#School canteens and kitchens

[kyreniacommentator]

Girne Canteen Staff Receive Hygiene Training

[woso-dreamzzz]

Shot Through The Heart II

Alexia Putellas x Archer!Reader

Summary: The story of your love

A camera pans down from the treeline to focus on an unassuming house on an unassuming street in an unassuming part of Barcelona. It zooms in to the front door, swinging open and investigates the hallway - passing by a collection of family photos, a World Cup medal framed along with a bow and arrow mounted above a doorway.

It turns sharply to the left to an open plan lounge that borders a kitchen.

An interviewer is sitting in an armchair facing you and Alexia, snuggled on the sofa.

"You caused quite a stir," The interviewer says," When you both posted on Instagram. I guess my first question is, how did it begin?"

Alexia chuckles. "We shared a garden. It was one of those old gardens where the end of it shared a fence with the neighbour behind you. I kicked my football over it."

"And I shot it, pinned it to the fence and everything."

"I climbed that same fence to get it back. And we just stared at each other. Then, I burst into tears."

●～●～●～●～

The girl who just climbed over your fence stared at you.

You stared back, brows pulled together in confusion.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she pointed an accusing finger at you. "What did you do to my ball?!"

You pointed to where your arrow had pinned it to the fence. "I shot it." You put your hands on your hips. "You shouldn't kick balls over my fence if you don't want them shot!"

The girl burst into tears, sobbing hysterically and you jolted in shock. You glanced back at your house in worry before you frantically unpinned the ball from the fence.

"Sorry! Sorry!" You said, holding the ball out to her," Stop crying! Look! Here! Take your stupid ball!" You threw it at her.

She caught it, turning it over in her hand as it began to very slightly deflate. She pointed at your bow. "What's that?"

"It's my bow," You replied, before puffing out your chest," I'm an archer."

"I'm a footballer."

"Cool."

"You bow's kind of cool too."

"I'm y/n."

"Alexia."

●～●～●～●～

"So not the best first meeting," The interviewer jokes.

You shake you head. "Not the best but we ended up getting on after that. Our Papas had to knock down the fence and replace it with a door so we didn't have to keep climbing to see each other."

"I think your dad still has the scar," Alexia replies and you roll your eyes.

"It all worked out though. We attended the same schools, sat together in class, ate together at lunch. We walked home together too."

"And was it difficult to find time to hang out together while you were both training?"

Alexia thinks back to it and shakes her head. "We would walk home together after school and our mamas would take it in turns to drive each of us to practice."

"La Masia was closer so Alexia always got out first but I finished earlier so we would get driven back home with each other too."

"Sometimes we'd have sleepovers."

The interviewer smiles. "And when did your romantic relationship start?"

"We were sixteen. Alexia asked me."

●～●～●～●～

Alexia was late. You weren't entirely sure why but she was. You glanced at the clock, tapping your foot impatiently. You couldn't stay long, you had a competition that your Papa was taking you to - you had gotten the rest of the day off school.

The canteen was filling up with students and you glanced at the clock again. You sighed, checking your phone. No messages from Alexia.

It wasn't like her to ghost you like this but you just assumed she had been asked to stay back after class.

You shouldered your bag, ready to make your way to reception to sign out and wait for your father to pull up, when a body crashed into yours.

Alexia curled around you, head in your neck. You felt her grinning.

"You're late," You informed her," I have to get going."

She retreated from your embrace, lacing your fingers together and walked with you to reception. She waited as you signed out and joined you outside when you went for your Papa to arrive.

You could feel her staring at your side profile, not looking away.

"What?"

"You're so pretty."

You rolled your eyes. "You're pretty too, Alexia."

She shook her head in annoyance as if trying to gather her thoughts. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly. "Date me."

●～●～●～●～

The interviewer laughs. "So, not much of a question then."

You laugh too. "I knew what she meant. It was a no brainer to say yes."

"I wanted to take her to the movies," Alexia says," But my Mama told me that if I wanted to go, I had to take Alba so we just ended up in the park."

"We spent hours there, though," You continue," And we ended up at this cute little café that we always go back to. It was run by this cute old couple that had been together for years. They're gone now but their son took over."

"We used to sit there all the time and do our homework when we didn't have practice. He watched us grow up. We get free doughnuts when we go there now."

Your hands draw circles on Alexia's arms as you hum, watching the interviewer lap up all the information.

"And, obviously, Alexia you ended up at Barca but y/n...You went to South Korea?"

You laugh at her shock. "Yeah, Korea's pretty damned good at archery. In fact, my trainer when I was younger came from there originally so he recommended I head over. I mean, I've trained all around the world for archery but the Koreans are dedicated. They're extremely good and I'm honoured that I got the chance to try and keep up with them."

"And how did the long distance work? Was it difficult?"

●～●～●～●～

Alexia's offseason never lasts really long. Between club duties and country duties, she was always on the pitch.

Your schedule was a bit more lenient, allowing you to train anywhere you wanted although you mainly stayed in Korea. You flew to France a few times a year, a brief two-month stay in the US, a couple of weeks in Spain and then back to Korea again.

It was rare that she had this kind of time off so, there you were, waiting at Incheon airport for the love of your life to get through the doors.

She crashed into you as soon as she spotted you. You held her tight, nose buried into her hair as you breathed her in.

"I missed you, amor," She said.

"Not as much as I missed you," You replied.

You pulled back, taking her cheeks in your hands and pulling her in for a long, sweet kiss - trying to put all of your longing and love into it.

"I missed you," You said again as you took Alexia's hand in your own while your other grabbed her bags.

You brought her back to your apartment, dumping the suitcase in the lounge before turning to look at Alexia. It wasn't the first time she had been in your apartment but she still marvelled over it like it was.

Her hands ghosted over the pictures of her mantelpiece - particularly the one with you and her at school, grinning at the camera like two crazy people. Your bow leaned up against the tv and a medal hung from a hook attached to a magnet on your fridge.

"I watched this competition," She said as she poked the medal," I couldn't understand anything the commentators were saying but you looked really good in your uniform."

You sent her a lopsided smile. "You think I looked good?"

"Hmm." She sauntered over, her hands coming to rest in your back pockets. "Very good. Made me a little upset that I wasn't there to congratulate you." She raised a brow and your throat bobbed.

"Well..." You said, glancing at the clock - you had a reservation at your favourite barbeque place soon," You scored a fantastic goal last week. I...I think I'd like to congratulate you too."

Alexia gave you a wolfish smile. "Good..." She turned around. "Bedroom still in the same place?"

●～●～●～●～

"We made it work," Alexia says.

"I earned a lot of air miles," You boast," I'm still cashing them in." You grin lazily. "Our trip to Greece was bought off those miles."

Alexia rolls her eyes. "She'll tell anyone who listens about that but it's true. We spent a lot of time flying out to see each other whenever we could. I think we saw each other more than we saw our parents."

You laugh, resting your head on Alexia's shoulder. "I think I once told my parents not to fly out to see me because you were already on the plane."

"And, obviously, one of you proposed. How did that happen?"

"I proposed."

●～●～●～●～

It was a beautiful night. Not too hot. Not too cold. You'd made sure of it, comparing the weather forecast for days before selecting the one you wanted.

You took her out on a walk. You bought her lunch.

Every time she smiled at you, your heart fluttered and you had to look away. You wanted to spring the question each time but you had planned this. You didn't want to ruin it.

"Not that I'm complaining," Alexia said as she followed you onto the balcony of the fancy hotel room you had rented," But what gives? Was there something special today? Something I've forgotten about?"

"Can't I just do something nice for you?"

"You've been doing a lot of nice things. A walk. Lunch. A shopping spree. Dinner and now a hotel room. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to seduce me."

You grinned at her. "Is it working?"

"You don't need to seduce me," She said," I don't keep you around for just the sex."

You scoff in jest, a dramatic hand on your heart. "But you keep me around partly for the sex? Alexia!"

She laughed, shaking her head. "You know I keep you around because I love you."

"I should hope so," You said. Your hand dipped into your pocket and dropped to one knee. "Because otherwise, this would be really embarrassing."

●～●～●～●～

"We got married within the month," Alexia says," We eloped. I don't even think we told our parents we even got engaged."

"Your Mama grabbed me by the ear and yelled at me for hours," You laugh, rubbing your ear in phantom pain," I think she thought that I could have stopped you from dragging me to that courthouse."

"I..." Alexia's face glows red as she speaks. "I just didn't want to wait. In all honesty, for us, it already felt like we were married, we'd been together for so many years that getting the marriage certificate signed seemed like just the final checkbox. I didn't need a big wedding or anything. We love each other. What more needed to be done?"

"Her mother still holds it against me."

"Mama is being dramatic." Alexia rolls her eyes. "She got to hold her little party for us."

"We snuck a way for that too," You say to the interviewer," For someone that didn't want a wedding, she was very eager to get to the honeymoon."

"We bought that on her air miles too."

Everyone in the room laughs at that.

"So, childhood sweethearts," The interviewer summarises.

"Childhood sweethearts," You confirm. Alexia moves a bit closer to you, leaning her head on your shoulder after pressing a soft kiss to your cheek.

"And, now you're living together in Barcelona. Is it a big adjustment after so many years of long distance?"

"It's a good adjustment," Alexia says," It feels good to finally be in the same place as each other, permanently."

"She likes that I get the groceries," You joke.

"Oh, yes," She says with a grin," It's what I keep her around for."

You stick your tongue out.

So does she.

[project-sekai-facts]

so do they just like. not have food in any of these sekais other than the street sekai? i’d imagined there’d at least be a cafeteria or something in the school sekai, but they probably would have brought it up here if that was the case.

It's weird bc School SEKAI definitely has a canteen, so I'm assuming the food just spawns in daily and there isn't a kitchen or anything. Or home ec classes.

Wonderland SEKAI also has food god knows where it's from maybe they have a magic oven like in cartoons. Maybe Tsukasa just wills it into existence. I don't like that the Rin card implies the plushies have a digestive system but we won't think about that right now.

Stage SEKAI and Empty SEKAI do not have food, it has to be brought in from the outside (not counting Mafuyu's apple).

[ronsenthal]

Ron Speirs x Reader

Summary: Nobody really stands alone at Currahee even if you try. Sometimes we try to run away from our thoughts and demons but sometimes they catch us on the race for the better or worse.

A/N: This fic was written on the sole purpose of filling the big void in my heart caused by the showrunners who refused to gives us Ron in Toccoa, it was based on this post ignited by this military AU prompt. Also slightly based on the fact that Speirs used to be a runner for the athletics back when he was a student.

Since he was a kid he loved to run, he ran all the way from school to his home trying to get there as fast as he could because it meant more time to play with his toys and his friends. When he got a bit older he loved to run because it was a relief for his troubled mind, but also because he was so good at it, he was always a competitor and the winning feeling gave him joy and praise it was his runaway.

Life was going fast and there was no way to stop him, in his mind there was a clear path, study, get a job, get a house and so far everything was going in the right direction, but that was until the news about a war came and he had to put a hold on everything he thought was in his path.

It’s been some weeks since he arrived at Camp Toccoa for his basic training, so far the physical requirements were the last of his problems, he even enjoyed the preparations and of course his favourite part was the endless running exercises. He has always been smart, but the endless morning classes studying maps, sand tables, aerial photos were a torture, not because he couldn’t understand it, no! In fact he understood it better than the old officer trying to teach them, and that was the problem, they were too slow and he was a natural born tactician.

One afternoon after a torture session was over he had some spare time on his hands, so he quickly changed into his PT gear and headed towards the mountain he was getting so acquainted. When they said that Currahee means “Stands Alone” he could understand why the natives gave this name to the 1.700 foot tall giant. It was the chance for his mind to go blank for some time.

*

You wanted to get better, you HAD to do better for you and for all the women who couldn’t yet join the army, this was always on the back of your mind, you embraced every chance to get some extra training. Each company had 5 women to the personnel as part of the government development plans (and propaganda), of course being ever so lucky you got into Easy Company, the same company that had the worst CO in the entire battalion.

Herbert Sobel enjoyed every chance he got to torture and make the whole company miserable, at first you thought it was some personal hatred towards you and the other girls, but turns out he seemed to hate everyone. He pointed out the most ridiculous reasons to make everyone run the goddamn mountain, once he didn’t like the way you tied your hair during a friday night run. After the incident you decided to cut your hair short to prevent any other problems, poor Bull was furious when he saw you that it took Martin, Luz and Christenson to hold him back from trying to strangle Sobel. 

One afternoon you decided to try to improve your time running Currahee so you got your mussete bag filled with some fruits you charmed Winters to give to you back in the kitchen and your water canteen. You were finally alone this time which gave you more liberty without feeling watched every step.

After some minutes you saw that there was someone else behind you but didn’t paid any attention as you looked at the watch on your wrist and so far your time was good, so you decided to maintain your focus and keep your good rhythm. The landscape was slowly changing as you was getting closer to the summit of the mountain, suddenly you looked at your left and someone was passing you like a lightning bolt, “oh great another show-off fucker trying to prove that he is better than me” you thought to yourself and muttered a “dickhead” after he was gaining advantage so you pushed yourself harder and harder, but he was so quick you couldn’t catch him.

Some more 15 endless minutes later you arrived to the highest point of Currahee, you once again looked at your watch, a new record!!! You got so proud that instead of running down the other 3 miles you decided to stay and enjoy the landscape down bellow. You chose a nice spot to sit down under some plants that were covering at least a tiny little bit of the sun and decided to take a fruit, but then you saw him.

Being in the army surrounded by some handsome men gave you at least the useful ability to pretend not to stare down a shirtless man, but this one was a completely different story. The dickhead you saw earlier was laying down on the sun just a couple of feets away from you, using his PT shirt under his back as some kind of towel to protect him from the rocks and the gravel underneath.

As the sun was kissing his sweaty pale skin and his dark hair you watched how his toned chest was going up and down in some uneven rhythm, your mind was racing, your heart beating faster and your breath was matching his so you tried to shrug it off telling yourself it was the adrenaline from your effort, wrong again. You watched as his long eyelashes rested so peacefully as his eyes were closed, then once again you tried to change your thoughts and peel the orange on your hand.

You took your knife to split the fruit and when you finally opened it the citric smell filled the air, the man near you slowly opened up his eyes as he was taken from some trance and scanned your face, he took a look at his watch and smiled to himself as he closed his eyes again to which you rolled your eyes. As if reading your mind you heard a hard voice suddenly speaking.

"I'm not judging you, on the contrary, I'm quite surprised you were so quick, I had to push harder to get past you" he said opening just one of his eyes to glance at you.

That took you by surprise, you could feel your cheeks burning after the compliment and you only mumbled some weird thanks.

After an awkward silence he started to get up to sit down, now his dirty shirt was thrown over his left shoulder, you followed his movement as he was so close you could see the freckles in his back. Trying once again to change your focus you reached your canteen to get some water, he glanced at you and gave a soft smile to witch you could only understand as a quiet plead for some water.

"You want some?" you said reaching it for him to take.

"Don't your admirable CO forbid you guys to drink water while running up and down here or something like that?" he asked raising one of his eyebrows in a playful way.

"Sometimes yes but thankfully he is not here" you said trying to hold your laugh.

"He got quite a reputation for himself, poor bastard, couldn't imagine being in his skin" he said giving back your canteen and nodding his head with a silent thank you, his eyes carefully watching you.

"Wait how do you know I'm from Easy Company?" you said suddenly curious after realising that you had not yet introduced yourself.

"Well, you got quite a reputation too, a better one, the toughest girl on the whole battalion" he said with a grin on his face "that and the fact that I saw you running up here with Winters, a girl and a redhead is quite a sight here, you know"

"I'm Y/L/N" you said with a polite little smile.

"Speirs" he said in return as you shook hands .

"Well Speirs, nice to meet you but now I need to return now or I'll be in big trouble" you said shoving your stuff into your bag again and cleaning your hands in your shorts.

"Want to race?" he said suddenly getting up and wearing his shirt, you could swear.

"Winner buys a drink?" you said laughing.

"Smartass" he replied and started to run down the mountain

You tried to keep up with him for the biggest part of the trail and tried your best but before he was fast, he reached the finishing line and then he watched as you finished too.

You both were trying to catch some air and exchanged some looks while sharing friendly smiles.

That night at the bar as you waited while he went to get a couple of beers for you both you couldn't help but smile as you realised that nobody stands alone at Currahee.

*

When you saw someone running through the streets of Foy and through the enemy lines you heart almost stopped, you knew it was him, you knew nobody could be this fearless and run so fast like Ronald Fucking Speirs.

At this point everybody knew he was at little bit crazy on the head and he got quite a reputation too. The thing is he was almost too crazy for his own good and once again you were the one holding your breath and silently praying for no harm.

When everybody thought he was crazy enough here comes the lunatic running again after passing some info to I Company. You could see the happiness and relief on the faces of your friends, Lipton even got a dumb smile in his face. They were all happy that Easy finally got a good leader again.

As soon as he got his helmet off and sit down to rest you came furious stomping you way towards him.

"You crazy son of a bitch are you out of your goddamn mind?? Fucking stupid dickhead" you said slapping him on the arms and even giving little punches to his chest

Everyone else was sharing a confused look while watching this scene, Ron had no reaction and was somehow also confused looking at you. He let you curse and hit him, he knew why you got to that point.

"Woow woow woow, Y/N, calm down it's okay, look thanks to Lieutenant everything went fine" Lipton said holding you by your shoulders and carefully taking you away from Speirs.

"No you don't understand" you shouted as tears started to roll down your cheeks.

"Yes I do, okay, I might seem dumb but it's not that hard to figure where you were running away to every night since Aldbourne" he said giving you a comforting look you two often shared "Besides, it was so fucking awesome what he did there you must admit" Lipton said giving you a little wink.

You rolled your eyes at your best friend while trying to wipe away the tears. You felt a hand on your back and you turned around to see him but before you could curse him once again you felt his lips gently pressing yours.

For a moment you could swear that even the world stopped spinning around, the only sound you could hear was your own heart pounding on your chest, for a moment you were back at running Currahee, you could even smell some citric scent on the air. His lip were soft, his hands warm just gently squeezing your hips.

After the two of you went for the drink as part of the bet made on the summit of Currahee a friendship began. At first he was just a good friend but then you started to feel things you've never experienced before, it was love. Your first kiss was before making the jump on D-Day, on France you almost lost your head but he was there to help you, at Holland you almost lost him and thought you would never see those eyes again, on Bastogne you survived the freezing temperatures and used every opportunity to use his scarf to cover your face with the excuse of hiding from the cold when you were sick. He was always there, for you.

When he parted the kiss the smell of metal, gunpowder and dirty came all back like a punch, you looked at him once again and all your anger was gone, he was okay and so were you.

"Dickhead" was everything you said before he gently kissed your forehead, adjusted the M-1 on his shoulder and started to run between the line barking orders to the men.

Taglist: @mads-weasley, @footprintsinthesxnd, @sweetxvanixlla, @xxluckystrike, @malarkgirlypop, @lostloveletters, @next-autopsy, @ewipandora, @executethyself35, @easycompany123, @whollyjoly and @basilone

[heykaya]

Degrees of Lewdity Screenshots

💛: Appears more than once on the list.

❗️: Contains World Lore

——————————— ~* Love Interests *~ ———————————

🌻 Alex the Farmhand 🤠

Drunk Alex Dialogue

Alex Somnophilia scene

Alex reacts to a Remy related tattoo

Breaking down to Alex

💵 Avery the Businessperson 🥂

💛 Avery vs Robin

💛 Whitney vs Avery

Meeting Avery (Park, Street Harassment)

Rejecting High Rage Avery

Avery's Date - Game Night: Intro

❗️Avery's Date - Game Night: Avery Wins/Remy's Masked Party

Avery's Date - Game Night: Bailey Wins

Avery's Date - Game Night: Leighton Wins

❗️ Avery's Date - Game Night: Quinn Wins

Avery's Date - Fine Dining

Avery's Date - Ballroom Show Off

Avery's Date - Hotel Room

Dismissing Avery

🌲 Eden the Hunter 🪵

Meeting Eden through Bailey

Recaptured by Eden - Low Love, No Permission (Forest)

Recaptured by Eden - Town Stalking Event

Recaptured by Eden - Town (Low Love)

Recaptured by Eden - Town (High Love)

Eden locks you in a cage

Making Breakfast for Eden

Bathtime with Eden

Eden Re-Collars You

Eden hunts you in the forest (virgin PC)

Eden comforts high trauma PC

Eden saves you from the Underground Farm

Eden saves you from the Asylum - Bomb Method

Eden saves you from the Asylum - Towel Method

Eden saves you from a non-con encounter in the forest

Going on a date in town

Scamming Eden

👁 Kylar the Loner 🦠

💛 Sydney and Kylar kiss

Meeting Kylar (Bullied at school, Bumping into him)

Kylar sniffs your bedsheets

Kylar sees you streaking in the park

🧸 Robin the Orphan 👶

💛 Avery vs Robin

Meeting Robin (Shopping Centre, Lemonade Stand, School Canteen, Orphanage)

Rescuing Robin from the Docks

Bailey's Punishment (PC & Robin) - Intro

Bailey's Punishment (PC & Robin) - Punishment 1: Dinner Party

Bailey's Punishment (PC & Robin) - Punishment 2: Eden & The Landfill ⟡ Part 1 ⟡ Part 2 ⟡

Bailey's Punishment (PC & Robin) - Punishment 3: Remy's Farm & The Pillory ⟡ Part 1 ⟡ Part 2 ⟡ Part 3 ⟡ Part 4 ⟡

Bailey's Punishment (PC & Robin) - Punishment 4: The Underground Brothel

Robin's Trauma

Robin finds the player at the Brothel

⛪️ Sydney the Faithful/the Fallen 👅

💛 Sydney and Kylar kiss

Meeting Sydney (School Library, Passing Out, Attending Mass)

Leighton's Spanking

Swimsuit Shopping

Defends you from a Perverted Monk

❗️Temple Advancement - PC becomes an initiate ⟡ Part 1 ⟡ Part 2 ⟡ Part 3 ⟡

Sydney comforts high trauma PC

Passing out in the school library

Pure Path: Rite of Promise

Pure Path: Rite of Promise - Broken Promise/Cheating on Sydney

Sydney and Doctor Harper

Sydney gets bullied in school

🖕 Whitney the Bully 👄

💛 Whitney vs Avery

Dismissing Whitney + seeing him in the Underground Brothel

Sending Whitney to the Pillory

——————————— ~* NPCs *~ ———————————

Bailey the Caretaker

Annoying Bailey

Bailey's Payments when you live at the temple

Bailey at the Park

Doren the English Teacher

Doren's Concern (unlocking Doren's flat)

Jordan the Monk/Priest

Watching Jordan Shower

Jordan gives you oral (Fallen Angel Transformation)

Mason the Swimming Teacher

Unlocking Mason's Pond

Hanging out with Mason

Everybody swims nude in school

Locker Raid + Mason's Shame (stealing underwear & getting dirty with Mason)

Mason Removes Winter's Chastity Belt

Leighton the Headteacher

Blackmailing Leighton

Being Blackmailed by Leighton

Sending Leighton to the Pillory

Mickey the Hacker

Meeting Mickey (Police Infiltration Quest, Negative Fame)

Remy the Farmer

Returning to the Underground Farm after escaping

River the Maths Teacher

Unlocking the soup kitchen

Maths Competition

Masturbating in class to make River faint

River's Soup Kitchen scenes

Meeting River (School, Soup Kitchen)

Winter the History Teacher

Meeting Winter (School, Museum)

Masturbating in Class - Winter's Chastity Belt

Wooden Horse Demonstration

Ducking Stool Demonstration

Wren the Smuggler

Meeting Wren (Docks, Remy's Estate, Prison)

Wren cums first

(If any links are broken please let me know.)

[moonlightsdream]

One day, I saw an in-your-face wild dog near Canteen Number 1. It had a golden coat. I heard that it was very clever and promising. So I decided to keep it. Now that I have kept it, I wanted to cultivate it into a top dog. I told the canteen chef that I wanted the dog at the gate. Then the chef came out with a kitchen knife and asked me whether I wanted it braised or steamed. I refused him and told him that I wanted to send it to school and let it be a top dog. The chef took a dislike to me. He asked me whether I was insane. Regardless of whether I was insane or not, I insisted on keeping this dog. I wanted it to attend morning self-study. I fondled it and asked whether it wanted to go to school. But it bit me. While I had myself vaccinated against rabies, I thought about whether I fondled it in the wrong way or not. I still went to see it the next day because I could have myself vaccinated against rabies, but it couldn't have itself vaccinated against me. During the third time, I specially brought kebabs for it. As you expected, after eating my kebabs, he bit me again. This dog is truly a dog. To achieve my goal, I was going to brainwash it. Since then, I had been calling it genius, master, or top dog. It seemed to understand what I meant. Once I called it top dog, it kept wagging its tail and was very happy. Later, everyone knew that in the Applied Technology Department, there was a golden retriever named Top Dog. Since I have paid so much sunk cost, I decided to educate it one last time. But it didn't appreciate what I did for it, so I got angry. I thought it might be better to raise a pig than keep it. I should just kill it. I asked the chef to take it away angrily. But it was a dog after all, so I should rescue it. I hurried to Canteen Number 1, but I saw this golden retriever fade in the pot after opening the door. It turns out that the golden retriever was just a mongrel. It fell into a paint bucket and was dyed golden, but it finally restored its original appearance. The chef muttered, "It's just a mongrel." After hearing this, this dying mongrel immediately barked, "Who are you scolding? I'm the top dog. Not a mongrel."   

Lighter & Princess 点燃我，温暖你 (2022) — Episode. 04   

[expectiations]

Idk bout you all but between the Doctor and River, River cannot cook to save her life. She's just chaos in the kitchen. She was raised to be a weapon. Weapons don't cook. And during her uni years, there's the school canteen but she doesn't think it's cool enough. OH WAIT–considering she's such a huge nerd, she's probably one of those who are so caught up in reading/studying that they forget to eat and drink.

The elder Ponds stage an intervention (the Doctor took them to Luna after being thoroughly threatened by Amelia). Amy remembers how Mels would be picky with her food but ate anything offered to her by Rory and Brian. And true enough when they get to the library where River has been cooped up in, River hasn't eaten nor drunk water for a good while now. When asked about it, she complains that the canteen never gets the dishes right (Luna's canteen has one of the best chefs in that era. River just said that because it wasn't cooked by Rory or Brian).

They make sure she constantly has a steady supply of her favorite dishes afterwards with the Doctor in charge of ensuring it never runs out. Which he does with all seriousness, never once missing. He'd definitely deny that the gleaming sword on display in the elder Ponds' living room helped. A LOT. He even enlisted the TARDIS' help by setting reminders.

He missed a couple of times (he's the Doctor after all) but another version of him would swoop in to save his ass. River notices of course and calls him out on it. He pleads mercy. She makes him pay by dragging him to help her study firsthand. And by firsthand, she meant him taking her to the actual events. He learns early on not to grouse about archeology in front of her that young because she goes 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 and then refuses to talk to him afterwards.

River:

The Doctor also upgrades the elder Ponds' phones so they can call River despite having literal millennia between them.

Older versions of River learned a few dishes but the Doctor is so used to being the one who cooks her meals that he sulked and had a tantrum when she refused to let him cook. (Years later on Darillium, the Doctor would bring it up. River: THAT WAS JUST ONCE. ARE YOU NEVER LETTING THAT GO? GIVE A GIRL A BREAK 🙄)

But then it would be fun for River to have something she can never be good at. Like she aces everything else EXCEPT for that one thing. And I vote for cooking. It's just funny to me that she's this ultracool being–the daughter of the Last Centurion and the Girl Who Waited, the Child of Death and Time–but simply cannot cook to save her life.

She's just spoiled bbgirl. Give her a break.

[littlesniggy]

Tying a knot

Soooooo....I'm not back but I really wanted to write this so yeah....hope you like it. Reader is a new recruit in the marines and is actually doing pretty well....if it wasn't for those stupid knots.

Warnings: modern day AU, military AU, dub-c, power dynamics, older man x younger woman, reader is fresh out of high school but over 18, swearing, slightly ns.fw

Pairing: Admiral Sakazuki x female recruit reader

Word count: 4.4k

When you pictured yourself in the future you always thought you’d go to college, get a job, settle down, have some kids, and live the rest of your life together with your husband on some lone range in the middle of nowhere, your grandkids running around while your kids prepare the Sunday dinner in your kitchen while you hold hands with your husband and reflect on what a blessed life you’ve had.

Or maybe you would’ve pursued your carrier, made a fortune by inventing something crazy useful or made the right investment at the right time and by the age of 35 you would’ve been so rich that you never had to lift a finger for the rest of your life. You could’ve traveled abroad, see the world and see where the wind carries you. 

The harsh reality hits you when your commanding officer screams into your face, his spit landing in your open mouth by default since you are breathing heavily. Your muscles are burning and you’re not sure anymore if it’s because of the thousands of sit ups you’ve been forced to do or because you ate something funny (the food is really not the best and you’re not sure how long some of the cans have been hidden in the cabinets, forgotten until the canteen lady unsuspectingly found it and decided it was still edible). 

“MOVE. YOUR. ASS! We’re not in sissy camp, recruit!” he yells, more spit landing on your face. Sweat is covering your entire body, your brown shirt and pants soaking wet, coloring it a shade darker than it actually is. You grunt and follow is order, trying to move faster but everything is simply burning. Your officer luckily moves on to the person next to you to scream at him as well. 

If you remember correctly his name is Cody. You saw him briefly at the briefing in week one but haven’t really noticed him ever since. Apparently, he is also still trying to become a marine, taking the 8 week training camp as seriously as you are. 

The whistle blows and everyone is collapsing on the hard ground, loud panting and groaning can be heard over the entire training ground. “Two-minute break! Then we’ll go over to push-ups!” your commanding officer yelled. Internally your groan in frustration but instead shield your eyes from the burning sun above you to get some shade. Once again, you’re contemplating why you chose this path in life and not the ones you’ve dreamt of when you were younger.

It's not that you are stupid. Rather the opposite. You studied hard to get into university after high school, had a high GPA and all the ambitions to succeed. The only thing you didn’t have was money or a scholarship. Your parents couldn’t afford to send you to college and for some reason you also couldn’t land any scholarships. Contemplating if you should apply to universities anyways or not your uncle mentioned that you could join the military for a couple of years and they would then pay for your studies. So, that’s what you decided to do. Taking online classes is the best possible option but they won’t start before September and you had to survive the first 8 weeks of this hell hole first. 

You roll over onto your stomach and reach for the bottle of water to take a big sip before you have to do a shit ton of sit-ups. 

.

.

.

“Listen up! Tomorrow we will have a high-ranking visitor at our compound. Your orders are to behave at your best, to not complain and to fulfill every task given to you! Not that it’s any different from any other day but I won’t have you lot embarrass us in front of admiral Sakazuki!” a nervous murmur can be heard amongst the recruits, earning everyone a “Shut the fuck up!”. 

“He and vice admiral Garp will stay until the end of week 4 when you will take your second academic test. I don’t need to remind you to study for this test since you will not be able to continue your carrier in the navy unless you pass all tests!” he reminds you all.

Thinking back you noticed some faces didn’t return after the first test but you didn’t really pay it any mind. You scored in the top 10% and are more than content with it. You are also not too concerned about the second test since the questions asked are not too hard anyways. 

“That is all. Dismissed!” the officer yells and immediately stalks off. You and the rest of the new recruits slowly make your way over to the shacks where you share everything with one another. No privacy, only the bathrooms and showers are separated by sex which you are very grateful for. 

.

.

.

After taking a shower you feel much better; still sore but much better. “Dinner” is served exactly at 1830 (630 pm) and if you’re later you won’t get anything to eat and have to wait until the next morning. One of your new friends here made this experience the very first day because he was late. You didn’t really feel bad for him since they said not even 6 hours prior when breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served so it was really only his fault. You have no idea why you engaged in conversation with him since he did nothing but complain that night but you somehow became friends and have sticked together since then. 

“What do you think about admiral Sakazuki coming tomorrow, Y/n?” you look up from your food at Rosinante and shrug. “It’s kinda surprising for him to come here. Maybe he has some business to attend to near the base or even on here….” You muse and take a bite of your meat (?) which tastes just like a show. Rosinante hums and watches your face contort in slight disgust at the taste and texture of the food. “You might be right. Still, I haven’t heard anything good from him.” His voice is hushed as to not attract too much attention. 

“Ever since he’s become an admiral some missions abroad have been somewhat….” He pauses, trying to think of the appropriate word. 

“Questionable?” you finish and he nods in agreement. “Yes, questionable.” He agrees and also takes a bite before spitting it back out. “Disgusting.” He huffs and you smile at him. 

“I heard he’s planned some reform for the marines.” Surprised, you turn around to look at none other than Koby who is sitting right behind you. “I’m sorry for eavesdropping.” He apologizes with a small smile but you wave it off. “No worries.” You assure him, also inviting him to continue. 

“I’ve heard some of the officers talk about him visiting another training ground and he personally threw out some of the new recruits even though they passed the tests. They don’t know why but ever since he’s been promoted the atmosphere within the navy has changed.” He informs you. Both you and Rosinante gulp at the story. Sure, there is always the possibility that you might fail a test but being thrown out even after you passed? 

“This almost seems personal…” you murmur and the others nod in agreement. 

“Guess that’s why commander prick seemed a little nervous earlier today.” Rosinante muses. You stay silent, following your own train of thought regarding this revelation.

You need to pass all the tests and become a marine. This is one of the only ways to pursue your academic carrier without falling into a crushing amount of debt. This visit might be a bigger problem than initially expected.

.

.

.

You are used being yelled at. You are used being spit at. You are also (unfortunately) being used to indecent touches by some of your male comrades. All of this you can look past; you know how to deal with it, are not getting intimidated or flustered by any of it. But this is different. 

You have met a lot of different people in your life; some demand more, some demand less authority when entering a room but you have never, ever in your life met anyone who had such a dangerous and commanding aura like the admiral. The moment he stepped onto the training compound your blood ran cold. Chills covered your skin and your stomach dropped. Since now you have never seen anyone as dangerous or a threat. Call it privileged but despite your poor family you were raised pretty well in a surprisingly good neighborhood and there were not a lot of potentially dangerous people in your area. 

You want to look down when his eyes muster the recruits but you know you are not allowed to. This is an entirely new situation and, quite frankly, you have no idea how to behave. And you don’t like it.

Out of the corners of your eyes you can see that your fellow recruits are feeling the same and you feel some kind of relief. At least you’re not the only one.

“When I look at you, I feel disappointed.” His voice is gravely and sends another shiver down your spine. It also makes you listen up even more. This is not a good start for a speech. 

“I visited other bases before and I came to the conclusion that the navy will have to be more selective with new recruits. It should be a privilege to serve in the navy and people should act accordingly. That is why I will personally conduct interviews tomorrow with each and every one of you. If you’re not convincing, you can go back home. That’s all. Dismissed!” 

There is a long stretch of silence where nobody dares to move, even long after he is out of view. Even the officers are speechless, but not for too long. 

“You heard him! So, you better prepare tonight! We will also be judging you on your progress today so you better get your act together!”

.

.

.

You don’t have problems with neither the physical training nor with the academic part but something you certainly are not skilled at is knot-tying. It seems so easy – everybody else can do it – but you can’t to get your head around the right way to tie this stupid knot. You’re constantly yelled by your officers and it also doesn’t help that the admiral and the vice admiral (who you’ve seen for the first time today at knot-tying practice) are watching you with sharp eyes. Or at least the admiral is, vice-admiral Garp is idly chatting with some of the lower ranking marines. 

A frustrated groan leaves your mouth when this stupid rope keeps loosening up every time you’re about to tighten it. “Fucking stupid shitty rope….!” You mumble under your breath and are about to start over again when a large shadow is covering the light coming from the lamp above. You look up, ready to be yelled at again when your body turns to stone. 

You’re looking at the admiral himself, his arms crossed in front of his chest and a displeased look on his face. Everyone around you is silent, shooting stealthy looks in your direction. “I suggest looking for a different carrier when you’re not even capable of tying a simple knot, recruit.” He says and stretches out one hand expectantly. You have to forces your body to move and to give him the rope, your hand briefly brushing against his bigger one. 

You can only watch his massive hands deftly tie the knot you’ve been struggling with, somewhat amazed at how easy it is. With a loud thud he puts the knot down in front of you on the table, an arrogant look in his eyes. “I’ll keep this in mind for the interview tomorrow, recruit.” His words are nothing short of a threat and you feel dizzy. That you’re entire future depends on this asshole and a fucking knot is ridiculous! You look down at the perfectly tied knot and ignore the admiral disappearing. 

.

.

.

You are usually not nervous before interviews but today is different. You feel like throwing up and your hands are shaking. Not only will you be stepping in front of Sakazuki very soon but he will also decide on your future. Some of your comrades have already come back but so far none of them seems to have been kicked out. Nevertheless, they looked terrified. 

Another thing that bothers you is that you can’t anticipate how long the interview will be. Some of the others came out after 10 minutes, others stayed inside for 20-30 minutes. No way the admiral will be able to interview each and every one of you in a single day. 

The door opens and Koby comes out, his face pale as a ghost. You look at him concerned but he simply sighs in slight relief. “Good luck”, he whispers as he slowly walks away. 

“Y/n!” you’re being called into the room. As soon as you enter, the door is being shut behind you and you’re alone with admiral Sakazuki sitting on the opposite side of the room at a big desk. 

He is wearing the standard dark blue admiral uniform but no tie. All his medals are decorating the left side of his chest and you wonder what one needs to do to earn so many awards within the navy. 

You stand in front of the door, whole body straight and a (hopefully) stern look on your face. Sakazuki looks up at you after opening a file – your file, supposedly. 

“Sit.” He orders you and without hesitation you follow his command and sit down on the opposite side of the table, taking your hat off.  

Sakazuki looks at you for a moment before looking down at your file. 

“So, recruit.” He begins, not even bothering to read your name even though your file is right in front of him. “I’ve read your file. Good academic carrier so far.” He remarks but you don’t feel complimented. You know there is coming more. 

“Thank you, sir.” You reply regardless. 

“What made you join the marines and not go to university?” you knew this questions would come and you have thought about the right answer all night. You wanted to tell the truth but you decided against it last minute. 

“I want to serve our country and give back to this great nation.” You reply instead, swallowing the lump in your throat. There is a short silence in the room before the admiral huffs. 

“Serve our country….give back to the nation….stop bullshitting me.” You freeze at his words and his harsh eyes bore right into you. 

“S-sir?” you dare to ask. 

“I asked you why you wanted to join the navy after school and I expect an honest answer. You’re already on thin ice. One wrong step and you’re gone….” He mused, his eyes never leaving yours. The fight or flight instinct wanted to kick in but you desperately tried to suppress it. Neither would serve you good in this situation unless you wanted to lose face completely. 

“I-“ you cleared your throat before starting over again. “I wanted to go to university. But it wasn’t meant to be. So I decided to join the navy. I plan on taking online classes later in my carrier but right now I am entirely focused on my training and becoming a good marine. 

“A good marine should be able to tie a simple knot.” You couldn’t help but look away as your face heats up in embarrassment. You hear him move and pull something out of a drawer. When you look up you see a long rope in front of you on the table.

“How would you tie an enemy’s hands when you’ve captured them and have only this rope?” you know you learnt this the other day but by God you can’t remember!

You take the rope in your hands, looking lost but you decide to improvise. Maybe you’d be lucky…

You start to cross both ends to start tying the rope but Sakazuki interrupts you. “Try it on me.” His suggestion is much more an order than anything else. You want to protest but he has already placed both hands on top of the table in front of you. 

You don’t want to tie his hands together; mostly because you are scared to touch the man in front of you. But you have no other choice. You reach out and take both his hands into yours; his palms are warm and calloused, the rough patches brushing against your own hands. You slide the rope underneath his hands and start winding the rope around them. You know this is wrong, you know there is a right way but you simply can’t remember. 

The admiral watches you and lets you finish, his expression unreadable but you know you messed up once again. When you tighten the tow ends and look up at him you are met with a disappointed and annoyed look. You press your lips together and wait for his judgement. He lifts up his hands so both of you can take a good look.

“Tell me what you did wrong, recruit.” He demands. You look at your work but remain silent. Frustrated with you lack of answer Sakazuki simply flexes his arms and hands and rips the rope apart, freeing his hands in the process. 

“This was a sad excuse of a knot but an even sadder excuse of an aspiring marine. You want to defend this country?” he huffs derogatorily and you shrink into yourself. 

“First of all, you never tie an enemy’s hands in front of them. Always on the back.” He gets up, grabbing a second rope from the drawer and rounds the table. You slightly glare up at him. Of course, this was a set-up. He deliberately placed his hands in front of him on the table and not behind his back. 

“I must’ve misunderstood the assignment, sir. I thought you simply wanted me to tie your hands.” You admit but this answer is no good. 

“The order was clear, recruit. Tie my hands like I was an enemy. Would you tie an enemy’s hands like this?” you shake your head. 

“This is pathetic.” He mumbles. Suddenly, his hand grabs your hair, pulls you from the chair and presses your flat on the table. You gasp surprised and instinctively try to push yourself back up but the admiral has both your hands already grabbed behind your back, holding them  in an iron grip as his free hand slides around your wrists.

It doesn’t even take 10 seconds and your hands are tightly tied. You squirm underneath him, trying to get up but your tied hands combined with a single hand that is lightly pressing down between your shoulder blades is preventing you from getting away. 

“This is how you subdue an enemy.” You try to look at him over your shoulder but his hand moves to your head back again and presses your face onto the surface. You gasp, your legs kicking backwards to hit him but he steps closer and presses his body against yours. To be precise, he presses his legs against the back of your thighs, preventing you from moving at all. 

You struggle against your restrains but his grip only becomes harder. “Fuck!” You breathe out frustrated and give up, accepting your defeat and the likely end of your military carrier. 

“Pathetic.” He comments but lets go of you, pulling you from the table and onto your feet. You feel humiliated but suppress the tears that threaten to form in your eyes. You will not let him see your defeat, not Sakazuki. 

“You should just quit and save yourself from further humiliation which will come.” He says demeaning but you shake your head, “All due respect, sir, but I will not quit.” To underline your point you turn around to face him, the slight glistering of tears could vaguely be made out but either Sakazuki doesn’t see it or he ignores it. 

“I can be useful and I know I will be of value. I will not quit.” You look right into his cold eyes. Sakazuki remains silent for a moment before he steps forwarder, forcing you back and to bump against the table with the back of your thigh. 

“What will happen if you get captured?” he asks you, stepping another step forward and leaning forward deliberately slowly. You lean back instinctively, swallowing hard. You are not comfortable with this close proximity. 

“Will you be able to keep your mouth shut and not rat out your comrades?” he leans down further, forcing you to back up even more until your back is lying on the table again. 

Sakazuki places both hands next to your head, trapping you between his body and the table. 

“Y-yes, sir.” You affirm his question, forcing yourself to keep the eye contact. 

“Is that so? Even if they torture you?” his right hand traces down your arm until he reaches your hip. The warmth of his hand radiates through the fabric. It’s almost burning hot and makes you squirm under his touch. 

“Even if they do unspeakable things to you?” he continues, his hand moving upwards, riling your shirt up in the process, exposing your soft skin to his gaze. 

You let out a long breath you didn’t know you were holding, body slightly shaking under his touch. “Yes, sir.” You affirm once again, your heart hammering inside your chest. Sakazuki’s eyes slowly leave yours and instead travel down your body, taking in the curves of your breasts and then the exposed skin on your stomach.

You have so many different feelings racing inside your mind but the most prominent one is what is he going to do? Is this even legal? 

The admiral leans down, his mouth brushing against the shell of your ear, his hot breath against your neck. Your body heats up when a low groan rumbles through his body, revibrating against yours. His hand traces your naked skin up, inching closer to your breasts. Your body arches against his touch and you have the urge to wrap your legs around his waist. You know your pussy is wet from his short ministration and you want to be touched.

However, there is this small part in your head that screams at you that this is a trap. But this tiny voice keeps being pushed to the side with every touch from his big hand. You sigh and let your head fall to the side when his hand pushes underneath your sports bra and starts fondling your breast. 

A thin sheen of sweat has formed over your skin and you feel the heat inside your body. How did it come to this? This was supposed to be nothing but an interview! You know this isn’t right, but fuck! – his mere presence makes you feel things that should be forbidden!

Your mind is racing, trying to form a single thought but Sakazuki won’t let you. You feel his body shift, his legs nudging your legs apart and he presses his body between you. Your eyes open wide and you can’t hold back the moan anymore as his penis presses against you, hard and hot. Your hips rut up against his, wanting more friction. 

The admiral raises his body to look down at your flustered form, his right hand buried underneath your shirt.

“So pathetic. As soon as some man shows you some kind of attention you crumble like a cookie. Look at you. You’re so needy you will even risk your carrier to get that dick.” As if to emphasize his words he thrusts his hips forward against yours, forcing another gasp from your lips. 

Sakazuki lets go of your breast and pulls his hand out from underneath your shirt, leaving you breathless and flustered. Your slowly turn your head to look at him, his eyes giving no indication of his erect penis between your legs. 

“I am not pathetic….” You mumble. You don’t know why you said that but it was the only thing on your mind you could communicate with the marine above you. 

“And if I am then you’re as pathetic as I am.” You add, bracing for what’s about to come. Sakazuki lifts an eyebrow, surprised at your reply. 

“Care to explain why?” you swallow hard but know there is no going back.

“You are the one who initiated this. You are the one who felt the need to touch me. And you’re as aroused as I am.” Now it was your time to emphasize your words by pressing your hips against his. The admiral doesn’t answer right away, he simply stares at you. Then, the corner of his lips slightly lifts up, indicating a smile. 

“Gotta admit, you’re braver than you look.” He steps back, giving you some room but also robbing you of that sweet pressure between your legs. 

He pulls down your shirt, deliberately brushing against your breasts one last time before he pulls you up by your arm. 

He steps between your legs once again and reaches around you, his muscular body pressing against yours while his hands reach around you to untie your restraints. You sheepishly breathe in his cologne, his musk reminding you once again of the wetness between your legs. 

When your hands are free again, he drops the rope on your lap and returns back to his seat behind the desk. 

“Come to my office tonight after dinner.” He simply says without looking up, your file occupying his attention again. 

“Why?” you dare to ask. Sakazuki glances up at you, his eyebrow raised once again. 

“You are brave, not stupid, aren’t you? Follow my orders and we will get along well.” He simply said and waved his hand dismissively at you to leave. You murmur a “Yes, sir” and slowly make your way over to the door. 

“Oh, and one last thing, recruit. Bring that rope with you. I think I need to teach you some more knots.” Your face heats up one last time, your hand clutches around the fabric, and you hurriedly open the door to leave his office. 

What the fuck did  just happen?!

[anonymously-gay45]

I haven't been on here in months, if anyone wants an explanation, I'll post about it, but this is about heartstopper season 3!!!!!

I'm so fucking excited for this season, but also, the new pictures that came out a few weeks ago have me so nervous as well.

We can see in at least one picture, Charlie is in a dining space that appears to be in the psych ward, I could be wrong, but many people agree with me, it's not his kitchen, Nicks Kitchen, or the canteen in the school. I also think the bed in the second to last picture isn't his room, although it looks so similar that it might be, especially since all his pictures are up on the wall. Anyway, my point is, this upcoming season will likely have scenes where Charlie is in hospital, which is so sad.

Another picture had Charlie in a short sleeved shirt, which I don't believe he's ever done while not just going to sleep, and his scars are visible, which is some great representation, and I love how it's done, but it also makes me nervous because I wonder if there will be any issues with him having his scars visible while he's at the fair, like if someone will make him feel bad about it or anything.

I'm also very excited to see if we will finally get to see what Nick and Charlie argued about the night he had a relapse, but also scared to see them argue because it'll be so sad! But I'm ready to see the argument, because in both the comics and Solitaire, it isn't said what they argued about, only that they were both tired and they had an argument about something stupid.

I'm super excited to see Oliver! I just hope it's more positive for Charlie because it'll likely be for the holiday episode, and I read This Winter, so I know how his holiday went that year for Charlie. I also hope Nick and Oliver get to meet, because they were always so cute in the comics.

Anyway! Enough rambling for now, BYEEE!!

[gasolinerainbowpuddles]

𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑳𝑬𝑺𝑺 𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 ║ Chapter 4 - A Suffering Soul Develops a Taste for Misfortune

| ENDLESS NIGHT | series masterlist | main masterlist | | PAIRING(s): Joel Miller x fem!OC/reader Ellie Williams x platonic!fem!OC/reader | RATING: explicit material | 18+ | WORD COUNT: 6.7k | CHAPTER WARNINGS: none | CHAPTER SUMMARY: You and Ellie continue to grow closer as she gets more comfortable around you and life in Jackson. When you run afoul of Joel twice, his patience for you begins to wear thin. Your actions and words keep landing you in his bad graces, and you worry if you don’t figure things out soon enough he will keep you at arm’s length from him and Ellie both - for good.

║ＰＲＥＶＩＯＵＳ ��⋄── •✧• ──⋄║ ＮＥＸＴ ║

✧⋄⋆•✧⋄⋄⋆⋅⋆✧•✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆•⋆⋄── •✧• ──⋄⋆•⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧•✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧•⋆⋄ ✧ "𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚍. 𝚄𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍, ‘𝙰 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚍.’” - Aʟғʀᴇᴅ Tᴇɴɴʏsᴏɴ ✧⋄⋆•✧⋄⋄⋆⋅⋆✧•✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆•⋆⋄── •✧• ──⋄⋆•⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧•✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧•⋆⋄ ✧

“It’s just so. fuckin’. pink,” Ellie groaned. You shifted your attention back to the teenage girl currently venting to you. “Yeah, seems to be the popular color of the time,” you grant. “And, like, the other one is a gross baby blue,” she snorts, crinkling her nose in disgust. You laugh at her dramatic repudiation of all the paint colors in the houses. “What? It’s fuckin’ weird, man! Like, everybody is just supposed to have exactly one girl and one boy? Girl gets pink, boy gets blue?” she rags.  “Not a design choice I’m fond of myself, but, hey, if pastel pink or blue comes in the form of four walls and a roof over me, I can’t complain too much.” You shrug, hoping she picks up on your subtext that having some perspective can change your ideas about something. “Yeah, well, you know, when I was in FEDRA school before a guy told me that they used to torture people by putting them in a pink room,” she counters gravely. Another flit of laughter escapes you. “Yes, I’ve heard that before, but I don’t think the original Jackson contractors went with ‘torture pink’ as their paint choice in their luxury resort housing development,” you peal. “Ugh.” Ellie sighed and rolled her eyes while trying to hide a smile. “Well it feels like torture to me.” Your friendship had exploded with the one two combo of knife tricks and pasta night, but she was almost constantly warm and friendly once she found out you were a willing and engaged audience for whatever she wanted to lend her hot takes to. Whether it was Joel still being such a grump in the mornings despite having a real bed to sleep in or how amazing the new food she had tried at the canteen called empanadas might be her new favorite food . . Ellie found it easier and easier to talk to you, and you felt like you could listen to her all day. “Speaking of torture and things people at school tell us, how’s it going with your classes?” you ask playfully. You had set up Ellie’s enrollment but never reviewed anything about it with her since it had been during the waiting period where Tommy had requested you give them a little space before getting acquainted. She hadn’t been attending a long time, so you tried to avoid hounding her for details or appraisals. She adjusted nervously against the kitchen counter. “That good, huh?” you tease, propping your elbow on the table across where you sat across from her and rested your head against your fist. Ellie rolled her eyes and sighed but continued picking at the edge of the counter. “It’s just dumb. It’s fine. I know I have to go. It’s just so fucking stupid,” she finally mumbles. “Is it the other kids that-” you begin, but Ellie intjerects.  “Yeah, I’m being bullied. These Jackson kids are rrreeeaaal tough.”

You take the sarcastic answer in stride. “Not hardcore enough for you, I know,” you rib, but the edge of truth in your words is still clear.

There’s something bothering Ellie about school, and you need to figure out what it is. You opt to touch on the serious side of whatever is going on.

“You know, most of them didn’t spend months outside the walls of Jackson just surviving. Don’t know what that can do to a person.” Ellie glanced over to your softened expression and gave a small nod in reluctant acceptance. “Not that you’d wish that on them,” you continue. “But I’m sure it can be hard to relate to others when they don’t know what that’s like.” Ellie is avoiding your gaze and sitting in silence. You have found it is essential to give her the space and time to be quiet for as long as she needs. She finally peeks your direction and shrugs. There’s more to this than you thought. “Most of them really aren’t that bad. They just aren’t used to such an anomaly like yourself.” Ellie snorts again and mumbles, “You have no idea.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” you laugh. Ellie flushed a brilliant shade of red and adjusted nervously, shuffling her feet back and forth. You were close to something raw. Too close. “You get bit by a radioactive spider and can climb walls now?” you playfully prod. Ellie took the escape hatch you offered to her. “What the fuck are you talking about now? You are so weird,” she giggled nervously. One day you would get back to that anomaly, but for now it would have to wait. “It’s a comic thing. There’s a spider that bites this kid, and - nevermind,” you chuckle. “Wait wait, what kind of a comic?” Ellie perks up. You spent the next half hour chatting about superheroes and which superpowers would be the best to have, what your archnemesis villain’s name would be, and her favorite series Savage Starlight. The way Ellie’s face relaxed and shined as she spoke about things she loved made your heart swell and your chest hurt. “And nobody has ever heard of it, which is so annoying because I can’t talk to anybody about it,” Ellie ranted. “Sorry to add to that roster,” you apologize. “Yeah, just my luck the one other person I found that liked it wound up dead,” she says flatly. You pause at the unexpected development as Ellie’s eyes grew wide at her slip. “You don’t have to talk about it,” you rush to reassure her. “I - no, it’s not - it’s not like I can’t trust you,” she fumbles. “Ellie, stop. I don’t want you to tell me anything you aren’t comfortable sharing. My feelings won’t be hurt,” you assert. “No, I mean - it might - I feel like he deserves to be talked about. Not just kept up like some big secret or something,” she mumbled.

“I only want you to share things with me that you feel comfortable sharing. Do not feel like you have to tell me anything,” you reiterate. “I think - I do want to tell you about him. Just a little,” she admits. “As long as you feel safe when you’re telling me,” you warn. She nods in understanding and slowly unravels the story of Sam, the little boy she and Joel had met on their journey. Ellie talked about Sam and his brother Henry and how she had hoped that they could travel together for longer. You could tell Ellie was leaving out some major details, but you were honored that she even trusted you with as much as she was currently sharing. When she told you how she tried to pay her respects as best as she knew how by leaving him a message on his board, you were overcome with a dampening blanket over your eyes. “Wow,” you whisper. “Yeah,” Ellie chokes out. You had sat in complete stillness as she shared her story with you, but you couldn’t bear it any longer and joined her at the counter. “I’m really sorry that happened. That is a lot to carry with you all the time,” you console. You place your hand over Ellie’s without thinking, and you are surprised when she doesn’t move it from underneath your touch. She turned her head away from you with a loud sniff. Her free hand darted to her eyes and cheeks as she cleared her throat. “So anyway,” she mutters. “Thank you for sharing that with me. It means a lot. You have no idea. It really means a lot to me that you trust me with that,” you confide, giving her hand a squeeze. “Guess you’re easier to talk to than Joel,” she sniffs with a low laugh. You smile, knowing exactly what she means. Even though you would wager that Joel would do anything in his power to support and protect Ellie, you had learned yourself that his communication skills weren’t always well-suited for more sensitive topics. “Listen, we can drop the school thing for today, but we still need to come back to it soon, okay?” you offer. “Yeah, fine,” she agrees, happy to be off the hook for today. “What school thing?” Joel’s voice practically boomed into the still room. Ellie jumped in unison with you, although you were the only one who let out a shriek as you instinctively placed your entire body in front of Ellie’s. “What the FUCK, dude?!” Ellie yelled. Your hand shot over your heart in relief. “Jesus Christ,” you breathe. “Door wasn’t locked,” Joel says in an acerbic, scathing tone. “Ellie!” you chide, turning to give a look of disapproval. “What? I forgot! Sorry for not being used to having a fucking front door to lock behind me. JESUS,” she groaned in exasperation. “It’s fine,” you huff. “Just pay more attention next time.”

“Not like you heard me comin’,” Joel snips at you. His eyes tightened viciously in your direction. You blink a few times, unsure where the hostility is coming from. “Both of you could do with payin’ more attention. At least Ellie can blame some of it on her age.” Joel was fuming. “Hey, I’m sorry about the door not being locked, okay?” you offer, remembering how he had been so soft with you that night, asking for his sake to lock your doors and keep yourself safe. That softness was nowhere to be seen in this current moment. Joel’s eyes narrowed, which told you that the door wasn’t the main issue that had him borderline livid. “She wasn’t even the one who left it unlocked, so don’t get all pissy with her,” Ellie snapped. You turned to her, prepared to explain that, as the adult in the situation, it was ultimately your responsibility to make sure things were managed, but Joel focused his sour mood on Ellie before you could get a word in. “What’s the school thing?” he demanded, ignoring Ellie’s appeal to your innocence. “It’s nothing,” Ellie repeats with renewed impudence. Joel’s eyes met yours, his question demanding to be answered. Ellie pushed herself from the counter and stomped towards Joel who took up the entire doorway of your kitchen. “You don’t have to be such an ASSHOLE all the time, you know?” she shouted, shoving past him and stomping out the front door. “Ellie!” you and Joel chorused together. Joel’s head whipped back around to meet your gaze. Something about you calling after Ellie the exact same way he had really stoked the flames. “Maybe the next time you’ve got somebody’s kid holed up in your house you make sure to tell somebody so their parent isn’t runnin’ around like a goddamn idiot lookin’ for them,” he gritted out. “My house is on the walk home from yours. It’s right around the corner. We just got to talking on the way here. It was supposed to be a quick visit,” you summarize as quickly as possible. Joel jerked an angry nod at your lackluster explanation before turning on his heel and marching out the door after Ellie. Something told you that whatever had just transpired couldn’t be fixed with a friendly cup of coffee.

Joel didn’t tell Ellie he didn’t want her talking about her problems with you. That would only guarantee she would go out of her way to do just that. Instead, he kept a closer watch on how the two of you interacted. It had been two days since that flare up in your kitchen, and Joel hadn’t seen much of you around until now. You were unaware Joel had a perfect line of vision to see Ellie walk past you, playfully sticking out her tongue and flipping you off with both hands. Just as Joel muttered to himself about having to get Ellie to stop being so crude, especially with adults, he sees your rebuttal. You jutted your tongue out theatrically at Ellie, pointed two fingers from your eyes and then in her direction before gesturing both fingers down to the ground. Joel huffed a surprised laugh. He had expected you to maybe correct Ellie’s disrespectful display, but instead you lobbed her energy right back at her with an “I’ve got my eyes on you, and you’re going down” motion.

Joel chuckled to himself again, mostly bewildered. He hadn’t expected that at all - from either of you. Ellie was being so openly playful and even childlike again, just like she had been more often than not before meeting David and his cannibal ring. And you, not missing a beat and matching her energy effortlessly. He could tell Ellie felt at ease with you, like she could be herself. This wasn’t a side of you that Joel was too familiar with, although he admittedly didn’t do much in the way to encourage you to let your guard down very much. Was this how you really were most of the time and he just didn’t get to see it because he had done such a bad job at inviting that sort of thing?  Joel didn’t have the chance to ponder further as Ellie skipped off, leaving you with a forlorn, somber expression he didn’t anticipate. It was a stark contrast to the bubbly grin you had just worn. Joel was too far away to tell, but from the way you had dropped your head and rubbed the tip of your nose, he thought you might be fighting back tears. He watched as you closed your eyes, head tilting to the sky, and took a deep breath. Joel knew the look well. Something harrowing lived in you, just beneath the surface. He wouldn’t have guessed when you first met. You seemed so annoyingly chipper most of the time and pretty well put together in your role as town coordinator. It occurred to Joel that you might now even be able to tell how deep it ran. Based on his own path of pain and destruction, he was beginning to assume he was unfortunately correct in his take. Believing you had healed from something when really you had just found a way to expertly mask it, even from yourself, sounded like a special kind of hell to Joel. At least he knew all those years just how fucked up he was. He knew what his shortcomings were, and he dealt with them on his own - or not at all. After Ellie came along and changed things, he knew what parts of him had been healed by her because every exposed, raw nerve of trauma was known to him. When he looked at you, he sensed you didn’t even know there was more underneath. There was more of it waiting for you. When it would come up or what would come along to make that happen, he didn’t know. But he did know it was coming. He hated to think what it would do to you. Getting caught off guard like that after so many years of thinking you had overcome it. He felt sorry for you.

A few days had gone by, and you kept a low profile. Joel needed some time to cool off before you could try to talk things out. He certainly wouldn’t be thrilled with you talking to Ellie again before smoothing things over with him first. But, you still needed to figure out what had her so in opposition with school. It was a short walk to Maria and Tommy’s house. Your house was roughly a halfway point between their house and Joel and Ellie’s. You raised your hand and knocked on the door. It had been weeks since you properly caught up with Maria and how her pregnancy was coming along. You knew she would understand you had been busier than usual, but you still wanted to be a good friend. The warm air inside the house whipped past you as Tommy swung the door open. “Oh. Hey,” he hesitated. “Oh, come on in.” “Hey, if now isn’t a good time . .” you trail. Tommy shakes his head. “I was just going to stop by and see how Maria was doing, so I can always just come back lat-” “No, no,” Tommy insists, pulling you inside with a firm hand on your back. “Forgive my manners. Just wasn’t expectin’ anybody.” “I really can come back another time,” you offer. “Nah, that’s nonsense. Maria’s not here, but she’d have me strung up if she knew I turned you away.” He chuckled lightly as he led you to the kitchen.

“Well don’t let me interrupt your day, Tommy,” you contend. “You’re not interrupting!” Ellie piped. A big, goofy grin took up her entire face at your arrival. “Oh,” you falter again. Joel and Ellie are sitting at the kitchen table next to each other, and a single chair on the other side is pushed back, having just lost the third member of the obvious discussion happening. Joel is leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed against his chest and his feet crossed at his ankles. His fixed glare out the window to his left signaled his lack of concern with welcoming the new company. “Say ‘hi’, Joel,” Ellie hissed at him under her breath. “Hi,” Joel says curtly, bringing his gaze to you. “Hey. Hi. Um, if this is a bad time,” you begin again. “No, please stay,” Ellie practically begs. You look between Tommy and Joel, unsure of what you’ve just walked into. “This is a family matter,” Joel grouses to Ellie. “What? No it’s not. It’s about the town and all their stupid rules,” she argues. “Sorta a bit of both . . maybe,” Tommy attempts to remain impartial. You don’t blame him; getting in between two feral cats brawling only guarantees you will catch most of the onslaught. You stand in silence, not wanting to say the wrong thing and upset anyone. “I mean, you’re probably the best person to hear it out and give your two cents,” Tommy eases into the rocky climate of the room. “S’matter of opinion who knows what’s best for who,” Joel retorts in a clipped tone. Taking the indirect and direct hint that you are not welcome to this discussion, you decide it’s best if you leave. “No, wait!” Ellie calls out. “I’m not going to talk about it if she doesn’t sit at the table with us and talk about it, too,” she demands, crossing her arms and slumping back in her chair. She is rivaling Joel’s glare, and there is no backing down for her. “Ellie, I’m not going to join the conversation if everyone isn’t comfortable with it. And it’s not about being trustworthy,” you cut her off, seeing that’s what she was about to argue. “It’s about privacy, okay? You have to respect people’s privacy. If your dad isn’t comfortable or you’re not comfortable or Tommy or whatever,” you trail off. “Point is, everybody needs to be on the same page before someone else gets added to the equation, okay?” She huffs and kicks the table leg closest to her. “It shouldn’t be up to him, though! It’s my privacy because it’s about me! I should be able to say who gets to help me!” she snaps, mostly in Joel’s direction. Joel closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, his lips pursing in frustration. “I told you, we will figure it out. We don’t need to involve any random local who happens to show up at our doorstep,” Joel snips.

You see the anger wash over Ellie at Joel’s “random local” designation. It stung, but you tried not to show it. “Joel, c’mon. She does this kinda stuff all the time. She’s always the one comin’ up with the solution no one else even thought about,” Tommy implored, quickly trying to insert himself back into the conversation before Ellie flies off the handle at Joel’s ornery impulses. “You’re seriously such a jerk,” Ellie bit out under her breath. Joel opened his eyes and leveled his stare at you. You hoped he could see you truly wanted to respect his wishes and not intervene. Your mouth twitched to the side nervously under his penetrating gaze, and your fists grabbed nervously at your sides. Joel closed his eyes again and sighed, and when he opened them again they had mellowed just a little. “Alright,” he mumbles dryly. Ellie sat up in her chair immediately with a small smile creeping across her mouth. “Really?” she asks. Joel nodded and replies, “Yeah, kiddo. Really.” Ellie jumped up excitedly and took your coat for you. She beat Tommy to the back of your chair as she pulled it out for you. “Wow, some fine dining experience you’ve got here,” you clumsily joke. Tommy settled back into his chair next to yours as Ellie plopped down next to Joel, who appreciated your respect for his and Ellie’s privacy despite his current umbrage with you. Joel sat up and leaned forward, his arms resting on the table with his hands clasped loosely together. He reminded himself that he needed to try to be friendly with you even if you got under his skin faster than anyone he had ever met. You found your focus momentarily slipping as you watched his large hands lay against the table. You remembered when you first met and he hadn’t shook your hand because his were dirty. You hadn’t stopped wondering what your hand would feel like nestled in his, only remembering the loose grip you’d felt the time he’d agreed to the summer deadline for your project. Joel cleared his throat, calling your attention away from blinking mindlessly at his hands. A small blush crept up your neck as you looked away, but you could feel his eyes on you still. “Okay, so what’s going on?” you inquire, desperate to distance yourself from that embarrassment of finally getting caught ogling him. You had warned yourself that if you kept it up he was bound to spot you doing it sooner or later. Tommy looped you into the issue of Ellie’s schooling. She was struggling with the traditional classroom setting, but being a member of Jackson meant pulling your weight and not kicking up too much dust. Ellie had skipped classes a few times and eventually got caught. Joel admitted the structure was probably a good thing for Ellie and that more basic education couldn’t hurt any. “But it’s so STUPID,” Ellie grumbles. “You just sit in a room all day! Meanwhile everybody just pretends like the whole world hasn’t gone to shit. What’s the point of sticking with it when there’s a fucking mushroom apocalypse right outside the gates?!” Ah, so that was what she was really wrestling with. You could see how inane schooling might feel if you had gone through some of the things Ellie had been through.

She had just come from months of travel with Joel where freedom and danger went hand in hand. Being cooped up in a classroom probably made her feel antsy, even if it was only 4 hours each weekday morning.

You were once again struck by how similar she was to Caroline. So strong willed, so independent, but still cared about making an actual difference in the world.

“So what’s the doctor prescribing?” Joel asks, his words laden with sarcasm.

Tommy sighed loudly at his brother’s ever combative nature.

You allow yourself a small smile, ignoring Joel’s condescending comment, because a spur of the moment inspiration had struck you, and you had a feeling it was just the sort of innovative breakthrough that was needed.

Maybe once Joel hears your “prescription” he will thank you instead of holding onto whatever grudge and disregard he harbored against you.

“You seem pretty comfortable around horses,” you submit to Ellie.

“Yeah?” she goes along emphatically, leaning in eagerly to hear your game plan that she already agrees with despite not having heard any of it yet.

“And you have managed to avoid getting knocked on your ass by the goats,” you add.

“Yeah?” Ellie giggles, fully engrossed in your pitch.

“Don’t mind sheep smell getting into your clothes?”

“We love sheep. Right, Joel?” Ellie laughs pointedly, giving Joel a rollicking push with her elbow.

He puffs out a weary sigh, straightening himself from Ellie’s turbulent nudge.

“So what’s your plan?” he digs.

You can see Ellie chomping at the bit, Joel getting fed up with you not getting to the point, and Tommy zoning out a bit. You put everyone out of their misery and share the fundamentals of your idea. You know the vet and ancillary barnyard duty are always short on hands come the springtime when all the work left behind by winter and animal maintenance had to be done. The composting and prep for the gardens as well as the food production often overlapped.

Ellie was a quick learner, and she didn’t mind getting dirty. She could take on a learning role that would be both educational and practical, attending school a couple of days a week and otherwise working with the veterinary clinic and animal stewardship regimen: a hybrid curriculum. The traditional schooling portion was self-explanatory, so you elaborate on the particulars of the vet and animals.

“Of course you will still have to engage with other human beings when you’re attending vet and animal assignments,” you tease. Ellie has never smiled this much before.

You highlight the work and organization that goes into documenting procedures, taking animal histories, filling out medicine logs, calculating medicine doses for treatments, time management with the unpredictable character of animals, following up on responsibilities and learning to prioritize tasks so the animals are tended to in a timely manner . . .

The structure of rules, responsibilities, and time management combined with the independence of working with animals and nature. You were very proud of yourself for concocting this plan.

“Oh my god, can I start tomorrow?” Ellie squeals eagerly. You laugh at her animated approval and are happy she is so excited with your idea.

Joel hated to admit he was blown away at your clever analysis of the problem and incredibly accurate fit you had devised; however, he was averse to how readily Ellie was endorsed whatever you had to say. He was still unnerved with Ellie revealing intimate details and feelings to you. Joel knew he and Ellie had a long way to go in terms of learning how to communicate with one another and building some trust back, but he felt like she must know she could bring things to him that were weighing on her mind. 

Guess you’re easier to talk to than Joel, he had overheard her tell you, playing on loop in his head for hours afterward. He had listened to the way Ellie’s voice swung when she shared something personal and how it smoothed out again as she listened to your honey-tongued reassurance and encouragement. Joel eavesdropped only to learn that you made it clear that Ellie had no obligations to tell you anything and wanted to be sure she felt completely comfortable before sharing. But Ellie did trust you, and she did want to tell you things. It wasn’t you tricking her into spilling all her secrets. It was just you being you. Joel thought about how he found himself compulsively drawn to you, even now as he grappled with trying to stay angry at you.

It was just you. You didn’t have to go out of your way trying to charm and flatter people. You were at times pushy and overzealous of your own brilliance, but you were mostly charismatic and captivating. Something about you just made people want to give in and open up, and Joel knew neither he nor Ellie were some outlier that was impervious to your intrinsic persuasions.

But Ellie was still a child, and placing trust in the wrong person could put her in serious danger. If anyone found out about her immunity, she could be killed. You may be goodhearted, but Joel wasn’t willing to risk Ellie’s safety. Who knew what you’d do if you learned Ellie had been bit more than once by a clicker.

Joel tensed and shifted in his seat. He needed to keep a safe distance between you and Ellie until he could completely figure you out. He couldn’t put Ellie in jeopardy. He couldn’t risk her life if he let her put her trust in the wrong person.

You studied Joel carefully as he mulled over your idea. He wasn’t holding himself so rigidly anymore, and he had angled towards you as you spoke. Most importantly, he hadn’t outright rejected the idea, which, in terms of dealing with Joel Miller, was almost the same thing as a ringing endorsement.

“Wait, am I gonna have to shovel horse shit?” Ellie laments, wrinkling her nose.

You and Tommy laugh at her sudden realization and subsequent reluctance at the vet and animal idea.

“Well, I’ll tell you the same thing I told your dad when he was arguing with me over contracting stuff: we all have our own shit to deal with, so you sling yours wherever you see fit. Except, in your case it is literally shit.” You and Tommy join in another round of laughter as Ellie’s giggle fit fills the entire kitchen. Her bad mood about her school situation was a thing of the past.

Joel pulled himself from his thoughts as he heard you talking about him. There was that know-it-all attitude he hated. Not agreeing with anything that came out of your mouth was apparently the same thing as an argument in your opinion. You didn’t like people keeping you in check, and Joel didn’t like how you felt you were above correction. Joel felt the ember of his anger starting to glow again.

“Wasn’t arguing with you, sugar,” Joel snipped with no effort to curb his corrosive demeanor.

“Jesus Christ, Joel. Just accept the help and say thank you,” Tommy griped. The usually genial Miller brother was noticeably vexed.

“Well I never took kindly to some know-it-all thinking she’s got everybody figured out. No need to thank her when she’s already patting herself on the back,” Joel jeered. His lightened expression had regressed into the scowl from earlier, which he lobbed your direction.

“Excuse me?” you gnash out.

Joel’s mind swirled: did you have him and Ellie figured out? How much had Ellie already told you? Had you told anyone else?

Joel’s intrusive thoughts about Ellie and her safety being compromised ran with abandon through his mind and had now backed him into a corner, a corner he intended to fight his way out of. Joel felt exposed. He was an easy target like this. He needed to shield Ellie from your astute renderings, needed to shield he and Ellie both. Joel’s eyes flashed with anger, his resolve to confront you doubling down. “WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?” Ellie bellowed. “She came up with a great fucking idea, and you know it. Don’t be mad just because you didn’t think of it yourself! It’s a perfect fit, and you know it. Don’t ruin this for me!” Seeing the way Ellie was almost begging Joel to let her be happy sent a bolt of anger through you. You weren’t going to sit there and let him sabotage her happiness without saying anything. You stood with such force it knocked your chair over behind you. Your hands slammed on the table on either side of Joel’s, whose unmoving gaze had been grimly fixed on you. “For somebody who’s supposedly such a straight shooter, you sure don’t like it when somebody else gets it right, huh?” you challenge, your standards of benevolence weakening. Your face inched closer to Joel’s with each word, your anger driving you to defy his dismissive, hypercritical behavior. Even though you were standing, you didn’t clear his head as remained seated. Joel barely raised himself from his chair as he leaned in close enough to your face you could feel his breath on your lips. “Well since you got it all figured out, I guess we can all go now,” he grates. You weren’t content to let him walk out without putting him on the spot and making him eat his words. “You know, sugar,” you mock, “it’s kinda my job to figure people out. You may have your head shoved so far up your own ass you can’t consider what anyone else is thinking or feeling, but some of us notice things about the people around us.” Joel’s nostrils flared. His eyes set squarely on yours. “For example,” you continued, “I can see that Ellie needs to socialize, but she doesn’t like being around people - even if they’re her own age. Fine. She can be around people some of the time and animals the rest of the time. I can also tell that she won’t be successful or happy if she’s stuck in a classroom for hours every day. All those months that the two of you traveled together, coming across god knows what kind of horrors, those four walls and that much structure probably make her feel like she’s suffocating.” Joel clenches his teeth as every word that leaves your lips is without error. “So alright, she needs to adapt to being a member of society and learning some rules again, but let's also have her chasing down the chickens that get loose and take a bucking goat to task every once in a while! You have to give her the freedom to be self-sufficient and do things on her own terms. She needs you to show her she’s safe here and that it’s going to be okay!” you finish with a pitched yell.

You are breathing hard, and your knuckles have started turning white as you bore into the table. Joel is enraged that you have generated a perfectly curated assessment of Ellie. He felt more vulnerable than ever.

Joel bared his teeth as his mouth opened to reply, primed to fight his way out of the corner you forced him into, and you were ready to take him on.

“Wow. That obvious, huh?” Ellie muttered quietly, her eyes cast downward at her shoelaces.

You and Joel both looked over at Ellie, who in this moment looked every bit the young, small child she was.

In all your mission to show Joel just how smart you were and how you did have it figured out, you hadn’t considered how you had just laid out Ellie’s inner working completely bare, everyone now a spectator to it. If looks could kill, the look Joel threw your way for upsetting Ellie would have you six feet under by now, and you had been the one to shovel the dirt. You sigh, ashamed that you let your ego get the better of you, and Ellie was paying the price for it. Joel sat down again and angled himself towards Ellie as you rounded the table and knelt on the floor between them. You gave Joel a pleading look to let you fix things with Ellie first. He nodded curtly, and you turned your attention to her before he could change his mind. “Ellie,” you say quietly as you gently take her hand. “It’s not obvious. Most people don’t gauge people like I can, okay? It’s my job to know people and figure out how they can best fit into the community and support it. You aren’t just some open book that everybody can read all the time.” Ellie tilted her head to meet your eye. You can see she wants to believe you. She doesn't want to believe that everyone in Jackson can see all her problems from a mile away. Tommy stood gingerly and paced closer to the hallway, sensing his presence was intruding on a private moment. “I shouldn’t have just said all that for everyone to hear,” you acknowledge. “I’m sorry.” Ellie offers a small grin. “S’okay,” she says, giving your hand a squeeze. “I know you didn’t mean to. I’m not gonna hold a mistake over your head.” You close your eyes before turning to Joel. “Joel, I’m sorry. I messed up. Please forgive me,” you plead gently, placing your hand over his. He stares at your hand on his, struck by how small it looks in comparison. You lean in closer and tighten your grip on his hand when he doesn’t look at you right away. “Please, Joel,” you almost whisper. You place your other hand on his cheek, a groveling bid for him to just look at you. “I’m really sorry. I really am. Please.” Joel’s eyes flit from your clinging hold on his hand to your eyes. The maelstrom of dread and remorse in them told Joel everything he needed to know. You were probably more upset with yourself than he was for hurting Ellie. It would gut you if you did something that drove her away. Your face, the one that always carried a radiant, softhearted smile, somehow belonged to the same person in front of Joel, whose downcast, despondent expression had rendered your face unrecognizable. Your eyes were begging him to please just believe you. Please believe you would never intentionally hurt Ellie. The flicker of I deserve to lose both of you in your expression was more than Joel could handle. “That’s enough. Ellie forgave you, so I forgive you. Let’s move on,” Joel grunts, guiding your hand away from his face. “Thank you,” you breathe as you close your eyes. Relief washed over you in droves. You turn to Ellie. “Thank you both.” At a total loss of what to offer, Tommy had been diligently ignoring the trainwreck in front of him and continued to pace now into the hallway and living room in an clumsy circuit.

“Relax, you didn’t run over our cat or something,” Ellie jokes, seeming to slowly recover from any inflicted harm. Everyone awkwardly chuckles at the much needed humor. Your hand still lingered on Joel’s, your fingers finding their way under his palm. You were almost afraid to let go, feeling like any change might tip the scales the other way and have him angry with you again. The small rub of his thumb against your hand made you not want to let go for another reason. “Hey, I’m home,” Maria called out. The front door closed loudly as she came around the corner and was met by Tommy through the other doorway. You stood quickly and straightened your shirt, reluctantly letting go of Joel’s hand before standing so no one would notice it had been there for much longer than necessary. Tommy loped to her side and framed her face in a flurry of kisses, only stopping to give her belly rubs and kisses. “Oh wow. Nobody invited me to the party,” she quipped. This time, everyone at the table eased into a nervous chuckle, letting the tension dissipate. Tommy worked Maria’s jacket off her shoulders and hung it, receiving a thanks of an unhurried kiss, and Ellie organized the bags on the counter that she had taken off Maria’s hands. You bent your knee forward and skimmed Joel’s leg, sending him an unspoken question: are we okay? He glanced at your touch and then up to you. You needed any and all doubts removed. You needed to know with all certainty that you hadn’t ruined everything. You needed him to tell you that he wasn’t going to leave here and decide you weren’t welcome to ever speak to him or Ellie again. He sighed and stood wordlessly. You reached for his hand, thinking he was going to walk away, but he reached out to grab yours first, loosely grasping your fingers. You didn’t dare move as you waited for his answer. He looked down at you with something akin to pity in his eyes before raising his hand to the unkempt strand of hair sticking to your cheek. Your cheeks warmed and you drew in a hushed gasp as he gently tucked it behind your ear. With a squeeze of your hand and a nod, he turned and joined the others in the middle of the kitchen before anyone noticed the exchange that had just taken place. His answer was yes, you were still on good terms, but you now stood there with even more questions about what else was happening between you two.

This would've been up sooner, but Tumblr was being a piece of shit. So.

Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying the story so far! Gotta love how they take turns fucking things up. We love a 50/50 type relationship lmao.

Catch ya later,

♥Puddles♥

[astranauticus]

the rwd season 4 qna inspired me to start thinking about college au headcanons except a lot of these are gonna be really specific to my school and y'all are just gonna have to deal with that <3

Kyana feeds some of the school cats. she would feed all of them if she could

Dani smuggled Plug (the scrawniest black cat you've ever seen) into her dorm room illegally and somehow management hasn't caught her yet (based on a true story) (Kyana visits to see Plug all the time)

Finbar keeps an updated tier list of every canteen in the school with breakdowns of the best stalls/dishes for each

A senior from the school of engineering once said to me 'all the engineering people dress like rats cuz our classrooms don't have aircon' (context: tropics) anyway that's Dani

Kyana would probably be involved in a lot of freshman orientation events from second year onwards. she just likes talking to the new kids and giving them advice like she would be the kind of orientation group leader who'd get messages from her freshies asking about all kinds of random nonsense because she's made sure they know they can always contact her with questions

VR-LA is The Guy you go to for textbook pirating resources

(this is more of a 'wouldn't that be funny' but VR-LA is just Veerle's discord handle)

Docent is the name of VR-LA's old laptop that broke down so he gave it to Cassimere (computer engineering major he met once at a networking event) to fix except Cassimere got everything off the hard drive and then somehow managed to fuck it up Even More so he had to get a new laptop (and named it Emi)

Roy has gotten food poisoning from his dorm meal plan at least once (based on at least one true story)

The heap trio + Mandy would be those friends constantly playing majong in the dorm lounge and if all the majong tables are taken they just play in one of their dorm rooms on a towel to dampen the tile shuffling noises (it was Mandy's idea)

Every morning Dani goes to the drinks stall at her faculty and orders one iced coffee to the point where the stall owner starts preparing an iced coffee whenever they see her approach (based on my true story)

Roy would be one of those people who goes clubbing every other week and every time he tries to drag the rest of the heap trio and Egan almost always goes and Dani would go if she didn't have a good excuse but always begrudgingly. anyway Roy would always be the only one having a good time until Egan gets drunk enough to start having fun

Finbar actually uses the dorm kitchens instead of just buying canteen food and it always makes the hallways smell really good

Vhas also uses the dorm kitchen sometimes but like. one time i walked into the pantry on my floor and someone had left cut sweet potatoes and 2 eggs in an inch of water in a pan on the stove. that's Vhas

Kyana's constantly applying for overseas exchanges and international summer/winter school programmes. the world is large and she wants to see it!

Maxim's the definition of a hall phantom. you know he lives on your dorm floor because you pass him by in the hallways sometimes and literally nowhere else. sometimes you're not convinced that he actually exists

VR-LA and Maxim's friendship stems from them being from wildly different faculties (VR-LA's in STEM, Maxim's doing anthropology so arts/social sciences) but also having lots of weird interests they cant really bug anyone in their home faculties about

Elyse is in student government and every once in a while Finbar receives a series of angry texts about the newest idiocy she's had to put up with

MR-SN and AS-TR start a stargazing club together. other notable members include AS-TR's girlfriend E-DN, MR-SN's friend C-RA (the one who always volunteers to carry the heavy ass telescopes) and MR-SN's friend K-LB who he pestered into coming to fix one of the wonky scopes even though K-LB's actually in electrical engineering but he's the only engineering person MR-SN (an arts student) knows

oh and of course VR-LA joins because he genuinely just likes space (developing a crush on his club chairperson was not on his bingo card)

Kyana and E-DN were MMA sparring buddies at one point which is how she found out about the stargazing and joined immediately

honestly i can probably think of more but this post is fuckin long LMAO

[kvhasproblems]

Boy Next Door - Part 3

Main Masterlist, Series Masterlist

Part 2 - Part 4

Van x Reader

Summery: My whole life seemed to be perfectly planned out for me, the perfect family, the perfect house with a white picket fence, the perfect boy next door… the only problem is I can’t seem to take my mind off my best friend…

Warnings: major homphobia, slurs, subtle racism, horrible parents, discussions of an attempted forced kiss

A/n: ok i meant to post this a long time ago but then my life lowkey fell apart, why is the curse of being a fanfic writer real lmao

Word Count: 2,869 (lol)

very subtle background lottie/nat and jackie/shauna

I got home just before my curfew was up with a sigh of relief.

"What kept you so late?" My mother calls from the kitchen as I'm passing.

"Jackie kept interrupting our studying with her boy problems, so it took us longer than we thought to read the chapters." I lied through my teeth, hoping the on-the-spot excuse was convincing enough.

"Oh, that girl and her doe eyes are bound to have boys falling for her, that's for sure." My mother laughed to herself before going back to wiping the counter. "You get up to bed now; you have school tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Mom. I love you!" I call as I walk up the stairs.

I don't miss how she doesn't say it back.

"At 6? Ok. I'll see you then! Bye!" I hung up the phone after untwisting the cord that I wrapped around my finger.

"Who was that?" My mother's voice cut through my happy daze. She stood in my doorway, her spying disguised as curiosity.

"OH! Hi mom. It was… just Lottie. She asked if I could come to the movies with her and Tai." My mother's nose wrinkled at the sound of Tai's name. I keep a neutral face despite the way her reaction makes my stomach twist.

"Hmmm, alright, well, don't be too late; we have brunch next door tomorrow morning at 10!"

"I won't be out past curfew!" I call, already getting up and running to my drawers to find an outfit to wear.

It had taken a while to convince my mother not to drive me. As I rolled up to the theatre, my eyes found her immediately. She stands along the postered display wall, rocking back and forth on her heels, looking around occasionally, waiting for me. At her next check, she spots and waves to me before making her way over to the bike rack where I was chaining up my bike.

We stood in line at the snack corner. Tonight was surprisingly busy, and the line was annoying long.

"I can't believe you haven't seen Jurassic Park yet!" Van talked excitedly, filling the wait time with fun facts about the movie she'd read about in a magazine. "I mean, the movie came out months ago; you're lucky they are still showing it."

"I was supposed to go with Jackie, Shauna and them, but once we got here, they dragged me to The Firm."

"Why did they wanna see The Firm?" Van scrunched her nose, wondering more out loud than she meant to.

"Something about impressing boys by watching R-rated movies."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Sounds like them."

"I thought their whole reasoning was dumb; it wasn't a bad movie though." I countered while shoving her lightly with my shoulder, smiles across both our faces.

"It's definitely not as good as Jurassic Park." She bumped me back.

"I don't know Jackie screaming the whole time made for a pretty good movie." I went to bump into her again, but she dodged me at the last second, sending me stumbling for a brief moment before her warm hands grabbed my shoulders, helping me steady myself, all while we laughed up a storm. My giggles almost get caught in my throat as I look up and realize how close our faces are. Close enough, I can feel the tickle of her warm breath against my face.

"NEXT!" The grouchy teen working the canteen shouted, fed up with trying to get our attention politely. Van quickly stumbled to the side, motioning to me to go first. My cheeks were still pink as I walked up to the counter.

"Two tickets to Jurassic Park, please!"

"Hey, wait! I can buy my own ticket!"

"Van, you're my best friend, and I just got my allowance for the month." I ignore the rest of her grumbling protests and turn back to the canteen. "One regular popcorn and a coke, please."

I move to the side so Van can order, but she just comes to stand by me.

"You not getting anything?"

"Nah... I don't even like popcorn that much anyway."

I just nod, but I don't miss the way her eyes track my popcorn as the worker hands it to me. It's also hard to believe her as her hand keeps bumping into mine as she steels from my bag throughout the movie. I couldn't even be annoyed if I wanted to. Her laughs and reactions to the film make me way happier than any popcorn does. I try to focus on the movie, but I keep thinking about how blue her eyes look when my face is way too close to hers.

The memory continued to dance around the forefront of my mind, her hands on my shoulders keeping me upright, close, the way her eyes seemed endless, the slight warmth on my face from her breath-

Steven's hand grabs my arm, shocking me back into the moment. I look around the table, everyone with expectant glances.

"You were asked to pass the syrup to Mrs. Fraser." my mother practically glares at me. I internally cringe.

"Oh, sorry.. here you go." I shook Steven's hand from my arm while passing Mrs. Fraser the syrup bottle. I tried to ignore the way my skin crawled at his touch. I haven't talked to him since he tried to kiss me at that party. Steven's father breaks the silence.

"So, y/n, when's soccer tryouts this year? You gunning for Varsity?" He asked before shoving some French toast in his mouth. Steven coughed and quickly reached for his orange juice as I cringed beside him. Of course, he had to bring up Varsity… stupid rumour. Stupid girls.

"Tryouts are 2 weeks on Monday, and yeah… being on varsity in freshman year would be great." I don't elaborate more than that much to Mr. Fraser's disappointment. He always asks for updates on how soccer's going; I'm not sure if he's trying to make Steven feel guilty for quitting or to live through me instead of his own son.

"Well, you gotta tell me if you think you have any real competition at tryouts, if they can keep up with you, I say you got a real shot at states this year. You know, back in my day, my team almost won States." He continued to ramble about his glory soccer days despite the fact that I've heard this story a thousand times.

As we finish the brunch, I help by picking up plates and dishes to bring to the kitchen.

"Y/n, wash the dishes for Mrs. Fraser, please." My mother called from the dining hall.

"Of course!" I put on my cheeriest voice. I hate washing dishes, but at least I can avoid any more awkward conversations. I start to run the water as I get the drying rack set up.

"Here, let me help." Steven brushed past my side to grab a drying rag. My heart sank in my chest, god I don't want to have any awkward conversations about what happened. I began washing to give my hands something to do, praying Steven will just stay quiet the whole time.

"Look, about what happ-"I cut him off quickly.

"We don't have to talk about it."

"I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

"It's o-" I stop before I can brush off his apology, sighing I start again. "It's just that you've been my friend for as long as I can remember; I just was confused, I guess."

"Oh, yeah… I just needed to apologize; I didn't want things to be awkward; like you said, you've been my… friend as long as I can remember." He refused to actually look at me as he grabbed the dish from my hand. Just before an awkward silence could creep in, Steven turned to me.

"Oh, you got something on your face there." He pointed towards my cheek.

"Where?" I tried to reach for the cloth so I could dry my hands, but Steven held it away from me.

"Here, let me get it."

"Ok, than-"

Steven quickly scooped soap bubbles from the top of the water before smearing them across my face. I jumped back, letting out a yelp of surprise.

"Oh, it's so on now!" I challenged scooping up bubbles to throw at him.

We ended up with a larger mess to clean than we started with, but I'm glad it made things feel normal again. Steven being Steven, my friend who throws soap at me, not some boy who tries to kiss me at a party.

At 15 I found myself lying to my mother the most I ever have as I had hung out with Van 3 more times since we saw Jurassic Park. My current up-and-running lie was Shauna's study group, which "most definitely" exists. I was meeting Nat and Van at the fields at the school. With tryouts coming up in 2 days, we thought it would be good if we got some extra practice in. We were doing a late-night practice because Van had a shift at the bowling alley till 8. It takes me about 20 minutes to bike to school, meaning that I only really have about an hour to practice to make sure I get home before my 10 o'clock curfew.

When I got there, Nat was already there dribbling and juggling the ball.

"Hey, Nat." I threw my bags down by the goalpost before jogging up to her. We lightly pass the ball back and forth and chat while we wait for Van.

The sound of faraway grumbles and shouts drew my attention away from our mini scrimmage, which was basically just play fighting at that point. Nat took the opportunity to bodycheck me and run away with the ball.

"HA! Got yo-" she paused as she heard it too. "Van!?" She called out as Van rounded the corner, practically carrying her bike.

I abandon Nat and run to help Van with her bike. The stupid thing was too big and too old, a hand me down from an older neighbour whose son grew out of it.

"What happened this time?" I say with a small smile while grabbing the front of the bike to make carrying it easier.

"God, you wouldn't believe it. first, the fucking chain popped off, and I had already got off work late, so I threw it back on as fast as I could, and then I rushed to get here, and I must have run over something because my front tire is now completely flat." She threw her arms around while telling the story once we set the bike down with our bags. "I just gave up riding, and I thought carrying it would be easier, but I forgot this thing weighs a million pounds." She rolled her eyes while pulling her cleats and gloves out of her bag.

Nat, who had been trying to muffle her laughter, finally bursts as Van kicks the bike once more before sitting down to put on her shoes.

"OH shut up!" Van chucked a shoe at Nat, who then picked it up and ran away. "OH, YOU-"Despite only having one regular shoe and an undone cleat, Van sprinted after Nat, who was much slower than normal due to her laughter. Just as Van was closing in on the shoe, I ran towards them.

"NAT! OVER HERE!" I waved my arms, signalling to her as she tossed the shoe to me. Van's grumbles were impossible to take seriously, with the biggest grin on her face as we played this sort of monkey-in-the-middle tag. It was probably another 30 minutes before we even got to any sort of real practice.

"Fuck! I totally thought I had that one. I swear you teleport around that goal." I grumbled light-heartedly as Van saved another one of my attempts to score.

"I'm just too good." Van rolled her shoulders and faked a yawn.

"I, for one, would be able to aim better if I could actually see the goalposts." Nat

"Shit yeah, it's getting pretty late," Van commented, looking around at just how dark it's gotten in the past 90 minutes ish of playing.

Dark. HOLY FUCK, ITS DARK DARK OUT!!

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I scrambled to my bag, throwing off my cleats to change my shoes.

"I gotta go like now! I'm so late!" I shoved my shoes into my bag. "God, I'm gonna be so dead when I get home."

Van and Nat gave me a sympathetic glance before bidding their goodbyes as I sped off.

I tore around the corner onto my street, peddling as fast as I could. I was so totally screwed. My mom is most definitely freaking out right now. I tried to come up with a reason for why I'd be home so late.

Jackie was having boy trouble and wanted to get ice cream?

Shauna realized she forgot a bio test and needed extra help studying?

My head was spinning. None of those were good enough.

I couldn't even remember what my original lie was.

I pulled into my driveway, and that's when I saw her. Standing on the front steps with my father and Steven of all people.

"Fuck…" I mumbled under my breath.

My mother, who was pacing, stopped dead in her tracks, glaring at me with harsh, angry eyes. My father came down from the porch and took my bike from me as I stepped off it.

"I-"

"Just get inside."

I didn't bother with a verbal response, instead fleeing to the stairs to be met by my mom, giving Steven a quick hug.

"Thank you so much for your help." She told him. He nodded before turning to me. He didn't say anything; he just mouthed sorry and put his hand on my shoulder quickly before heading down the stairs. I watched him walk away. I don't know what he's sorry for, I got myself into this mess.

I was pulled from my thoughts as her hand grips my bicep. Her touch burns as if a hot poker is being pressed into my skin, and I'm sure I will have a bruise once she removes her hand. I try to pull my arm away as she drags me into the house, her face as red as my skin feels.

"Mom! Mom, please stop; you're hurting me!" At that, she shoves me forward before slamming the door.

There was a silence. A stare down of sorts, and when she first speaks, it's so quiet.

"I've let you get away with so much. I thought that if I gave you time… if I let you work this out of your system that, you'd be fine. But I was wrong. I knew I should have trusted my gut. I let you leave this house. THIS HOUSE THAT I AND YOUR FATHER HAVE WORKED SO HARD FOR. I GAVE YOU MY TRUST AND YOU," She gasps, taking in air, "AND YOU THROW IT IN MY FACE. RUNNING AROUND WITH THAT TRAILER TRASH BEHIND MY BACK!! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU LIED TO ME!"

My blood felt like ice in my veins as I found it hard to take in a breath. Tears sprang to my eyes at her yells. I couldn't bring myself to answer her. My voice frozen in my chest; I'm sure I stood there gaping. My mouth opening and closing like a fish hung cruelly out of water.

"How many times have you lied to me." Gone was her manic yelling; this was much scarier, her eyes dark face set. "Don't make me repeat myself again."

I stumbled for an answer, and her growing impatience had me losing my train of thought.

"I- I don't know for sure.. not that much, I swear." She started to advance on me. I stumbled for a way to give her what she wanted. "Once this summer to go to a party." I was talking fast, my voice raising in pitch. "Tonight! Two times last week! Once the week before! Last May, after we lost that big game! AND END OF YEAR PARTY! MY SCIENCE GRADE BEFORE EXTRA CRED-" My rambling was halted, words slapped from my mouth. She looked slightly shocked as she looked at her hand. Part of me wondered if it stung as much as my face. Another part of me hoped it did.

"Here's what's going to happen. You are going to stop hanging out with that dyke on your soccer team. I didn't raise you to be a fucking faggot!" She spits her words so violently, and the same burning rage I felt in the cafeteria bubbled up to the surface. "and speaking of soccer, you're done!"

"WHAT!" Any rage I had quickly boiled to fear.

"DONE! IF I SO MUCH AS CATCH YOU RUNNING, YOU ARE NEVER ALLOWED OUT OF THIS HOUSE AGAIN!"

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! PLEASE! IT'S ALL I HAVE!"

"DON'T YOU RAISE YOUR VOICE AT ME!"

It was eerily silent for a moment. As I stared back at her.

"Please…" I tried to keep my voice even and steady, but it came out as more of a whimper.

[thefrogdalorian]

Hi Spud!

Forgive me for not knowing where in the world you're from, but here in merry old England 'spud' means potato.

So, what is your favourite way to eat them and what do you think is Din Djarin's?

Love, El

Hello El!

This is an incredible question, thanks for sending it!

Snap, same here... although not sure I'd call it merry. Definitely old though! The reference to potatoes is actually how I got this nickname hehe. I would pretty much always order the same thing from the canteen during lunch in High School so the name Spud kind of stuck. There is a story behind the name and it is linked to my undying love of potatoes hahah🥔

So personally, I have to go with the humble jacket potato, since that is the specific genre of potato that earned me this nickname hehe! So many tasty ways to eat them. So filling and hearty. Especially in winter mmmmm. I'm drooling.

As for our beloved buckethead... I feel like when Din is on the move, soaring across the galaxy from job to job he probably just wants something quick and easy. So I feel like he maybe mashed potatoes since they're pretty low effort and he can eat them quickly. Or even suck them up with some kind of straw so he doesn't even have to remove his helmet. He's all about maximum efficiency.

Now that he has more time in the cabin on Nevarro though, I reckon he branches out his culinary skills. Maybe attempting potatoes au gratin or something a little fancy like that. Probably burns down the kitchen several times when he takes the recipe's instruction to brown them to the extreme but leave him alone! He's trying his best!

(Also, you didn't ask but Grogu's favourite is definitely tornado potatoes. These things look like they're straight out of Star Wars as it is! I can definitely imagine him bugging Din and looking at him with his big brown eyes until Din caves and buys him one. I ate them as street food in China and they're delicious. Haven't found them here yet though sadly!)

[harryissuchalittleshit]

hey! i loved august <3 can you write a microfic about rose, scorpius and albus in the school year after the fic?? i'm just dying to know what happened after the story ended but before the 2021 part of evermore

So I love Rose and Scorpius so much, and Al is always an adorable mess of a human being, so here is a little exam stress with Rose and Scorpius!

Exam Stresses

August slipped away in a moment of time….because it was never mine…

Rose groaned as she opened her eyes, her neck hurt and her back felt stiff from sleeping on top of her books again. She hated exam time, she hated waking up early and staying up too late studying when she knew that it was ridiculous to do so. She knew the material, but she was her mother’s daughter, and something inside of her was compelled to spend hours and hours of her time studying up until she put her quill down for her last exam.

Her OWLs were important, they would determine her classes for the next two years, but she kept thinking about the conversation she had with Professor Longbottom, with Neville, the month before exam season. She knew what her parents expected of her, to follow them into the Ministry, to find herself writing legislation like her mum, or becoming an Auror like her dad.

“Alright,” said Scorpius, sliding into the open seat beside Rose at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, his white blond curls a mess on top of his head, well overdue for a haircut. “We have tea, chocolates, protein bars, warm socks, a pillow, and a water canteen.”

Rose stared at her boyfriend, still in a daze of waking up herself as she sipped her tea and ate her bacon. She missed being in a kitchen, and even though the House Elves would let her cook with them, she knew that she just got in their way. They were always kind to her, appreciative to her for her parents, but it wasn’t the same as her kitchen at home, her recipe cards handed down from her Grandma Jane.

“What?”

“Mum sent an exam care package for you and Al,” explained Scorpius as he handed Rose the neatly wrapped up box, its contents written on the thick butcher paper it was wrapped in, along with a few small illustrations of flowers she had seen around his family’s manor house. “She knows how Al goes all out around exams, and I may of mentioned how you keep falling asleep in the common room.”

Rose took the package, feeling immediately touched by Astoria’s kindness. She knew that their parents, their fathers, were still hoping that they would break up at some point, but being at Hogwarts together…it just made Rose feel even closer to Scorpius. They got to spend so much time together, and they got time apart when they needed the space from one another. They were still able to spend time with their friends outside of one another, they both got to have Quidditch and prefect patrols and classes apart, but without the feeling of never seeing one another.

Not that they really ever needed excuses for that or anything at all, they always had Al.

“That’s so…” Rose was actually at a loss for words, her mum always sent her chocolate for a special treat after exams, but the fact that Astoria sent her a whole care package just to get through the next ten days….

“Don’t worry about it,” said Scorpius as he started adding food to his plate, piling on eggs and bacon and toast that he added copious amounts of butter and jam too. “She likes to do things like that.”

But it was so…so unnecessary.

“I’ll write her between the Charms written and Potions practical today,” Rose told him, even though she felt a sudden spike in anxiety about the thought of not studying in that time.

“Write her after exams,” said Scorpius, his voice stressed and not like himself.

“Okay,” agreed Rose, as Scorpius started eating, and she reached a hand over to cover his free hand with her own and gave him a little squeeze. “Did she send you anything?”

“Of course,” said Scorpius around a mouthful of toast and bacon before reaching for his glass of pumpkin juice, “about twice as much stuff as she sent you and Al, but I didn’t want to make it awkward.”

Rose smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder, so tired. She laced their fingers together, the pair of them sitting together in their own little pocket of quietness in the loudest room of the whole castle. But that was what Rose always loved about her relationship with Scorpius, even in the loudest and nosiest spaces, they had their own quiet.

He felt like her true home.

[ohtobeleah]

For those who are slightly interested, this is my wedding speech from Sunday.

Hello:

Not many people get to say that they have the kindest, most beautiful, selfless, sister in the world. But Sam, I’m so glad, that you can say all of those things.

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing my pure grace, hi my name is Leah and I’m Sam’s older, but much shorter sister.

They say big sisters always have a shadow, and for as much as Sam will deny deny deny, I have forever had a sneaking suspicion that my shadow had a best friend.

From having the privilege of the back of the buss in primary school as a kindergartener, to skipping the line in the canteen during my senior high school years ~ you were always there reeping the privileges and experiences the true power that having an older sister holds.

But I have gathered some additional evidence to suggest that you, my dear sister, will always and forever be my shadows best friend and life long companion. In no particular order I introduce:

Exhibit A: Following the tradition of house captain and spirit of the year award. It doesn’t shock me in the slightest bit that you wanted not one, but two [redacted] names on that shiny new Wilson house plaque.

Exhibit B: Deciding that a career in the fitness industry as a leading professional sounded like a pretty good choice. Sam, you are an exceptionally talented personal trainer. And as i watch you continue to educate yourself to provide the best possible experience to your clients, all I can say is that I’m so unbelievably proud of how much you have accomplished.

Onto Exhibit C: An August wedding accompanied by a burnt terracotta colour scheme. I swear some of us are having a crazy case of de ja vu. But we will always be able celebrate the best days of our lives three weeks apart.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury I could go on and on forever……and I’m going to do exactly that.

When Sam and I were growing up, we had a cubby house that was our pride and joy. In the beginning it started off as a clubhouse. A place where no adults were allowed and where we ruled the whole world.

Slowly but surely it became a kitchen, kitted out with state of the art equipment and empty cardboard boxes from the pantry that we swore to mum we didn’t take. This kitchen was the backdrop for many mud pies, always made with the finest ingredients such as Dad’s high quality sand, mums favourite instant coffee, whatever lawn trimmings we could get our hands on, and the occasional snail shell.

Overtime it slowly transitioned to a classroom, where I’d teach you wrong math skills and you’d look up at me with a dear in headlights stare. I take absolutely no responsibility for your childhood education.

Our cubby house could withstand any situation that the weather would throw at it, so much so that when dad handed us three bottles of water based paint one weekend after we’d begged him to let us paint it bright pink and purple, we were shocked to see all are hard work immediately wash away that same afternoon.

That was the moment we learned that the weather forecast existed and our dad had outsmarted us on an elite level.

Eventually as we grew and our beloved cubby turned kitchen turned school, became a dog house for our childhood dog, Jessie. But it stood tall for years and years watching us grow.

Sam, you now have your own cubby house. A real house where you can escape from the real world. You have a real kitchen to cook whatever you’re heart desires, a kitchen where you don’t have to use dads top dollar concrete mix as salt, or mums instant coffee that again, swore we never took.

Home is where the heart is and wherever you and Troy find yourselves in life is exactly where your home will be.

Troy, take care of my baby sister and I know she’ll take care of you. If you’re lucky I may even relinquish my driveway space for you at mums……if you’re lucky. I am proud and above all honoured to call myself your sister in law.

You balance each other perfectly, an all encompassing representation of ying and yang. As your chosen reading said: two people are better off than one, and there is no other person who could love our cheeky beeky girl like you do. The only love that could possibly rival your love for Sam is your love for chainsaws.

To finish up, because I know I’ve well and truly exceeded my daily Leah quota, I’ll end on this:

Sam and Troy, on behalf of myself and Bailey ~ our biggest peace of advice for the both of you entering this life long journey, is that it isn’t always a 50/50 split.

Sometimes it’s 75 percent to 25, other days it can look like 40/60 and on occasion, 99 to 1. But the goal at the end of each and every day, is to be at 100%, together.

Happy wedding day.

[danpuff-ao3]

Ah, what can I say about Arrisha (@arrisha-ao3)? What a gift to fandom she is! (Or a curse, if you've read her work and are still curled up in the fetal position over them.) (But let's be real...still a blessing!) (Having your heart and soul broken to that extent is brutal, yeah, but it also builds character!)

That is to say...I am blown away by Arrisha's skill. Everything is built for maximum impact. The detail, the prose, the rhythm of her work; the characterizations, the relationship development, the knowledge of human nature, the thoughtful portrayal of emotion...Geez Louise. This is one smart, skillful lady. And she uses all of that mastery to emotionally torment us create art. Not only great works in of themselves, but very bold works. Not merely a clever stringing of words, or an interesting plot, but fearlessly charging ahead with the demands of her muse, and not shying away from brutal tales or tragic endings. Not everyone is built for that sort of storytelling, let alone the risk inherent in sharing said works, not knowing how they will be received. Spine of steel this one, I swear.

So okay, I'm a fan, yeah, what about it? Can you blame me?? But Arrisha is more than just a remarkable creator. She is a very sweet, humble, smart person. One so passionate for fandom, and creation, and with an excellent taste in ships, let me tell you (hehe.) Also, in fics! I made a very wise choice the day I traipsed through her AO3 bookmarks. What a legend, she is! I am so glad to share a fandom space with her, and so glad to know her!

So here are a few fics you should definitely check out. And as a bonus, you can listen to her interview on the Snape Chat podcast here!

Ab Intra, Ab Extra

Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 156,694. Postwar. Character study. Abuse. Dysfunctional relationship. Possessive behavior. Slow burn. Big angst. Series (2 parts.)

Severus Snape has been in prison for the past six years, but it’s not what you think—life in Azkaban is never boring. Yaxley’s atrocious gang is on the rampage (again), the canteen’s newspapers are absolutely scandalous, kitchen duty pays well, and smuggling in potions from time to time grants Severus protection and free tobacco. 

His peace of mind is disturbed when Harry Potter comes to visit. 

(Now, surely a mischievous secret must be hiding behind that. Only it’s not the one Severus thinks.)

Molly's Advice

Harry/Severus. Rated: M. Words: 7,189. Infidelity. Hinny. Harry/others. Snarry Swap 2014.

Arrisha's other works are highly praised, and rightly so, but this is my personal favorite! It ticks all of my boxes. A short fic that packs a punch. Mega angst. Postwar life not being all Harry hoped. The difficult Snarry dynamic. Chef's kiss, truly, I'm in love!

Snape used to have a secret; Harry only now begins to realise his own.

The Syntax of Things

Harry/Severus. Rated: M. Words: 200,436. Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings (reader discretion advised.) Canon compliant. Student/teacher. Slow burn. Fluff & angst. Drama & romance. Forbidden love. Enemies to lovers. Tragedy. Character Study. One of the best!!!!

A short-lived series of private lessons took place after Christmas in Harry Potter's fifth school year, during which Severus Snape attempted to teach Harry the skill of Occlumency. The lessons were ultimately cancelled when Harry was caught prying into Snape's memories, discovering the strangest things: A mysterious prophecy connected Harry's fate with Voldemort's, Harry's dad was an insufferable bully, and Severus Snape had been in love with Harry's mum. Naturally, Harry now has a million questions. Snape would prefer to answer none.

The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes. The same question arises in every soul: "For what, for whom, must I kill and be killed?"

...Or, a classic approach to stubbornness.

for an explanation about Mutuals March, or to figure out why i wrote you a thing, please check out this post.