#I really need to learn to edit

[hiddenbysuccubi]

2000 Lover, you were gone so long Lover, I was lonesome Spike bumped into her at the Bronze. Buffy, that is. The chit - Joan - had been gone for a bit. He still found this encounter a bit odd. He hadn't given up the game of his chip being gone, so that wasn't what was off. It was maybe how nonchalant or discombobulated the blonde slayer seemed to be. "You don't have to worry about me drinking." he offered sarcastically, "'less you're here to protect innocent beers." Correct timeline went a little shit after that, but. After all Buffy had never been the one in that scene. So Older Buffy - Joan, didn't know what to say next. Her eyes just lingered on the beer a little too long.

Low, keep your head, keep your head- Harbor me

----

Joan was disgruntled and trying not to throw up as she was thrust back in time, more so than every time before. She delicately dodged her own worries and put up a stoic front, but she couldn't help but crave release. Her answer came in the dingy reflection of the bronze's bathroom mirror. Faith had- but Faith was. What? In Jail? Dead? Hospital.... Joan groaned, not caring what fate had put her into her younger body for this time jump. She realized faintly that it hadn't been her in her body in this time in the first place. Felt like uncanny and all kinds of wiggins. ---- Joan grabbed the beer from Spike. "So what if I am?" She countered lamely after swallowing. "Be doing you a world of good if I did." And, she reveled in his little slack-jawed moment. She stretched in her younger form and felt the power within her muscles and the strength of her will as she harmlessly put her arms behind her back and leaned towards the vampire. Hers. Then, forever. But not, he'd.... 'but thanks for saying it....' "Spike..." Was all she said as she relaxed, a bit lost. Her head pounding, temples bulging, eyes strained, shoulders tight.... "You know why I really hate you, Summers?" He spat back, in defense. She could see that, all vulnerable and spitting like a cat with its back arched and fur high. Joan preened, smile all teeth after years- years of self hatred and self blame, just aching for his answer. "Because I wound you? Reject you? Because I'm everything and nothing that you need while being everything you want?" she prodded. Spike looked abashed. "Well, yeah, that covers a... lot of it." He conceded. Joan was too hurt and after having finished a drink abandoned on a table... a little too tipsy. "Yeah and, oblivious and prejudiced and self absorbed, that about sum it up? What If I said I love you?" Spike blanched. Pushing her away in the face of his feelings because... this was wrong. Everything was wrong. "No you-" he barely got out before she socked him in the mouth.

He watched as the young, blonde slayer in front of him teared up and fled. "No, I didn't. Not yet. But I had to say it." She whispered as she ran. 'No, you don't. But thanks for saying it.' he thought, unbidden. More prominently he thought 'Joan?'... before shaking all thoughts away and stomping out of the Bronze. Hey, little songbird, let me guess He's some kind of poet and he's penniless?

[tyttetardis]

Finally managed to record a bit of David at curtain call 😍

Brilliant seeing this incredible production once again - and getting to see what's different and what isn't 🥹🥰

(Please don't repost ☺️)

[artkaninchenbau]

For the record, I did figure that out a long time ago, it just gets funnier the more time passes

[romanceddawn]

Puzzleshipping: "You gave me your heart, you know..." [Insp.]

❕ Please do not repost to any other sites ❕

[collophora]

Batcher best girl

[seagull-scribbles]

“Ain’t turtles supposed to be endangered?”

“Only the ones who can’t do this!”

[viperwhispered]

Too Hard

Woop part 2 of the trip inside Jamil's head. Part 1 here.

The next time Jamil caught sight of you on campus, his first instinct was to turn around on his heel.

What a stupid thought to have because of you.

Besides, that would only make him more conspicuous, not less.

So, when your eyes met his, Jamil gave you a short nod in greeting. He would’ve left it at that and kept on his way, had you not walked up to him.

“Hi Jamil! How’s it going?” you said with that impossibly disarming smile of yours.

Why was it so difficult to look at you like he normally would? You had no right to make him feel so stiff, so unnatural.

On autopilot, Jamil exchanged a few pleasantries with you - those lessons from his parents had been instilled too deep in him for him to falter too badly in a simple exchange such as this. Still, Jamil quickly excused himself by telling you he still had to find Kalim before his next class.

Jamil didn’t miss the way your smile faltered. Had you hoped to get something out of him?

“Oh, okay. I’ll see you two later, then.”

Something about that irked him, though Jamil did not allow himself to dwell on it further.

His heart really had no business still racing as it did when he walked away, unaware of the frown on his face.

Just act normal. That’s all he needed to do.

After all, he had no time for dwelling in silly fancies.

If Jamil had been acutely aware of you before, it only seemed to worsen now that he was making a conscious effort to not act any differently with you. In fact, the harder he tried to keep you out, the more you invaded his thoughts, unsettling him.

The most innocuous words from you looped in his mind, and even the simplest actions caught his eye. For goodness's sake, he’d found himself staring at you while you were queueing up in the cafeteria the other day, not even doing anything other than standing around and looking bored!

For once, Jamil found himself grateful for all his duties. At least they provided him with something else to occupy himself with.

After all, if he was busy enough, it was difficult to think about those bright eyes of yours, your sweet laugh, or the way you bit your lip while thinking.

Still, sometimes it felt like no matter which way he turned, you were there, ready to throw him off-kilter. Not like it was his fault that often the most convenient route to class intersected with your daily routines. Or that your face seemed to jump out from any crowd, catching his attention.

Which certainly did not help his basketball performance. Jamil certainly did not recall you having such an interest in sports before, yet suddenly you were always there, distracting him. What had changed?

Could you possibly-

Jamil scoffed to himself, forcing his thoughts back on track for the nth time that day.

He picked up the tray of food and started taking it to Kalim. After dinner, he’d need to help Kalim with his homework, there were some housewarden tasks that would need dealing with, not to mention the preparations for the next-

Jamil froze in his tracks.

The voice he heard was quiet, but it was unmistakably you.

Really, it should not have come as such a surprise to him. You had become a rather frequent visitor to Scarabia, and Kalim often invited you to stay for meals. In fact, Jamil had started planning the dorm’s meal prep with your tastes and dietary restrictions in mind, just in case.

Jamil rounded the corner with strange exhilaration, his heart fluttering needlessly.

Yet, his mood evaporated when he saw you.

Why did you stop talking and look so guilty as soon as you caught sight of Jamil?

Jamil knew that look you gave to Kalim, had used it himself a thousand times. The one telling Kalim to keep quiet about something.

What could there possibly be that you would be comfortable sharing with Kalim, but not with him? That would give Kalim reason to sit so close to you, a comforting hand on your shoulder?

Jamil's mind raced with possibilities, yet could not settle for any single explanation.

He’d have to ask Kalim about it later.

Jamil gave you a short, polite greeting, his eyes lingering on you in an attempt to read what you were hiding.

“If I’d known you were coming over, I would’ve prepared something for you to eat as well,” Jamil said, already thinking about which parts of the dorm’s dinner to spruce up for you.

“Oh, no need, just figured I’d pop by. I’ll get out of your hair soon enough,” you said, something sheepish about your expression.

As expected, Kalim asked you to stay and dine with them, and with just a bit more persuasion you agreed - though not before telling Jamil that he should join you too and have himself a breather.

And since Kalim agreed with you, Jamil soon found himself sharing a meal with you and Kalim. Yet, even as he sat down with the food, his mind raced.

Had you been getting particularly close to Kalim lately? But surely Jamil would’ve noticed such a thing. Maybe someone from the dorm had been giving you trouble? But if that was the case, then surely you could let Jamil know about it, too. Unless for some reason you did not want to? But if it was something that concerned Kalim, then sooner or later it was bound to concern Jamil, too.

All the while, Kalim was talking to you about this and that, the latest topic being the animals kept on the Asim estate.

“I’ve got some pictures, let me show you!” Kalim said with an excited grin.

Only, a thorough patting of his pockets and a look around confirmed that Kalim’s phone was nowhere to be seen.

Jamil pinched the bridge of his nose. Where had Kalim left it this time?

Before Jamil even had the chance to say that he would handle it, Kalim sprinted off. Jamil hesitated for a moment, automatically halfway up from his seat, before he decided that leaving a guest unattended would be a worse offense than not helping out his master.

Jamil slumped back down with a sigh, mentally tracing the path Kalim took today, trying to recall the last time he saw Kalim handle his phone.

“Breathe. He’ll manage,” you said. There was the faintest of smiles on your lips, and Jamil could not decide if it was knowing or amused. Perhaps both.

Somehow, despite his frustration, Jamil’s own lips wanted to curl up too.

“Hmm. Maybe he will.”

Sure, Jamil could’ve called Kalim’s phone, to make it easier to find, but it was not that urgent, was it?

Jamil took another bite of his food, keeping an eye on you from the corner of his eye.

How was his mind so empty and so buzzing at the same time?

“You know-”

“So-”

You looked at each other, both just as surprised that the other had spoken up at the same time.

Even your surprised look was so-

“You first,” Jamil said. The way you bit your lip... Jamil had to raise a cup to his lips, slowly sipping his drink.

“Just… Feels like it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you be still, you know. Or exchanged more than two words with you,” you said. You were attempting a light, joking tone, yet it was quite clear there was more to it.

“You say that like it would be unusual for me to be busy.”

He was not prepared for the way your soft sigh tugged at his heartstrings.

“No. It is not.”

You were both quiet after, poking at your meals. Normally, Jamil would’ve cherished such a moment of peace, yet this particular silence between you two was decidedly awkward.

Where was your usual chatter? Why weren’t you looking at him like you usually did?

“If you’re worried about me, don’t. I’m fine,” Jamil said, some softness creeping into his tone despite his best intentions.

“That's what Kalim said too,” you said. Yet the way you looked at Jamil made it clear you were still skeptical.

Wait.

Had you clammed up earlier because it had been Jamil you had been talking about with Kalim? That Kalim had comforted you about?

The thought twisted his stomach into knots.

Eta: you can find part 3 here, part 4 here, and finally part 5 here. Hasdhfsdf the way I fought with that last scene I swear. I don't even want to know how many versions I went through, trying to figure out how to say what I wanted without rubbing it into your face or making it too veiled. The joys of trying to convey things through a limited pov. Hopefully it came out reasonably balanced in the end. Rip to all those sentences that were lovely on their own but didn’t work for the whole. Hopefully I can rehome y’all one day. I do have thoughts for part 3 and part x (might be some chapters between those two as well, who knows at this point), so maybe we'll see those at some point, too. Tag list: @colliope @crystallizsch @diodellet @jamilsimpno69 @jamilvapologist @twstgo If you'd like to be tagged for future works, let me know! (Just be aware that sometimes I do also write nsfw, though you can certainly ask to be tagged only for particular kinds of works.)

[aliusfrater]

related to nick's post. you can't even make this stuff up

[edains]

Mass Effect Legendary Edition / Francesca, Hozier: Ashley Williams & Kaidan Alenko for @deannastrois (insp)

Ashley Consistency Project

Ashley's Guardian Armory

Alliance Uniform Consistency

Ashley's Armor

Ashley's Hair

Ashley's LE3 Armors

Ashley's armor texture

Kaidan Alenko Overhaul

Kaidan Alenko's Andromeda Armory

Kaidan's LE3 Armors

Play as Padme Amidala

[hello-eeveev]

gotta talk about this very excellent, very frustrating character moment from Phineas:

He knows if he can get the girl, then her father will talk. He can use her as leverage.

The thought is only half-formed in his mind. He can't give himself time to think this all the way through, he just has to act.

And he can't let Spahr SAY it... he will not give Spahr the TIME to tell him that he has failed.

because Jonas—the man whose opinion Phineas is SO WORRIED ABOUT ALL THE TIME—just chewed him out for this exact behavior!! called him an “impulsive fucking idiot” for it!!! and then we’re immediately told that despite—and because of—his all-consuming need for Jonas’s approval, he doesn’t allow himself to hear any of that or consider it at all. he doesn’t even let himself think about his next action beyond his initial feeling that this one will make him not a failure. so he just… does it again! he is so obsessed with Spahr’s approval specifically that he blinds himself to literally everything else—including Spahr himself!

my guy… you’ve based your entire moral compass on what you think this guy thinks of you, and look where it led you. you got so insecure that you weren’t as cool in front of him as you thought you should be that you lost control of yourself and nearly killed a man. you became so afraid of being told that you had failed in his eyes that you ran headlong into your idea of a solution, only to find yourself left behind—by him and the organization that taught you to feel this way. and because you’ve replaced all sense of self with desperation for their approval, you are now left with nothing!

buddy, that ain’t healthy!! forget jonas, the biggest person you’ve failed is yourself!!!

[daggery]

👑✨

[emberglowfox]

closing time

[juvian]

Detective Pikachu returns - A plan that transcends time chapter (5) (2023)

[front-facing-pokemon]

[independent-fics]

The Leverage OT3 in Every Episode

Leverage (2008-2012)

01x10 The Juror #6 Job

[everymeloneveryday]

chapter 167 page 13