can’t hold it in anymore.

“I love you.” 

Rosé gasps as she searches my eyes before rushing forward and kissing me again. There's an annoyed grunt from somewhere but I don’t care, I’m kissing my soulmate, my love, my person.