#I even wire braces for like three years

[mushewhosta]

can i even smile

[noircheols]

🪓୨୧ — THE MONSTER AND ME . . . ♡

synopsis. scenarios of seventeen and their monster!s/o

genre. fluff, established relationship, horror (ish) prns. they/them cw. NOT PROOF-READ, gore (duh), death, being murdered (decapitation, fire), the ring movie reference, I PERCHANCE HAVE APPROPRIATED WITCHCRAFT IM SO SORRY TO ANY WHO PRACTICE, pet names (sweetheart), toxic relationships, cheating, allusions to suicide, GROSS!!!! in a sappy way

an. happy (belated) halloween!! I COULDNT COMPLETE THIS SMH CUS I HAD MEETINGS FOR A WHOLE WEEK

THE VAMPIRE. ⸺ seungcheol, mingyu, seokmin, seungkwan, chan

he thinks it's cute; your love of fashion. how every outfit you manage to coordinate is always so emblematic of your personality and the long life you have led.

"where's this one from?" he asks, gingerly twiddling the cool metal of the necklace dripping just below your chest. he could pretend all he wanted, but 400 years of living didn't fail you when it came to hearing the surge of blood pumping through his heart. and it certainly didn't help that he was slightly blushing. it makes you happy to know that even after three years of living together, you still had that impact on him.

"this one's from 1894!" you moved closer to him, wanting to feel his warm skin against your cold flesh. "long story short this random guy who stole from the nearby village came to my cabin to hide but i kinda-sorta-maybe decapitated him!!"

"that's nice sweetheart WAIT WHAT"

he also thinks it's cute how desperate you are for cuddles. he is more than aware that you love the sound of blood flowing and how much you love being pressed into him, because it meant you could hear it up close. he knows it has nothing to do with you viewing him as your next meal, but the reassurance that he was still alive. he was not gone yet, like all the others in your life. he knows you would never dare to go as far as graze your teeth against his skin. although... he wishes you would. what? he goes crazy for your teeth poking out every single time you smile. why else do you think he puts so much effort into being funny?

the most cute thing about you though? when you pout over pictures. what's the point of mirrors and phones if you can't see if you look good or not? if you can't record the most precious moments of your long life? how are you supposed to know if purple is your colour? but he simply laughs when he hears your complaints, kissing you deeply and telling you "you are everything i could ever have wished for."

THE GHOST. ⸺ jun, wonwoo, minghao, vernon

he knew something was wrong with his house the day he moved in. when the wires were still intact, the TV kept switching from his desired great british bake-off to the deluded brain-rotted show that was dance moms. what? can you blame a guy for wanting to see what they had in store for patisserie week? it only got worse from then on. he knew he had reached the boiling point when he had left for groceries, only for the magnets to be arranged ever so crudely.

TV

sorry, but he didn't have the budget to buy more magnets. in this economy too? whatever, maybe mindlessly scrolling through netflix would give him purpose. as he settled himself into his couch once more, he noticed another set of eyes. big, doe-like eyes, but haunting. his imagination, right?

another click, and he noticed an elbow tear through the screen, slightly distorting the actor's face. he wished he had the strength to get up from his seat, but something about you was pinning him there. you were like a predator staking out its prey, the way you focussed on him. but good lord you were hotter than anybody else alive. maybe everybody else unalive too. he knows now that he doesn't regret sitting there. legs began unravelling themselves as you slithered out the TV screen, crawling on all fours. you stood up as you unfurled your hand towards his chest, he braced himself, hands digging deep into the sofa. his eyes still remained trained on you. was it right to think you are attractive?

"chill out, i'm a ghost." you smoothly responded, trying to hide your smirk from the startled man sitting in front of you. "although... you don't seem too scared of me. what are you? are you also a ghost?" you mused, floating just enough to try and touch his hair. it looks so soft, you mused to yourself. when's the last time you played with somebody's hair again? he yelped a little, shutting his eyes for what was about to happen. to your disappointment, your hand went right through his head.

"so you're the one messing around with my TV- putting on all those trashy 2000s reality shows." he huffed, brushing himself off. weird. you put your hand threw his head but he doesn't feel anything.

"guilty as charged." you sighed, spinning around mid-air. you swirled around the man, fascinated by the newest tenant. "can you blame me for being nostalgic?" you explained how you had moved into this house with your then-boyfriend. things began to go sour and you never knew why. all you knew was that every single time he came home angry and slamming the door behind him, you knew it was time to turn on the TV and melt the world around you. soon enough you realized he was cheating on you, and when you confronted him about it, push came to shove. your last memories were the TV engulfed in flames, and you choking on smoke as the door quietly closed itself. "i used my ghost skills of manipulating electric currents for the first time by turning on the news and realizing that the police ruled my death as a suicide."

you have both developed a symbiotic relationship. he would let you watch your TV shows and re-introduce you to the joys of the mortal world, like reading books and making soup. he didn't banish you from your house, but looked after your every need (its shocking how many things ghosts need), and for the first time, loved.

as a ghost, you could touch whatever was important to you when you were alive. the TV, fruit tarts, and the magnets you would hang your to-do lists on. weirdly enough, you could touch your new roommate. "maybe i'm becoming super important to you." he teased. "would that make you feel weird?" you remarked, as you entwined your fingers among his. "no at all." he hummed, enjoying the way you traced the warm skin of his palm. peering up to look at him, you eagerly asked. "am i important to you, then?"

more than you could ever know.

THE WITCH. ⸺ jeonghan, joshua, soonyoung, jihoon

as a witch, the burning of incense and candles were familiar spells, intended to expel bad energy. but right now, you need more than to expel bad energy. you needed a guarantee from the universe that the life you lead now would be like this forever. being a witch was isolating, devoting time to a continuous cycle of researching and perfecting non-stop. like being a phd candidate, only minus the glory of being called "doctor." normally, witches have familiars, or "animal friends" as disney would like to call them that substitute the regular human's need for friends. but you didn't have one of those either. it was why it was such a blessing when he had entered your life by accident. all you remember is him asking for your number and the next thing you know you spent your days lounging in his studio apartment, with the coffee table scattered with copies of old esoteric spells from a bygone time.

as you heard the apartment entrance creak open, you knew your beloved was back. likewise, he knew you were doing well. the smell of cinnamon burning was comforting to him because it meant you were at your best condition and continuously experimenting with new spells. it was your way of saying "i've been thinking about you." that you spent hours concocting the best spells to guarantee your and his eternal happiness. it was an absured thought to him, for you to be slaving away when you already had what you wanted.

"i'm sure you don't need to worry, we're just fine without magic." he remarked, flopped onto the couch. he gazed into the kitchen, noticing you submerging a piece of paper in a bottle of water.

"have you ever thought that magic is what's keeping us together? and you're taking it for granted?"

"touche. but i still think-"

you could argue his spells were just as effective too, and that maybe he was a better witch than you could ever be. the way he brews your coffee just right in the morning, like an effective energy potion singing through you and keeping you awake. maybe that coffee also contains a love spell in it, because it makes you think about him non-stop. after all, the only reasonable explanation for the blooming feeling your chest had to be magic. "when will he come home?" "he's gonna be so excited when he figures out i made his favourite!" all those dumb, sappy, romantic thoughts plagued your mind. it's humiliating, but... maybe love is a force that not even the greatest of witches can control. wait- why did you catch him looking at your spells? did he take a peek at your notes?

@noircheols DO NOT RE-POST/COPY/TRANSLATE

[nevadancitizen]

-> PROLOGUE: THE OLD SOUL OF AMERICA

synopsis: you meet with a mysterious woman on an old californian dock.

word count: ~850

ships: Arthur Morgan/modern!Reader, Van der Linde Gang & Reader

notes: inspired by @heart-of-gold-outlaw !! go read their modern reader fic i really like it. also we'll be getting into the actual time travel stuff after this teaser lololol :3

THE OLD SOUL OF AMERICA MASTERLIST

It’s a bracing, misty evening – supposed to be spring, but doesn’t feel like it. The waves are choppy and the gulls are huddled on the pylons with their beaks tucked under their wings, their feathers ruffling in the cold wind. 

Three hulking great ships, all freighters, are tied up on the beat-up dock. This isn’t one of those fashionable wharfs with dockworker unions or passenger liners – no pretty girls on their balconies, clinking champagne flutes to celebrate the start of the cruise. Just a couple of red-faced salts in pea jackets tramping by, trailing cigarette smoke, boots crunching on dried-up gull shit.

They spare you glances as they pass by, surely wondering what you were doing here in the early hours of the morning. Were you waiting for someone to get off work? Were you waiting for a drug deal? Or were you just admiring the way the waves spray water onto the dock?

(In reality, it was none of those. You’re waiting on something much worse.)

A woman, sleek and modern in style and rugged and worn in looks, approaches you. She has a quiet intensity about her — something about the way she squints against the ocean spray mixed with the permanent-looking scowl on her face. 

She tilts her head toward you, and you nod. You walk towards her and meet her halfway, leaning in close on her insistence. 

“You’re the one in need?” She asks softly. You just barely hear her over the waves crashing against the dock.

“Yes, ma’am,” you say, just as soft. “It’s my sister’s daughter. My eleven-year-old niece. She’s… she’s in a really bad way.”

“What does she need?” The woman asks. 

“A pancreas,” you say. “She’s got acute recurrent pancreatitis. There aren’t a lot of affordable child-sized organs lying around. God knows I’ve turned not just California, but the entire Mojave upside-down trying to find one. I’ve called hospitals in Arizona, Nevada, even New Mexico. I – I’m not asking you to kill a child! I just… I need the money for the operation. It’ll put her on the waiting list, and… once we show the hospital we have the money, I’m sure she’ll be okay. Somehow.”

The woman narrows her eyes. “Why don’t you just take out a loan? Or take on debt?”

“I can’t,” you say. “None of us can. I foreclosed on my last house. My sister has thousands of dollars in credit card debt, counting all the interest. Please, just trust me when I say I need this money. I don’t think anyone has nearly half a million dollars in their junk drawer. If I did, why would I be here, asking you for it?”

The woman looks you over and tucks her jacket closer around her. The outline of a gun at her hip becomes glaringly obvious – she wants you to notice it.

“Ma’am, I’m begging you.” You clasp your hands together as tight as you can. “I come from a family of deadbeats and addicts. I was an addict myself, and I quit just to save money for her operation, but it’s just not enough. I need this money. I won’t misappropriate these funds – won’t use them to pay off other debts, won’t use them for drugs. Just… please, miss.”

The woman holds up her hand. “Stop groveling.”

What the fuck else am I supposed to do?! You shout in your head. I need money, and you’ve got the money! My niece is going to fucking die if I don’t get it!

Instead, you just nod politely and put your hands behind your back. “Yes, ma’am. My apologies. I’m sure you can understand my desperation.”

“Uh-huh,” the woman hums. “I can get you the money. Just give me your banking details and I can wire it to you.” 

You pull out a pre-prepared index card with your bank information written down. The woman checks that it has your full name, address, account number, and routing number before speaking again.

“Do you have life insurance?” She asks, as if offhandedly.

“Uh, yes?” You say, unsure. “It won’t come out to a lot, so I couldn’t have an “accident” at work. Maybe just under 200,000 dollars? Nowhere near enough to cover her operation.”

The woman hums and tucks the card into her pocket. “I’ll get you the money.”

“Thank you so, so much,” you say. “You have no idea what this means to me – no idea what you’ve done for me and my family.”

“I have some idea.” The woman’s hand lingers at her waist. It takes you a few seconds too long to notice that –

A loud sound. A raging pain. The bullet hit something vital, but doesn’t grant you the mercy of dying in that instant. 

You stagger back, holding yourself. “What…”

“You’re dumber than you look,” the woman says, her voice fading in and out. “I’m just helping your family.”

You inhale shakily and take a step back. There’s a sense of falling, and something cold surrounds you, but you can’t make out much of anything in this condition. 

The last thing you think before the black takes you? It’s May. Who the fuck gets shot in May?

[topguncortez]

“i’m worried that if we go there, and things don't work out... things might never be the same.” with rooster! please and thank you! :)

prompts list:) thank you for the request!

All of Rooster’s life he was told that everyone gets one “great love” in their life. His mother’s great love was obviously his father and the one reason why she never remarried. Rooster could remember when he was about 13 or 14, asking his mother why she never remarried. It had been over 10 years since his father’s passing and Carole had never so much as looked at a male the way she did Goose.

“Because it wouldn’t be fair,” Carole told her son, a sad smile on her face, “It wouldn’t be fair to marry a man knowing I couldn’t love him the way I love your father. He was my great love… and I’ll never find another one like that.”

Bradley wondered if towards the end of her life, when she was alone in the house for those last couple of years when he was off at school, if maybe, just maybe she wished she had someone there. He asked her again, on one of the last good days she had, if she wished she had found someone to spend her life with.

Carole again, gave him a sad smile, “It wouldn’t be fair. There’s only one person I’ve been praying about seeing again.”

Bradley hadn’t realized it at the time, but the older he got, the more he envied what his parents had. “A Great Love” that was as if it came straight from a romance novel. “A Great Love” that held steady for years, despite his father being deceased for more than half of it. “A Great Love” that seemed to come so easy to them but for Bradley, was nearly impossible.

Except, it wasn’t impossible.

No, Bradley did have a “Great Love”, in the form of the neighbor girl who lived in the blue house next door. The girl who used to make mudpies with in the backyard. The girl who teased him relentlessly when he got braces only to end up with wires on her own teeth a couple of weeks later. The girl who is his best friend… and is currently crying on his couch over her now ex-boyfriend.

“A-And he was saying stuff and I-“ You sucked in a deep breath, trying to will the tears to stop falling down your cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Ducky," Rooster said, using the age-old nickname, even though he wasn't in the slightest sorry. Sure, he felt bad that you got your heartbroken, but he was celebrating the fact that Douchebag Dan was finally out of your life, "You deserve better."

"I thought he was the one!" You sobbed, "He had me sending him ring options!"

And suddenly Bradley hated Douchebag Dan even more than he did fifteen minutes ago when you showed up at his doorstep.

"Hey," Bradley said shifting closer to you, his thigh touching yours, "You know what this means though, right," You looked up at him with big sad eyes and the most adorable wobble of your bottom lip, "Your great love is still out there."

You rolled your eyes, "I'm starting to think that's a hock of shit," You flopped back on the couch defeated, "I've dated three guys in my lifetime all for over two years and none of them have put a ring on my finger," You held up your hand, wiggling your ring finger, "It's just not going to happen. I don't have a great love."

"Sure you do."

"Where!?" You looked over at Bradley, "Where is mine?"

"Maybe, you're looking too hard for it. Maybe they're closer than you think," Bradley simply shrugged, reaching for his beer bottle on the coffee table.

"Yeah?" You quipped, "What about you? Have you met your 'great love'."

Bradley sucked in a breath, knowing he couldn't lie to you about this or hell, about anything, "Yeah," He admitted, "But she doesn't feel the same."

You felt a pang in your heart, causing you to sit up, pulling your legs underneath you, "Does she know?"

Bradley shrugged, "I think so. I mean, I-I've known her forever."

"Oh," You were trying to rack your brain of the potential girls that Bradley had his heart set on, "Do I know her?"

"Mhm," Bradley pursed his lips, taking another sip of his beer for he stupidly gave himself and his stupid crush away. A stupid crush that could mean the end of the longest, greatest friendship he has ever had. You were the one thing from his childhood that had managed to stick around. You were there when his mother died, when his dreams of following his father's footsteps came crashing down, when he got his acceptance letter to UVA, when he graduated flight school and got his wings, when he graduated from TopGun.

All the major memories that Bradley had, you were always right there. He couldn't let a stupid crush end that. He couldn't let his heart and his feelings complicate things. He couldn't-

"It's Phoenix, isn't it?"

Bradley spat his beer out of his mouth, coating the coffee table in sticky alcohol. Your eyes widened as he coughed and wiped the beer from his lips.

"What?" He choked out.

"Your great love," You muttered, "Is it Phoenix?"

"Hell no," Bradley shook his head, "That-that's crazy."

"Not really, she's pretty and you're around her all the-"

"It's you," Bradley cut you off.

You felt your heart stop in your chest as you stared at your best friend, "W-What?"

He sighed, hanging his head in shame, "It's you, Y/N. It has always been you. You are my "great love"."

"Bradley, I-"

Bradley shook his head, "I didn't mean to do this. Not when you're upset over Douchebag Dan, but. . .fuck, I can't take it anymore," He stood up from his spot on the couch, beginning to pace, "Watching you go with guys who have no idea what it means for you to look at them like they hung the fucking stars. To have you love them and kiss them and be with them day after fucking day. I love you, Y/N. I have been in love with you."

Fresh tears were in your eyes as you looked at the man who is your best friend, "Why didn't you tell me?" Your voice was barely above a whisper.

"Because I’m worried that if we go there, and things don't work out... things might never be the same," Bradley's big brown eyes shone with unshed tears, "And you're all I have left. I can't lose you."

"You won't lose me," You stood up from your spot on the couch, walking over to him, "Cause I love you too," You grabbed his face in your hands and placed a kiss on his lips.

[o-sn4pple]

got hit again by the cyno/reader/wanderer idea again

because how insane would that meeting have been, cyno interacting with the reason why reader had gone missing (presumed dead) for six months? scaramouche interacting with the person reader clearly cares for and has a total faith in that scara would never be able to have?

so yeah, this is using the reader from Against the Kitchen Floor but could be read separately. tis only a lil drabble

Cyno tries not to panic when Pot of Greed comes flying into his office at three in the morning. After all, you’ve ordered the beetle to pick up food before, and half of Sumeru City isn’t coated in frost, so you must be fine, right? 

That’s what he keeps telling himself as he all but sprints after the beetle. Your workshop is situated on the lower levels of the Divine Tree, framed by flourishing plants gifted by friends and colleagues across the year. There is light pouring through the windows, but it only worsens the adrenaline in his veins. Did you fall? Pass out? Freeze yourself into a stasis, unable to do anything but wait for the inevitable?

Memories of your fragile body hanging in Alhaitham’s arms push Cyno faster, and he nearly tears the knob off your workshop door when he throws it open. The force of the swing sends a few papers flying, but he focuses on scanning the room for you.

And he finds you. Quite easily, in fact. 

You’re asleep, slumped against the back of a scowling young man. He tenses when he meets Cyno’s eye, but just as the General Mahamatra opens his mouth, your body shifts. 

Cyno lunges, nearly activating his Vision in your cramped workshop, but he doesn’t have to. The stranger’s arm flies back, elbow wedging underneath your armpit to stabilize you while the other hand grabs your bicep. His scowl deepens, but he stoops forward anyway. With a careful nudge, he lets you resettle against his back, arms slung over his shoulders. He makes no effort to hide the mistudomoe crest hanging from his chest.

“Harbinger,” Cyno states flatly. 

The Balladeer does not respond. Not until you stop squirming, one cheek pressed to his back. “General.”

Cyno flexes his fingers, dispelling the Electro from his veins. Questions burn on his tongue, but he forces them aside in favor of weaving through your workshop, Pot of Greed following close behind. The magnification headpiece you save for painting his miniature figurines is pushed halfway off your head. This close, he does not see any injuries on your person, and he presses a hand to your forehead before huffing. Cold. “What happened?” 

“I was hoping you were smarter than this, General,” the Balladeer sneers. “Use your eyes.”

Cyno frowns, but you are already stirring again, eyes slowly dragging open. When they land on him, he can’t help but smile. “Good morning.”

“Mornin’...” you mutter before burying your face back into the frozen stranger. “An’ night. Bye.”

“Get off of me,” the Balladeer seethes. You groan when he twitches, but it is barely enough to even move you, let alone wake you. 

“Stop,” Cyno orders. “I’ll lift them. Don’t move.”

“Do I look like I can?” the Balladeer snaps, only to freeze when you groan. His jaw shifts and grinds as Cyno steps around them. Your right leg is still in its brace. If he wants to transfer you onto his back, he’ll have to squeeze himself in from your left side. 

Which also means pressing against the Balladeer’s polished leg and leaning deep into his personal space. He can hear the deep crackle of Electro underneath the puppet’s shell, scowl deeping, but he does not protest. He simply adjusts himself to transfer you over, waiting until Cyno has a tight grip on you to finally move. He slips one hand under his hair, tucking loose wires into the nape of his neck before closing the hatch shut.

“Finally…” he hisses. To Cyno’s surprise, the Balladeer rounds on Pot of Greed with a glare instead. “Move faster next time.”

Pot of Greed clicks and churs, scooping at the air with its horn. A clear threat if he's ever seen one.

Cyno frowns. “How long have they been here?” 

The Balladeer rolls his shoulders, gaze focused elsewhere. “Four hours.” Something clicks loudly in one joint, and he scowls before shaking it off. “Lesser Lord Kusanali insisted I receive emergency repairs, and your dear mechanic insisted on trying to finish.”

Four hours? With how late it is, you must have been asleep before coming here. No wonder you fell back asleep. 

Still, Cyno begrudgingly nods and hoists you higher on his back. “I see. Thank you, then, for staying with them.”

The Balladeer only scoffs. “I didn’t have much of a choice.” 

Which is a lie, clearly. If he truly wanted, he could have thrown you off, or at least lay you on the table and walk off. But from his pointed glare and the way he’d handled you, Cyno decides that being trapped under you was enough of a punishment. “Right.” He tilts his head to urge Pot of Greed to fly ahead, then heads for the door. “Either way, Harbinger. I’m sure they appreciate it.”

And Cyno feels he is testing the man, the puppet that you had been forced to fix. Even after all this time, you did not tell him everything that went on during your imprisonment, and he’d made his peace with it. But to see the way the Balladeer reacted at his arrival, his careful handling of your body, how little he seemed to care about having his personal space overrun by two people? 

Your willingness to help others rivaled that of your drive to prove others wrong. It would not surprise Cyno if it had won the Balladeer over as it did him. But he keeps that little thought to himself and focuses on carrying you out of the workshop. For now, you deserve to lay down in an actual bed.

[slipping-through-my-fingertips]

Mechanical Bulls and Prom Dates

AO3

Summary:

While the boys in their friend group debate who could last the longer on a mechanical bull, Annabeth and Piper make a bet of their own about getting each other a date to the prom.

There are days where Annabeth wishes she knew Percy Jackson sooner. They had met in the fifth grade when Annabeth transferred schools. Which means she remembers the three years he had braces and constantly got gum stuck in the wires and he knew her before she learned to tame her blonde curls and mostly hid her hair inside beanies.

She spent so much of her middle school years at Percy’s apartment, watching cookies bake and doing homework at the kitchen table. Sally sometimes braided Annabeth’s hair in the summer before they went to the community pool. They were as close as two people could be.

But on days like today, Annabeth half-wishes she never knew him at all.

She catches him hunching over her favorite table in their high school library. It’s situated in the corner by the only working window which lets in a wonderful breeze on spring days like today. Percy’s sitting with some of their other friends: Jason, Leo, and Grover.

One might think the four boys are in deep discussion about something important—like the science fair project Annabeth is planning on working on during her free period—but no, Annabeth knows better.

“Listen, I could easily last 30 seconds,” Leo is saying, always the one to go for the long shot.

Despite their antics, Annabeth is actually glad to know them. Not that she’s ever admitted it to their faces. At the very least, they keep her life interesting.

Annabeth leans over Grover’s shoulder and sees a crude drawing of what she assumes is a mechanical bull. Grover has the heart of an artist but not the skill.

“Don’t tell me this is your idea of a science fair project?” She asks.

The boys all jump except her best friend; Percy is grinning at her. That troublemaker smirk that makes her want to hit him before he even replies with a smartass remark.

“If you must know,” Leo tells her, “we’re taking bets.”

Without thinking, she asks, “On what?”

“How long we could each last on a mechanical bull ride,” Jason says.

“Except there’s no winning because we’ll never be able to ride one,” Grover adds, though he doesn’t sound saddened by this fact.

Annabeth is calmly laying out her notebook and colored pencils to begin her own sketch for her science fair project as the boys continue arguing over who’d last longer and how they could test their theories with a mechanical bull.

Leo is in the middle of regaling about how he could build one when Annabeth decides to interject. Never one to hold back on shock value, Annabeth simply says, “there’s a bar on Clover Street that has one,” which causes Jason and Leo to whip their heads over to her.

She ignores them. Mostly because she doesn’t want to divulge her favorite spot in town—a combination book store and bar. It just happens to be within walking distance of said bar with the bull. Aptly named Mino-bar, a play on words of minotaur.

Annabeth has walked past it many times on her way to Boozy Books. She could fully escape there if she needed to as it was the only place in town where no one knew where to find her, except Thalia.

“So we settle up our bets and wait til we turn 21,” Jason says.

“Thalia can get you fakes,” Annabeth comments without looking up from her notebook.

Once again shocking the boys.

“I don’t know why you’re all so surprised, especially you Jason, didn’t Thalia offer to get you fake ids?”

“Um no!” Grover exclaims, “but she clearly got you one.”

Annabeth shrugs. Unwilling to admit to her trips to Boozy Books. It isn’t like she really used the fake id to get alcohol that much.

The volume of their arguing was getting louder.

“Alright losers, you need to quiet down before we all get kicked out of here,” Annabeth says, “I have a half hour left to get started on this project and I intend to do just that.”

To their credit, the boys do settle down. Grover even joins Annabeth and pulls out some homework to complete.

By lunch the following day, Annabeth is hopeful that the mechanical bull bets have been forgotten but as she approaches their normal table Jason and Leo are deep in conversation about it.

“Thalia said she’d get us fakes but it’ll take some time,” Jason is telling him.

Annabeth rolls her eyes.

Finally, Piper sits down across from Annabeth.

“Did you get number 24 on the calc homework?” She asks, immediately digging through her back bag for the worksheet.

With Piper there, she is able to tune out the boys until of course the calc homework is put away, their lunches are just empty wrappers, and Piper finally engages the rest of their table in conversation by asking what on earth they spent the last twenty minutes arguing about.

“Mechanical bulls!” Leo and Percy exclaim.

Why, oh, why did Annabeth continue to put up with this?

“Right.” Piper raises her eyebrows at Annabeth, who sighs in response.

Jason goes onto explain the betting and fake id issue.

“Why didn’t you just ask your sister?” Piper says, “she got Annabeth and I fakes forever ago.”

By forever ago, Piper meant Freshman year. Though, Annabeth hasn’t really used it until this past summer. Unless the three girls are trying to sneak in to see a band.

“Et tu Brute!” Grover yells, “everyone but us got fakes.”

“What would you even use a fake for?” Percy asks him.

Grover mumbles, “I don’t know but it might come in handy.”

Annabeth tries to cover her laughter with a cough but once Piper snorts, she couldn’t help but join her friends. They sober up when the bell rings.

“C’mon Chase,” Piper says, lopping their arms together, “onto calculus we go.”

“How goes the plan to ask Jason to senior prom?” Annabeth asks.

Her face reddens.

“Shove it.”

Annabeth smirks as they walk into the classroom. Only after Piper has gotten her textbook, calculator, and notebook out, does she look at Annabeth sitting at the desk next to her.

“I want him to ask me,” she admits, not for the first time, “but I know he won’t. He’s too unsure of himself even when I’ve been pretty obvious with my feelings.”

To be fair to Piper, she has made it obvious. She flirts openly with Jason, she has gotten more physically affectionate with him—hugging him at any opportunity, and offered to partner up with him for this history presentation.

“What about you? Anyone in particular you want to take to prom?” Piper bats her eyelashes because she knows exactly who Annabeth wanted to go with.

Annabeth has spent the last 5 years crushing on her best friend. The last year of that she came to realize it was definitely more than a simple crush. She is half in love with him.

How could she not be?

Percy was so sweet and had always been there for her. They had sleepovers, spent weekends together, and tried their best to match their class schedules. He invited her to swim meets and came to all her debates. She loved his parents and little sister like they were her family. Percy bonded with her brothers and made polite conversations with her dad and stepmom. Their lives were so intertwined and had been since they met.

He made her so happy sometimes, Annabeth felt like she would burst.

“Now you can shove it,” Annabeth says.

Piper was going to continue her teasing but their teacher started talking, saving Annabeth for the time being.

Normally, Percy drives her home after school but he has extra swim practice this week because of some big tournament coming up, which meant Piper and Annabeth carpooled.

“Wanna come over?” She asks, pulling out of the parking lot.

“Only if we can get coffee first.”

“Read my mind, Chase, read my mind.”

Their favorite coffee shop is pretty quiet today so the two girls just decided to sit and do their homework there. About an hour into it, Piper abruptly closes her calc textbook and stares at her friend until Annabeth takes out her headphones, “what?”

“Percy Jackson,” Piper says, “just ask him to prom.”

“Jason Grace,” Annabeth counters, “just ask him to prom.”

“Nice try, don’t flip the script on me. You’ve been crushing hard lately.”

“Oh and you haven’t?”

“I’m trying to get him to ask me, you my friend aren’t even trying.”

Annabeth sighs, “Percy is my best friend.”

“And he’s also in love with you but whatever,” Piper says, quietly, “you just don’t see the way he looks at you.”

She had heard this before from Piper. But if that were true why hadn’t Percy made a move to ask her out? Nothing about their relationship had changed.

“I’ve been noticing since we were freshman,” Piper continues, “I swear you’re just blind to it because you’ve known him so long. He’s probably been looking at you like this for years and you just needed me to point it out.”

“Fine,” Annabeth replies, “let’s make a bet.”

“Oh? What kind of bet?”

“Let’s see which one of us can get a prom date for the other first. I’ll handle Jason, you handle Percy.”

Since Piper is so confident that Percy returns Annabeth’s feelings, it should be easy for her. Annabeth considers herself to be pretty persuasive and knows Jason just needed a nudge in the right direction to finally ask Piper.

“And the winner gets?” Piper inquires.

“Bragging rights for one, a date to prom, and…”

“And the loser has to ride the mechanical bull when the boys go.”

Annabeth sticks her hand out across the table for Piper to shake.

“You’re on, McLean.”

Annabeth spends the next two days plotting. It has been a while since Piper and her had this intense of a bet going and frankly Annabeth wants to win.

After all, she had won the last two times. Typically their bets were about the love lives of other people.

The first being how long it would take their mutual friends Frank and Hazel to start dating. Piper had insisted on 3 months, but Annabeth knew how shy the two underclassmen were and said 6. The second, about an impending breakup between Drew and some college guy she’d been seeing.

This time is different. By the end of it, hopefully one of them would have a boyfriend and hopefully it would be Piper.

She knows exactly where to find Jason during their shared free period: in the gym shooting baskets. There are some other students hanging out in the gym. A group of girls playing volleyball.

“Hey, Jase!” Annabeth calls out.

Jason dribbles his basketball and walks over to her.

“Shouldn’t you be studying in the library?”

“Haha, I don’t spend every second studying, Jason.”

Though she had been in the library doing some homework.

He sits down on the bleachers. “So, what’s up?”

“Well, prom is coming up…”

“Let me stop you right there, I’m honored and all but I know someone else who would much rather take you.”

“Look Jason, that’s not what this is,” Annabeth tells him, now curious as to who wanted to ask her to prom, “I wanted to know if there was anyone you were thinking of asking?”

She swears Jason is blushing but maybe he’s just warm from basketball.

“And if I did?”

“Let’s just say I have a vested interest in who you take.”

Jason nods but didn’t say anything more.

Annabeth wants to pull the information from him but the bell rings signaling the end of her free period.

Maybe this isn’t going to be as easy as she first thought. Hopefully, Piper is having similar difficulties.

During lunch, Annabeth hopes to steal a moment with Jason again to ask him but she also doesn’t want to alert Percy. Thankfully, Hazel does most of the work for her. She appears at the table, her lunch tray in one hand and Frank holding the other.

“So…let’s talk prom! I want to know everything since Frank and I won’t be there.”

The juniors had already had their prom just a week ago. Hazel had worn a gorgeous turquoise gown.

“Can I please go dress shopping with you?” She asks.

“Of course,” Piper says, “you’re always invited along. Not sure when we’ll be going yet.”

“It’s still 3 weeks away,” Annabeth adds.

Hazel nods. “Are you planning on asking anyone?” She directs this query at the boys since she already knew who Annabeth and Piper wanted to go with.

“I asked Juniper forever ago,” Grover says, “she’s wearing this lacy green dress.”

“Ooo do you have pics?” Hazel asks.

Grover, of course, does. It’s a beautiful dress, Annabeth has to admit. Juniper is stunning in just jeans, she was going to blow them all away at prom.

“Leo? Jason? Percy? Any plans for prom dates?”

Leo shrugs, “you know me, fighting off the advances.”

Hazel rolls her eyes. “Waiting for the right girl?”

Leo winks. “You know it.”

The right girl happens to be the head cheerleader who never spared Leo a second glance. Annabeth isn’t sure why he’s still vying for her attention.

“I’ve got the right girl, just waiting for the right time,” Jason says.

He’s blushing a little and wouldn’t meet Annabeth’s gaze. She takes that as a good sign. Clearly he does intend to ask Piper. Now all Annabeth has to do was create the right moment.

In the midst of planning Piper’s perfect prom-posal, Annabeth misses part of Percy’s answer.

“…I just don’t know if she’s interested in me.”

Grover pats his shoulder and lovingly says, “you’re an idiot.”

Which causes Leo to burst into laughter to the point of crying, “Grover and I don’t agree often dude so you know we’re right.”

Clearly, Percy has someone he wants to ask too. With the way Piper is beaming at Annabeth, her friend obviously thought the girl was Annabeth.

Of course, it’s then the lunch bell rings. Annabeth finds herself walking to class with Piper at her side still wondering what kind of girl wouldn’t be interested in Percy.

He’s kind beyond belief. He’s extremely loyal, defending his best friends to the death. He’s smart—more street than book sometimes.

“Annabeth,” Piper says, obviously not for the first time. “I asked what you’re thinking about over there.”

“Huh?”

Piper widens her eyes and does a dramatic eye roll with a knowing smirk on her face. She then leans in and whispers, “I’m going to win.”

Friday is Percy’s big swim meet. Their friend group shows up in all shades of blue to support him. They don’t care if it isn’t school colors, Percy knows the blue is just for him. Thalia, of course, shows up in the darkest shade possible. She’s hardly ever seen in bright colors.

Having graduated 2 years ago, seeing Thalia walk these halls is a little weird. Realistically, it wasn’t that long ago that Thalia sat with them at lunch or passed Annabeth in the hallway between fifth and sixth period. But somehow so much has changed.

“Is it me or did the school get smaller?” Thalia says, leading against the wall by the boy’s locker room.

“It’s you,” Leo says.

She glares at him, “it was rhetorical, dummy.”

“Cmon, let’s go in, Jason saved us seats,” Annabeth tells them.

Jason is spread out in the third row of bleachers. Annabeth sits closest to him, Thalia files in next, then Piper, and finally Leo. Grover was supposed to meet them here too but Annabeth can’t spot him. She vaguely remembers during lunch Grover mentioning something about seeing Juniper so maybe he’s inviting her to join them.

“Before I forget,” Thalia says, “here.”

She passes Jason an ID.

“Oh wow, thanks.”

“In public really?” Annabeth chides.

“What? At least it’s not drugs,” Piper teases.

“And mine?” Leo asks.

Thalia stares at him, pointedly. “I feel like you have to earn it.”

“There’s money at stake here, how come I have to earn it?”

“Money?” Thalia questions, “I need to be filled in. A girl misses one weekend hangout and suddenly no one tells her anything.”

“To be fair, they only came up with this on Monday,” Piper says.

“Picture this,” Leo says, “All 7 of us sitting around a bar, sipping beer…”

“I’m not having a beer,” Annabeth cuts in.

“Okay, us boys drinking beer…”

“I don’t want beer either,” Jason says.

“Does one of you want to take over this story?”

Jason and Annabeth share a look.

“We’re betting on who can last the longest on a mechanical bull,” Jason tells his sister.

“Tell you what, I want in on this bet,” Thalia replies, “and I’ll give you this,” she dangles the fake ID in front of Leo’s face, “if our boy Percy places top 3 today.”

Leo looks a little worried but Annabeth doesn’t know why because Percy is definitely going to place top 3.

“Hey everyone!”

“Nothing like being here at the last minute,” Jason says.

Grover shrugs. He’s holding hands with Juniper, which Thalia isn’t about to let slide without commentary.

“Who’s the girl?” She whispers to Annabeth.

“His girlfriend.”

“Thalia!” Grover says, “I didn’t see you there.”

They awkwardly hug in the bleachers.

“This is Juniper,” he introduces, “Juniper, this is Thalia.”

“Hi,” Juniper says, “it’s nice to finally meet you. Grover talks about you a lot.”

“Aw, that’s cute Grover.” Thalia puts a hand over her heart. “I am pretty great so that makes sense.”

Annabeth has no idea if anything more is said because Percy and his team are walking out towards the pool.

He’s in his usual swim uniform in their school colors but Annabeth’s transfixed. He’s always looked good in green. Even if the uniforms did no one any favors, Percy still managed to draw eyes. Annabeth knew there were other girls who came just to watch him swim.

She dreaded the day he turned around to the bleachers and smiled up at one of them instead of her.

Percy’s little fan club consisted of a few sophomore girls. She didn’t know their names but they were quite obviously fawning over Annabeth’s best friend.

But Percy pays them no mind. Instead, he finds his friends in the crowd. Percy lights up when he spots them and waves aggressively at them.

“What a dork,” Thalia whispers but she’s waving back like the rest of them.

The match is long.

“Mommm, are we there yet?” Leo asks, in a high pitched voice.

“How much longer?” Jason adds.

Annabeth checks her phone. “Maybe a half hour?” She says.

Percy is currently warming the bench. He finished his individuals and now was waiting for his relay.

He’s fiddling with his phone, which Annabeth knows he’s not supposed to do. But meets are long and their coach knows it. He’s usually a little more understanding especially if it’s just sending a quick text like Percy is doing.

Percy: bored yet?

Annabeth: the boys are Annabeth: well Jason is fine, Leo and Grover are tired lol

Percy: no surprise there

A whistle blows and Percy tucks his phone away again. In no time, he’s back in the pool.

If he wins this race he’ll place second. At least, Annabeth thinks he will. Scoring for swimming is still a bit confusing. Mostly because she’s not focusing in on the coaches and every time she thinks to ask Percy, he distracts her with some silly antidote.

When the last whistle blows, the teams are toweled and waiting for results. It doesn’t take long, thankfully, to get scores.

Annabeth can’t keep the cheers in when they declare Percy as second. In fact, their whole group jumps up and starts chanting his name.

They celebrate with milkshakes at their favorite ice cream shop. There they make plans to go ride the mechanical bull at Mino-Bar the following weekend.

“I believe I owe you this,” Thalia says, sliding her hand across the table to Leo, “Percy pulled through.”

“Percy did what?” Percy asks.

“Placed top 3,” Jason fills him in.

“Unsurprisingly,” Piper adds.

Thalia picks up her hand revealing Leo’s fake ID underneath, “and I believe I said I want in on this bet.”

Leo pulls out his phone where he’s been keeping a list.

“Place your bet, mamacita.”

She plucks Leo’s phone straight from his hands and types in her guess. Thalia hands it back and grips his wrist, “call me that again and I’ll kill you.”

“She won’t,” Annabeth says, noticing their waitress has returned with their check. “She’s kidding.”

Jason is the last one easing out of their booth so Annabeth waits for him. Plus, she knows their group is going to the small lobby to huddle around the singular claw machine they still have. Percy’s on this mission to win a stuffed animal from it; he’s been attempting each time they come to no avail.

She’s not even sure why he wants one so bad. Maybe it’s just the success of winning he’s after. Percy’s always been pretty competitive. Even if the game is against a literal machine.

“Alright Jason, when are you asking Piper to prom?”

It’s time for a direct approach.

He freezes for a moment.

“I don’t know how,” he admits, “I think it needs to be special because…well…”

“It’s not just prom you’re after, you want to ask her out. I know.”

The two of them had only been flirting for the last year. It’ll be a relief to all of them when Jason and Piper finally get together. Though, their PDA might quickly become worse than the yearning.

Jason widens his eyes but out of all their friends Annabeth is the most likely to have clocked his feelings for Piper. It really shouldn’t have been that surprising.

“When did you figure it out?” he asks.

“Don’t worry, you’re only being obvious to me.”

He seems relieved. Annabeth gains nothing from letting him know Piper feels the same way. At this moment, it’s irrelevant for Jason to know of Piper’s feelings nor does she want to betray her friend's trust.

“Well, I’ve got stuff riding on this so we need a plan.”

So, they make plans to hangout.

As predicted the rest of the group is intently watching as Percy battles with the claw machine. Today’s prize he’s after seems to be a little gray owl stuffed animal. He loses.

“Out of quarters ‘’til next time,” he declares.

“Leo, I assume you want a ride home?” Piper asks.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Annabeth, you with me?” Percy questions, already dangling his keys.

They live close enough that he’s usually her ride.

“Not today, Jackson. I got plans with Jason.”

Percy’s smile drops. “Since when?”

“Don’t fret, I’ll still come over for dinner as promised. Tell Sally not to worry.”

It’s tradition after his swim meets to have dinner together. Annabeth loves his family. And Sally’s cooking.

“Okay.”

Thalia gives them a weird once over but says nothing. Thankfully, Grover breaks the tension that suddenly bubbles up by calling out after him, “wait up, Perc!” And ends up in the passenger seat.

“I’ll see you all Monday,” Piper says before getting into her car.

Jason, Annabeth, and Thalia all cross the lot and piled into Jason’s car.

On Monday, their plan is set into action.

It’s simple. Go up to her at her locker at the end of the day and ask. Straightforward, to the point.

An unmistakable ask to the prom. Thus creating a winner for their bet. No room for argument, which is good because Piper is a brilliant debater.

Of course, when the time comes with Annabeth watching from a safe distance, Jason never shows.

She’s texting him, trying to decide if she could stall Piper.

Jason picked up after the third ring.

“I can’t do it,” he tells her, “I need a new plan.”

Annabeth sighs.

“Okay, meet me at the courts, we'll regroup.”

Jason agrees. As Annabeth turns away from Piper’s locker she bumps directly into Percy.

“Hey!”

“Oh hi, Percy.”

“Where are you off too? I was going to ask if you had time to help me with my geometry?”

She checks the time. “I can meet you at the cafe in an hour?”

Annabeth is too busy staring at Jason’s text that he’s waiting for her in the gym that she doesn’t notice Percy’s weird gaze. “Um okay. See you in an hour.”

Their next plan requires little to no talking since that seemed to be Jason’s issue today.

And everything goes wrong, again. Jason’s handmade poster—a teenage movie cliche but something Annabeth knew Piper would find charming coming from Jason—is soaked by rain. As is Jason.

There hadn’t been rain in the forecast but the skies had opened up unexpectedly as soon as they got to school that morning.

They go even simpler on Wednesday. A cup of coffee with the word “prom?” written on it.

“You brought me coffee?” Piper questions when Jason tries to hand it over. “That’s sweet but I really prefer iced.”

She shakes her iced coffee that she must’ve gotten herself this morning.

Piper is rifling through her locket when she asks, “Annabeth do you want it?”

Annabeth shares a look of disappointment with Jason, who shrugs as if to say “oh well.”

She takes the coffee from him. They walk to homeroom together.

“It’s 3 strikes and you’re out right?” Jason says, “guess I’m out.”

“No way, we will figure this out. It’s just a little string of bad luck. Piper wants to go to prom with you. Of this I’m sure.”

Jason gives her a half smile, “you never give up.”

“And I’m not letting you give up either.”

Wednesday during lunch, Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper make plans to go dress shopping after school.

Piper drives them to the mall. They start with food before going in and out of every single store with any semblance of fancy attire. Piper and Annabeth go into dressing rooms with their arms full of dresses in various sizes and colors and lengths but walk out of the stores with nothing to show for it.

In their seventh store of the afternoon, Annabeth is trying on a seafoam green dress. It’s the exact shade of Percy’s eyes, she thinks, smoothing out the gown.

“How are we doing ladies?” Hazel asks from just outside the dressing room doors.

Annabeth steps out to show off her dress at the same time Piper’s door opens. Piper is in red. It’s beautiful against her skin tone.

“This does nothing for my boobs,” she sighs.

The dress does have a weird top.

“Oh Annabeth, you look amazing,” Piper says.

“You don’t think it washes me out?”

“Not at all,” Hazel replies.

Neither girl ends up leaving the mall with their dream prom dress. They’re upset by having little prospects but it also gives them the excuse to plan another girls’ day shopping.

As much as Annabeth loves planning, she’s feeling pretty hopeless by Friday. A whole week of prom plans gone awry. Annabeth’s not sure how many more cute ways to ask someone to prom she can think of.

She doesn’t see any of her friends in the hallway on the way to her locker. Not even Jason, which is odd since he’s normally standing at his own locker. Maybe he came up with his own plan to ask Piper to prom; Piper’s locker is on the other side of the building. Annabeth can only hope that’s where he is. She still really wants to win this bet.

Plus, she doesn’t think Piper’s made much progress on the Percy front. In fact, Percy hadn’t made any attempt to ask Annabeth to prom. Though she hadn’t seen much of him this week either. Beyond a little homework help, lunch, and their shared classes.

This weekend, she vows she’ll make time for her best friend. Prom schemes have taken up too much of her time. Sure, she wants to stick it to Piper but she also doesn’t want to neglect Percy.

Annabeth opens her locker and her heartbeat skips. Sitting on top of her calculus textbook is a small stuffed animal gray owl. In its lap, a tiny little sign asking: prom?

“I figured if I was going to ask my best friend out, it had better be extra cheesy.”

She moves her locker door and finds Percy smiling at her sheepishly.

“It’s pretty cheesy, so I’d call it a success.”

“It’s only a success if you say yes.”

“Why don’t you ask me then?”

Percy gives her a look like she can’t believe she’s making him do this.

“Annabeth Chase, will you go to prom with me?”

Forgetting all about how competitive she is and how badly she wants to win her bet with Piper, Annabeth says yes.

And the way Percy hugs her makes it totally worth it.

All she can think about is going to prom with Percy. Slow dancing at prom with Percy. Drinking spiked punch at prom with Percy. She thinks about how well worth it will all be once they’re at prom together.

Percy waves at her from just outside the fenced in area around the mechanical bull. Standing next to him is Piper smirking, clearly very pleased with herself.

Their whole group of friends is here tonight at Mino-Bar. Leo and Jason had already taken their turns on the bull and been thrown off within the first few seconds. All Annabeth had to do was get on it.

No one had placed bets on her. Well, Piper had but that was about prom dates not how long she’d last on the mechanical bull.

Annabeth is competitive but she’s not a sore loser even when she has every right to be. In this case, Annabeth has every right to be.

Piper and Jason had conspired against her. All those failed attempts at asking Piper to prom were false flags. Jason had actually been nervous to ask her…months ago…before they had apparently kissed at a party.

They both claimed to not be secretly dating. In fact, they had avoided talking about it for so long because they each assumed their feelings weren’t returned. Then, Piper had overheard Jason talking about kissing her and the rest is history.

“We’ve only been talking the last week or so,” Piper told her.

“So you cheated.”

“No, it had nothing to do with Jason and me.”

“Didn’t it? That was half of the bet, Pipes.”

“Okay fine, it did but it was about prom and Percy asked you first, you knew we were going to influence each boy into asking and you never said I couldn’t influence both of them.”

“You were deliberately stopping Jason from asking you!” She exclaimed, “that’s cheating.”

“Is it?” Piper asked, innocently.

Annabeth had been frustrated with her friend but at the end of the day, she couldn’t really argue. Piper was right. It hadn’t been against the rules to deter Jason from asking Piper to prom nor had it been to deter Percy. Annabeth had just been convinced Percy wouldn’t ask…she…her pride was responsible for her current situation.

And to reclaim that hurt pride, Annabeth had one mission: stay in the bull longer than any of the boys. Then the only thing anyone will be talking about is how Annabeth somehow outwitted and outlasted them all.

She grips the handles and braces herself. Just a few seconds. Annabeth counts them in her head drowning out the shouting and the music.

One. Two. Three.

She breathes and spins and is being tossed around.

Four. Five. Six.

She’s already done it. She’s outlasted Leo and Jason. Maybe just one more…

Seven.

And all she remembers is landing on the mat. The bull must stop moving but all Annabeth sees is green. Percy’s green eyes staring down at her with a wide grin.

His eyes are still worried but he’s clearly trying to mask it.

“Did you hit your head?” He asks, attempting to help her sit up.

She doesn’t remember answering. All Annabeth can think about is kissing him. So she does. She pulls Percy on top of her, he stumbles and bumps her nose. Annabeth holds his face and presses their lips together.

[paranormal-peri]

heyyyyy!

Not tryin to pressure u but…….

are you okaaaay?! Cuz u we’re working on it and then just stopped everything even posting here for a while!

I hope you’re okay! 🫶

Thank you for asking. I am still working on it, just slowly. School has gotten in the way and made me absolutely exhausted. I wanted to post the new chapter today but didn’t get to finish it.

The fic is by no means cancelled, I am just taking longer to get things done. Expecially since it is October, I tend to get very very busy around this time of year due to a lot of things being planned. I might not post a new chapter till early November because I need to spend any extra time I have to finish my Peri cosplay before Halloween.

HERE IS A TEASER WHILE YOU WAIT:

The fairy braces himself to stand up against the cage walls. He grasp onto the wire, more so than before. Holy Molly Rolly Poly, gravity has hands today. Maybe he could’ve had a better fighting chance if he could have some food.

His struggle was so obvious this time around, there was no hiding it.

“Do all fairies have weak legs or are you just a defect?”

Defect? What? Is he not the “perfectly manufactured collectors toy” for him? Oh, the things he would say to this guy if he didn’t grow up with a filtered mouth.

“When I say to speak, you speak, answer the question.”

“Uhh… You know what? I’m not out of the cage yet, so your rules don’t apply.”

Peri hesitated for a moment at the opening.

He stared down at the table, and then at the floor below it. There was an awkward length parting between the cage base and the table. They didn’t roll it right up against the cage, but it was juuuussst close enough for him to jump on if he pushed himself.

“Here, let me help you out!”

An excited hand reached in.

Slapped away

“No touchie! I can jump out on my own! No need to pick me up like a cat!”

He’s fine, he doesn’t need to be touched or handled anymore than he already has been. This one thing he has the opportunity to do in his own, without force or touch or drugs or shocks. This was his moment.

One two three go!

Face hit metal,

metal of the table, not the floor, a small win, but a performance failure.

He looked up to the audience.

“See? Perfect landing.”

God, His face hurt.

He was out of the cage

with a clear mind.

Boy, did it feel so freeing.

This building pressure from his chest was released.

Released.

Sigh of release- relief.

Oh boy, this is so good! He couldn’t believe they had actually agreed to all this! Oh boy, luck must be on his side today. What else could he get away with?

“Awesome! So uhh… any chance I could have my wand back too?”

“Don’t push it.”

“Fudge cakes. Okay, let’s just get this over with”

The fairy sighed, this time in disappointment.

He shifted to a more comfortable sitting position in the center of the table.

He steadied himself as he the table was moved to the center of the room.

This place felt familiar.

Cake.

He twitched.

They are just going to clean the wound, right? It shouldn’t be too bad.

Same table, same spot.

Bread.

But he wasn’t held down this time, at least not physically.

Keep your cool, Peri, it’s all cool here.

[wandercatt]

october 16, 2024

bel—bal—no, it doesn’t start with ‘bol,’ ‘bil,’ or ‘bul.’ how could i forget the name? i’ve seen it a thousand times, staring at me from the dentist’s chair, like some half-remembered title of a book i never finished. belmont. that’s it—the brand on the equipment. my eyes wandered to the blue screen in the corner, the "no signal" bouncing from side to side. the faint smell of antiseptic and that oddly cold, metallic taste lingered in the air, wrapping me in a haze of waiting. it had been ten years since my last visit. the ache from last week—persistent despite brushing—pushed me here. three times a day, and still, my teeth refused to cooperate.

i sat in the chair, feeling the tug of time and the weight of routine checkups i’d skipped. when the dentist finally came through with the x-ray, all i saw were two wisdom teeth. impacted, they said. something about extraction. i nodded along to whatever they were saying, zoning out as if the words were just noise. in the back of my mind, i already knew—this was going to hurt. and somehow... braces. something i agreed to without even realizing.

not exactly part of the plan. how much aura did i lose having my braces re-installed?

awkward moments hung in the air, unsure of where to place my gaze. i closed my eyes for a second, and there i was—15 again, feeling that familiar tightness in my mouth, the pull of metal wires like a tether. braces felt like shackles back then, a constant reminder of how much needed fixing. but i didn’t want to go back to 15. there were too many things to untangle from that year. not now. my jaw clenched slightly, and i opened my eyes, letting the lights overhead blur into meaningless shapes. focusing on anything else.

maybe this could’ve been avoided if i’d paid more attention—taken better care of myself. or maybe not. there’s always something. but here we are. i’m not in love with myself yet—not that i hate myself either. i’m just... trying. eight hours of sleep, protein shakes, four days at the gym. maybe i’ll quit vaping soon. cigarettes are long gone; maybe vaping should be, too.

sometimes it feels like i’m patching up a ship that’s already sinking—small repairs just to stay afloat. does it matter? probably not. but i’m still here, trying in small ways, showing up for myself even if it’s just in half-measures. it’s not about fixing everything. just enough to keep going. and for now, that’s okay. we’re getting there.

[dimalink]

Restore legendary Pentium 2 and Voodoo 2 computer

New Year is already begun. Now we have 2024. New space cycle. And few space cycles ago, I started to restore some of my old computers. Part of them were mine since school days. Part of them, I buy for a low price. It is interesting for me, to restore some computers, and I was growing up with them, it is interesting. Or some systems from the past, which are very interesting to try out and look. It is not necessary to be a strong powerful systems. It can me middle or not powerful, let’s call it slow or weak systems. Everything is interesting.

So, from time to time, I am restoring old systems. I do it as episodes, not regular. So right now, I want to talk about my legendary Pentium 2. With system of three dimensional acceleration 3DFX VOODOO II. It is most coolest system ever. And it is also has a Sound Blaster Awe 64. It is very cool sound card. And as idea, as I remember, it has two hard drives. One is about 5 gigabytes, and second is about 50 gigabytes. As a rule, you can set to system a CD Rom, or DVD rom, even which can write discs, writeable.

At this moment system is already done. Everything is inside a strong metal case. So, computer has a big weight in result. I think it is because of metal case has a big weight, it is a big metal case. And it has a something like this system inside – Pentium 2 350 mhz with technology MMX, 3d graphic accelerator Voodoo 2, 64 mb Ram.

So, I find all the bolts, and tighten the bolts. Everything is done. My brother helps me to do that. Brother is very good in such things. And he reacts fast about some technological solutions. And it is opposite to me, in such questions. Some specific wires format. And more, if it is not enough some details. Every time my brother helps me with that. So, for example, I give myself a try to launch computer without cooler. This is like I do. My brother told me that it will not start up.

Pentium 2 processor has a form factor of cartridge. But no 8 bit. And it is like a cartridge. And cooler is going with him, on a cartridge. But it is good to set up with a wire between cooler and processor. Some connectors are very tight. So, I even don’t get what place to connect them. Again, my little brother helps me. So, for example, as for me, I never find out that at the border of motherboard, at the side, it is so little wires like power supply, reset, hdd ready, like indicators and buttons are there. At the mother board.

So, process of making this setup was interesting. It is very interesting to find out new things. And it was going in a different step. First, I collect all the parts. It was so long time ago, when it was working last time. So, I need to find the parts and to put them at the box. And later, to set it all at the motherboard.  And the idea that plus minus everything is ok about details.

Second step it was before New Year. It is about to setup all the parts into the case. Everything is all right. I give myself a try to start it up. Power is ok. But nothing happens. So, it is about a situation you need connect with wire a cartridge with second Pentium and cooler. But it can start. Computer makes a noise. And that’s all.

Next step is at celebrating times, already in new year 2024. It is about to setup bracing for processor Pentium 2. So, it is happening, that you need to setup a special bracing at the processor. Like a direction parts. So, we find these parts. And open the case with computer, replace all the details. To remove everything from motherboard. To screw everything off.  Because of bracing is set from the downside of motherboard. And then they rise up. And at the top you put into this bracing a processor.  As a cartridge slot it works. For example. Unusual system.

Today, it is clear, that there is no way to find little wires. As brother said 3 pin – molex. To setup cooler and processor. Plus, to this there is no wires to setup motherboard and cd rom. Atapi format or something like that. It is good to gather wires. Right now, there is no wires. But it can be without cd rom, for some time. There is a network card 100 mbits, instead.

System is almost restored. And it can be one more try to start it. It is interesting what it is about hard drives. Is it still installed Windows Millennium or not. Last time it was Windows Millennium.  It is interesting what games it has installed. As idea it should everything at their place. So many years passed. So, I am restoring slowly my school system. For me it is a legendary system. I spent with it so much time.  

So, lots of games I launch with it. I tried visual basic there, for example. And played a lot in Arcanum, Fallout 2. Doom 2 I played a lot too. In Half Life when it was released. In a different Need For Speed 3,4,2,2 special edition. In GTA 1,2. In GTA London – I and my bro played a lot. Carmageddon 2 it was a cool cd. My brother is a big fan of Blade of Darkness videogame. And it was a first time to play it in Pentium 2. I remember how much I played in Grandia 2. It is such a cool Japanese role playing game with good graphics, port from Dreamcast.  And I played in emulators too, of first Sony Playstation.  

So, this way I first to play in Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy 7,8,9. My brother likes a lot game Final Fantasy 8 for PC. I am talking about a PC version of the game. He played a lot. So, for some time it was his favorite game. Here we played a lot in Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Heroes of Might and Magic 4.  So here we launched first time Might and Magic 6,7,8. My brother likes a lot shooter Sin. It is also a good game.

At first this system has installed Windows 98, and later Windows Millennium. It was a short time, it was installed Windows 2000. So, at this moment I run into Quake 3 CD.  Brother buy this game. And bring home. It was exciting graphics! It is bad one thing, it has no casual levels, no story, episodes. But graphics is cool, and action is good!

With this system I get the idea what emulators are. With modem. When a game for NEs to download about half an hour, for example. If you are lucky then 20 minutes. Or maybe it was a time for Sega game it is. It happens about 40 minutes.  So, this details a I don’t remember already. Nes games should to download faster, as a rule. And Sega and Super Nintendo more long time.  I opened for myself emulation of MS DOS. Using DOS BOX. I try some isometrical Ultima. It is about island, forest. First time I played in Sega, Snes. First Sonic, for example. I played it with all the time making save files. I like a lot to setup scanlines.

First time I try out what is it Ultima Online. World of online is very exciting thing. So many deals to do for a schoolboy there! Such a nice memories. To grind, upgrade skills, explore world. To build a little house, to collect resources. So, I remember that, I learn skill animal taming. And I can tame ostrich.

Nice soft it was, as I remember. Windows Media Player with such beautiful interface. Windows Media Player classic with standard interface for style Windows 95/98. WinAmp is a cool player. And I remember, from time to time I have installed Kaspersky antivirus. Good thing. But system was loaded, that’s for sure, for some time. And it makes a system to freeze, slow working, and you need to wait. It happened like that. Without it - it everything works fast. Of course, I used program Word, a little Excel. Notepad.

And at this system, I see for the first time Video CD. Interesting format. And I remember I was impressed when I play in Command And Conquer 2 about a video sequences. Such a cool graphics, and also a cinema movie. Strategy and action movie. And later I and my brother played a lot in Red Alert 2 Yuri’s revenge. It was a game for a long long time.  And playing in Counter Strike with bots. And I played with my brother at this system. In counter strike, Rage of Mages 2. And I remember how we dig maps (explore maps slowly). So, we take a big map and clear it from monsters. Try to find new items. Brother played with a new pc. And I with this machine.

It is amazing, and at this Pentium 2 machine. A pne as I called it, stump, as a joke. I played in a second Dune. It was very good game. It was launched easily, without any problems.  But it is for MS DOS. Here I played a lot in F 22 Lighting 2. It is something like simulation, but arcade too, it can be played nice. Lots of time for Duke Nukem 3D.  I remember how my brother brings CD Atomic Winter.  What a game! It is winter and a new levels! It was interesting! Video quest X files, I like a lot. It goes as a video! It is very amazing investigation! Rainbow 6 by Tom Clancy. So, it is very serious game. So, it is like shooter and something more.

So, yes, it is connected lots of good memories with this system!

By system. So, I am without wire to connect cooler. And there is no wires to connect CD ROM. And everything else is restored. Case is complete. Strong metal. Every part is setup.

From time to time i like to play videogames. And write about it. Dima Link is making retro videogames, apps, a little of music, write stories, and some retro more.

WEBSITE: http://www.dimalink.tv-games.ru/home_eng.html ITCHIO: https://dimalink.itch.io/ GAMEJOLT: https://gamejolt.com/@DimaLink/games

BLOGGER: https://dimalinkeng.blogspot.com/

[bts-story]

LOVE IS CHAOS

masterlist / previous chapters

Chapter four - Seven of diamonds 3

The five bodies littering the terrace floor were beginning to stir the atmosphere into a rather creepy and unhealthy state, and the light breeze of that summer evening did nothing to warm the gloomy and macabre atmosphere that had been building up since the beginning of the game. 

The woman named Mei Minari had been killed by the schoolboy in the previous round, which meant that it would soon be your turn. But before that, this teenager of about 15 years old was asked, "Satokimi Tanaka, you have chosen truth. Please answer the following truth: name all 48 countries that form the Asian continent." 

"What... the hell..." the middle schooler blurted out, as if he was already giving up. "How am I supposed to do that?" 

As Niragi finally got up from the body of the dead man, you hesitated as to whether or not to assist him. It was likely that Niragi wouldn't care if you helped him, but with all that blood on his face, you couldn't just stand by and do nothing. Taking his hand gently, as if to test his reaction to your touch, you led him to the edge of the pool gently as the kid began to recite as many countries as he could. 

You invited Niragi to sit by the water and he said nothing. He had this lost look in his eyes, as if he wasn't really there anymore. Like a second state that had suddenly taken hold of him. You had rarely seen him in that state and the few times it had happened, Niragi had lost control of his own movements, as if driven by a rage too powerful for him.

As you lowered yourself to wet your hands in the pool, another shiver ran through your body at the touch of the frozen water. You struggled to wipe away all the blood that covered Niragi's face, but with only your hands to wipe it away, it was hard to get it off. Niragi closed his eyes for a moment at the touch of your hands on his face, and you would be wrong to think that he would let a second of vulnerability show in a place like this. 

You knew him more than anyone else in this world, you knew every inch of his thoughts and every reason for his actions. That's why you knew he was thinking more than anything else, that he was collecting all the information he had so far perhaps to finally figure out why you were here. Not only a why, or a how, but more importantly where were you. 

"The time is up. The answer is," at the sound of the robotic voice, and without exchanging a glance, your head turned back to the college student who was awaiting his sentence with trepidation. He did, however, have that glimmer of hope in his eyes and in the way his body held itself that dared to suggest that he might have succeeded. "Successful." 

You were impressed, it's true. If you were him, you would have been unable to do the same thing, but after careful consideration, not many people would have been able to define exactly what a human brain was so it didn't matter, ultimately. The young man jumped up and down to celebrate his victory, incredulous at the skills that had been him remembering those forty-eight countries. 

"[Y/N] [Y/L/N], you have chosen dare." Bracing yourself, you stood up, ready to face whatever dare this game had for you. "Note: a five centimeter wide wire is connected to the southeast building. The length of the wire is three meters. Please execute the following dare: reach the opposite building without falling into the void." 

It is only at this moment that you noticed the wire that connected this building to the one opposite, a few meters behind you. Without wasting a second, you climbed the balustrade and took place in front of the wire. Niragi had stood up too, and even if he didn't say anything, you could feel his insistent look burning your back. There was still that breeze blowing through the air, and strangely enough, you had the impression that it was blowing more between the two buildings, as if it was already planning to push you into the void.

You didn't want to waste any more time, and you had always been a bad gymnast. Balance wasn't really your strong suit, but you didn't have time to think any further as the voice announced, "50 seconds remaining." 

One foot in front of the other, carefully and slowly, you began to move forward. The wire was stretched to the max, so tight it felt like you were walking on tar if only your weight didn't make it wobble so quickly. 

"40 seconds remaining." 

A single minute to cross a ten-foot bridge was impossible in your eyes. Correction, 40 seconds was simply unimaginable to achieve. "Focus, princess." Niragi ordered in a deep voice, and the pressure on your shoulders was already immense not to think about the repercussions that failure could bring. You wouldn't think of leaving Niragi like that, letting him see you die and face the rest of the game alone. It was impossible. 

"30 seconds remaining." 

Come on, you had to go, now. So you started to run. 

It was hard to find a balance, but miraculously, it seemed to work. Your arms were lined up in the air with your shoulders, your breath steady despite your heart stabbing your rib cage. One foot in front of the other, staring at the finish line, you would have caught yourself thinking that it wasn't that hard after all. After all, it wasn't a game if there was no chance of success. It had to be possible to do the trick. 

The wind wavered between the two buildings, and you almost lost your balance. You were now so close to the edge of the other terrace that you could touch it with your fingers if you crouched. 

But your foot slipped. Was it a little water that got there because of the previous day's rain, was it the wind that pushed you or simply your impatience that made you lose your balance. Whatever it was, your body tilted to one side and your hands caught the line as best as you could. 

With your feet and body in the air, you had to strain all your muscles to hold your weight. "Damn it, [Y/N], pull up!" Niragi demanded and if you could see him, you would see that he had his hands resting on the ledge of the first building, body advanced almost into the void, eyebrows furrowed and that worried look in his eyes. 

But you couldn't, your hands were tearing against the wire, and he was wobbling so much that it was impossible to hoist him up. 

"10 seconds remaining." 

Okay, it was time to start panicking now. There was no way for you to get back on the damn wire when... but your feet could touch the building across the street. If you could lean on it to get up on the edge of the railing, you might have a chance to get out. 

"Go ahead, princess, you can do it." Niragi mumbled under his breath, far too far away for you to hear. It was just as well, because one sound from her voice would have been enough to knock you off your feet.

"9..." 

You were swinging your feet to find a foothold on the damn front. But every move you made was pulling heavily on your arms, which were getting weaker and weaker. 

"8..." 

You were finding a grip, finally. But it was so hard to hold on to that you would have to let go of one hand to be able to grab it. 

"7..."

It was so dangerous to let go of a hand, but time was running out so fast and you had no choice. You had to do anything to save yourself. 

"6..." 

The weight of your body was so heavy when you finally let go of your hand, it was a miracle you hadn't fallen yet. 

"5..." 

You gripped the hook with all the strength you had, and when your hand circled against the cold metal of the railing, you finally let go of your second hand. 

"4..." 

Now you had to hoist your whole body over the railing, but your body was so exhausted. 

"3..." 

With a last effort, you reached inside your whole body and your whole being to find that hidden strength that would be enough to save your life. 

"2..."

You stepped over the railing and no matter what was on the other side of the terrace, your back slammed against the hard, cold tile floor. 

"1..."

At a loss for words, your eyes closed and your stale breath struggled to circulate to your lungs. 

"Time's up. The mission is," the pause seemed endless. Yet you knew you had made it, you were on the other side of the building, and the void was far from you. Still, until you heard that last word, you couldn't believe in victory. "Successful." 

"Holy shit." You huffed roughly, and it felt good to swear. Getting it all out was the key to being able to breathe properly again. 

When your eyes opened again, the stars of the dark night stared back at you unashamedly. It was as if you could see every point of light flicker before your eyes, and the night was hidden that night. There was no trace of her, and that made the cloudless sky more dreamy. 

The sky looked strangely just like that night, if you were ever able to tell. It was an August night, just like this one, and the hospital emergency room was as busy as ever. It wasn't Christmas or New Year's Eve, let alone the Emperor's birthday, and it was a far cry from the national holiday. There was absolutely no good reason for so many people to be injured on a summer Monday, when there were only three of you running the department. 

"[Y/N], I need you to take care of beds 7, 8, 10 and 15. When that's done, you'll need to join Dr. Ikoya who is about to enter the operating room." 

"But," you stammered, yanking the bloody gloves from your hands, "Irina was supposed to take care of beds 8 and 10, I... I already have three beds before those." 

You had just stitched up the chin of a fifteen year old teenager when your superior burst in beside you, hurried in his words and gestures. He had no time to listen to your complaints, and even less time to check who was doing what. Every patient was complaining, screaming for help, eager to be treated quickly. 

No, no bus had crashed, no building had collapsed. Nothing, there was absolutely nothing. And yet the hospital had become a zoo. The head doctor left as quickly as he had come and without even taking the time to give you a last look, he disappeared behind the corridor that led to the second floor. 

"Fucking asshole," you muttered softly, and it didn't take long for you to throw several more deserved insults behind his back. The man always had a tendency to give orders left and right without doing the work himself very often. 

Glancing around you, you looked for the few beds that had been added to you and you were surprised when your eyes met a man, lying in bed number 10, who was staring at you with his dark eyes. He had medium-length hair that fell over his eyes, broken glasses fixed on his nose and a university uniform completely torn and stained with blood on his body.

"Good evening, I'm Dr. [Y/L/N], I'll be taking care of you. What happened?" It was your duty to introduce yourself before you could intervene on someone. It was a lack of time, in your opinion, as some cases deserved more care than words. 

"I... I was in the last car. The train was going at the same speed as usual but..." You were half listening to what he was saying. His voice was deeper than you would have imagined, but it was notably soft and delicate. You had already put on a new pair of gloves, taken some antiseptic in your hands and clean cotton pads in the other. "But... this time, arh! This time something happened, the train went off the tracks. Ouch!" He groaned with every swipe of the cotton you put on his cheek, and it didn't take much to force him to hold still. 

You didn't have time to wait for him to calm down or to let go because you had so much work on your hands. You had little compassion for his pain, and if it had been any other day, perhaps your actions would have been gentler. 

"Stop moving, I need to disinfect your wound!" The young man kept struggling, and if he didn't want to be treated, you wondered what the hell he was doing here. He didn't seem to have anything broken, and aside from a few scratches, he seemed to be doing fine. He had a wound on his eyebrow that was curious to you. It was as if something had pierced the skin and immediately popped out. You wondered how this could have happened. 

"I told you the train was derailed!" He replied as if you had asked that question out loud, and maybe you had if you took into consideration the incredulous look he continued to give you. 

"A train?" Suddenly, what he was saying was slowly starting to make sense in your head. So that was why everyone was suddenly in the emergency room. That was why there were so many injured, so much blood. You wondered why you hadn't been told about it, but whatever it was, it meant that the next wave of injured people could come crashing into the hospital at any moment. 

"Yes! The train has derailed!" He insisted fervently as if by some miracle that would be enough to make you stop torturing him with the damn cotton ball. 

There were so many questions in your head, including how something like that could happen. But this was no time to be a detective. Today you were a doctor, and you had a lot of people who needed you. "What's your name?" 

Hesitantly, the man answered, "Niragi. Niragi Suguru." 

"Okay, Niragi. You have a pierced eyebrow, it needs to be stitched, okay? I'm going to take a needle and suture and I'm going to sew this up. It's going to sting a little." Suddenly, your voice was softer, as if you had found the time to be that caring doctor you dreamed of being, the one who loved her job and wasn't overwhelmed by the overtime and fatigue that was eating away at your bones. 

With a nod, the man named Niragi nodded. 

"Niragi Suguru, you have chosen truth." It was a close call not to miss the statement of the question. You were so far away in your thoughts that the return to earth hit you like a meteorite. "Please answer the following truth: does death give meaning to life?”

But the name Niragi rang in your ears as you regained awareness of your surroundings. It was that first night, where you first met. It was strange to think of that moment when you had just had a near death experience. Or maybe it wasn't strange at all, on the contrary. It was an evening of comfort in all the shit you were going through now. 

That memory seemed so far away now, like a half-forgotten dream. Years had passed, and many summers had passed. Rising with difficulty from the cold floor of the second building's terrace, the wind came crashing down on your face once again as it took a moment for your eyes to adjust to the spotlight of the other building. Niragi still had his hands on the edge of the railing, his jaw clenched and his eyebrows eternally furrowed.

As soon as your face appeared before his eyes though, he seemed to relax, as if he was only waiting to see you to make sure your necklace hadn't exploded, despite the validation of the mechanical voice. "You alright, princess?" he shouted to be heard on the other side. 

It was as if he was only waiting for your approval so he could focus on his question. He didn't say anything, just waited patiently in silence as the countdown began to wind down. "50 seconds remaining." 

Giving him a thumbs up from afar to avoid speaking with a broken voice, you silently urged him to focus on his truth and come up with an answer, whatever it was. "Philosophy, uh?" Niragi spat with disgust, as if all his hatred had finally focused on the game. "There's no good answer in philosophy." 

He had said out loud what you were thinking, it was a very difficult question that would require thought. If you could help him, even if it was only to offer an idea, you would do so immediately. But the threat of the mechanism around the blow that could be triggered at any time was far too risky. Otherwise, you would have let him know that this was his chance. There is no right answer in philosophy, which meant that any answer was right. That any reasoning was good to go and that there was no way he could lose if he would only go ahead and give his opinion on the thing. 

"40 seconds remaining." 

"Jesus Christ," he continued, almost amused by the situation. He was incredulous at a question like that and if only an entire building didn't separate you, you would have shaken him into saying something, anything. 

"30 seconds remaining." 

"Okay, okay, you want my take on this, darling? Here it comes," Niragi had always been a fan of nicknames. It was very difficult for him not to end his sentence with one of them, as if it was a punctuation mark that he loved. Whether it was an insult, a flirtation, annoyance or frustration, you found it always gave him a bad boy look. "It does not. D'you know why? 'Cause life doesn't have a fuckin' meaning either. I mean, it does for some people. Some people try to live their lives as best as they can, they go on trips, they have a great job that they like and some of 'em even have kids - but some people," he shakes his head, lowers his head a bit, "some people live a shitty life, in a shitty environment and they can't wait for death. Some even take the leap and kill themselves. Some people just waste their life and wait for death to come itself 'cause it's solace for them." 

You wondered if what Niragi was describing was his life before he met you. He had never really expressed being suicidal or wanting anything with death directly, but you remember his blank, thoughtless look. Like someone who was waiting for time to pass, for each day to come and go without really having anything meaningful in his life. 

"You want me to ramble about this? I could talk about that for hours!" His voice was getting louder, as if he were starting a speech to an imaginary audience. He had his arms spread out as if to prove a point, and he was starting to get so invested in his answer that even the other remaining players were giving each other worried looks as if they were facing a madman. "I say death dos not give life a meaning, especially in this fuckin' world where you sick people entertain themselves by killing us! Is that what you want me to say? You want me to say that our will to live will pop up out of nowhere just because it is threatened? Ha," he started laughing amusingly yet dark and deranged, "You don't have a fuckin' clue about the meaning of anything and neither do I. I just know that life and death are two ends of the same threads." 

"Time's up. The answer is..." Niragi had not finished his monologue, if he could, he would have continued to denounce this anarchy in which you had found yourselves. Maybe it was a way for him to release the pressure, or maybe he had simply decided to scare the remaining players into understanding that their death would mean nothing. That no matter how hard they struggled to survive, the world would be indifferent to their sacrifice. The earth would continue to turn, the birds would continue to sing, and the wind would continue to blow. 

You understood every word Niragi said, and yet there was this sourness in his voice that bothered you. Had he not found the reason for his survival? 

"...successful."

You swallowed hard, concrete proof that Niragi had survived this new trick. You were far too far away to make out the expression on Niragi's face, and it took so much concentration to try to hear every word he said that you were sure you had imagined half of what you heard. 

A three-note ditty was heard, and the robotic voice announced: 

The game is now over.  Congratulations to all the surviving players.  We will now supply you with a lifespan of seven days for your visa.  See you soon.

/////////////////////

I told you real shit was going on now could it be the beginning of niragi's change of behavior I wonder mmh

Stay tuned folks <3

[spotsupstuff]

Everyday I fall in love more and more with Sparrow and Euros.

Love the fact that some inspector will just snatch her for cuddles!

What is your secret girl?!? What is your secret to make a whole Hivemind love you!?!

How did Caper realize that all of him loved Sparrow?( like realizing that every component, every begin that makes him love this beautiful individual that is Three Sparrow on a Wire)

Also, after those 2 years passed after the Rot incident, how was the make up? How was the moment of reconciliation? (Like after all the rockiest parts and all that was left to say was an apology)

biggest cuddle monster in 0g ever..

n don't ask Her!!!! she has no fuckin idea either!! one moment she's working away as usual n the other this giant fuck is gently prying off her wooden golden mask n asking her if he can devote his faith to her. they did NOT ready her for THAT in school

idk if you ever like,,, fell deep in love (pls don't take this the wrong way), but for him it was smth like that. just.... they were talking about something stupid, sitting side by side, shoulders bumping against each other as they laughed and suddenly it hit him somewhere deep- somewhere everywhere- that gods, this person means so much to me i can't even fathom it. despite what i am, i can't grasp it. he didn't really know how to name it at that time, but he knew he wanted to give her his devotion and be there with her as much as possible

oh their reconcilation didn't happen after those two years! that would be killing them both more than the Rot ever could. even though Sparrows was pissed, she still like.. loves him. and all that. she's so angry specifically cuz she loves him. so after she pulled the metaphorical euthanization trigger on the Lab section and got everything sorted with the reparation team, she booked it as fast as she could to the puppet chamber to check on him

at some point before this Boreas was called up and he chewed up Euros for keeping quiet, but the main point really was for *someone* to be there with the kid when a portion of him is just. killed off. so when Sparrows stumbles in Boreas greets her with a nod from the video call projected by his overseer

"how is he? how did he take it?"

"...well.. he *screamed*. then he shoved his puppet into the corner there and clutched at his head. since then he has not moved and barely responded to audial cues."

so she huffs in concern, slowly walks up to him and sits right next to him facing the opposite way, knees pulled up to her chest just like him. Boreas stays, quietly bracing himself in annoyance and exasperation at possibly having to be a mediator. he SUCKS at being a mediator. these kids are gonna be the death of him

thankfully it all proceeds calmly. Sparrows leans against Euros' side n starts explaining in whispers why she yelled and called him names and actually used her Mechanic's privilage when forbidding him from accompanying her ("i... shouldn't have done that. that wasn't fair to you. i'm sorry about that one thing and i'm calling it off."). she's good with kids! babysat and kind of helped raise some of them back home when she was still just a teen, so she knows the best approach is first explaining herself so everything is clean. it's how mom talks with her even now in situations like this. Euros might not be a kid, but he's still very much in his learning stage of life so she'd do good about approaching the situation in as healthy and direct manner as she can. if he learns to solve interpersonal issues from her like this, it would be stellar

he repays her idea in kind and mumbles out his own explanation for keeping quiet about it

"that is the stupidest thing i've ever heard come from your speakers. which says a lot, you can be pretty dumb even on the good days."

"-miserable sigh- ...yeah... i.. see it now. blatantly. ...i'm sorry Sparrows."

she doesn't forgive him. she says she will be probably forever hurt and angry about this until something makes her forget (-glares at the concept of aging-). after all, he betrayed her trust with such a... such a serious thing. when they were meant to be honest and genuine and completely open with each other. but when he snaps to look at her with fear in the eyes as if he wasn't the giant intimidating thing in the sky casting kilometers long shadows, she reassures his that this doesn't mean their relationship is over, they just... gotta rebuild some stuff. and he's the one who has to do most of the job here ("cuz i'll be far too busy rebuilding your Lab Wing, shithead. and also it's all ur fault -lighthearted shoulder nudge-"). the rebuilding is mostly what happens after the repairs are finished, during the court case against Sparrows' capability as an Iterator Mechanic n then afterwards

this conversation is also where Boreas finds quite a good amount of respect for Sparrows as a person. he came in as an elder brother of one and left as an elder brother of two. he ends up playing a pretty key role in the court case n saves her job

[eriquin]

The Prophetic D&D Game, Part 16

Start of the 5th session. Time marches on.

(master post)

Part 16

It felt like the home stretch for Eddie’s third and final senior year. He was determined to graduate this time, and putting all his effort into getting his grades up. Well, almost all his effort. He still spared time for his band, his lucrative sales job, and his two epic Dungeons and Dragons games. The Cult of Vecna was going great, and he expected that they would wrap up the Tales of the Cursed after it was done. But other than that, he was focused. 

He was going over his notes for what to do next with Vecna when Grant tapped him on the shoulder. “Jeff can’t make it today,” he said. “He broke an arch wire and has to go to the orthodontist. Emergency and all.” 

Eddie sighed. “Well, guess I won’t be needing these notes, then,” he said, shoving the Vecna notes into his bag. Grant raised his eyebrows and tried to get a look, but Eddie snapped his fingers in his face and shook his head. “Don’t even try it, Grantham.”

“Just keeping you on your toes, Edwin,” Grant said. “So this means we’re going to find out what happens to Natalia, then?”

“In theory,” Eddie said. He flashed Grant a wicked grin. “I might just kill her off and skip to the next bit of plot.”

Grant pouted. “Don’t be an ass,” he said. “At least give me a chance to save her. It’s been bugging me since the last session.”

“Yeah? You’re enjoying the story, huh?” Eddie shuffled through his notes to make sure he had everything for the Cursed run. “Did you give Jeff something sticky to eat just so he’d break his braces and we’d get to play?”

“No, but I was thinking about it,” Grant said. “We need more hours in the day, man. I want to know what happens with the cult, too.”

“Here, here,” Eddie said. He produced his Cursed notes and rearranged his stuff before heading to the drama room. Grant followed him. “Oh, did you pick up the new Metallica album? I have been listening to it over and over since I got it. It’s mind blowing.”

The rest of the club was running late, and Eddie and Grant got the whole table set up before anyone else showed. Gareth was the first of them to arrive, and he looked confused when he saw the layout that Eddie had put on the battlemap. He quickly figured out that they were playing the Cursed, and rubbed his hands together in excitement. He and Grant started discussing theories about the demon and how Natalia had ended up cursed. Eddie sat back and kept his face neutral as he listened in. 

The three freshmen arrived together, arguing about something science related. They dropped it almost as soon as they got in the room and saw Eddie holding up their character sheets. Lucas let out a whoop. He had clearly missed playing Sadie. 

As they settled down to play the game, Eddie gave them a quick recap of what had happened so far. It hadn’t been that long, but it was useful to set the stage and get back into character. “So now that you’re all ready to escape the demon realm, Natalia has frozen and gone into a trance. Before I take Grant aside and tell him what’s going on in his character’s head, what are you all doing?”

“We need music, right? Do any of us know her favorite song?” Gareth asked. 

Dustin leaned forward. “We’re in Quinn’s house, right? He’s a bard. He probably has plenty of music and instruments around. Either he or I should be able to play something for her.”

“Yeah, sure, but that doesn’t tell us what song to play,” Gareth said. “Mike, wouldn’t Joe know her favorite song?” 

Mike snapped his fingers. “Yeah! Sure, definitely.” He looked at Eddie.

Eddie shrugged. “I don’t know, man. You guys broke up a long time ago. Maybe it was for a good reason.” He held his hands out helplessly. “Make me a good intelligence check there, sparky.”

Mike picked up his die and blew on it for luck. He rolled, and got a pathetically bad number. Everyone groaned and started yelling at Mike, who complained about his dice hating him. 

Eddie stood and leaned over the table to look at them all, waiting until they quieted down. “Grant, I think it’s time you and I adjourned to my office. Shall we?” 

His office was the corner of the drama room, behind a folding screen. Grant brought his dice. He ran through a scenario of Natalia witnessing a young family moving into a sprawling mansion from the point of view of the only son. Grant quickly figured out that this was the Englund mansion that they’d explored, and the boy was the dead son. Grant was great for this, because he loved to sit and gather information before acting. He had Natalia watch as the young boy narrated the events of his life, and developed a twisted set of powers. It quickly became clear that he was responsible for his family’s deaths, and that his father had been unjustly blamed. He showed Natalia the way he had been made into a pawn for the wizard’s guild, just like their psychic sorceress friend. 

“Still as a young boy, he is confined to a chair and imbued with a mystical tattoo. It looks much like Millie’s, but while hers a lambda, his is an alpha,” Eddie said. 

“The first one,” Grant said. 

“Indeed. He was the first psychic they found, and because of him, they started looking for more. But he was just biding his time, and they could not control him.”

“Oh, damn,” Grant said. He grabbed his dice. “Okay, I need to get the hell out of here. Can I run?” 

“You can try.”

They went through a short combat, and Natalia ended up with psychic damage, but ultimately, the villain let her go. “He tells you to tell Millie that he’s coming for her, and that he’ll see her again soon,” Eddie said, clapping his hand on Grant’s shoulder. “Now, let’s go let the rest of them know that you survived.”

Taglist: @weirdandabsurd42, @10moonymhrivertam, @blueskiesandstarrynights

[glorious-spoon]

the jester stole his thorny crown [9-1-1 | Chim & Buck | 1/1]

Rating: Teen Wordcount: 1100 Warnings: Coma, Near-death Other tags: Hurt/comfort, Survivor’s guilt Summary: Chim delivers Buck into the doctors’ hands, and there’s nothing else to do but wait.

On AO3

“It should have been me.”

Chim isn’t even aware of speaking until the words are already out of his mouth, echoing strangely in the noisy ER.

“No,” Eddie says tightly. His arm is heavy around Chim’s shoulders and his expression is twisted up like he’s trying to bite back something terrible, but he shakes his head anyway. “No, it shouldn’t.”

“It was supposed to be me,” Chim repeats numbly. “I was supposed to be the one up the ladder, I was going to be—”

Eddie knows this, of course. He was right there, clipping Buck’s line with that dumb fucking cowboy joke, Buck’s brilliant smile, Come on, Chim, it’s me, I’m always keeping track.

Those might be the last words Buck ever says to him. Might be the last words Buck ever says to anyone.

“It wasn’t supposed to be anybody,” Eddie snaps, but he doesn’t let go of Chim as Bobby pulls him in from the other side, as Hen crashes into them. She’s crying. Chim can’t tell if Eddie or Bobby are, as drenched as they all are from the downpour. His own eyes are as aching and dry as they were on that rooftop more than ten years ago when he watched Kevin vanish forever into a sheet of flame.

This isn’t the same. Buck’s heart was beating when they passed him into the doctors’ hands. Chim broke three of his ribs doing chest compressions in the ambulance to no avail, but his heart was beating when they took him away, so right now, until further notice, he’s fucking alive.

They linger like ghosts in the cramped waiting room, waiting and hoping and dreading to hear more. Bobby’s got his hands clasped, his eyes closed, his lips moving in a silent prayer; Hen is staring blankly at the far wall, her cheeks wet but her eyes dry. Eddie is hunched over in a corner with his forehead resting on his closed fists, praying or crying or just avoiding everyone’s eyes, it’s not clear which.

Chim knows his job here. Like he’s always telling Hen, he’s the comic relief. He’s the one who grabs coffee, cracks a joke, makes everybody feel a little bit better. He wants to do it now. He wants to be that guy. He just can’t. It feels like his jaw has been wired shut. He can’t shake himself loose from the memory of Buck’s cold, wet skin beneath the heels of his hands, the horrible crack of bone. Buck making cocky jokes at the base of the ladder. Buck hanging like a rag doll in his harness, haloed in the floodlights and the pouring rain.

He still hasn’t managed to make himself sit down by the time the doctor comes in some interminable time later. “Family of Evan Buckley?”

Eddie surges to his feet first, but Hen and Bobby are right behind him. They crowd together, shoulder to shoulder, like that’ll brace them against the news. Hen squeezes his hand tightly. On his other side, Eddie is pressed close enough that Chim can feel him trembling.

The doctor glances at the tablet in her hand, then back at them with an expression of practiced calm that they all know from the inside, from dealing with desperate families on the job. Chim briefly imagines the sight they must all make, wild-eyed and soaked to the bone in their smoke-smelling turnouts, but he can’t bring himself to care.

Bobby, of course, is the one who finds the courage to speak. “How is he?”

“He’s been placed in a medically induced coma. He’s stable for now, and we should know more within the next twenty-four hours.”

It’s—something. Better than his worst imaginings, at least, but Chim didn’t realize until right now how much he was hoping to hear that Buck came around, that he’s sitting up in his hospital bed right now cracking jokes and flirting with the nurses, that they’ll be able to see him and hug him and yell at him for scaring them so damn much.

That they’ll be able to bring him home.

“I see,” Bobby says, with admirable calm. “Thank you.”

The doctor offers them a tired smile. “There are some things I’ll need to discuss with his healthcare proxy. I have an Edmundo Diaz listed here?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says roughly. He doesn’t sound surprised. Chim wonders if Buck actually asked him about this, or if it was another one of the many, many things that those two never talked to each other about. “Yeah, I’m—yeah. That’s me.”

“Mr. Diaz, I’m Dr. Hakeem. If you could step over this way with me…”

She draws Eddie away with a gentle hand on his elbow, lowering her voice. Chim could probably overhear what they’re saying if he tried—can probably guess for himself, quite honestly—but his entire head feels like it’s been taken over by static.

Buck’s heart stopped. Buck’s alive, but he’s in a coma. His heart stopped, but he’s not dead, not yet. He exists right now within an unspeakable liminal space. Schrodinger’s brother, Chim thinks, and almost chokes on a laugh even though it’s the furthest thing from funny. He wonders if this was how Hen felt when she was tied to a chair and watching him flatline under Jonah’s hands. This hollow, helpless dread.

“I—I have to call Karen,” Hen says finally, and sinks into a chair like her bones have collapsed, fumbling for her phone.

“Maddie,” Chim says out loud. The hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach grows teeth. She’ll be sleeping right now. He can’t wake her up to tell her—

He has to tell her.

“I can call her,” Bobby says gently, because Bobby has never met a weight that he was unwilling to shoulder. But Chim shakes his head. This one is his.

“Thanks, Cap, but I got this.”

Bobby squeezes his shoulder and lets him go, and Chim retreats into a corner to dig his phone out. His hands are shaking so badly that it takes him three tries to unlock it, and then he stares at Maddie’s contact for so long that his screen goes dark.

He has not got this.

Before he can let himself think about it anymore, he unlocks his phone again and hits ‘call’, then presses it to his ear as it begins to ring. Maddie will be sleeping now, but she keeps her phone on, and it’s set to always let his calls through, for—well, for exactly this reason.

He never calls this late. She’ll know right away that something’s wrong.

Sure enough, Maddie answers on the second ring.

“Chimney?” she asks, and he can already hear the banked fear in her voice, just in those syllables. He’d give anything right now to be able to soothe it.

“Maddie. You need to get Jee-yun and come down to Cedars-Sinai right now.” It comes out terribly steady. Maddie lets out a strangled little noise, a sob. Chim takes another breath. His lungs expand. His heart beats. He feels very distant from it all. “It’s Buck. There’s been an accident.”

[smilesconceptssydney]

Feeling self-conscious about braces? Consider Invisalign! - Smile Concepts

Invisalign Braces (New and Improved),Invisible Braces Cost | Smile Concepts

Are you considering to improve and straigthen your teeth? Consider Inivsalign treatment at Smile Concepts with a reasonable and affordable Invisalign cost.

Smile Concepts is committed to provide their patients a beautiful smile through their clear braces treatment at a reasonable clear braces cost.

Invisalign at Smile Concepts offers a clear, comfortable alternative to braces. Perfect for our Sydney CBD clientele seeking discreet teeth straightening. Enjoy a smile transformation without the metal look. Say hello to book an appointment.

What are Invisalign Braces?

Invisalign is the best way to straighten your teeth without having to live with the “metal mouth” look of traditional braces.

That’s because Invisalign is a series of clear, removable, plastic aligners that are custom-made for your teeth.

As a result, Invisalign is kind of like invisible braces. It’s also virtually clear, so most people around you probably won’t even notice you’re wearing it.

Even better, it’s comfortable— without wires & brackets that could irritate your mouth.

Invisalign Sydney braces aligners are made just for you with advanced 3-D computerized technology.

Furthermore, your clear aligners are CUSTOM-MADE for YOUR teeth, and only your teeth.

Eventually, little by little, and over a time determined between you and your dentist, your teeth will gently move to create the smile you’ve always wanted.

Above all, Invisalign Sydney cost is now more than affordable.  With the payment plans we offer, you can choose to pay over the period of your treatment rather than upfront.

Is Invisalign in Sydney Treatment Right For You?

The simple answer is…most probably. Invisalign works for many, but not all cases.

Therefore we will assess your teeth and tell you if it will work for you.

Certain conditions like teeth that are intruded (need to be brought downwards), are very difficult to move.​

If your lower teeth are fan shaped in alignment then also it becomes quite difficult to treat and take a longer time.

As a result, let us assess you first so we can advise the right treatment course for you.

Consequently we can then also let you the Invisalign cost for your individual treatment.

Clear Braces Sydney (New Style), Invisible Braces Cost - Smile Concepts

Smile Concepts is committed to provide their patients a beautiful smile through their clear braces treatment at a reasonable clear braces cost

Are Clear Braces invisible?

Yes, they are relatively invisible and do exist and are quite common.

Though they still can be seen as braces, you don’t see the metal colour of normal braces.

There are many adults that live their life in shame of their teeth, yet they refuse to even think about getting braces to fix them.

Most people believe that metal braces are still the only option available, but they have not been since the development of braces that are invisible several years ago.

Should I get clear braces or metal braces?

You may be wondering: which braces suit me best? When you visit us for your consultation, you’ll have the choice of three different types of braces: traditional metal braces, Damon braces (much smaller version of the metal braces) or clear ceramic braces that are relatively invisible.

Clear ceramic braces are a very popular option as they are made of ceramic and tooth-coloured brackets to make the braces less visible. 

Your choice of braces is personal, each type of braces involves different cost,  length of time you will have to wear them, appearance and effect.

Clear Ceramic Braces

Ceramic clear braces are great for patients who want to feel good about the look of their teeth without having to worry about them in social situations.

The ceramic brackets of clear braces are created out of a tooth-coloured material to blend in from a distance. They can be seen upon close inspection.

Ceramic braces that are relatively invisible, cost more than traditional braces, but only by a fairly small amount.

The disadvantage compared to metal braces is that the materials used in ceramic braces are a bit weaker than metal braces.

They do provide the same effect though there is just a larger chance that they will come loose.

Be sure to avoid foods that are chewy or hard in order to avoid this.

Invisalign

Invisalign is completely clear and unnoticeable even from a short distance away.

They are more comfortable than both metal braces and ceramic clear braces and do not break easily.

In fact, you don’t even have to worry about them when eating because you are able to remove them at will.

The expected downside to these clear braces that are invisible is that they cost the most out of all the options available.

People with severe misalignment, malocclusion, or overcrowding may not qualify for them as well.

An initial examination is needed to find out for sure.

Lingual Braces

Lingual braces is not necessarily invisible, but they do remain out of sight.

Unlike standard metal braces, these are inserted on the backside of the teeth instead of the front.

They can be a bit uncomfortable for the tongue at first, but after a week or two of wearing them you won’t even notice this problem anymore. Even though they are not clear braces, they are affordable braces that are invisible.

Costs vary for this choice based on the number of teeth we are treating.

Examples include incognito braces and STb social six.

[dallasareaopinion]

That word better is a bit generalized, but what is the follow up

And that is difficult to find or define. Better can be taken out of context, but it is not just a generalized term, it is also subject to individual interpretations. What I think is better is completely different from what you think is better.

And then for me to say that society needs to make it “better” is just another monsterous context problem that you as the reader cannot make heads or tails.

So lets switch gears and not define better, but try and find out why we cannot make our society or government better. And there is actually some context for this thought.

It is hard to make something better if you have no control to make your own life better. And for our own society or government to be better we need the personal ability to make our lives better, but yet again if our society or government were better then it would be easier to make our lives better and the circular philosophy begins. So lets take a quote completely out of context to see what we can do.

One of the many complaints I have had over the years is the decline of the middle class in our society. And there are many reasons for this, but I recently came across a different perspective than I normally read.

I have been reading a book called The Myth of Normal by Gabor Mate, MD with Daniel Mate.(not finished yet) This book deals mainly with how trauma affects our lives and more specifically our health. The bottom of the cover has this blurb: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture. And this is important because it is this (or a) toxic culture that prevent us from being better. And if you throw in that people have experienced trauma that affects their lives, and the book goes into great detail about this aspect, you get an idea of why better is more difficult than we would like it to be. 

So it brings me Chapter 19″From Society to Cell: Uncertainty, Conflict, and Loss of Control. 

“We know that chronic stress, whatever its source, puts the nervous system on edge, distorts the hormonal apparatus, impairs immunity……..” and goes on to start to tie in the stress affecting us individually affects us as a society. And that leads to page 214 (there are footnotes in his book that you are not included in this text).

“Many people exist at the mercy of forces completely beyond their power to affect let along control. Who knows when the next cyclic recession will strike or when yet another megabusiness will downsize, merge or relocate so that livelihoods are jeopardized with barely a day’s notice. Even prior to COVID-19′s economic ravages, one had become almost inured to news that yet another corporation was declaring masses of employees redundant “High Street Crisis Deepens as 3,150 Staff Lose Jobs in One Week” was a headline in the Guardian in January 2020 a few weeks before the pandemic arrived in Britain” (and currently we can add the AI headlines to adding to our job stresses, my note). “Only months earlier, the New York Times had reported on the deepening insecurity of American families: “The cost of housing, health care and education are consuming ever larger shares of household budgets and have risen faster than incomes. Today’s middle class families are working longer, managing new kinds of stress and shouldering greater financial risks than previous generations did. (13) As the famed anthropologist, researcher and author Wade Davis remarked recently in a broadly circulated Rolling Stone piece, “Though living in a nation that celebrates itself as the wealthiest in history, most Americans live on a high wire, with no safety net to brace a fall(14).  A better blueprint for allostatic overload could not be imagined.” 

So what do this mean to achieving better, interestingly this goes back to my attempt at humor with the circular statement above. In my opinion the three most important aspects of having a successful middle class are the three items mentioned in the New York Times piece from the book. Having good housing, health care and education are the foundations for families to feel secure and then be able to grow. You have heard it many times the backbone of a democracy is a strong middle class and to have a strong middle class you need housing and health care security, then education to grow as a person and be able to contribute even more. If the middle class is struggling with all three then the middle class struggles to be better hence they cannot contribute to the larger better of society. So to make the middle class better hence our country better or our government better, we need to make ourselves better, but here comes the circle, we need the government to be better so we have access or have the ability to access better housing, healthcare and education. 

This blurb from the book is out of context from the whole of the book, yet it helps me to explain some of the challenges we face when I say we need to make things better. 

Like I mentioned I have not read the whole book and there are some aspects of it from talking to others who have finished it that I would not condone, but overall if we are experiencing events that create a sense of trauma in us, (better explained in the book) then how can we go forth as a well rounded human being to overcome what ails us to become better. The book references this as a concern for our overall health, but in the chapter 19 it touches on more of what I pratter on about which is the health of our society or any society for that matter.  

How can I ask you as a fellow citizen to help us make this country better, when we are all affected by traumatic events in our lives that negatively effect how we perceive what is better. A hungry person sees a meal as better, a rich person sees more wealth as better, but for the vast majority of us, what should be our basics in having a strong society have been lost over the years or why I say the middle class is declining. Unfortunately I am not so well read that I have references handy to back me up, however I do feel confident that this topic has voluminous works that would validate some of my points.

I do like this book because it is an interesting read, but also because it hit on something I feel is lost today from a completely different viewpoint. Sure one paragraph on page 214 is not the whole answer, but it alludes to exactly what all of the middle class is feeling right now which is this feeling that something has been taken away from us that we are having a hard time identifying. And if we cannot identify or put our finger on it, we cannot define what would be better. 

Which leads me to say, we need new leadership (new parties) to stop the circular philosophical problem above and help us identify what is needed for better housing, healthcare and education and subsequently help us get there.

Cheers

[guidelign1]

Are You Planning to Choose Invisible Braces?

Whether you've pondered teeth alignment, you've usually deemed invisible braces, as clear braces offer a number of advantages over regular Metal Braces. But what exactly are these benefits, and why would some people choose not to wear invisible braces with all of the advantages?]

The first benefit that most people consider is that invisible braces for teeth are nearly invisible. Conventional braces are unmistakable even from a range, and so many people are self-conscious about having metal wire braces. Conventional braces provide relatively little in regards of a pleasant appearance, thus for so many people, the single most important factor to consider when deciding between metal braces & invisible braces seems to be the overall look during the time, they are obliged to use a brace.

Yet, this keeps bringing up another explanation why many individuals choose Invisible Braces Price in India like those made by Guidelign. Since wearing traditional braces is a commitment that must be maintained over many years. Depending on the level of alignment required, the procedure of teeth utilizing metal braces might take anywhere from two to four years. Clearly, this is a huge commitment, and it was not made lightly.

Guidelign Invisible braces, on the other hand, are not just clear, but accomplish the same final result in a considerably shorter period of time of around 6 to 8 months. Instead of wearing braces for years, the whole process is frequently completed within a couple of months. For several people, the real benefit is Invisible Braces Cost in India and these are completely undetectable, and many others decide that transparent braces are the best pick for them just because the entire system requires so little time. 

While I claim that standard braces & invisible braces produce the same outcome, this isn't totally correct. In fact, accuracy is critical here, because, unlike traditional metal braces, which promote teeth to shift into a new place almost entirely based on the doctor's intuition as well as supposition,guidelign teeth aligners are created by computer software by an orthodontist, in accordance with a pretty advanced three-dimensional virtual reality concept of the teeth, both during and after the process. It implies that the eventual result is much more precisely known, eradicating the element of uncertainty from the process.

One more advantage, and one element that many individuals believe helps them make a final decision, is that invisible braces could be eliminated at any moment. Most of the wire or metal braces are set in place semi-permanently, which means the wearer cannot release the braces themselves. Invisible braces or Transparent Braces Price in India is nominal and it can be simply removed at any moment, giving the wearer a level of independence and flexibility.

Hence, if a significant photograph is being taken, like a marriage, school portrait, graduation shot, or other major event, the aligners are invisible andso they are not really a permanent thing for posterity. Likewise, being capable of removing transparent braces might make all the difference while eating particular foods or just cleaning teeth adequately.