#I've never really done anything like this for 'Friends'

[sagekjs21]

1. There are only three TV shows that I care about at all anymore: The Chosen, When Calls the Heart, and Heartland. They really don't overlap much, so I don't really have a backlog of TV that I need to watch. When these three shows are completed, I am very unlikely to pick up any new shows at all, I have pretty much lost all interest in TV other than these three shows. 

2. I don't have a favorite pair. 

3. Yes, of all different sorts. When I make my own, I always add spinach or kale because if you blend it properly you can't even taste it and it just packs the smoothie full of vitamins and nutrients. 

4. My order of preference would be dress pants first and foremost, a skirt is tolerable, and I try to avoid dresses like the plague. If I have to though I will. I literally own one dress and one skirt. 

5. In an omelette with cheese, different types of breakfast meats, and different combinations of vegetables depending upon my mood. For just plain eggs though, I prefer them scrambled with a bunch of pepper. 

6. Whatever is handy: a bookmark, a receipt, a random piece of junk mail, anything really. I don't dog ear the pages though. 

7. I've got a fairly decent mixture. I prefer black, blue, red, and white, but as far as I know the only color missing is pink and it's going to stay that way lol. 

8. No. I used to, I used to collect all kinds of things. But I've moved around enough times in my life to know that holding onto stuff is not something that I am suited for. I'm not a true minimalist, but I don't like collecting a bunch of stuff either. 

9. A cat purring, running water, birds, a music box, the perfume my grandmother used to wear, vanilla, coconut, the perfume that I wear most often

10. No opinion

11. I wear sunglasses outside and in brightly lit rooms/buildings.

12.  I've got two best friends, and I love their enthusiasm. Both of them, when they get on a topic that they love or get an idea that they're excited about, they're like little kids. 😊 @titaniumpeony @pinestripe37 ❤️

13. If I have to write by hand, pen, but I much prefer to type. 

14. Really only at my church, my current home, and the house that my grandmother used to live in which I will probably never visit again. 

15. Not applicable 

16. Also not applicable. I don't think I've owned a hoodie since around 2012. Not really my style. Not feminine enough. 

17. Food on DoorDash lol. As to which restaurant, I honestly can't remember. 

18. Lots of biblical things, particularly the good ones surrounding Jesus. 

19. Not applicable 

20. I'm good at the basics, I'm good at algebra, I'm good at geometry, and I'm good at trigonometry. I have never done calculus and so I have no idea what my skill set is there, and the only math I ever struggled with was statistics but I still managed to get an a. Barely. 

21. Definitely not applicable lol. 

22. Usually iced unless it is very very cold outside. 

23. Anything that comes up that I know the lyrics to and enjoy. 

24. Of course I am! I am seriously the best driver that anyone would ever meet. 😊 For anyone reading this that doesn't know, I'm partially blind and legally am unable to drive ever. 

25. Just the average pierced ears, and I don't want any other piercings and definitely no tattoos. 

26. Both! I've got a lot of different stuff that I think is good and a lot of people compliment me on. Probably my spaghetti sauce would be one of the top things. I can make pretty much anything though and have fun tweaking and playing around with a lot of ingredients and recipes. 

27. Just one. And honestly I can't even think of what it is lol. I know it has to do with the state of Arizona and it's some kind of picture but that's all I can remember. 😊 

28. I would consider myself an intermediate swimmer. I know more than just the basics, I know a few different strokes, I took lessons for either six or seven years quite a while ago. However I'm not exceptionally fit and so speed would definitely be my downfall and I don't know anything advanced. 

29. I had a very basic set when I was very little, and when I was maybe 12 or 13 one of my friends had a bit of a more complex set but it didn't really have a theme. 

30. Yes, from left to right: tank tops, short sleeve shirts, three-quarter sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweaters that act as shirts, pants, my skirt, jackets/sweaters. My dress is in a different closet as are my extra pairs of shoes. 

31. I have absolutely no idea. Probably one of the songs that @pinestripe37 sent me about Psalm 23. 

32. I wouldn't. 

33. Earbuds 

34. Of course. 

35. It's a black and white cat that @pinestripe37 gave me for my last birthday. 

36. I'm not really good at many of them because they generally contain a lot of visual aspects, but I do have fun playing at arcades. Haven't done that in years and now I kind of want to lol. 

37. I prefer it. It gives me someone to talk to and if they want to help out they can and if not that's OK too. 

38. I don't have any secret TV shows or musicians that I like that I'm too embarrassed to tell people about. I mean really, I don't care. My music taste very eclectic, I still like the Backstreet Boys and a few songs from the Spice Girls and I really don't mind admitting that at all lol. If people are going to judge me based on that I probably don't want them in my life anyway. 

39. Receiving a bunch of very useful information from God. But a lot of good stuff happened today, I mean tons of it! 😊 it was one of the best days I've had in a long time. 😊 

40. Probably a Christmas tree of some sort or a palm tree

41. Usually either vanilla or coconut

42. Not applicable 

43. This is a super weird question. For me most of the time I shower with the lights off but that's because light from the windows gives me enough light in my bathroom to see by. It wouldn't for people with normal vision, so this question has me wondering why anybody would shower in the dark. I probably don't want to know the answer to that. 

44. I usually give it to people, friends, street people, I may put it in a tip jar or just anything of that sort, I don't like holding onto spare change at all.

45.  definitely not lol

46. I can't think of anything specifically, but probably a book or a song. 

47. Only if I'm with someone. Going on a walk by myself is boring.

48. No. 

49. I like to go out and stand in the rain. I don't care if it's sprinkling or pouring. Yeah, I'm that crazy person lol. Smile 😊

50.  a comfortable bed for sure, a pillow that provides lots of head and neck support, the room is not too hot or too cold but the perfect temperature, and I can sleep the whole night through without waking up. 

50 Questions Just Because

What are three shows in your watchlist that you’ve been meaning to get to?

Describe your favorite pair of socks

Do you like smoothies?

What do you wear when you have to dress nicely?

How do you like your eggs?

What do you use to keep your place when you’re reading a book?

What color dominates your closet?

Do you collect anything? If so, what?

What sounds or scents calm you down?

What’s your favorite kind of uquiz question? (Lyric, color, aesthetic, etc)

Do you wear glasses or contacts?

What’s something about your best friend that you love?

Do you prefer to write in pen or pencil?

What are some places where you feel most at home?

Do you have any houseplants? Do any of them have names?

Describe your favorite hoodie. How long have you had it? What makes it unique?

What’s the last thing you ordered online?

What’s one historical event that you would have liked to have witnessed?

What’s your favorite Halloween costume from when you were a kid?

What kind of math are you best at?

What’s your favorite period in art history, your favorite famous work and/or your favorite style of art? If you don’t know any that’s ok!

Iced or hot drinks?

Which songs do you like to sing in the shower?

Are you a good driver?

Do you have any piercings or tattoos? Are there any that you want?

Can you cook or bake? If so, what are some of your specialties?

Do you have any keychains on your home or car keys? Describe them!

Can you swim very well? Do you like swimming?

Did you play with Legos as a kid? What was your favorite set?

Is your closet organized? If so, how?

What’s the last music video you watched?

If you could dye your hair any color, regardless of how you think it would look, what color would you choose?

Headphones or earbuds?

Can you read analog clocks?

Describe your favorite stuffed animal, either now or from when you were a kid.

What’s an arcade or table game (air hockey, ping pong, etc) that you’re really good at?

Do you mind if others are in the kitchen when you’re cooking or baking?

What’s one show you watch or musician you listen to that your friends know nothing about?

What was the best part of your day today?

What’s your favorite kind of tree?

What scent is your deodorant?

Do you have any games on your phone? If so, which one(s) is/are your favorite?

Do you shower with the lights on or off?

What do you do with spare change?

Do you have good handwriting?

What’s the last thing a friend recommended to you that you looked into and actually liked?

Do you like to go on walks?

Do you have a favorite plate or bowl?

What’s your favorite thing to do when it’s raining?

Describe your perfect sleeping conditions

[jsmainblog]

taking it slow - spencer reid ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

spencer reid x inexperienced!reader (established relationship)

requests are always open <3

❤️‍🔥smut

a/n: this is the first time i've ever written a smut like full oneshot which i wrote awhile ago so if this sucks im really sorry squad

warnings: 18+, fingering, mentions of sex

In the midst of your lovers absence (surprise! surprise! he has another case across the other side of the country!!!) you decided that you were going to have sex with him. The thought of it initially was shocking to you even. This abrupt decision was spurred on after chatting to your friend who was throughly shocked that Spencer hasn't gone past heavy makeout sessions with you and a little over the clothes groping (is this because he's a man or is this because you guys have been dating to the point where you guys having sex is assumed? you couldn't determine). So you decided you were going to get it over and done with. After all you were a virgin in every sense of the word even if you despise the concept of it. So flash forward a couple of days you lay in bed on your nightly phone call with Spencer.

"So is there anything else you wanna tell me about?" he inquires

"Yes" you declared

"Really now?"

"Yes really Spencer. I've decided that when you get back I'm going to have sex with you."

"Woah there sweetheart. Lets slow down a little okay? So over my 2 week absence you have came to this little revelation of yours?" he says sounding shocked and amused.

"Yes."

"Why? I mean like yeah I kinda understand that people do feel a need to have sex to be closer with one another even if its just us wanting to go through the actions of reproducing without consequences. But are you sure you want to do that its a little sudden don't you think?" he explains gently

"I do want to do it" you say insistently. His constant questioning is making you feel a little annoyed because you do want to do it with him. Why wouldn't you? But it also tugged at the strings in your brain that maybe Spencer wasn't attracted to you in that way and maybe thats why he's never brought it up before.

"We can do it if you really want. But why don't we work are way up to it, huh angel? I just want you to get comfortable before tossing you into the deep end. I don't want you to back out during the middle of it."

"Okay" you murmur. "What time do you land tomorrow?"

"Uhhhh..Should be around 10:30am. Anyways I imagine its getting pretty late for you so you should sleep. I love you y/n, I'll see you tomorrow, sweet dreams my love."

"I love you too Spence goodnight." You say into the phone before hanging up. So now you have a plan. A daunting one, but yet a plan none the less.

The next day transpired pretty normally. Spencer getting home from his case, having a power nap whilst you went about your life leading to a makeout session.

Spencer kissed you like a man starved, tongue tracing your mouth like he was committing it to memory which he most indefinitely was. If one day he showed up with a 3D model of the inside of your mouth you wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. You could feel your body temperature rising and a familiar throb from between your thighs. Spencer's hands rested on your hips rubbing them gently. When he pulled away a confused look crossed your face.

"Is there something wrong?" you stutter earning you a breathless laugh from him.

"No nothings wrong your just really pretty thats all, and I also wanted to ask if your okay with me touching you?" he confesses

"Um..Yeah more than okay..Uh" you breathe

"Don't be nervous baby just lift your hips for me yeah?" he says a bit amused starting to unbutton your jeans. It hits you suddenly. You're actually doing this ur breathing picks up but ur not scared actually ur excited very excited. Spencer practically mashes his mouth to yours as the jeans came off and were thrown somewhere across the room. He uses his thigh to nudge your legs apart.

"Mmmm i think pretty is an understatement when it comes to you angel" he jokes which illicts a shy laugh from you. He uses his thumb brushing over your clit. Your heavy breathing turns into whines and eventually little moans as you feel a warm slippery sensation forming.

"There we go, good girl" he mumbles "Well I think theres no use of these panties anymore they are throughly soaked. Lets get these off you yeah?" he questions before tugging at your panties. Your doing this with Spencer Reid. The Spencer Reid you thought as shy and timid when you first met him and now well he's doing this. You can't help but to look up at him adoringly. Before you know it the rubbing sensation continues only you can feel it a little more this time and now a new feeling of a weird stretch? You sit up a bit where you find Spencer's hand joining the junction of your thighs looking up at you with a sweet grin. From what you have heard from your girlfriends guy's liked to take pleasure from you to give to themselves not giving it to you, and you certainly haven't known someone who described someone looking at them so lovingly the first time they did it together. This reiterates the fact that 'woah Spencer really loves you.' which is confirmed by the building pleasure as another finger slips inside.

"You're doing so well baby, you're being so good." he breathes as his eyes flick from his hand to your face. "You doing okay there?"

"Uh huh very well" you moan

"Yeah I can see that"

After a while of his fingers pumping rhythmically the spring in your stomach snaps and you go weirdly squirmy as you feel a warm feeling trickle through your veins. Best feeling ever. Spencers fingers slip out as he wipes it on his leg and lays next to you softly kissing all over your face.

"You okay?" he questions his fingers tracing your arms gently.

"I love you" you say hoarsely which illicit a soft laugh from him.

"Yeah baby I can tell"

-------------------------------

a/n: again guys im sorry if this was bad i myself was cringing a little writing this 😭

[subfootboii]

Louis is one of my five roommates. We both go to the same university, but we rarely interact. He is smart and charismatic and spends his weekends in parties and trips. Every girl or gay list over him and his perfect body.

I too had a crush on him. Seeing him shirtless and sometimes almost fully naked would get me rock hard. It wasn't only that but also his feet. They were perfect, big, long, clean, soft... He's almost always wearing his flip-flops or resting them on the coffee table, showing his sexy soles and toes.

I was in my room once day when someone opened the door.

"I have some laundry here. Add them to yours and give them to me when they're done. Only if you don't mind, of course."

It was Louis, shirtless out of the shower with nithing but a towel on his lower body.

"Yeah, sure. No problem."

"Great!"

He threw his laundry to the floor and left leaving the door open. I froze for a minute and then closed the door and looked at the laundry left. A sweaty shirt and a pair of dirty white socks.

I was feeling my dick hardening, and without thinking twice about it, I started rubbing the socks all around my face, taking big, deep whiffs. I was fully hard in seconds, and my face was starting to smell like his socks.

"What the fuck you filthy freak!"

My heart almost stopped. I looked above and saw Louis standing before me. He was still almost naked, and he had something in his hand. I couldn't reply or say anything. I don't know what could I even say.

"Don't sit there with this stupid look on your face. I figured you loved submit and follow orders, but foot pervert shit?"

I was so humiliated. I've never felt so pathetic. I still had nothing to say.

"I came back to give you this."

He threw something at my face.

"It fell out of my hand when I was bringing them hear. Guess you'll like it too."

I removed it from my face and looked at it. It was his boxers. I held it with his socks in my hands and looked down.

"I want them all clean and folded on my bed tonight. We'll discuss this later. I'm meeting my friends now."

He left and closed the door behind him.

My dick was still hard from all the humiliation I felt. Without thinking about it, I buried my face in his socks and boxers. I jerked myself off and then let out the biggest load ever.

Now that I have jerked off, I can think properly again. I understood how fucked I was and how messed up the situation is.

I cleaned myself and then did the laundry. His orders were clear, and I wasn't gonna make him mad after what he just saw. I folded them and placed them neatly on his bed.

I went to my room thinking about everything. I was sure he would tell his friends and our roommates. He'll probably even beat the shit out of me...

I heard his voice in the apartment. Peaked through my door and could see him going to his room. I closed mine and sat on the bed. He gently opened the door and went in.

"Good boy! You like being told that, don't you? Guess I have a servant from now on. Do my laundry, clean my room, clean my dishes... anything else boy?"

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. Please don't tell anyone."

"That wasn't my question. I asked two questions. Answer them."

"I... yes I like it. And anything you want... I'll do whatever you want."

"Good boy. That wasn't so hard. You will serve me from now on. I own you boy. You'll be my maid. I'll also give you what you really want... what would that be boy?"

"Your... your feet."

"Such a good little boy!"

"Now my feet are so sweaty... they could really use a clean-up."

He sat on the chair and propped his feet on my bed. His feet had some dirt stuck to them from the floor. They had a powerful smell, and they really looked like they needed a rub.

I started from his heels up to his soles and toes. Carefully cleaning them up and enjoying it. He was smirking and gently moaning as I licked his feet.

"Faster boy I have other things to do."

I went a bit faster, making sure not to miss anything.

"Enough for now."

He removed his feet and left without saying anything else.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Sweetest treat; Fred Weasley x reader

*Author's note*

Now this was just a sweet little treat (haha see what I did there?) after viewing the James and Oliver Phelps tasting British candy video on youtube. Now as an American I can't describe the taste of the following candies I've done so to any Brit readers out there I apologize and if you want to reach out to me to tell me what these selected candies taste like to you, just give me a shoutout.

Not really any warnings here this is mostly a fluff piece but if I had to have some warnings it would only be mentions of Parental death and past mentionings of Umbridge. Other than that nothing else to be warned about, enjoy my darlings!

Taglist:

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@waddles03

@queen-paladin

@plethora-of-things

@psychosupernatural

@remussl0vers

_____________________________________________________

While it’s always felt like a home at Hogwarts, there’s just no place like home.  Especially when your home is just above a sweetshop just outside of Birmingham but that’s the perks of being a muggle-born witch.  My dad owns the sweetshop, in fact it’s been passed down in his family for nearly a century.  And sure while the Wizarding world has it’s own sweets and treats to thoroughly enjoy, I guess the nostalgia in me just can’t allow any wizard sweets to top the candies I’ve grown up with.

Which is why I always sneak some ‘muggle candy’ with me to Hogwarts every year and when I come home, I pick and choose what I’ll want to take for the next term.  And during the summer, my dad’s shop truly becomes the go-to for kids during the summer holiday which is why I help him out with the shop, especially since mum died last year.

I was currently doing some inventory and writing down what candies we needed to restock when there was a loud thump at the window.  I jumped at the sudden crash since there had been nothing but pure silence since closing up shop.  My dad rushed out from his office frantic and exclaimed.

“What the bloody hell was that?!” I went over to the window and let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s alright dad, it’s just Errol. The Weasley’s owl. Poor old bugger.” I walked outside the shop and knelt down beside him.  He lay there on the cement floor on his back with a letter in his beak.  “I swear Errol you’re hopeless. Nearly gave my dad a heart attack thinking someone was vandalizing the store.” I took the letter out of his beak and he soon recovered squawking.

I held arm out and he perched himself on my forearm and I adjusted him to my shoulder, his wings flapping and ruffing my hair as I went back inside.  I opened up the letter and I smiled warmly.

“Can’t your wizard friends use the phone like everyone else? Or use the normal mailing system?” asked dad.

“I told you dad, this is how the wizarding community sends messages. They forbid muggle means of communication. Kinda old school they are, much like you are with your filing system. I’m surprised you’re not using a computer to keep all the records together.”

“Touche you bring up a good point, darling. So who is it from? That lover boy of yours?” I shushed him and read the letter.

My beloved (Y/n),

I know you said you wouldn’t be able to come over for the yearly Weasley summer getaway, but you never said anything about any of us coming there.  I talked with mum and dad and they’ve allowed me to come and visit you for the week.  Perhaps you could educate me on why you believe your muggle sweets surpass our own (which I’ll still fight you on till my last breath).

And don’t worry, I’ll come the ‘normal muggle way’ don’t want your dad freaking out now do we with the fireplace like last time? Hope to hear back from you soon, it’s been lonely not having you in my arms.

The handsome twin,

Fred W.

P.S. Ignore what he just said and don’t mention this to him but I’m the better looking one and you know it.

From the real handsome twin,

George W.

Oh those boys.  I shook my head and said.

“Hey dad, Fred got his parent’s approval to stay with us for the week, is it okay with you?” dad let out a deep sigh as he put on his thinking face.  “Please, please?”

“I don’t know. Though I approve of you dating I just don’t know how to feel about having your boyfriend stay over.”

“C’mon dad. I promise no hanky-panky. I’ll even get him to help around the shop. No magic I promise.” I crossed my heart swearing by it.  He pondered the idea for a while but he kept his stoic face and that usually meant he could go either way with this decision.

“He takes the guest bedroom. And you two are not allowed to have the door shut when either of you are in a room together.”

“Deal. Oh thank you daddy!” I set Errol down on the checkout desk and ran up to my dad and hugged and kissed him.

“You’re welcome. But I’m trusting you two.”

“We swear, no hanky-panky.” I quickly went upstairs and wrote my response to Fred before sending it off with Errol.  God I hope that bird doesn’t get lost and keep him waiting too long.

A few days went by and as I was ringing up a few customer’s the bell chime over the door signified another costumer.

“Welcome to Nikki’s Candy shop I’ll be right with you. There you are lads, now don’t overdo it less you let your teeth rot.” I told the young boys as I handed them their candy basket and they raced out.  When I turned to the customer who had just entered, I was greeted with a familiar red-haired boy.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say this was Honeydukes.”

“Well when this shop first opened, my great-great grandfather wanted to make sure that when the customers entered inside it was like entering a magical wonderland of sweets.” I came around the counter before wrapped my arms over Fred’s neck while his hands rested at my waist.  “I missed you.”

“Not as much as I missed you. How is it that you’ve turned me into such a sap?”

“Oh didn’t I tell you that my gran was part bunny? Whoops guess I left that detail out.” We both chuckled before softly kissing each other.  But a throat cleared sounded off behind us and there stood my dad.  Fred and I quickly separated and Fred greeted my dad.

“Hello again Mr. (L/n).”

“Hello Fred. While I don’t mind the fact that you’re dating my daughter, I kindly ask that you both keep your snogging to a minimum especially during business hours. Folks sometimes don’t take kindly to seeing that type of affection be displayed in public, especially in a food shop.”

“Yes sir. (Y/n) mentioned in her letter that you could use some help reshelving some inventory in the back room.”

“Yes, but first have you gotten settled into your room?” one thing about my dad is even when he’s in business mode, he’ll take the time to check up on you to make sure you’re okay.

“Yes sir, trunks all there and everything. And I solemnly swear it is in the guest bedroom you said I could use for the week.”

“Alright. Grab an extra apron just down the hall and get to work. (Y/n), you too. The McCallister’s should be in to pick up their birthday basket any minute now.”

“Got it dad.” He gave us a firm nod and a stern look that told us to not fool around anymore before he left to go back to the office.

“Wow, you were not kidding about your dad.” He whispered lowly.

“He’s had a lot on his plate. Ever since…..” I looked down solemnly.  It hurt that I couldn’t even leave Hogwarts for a few days to go to my mum’s funeral all because of Umbitch.  Fred came over and embraced me as he rubbed my arm comfortingly.  “I’m okay, even though I couldn’t go to the funeral, I at least got to say my goodbyes to her once school let out.”

“She was a nice woman. Her and mum got along fairly well whenever you guys came to join us for Christmas. She knows it wasn’t your fault.”

“I know. But it still hurt that I couldn’t say goodbye to her in her final moments. Epilepsy is rubbish Freddie.”

“I agree love it’s total rubbish.” I felt him kiss the top of my head and it was at that moment the bell chimed signaling the arrival of a costumer.  Quickly I put on a smile and went to greet the woman and gave her the birthday basket and continued to keep myself busy to distract me from my grief.

The work day continued to be busy just as it is every summer’s day but at the stroke of 6 o’clock, we closed up the shop and could finally eat some supper.  Dad and I warmed up some left over chicken and steamed vegetables.  As we all ate around the dinner table my dad said to Fred.

“So Fred, how goes your new shop? (Y/n) told me you boys had recently gotten the deed to the building in that magic corner of yours.”

“Yes sir, all the paperwork was finalized a few weeks ago. Our stocks are currently being madly produced at a good pace. Hopefully we’ll be able to be open for business just before the next term starts.”

“Got all the inspections checked and approved of?”

“Yes and we just completed the design for the front of the shop. It has our faces on it and every other time when the top hat comes up, a rabbit will disappear and reappear.”

“Impressive. Good thing I don’t have to compete with you boys, you’d run me out of house and home.”

“Not a chance Mr. (L/n). Kids still need their sweets.”

“Guys, no business at the dinner table.” I gently reprimanded but it kinda hurt to say that since that’s what mum used to say whenever dad got too deep into the business outside working hours.  He could do whatever he wanted when it came to running the shop after work hours but whenever it was meal time, business needed to stay out of the dining table.

“Sorry poppet.” Dad apologized.

“Sorry love.” Fred replied before we continued eating and discussing things outside of work.  Once we were done with our meal, I gathered up all the dishes and got them cleaned up and set to dry.  As I came back toward the dining room, I saw my dad and Fred shaking hands before he left to head back downstairs to his office.

“What was all that for?” I asked.

“Nothing big. Said that if Georgie and I ever ran into any business trouble whether for contracts or faulty inspections to give him a call. Even though the wizarding community and muggle world is different there is a commonality between the two. And that’s when it comes to starting up a business.” I smiled softly and said.

“C’mon, I think now’s a good a time for your muggle education on candy.”

“Lead the way milady.” I headed lead him towards the guest room and we got him set up and ready for his education.

In the guest room, all of Fred’s stuff was now unpacked and the two of us were in our lounge clothes with sweets both wizard and muggle treats scattered across his bed.

“Now the first lesson of your muggle candy education is the best way to start a conversation when you go to the Underground, mention the price for this guy.” I held up a Freddo caramel bar.

“Freddo the frog?”

“Correct. And what’s cool is he’s like the mascot of Birmingham because this is where his candy originated from the company Cadbury.” I unwrapped the chocolate frog from his wrapper and commented, “Ohh it’s melting already. That makes the caramel inside taste even better. Try it.” I held the Freddo bar out to Fred and he took it.

“I’m kinda left disappointed that he’s not coming to life like our chocolate frogs can.”

“Well not everyone likes live frogs hopping around. And if you were asked to eat one even if it’s chocolate covered most wouldn’t. But I promise you Fred, it’s worth it.” He took a bite and chewed it up before I saw his eyes go wide.  “Didn’t I tell you?”

“That is actually really good. But still not as enjoyable as the classic chocolate frog.” He said holding up the case for it and handed it to me.

“First time you and George tricked me into eating it.”

“I swear never did I think I’d hear someone who could out scream my own mum.” I shoved him with my foot and I opened it up and the magical frog leapt out at me but I grabbed it before it could land on my face and bite it in half.  “But I will admit you are right. The caramel really does compliment the chocolate of this Freddo so that gives him some points for lack of being alive.”

“And I gotta admit, the cards inside really do make the frogs worth stuffing your face for.” After eating the second half of my frog I took out the card and said, “Another Professor Minnie. Best add her to the other 15 I’ve got of her.” Fred finished his Freddo bar and licked his fingers clean.

“As you’ve come to learn and love, there’s nothing better than gambling your friends into eating something revolting or sweet than the Bertie’s Botts every flavour beans.” He held up the box and took his gamble with a bean.  “Huh, earwax. Hadn’t had one of those in years.”

“I still can’t believe that you actually ate a boogey flavor one once.”

“I swear by it. Worse thing I’ve ever tasted.”

“Uh-uh, the worst flavor is vomit.” I disagreed with him.

“I’d take a vomit flavour over a boogey flavor. At least with vomit I’d know it’d taste like what I had just eaten.” I groaned in disgust.

“Why do you have to say stuff like that around me?”

“Because I know it disgusts you and you look cute when you scrunch your face like that.” He teased as he gave my knee a squeeze.  I let out a yelp and quickly covered my mouth.

“Fred Weasley don’t you dare.” I threatened.

“Or what love?” he challenged as he eyed me mischievously  with the smirk.

“I’m not alone this time around.”

“Clever girl.” He released his grip on my knee and I reached out and grabbed the bag of wine gums.

“Now these require a unique taste. My dad really loves them but I can tolerate them occasionally. Wine gums. Got different flavours and sorts and each color represents a different wine brand. But despite their name they don’t actually contain any alcohol. Yellow, orange and brown for rum, black for port, green and beige for cider, and red for claret.”

“Shame that they don’t actually taste like the muggle alcohol they name them after.”

“Yeah well can’t have underaged drinking for kids who eat these. London’s already filled with bad drivers already don’t need them to get any worse, especially if they’ve got the munchies.”

“The what?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” I tore open the bag and took Fred’s hand and poured out a small handful of wine gums into his palm while I grabbed the Bertie’s bean box.  Together both he and I took a bite of a random sweet but I immediately spat it out.  “Ugh gross! Vomit flavour! Fred Weasley I swear if you jinked me to eat a vomit flavour sweet first you’re sleeping on the couch.”

“I am deeply offended that you’d think I’d do such a thing!” he gasped dramatically holding his hand to his chest.  I closed the box and tossed it aside as I grabbed a tea cake and unwrapped it before shoving the whole thing in my mouth.  The marshmallow and chocolate immediately over compassing the vomit taste in my mouth.  “You are an odd one.”

“Odd? You’re the one whose opening the joke shop.” I said through my chewing.

“I thought a lady doesn’t talk with their mouth full?” I wagged my finger at him in disagreement.

“Mmm. I maybe a girl but I am no lady, Umbitch saw to that.” I said after finally swallowing the tea cake.  Fred scooted closer to me taking my left hand and stroked the back of my left hand that once had I MUST ACT LIKE A LADY scarred into my skin.

“I would’ve done far worse to her if I could. George would too.”

“I know you boys would. But no sense in throwing yourselves in Azkaban for my sake.”

“We’d still do it.” I smiled softly and gave the tip of his nose a soft kiss.  “What was that you had just a second ago?”

“A tea cake. Don’t ask why they call it that cause it doesn’t really go with tea nor is it a cake. Best way I can compare it to is they’re like the chocoballs on the trolley. A marshmallow sitting on top of a crisp biscuit and covered in chocolate.” I handed him another tea cake while I grabbed another one.  We both unwrapped our tea cakes and this time I bit into it half way as did Fred.

“Mmm that is good.” He said through his chewing.

“My mum always made the best ones. She even knicked a recipe from my aunt in America where instead of a marshmallow my aunt uses blended oreos.”

“Now that is something I’d like to try. Think you’d be able to make some?”

“Don’t you remember the last time I got near a stove at your house?”

“Right yeah. At least mum didn’t blow her top off knowing it was you. Had it been either Georgie or I we’d be six feet under.”

“Now for this last sweet treat, I want you to do something for me first.”

“And what might that be?”

“Close your eyes.”

“The last time someone asked me to do that, I ended up being shoved into a closet with a dungbomb.”

“Yeah well I’m not Lee. Just trust me on this babe.” He looked at me but with one loving gaze up at him, I knew I had him at the palm of my hand.  He closed his eyes and I took the Cadbury dairy milk bar and unwrapped it.  “Open your mouth.” I told him and he opened his mouth letting out an ‘ahhh’ to which I rolled my eyes playfully and placed the bar in his mouth.

He then began chewing the chocolate bar the second he felt it on his tongue.  His eyes opened wide for a second as his facial expression turned to pure satisfaction and he let out a loud moan.

“Oh Godric…..”

“I told you. Cadbury is the best chocolate in the world. Eating these bars really make me feel like a kid again. Pre-Hogwarts days.” I took a bar for myself and unwrapped it and placed it between my teeth.  I then felt Fred’s fingers underneath my chin and he turned me to face him.  Keeping hold of my chin between his fingers, he leaned right into my face taking the other half of my bar between his teeth and snapped it in half before eating his half of my chocolate bar.

I let out a small squeak and actually dropped my half of the bar and even though my heart was racing at what he had just done and my cheeks were probably as red as the Gryffindor colors I snapped at him.

“Fredick Gideon Weasley, how dare you—” he cut me off with a kiss.  His hand that held my chin now moved to the back of my neck gently stroking or rubbing certain spots that made me weak in the knees.  With one pressure point he knew that would get me to open my mouth, his tongue soon slipped into my mouth and our tongues soon danced with each other.

After our intense snogging and the desperate need for air became too great, Fred separated from me, the two of us panting softly and he licked his lips.

“Now that was by far the sweetest treat I’ve had.” I snorted softly as I shook my head at him.

“I really have turned you into a softie.”

“If you tell anyone, I’ll deny it.”

“Everyone but George. He’s always going on how you’re whipped for me.”

“I swear he’s a liar. In fact did you know that it was actually him that switched your muggle marshmallows with that canary cream?”

“He didn’t.” I said exasperatedly.

“Oh yes, saw him do it with my own eyes.”

“And you didn’t think to try and warn me about it?” I asked backing out of his arms and crossed my arms over my chest.  Fred then began stammering out an excuse while I arched my brow at him.

“You’ve got to admit it, you did sound adorable making those canary sounds.” I didn’t flinch.  “I’m going to be sleeping on the couch as you once said, aren’t I?”

“I might be able to overlook this matter, if you help me come up with a revenge prank on him.”

“Did I tell you how much I love you?”

“Not nearly enough.” I said with a shrug.

“Then I’ve got a whole week to not only say it repetitively, but also might have some ideas you can pull on Georgie the next time you’re around.” He pulled me back into his lap and captured my lips in a softer, more loving kiss.  “We were truly made for each other.” He whispered against my lips.

“Like chocolate and caramel.” I whispered back before leaning back and deepening our kiss once again.

[moniquill]

Gonna copy/paste some choice tags from the dumpster fire without attribution (this is not about telling these individuals that they're wrong it's about combatting THE MINDSET)

#whenever i post a fic i have to remind myself that if anyone finds anything sexual that's their problem

Good that you are aware that this is a line of thought that you should not pursue! Kinda weird that you need to remind yourself of this but hey whatever helps you get over it!

#The number of times I have wanted to create certain pieces of media but refrain from it because I know freaks will find a way 2 sexualise it

NOT HEALTHY! You are not impacted by others sexualising your work, and you need to work on your basic attitude and perception if you think it's cool to call other people 'freaks'

#Some things shouldn't be sexualized publicly

What counts as 'public' in this instance? Other people's blogs/communities??

#this.#this makes me so mad#ive seen this literally ruin some friends' creativity and ruin the things they like that ARENT EVEN SEXUAL#i also tend to worry about how these kinds of people will interpret my work but i shouldnt HAVE to think about that#ugh#misc

Fun fact: You DON'T have to think about it! Neither do your friends! Their anxiety is what ruined their creativity - the call is coming from inside the house; that is the thing to be addressed and worked on! Not the thoughts and feelings of OTHER PEOPLE.

#THIS OMG#IT'S SO. KRIFFING ANNOYING AND HARD#especially as a whump writer.#i dont WANT PEOPLE REACTING THAT WAY WITH WHAT I WRITE#but at this point I've kinda given up trying?? Im kind of just doing whatever I want because I KNOW im not doing it like that#im done being responsible for people's dirty minds tbh

When you release a creative work for consumption by an audience, you don't get any kind of say in how they react. It doesn't matter that you don't want people reacting 'that way'. If you cannot accept this, you should not publish works at all.

YOU WERE NEVER RESPONSIBLE FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S MINDS. It's kind of fucked up that you're judging them as 'dirty', unpack that shit.

#THANK YOU THIS IS THE WORST#do you know how hard it is to write something like torture or 'whump' in general without the youtube comments section invading your mind#don't even get me started when it comes to writing certain kinds of magic#and you then have to be like 'is this so prevalent that it would be naive of me to ignore it?#or is it really just the niche corner of Internet freakdom that I think it is?'#speaking also as someone who was frequently teased as a kid for saying things I thought were innocent but were common innuendos#writing

If the youtube comment section is invading your mind, that is strictly a you problem. If it's invading your actual work (in the comments section) that's what the block button is for. You are putting far too much effort into thinking about this.

#I want to have all these kinds of dynamic relationships#there's one I want to develop to have a certain tenor to it#but I know it will become a ship#I'm doing it anyways#but it hurts knowing that there will be people who will read it and ship the characters#when the characters don't actually have any romantic attachment#I know this isn't just about relationships#but it's the thing about this mindset that bothers me most

It is not healthy or normal to be hurt by ideas that you think that other people might be having. That is disordered thinking and you should address it. Other people shipping your characters does not, in fact, harm you.

#I think the big thing is#you don't have to advertise if it's sexual to you#if that one weird thing does it for you#fine!#Just don't tell me

This is actually entirely reasonable! You don't have to subject yourself to reader/viewer reactions that make you uncomfortable! If people are harassing you, block them!

#honestly real#there is such a huge difference between ‘sex is normal and okay’ and ‘you should sexualize everything and everyone’#crazy how people have no capacity to respect ppl’s boundaries

I'm putting the word Boundaries on the high shelf until genZ and gen Alpha learn that they do not refer to the behavior of OTHER PEOPLE.

via https://theartoflivingconsciously.com/set-boundaries/:

Setting boundaries is about knowing what boundaries you want to establish and enforcing them by taking action within yourself. It’s not taking action to control someone else.

A boundary is not “You aren’t allowed to do ______,” it is “If you do _______, I will _______.”

It’s not “don’t yell at me,” “don’t call me before work hours,” or “stop commenting on my weight.”

A boundary is:

“If you yell at me, I will leave the room or hang up the phone.”

“If you call me before 9 am, I will let the call go to voicemail and call you back during work hours.”

“If you keep commenting on my weight, I will stop visiting.”

A boundary is an action YOU take. It’s not forcing someone to act or not to act a certain way, because that’s impossible.

#when people make things inherently not sexual sexual#eye twitch

THIS IS WHAT FETISH IS. THIS IS WHAT KINK IS.

Literally the only thing that is inherently sexual are the genitals of an aroused human being (and arguably orifices) - your own or a partner's. Everything else is kink/fetish. Yes, even tits. Even other anatomical parts. Everything that you find arousing. You are not different or special for only being aroused by shit that the culture you live in deems 'normal'.

I think the biggest shame about people becoming way too comfortable sexualizing everything is that it limits creative freedom. now you have to worry about someone's obscure fetish just in case you write something and you have freaks online like 👀 ayooOOO like shut up man. if you're finding sexual undertones in mundane things, you don't 'see the world differently', you have a mental disorder.

No one should have to carefully scoot around something because the internet has made it ok to see everything through a sexual lens

[servndipityz]

Okay but what ur interpretation is on how nam gyu's life n personality was before joining the games ykyk cuz the show barely revealed anything about him, his background, family, etc

oooo that's such a good question!!! i've thought about it a million times, i feel like it would've been so cool to see a lil bit more of each character's lives before the games.

i feel like nam-gyu’s life before the games was pretty shitty. i mean, if it weren’t, he wouldn’t have joined them. he mentioned working at club pentagon as a promoter, but i don’t think he held any real position of power.

sure, he probably had some connections—otherwise, he wouldn’t have come into contact with thanos—but i doubt anyone at the club actually respected him. at some point, he just became the club promoter, the guy who’s always been there. but still, nobody really took him seriously.

how’d he even end up at club pentagon though?

honestly, i don’t think his childhood was that bad. probably came from a pretty average middle-class family—one that wasn’t overly affectionate, but nothing too rough either.

he’s the youngest, with one or two older brothers. definitely no sisters; he doesn’t know shit about women. his brothers were probably a lot older, too—like, the oldest had a two-year gap with the middle, but nam-gyu was born at least six years after them. to him, they were the coolest people ever, even if they mostly ignored him. still, he followed them everywhere, copying everything they did. absolutely the reason he started smoking as a teenager.

this is an incredibly niche headcanon, but hear me out. when they were kids, his older brothers were obsessed with some random color—red, blue, whatever. nam-gyu, desperate to impress them, decided that would be his favorite color too. when he told them, they probably didn’t give a single fuck, just shrugged him off. but to this day, that random color is still his “favorite” color.

all of this is just to say that while i don’t think he sees thanos as a brother, his relationship with his older siblings as a kid definitely translates into how he treats thanos—and how he allows thanos to treat him.

i don’t think nam-gyu was a bad student. he was probably pretty smart, just only did well in the subjects that actually interested him. overall, though, he didn’t do too bad. he was never the “good kid,” but since he was quiet and reserved, teachers would always sit him next to the rowdy kid in class, hoping he’d "calm them down". he hated it, but he definitely picked up a few behaviors from them.

his teenage years are when things started going downhill. he probably had a group of friends, but most of them weren’t good friends. he was always the one standing behind someone louder, more popular—easily overlooked. the people who did notice him didn’t really like him. he was probably a little rude, and his attempts at seeming “mysterious” just made him come off as kind of an asshole. he was also probably the butt of the joke in his friend group sometimes. the guy they’d always ask for his homework.

around the same time, things at home started getting rough. his oldest brother probably got into some shady business—maybe dealing drugs or gambling—but whatever it was, it had their parents worried sick. the middle brother was likely involved in some of it too, which meant constant arguments at home. nam-gyu, not wanting to deal with it, started spending more and more time outside. that’s when he picked up smoking, just like he’d seen his brothers do.

during this time, his father’s health started declining—badly. nam-gyu had probably been considering college after high school. it’s definetely what his parents wanted, what his brothers had done before him. i feel like he’d be into public relations or marketing—something business-adjacent, but not straight-up economics.

that was until the summer after high school. he started partying more, hitting clubs and casinos with his friends, harmless fun, at first. somewhere along the way, he met a friend of a friend—a club promoter who seemed to have it all figured out. this guy had money, girls, everything 18-year-old nam-gyu envied. they hung out for a while, and eventually, the guy offered nam-gyu to work with him as a club promoter.

by then, nam-gyu knew his father wouldn’t be able to keep his job much longer. his oldest brother was still paying some of his debt, the middle one had enlisted in the military out of pure indecisiveness, and their finances were at an all-time low.

maybe working at a club wouldn’t be such a bad idea, huh? he’d make some money, have fun, meet people. he’d go to college later, he just needed to work there for a while, right?

loud incorrect buzzer.

once he got into the club scene, there was no going back. at first, it was fine—organizing events, making connections, all that. but eventually, he got caught up in illegal shit.

it’s not like he wanted to. but it’s also not like he didn’t want to. all kinds of people came to clubs, and he realized that the less legal it was, the more people showed up—and the more money he made.

he got really, really into drugs. any drug. after all, he was easy to convince. they were fun, they helped him socialize better.

but no matter how messed up he got, he was always meticulous when planning events. he knew exactly who to invite, how to promote them, and to who. successful events were great. but unsuccessful ones were dangerous. turns out, a guy can lose a lot of money from a failed event. he learned that the hard way.

at some point, every night became a blur—getting disrespected by the club pentagon staff, getting into it with a bouncer, a particularly bad drug trip, some girl flirting with him only for him to realize she was a prostitute.

it felt like all the money he made was slipping through his fingers just as fast. and with his father’s death, nam-gyu was running out of options.

then, one night, high out of his mind at some random “friend’s” house, he found MG Coin. he was just scrolling through youtube, trying to find some old vine he was referencing to his friends when a video popped up.

“how to get rich in just one week.”

and boy oh boy, what a great idea. in his hazed state, it felt like salvation had just fallen into his lap. so, he clicked on it. some nerd on the screen told him to buy a random crypto coin, and of course, he did. how could he not?

the next morning, when he finally processed what he’d done, he checked—and holy shit, it was working. the value was going up. so naturally, he binge-watched every video that guy had ever made and dumped every last penny into Dalmatian, just like his beloved crypto guru told him to.

if he had any doubts, whatever drug was running through his veins at the time numbed them out.

but luck only lasts so long. and we all know what happens next.

i got too carried away with this. english isn't my first language so hopefully there are no mistakes. hopefully this wasn't ooc lmao.

thank you so much for sending ur asks btw! ive been seeing them all, and while i'm not sure i'll be able to write all of them, i'll sure try, they're all great :)

dividers by aquazero

[ruershrimo]

take me back (take me with you) | f. megumi x fem! reader | chapter 9: you'll hate me

ao3 link for additional author’s notes | playlist | prev | m.list

chapter synopsis:

“You’ll hate me once you see what happened.”

“No, Megumi, I won’t,” you reassure him, “And anyway, things are different now, too.”

---

You could never hate him. After years of waiting to see Tsumiki again, you can finally do so now. Yet still, there's a sombreness in the air, and Megumi won't let you place a finger on it just yet.

word count: ~3k; tws: none for now ^-^

short a/n: hi everyone! I'm so sorry this took so so long, I really missed you all a lot. basically, school and life got a bit busy, but I'm happy to say I'm back now :). I've written an update here where I just talked about some matters regarding the series and my writing. you can read it if you'd like, because personally I think it's quite important for you to do so if you read this fic :)

28-6-2018 

“Morning. Did you sleep well?” 

Megumi moves the blanket away from him, blinking sleep out of his eyes still. You hoist yourself up until your back is against the headboard. 

“The blanket wasn’t here before I fell asleep, I think,” he voices out, nearly inaudible, drenched in the aftermath of a deep slumber, “Did you—” 

You nod your head.  

“...thanks.” 

At this moment, it’s as if nothing exists. Just you and him and the sky at blue hour, on his bed doing something that people who are just friends shouldn’t do. The urge to trace over his face— over his shut eyelids and sharp nose and thin lips— clings to you like a second nature, one which you never thought you had. There’s hair on his head like a nest you’re itching to touch, spiky and jet black like blades of grass. 

You’ve seen this kind of movie before, felt these feelings with your best friend, no less— and now they’ll eat you up from the inside like bacteria on a rotting fruit. Because feeling like this means feeling everything else assault you all at once: you don’t know if you'd like to bury your face into something and scream, or cry from the fact that it may be unrequited, or jump around in joy for everything good Megumi has done for you. 

But forget the sorcerers, forget the healing, forget the cursed techniques and the need to be useful and needed for one second, forget your parents, forget Tsumiki, even— and you can’t believe you thought that. What can they offer which you can’t find next to him, right now, on a warm twilight with cold blankets and pillows? 

There are so many things you have wanted. But right now, just this is enough. 

“Sometimes I regret talking about how I feel, being emotional and things like that— to the point that if I feel things strongly, these days I try not to show them. It’s… the vulnerability, I guess. Letting your walls down. I know it sounds super cliche, and I know that about 80% of the time I probably fail at this, and that it’s not always good being like that—” stirring him further into consciousness, “—but I think you’re the same, just in a different way. You don’t like talking about your feelings. Still, I have to say, I really enjoy this, these things we do.” 

His gaze stays locked on yours, and silence fills the air again; nothing but steady breathing. You wonder, if there’s anything he thinks about when he’s alone on mornings like these, whether he thinks about you. 

“So do I.” 

The girls’ and boys’ bathrooms are right next to each other. So at 4 in the morning, when everyone else is still asleep and the sun is yet to rise, you bump into Megumi after brushing your teeth. 

“Not going to shower?” he asks. 

“The sound will travel and it may wake the others up. What about you?” 

“I don’t shower in the mornings, only at night.” 

“Oh, right.” 

He pauses for a while, makes a little sound to fill in the gaps of his hesitation. You wait for him patiently. “Tsumiki… I can let you know about what happened to her. The truth is, she—” 

“Take your time,” you interrupt him. You aren’t stupid; something bad must have happened to her for him to be like this. Any slither of hope you have left that she’s all fine and good was used to play dumb and deny yourself the truth. 

“...let me take you there. To where she is.” 

For more than half your life, Tsumiki’s been a constant. As you moved around and floated between friend groups, you felt lonely in every waking moment; only wishing for the days when you had Tsumiki and Megumi again. That was the impact they had on you. So after such a long wait, your heart leapt with joy at the thought of seeing her again. 

“Okay.” 

“Actually, do they not have a curfew? It’s only 5 am,” you say as the two of you are on the sidewalk, next to each other; not with either of you in front of the other. You pull the strap of your bag up every time it slips down. 

“They do, but it’s only until 4 in the morning. It’s not as if it’ll be easy for sorcerers to obey a curfew anyway, so the teachers don’t really check if everyone is observing everything,” he explains, “Hey, I can hold your bag for you, you know—” 

“I’ll be fine.” 

“It looks heavy. It’ll hurt, and I don’t mind carrying it for you for a while. How many things are in there, actually—?” 

“... I do try to pack minimalistically. I don’t have many things in it. I don’t know why it does this.” 

“Let me hold it.” 

“...okay. Thank you. But next time, you don’t have to.” 

“I really don’t mind. It’s uh… like what you said. We take care of each other.” 

“I’m surprised you still remember that,” you note, chuckling, “In that case I should try to take care of you more.” 

“...you’re already doing more than enough.” 

“Hope I’m not being too much, then,” you joke, and your voice sounds a little too fond as you hear it exit your mouth, “I’ll start doubling down from now on.” 

A small part of you wants to indulge yourself; to imagine him doing this for you always. To feel the extent of the things he can do for you, and to want to do the same. 

You hand him the bag. There’s a ghost of a smile on his lips. 

You have a problem here. You’re in deep, aren’t you? 

The two of you had decided not to phone up anyone who could drive you there, nor were you able to take public transport from the school’s campus to your destination. In truth, you had no idea why it seemed that he and you were being secretive about it, but since you weren’t sure if whatever happened to Tsumiki was something Megumi wanted others to know yet, you obliged him. 

“Where are we headed to, actually?” 

“...the hospital.” 

“...what?” 

“...you’ll see. I’ll be able to explain once we get there.” 

It’s as if the expression on his face is written in a language you can’t understand. 

It only spurs your worry— what happened to Tsumiki? You’d wanted so badly to see her again and speak to her ever since she stopped all contact with you. The whole time you’d thought she was just busy, or that she would speak to you again soon, as if she were some constant who you couldn’t imagine being absent from your life due to sickness or injury. It hadn’t even occurred to you, that after you checked in on her and hadn’t even seen that she’d read those messages. To you she was a constant, and she’d always come back. You couldn’t imagine a life without her doing so. 

First your mother, and now Tsumiki. 

“The whole time I thought she just decided to… stop talking to me for a while.” 

“If anything was done to her, she would have told you, provided that she could. You weren’t an afterthought to her. She loved you. I… it was my fault, that after everything happened, I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. I’m sorry.” 

She loved you?

“I still don’t know what happened. I mean, don’t blame yourself—” 

A car passes by and the two of you cross the road. His hand hovers near your back at the end of it, when the pedestrian traffic light goes red and the cars move rapidly behind you. You pretend his actions aren’t blowing up fireworks inside you. 

“No, you called me, right? You even tried to reach me, and… after all I did and how I acted… it wasn’t the right thing to do. But I chose not to call you.” 

You remember when you did, remember how it stung. 

He’s not the only one keeping secrets. You’ve got the letter and the years of yearning you want to let him know about. Yet it would feel like betrayal to yourself, even with the guilt you have from always keeping them. You’re not sure if that guilt is for him or you. 

“But you apologised for all of that, and, well— I think I’m mostly fine with it now. It was just… circumstance, I guess. Especially because it was Tsumiki. Not sure what happened to her, but I mean… if it was just what was happening at that time, even if it may frustrate me, I just have to accept it,”  you explain yourself, speaking from your chest. 

“You’ll hate me once you see what happened.” 

“No, Megumi, I won’t,” you reassure him, “And anyway,  things are different now, too.” You’ve got more control over your technique, fine-tuned it with practice and determination. You may still be weak at times: you may struggle to heal severe injuries or may get a nosebleed when you’ve pushed yourself too far and tried to heal bruises on four hours of sleep, but you’ve improved.

“No— I’ve hidden it for so long, I don’t know—” 

“I mean, look, we all have our secrets. Sometimes we have them even if we don’t want or have to. You don’t have to be privy to all of myself, especially what I try to keep hidden, but if both of us ever want to… we can always take one step at a time, and I think we’re doing that quite well, in my opinion. Besides, you’re here now. And now that we’re both on campus it’s going to be even harder to get away from me.” 

He stops in his tracks all of a sudden. You do, too. The words come floundering out of his mouth. “[Name]... I don’t know the… ‘right’ way to say this, but I don’t want to get away from you.”

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, I never did.” 

“Huh.” 

He hums.

“…me neither,” you coax out of yourself. 

“...there’s a floral shop nearby. I usually get her some flowers.”  

It’s time to get your mother some flowers, too. 

The florist there greets the two of you with a wistful smile, and says that she hasn’t seen Megumi in a while. Megumi introduces you as a childhood friend. 

“What do you usually get?” you ask. 

“Lilies, usually. Carnations and daisies, sometimes, too.” 

You’ve only bought flowers to pay respects to the deceased, at least when it was you buying them and not Yuuji. You’d never met your grandfather, but back when your parents still called you their little girl, your father would bring you to the temple where his ashes were kept every year. You’d see that photo of his face, smiling in black and white, next to your grandmother on their wedding day, and you’d notice how your father prayed before it. He’d replace the flowers— carnations, lilies, daisies, and tell you all the anecdotes he had with his father growing up. You’d gaze at the chrysanthemums and carnations with their honey-hued petals, at the lilies and daisies in their clear glass vases, and you’d think of how pretty they were. You think your grandfather would have liked them, his smile a spitting image of your father’s and a spitting image of yours. 

“Those are her favourite, right?” 

“Yeah.” 

“They suit her. It’s a perfect match, because— well, to me, I always thought of parts of her as different things. Her kindness and the joy she shared with other people were cherries. Her hair was brown, so I’d think of chestnuts and that reminded me of Christmas with her, or mont blanc desserts. And her smile was like a flower to me, a bouquet of lilies. At first I only thought that it was because she was pretty and one of the sweetest people I knew, but now it’s more than that— wait, sorry, I’m rambling.”

“No, no— it’s okay,” he replies, almost immediately. 

“I’m just excited, is all.” 

He sighs, though you don’t know why. “Then you’ll want to scream at me,” he begins, “…I’m sorry. You’re excited and I just… I’m sorry. You’ll understand when we’re there.” 

You want to hold him. Tell him that it’s okay. Tell him that no matter what, you could never hate him. That you’d never had the power to, ever since you met him on that spring day. 

He chooses one bouquet on display, then heads over to the cashier. You don’t think you’ll be able to hold him at all, today. Or he won’t let you, his walls barring you from him, even when you thought many of them were already gone. You’d been so stupid, thinking the two of you were getting closer, but there was still so much more you had to learn about him now. There was still so much more you had to wait for, until he was willing to take them down. 

“Have you known her for a long time?” you ask, exiting the shop. He bought two— one from him and one from you. 

“Ever since Tsumiki got admitted.” 

“I can pay you back for the bouquets, by the way,” you suggest. 

“It’s fine.” 

“Gojo’s money?” 

“Gojo’s money.” 

You snicker. 

To be honest,  it’s a little difficult walking with him now. The two of you are devoid of any communication whatsoever, a silence calm in the night and early morning yet thickly unbearable once the sun has risen. Before this, you’d been timidly tiptoeing between small talk and deep conversations. Yet now, with the mood of Tsumiki’s incident looming over the air like a ghostly whisper, there’s nothing to talk about, really, as much as you’d like for there to be. 

You’d once heard that people who fell in love were able to talk each others’ ears off for hours on end. You could do that with Yuuji. But Megumi has always been different— in your life, at least. He’s not as boisterous, and not as agreeable with most people despite his politeness, but it’s always been a pleasure being silent with him. Sitting in silence. Lying on the bed together. There’s no spark before you, just the tranquility of an ocean at midnight. In the darkness, with shadows. 

He’s special. Now you can see that, now more clearly than ever before. 

And even now— even when things are awkward and jittery, you find you don’t mind this that much at all.  You don’t think you mind anything if you’re doing it with him. 

So there are no words between you, and you glance at his face, at the frown that contorts his face so softly and gently. 

If you held hands now, it would be pleasant. 

If you held hands now, your hands would inch closer to his as shyly as the first hints of spring arrive after winter. Your wrist would reach his, fingers aching for others to interlock with. Then they would slowly graze his palm like a lost man navigating through the wilderness, until you slid your fingers up his arm again. You would keep them on his wrist, at the outline of his veins, and perhaps if you pressed on it hard enough and used the same mental imaging you do for your cursed technique, you would be able to watch as blood flowed through his arteries and veins. You’ve held his wrist before anyway, grabbed it and pulled him along while his hand would slacken a little. At that time you did it almost abrasively. 

Maybe he would flinch. And maybe you would pull your hand back. 

But then before you realise it he would be tugging on your fingers again, palm against yours, finger to finger. You can even feel it as you think of it now— you would nearly melt in the grooves of his palm, the texture of his skin, and your hand would dance around his a bit until both of your hands wrapped around each other, a snug fit.

“[Name].” 

Your breath seems to fall short as you’re pulled from your fantasies. “What?” you ask, your face hot like a pan sizzling with melted butter. 

“Are you okay? It’s time to cross the road.” 

“Yeah. Just… it’s just… Tsumiki.” 

His hand is on your wrist. 

“Okay.” 

And if your hand slides down to his palm, and you squeeze his hand before he squeezes yours back despite not looking at you at that moment, well— 

You’ve done this before, and several times. But yo know why it’s different now. 

The sun has risen. There’s a certain pallor on Tsumiki’s face that you’ve never seen before. Under the early morning light it’s as if sunlight is seeping through her like light refracted in water. Her face is torn between peace and a grimace, as if she’s suspended precariously between a dream and a nightmare. A glaring red mark burns into her forehead like carved wood in patterns completely alien to you. There’s no lively ponytail bursting from her head, only the sordid scene of strands of chestnut hair gone flattened and lifeless, her once bright pink lips turned desiccated and pale; the sight of her grinning face from before only slipping through your fingers like powdery heaps of dust. She’s drawn out on the mattress resembling a fawn carcass in a documentary: too young and innocent to be like this, shallowly breathing in the torpid air. Comatose. The sight juts through your heart. 

This is different from grief. It feels like suffocation, like heaviness in the air. Your breaths are shallow as you take the clear glass vase, fill it with water and replace the previous lilies with new ones. There is no grief because nothing has been lost, only suspended. Locked in a standstill, for a little while. 

“We think it was a curse,” Megumi chokes. 

“How can you cure her?” 

“There’s no known cure since it was made from cursed energy. All we can do is wait for her to wake up.” 

“How long…?” 

“Since junior high. A while after you left.” Megumi confesses, “I’m sorry if you’re angry that I should’ve told you sooner,” his voice is strained and soft, a little bit from cutting himself off, “I’m sorry.” 

How many times had you thought of seeing her? How many times had you wondered why he’d never call and let you know how she was? Would she survive this, or would you have to wait a hundred times more just to see her again?

He knew all of this. He could have told you. 

Don’t be unreasonable, you think. Just focus on what you can do next. 

“It’s not your fault,” you sigh, “It’s just that after everything…” 

“I’m sorry,” he says. 

“I just wish I could’ve known. Then this whole time that I spent waiting—” 

“I know,” he goes, begging you to be angry. To hate him, as if anything he’s done to you could be the cause of something so great. 

You can cure people. You were placed on this world, born with powers to make or break life’s structures and processes, to cure people. With powers like that you’ve been hunted, sought after, protected— and yet now, when you need to heal this wound of hers, there’s nothing you can do. 

It makes you feel so useless it shakes you to the core. 

“I don’t know if I can do anything,” you start, half-resolute and half-doubtful. But despite your doubt you know that this is what it’s all about; what you’ve pledged yourself to do— to try your best and be useful. Like walking on a tightrope: you’ll have to march forward in the face of all of this and just force yourself not to look down, because this is all it’s ever been. Maybe, you think for a second, everything in your life has led to this moment. “But can I try?” 

“…of course. If anyone could do it, it would be you,” he remarks, voice softening with each syllable. 

“…thanks.” 

He’s very… tender today. Vulnerable. You suppose it’s because of Tsumiki and refrain from commenting on it.

You focus all your energy into her forehead and her brain, trying your best to somehow work against an obscure charm with an even more abstruse molecular structure. 

You can feel it— the strain on your consciousness, how it hurts to even think at some point, but ignore it all and try your best to help her. 

Be useful. If you don’t make it work now, her health is going to be up in the air for longer. If you don’t make it work now, you won’t know if you’ll be able to speak to her again, to thank her for everything— for teaching you to be kind and loving, for caring for you and appreciating parts of you when you’d never felt it before, for her cherry hair tie and her bright smile and her endless wisdom and— 

[Name]? 

If you don’t make it work now, how many more months will she have to spend without smiling through life and sharing her love with others? 

You want to scream at Megumi sometimes, actually. 

[Name]!

If you don’t make it work now, how much time of her life would be wasted in the end, when she had so much potential to change the world and shine her light on others? 

…he could have just told you from the start! 

You have to focus. If he told you this at the start, would that have changed anything? 

Be useful. 

[Name]! 

You have to make it work. You have to bring Tsumiki back. 

taglist:

@bakananya, @sindulgent666, @shartnart1, @lolmais, @mechalily, @pweewee, @notsaelty, @nattisbored

(please send an ask/state in the notes if you'd like to join! if I can't tag your username properly, I've written it in italics. so sorry for any trouble!)

[481mclarg]

Scared to love you | AL65

★ I've never been good at telling people how I feel, but you make me want to try.

STLY       •       FANFIC + SMAU

          • Arthur Leclerc x Male!Oc Driver

Warning: homophobia - slurs (f-slur).

★          introduction. | one. | two. | three. | four. | five. | six. | seven. | eight. | nine. |

          They walked slowly, nervously, through the streets still lit by the streetlights, although the sky was slowly turning orange, announcing the sunrise.

          —So... do you want to start? —

          —Not really. —he murmured. —But I owe you a few explanations. —the Monegasque nodded, understanding. He wouldn't force him, but he appreciated his initiative.

          —I'm listening. —

          —I'm bisexual. —he confessed.

          —Well, I could imagine that. Someone heterosexual wouldn't have done what- —

          —Ahem! —he interrupted, a blush taking over his face. With a slight smile, Arthur apologized, letting him continue. —I wanted to talk about this with my parents a long time ago, when I started to suspect. My mother never said anything, but my father... he didn't seem very happy with the idea- —he explained, playing with his hands. —, with the idea of his son being a faggot. —

          So as not to interrupt him again, Arthur just placed a hand on his back, showing his support with light caresses, encouraging him to continue talking.

          —I guess- I guess Giancarlo doesn't agree with who I am either. —He still had a hard time putting it into words, accepting who he was. Even more so knowing that two of the closest people in his life walked away because of it.

          It hurt. He hated it, but he was beginning to understand that he couldn't pretend to be something he wasn't just to please others. That hurt more than the rejection of anyone.

          Rejecting himself hurt more than the rejection of anyone.

          Arthur was happy, proud to hear him talk. Without a doubt, something very different from the Matteo who had stopped talking to him after that weekend.

          —So... we...? —he dared to ask when he noticed that Matteo had finished talking.

          —I don't know. —he almost whispered.

          —What do you want to do? —

          —What do you want? —

          —I asked first. —They both laughed when Leclerc gave a slight nudge after repeating his phrase. —I'd like to try something. —He confessed, wanting to help Matteo say what he wanted to do.

          —Me too. —He nodded, looking down, feeling the heat rise to his face again. —Maybe- go slow. I want to do things right. —The brunette nodded in agreement.

          He would accept any terms as long as he could spend time with Matteo again. Wanting to go slow would mean taking a step back from what he had already experienced, but he trusted that it would be for the better. Form a good base in their relationship before moving forward.

          —Can I hug you? —He asked.

          —Always. —

🗓          June .          .          .

matteolombardi

♡ Liked by dennishauger, maxverstappen1, charlesleclerc, dinobeganovic, arthurleclerc and others...

matteolombardi: dolce far niente 🤍🤍

⇲ Comments

user1: I love seeing him more active on Instagram😭😭

user2: FRRR I love how now he shares a little about his life & not only about races o Ferrari

user3: 💚🤍❤️

dennishauger: DAMN 3 PIZZAS ???

user4: Never underestimate an Italian who was away from his homeland for so long

matteolombardi: 👆👆👆

dinobeganovic: Barcelona team is going to be renamed Sicily team. We are all going to visit your house on the next trip

arthurleclerc: You only want to go to the beach

olliebearman: and you not ???

arthurleclerc: ✋️😶

user5: I think he's happier since he got rid of Giancarlo.

↳ This comment was deleted by matteolombardi

arthurleclerc

♡ Liked by olliebearman, charlesleclerc, dinobeganovic, matteolombardi, paularon and others...

arthurleclerc: we made new friends

⇲ Comments

user6: Who the hell are WE

dinobeganovic: oh... omfg OMFG

paularon: You're an idiot don't you

arthurleclerc: he is

matteolombardi: y'all are so mean to Dino

dinobeganovic: I LOVE YOU, MATTEO😭😭

paularon: he's not going to invite you to his house, Dino

charlesleclerc: next time, I'm going with you

arthurleclerc: no. leave us alone

charlesleclerc: I wasn't asking. It's my duty as your older brother

user7: I just want to be part of the friend group chat because it seems like SOMETHING is happening, but we don't know what

matteolombardi

♡ Liked by charlesleclerc, dinobeganovic, arthurleclerc, scuderiaferrari, dennishauger and others...

matteolombardi: 🐎🐎🐎

⇲ Commets

charlesleclerc: what a handsome guy appears in the last photo

user8: they extend his contract?

user9: charlie🤗🤗

user10: FRATELLI D'ITALIAAAA💚🤍♥️🐎🐎

dinobeganovic: I'm too late. You are no longer in Sicily :(

arthurleclerc

♡ Liked by matteolombardi, olliebearman, charlesleclerc, dennishauger, paularon and others...

arthurleclerc: please @/alexandrasaintmleux come to pick up this man. I can't stand him anymore

⇲ Comments

charlesleclerc: 😒😒😒

arthurleclerc: 🙄🙄🙄

user11: Oh- Uhm.........

user12: !?!?!?!?!!?

user13: What is he doing in Maranello !?!?

user14: the second slide ????????

user15: returning to Ferrari........?

matteolombardi

♡ Liked by alexandrasaintmleux, charlesleclerc, dinobeganovic, dennishauger, arthurleclerc and others...

matteolombardi: my God. They never shut up. Alex, take them both back to Monaco

⇲ Comments

alexandrasaintmleux: 🫡

charlesleclerc: ALEX ??!!

arthurleclerc: LOLO ??😭😭

matteolombardi: Sorry, Le. Maybe I just need a nap

arthurleclerc: 🫡🫡🫡

user15: OH- are they... going to... are they going to take a nap like- TOGETHER ⁉️

user16: So, are they on family vacations ?

481MCLARG | 30 . 01 . 2025 | CORREGIDO

[tuttle-did-it]

For 24 hours, I could not hit post, I couldn't respond to any posts, I couldn't reblog any posts, I couldn't message anyone, and I couldn't create any new posts. So I think something was definitely up-- mobile and browser, tried multiple browsers. I could read other people's posts, I could see when people RB my posts, but that's it. No idea why-- I didn't post anything controversial or problematic. All I can think is they didn't like how often I was reblogging Threshold day stuff? I don't know. I just know I couldn't do anything here. Bug or shadow-ban, all I know is for 24 hours, tumblr did not like me.

Apologising in advance for this rant:

The reset button is really bad in Trek in general-- DS9 pushed that as far as they could-- they go to the mirror universe and discover that Kirk completely destroyed it. Great! consequences. But even DS9-- O'Brien has an implant of being in prison for decades and killing his best friend in there, and then he's fine next week for new tortures. That man should have been riddled with PTSD-- crippling PTSD. They did the best they could with the restraints they had, but there was always a reset button. Fridge Jadzia. Rest-- here's Dax but she's neurotic and sad and a mess. And even tho we explicitely and repeatedly stated that Trill are not allowed to continue their lives when they are joined with another Trill, we're throwing that out the window and putting Ezri there because reset button, it's like having Jadzia back, but without any of the expertise, confidence, and joy she brought! yay!

Year of Hell should have been an entire SEASON as Ron Moore wanted it to be-- and they should have never reset to zero after that. They took a great storyline, great character development, and trashed it. They should have had a hobbled little ship held together by ducktape and spit by the time they made it home.

The reason we are whining about new Trek is not because there are finally consequences, but because the shows are just... they're just bad. (we meaning people who are not cis het white middle aged men who wank off to the nostalgia in Trek).

ST:PIC seasons 1-2 were a C- for me (and again-- NO consequence for what the fuck they did to the Borg in S2 but whatever). And then ST:P s3 was just the worst thing I've seen in so many years. Like... the WORST. Great, consequences. Cool. But also, worst writing I've seen in years. Worst acting I've seen in years. A kick-arse Black woman is repeatedly told to control herself by a man. She's not allowed to see her lover because ST:P s3 jumped back into 1980s politics and god forbid if we actually see a queer couple. And, as you say, 10 episodes of a reset button.

And no, Seven is too busy getting fucking deadnamed every time someone talks to her. And when she's not putting up with that, she's wallpaper sitting in the dark so a mary-sue 40-year old looking 20 year old nepo baby can wax purple prose about how hard his fucking life is. And we will spend 3 years telling you that Starfleet is corrupt, that the Federation is corrupt, and then everyone just rejoins up at the end--erasing what was the most interesting development within new Trek I've seen.

STP S3 was so, so unbearably unwatchable, it made me retroactively not only hate all of STP, but every episode of TNG and all the characters. I do not fucking care about any of them. I don't want to see Star Trek TNG ever again. Frankly, I don't even want to rewatch anything with the actors in it.

The TNG crew hijacked the entire last season. Everyone was angry when TNG hijacked Enterprise's finale to make it about them. Even Frakes said he regrets this. So what do they do? The one thing Patrick Stewart promised would never happen-- take over the entire Picard show and make it about the Legacy TNG cast. They turn all the women into wallpaper, make both Crusher and Troi's storylines about their children and nothing to do with anything else. LaForge's daughter? her storyline is about daddy issues and having a hard on for the 40 year old 20 year old nepo baby. Raffi? Her storyline is a man telling her she needs to behave herself. Seven's storyline is just being deadnamed and not getting to do a single thing that makes her worth being there. And fridge Ro. It's bullshit. They could digitally remove most of the women from the entire last season and the stories would *barely* change. Oh-- and that's only assuming you can make out a single thing in the entire series because everything is so fucking dark you cannot even recognise which characters are even there, let alone who is talking to whom. Gates has said she couldn't even SEE Patrick when they were filming because the lights were so low.

We're not complaining about consequences finally happening on Star Trek. We're complaining that the writing, directing, producing, lighting, and acting are all just BAD. We're complaining that they fucked up a perfectly great lesbian relationship for no reason. We're complaining that the Black woman was repeatedly told to control herself the whole series, but it became an entire plot point for s3. We're complaining that Deanna's story is just sitting in a cave crying. We're complaining that they fucking fridged Ro Laren for no fucking reason-- and made HER apologise when it should have been Picard.

The stories are AWFUL. How many Soongs do we need? I get it, you love Brent Spiner. But fucking hell, how many times are you going to bring Data-- in any form-- back? Just stop. Stop. Stop. Talk about consequences-- fucking kill Data and stop bringing him back every chance you can with dozens of different characters.

And don't even get me started on how DISCO botched Section 31 shit. Or how fucking uneven SNW is. Or how Lower Decks is nothing but constant references to previous things that have happened on Trek. There are no stories. It's just 'reference, reference, joke about a reference, pause for laugh, reference, joke, joke, lampshade wink to the audience, reference, reference.'

I welcome, with open arms, Star Trek that finally has consequences. That's not my problem. My problem is that the shows are all AWFUL.

I trusted the DS9 writers to ask a question like 'can you have a utopia without having a fascist shadow-government holding it up?' and you know what.. fair question. Cos humans are humans and, as Sisko says, it's easy to be a saint in paradise. But when you take away all their food replicators and easy living, are humans still going to human? turns out yes.

I trusted those DS9 writers to investigate that. But I do not trust current Trek writers to investigate that. They can't even seem to comprehend that Section 31 was actually a *bad* thing. I don't trust current Trek show-runners to run the shows, because they are just frankly awful. It's this terrible mix of 'oh yay 80s/90s nostalgia, oh legacy trek we love you' and 'hey you know what would be great? let's fridge Ro. Let's make Troi's entire storyline just sitting in a cave crying. Let's have some TNG references that will make the cis het white middle class men cheer and feel like they are part of the story. yay. And hey-- yay nostalgia-- you know how everyone was constantly telling a woman of colour, Torres, to control herself? Let's make that an entire fucking PLOT with a man ~teaching~ Raffi how to "control" herself.

Prodigy is the ONE show that I think has made a new Trek work, has shown consequences, has shown CRITICAL engagement with nostalgia to say hey, guess what? everything is fucked up. And of course, in the end of the final season, they fucking blow that with unnecessary tie-ins to ST:P.

TL;DR: post Legacy Star Trek shows are attempting to show consequences, which is great, but they are almost all unwatchable because they are so fucking obsessed with giving the nostalgia nerds something to wank off about. They do not care about quality, nor do they care about consequences. They care about nostalgia wankery and I am done with it all.

Prodigy is the only one that has even attempted to be critical about nostalgia, to make their own world-- one which has a LOT of consequence, and to show constant evolution and new character development for every one of the characters. And it was cancelled. Again.

Until there are writers I can trust who can create engaging storylines, great character arcs and stories that make sense-- and they hire gaffers so I can fucking SEE THE SETS AND CHARACTERS-- Trek and I are on a break. Like, I don't want to see any Trek, I don't want to even go out on casual dates with Trek because I just hate everything they are doing right now.

Because Star Trek is making me hate Star Trek.

What were the new organs Tom Paris got in Threshold? Wrong answers only

[ezlo-x]

actually,,i have many thoughts in considering making a custom ganondorf doll. I have this old ww ganondorf toy that I have already modified before, I pretty much altered his face (my twt followers did not agree w me using full on acrylics for his face but oh well). but the idea of maybe going a little further and make him fully poseable has been resting in the back of my mind for a very long time. So I made a blueprint(?) of how I would possibly make this work. also maybe making him alternative accessories like different facial expressions and different hand poses.

tbh tho! I am also sharing this in hopes that others can possibly do this! maybe not needing the ganondorf toy as a base but just making it from scratch (even easier if you have a 3d printer)

[iarrelm]

An early morning conversation about tea got a little out of hand

[bitemedotmp3]

For Mika? Did she do it for Mika? N-no, she just- I-it's not like she cares or anything, it's just- aaaaagh, forget it! Uzi feels pinpricks of heat on her cheeks as she frowns and looks away, because whatever! But the tension fades as she listens to Mika, and she raises a brow. The stuff Mika's saying... Really takes all kinds here in the city, huh? Guess Uzi's only dumped a bit of her lore, and Mika's probably got some other messed-up stuff going on in her life, too. Uzi already knew she was just using "human" as a handy umbrella term, even if Mika didn't quite fit under it, but hearing all this other stuff is illuminating.

"Huh," is all Uzi can really say at first. She leans back in her seat for a few moments, frowning, before a response comes to mind. "I've seen so many people die, it's crazy to think that some people never see it happen. I saw one of my dad's coworkers get sliced in half right in front of me. Up-and-down," she says, drawing a line down her face.

Being a worker drone just means death is more or less constantly lurking around your back; It's a miracle Uzi reached high school with how high the mortality rate is at times. And on the flip side is Mika, who only knows about death from a textbook. It's... jarring, maybe? Shocking? She isn't really sure how to describe the feeling.

"Must be nice," she says, more tensely than she means to.

But it feels nice that Mika is appreciative. Uzi's starting to realize she's never really... had a friend like this before. Her relationships with N and V came from a place of shared trauma, a burden thrust upon them that they only overcame hand-in-hand. No matter what happens to them, they'll always have that chain linking them together, but with Mika, they just kind of... ended up in the same place. Uzi never really expected them to be friends, she figured this bubblegum-pink girl would end up antagonizing her like so many others did. But Mika is nice. Dumb, but nice. Uzi would rather not not be friends. And that feels weird to admit, even just to herself. She's not used to this!

"Okay, well. As long as you're happy, that's good. And I don't want to kill her, I just don't want to be killed by her. So I dunno, just, like, keep her on a short leash. Maybe she'd be into that." Gotta toss a little levity in there, can't be too genuine.

Sighing, Uzi reaches out towards the kitchen knife that's still lying on the counter. A purple glyph appears around the handle and her fingers, and she guides it back into the block. "Guess we can file this one away under 'done for now?' I'd rather not have any more drama with you anytime soon. Got enough of that in my life."

Mika listened in silence as Uzi explained their story to her, trying best not to say anything rash until the very end of the tale. The fact she went to a scrapyard of all things to find her "former thought girlfriend's" robotic corpse was not something Mika ever dreamed she'd hear and not think was some absurd story made up to freak her out. But it all continued to add up as Uzi finished, saying that she of all people gave her a funeral service.

"...Y-You did all of that? For me?" What would normally come out as words of potential anger escaped Mika's lips more as a surprise. Beyond just making sure nobody in the city was going to deal with zombie drones, a thought Mika never wanted to hear ever again, Uzi very well could've left it at that. Check the weird corpse and go on with her wonderful teenage angst filled life. Yet there was one thing that Mika felt needed to be said as well, a little bit that she knew was confusing plenty of people.

"Uzi I know I've told you before but...whatever I am isn't what you call humans." Mika sighed as she stood up from her seat, scratching the top of her already messy hair trying to word what she was going to say without sounding even more like she lost her marbles. "I-I know the phrase too from being here too. It's something people toss around for individuals that look like me of course without the wings or the halo."

Whatever its true meaning was lost on her. Nobody taught it to her nor was it locked in some library that the Sisterhood was keeping anywhere. Sure there was a possibility it existed but one was more likely to run on a wild goose hunt going from clue to clue then figuring out anything meaningful.

"There's one person in our world that I realized might've fit the description. They're the one who also works alongside the Student Council to make sure the city isn't always setting itself on fire, someone trying to seize power, or even an uprising from going through completely..." "Sensei" was that person, but it's not like they were here to prove the point in front of the two of them. Nor would it really prove anything. But it did have one important thing relating back to what the drone said.

"...This is all a big and annoyingly long way of saying I don't think I've ever seen anyone "die" before."

Which sounded equally absurd considering how fearful she was of her own life on multiple occasions. But being in Spirale for a whole year would make anyone believe the absurdity in their world might pale or be seen as normal in this place.

"I-I've obviously tried to kill people before don't get me wrong. Some I thought were the only way of moving forward, others individuals I didn't want to have to kill unless it was absolutely necessary. Even I thought I was going to die in that Church at home. While I mentioned before that the halos we have make us more durable we all have our breaking points. If you shot a tank shell at me and I didn't prepare for it I'd probably only be knocked out for a few minutes. But keep doing it over and over and well you get the picture..." And compared to to some of the things she saw here the odds of being killed were much higher. A far cry from bullets feeling like pellets on her skin...

"...But I don't think I've ever been to a funeral myself either. I'm sure there's at least a few unlucky students who don't have a school to go back to that might've died. But nobody ever would've found them in the first place."

And any actual records of a enrolled one dying would've been kept off the record entirely. Only "they" would know, and even then it was doubtful Mika would ever get that information without stealing it for herself...

"I don't know what I would've done if I found her corpse before you. Zombie drone or not." Her entire body shivered as she sat back down and looked towards her roommate. "But I know I probably wouldn't have done what you did. And for that I want to thank you. Even if now, you know, the two of you are more on "kill each other on sight" terms."

[scoriarose]

Psst, other snake caretakers

I have an idea for April Fools-

who wants in? Private message me for deets.

[graff-aganda]

No no ikr. The ENT fandom is so quiet around here. And honestly I'm just excited to see art of my favourite dudes, because we rarely get fanart around here, and when we do it's usually Trip or T'Pol solely. Malcolm gets left in the dust quite a lot so I'm happy you drew him as well - and so well done too!

Anyway, ramble over, lol.

OMG... Well I think I can see why a lot of fanart is of Trip and/or T'pol (those two seem like they're doing some heavy lifting for the show/are just a lot of people's faves. I've got a few half baked ideas in mind for them myself.) but the rest of the crew as a whole do deserve more love I think! :]

[kashilascorner]

Is it normal to feel some kind of boundary has been violated when someone over shares with you

[mrnightingale]

NONONONONO pookie u didn't do anything wrong I love you, I'd literally like to know you better bc you're an incredible person and I'd be honoured if I get to call you my friend. Unfortunately I've had bad experiences with friendship before, I always get too excited too soon and mess everything up, and things never work out at the end, but I won't give up if I get to have you in my life. Please don't punish yourself when you haven't done anything wrong.

Btw, I really missed you, it's everything okay?? how are you??

shoutout to @mrnightingale for being the most edwin payne coded of all, being oh so very well at articulating his thoughts, and also for being a trans-boy-dbd-fan because the representation means so much to me. lots of love xoxo

@mrnightingale 🌻