#also i recognized that dude from step up so i know he can't even act

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Handmaid's Tale: Exodus (6x08)

Not going to lie, I'm pretty massively underwhelmed by this one.

Cons: 

I just... for one thing, I thought the wedding was going to be where Shit Went Down, and instead it was where People Handed Each Other Weapons and Then Went Home. Just kind of a momentum killer, to be honest. Drugging the wedding cake is certainly audacious, but it's also silly. And I kept thinking that if going to the wedding was just about distributing stuff, why on earth did June and Moira even risk going? Everyone else is supposed to be there. No risk of Serena or Nick or anybody else recognizing them. It felt silly that they'd be there at all.

Serena has this big moment where she learns that her new husband is "just like all the others" and is not a good man, since he brings a Handmaid into their home together. Honestly, the idea that Serena would be surprised by this, that she would have bought into her own delusions enough to believe that this would be a different kind of marriage, didn't really bother me. But the way she reacted? Like, Serena, are you stupid? Just play dumb, lay low, get Noah out of there safely! Now you're on the run with no supplies and no recourse. I just wish she'd played it more clever. Like, nodded and smiled and asked that for their wedding night, it just be the two of them... then in the light of day find a way to get Noah away and figure out a plan. It just seemed silly for her to freak out and burn that bridge with no thought to strategy at all.

The big scene of this episode, the one that I wanted to move me, was the June speech to Lydia. And it just... did not land for me! I'm sorry! What, exactly, has changed Lydia's mind here? The Janine stuff? Okay, so then why did she need June to come and explain it to her when she's already seen Janine beaten by Bell? I was extremely distracted by the guard holding a gun in this scene. There's this crowd of Handmaids waiting with baited breath, there's June making her big speech, there's Lydia listening with a trembling lip... and I'm sitting there thinking: who's this dude, what does he think, is he being swayed? Is he too scared to act? Would he have shot June if Lydia had commanded it? And that's not what I wanted to be feeling, in this big culminating moment. I didn't want to be preoccupied by what the one man in the room thought about the things happening. It just didn't work for me as this ultimate turning point for Lydia. I'm not convinced that this would sway her after so much else did not. And I honestly thought June's speech went on a little too long and was a little too generic.

Pros:

I'm not completely writing this show off as a loss, of course. We have two more episodes, and I'm hoping they're bombastic and shocking and interesting. Serena's wedding was kind of a dud, more setup without payoff, but now the Handmaids are on the loose, and they're out for blood. There were a lot of cool little moments nested into this episode, even if the overall effect was underwhelming.

At the wedding, I loved how... insane and delusional Serena was when she went to talk to the Handmaids. Like she really thinks that being nice to them and trying to claim that she and her former Handmaid found a way to forgive and make friends, is going to make up for anything? She really thinks it's enough? She's totally lost it. When Rita came up and says "eyes on the prize, ladies," I was grinning so big. Like, I'm sorry, Serena, but I want you to get what's coming to you, and I want you to know it was June who did it.

I also like that Nick and June don't cross paths, that he remains entirely unaware that she's there and that anything is going on. The tension of that, when she can't quite stop herself from walking a few steps closer to him, when she fixates on him and Rose there together as this "happy" little family unit... I still don't understand what they're trying to do with Nick as a character but I have this hope/thought that he's going to figure out what's up and help June at the eleventh hour, which I would appreciate, at least.

While the Serena moments did kind of piss me off, I did like how genuinely crushed she was as she asked the Handmaid what her real name was. She's not a good person, and there's no going back on what she's done, but selfishly I'm glad she's at least woken up to how monstrous the system is, even if it's not sufficient to any degree. Great acting in that moment of dawning horror.

Similarly, while so much about the big Aunt Lydia v. June moment annoyed me, I loved Moira standing in her power and shouting Lydia down, and I especially love that Lydia didn't remember who she was. It puts paid to so many of the lies Lydia has told herself. That she's doing this to protect and save "her girls." She doesn't even know the names of all the people she's tortured and handed over to serial rapists over the years. And I loved Moira prepared to stare down Lydia and protect June, and then June just showing up like "here I am." Great acting from Ann Dowd in the aftermath of that scene, as she calls out "God help me" and sinks to her knees. I really believe in her as a broken, confused woman. Although again, that doesn't justify shit about shit, when you get right down to it.

So... yeah. I find myself really uncertain what we're meant to think, going into these last two episodes of the show. Poisoning the cake at the wedding felt like an anticlimax, people are behaving kinda stupid, and do we really think that this is going to be enough to bring down Gilead for good? Or maybe it's not, maybe this is a setup for The Testaments, maybe we're meant to believe that there are decades left before the real downfall comes. Who can say! All I know is, I don't want to walk away from this whole show with a sour taste in my mouth. I hope it all comes together in a way that feels earned and powerful.

6.5/10

[six-eyed-samurai]

Dedicated to my teriyaki peach, @plebbypebblepleb - solely for Willow and Kenma and Willow and Kenma only >:) everyone else can step on a lego because I'm mean like that

"Can you like, I need some context here. Why am I walking blindfolded into my own backyard and why can I smell vinegar?"

"Shush. Just walk - you're going to trip if you keep talking."

"It'll be so much easier if you carry me!"

"Be for real. You're too heavy for me."

"Bro, don't act like I don't know you don't want to carry me because you're using your phone!"

"...should've gotten Kuroo to record. This way."

"Wait, Kuroo's here?" Willow swivels her head around before she remembers she can't actually see anything. If she strains her ears really hard though, she can just about make out the sound of stifled laughter a distance away that might've been neighbors...if she hadn't recognized the voice complaining about the cold, Kenma being an overly dramatic slowpoke and Kuroo shut the (beep beep beep) up. "Dude what's going on - shit! Oh my god, don't push me down like that! I can sit, alright?"

"I know you can." Another plop on the ground; Kenma was sitting beside her. Snow crunched underneath, but Willow could tell they weren't sitting directly on it. Something else, something soft and scratchy. Kenma takes her hand. She half sighs, half giggles with a mix of exasperation and adoration.

It feels really romantic. But Kenma being Kenma breaks it by folding her fingers around something else instead. A cold, round - a mug? She takes a sniff and yanked her head back sharply.

"Bro, what the frick frack? This is vinegar."

"Yeah, don't you like vinegar?" Kenma sounds faintly bemused and she can hear him sipping something that smelled awfully like chocolate. "At least Sunny said so. We ran out of hot chocolate."

"That masochistic son of a sour grape - I want hot chocolate, don't we at least have marshmallows?" Willow isn't pouting exactly, but you could also describe it as a petulant sulk. If Kenma could see her eyes they'd be rolling. "Please? With a cherry on top?"

A thought strikes her. "Oh, damn, do not tell me you mixed the marshmallows with vinegar."

"No? That's disgusting?" Kenma sighs and another mug is placed into her hands. "You can have mine. It's too sweet for me."

"Yay! Thanks, you know I love you." It is too sweet, and the marshmallows swollen beyond normal proportions, but it's just the way Willow likes it. It's too perfect. She thinks the vinegar had been a joke, and this is actually her cup.

"So, can we take the blindfold off? What are we doing here anyway?"

"In a moment." Kenma sounds distracted and there's some indication two other people might be watching them both; she's more preoccupied when his hand reaches up to undo the loose knot and pull at her pigtails lightly. "Like it?"

He sounds nervous, even just a little. And you know he's the one, when he's gone all out for your first Christmas together with a winter wonderland-esque picnic complete with fairy lights and gingerbread and he's still shy about it not being enough.

"Oh. Oh. Oh my god."

It's not romantic, lumps of snow rolled into balls and stacked onto each other, decorated with scarves that's probably supposed to be hair (black and yellow, purple and blue), dinner's carrots and a battered heart shaped chocolate box between them. Not date material. They're not even masterfully made, a child's sloppy imitation of love.

But it was Kenma and it was cute, however silly.

"Oh my god, when did you make this? It's so - I don't even have the words to describe how - this is so -"

Words can't really explain the ecstasy anyway, so Willow gives up. Kenma knows anyway, by that small smile playing at his mouth. It's pretty obvious, when she's run all the way to the snowmen, gaping and doubling over from laughter and reaching out to gingerly poke.

"This is one of the best Christmas presents anyone has given me."

"Even if you're looking a little melty and lopsided?"

"Even that." She shakes her head again and touches the scarves in wonder. "When did you make this? In one day too?"

"Uh, Kuroo helped. That's probably why one of the carrots are eaten." Kenma's by her side, mugs and biscuits long forgotten. "Sunny was supposed to keep you in the house and away from the windows."

"And that's them up there?" Willow nodded upwards, because black and blue aren't really the color of a tree and birds don't chuckle.

"Someone has to record and -"

"And?"

Kenma stares expectantly up, meaningfully and pointedly. Willow blinks and shuffles her feet and patiently waits for...well, whatever's supposed to happen.

"Um, you know that Instagram trend? The one where they dance to the - yeah, at Christmas?"

"Wait, I think I know...no..." It's not a no of nope, you're yapping and I don't get it, it's no as in holy shit this can not be what I think it is.

"Yeah." Gentleman. He offered an arm and she takes it. "Dance with me?"

"You know I will."

And they do, dance until the drinks are nearly frozen and wasted, dance until Sunny's Spotify skips run out and Last Christmas accidentally plays, dance until Kuroo's cheap batteries die and the fairy lights blink out of existence.

But it's a dance.

("Start the video!" Willow calls out, and the grainy film plays while all of them are stacked on the couch the next year, Christmas time once again. It's a recording of a dance, and Kenma offers to do it again, and again, and again. Always.)

[theunknownpoetssociety]

thoughts while listening to hmhas

this is mostly assigning marauder things/ships/people to the songs btw

warning: this contains spoilers for all of the songs so if you want that it's below the cut ;)

SKINNY: "fell in love for the first time, with a friend it's a good sign" okay wolfstar also "twenty-one took a lifetime time, people say I look happy, just because I got skinny" plus size Lily Evans??

favorite line, "twenty-one took a lifetime time, people say I look happy, just because i got skinny"

LUNCH: love this one so much!! it's giving Marlene and flirty her self ;) and as a general song i love this one, it's more upbeat than billie's past songs and i love that.

favorite line, the whole beginning because i can't even pick just one lmao

CHIHRO: (translation: month) this song is just so much fun to vibe and listen to, and that's just amazing lol

favorite line, "I was waitin', in the garden, contemplatin', beg your pardon, but there's a part of me that recognizes you, do you feel it too?"

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: this one is so rosekiller-coded to me. like the you die i die vibe? that's so them! "it might be long but baby I, don't wanna say goodbye" like brooo.

favorite line, "I love you, don't act so surprised"

WILDFLOWER: i've never read ATYD but based on posts i've seen this is a very Grant singing about Remus and Sirius, " 'cause she (Sirius) couldn't be, more different than me, happy and free in leather" like like do you see the vision? and when the prank and Grant and Remus become closer? idk but i think it's cute/sad.

favorite line "but every time you touch me, I just wonder how she felt, Valentines Day, crying in the hotel, I know you didn't mean to hurt me so I kept it to myself""

THE GREATEST: if this song isn't James Fleamont Potter, I don't know what is!! "I'm trying my best to keep you satisfied, let you get your rest, while I stayed up all night, and you don't wanna know how alone I've been" like wtaf?!? "all my love and patience, unappreciated," dudee

favorite line, "you said your heart was jaded, you couldn't even break it, I shouldn't have to say it, you could've been the greatest"

L'AMOUR DE MA VIE: (translation: Love Of My Life) this one is so good! like not much more to say lmao, but i absolutely love the change-up like with the autotune(i think that's what that was, not positive though) i was not expecting that lol. though i do think it might be like a sad/bitter mary or regulus watching jily from the sides. made myself sad with that idea :( lol

favorite line, "but I need to confess I told you a lie, when I said you, you were the love of my life"

THE DINER: this song is so goddamn good (yes i know i've said that for almost every other song, they're all just so good!!) this song is honestly giving the Slytherin Skittles, like the rhythm, vibe, the whole thing except for the end which i kinda see as possessive rosekiller "I saw you in the car with someone else and couldn't sleep, if somethin' happens to him, you can bet that it was me" and i honestly love that for them lol. also if you dial the number at the end of the song you can get a text? (based on a google search/reddit) i haven't gotten it yet but i'll probably update if/when i do

favorite line, "the cops around the corner stopped me when I tried to leave, they told me I was crazy and they knocked me off my feet, they came in through the kitchen lookin' for something discrete"

BITTERSUITE: honestly regulus when he first crushes on james? " 'cause I can't fall in love with you, no matter how bad I want to" and "it's so romanticized, if this is how I die, that's alright" also love the ending, it's really trippy and cool :)

favorite line, "we can be discrete, but I've been overseas, and I've been havin' dreams, l'amour de ma vie"

Blue: all these songs are so amazing i can't get over ittt!!! "you were born reaching for your mother's hands, victim of your father's plans to rule the world, too afraid to step outside, paranoid and petrified of what you've heard, but they could say the same 'bout me" that and "and I could say the same 'bout you, born blameless, grew up famous" is just so Black-family. like Narcissa, Andromeda, Bellatrix, Sirius, and Regulus, this song is about them honestly.

favorite line, "I try to live in black and white, but I'm so blue, I'd like to mean it when I say I'm over you"

[eradicatetehnormal]

Just Finished Class of '09 the Re-Up

I never played the original, I just watched some playthroughs on Bijuu Mike's channel. I liked the black humor and the characters. There's just something so great about a female character who is unapologetically shitty. I like having a vessel to enact my worst tendencies.

Honestly, I didn't like the Re-Up's endings as much as I liked the original's, but I understand why they're like that since this is only taking place in the senior year. Although it does make me wonder why it costs more than the original.

I still liked the game, though.

The first ending I got was the one where I busted the teacher. That was an interesting one. I particularly liked the part where Nicole was just like "Yeah, there's no real difference between sex work and retail work." Of course, she's not a leftist or a Zoomer, so she doesn't flat-out say "We all sell our bodies under capitalism," but I know what my commie queen meant. Stuff like that is fun, though. As someone who was 4 during the time this game takes place, it's always fun to see parallels between how teens supposedly acted in the 2000s vs now.

I believe the second ending I got was the one where Nicole went to jail. I wanted to slap the shit out of her when she was giving that speech to Jecka. Bitch is so aware of her privilege...Until she's not. I do like that the ending made her reflect on her actions as well as gave some commentary on how prison systems make shitty people worse.

The third ending I got was the one where Nicole stole that Catholic girl's man. It's just like, damn, all that 'cause he wasn't getting his dick sucked. Like yeah, the Catholic girl was controlling, but he left her for a girl who fake-offered him sex, but hey, just plays into this game's series' hard-hitting and compelling theme. That all men are trash.

The fourth ending I got was the one where Nicole used Ari. I feel like in terms of impact, this one was the jail ending but better. The steps it took to get there were painfully realistic, with Ari staying in a terrible relationship because she had nowhere else to go, and then was forced back into the closet. I didn't expect Nicole to actually feel bad. It's interesting that Ari is the only partner she feels any remorse for. Nicole is probably gay and she's the embodiment of that one twitter post. I can't find it but it said something like "Don't leave your shitty male ex for me, I will literally treat you the exact same way." I just feel bad for Ari...Or at least I did, until...

The fifth ending I got was the one where Ari's house got caught on fire because of a hate crime. During this ending, it's revealed that Ari is a fucking femcel, SO FUCK HER! Alright, alright, Ari's not that bad. She's certainly got nothing on some of these dudes in the game but this ending really made me have soured feelings towards her, and her being okay with a supposedly racist Nicole in another route did not make me feel better.

The sixth ending I got is probably one of my favorites just because of the path to get there. This game had me shipping Nicole and Emily so hard. It was great to see someone who could actually out-do Nicole and match her personality. They would've been such a fun couple if uh.. You know...Didn't happen.

Last ending I got was the one with the racist teacher. That's probably the closest this game has to a "good" ending. I had my suspicions about the teacher when she said that 2pac was a fantastic and thought-provoking rapper, but that Kanye, 2008 Kanye, had nothing but music about bitches and hos. I had to turn my computer's volume down when she started reading Nicole's essay. Not only is she racist, she's just ultra-fake and bad at her job? First, she dismissed the nuance of modern rap and then she couldn't even recognize plagiarism from a book that was being read IN THE SCHOOL? ALSO, SHE WROTE A PAPER ON HOW INTERRACIAL DATING WAS MISOGYNISTIC TO WHITE WOMEN? Is it weird that I kind of want to know how she went about that? Did she argue that black men were fetishizing white women or that white women were left behind because she couldn't get a black boyfriend? It's probably the former but the latter is way funnier.

[kennyomegasweave]

I caved and started watching Never Let Me Go despite usually not watching shows as they air because I like to marathon things. These are my live thoughts on episodes 1-3. Let's go.

Ep. 1:

Damn. The dad got Bruce Wayne'd in the first scene. And on his kid's 18th birthday. Guaranteed he ain't liking his birthday anymore.

This mom is a bad bitch. Nothing better happen to her. Also they're like this 18 year old is in charge of the family and all that and like he's 18. But his mama is a bad bitch.

OOO SHADY UNCLE WE ARE 10 MINUTES IN AND GOT A SHADY UNCLE. And possibly cousin. 👀👀👀

MY MAN HAS SHOWN UP ON A BOAT. Oh I'm guessing he's poor. lol

Oh this rich baby is already struggling. Also he's getting bullied??? Excuse me. He's wealthy???

Did this young man make it to 18 with no friends at school??? What is going on. No wonder he's gonna get sprung on his first friend hired to protect him.

Oh shit my man is fine as hell. I'm stuck.

Oh I figured out why they're bullying the wealthy kid, I think they're all rich kids cause my man showed up and they were like I DONT RECOGNIZE HIS NAME HE LOOKS POOR. lol

"We can wins thousands on playing basketball at lunch cause everyone bets." My man is like ...what. Like some of us are poor Steven. lol

Oh main kid is like LEAVE ME ALONE GO WITH YOUR FRIENDS YOU ALREADY HAVE my baby really has no friends. OMG THE KIDS ARE LIKE YOU KNOW HIS MOM HIRED SOMEONE TO KILL HIS DAD. Y'all is rude as hell. Just you wait until my man becomes his man cause y'all are gonna get WRECKED. I can taste it. lol

Oh shady uncle has shown up. Shady ass bitch. I don't trust him.

MAMA IS A BAD BITCH. Just out here putting shady uncle in his place. Although like I can't 100% say she didn't have her husband killed but I also know that the shady uncle very well may have. TRUST NO BITCH. I just love seeing women slap down men.

Dude this dude is stupid hot I cannot even focus. lol

Baby just realized my man is here as kinda his bodyguard. Like bro that was obvious. Oh baby. He's not handling his babysitter well. He's being rude. Don't be rude. You're gonna fall in love with this boy.

Aww he just asked him to be his friend, not a bodyguard. Baby really is out here alone. That's so sad.

"Your job is to protect Nuengdiao. This could be a lifelong job for you." Well I mean I'm guessing he does and it is cause they're gonna fall in love.

Ep 2:

"Have you ever had eggs Benedict?"

I've never heard of it.

"It's breakfast for rich people."

Why do rich people need so many breakfast dishes?

"So he can chose what he wants." I screamed. Eat the rich. Though I'm guess Palm will be eating the rich later. HEY OH.

Nueng really is precious cause he just doesn't seem to understand he's rich and rich people like don't act this way. Baby just wants friends so badly. lol

Oh here's Palm's dad being like "we are the help we can't be eating at the table" and poor Nueng is like I JUST WANT A FRIEND. I'm guessing Palm's dad is really not gonna handle them falling in love well.

AWW HE WANTED TO DRIVE TO SCHOOL TOGETHER. My boy is just lonely as hell.

Not the teacher picking Palm to speak Mandarin as if he studied it at all. PEOPLE ARE POOR STEVEN.

Oh possible shady cousin is now Palm's tutor. "Oh you're from the beach? You worked on a fishing boat? That's so cool!" He's one step away from like I've never met a poor person before. lol

Oh Palm just learned Nueng gets bullied. He doesn't look pleased. As I said I'm sure these dudes will be getting WRECKED at some point. Also okay maybe shady cousin isn't that bad. But they're clearly not friends.

This class president doesn't seem like a bad dude but I'm also like what is your motive. Oh maybe he's just a good dude? Don't know that, neither does Nueng.

Oh does the cousin who is possibly not shady like the class president? Who is now trying to be close to Nueng? Oh the tangled weave of feelings we have. lol

NUENG JUST PUT PALM'S HAND ON HIS NECK AND PALM IS GETTING THE VAPORS. SAME.

"At school I can be your friend but here I am your employee." Oh baby don't listen to your dad, Nueng wants to be your friend. But also like Nueng you kinda are his boss and like you can't do that.

Oh not shady uncle having his kid there while he's cutting off fingers of dudes. Okay, I'm gonna go with I don't think Chopper is a bad dude. His dad is def wanting a coup. Oh he better not poison Chopper. He seems sweet.

NOT THE UNCLE SAYING WE COULD KILL THEM BOTH. Chopper wasn't even down for cutting off fingers of people stealing and he's like WE COULD KILL YOUR AUNT AND COUSIN to him. SIR.

Chopper better get his man, the Class President, and be cute somewhere away from his flop ass dad.

Aww Nueng just got Palm permission to use the pool in front of his dad. I've only had Nuengdiao for an episode and a half but if anything happened to him I would kill his shitty uncle and everyone else in the room.

What the hell? Y'all are late so you gotta do push-ups? Thailand don't play. Oh snap and here comes Nueng late and the teacher's like oh you don't have to do them. No fucking wonder the kids all make fun of him. Y'all are creating hatred in their hearts.

Oh Class President is Ben. And Chopper is sprung. Chopper's only interested in stocks and bitcoin? Don't do my boy like that. Don't make him a Reddit Bro. Oh he's jealous af. He's also a bad liar. Okay I've only had Chopper for like 15 minutes and I would kill his dad for him. Also, damn Ben just went off about how much he likes Nueng and you can see Chopper's heart breaking.

Oh he wants to watch Palm swim? I get it. He's stupid hot. I understand Nueng in this scene because I am Nueng.

"Music's an art and you play sports." Palm's little offended face. lol

Oh the boldness of Maggie. I like her but it's also like girl how can you see Palm's face watching Nueng play and be like "oh I'm interested in this one." Ma'am. He was stuck hearing Nueng play.

Nueng is jealous of Maggie. Palm is catching feelings for his 100% off limits boss.

Palm straight up whooping those dudes. Nueng was scared and horny. Aww he bought all that man's food. Palm helped him by saving him physically from being robbed and Nueng helped him with money. They compliment each other and they don't even know yet. 🥹🥹🥹

Not Palm showing up and interrupting Nueng and Ben's flirting and being like ABSOLUTELY NOT. A jealous baby. But it's also so sad because like he can't just be cute and flirty with the boy he likes cause he's his employee and just ugh.

"I didn't have any questions, I just thought he was being an ass to you." No baby you were jealous. But it's okay.

Oh Nueng laying it down to Palm and his dad. Just straight up ordering them. I mean, if Palm's dad is so big on "they are our bosses" he's gotta listen to Nueng.

Ben witnessing the potential hit. Are we supposed to think he's shady? Cause I don't want to believe that. I think he was just watching the cute boy he likes cause you know that's what you do in high school.

Nueng 100% has a point. If he's supposed to a leader and in charge, they can't keep him in the dark. But I get Mama's point. That's her baby. She's like absolutely nothing can happen to him. I get that. But also like ma'am how can you be like "take care of him physically and emotionally." Please don't let Nueng think Palm only likes him as an order.

Ep 3:

I do kinda feel for Palm's dad because I get it's kinda like a situation for him cause he is an employee of a wealthy family and he's like "we are the help" and that's never led him wrong before and now Nueng's like breaking norms for his kid and that's gotta be weird. But also like they gonna fall in love dude you gotta accept it. Most people would love it if their kid was taken in by a kind rich man. lol

Nueng just saying "we're a good match. You have muscles I have a brain" and wrecking Palm. Play Usher's U Got It Bad for Palm. lol

Why doesn't Palm have a tie? I need someone familiar with Thai schools to help me. Because I'm really sitting here like "it's cause he's poor." And I know that's not right but it amuses me. lol

That dude trying to bully Palm and Nueng saying not on his watch bitch.

But damn they go hard in Thailand cause they're like YOUR DEAD DAD SUCKED and that's ice cold.

I've gone back to trust no bitch about anyone not Nueng or Palm. Like Ben, why are you asking about Palm? I'm sure it's just cause he's jealous but I'm also like ...is that all? NUENG DON'T TELL BEN ALL THIS. Ben just shooting his shot. I honestly don't know if I don't trust him or if I'm just like LEAVE MY MAN'S MAN ALONE. lol

Palm's assorted button ups are A+ and I would like them in my wardrobe.

Palm really is out here watching Nueng play piano like it's the greatest thing he's ever seen. My boy is sprung.

NO YOU DID NOT DO THAT BENJAMIN. HOW DARE YOU. Fuck off. "I'm the class president I can handle it no one's trying to kill him." Like he didn't witness that motorcycle confrontation. I don't trust him anymore. I don't like this bitch. I don't trust this bitch.

Maggie really out here like Palm come to this party for me. While he's watching Nueng sprung. Ben being all DON'T INVITE HIM. You speak when spoken to, BEN. And nobody fucking spoke to you. Maggie just being like come dance with me." "Girl are you deaf? He wants to get with Jeff." Also Ben being like let's dance together while Nueng's watching Palm dance with a girl all sadly. Get a clue.

Damn. The longing. They are both dancing and they are both dancing with the wrong person who they don't wanna be dancing with. THE LONGING. They keep looking at each other. I don't understand at all how Ben and Maggie are pushing on. It's embarrassing.

Nueng looking at pictures of Ben but thinking of Palm. And getting jealous of Maggie. Girl he don't want Maggie. He's legit sitting in bed day dreaming about dancing with you. Play Slow Dancing in a Burning Room by John Mayer.

Okay. I stil think Mama is a bad bitch but I'm also don't think she may be the best like business person? I don't know. I have no knowledge of business. lol

Also. Where is Chopper? I miss my boy. I am back to thinking he's shady based on nothing except he's clearly sprung on Ben's flop ass but I don't care. I will stand with my wife.

Okay, it's hot but like why does Palm know how to shoot? And shoot so well? He's so mysterious and sexy. Palm says he fights for love. I like that in a man. Also he kept going and Nueng's face was getting more and more thirsty. Same girl. Same.

Oh so now we're getting to the point where I think Nueng is becoming aware of the ~tension~ between them. Yes. Yes god. Nueng is looking at Palm shooting, and shooting well, like he's ready to risk it all in that shooting range. Same girl. SAME.

MY BOY IS HERE. Not Nueng asking him about Ben cause Ben has a crush on him and he's trying to be interested. Don't make my boy give you advice on how to mack on his crush. "He can't stay close to someone." The subtle don't like my man please. Oh Chopper.

NOT SHADY UNCLE SAYING CHOPPER CAN TAKE OVER THE BUSINESS CAUSE NUENGDIAO HAS NO INTEREST. Chopper's already told you he don't want it. Take my SON'S name out your mouth.

Chopper out here like damn Palm you built. This is a homosexual. Shady Uncle really is the worst. And I will not learn his name. He's really out here threatening everyone every two seconds. My dude. Get a grip.

Palm's feelings are hurt cause Ben's hating ass said he was a servant. And Nueng's like no I didn't call you that! But his feelings are still hurt. Sad babies.

That's right Nueng. Put a tracker in your shit. Oh Nueng can't fight. But his man sure can. And that dude fucked up by touching Nueng. Damn he put him in the ICU.

And here's flop ass Ben. "Sorry I didn't help." No need for you sir Nueng's man put a dude in the hospital AND got his necklace back all while you were useless somewhere else.

"Are you scared of me?" Palm, he thought that was hot as hell. Let's be real. And his "you gotta let me get hurt sometimes." Yeah baby I don't think he'll be doing that. Ever. You got a man that will whoop ass for you. Cherish it.

In conclusion. I am so into this show. I'm mad I can't just watch it all in one go. I don't know how I'm supposed to watch all this on only a weekly basis.

1. Nueng and Palm better end up married with two cats and a dog.

2. Chopper is my son, my wife, my confidant, my silly rabbit. He may be shady, we don't know yet, I don't care. I'm prepared to stand with my cancelled wife if it comes to it.

3. I need all of these episodes out like now.

[diabolikpersonals]

I'm here to "bless" you with more Shuuma scenarios, so what if Shu accidentally made Yuma real sad maybe even cry (like they're were arguing and Yuma got a bit too frustrated or Shu accidentally said something that hurt Yuma a bit too much *gasp* maybe accidentally said something bad about his scars, Idk why would he do that but sometimes things just slip) now Shu has a sad Yuma and three mad Mukamis after him. What will he do? Since we all know that he really isn't the best at apologizing or it might take him a lot of time and all his pride away. Will he just drop his all pride apoligize (I mean he would do that for Yuma, right?), comfort Yuma and still get AT LEAST THE Death talk from the Mukamis OR will he pull it off as he usually does and not apologize but get attacked by the three mad Mukamis and make Yuma REALLY sad *gasp again* maybe even a bit insecure? ("what if I'm just not good enough to apologize from" or "He actually meant what he said/did he feels that way and maybe he is right) DISCUSS..

(also sorry if there are grammar mistakes English is not my first language)

OHHH shu apologizing to yuma??? anon you've picked a great topic!!!

you've touched on stuff that's happened in canon so if anybody is curious, I recommend yuma's LE route and the shu vs yuma cd! for all your "shu makes yuma upset and then tries his best to apologize" needs :) yuma even cries!

this is a very relevant thing that happens to shu and yuma frequently! shu, in his mind, has had a lot to feel apologetic for. he spends a lot of time feeling deeply guilty, but it's not really as simple as apologizing most of the time. for one thing, shu often feels that he can make up for the suffering he caused yuma by avoiding him (so he can't hurt yuma again!!) or torturing himself (he attracts yuma's hatred on purpose, because he thinks he deserves it!!). of course, we know these aren't good apologies, and yuma knows that too! I think yuma's tried to rid shu of these habits, but that's not so easy either

I'll point to some healthier apology attempts from shu, too, so you know that he really means it and he's trying: in LE, he does his best to revive the flowers in Eden's garden for yuma. and in the shu vs yuma cd, he tries to apologize using words! this only doesn't work because yuma cuts him off before he can finish.

...which is why there's an extra layer of difficulty to apologizing! yuma often just doesn't want to hear it!

I think there's complicated reasons for this. yuma is really frustrated by how guilty shu feels, in a way. yuma feels as if he's a new person now—Yuma Mukami rather than edgar—and he'd rather that shu recognize him as Yuma Mukami. this means letting go of the past and all the guilt in it, which is difficult for shu to do (I mean, he spent hundreds of years being guilty!!). at our current point in the dialovers story, yuma's already forgiven all that stuff anyway, so he says.

the good news is that yuma tends to just forgive people on his own. you'd be so surprised. I'm especially thinking of shu's LE route when reiji made this big deal of atoning for the horrible things he did to yuma and yuma's like "what the fuck are u talking about, I already forgave u for that" LMAO

OKAY........now that I'm done talking about canon...............

in the scenario ur describing, I think if shu made yuma cry, he'd start by giving him lots of space. I said that nicely, but really what I mean is that he'd avoid him. and go mope in bed forever. then he'd get hella yelled at by the rest of the mukamis, like "DUDE go talk to our brother right now!!!!!" but shu would rather, um, find something he can do rather than something he can say.

when shu's finally ready to make the big brave step of apologizing rather than running away, I think yuma would wave it off. change the subject quick. act like nothing happened. it's less awkward like that, right? it's embarrassing that he cried anyway, so forget it.

but I really like ur idea!! that even if yuma goes "eh, I'm over it" he's actually, deep down, still feeling hurt and insecure!!!! and right now they're in the middle of this misunderstanding where, like, shu can't apologize and yuma can't accept an apology!

in the end, I want to have faith in shu and believe that he'll get to the heart of the problem. he'll address the actual hurt that he caused yuma instead of just avoiding him, and he'll put real effort into something that will appropriately make up for it. and it'll be something that yuma has no choice but to accept. (I'll point to the "making flowers bloom" scene in LE, since it was so beautiful and so fitting :'D)

...then I think yuma will cry again ^^ but not out of sadness or hurt this time. he just didn't realize how badly he needed this. it's not always good to just brush things off when you've been hurt. then when he says "I forgive you" it means way more.

[downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles]

We Met Within This Screen (chapt. 3 PART 1)

[Donnie x reader]

sfw, part 2 here

"Leo?" 

Donnie froze. Leo stood firm where he was. The atmosphere of the lab fell still and Donnie got up from his chair, slipping his phone into his pocket. 

"I was getting ready," Donnie almost stammered out, though he managed to get through it barely. "Just…" 

He couldn't think of anything to say. No excuses; he knew he was caught. Why would he have been smiling, chuckling at his phone? Why would he have been that distracted as to not detect his brother? There was no explanation to give. He was far less acute than their leader in his senses—less intuitive—to have been able to know that. He berated himself as Leo folded his arms and gave him a look of knowing. Always with that look. You knew you were busted when Leo deployed that one. 

"You can either tell me what's going on now or you can do it out there, where everyone can hear," said Leo sternly, body partially blocking the exit anyway. 

Donnie scratched on the same spot on the back of his neck that he'd always picked at when he felt uncomfortable. "I can explain," he finally said in a low tone. "Just let me. And please don't alert everyone else immediately. Promise?" 

Pausing, Leo contemplated on his response, coming to the decision that he'd at least give him that. He nodded and motioned for him to start, "Go ahead."

"I, um…" 

Donnie's heart rate picked up a bit as he began to feel a wash of embarrassment seep in. He'd never been very open to his brothers about how he sometimes wanted connection with the outside world. He hadn't thought much about love or romance given their situation, either, but it did crop up from time to time—he still never mentioned it. 

Releasing a deep breath, he explained, "I met someone. Over a game. She wanted to text, and I figured that, since the possibility of—" 

Leo halted him. "Time out, what? You met someone on a game, they wanted to text, and you just...agreed?" he asked, surprised himself by Donnie's actions. Before he would hear his brother's response, he continued, cutting him off once again, "Did you forget that there's a reason why we don't just go around talking to whoever?"

Donnie felt a spark of anger and he stood up straighter, stepping forward toward Leo. He hated nothing more than being implied he was stupid or naive. But he still kept his distance, and still tried to keep his voice low so that prying ears couldn't hear. 

"Trust me, Leo! I've been talking to her for a few weeks. We only started officially texting recently. You know I've fixed up our phones so they aren't traceable; what is the issue? Am I not allowed to have my own life?" 

Leo scoffed lightly, shaking his head. "Don, come on, dude," he reasoned, "can you even be sure that's a girl?" 

Donnie's lip twitched in annoyance and he scoffed, himself. Of course he was sure! If he'd ever had any inkling he was being baited by an older man, he never would have played with them, or even agreed to text. But Leo didn't seem to listen to anyone's intuition but his own and Splinter's, and so he wouldn't hear out that argument. Donnie suddenly wished she'd sent a picture of herself so he could prove to his brother that he was not, in fact, that empty-headed. 

"Also, you do have your own life, it's with us. Which means I have to look out for both you and the rest of the family. I mean it when I say this is risky. Don't be a fool, Donnie. Plus, what were you planning on doing when she eventually wants to know more about you? Lie your way through it? Even if she is who you say she is, it still doesn't change the fact that she's a human girl and you're a mutant. And you can't keep up the charade forever." 

Donnie's heart panged at his last words. He wanted so badly to say that he was wrong, but really, he knew that Leo was painfully correct. He couldn't keep up the act forever. Not unless he wanted a friendship built upon lies and deceit by omission. As much as he hated to admit it, Leo was right; it was foolish to have thought it would somehow work out. 

Silence befell them, and even though he spoke the truth, Leo felt bad upon seeing his face fall like that. He reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know it gets lonely. We all do. But you have to face it, Don. That up there? It isn't for us," he told him gently, trying hard to lift the tension from the room. "Let's just stick to what we know best, okay?" 

The shadows. 

Eyes averted at the ground, Donnie swept the hand on his shoulder off. He walked right past his brother and grabbed some gear on his way out. "Yeah. Let's go." His reply was quiet and curt, steady as he could make it. Though on the inside, he was frustrated. Frustrated that he'd dug himself into a hole that he'd now have to not only dig himself out of, but let down someone else while he was at it. He'd have to let her go. Less angry was he with himself as he was his situation, and Leo knew that feeling well. He wanted to protect his brother—he just hoped Donnie would see that. 

Out on patrol, they went about their routine as usual, but everyone noticed the mood-shift. Raph and Mikey were excitable as ever, but the other two were more reserved that night, not talking much to each other. 

They leaped from one rooftop to another where they decided to stop for a quick rest, Mikey racing ahead of all of them as he vaulted from the roof and onto the next. "You guys are slow!" he called from the other side. He grinned and jumped up onto the scaffold of a water tower while Raph  barrelled across the gap with a roll on impact, Leo choosing to take a flip. Donnie trailed behind and simply jumped the ledge. 

"Yo, what's up, D?" Mikey asked through heavy breaths, picking up on his standoffishness. "You been quiet all night!"

"And you're slow as hell," Raph commented. While not as perceptive as Mikey, he had noticed the odd tension and was beginning to get suspicious as well. He knew someone wasn't saying something; he just didn't know what. 

Leo and Donnie exchanged looks. He silently hoped that Leo would take the hint, but when Leo sighed and glanced back at the other two, he knew it was hopeless. He'd get chastised at for being ignorant all over again. At least by Raph, he judged. Mikey couldn't really talk because he'd been in a similar boat before, and now, he knew how he'd felt all those times they got onto Mikey for trying to make contact with humans. 

"Well?" demanded Raph, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "You gonna tell us or what?" His eyes were on Leo rather than Donnie, because he already had an idea that they both knew something that he and Mikey didn't, but everyone turned to Leo when something like this came up.

Leo chewed on his lower lip for a second, conflicted as to whether he would come out with it or save Donnie's pride. They were brothers, family—he couldn't feel truthful keeping them in the dark. But he also recognized that it wasn't his place to say it. He instead turned to Donnie himself, looking for any sign of what they were gonna do. It was up to him, he concluded; if he wanted to stay quiet about it, he could. 

Mikey was confused. Raph was growing more impatient. Donnie felt pressured to blurt it out. And he did. 

Breaking, Donnie strung out, "I met someone online and we started talking and Leo found out and I didn't want you guys to know because it was stupid and...and...oh, just let me finish this now!"

Leo awkwardly stood back in silence while Raph looked at Mikey, then back at Donnie and him, and soon enough everyone was just staring at one another, all waiting for someone to say something, but no one did. Done, Donnie took his phone out and opened up the messages shared between him and her, holding it out for his brothers to see. 

Without warning Raph snatched the phone from his hand and started scrolling, Mikey peering around his shoulder and trying to push him out of the way to see. 

"You actually talked to a girl," Mikey awed. He was excited at first, but it faded when he thought about the fact that Donnie had kept a secret from them. They didn't keep secrets. 

"Yeah, one named [y/n], who lives in New York City," Raph emphasized, "and works at wherever this is…and...how did you even meet this girl, Don? Is that even a girl?" he questioned Donnie accusingly, waving the phone around as he spoke. He almost dropped it and Donnie quickly took it from him, telling him to be careful as he slipped it back into the strap on his bicep. 

Leo kept vigilant watch around them while the conversation played out, being the only one truly paying attention. His eye caught some erratic movement in a tucked-away alley down below them. 

"For the last time, yes! She is a girl! And I met her on a game," Donnie answered, throwing his hands down. 

"Save it for later, guys, we got company," Leo interjected. He pointed down at the alleyway adjacent to the building they were on and motioned for them to get moving, dropping down onto the fire escape of an apartment complex. 

Raph bumped Donnie in the arm purposefully as they approached the edge of the roof, "We ain't done yet," he said, dropping onto the fire escape. 

"Yeah, not done yet," Mikey added whimsically. 

Groaning under his breath, Donnie whipped out his staff, and leaped down. 

Mikey followed behind him, jumping the ledge and launching himself to the opposite balcony. They came upon the scene of a couple of men each carrying a sack out of a backdoor in a building, what was assumed to be the ringleader overseeing it from a car parked next to them. 

They turtles were silent, perfectly hidden and moved within the black of night as they descended. Raph pulled out his sai and was about to drop down on one of the unsuspecting men when Leo shoved him back. "Hold on," Leo told him. Begrudgingly, Raph stood down. Donnie peered around the corner from ground level while Mikey clinged to a wall in the shadows. Above, Leo and Raph took the high ground, watching them from a balcony nearby. 

"Hurry up and get this shit loaded into the car, I don't wanna get caught back here," a rough voice ordered from the vehicle. Donnie spotted another person in the passenger's seat. 

"We're goin' as fast as we can!" one of the men spat back. All were beefed up, tattooed, and based on the scars, no strangers to a fight. 

Raph looked at Leo with a smirk. Leo gave the signal and everyone closed in, red and blue dropping from the balcony onto the two completely unaware men, while Donnie and Mikey went to take care of those in the car. 

"What the fuck?!" a man shouted, stumbling back as the duo dropped heavily in front of them. He tossed the sack away and Raph saw he was going to pull out a gun, which Raph went for immediately with his sai. He charged into the man before he could even try to aim and stuck the arm holding the pistol with his three-pronged weapon, forcing his wrist down and the gun to fall out of his hand. Leo took the other and barely had to use any force in pinning the man against the wall with his blade and forearm, but had to duck out of the way when Mikey came through swinging his nunchucks at one of the men who had tried to flee the scene. 

"Watch where you're going with those things, Mikey!" Leo yelled, grunting as a crowbar collided with the side of his head. He spun around and threw his fist at whoever was behind him, an incapacitating blow to a human, but barely his full strength. 

Mikey easily caught his target and gave his legs a mighty sweep to sent him tumbling down. "You thought!" he bellowed with a laugh. "Can't outrun M.C. Mikey." 

Donnie caught the driver on the far end of the fight scurrying to pick up the sacks before making his getaway, and quickly he forcefully jabbed his staff into the solar plexus of the man, sending him onto his back. He was winded, coughing and struggling for air. 

"Donatello! You good over there?" Raph called out, delivering one final kick to the stomach of the man he was on. Donnie heard the skid of a shoe on the pavement behind him and didn't even have to look as he whirled around with a swing of his staff, hitting the man in the head with near-devastating force. It was a knockout blow—the guy dropped, and the fight was over as quickly as it had started. 

Donnie looked around and collapsed his staff, "All good," he answered curtly. 

All five of the men lay on the ground, a couple flat-out unconscious while the rest hissed and groaned in pain. While Donnie inspected the sacks strewn around, Raph chuffed and kicked the gun that had fallen away from the hand that was slowly reaching for it, looking down at the pathetic criminal as he instead stepped on his wrist. The burly man let out a whimper, like a baby, and Raph chuckled. 

"Just money," Donnie announced. All of them heard the sirens of police cars approaching. "Let's get out of here, guys." 

"Those morons weren't even a warm-up," Raph gloated, fist-bumping Mikey. Leo and Donnie were already scaling up to the roof. "Guess if I want to be bored outta my mind, I'll find these guys again." 

"Oh, we'll find 'em again," Mikey added, pulling himself up onto the fire escape. He glanced back and saw the red and blue flashing lights starting to round the corner. "But, uh, not before the cops do." 

The four made their way back up to the roof and left the area. They still had some time left on patrol, so for a minute, they lingered around, Raph keen to reignite their earlier conversation. Donnie already saw it coming and mentally prepared to answer all of the questions that were about to be thrown his way—which he was correct about, as Raph proceeded to open with, "So, what, you're keepin' secrets from us now? Anything else ya been doing behind all our backs?" 

"Cut it, Raph," Leo said, stepping between him and Donnie, "you know that's not it. Don?"

"We're your pals, man, you should have told us," frowned Mikey. 

"I just didn't want anyone to freak out," Donnie explained, "and I didn't know I was going to meet anyone I liked that much, I was only planning on playing the—" 

Both Raph and Mikey asked in unison, "'Like'?" 

He scrambled to fix his wording. He cursed his nervous chatter; he couldn't help himself, he was uncomfortable. Maybe even anxious, because he knew he was going to have to face reality and break it off with his new friend.

"No, not—not 'like'. Like, not like that. I mean in general, as a person," he stuttered, floundering with himself. 

Mikey knew he was lying. He knew it well. Though gullible at times, when it came to the heart, Mikey truly was the most in-tune out of the four. As for the other two, he couldn't say as to whether they saw the lie here, because sometimes, Donnie stuttered just because he was excited or frazzled. Other times, it was definitely because he was lying. The entire time he felt a little bad for his brother. He imagined himself in his shoes and it made him sad, thinking about having to let go of a friend right after having them in his life. 

Putting a hand on his shell, Mikey shook him a bit, "You like her, bro," he whispered. 

Donnie lightly pushed him away. "She's a friend," he clarified, eyeing Mikey. 

Raph was silent for a moment while he thought about everything. He wasn't mad about the fact that Donnie has found someone as much as he was that he never said anything, kept a secret from his brothers. The four of them had a rule that went without saying; they didn't keep secrets from one another. Not about anything major, at least—which this was. He didn't even contemplate on what he thought Donnie should do about it, just that he'd hidden something significant from all of them.  

"Still doesn't change the fact that you didn't seem like you were plannin' on coming clean with any of us," Raph huffed. "Not if he didn't catch ya." He pointed at Leo. 

Donnie suddenly felt his temper flare, and he bit back, "What about you, Raphael? You constantly hide your feelings! How is it not the same thing?" 

"Except for his anger, he's pretty upfront about that," Mikey quickly added in before sinking away from the two. Leo sighed and flicked his head. Donnie was right. Raph was a hypocrite and they were getting nowhere. 

"My feelings don't endanger people around me," growled Raph, stepping in toward Donnie. They met each other half-way as Donnie wasn't about to back down from his brother, who he was not scared of. "That is absolutely different from what you're doing!"

"Guys, we need to get going," Leo stated, seeing how the moon was far its descent. "Splinter's clear about when he wants us back." 

"I'm finishing this right now," Donnie said, pulling out his phone. He opened up the messages and began typing.

Hey. Sorry for the sudden message and I apologise, but I can't do this anymore

He hadn't noticed yet, but the last text he'd received was only twenty minutes prior, right before they dipped from the crime scene they'd just handled. It read: 

Damn, I hear all this racket outside my apartment and it's kind of making me nervous

Like guys yelling and stuff getting banged

Nvm someone called the cops, I guess it's good now 

Everyone was gathered around Donnie watching the screen as he typed. Raph and Leo both caught that last message. He pressed send and it was only then he saw it, too, and everyone slowly looked at each other in recognition. Everyone was thinking the same thing. 

"Awkward," Mikey drew out. 

All were at a loss for words. When a new message pinged, they all shoved at each other to get a good look. Raph accidentally stepped on someone's foot. "Ouch! Give me some space, guys," Donnie snapped. 

What? 

What's wrong? 

Donnie looked sadly at the screen. He started typing his response, something skin to "it's complicated" followed by an apology, but Mikey stopped him. "Dude, you can't tell her that, it's gonna hurt her feelings!" Mikey exclaimed, "this is totally unfair! To both of you."

"Look, I ain't tryna be petty, but last time I checked, the rest of us aren't allowed to have human friends," grumbled Raph.

A new message popped up and it read:

Well...I won't question your decision. Bye Bo, I guess

Sighing, Donnie turned off his phone and put it away. He turned to everyone. "Happy?"

"Of course not, bro," Mikey responded. He looked around, as if expecting agreement. There was none; Raph stood away and Leo was watching Donnie's face go from annoyed to dejected. "Guys?"

Leo patted Donnie on the shoulder. "You did the right thing," he said. Donnie didn't say anything. "Alright, let's get going."

Chapter 3, part 2

[mmilkbreadd]

Chapter twenty five: “The End”

Masterpost - Prev.

Warning(s): a bit of swearing ; post-timeskip manga spoilers!!

────────∘°❉°∘────────

Or aka, ‘The Sakusa Kiyoomi Theory’

Act One: “Who is Sakusa Kiyoomi?”

Saturday, 6:23 am, “y/n's home”

“You're late,” said y/n with crossed arms, she was already waiting for him at the door of her house. “I hope this doesn't become routine.”

It was already morning in the streets of Paris. Tendou Satori and her neighbor (and best friend), y/n l/n, were walking towards their famous bakery and chocolate shop, ‘Sweet Strawberries.’ It was a small place with a few tables to sit for tea and delicious things to eat. Also, although it was small, it was quite crowded.

“Woah, how angry you are today, little baker... More than usual, actually” y/n shook her head at her friend's comment. “But obviously I already know why, and it seems that you know why too.”

Y/n decided to ignore what Satori had said, and keep walking quite ahead of him. It was still an hour before the store opened, but they already had several orders that were due to deliver around nine in the morning. A three-tier wedding cake, forty heart-shaped chocolates for the anniversary of a married couple, and of course, the strawberry cake for someone named Sakusa Kiyoomi.

Around a quarter to seven, they arrived at the bakery, and they got down to work to get all the orders completed on time. 

Tendou was more dedicated to the chocolate part, of course, and to serve customers. Despite y/n had advanced a lot in terms of her social skills, she still needed to learn a little about how to communicate normally with a person.

“That 'Sakusa Kiyoomi' has a Japanese name, do you think he is too?” y/n asked, wiping flour from her hands.

“I don't know, they could be. But doesn't that name sound too familiar to you?”  Satori replied.

“That's exactly what I was thinking!”

“Weird.”

“Yeah... Anyway, the customer asked not to make the chocolate so bitter so add more milk to that please.”

“Yes, boss!” Satori made a military signal and continued his work.

Act Two: “Pretending to be Sakusa Kiyoomi.”

8:39 am, “Paris” (?)

Bokuto Koutarou, along with Miya Atsumu and Hinata Shoyo were lost in Paris. They had circled the Eiffel Tower at least five times. But it seemed they hadn't realized it yet.

They were more lost than Bokuto studying math. But a simple city would not defeat them so easily... would it?

“Maybe we should have brought Sakusa,” Hinata said after round number six.

“And hear him complain about how dirty everything is? No thanks,” Atsumu Miya replied, shaking his head. “We don't need Omi-Omi. I, Miya Atsumu, am enough to know where we are.”

Atsumu put a hand on his chest, pretending to be offended. Bokuto and Hinata looked around, ignoring the enormous tower behind them, wondering where they were.

“And where are we then?”

“Paris, of course” he replied. “I can’t believe you’re seriously asking that, Shoyo.”

Hinata and Bokuto looked at each other, unable to believe what their teammate was saying.

“Sure…” Bokuto said, getting his phone out of his pocket. It was time to be the serious person of the trio. “Akaashi, we got lost” and that time was now over. Koutarou was crying as he spoke to his friend, who was on another continent. “No, I can't stop crying, Akaashi. I swear I was following the steps you wrote on the map so we wouldn't get lost, but Atsumu wanted to take the lead, so he broke the instructions, and we don’t know where we are. It's all his fault...! No, Sakusa has not come either.”

“Hey! It wasn't my fault,” the dyed blonde complained, crossing his arms. “And we never needed Omi-Omi!”

“Okay, Akaashi, I'll do it. Bye, love you… As a bro of course” Bokuto finished saying and hung up. “He told me I have to call Tendou. Is the only way.”

Hinata started shaking his head from side to side, while Atsumu slapped his forehead with his hand. Then a message came from Keiji; It was the number of Tendou Satori himself. Bokuto started dialing the numbers that appeared on the screen of his phone, on Hinata's.

“Wait wait, shouldn't I speak? He might recognize your voice” Hinata said, awkwardly taking the phone from Bokuto's hands. 

“He would also recognize yours, Shoyo. I'll do it.” Atsumu snatched the device from him and pressed the call button. “Hello, sir, what’s up? I'm Sakusa Kiyoomi, could you help me get to your store? I'm a bit lost... How did I get your number you ask? Eh– It's on your website dude! You should delete it, some people pretend to be someone else and you should not fall for that...”

Act Three: “If Sakusa Kiyoomi was real, we should have brought him.”

10:04 am, “Sweet Strawberries Bakery and Chocolate Shop”

“I can't believe it took us almost two hours to get here! It wasn't even that far from the hotel” Hinata said looking towards the building that was a few meters in front of them.

“Six blocks. Can’t believe it either.” Atsumu wiped the sweat from his brow. “And now that? Are we going in or not?”

Bokuto went pale. He was going to see you, after so many years without communicating or having exchanged glances. He never imagined that he would see you again after that cold day in Miyagi. He had made a thousand scenarios in his head of how you two meet again: in some distant future you visit your hometown and he visits Hinata, and thus you meet in the park or on the street. You would have your own family, and he would have his. But that would happen in many years, not now. Not at this moment, when neither of you had grown enough... When he hadn't managed to forget you yet. But these weren't Koutarou's inventions, this was reality.

The incredible and stupid reality.

“I don't want to go in,” Bokuto said suddenly and stopped walking. “I’m not ready.”

Atsumu, who was already one step away from the door, turned to see him. Hinata collided with Miya's chest because he was walking right behind him.

“What are you talking about? Let's go in now” Atsumu said walking towards the ex-owl. “We didn't change the whole tour just so you don't go see your little girlfriend… We change it so you do! Don't be scared, do it now or you'll regret it for life. I remember how you talked about her during practice, and I even want to meet her after that! Come on dude, use the little braveness you have left.”

It seemed that Atsumu's words, or Hinata's smile next to him, made Bokuto take courage and head towards the entrance of the shop. 

A bell rang before three pairs of feet echoed through the small place. There was a great smell of chocolate that invaded every inch of the establishment. Hinata paced around the place until the sound of a door opening made the three teammates turn their heads to where the sound was coming from.

“Welcome, what can I offer-- So all of you are Sakusa Kiyoomi, huh?” Satori Tendou said, coming out of the back-room. “You see guys, I never believed this would happen. It makes me think a lot too… So, is Sakusa Kiyoomi even real?”

Atsumu, Hinata, and Bokuto were paralyzed in place for several seconds. The former Shiratorizawa monster stood with his hands on his hips, staring at them.

“Is it Sakusa Kiyoomi? Tell him I'm coming in a minute!” y/n yelled from the back room.

“Oh no, y/n, it’s someone much better!” Tendou replied, holding back his laughter. “You won't believe it even if you see this!”

Then, silence took over the place until a few quick steps interrupted it. A figure appeared through the door, with several boxes in their hands. A pile of boxes so big it covered their face.

“Help me, Satori, I'm going to fall” y/n complained, and after Tendou took out the boxes that covered her view, she saw her friend smiling widely. “What?”

Satori, who couldn't contain his laughter anymore, gestured with his head towards the three statues in the middle of the place. And finally, seeing her friend's face, he started to laugh out loud.

“Kou?”

“A-and Hinata!” shouted Bokuto nervously. Shoyo looked at him and then pointed at Atsumu.

“And also Atsumu!”

“And Saku– shit, we should have brought Omi-Omi after all…”

───∘°❉°∘───

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Note: I am very very very very sorry for not posting this sooner, but I had thousand of things going on in my life. Now I’m better and ready to finish this beautiful, and crazy, love-story.

I hope you loved it as much as I did. I truly enjoyed it writing, and I’m happy to finish it too.

I’ll appreciate it a lot if you comment down below what you thought about the series. I’ll read you later -Tina.

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Tags in reblog!

Thanks for reading🥰

[bxllafanficc]

¡Skate/sing your hearts out! (Yuri Plisetsky x reader)

(part four)

Part one. Part two. Part three. Part five. Masterlist

Summary:After last year's cancellation of Figure Skating Grand Prix, Yuri Plisetsky finds himself unable to bring out his inner skater after a year of doing nothing but enjoy life like a regular teenager. That's when you enter the picture; We Are Voice Grand Awards's currently hottest competitive vocalist come first place two years in a row. Just like the other competitors of Grand Prix, it turns out that Victor and Yuuri faces the same issue. With an arrangement between Victor and Yakov, they agree to travel to Japan and hire you as a mutual coach for Yuri and Yuuri to help bring back the emotion into their performances like before, maybe even more intense than ever. Yuri however, who's never experienced issues with his coaches before, for some reason finds this one particularly difficult to coexist along with in their (reasonably) odd partnership. Warnings: none

*Your POV*

Your eyes scanned through the fully stocked room that came to be yours a couple of days ago. Fairly large and a great window where the sun came to welcome you each morning. Not even the blinds could stop it. Now it was fairly dark inside since the sun was about to go down. You reached for the light switch and scanned through all your products and belongings for things that you could possibly move somewhere else.

The grunt of the Russian skater behind you caused you to turn around. As you did, he stopped and returned your stare, as if waiting for you to announce something. There was a lot that you needed to clean up. If you had known that you'd be expecting a roommate, you'd already have done so. Guess Victor forgot to mention that too, eh?

The visible twitch in the corner of your left eye was impossible to force back. Just at the mere thought of unintentional (?) screwups of the one and only Victor Nikiforov. Now, just because he was your childhood friend, it didn't mean that he wouldn't receive a massive ass-whooping if he as much as repeated the same mistake three times the same day now the few remaining hours of the day. If only you could get that message through.

And, you kind of did. Just not to the man you intended. Yuri at the receiving end of your stare was just about to open his mouth to say something, what you assume, sour when he noticed the twitching of your eye. Surprisingly, it shut him up before he started. He kind of shielded himself behind one of his bags and eyed you carefully.

Shit, wrong Russian dude.

"Sorry, that was meant for Victor." You let out a sigh and helped him with one of his bags out in the hall. You got a simple nod from the boy just before you passed him in the doorway.

He's been acting all quiet and confused ever since you tended to his wounds. Was something you said unclear? Maybe you should make sure the two of you were on the same page. 'Later...' you thought.

Yuuri and Victor hurried to the entrance of your room with a couple of more bags.

"So what do you think about it, Yuri? Pretty special eh?" It was Yuuri who spoke up, probably just as an act of friendliness. Though, you could understand how a punk like Yuri might take it as teasing.

"I'm not staying here. There's- there is no way I'm sharing a room with another person. I should have my own room. Why can't Victor and (Y/n) share a room and I get my own?!"

Ah, there he is. You were starting to get worried that he might actually turn nice. Then you'd have to call an ambulance just to ease Yakov's mind if he ever found out.

"With that thief? Nuh-uh. He already owes me an entire bottle of lotion, a mascara and a lipgloss. And for some reason, my throwaway razors are gone too. I'm not endangering any more of my stuff to him!" You shot a glare at Victor but he intentionally pretended not to hear nor see you. Seriously?

"Just lock them up or something, I don't care. Maybe I should just sleep on the couch. Give me one reason why it's worth sharing this room with you."

You didn't really know why you felt so opposed to the thought of him sleeping on the couch. You should be relived that you wouldn't have to share room with The Russian punk. But you still mumbled the one sentence after taking a brief moment to carefully word out your reason.

"What did you say?"

"... I have a cat."

The silence following almost made you feel like the scene of these weird soap operas that streamed on tv once in a while. But you did have a cat. A beautiful sacred Birman with the eyes of an ocean. And you knew about Yuri's fascination with them. Victor mentioned it somewhere along the lines when discussing his arrival days ago. And if you had to give him one reason, then that would be the one. It's probably the only reason too.

"Where." It wasn't a question. It almost made you giggle but you kept a straight face. Victor who knew the reason behind your words, almost cracked under the pressure.

"He's probable sleeping under the blanket on my bed, as always-"

Yuri pushed Victor aside with a stern 'move' and headed for your bed. A little anxious, you followed him through the entrance, afraid that he would be like one of those crazy catpeople who never stopped bothering their cat. You worried because you were one of those people. But because your cat was rather clingy too and you always had a bunch of stuff to do daytime, it kind of evened out the contrast. Two crazy people were too much, you figured.

"Well, we'll go off now and let you two bond now. Don't forget that we're having afternoon tea in an hour!" And with that, Victor and Yuuri was out of the picture. For awhile.

A round uneven pile under you blanket made Yuri stop at the end of the bed. You stood beside him as he lifted the blanket, revealing the fuzzy ball that was your cat. Round eyes stared up at the both at you and the cat stretched it's back, making a 'u' position.

"His name is Magnolia. You'll have to apologize to him for interrupting his sleepy time though." You half expected Yuri to scoff at your statement, thinking you were taking the animal too seriously. But the baby voice he used to communicate with Magnolia next almost had you taking a step back.

"Hi, Magnolia... 'm sorry, pretty boy. You'll have to forgive me, I'm afraid." He kept on talking to the sleepy cat as he extended a hand for him to smell. Magnolia yawned and gave the hand a sniff before sitting up, eyes intensely staring into the boy's soul. You could tell by the hesitation of Yuri's petting hand that he really wanted the cat's approval. He cat kept staring him straight in the eyes which usually means bad. Though, the purring heard from his belly said the opposite. You finally relaxed a little. Magnolia is very picky with who gets to touch him and you were expecting a bite, honestly.

"He's always been so stare-y... I've figured that he only stare at people he like or something he finds very interesting." You crouched down beside Yuri and rested with your arms at the bedside.

"Like owner, like cat, I guess then. I feel like he has the exact same piercing gaze you gave me earlier." Yuri grinned smugly at you and turned back his attention to the ball of fur who stood up, stroking its back to your chin. A little heat rose to your cheeks and you hoped Magnolia covered it up well enough with his body. It was kind of true. And you couldn't really deny it. You always did watch things a little to intense. But just because you found people very interesting, always seeking to improve your understanding and emotional range at any given time. So you shrugged your shoulders and coughed a little when the cat made sure to get his butt all up in your face too. This habit, you had noticed, was a trait almost every cat held within them.

"You're going to object or what?" Yuri caught your attention again and Magnolia moved away from your face just in time. So he was expecting some kind of denial.

"You're not wrong... You've just got the wrong idea of it."

"What do you mean?"

"You should probably start getting yourself settled here. We only have one hour."

"You didn't answer me." Yuri's remark left unanswered as well as you stood up and threw a bag at him. A light 'oof' slipped through him as the heavy thing hit him right in the stomach.

"Hey!"

You grinned and opened another bag, pouring the internal onto the floor. Tons of clothes splattered on the floor. Everything in-between black training clothes to underwear and a pajamas with cat prints. A keychain with a chibi cat and a stuffed animal of a tiger fell out on the floor lastly on top of the pile. Yuri quickly made his way to the clothes and gathered them in his arms, trying to hide them away. It was worth taking an extra look at the blush staining his cheeks. You wondered if you'd just met a fellow catmerch fan as instense as you. No, this was far crazier than you! Especially as you recognized the keychain being a print of his own cat that you'd seen on a social media Yuri Plisetsky fanpage once.

"Y-you can't touch my stuff! Nor see it!" His voice was a good blend of anger and a thick stain of embarrassment.

Maybe it wasn't ideal poring someone else's belongings onto the floor. But you knew that look that Yuri bearded only moments ago. The cat had taken him as his loyal servant and Yuri wasn't intending to move until he had satisfied Magnolia's every need. If you let that happen, it would take the entire hour you had to clean up the room. And you clearly didn't have that time.

"Just hurry up and help me then if I'm not allowed to touch it!"

"Fine! And move your stupid clothes and stuff over to your half of the room!"

(A/N: Shoutout to my cat who gave me the entire butt-in-face idea through experience. I really owe you one, you little jerk<3 Also, what have you thought of the story so far? I bet you Victor has planned a familiar exercise for tomorrow's day of training. Just a little helping hand to get Yuri back into shape, y'know;))

[xeo-kunsatan]

Beast Choices Chapter 3. Beast Blood

In the previous chapter...

Betrayus was reading a book about occultism but he noticed that Muriel haven't came back with the wood for the fireplace, he got Worried and left the cabin to look for her in the forest holding his flashlight.

Everything was dark and the singing of the owls were sounding around the forest.

Betrayus: M-Muriel!... Where are you?

Betrayus suddenly saw something strange in the woods.

Betrayus: Huh?...

???: Grrrrhh...

Betrayus: !!!!

Betrayus ran away from that place while the creature was chasing him but suddenly he tripped by a rock and fell down from a slightly short mountain leaving him unconscious for a moment.

After waking, he quickly get up but the creature was in front him, staring at him like a tasty prey.

Betrayus: *trembling* W-What are you?...*steps back*

???: Grrr

The creature ran to Betrayus but it suddenly stopped and recognized him like it had meet him before.

???: Betrayus...

Bradley: How do you know my name?..

???: Oh dang.. I am so sorry!..

Betrayus: W-wait... Muriel?.. is that y-y-you?

Muriel: Yes...*sighs* this is other thing.. I haven't told you before...

Betrayus: Muriel...

The moment was interrupted by a shot in the Air.

Hunter: it's a good night to hunt coyotes.

*shots a coyote which was walking by*

Muriel: Holy Shit!!... Ok.. Betrayus.. I know you are probably angry with me.. but... the most important thing to me is your safety.

Betrayus: What the-...

Muriel: *takes Betrayus in her arms and runs off*

Betrayus: OH FUUUCK!

Muriel started running away from the hunter taking a way to lost him so she can take Betrayus safely to the cabin.

Muriel: Damn it, he is getting closer!...

Betrayus: Don't stop Muriel, pls don't stop!

Muriel; I'm trying!..

Muriel makes her paws transform into cheetah paws making her run faster

Betrayus: Wow... You have a lot to explain me later Mury!..

Muriel: I'll do it later!.. I'll promise!.

Hunter: Do you think you can escape from me?

The Hunter manages to shot Muriel but fortunately it missed it leaving her a simple scratch.

Muriel: ARRGGHH!! *She stopped*

Betrayus: Muriel!!

Hunter: Wait.. is that another person!?..

Betrayus: You son of a Bitch *throws him a fire ball*

The Hunter started burning and yelling of pain.

Muriel:.. Tray Tray..

Betrayus: Yeaaah .. I also have another thing to tell you.. hehehe sorry..

Muriel: Dummy.

Muriel taked Betrayus and ran away from the scene to their cabin, when they where about to go to the cabin Muriel's left paw was trapped in a bear trap.

Muriel: AAAARGHH!!!

Betrayus: Muriel!.. oh no this is even worst..

Muriel:*sarcastic* you're helping me a lot...

Betrayus: Sorry sorry!... *Opens slowly the trap to flee her paw*

Muriel: ouch ouch.. this..*she transforms into her normal form to then faints*..

Betrayus: Muriel No!!...*sighs* well at least we are close to the cabin..

Betrayus covered a naked Muriel with a jacket he was wearing and carries her to take her to the cabin.

Betrayus: We are back Yuū... Uhhhh.?..

Yuū:*changes channel* °\\\\°

Betrayus:.......*leaves with Muriel*..

Betrayus have taked Muriel to the bathroom to bath her to attend and clean her wounds

Muriel: *wakes up* B-b-betrayus?

Betrayus: Mury!..*hugs her carefully to not hurt her*... You're awake, you had me so worried..

Muriel: *Sighs* I'm so sorry... That makes me act like an animal..

Betrayus: what's exactly "that"?

Muriel: I dunno how to call it.. Uhh Animal Metamorphosis?... Uhh Shapeshifter Beast?

Betrayus: How does it work?

Muriel: In general I can transform myself or some parts of my body to animal parts but just if I touched, watched and remembered so well certain animals of certain races, my principal transformation is the awful beast you saw before.

Betrayus: Honestly you were cute and Fluffy in that form.

Muriel:*chuckles* stop Jocking~

Betrayus: Seriously hehehe~, and what animals you can transform?.

Muriel: Well if I can remember, an Arctic Wolf, a Cheetah, a Polar bear, Emperor penguin, Arctic hare, Arctic Owl, Arctic Fox, Deer, octopus, and a Raccoon.

Betrayus: Wow, Mury your power is so awesome!

Muriel: Heh really?

Betrayus: Yeah!

Muriel: and what about you? You're in fire

Betrayus: Well it's nothing, I just can create fire, it was so difficult for me with this power and my family.

Muriel: Same old dude.

B&M: Always we had to find a place to practice for myself...!!! *Both Chuckled*

Betrayus: Hehehe Even in this we have in common

Muriel: Yeah, hehehe what a coincidence

Betrayus: Hahahah, a really sweet coincidence~...*kisses her neck*

Muriel: Ohh~ Tray Tray~

Betrayus:*Hugs her* Don't worry me like that Mury... Please.. you're so important for me

Muriel: i'll promise, you're important for me too..

Both started kissing and... Not gonna write this in this family friendly post heheh.

The Next Morning.

Betrayus: *yawn* Morning Mury~ *kisses her forehead*

Muriel: Hehe~... Morning my sunlight..*holds the letter from her Dad*

Betrayus: oh so you finally will read it?

Muriel: Yeah, after all this is years without seeing him nor even know anything of him, I miss him, and at having this letter and money means that he didn't wanted to hurt me and that he miss me.

Betrayus: I see, so what does the letter says?

Muriel: Well...*Starts reading*

"Muriel... I send this money for you

So you can keep yourself..

I really sorry for all the things I said to you.. how i treated you.. because of something that.. it actually wasn't your fault....

I was completely blind by the remorse and the pain by losing your mother, in all this time I figured out how stupid I was at treating one of your mother's Treasures she left for me... You and your Sisters.

It's too late, it's okay if you never forgive for that.. but all I want.. is that at least you're okay... I love you

And I will always love you.

-Marlos Plizetxki."

Some tears appeared from Muriel's eyes.

Betrayus: Mury!.. you're okay?

Muriel: *sniff*...*sighs* Yeah... It's an apology of him.... I can't be really mad at him, even when that doesn't justified the fact he treated me as a freak since my childhood, it's no use to have remorse against him.. that Grumpy Boomer.

Betrayus:*sighs* Mury *hugs her*

Muriel: even when I was treated as a shit, I make a plan to leave my house, I studied too hard to finally leave them with my basic studies finished... Also finding out what was my purpose..I used to help out my old classmates with their problems because that made me forget my problems.. that's how I found out my purpose.....you know why am I lucky?

Betrayus: for what.

Muriel: Because I meet you, my Number 1 patient *boops him*

Betrayus: Heheh Muriel.. I am lucky too at meeting you.... I love you Muriel~

Muriel: and I love you too~

Both kissed on lips but suddenly Betrayus Tickled her.

Muriel: H-Hey Hehehe stop.

Betrayus: What? You don't like it..

Muriel: No-oh *steps back*

Betrayus: ohohoh so you wanna play like that? I'm gonna Catch you!

Muriel: Nuu!! *runs off*

They started playing tag you're it.

The vacations have ended for them,

It was time to go home, Muriel and Betrayus packed up to then Roxy taked them to the airport.

It was time to say goodbye.

Muriel: that were the best vacations we had, even more having you as our guide.

Roxy: it was a honor, *gives them a paper with her number* in case you need me when you came here, I'll be there.

Betrayus: Roxy thank you for everything

Roxy: you're welcome, Mis amigos.

During the travel.

Muriel: I will miss that beautiful place..

Betrayus: Me too ....*fall asleeps on her*

Muriel: *smiles and cuddles with him as well to Sleep*

Betrayus and Muriel left PacMexico completely happy by their adventures to then return to Pacopolis.

How much this can evolve?

Nobody knows.. for now.

Extra

Muriel: Hey Tray Tray, can you turn on this fireplace?

Betrayus: Sure, *uses his fire to turn on the fireplace*

Muriel; Ohh~ much better, did anyone told you that your power is beautiful?

Betrayus: *sniff* You're the first person who says me that *hugs her* Hmm~

Muriel: Aww don't cry my pogchamp~

Betrayus: can you transform into a Rabbit?

Muriel: Sure *transforms into a Arctic Hare*

Betrayus:*holds her and scratches her ears* Awww you're so cute~

Muriel: Hmm~ please continue~ *Bunny Purr*

Yuū: hmp..*jealous*

[dolan-sensations]

SUNLIT SENSATIONS | the first ray of sunlight

how Grayson and Caily met

As bright and nice as it was in Los Angeles that day was definitely not Grayson's day. His own personal sky covered by dark clouds. He's been sitting in front of his  computer for hours, trying to finish editing the last video he and his twin brother filmed. He was almost done when suddenly and for no reason the power went out, ruining all the process he had made during the past hours. As annoyed as he was he did his best trying to fix it and redoing all his work. At this point his back was sore and his stomach was roaring for some food, lunch time had passed a long time ago but it was still too early to have dinner. An avocado toast, you can't go wrong with that no matter what time it is, so he headed to the kitchen to get the breather he well-deserved. But, once again, it was not Grayson's day.

"Yo, E." "Weren't you going to the grocery store today?" The younger twin raised his voice, making sure his brother could hear him from the living room. "Weren't you doing the groceries today?" 

"Holly shit I forgot."

"Ethan." He spetted, clearly annoyed at his twin brother who not only finished all the avocados but he also forgot about doing the grocery and after a short fight, more like a speech from Grayson, on housework and responsabilities, he was heading to the grocery store to get his much needed avocados.

Did I mention today wasn't Grayson's day? Because after driving for almost 20 minutes to the store he found out there were no avocados left. He left out a sight, frustrated, but he was hungry still so he walked through the isles, trying to find something appetizing but also vegan.

Meanwhile in the milk isle there she was, looking up to the top shelf, where the lactose-free milk was sitting. There was just one problem, she couldn't reach it. She thought about climbing the shelf to get it, but she knew how clumsy she was and she was almost certain the whole shelf would fall down. She also thought about jumping until she could reach it, yeah she would look ridiculous but she would get her milk. And she was about to do it, when someone walked  to the milk isle. 

"Excuse me!" She said, trying to get the attention of the boy that was walking in her direction, too busy with his phone in one hand and holding a cereal box in the other. When she glanced at him she felt like time stopped. The guy was handsome to say the least, a real life Disney prince, or the greek God Apollo in bone and flesh, those were the only two ways that came to her mind to describe the boy, probably her age or so, that was standing in front of her. He looked up from his screen, the frown that's been adorning his face for the past few hours disappearing at the sight of her.

He didn't answer, God he probably even forgot how to speak, he could only look at those dark brown eyes that reminded him of his favorite chocolate from when he was a child. Was she even talking to him? No, there was no way, that was not his day, a literal angel was in front of him, that couldn't be real, no. He only got out of his trance state when he heard her voice once again. "Excuse me, can you help me? I can't reach the lactose-free milk." His eyes were not lying to him, she was in fact real.

 "Oh, yeah, of course." He said, already reaching for the milk, looking at the bottle when he had it in his hand. "Lactose-free milk? I've never heard of that, who even buys that?  Have you tried almond? Oat?" He questioned in a funny tone, not trying to be rude or laught at her, no, that was his poor and failed attempt to flirt with the beautiful woman who asked him for help.

But when he turned to the girl, her sweet expression was long forgotten, her dark brows coming together in a frown. Was he really making fun of her and her taste? Grayson's face just dropped, realizing what he just did. He got stunned by her and he tried to be funny and flirty but clearly he fucked up. It just wasn't his day. "I buy THAT. Thank you." She responded with a cold tone before walking away from him, not giving him any chance to explain himself or apologize.

—

It's been almost a week since his little incident at the grocery store, yet he couldn't stop thinking about that girl. It's known that he's the twins that falls in love 7 times per day, but this time? No, this time was different. He only  saw her for like two minutes but her face was already tattooed on his brain. He would be lying if he said he didn't drive himself to that same store every single day hoping to see her again. And that's where he was right now, in the parking lot of that same store, sitting in the passenger seat of Ethan's Tesla ready to leave. 

But then he saw it, fuck, he would recognize that hair anywhere. "Dude, what the f-" Ethan questioned the second his younger twin brother stepped out of the car without saying a word, running towards the car of the girl who was about to leave.

"Hey! Wait, please!" She turned around to see the guy who made fun of her, the fucking greek god she met a few days ago and quite frankly she couldn’t get off of her mind was running to her, so she quickly jumped in her car and Grayson lost all hope for a second, but it quickly came back to him when she didn't close the door, she just sat there, looking at him with an impassive look on her face. 

He got a little intimidated by that, her dark eyes piercing his sou. Was it possible for a stare to be that intense? Apparently yes, but he fucked up once and he was not willing to do it again. "I'm so sorry about the other day. I was just stressed and nothing was going my way and then I saw you looking all kinds of pretty and cute and I tried to be funny because you lit my day and made it so much better by just asking me for help but...fuck. I was a jerk, okay? I know it. It wasn't my intention, but I don't know how to act in front of pretty girls and I-" 

His rambling was suddenly cut off by a laugh, a soft one coming from her lips while she tried to hide her face with her hair. Oh my God did he make her blush? "It's okay, I was a little bit of a bitch too. I'm sorry." Yep, he made her blush. And that was exactly what he needed to boost his confidence.

“So...would you like to-" And once again he was cut off, only this time not by the gorgeous girl in front of him, but by his annoying twin brother who was honking at him. Grayson turn to look at him, and she couldn't help but laugh softly again seeing how frustrated the poor guy was getting. She quickly grabbed her phone and handed it to him, catching his attention. "Here, text you from my phone."

 He took the phone in complete shook, SHE was asking for his number and he froze for another few seconds until he heard another honk, and this time he was kinda thankful for it because it brought him back to reality. So he started typing pretty fast, adding himself to her contacts and then sending a text message to himself, giving back her phone to..."Wait, what's your name?" "Caily, but not like Kylie Jenner, with a C and an A"

"Okay, Caily with a C and an A. Okay." He repeated with the stupidest (and cutest if you ask Caily) grind on his face walking towards his brother's car, who was honking at him for the third time. "Oh and I am-" 

"Grayson" She completed his sentence, reading his name out of her phone screen with a smile. He already loved how his name sounded when it came from her lips. He waved her goodbye and got in Ethan's car with the biggest smile on his face, one that not even his brother could erase with his pettiness.

Suddenly Grayson’s personal sky was not grey anymore, since a tiny ray of sunlight was making its way through the dark clouds, the first of so many.

tags: @justordinaryjen, @ethandolxns & @persistence-ofmemories for the inspo ❤️

it's shitty and cheesy af but that's who i am, sorry

[roses-adventures]

Okay two things one In that first photo immediately I went to posture and facial expression etc. He's sitting rigid which implies he's got a vest, his feet are in a position to be able to move at any second, his cup wasn't held comfortably and even the way he's holding his phone shows he's recording. His face also says fuck I'm caught.

Now I actually am really good at reading people so is My boyfriend, as a kid/young adult I wanted to be an fbi profiler (until I realized thats a joke) or international spy (I'm disabled) or a lawyer (i have 4 years of political science and Hispanic studies degrees focused on law, prisons, Healthcare and immigration so thats still an option when i have money) and I find human psychology fascinating that was my first choice major but my disability prevented a psych degree, and my boyfriend worked military and then in the police department in the csi lab (both non US). It's also worth mentioning that certain times we have zero filter, so we just say things sometimes 🤣. we run a kik group together and this guy comes in the group, I own it so I verify the guy, get his age and location all that. Then he starts talking and something just seems ....off. now I also lived in the hood on and off for 12 years and I recognized the way he spoke. Literally the tone he texted in and the words he used, even his pfp just the photo of him screamed cop. finally after a couple hrs of him being there I was like, "are you a cop?" And he was like......radio silence.... my boyfriend whos on a call with me is dying laughing saying "babes you can't just ask people if they're cops 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣" I'm like "well I just did, if he's from the US directly asked they're legally required to tell us especially if he's trying to collect info" so we wait finally dude goes, "yeah..I am" I was like "I knew it" my boyfriend smokes weed legally and dude would manage to come on during the times he was, we messed with him for a bit too, nothing mean just talked as we normally do about me being a prison abolitionist and some of the other members would joke about committing low level crime or them being angels, our trauma, smexual experiences etc, all of which im sure was way more than this guy signed up for, a couple of the members like me and my boyfriend have bad experiences with cops (I was never arrested and never committed a crime i am very often, harrassed, stalked, made fun of and lied to by police that it makes it difficult to be comfortable with them) (my partner just has problems with authority), so we were more on guard. He left a few days later, either because we bore him or he found out we're all clean there legally speaking, and he couldn't buy drugs (though he did ask at one point whether joking or not thats sus).

Anyway, pigs love sheep clothing. Make sure you know how to spot them, your rights, local laws, basic federal laws and by all means DO NOT EXPECT THEY KNOW THE LAW, THEY DON'T. I've had more than 3 lie or blatantly not know the law and its always put me in a bad position. Remind them of the law, correct them, they hate it but it's entirely necessary.

I tend to also get harassed because I'm not light enough for them (I'm mixed race) so another tip a very very strange one at that. If you go out and are asking question or directions some place but you don't look like your only ancestors stepped off the mayflower but your friend does, have them ask the question or directions. I've tested it, they got rude with me acted like I was gonna steal cars and condescendingly said "maybe next time remember where you parked it" (it was 10pm in Seattle everything's dark we got there at 5pm when it was sunny of course we lost the car) anyway they turned to My friend who looks like a lighter version of the lucky charms mascot Character and kindly told him exactly how to get there.

Losing my mind remembering that pic chelsea manning posted of the extremely undercover and not at all obvious fbi agent who was tailing her after her release

[linkspooky]

I heard that you like Pandora Hearts so I can't help but ask: what are your thoughts on Oswald's arc? Particularly in relation to his role as Glenn and his conflictual relationship with Lacie. I liked him quite a bit but I don't think I've ever really understood him 100%

I think it’s fair not to understand him, because we mainly only see Glen through both Jack and Lacie’s filtered perceptions of him. That being said, I think the center of Oswald’s character is fittingly enough revealed in the chapter with his name on it.

I genuinely believe that both Lacie and Oswald’s desire was the same underneath it all. Outside of romance and responsibility as nobles, both of them genuinely liked the days they spent together with Jack just as friends. He was the first person from the outside world who came into their lives and treated them differently outside of being Baskervilles. They both loved the normalcy Jack represented, even though Jack did not necessarily ever understand his importance to them because he was too traumatized and distanced from his own emotions at the time. 

Lacie and Oswald both share the same flaw as well. They both had a desire, Oswald for Lacie to live, and for Jack to continue being his friend and spending their days together, Lacie to spend careless days with Jack and her brother and not to have to die, but they both tragically decided to accept their fate at different points and do things they did not want to do simply because they were told they had to.

Lacie, Jack and Oswald all project their loneliness into the abyss. Lacie believes the center of the abyss must be lonely to give birth to child of misfortune and eventually chooses to go along with Past Glen’s plan to create Will of the Abyss partially because of this reason, and because of the loneliness of her impending death. Oswald projects the loneliness of his sense of duty onto the abyss. He sees everything through the lens of duty, it’s what motivates him but restricts him at the same time. 

Unlike Leo who is almost completely unable to act at the right time due to confidence issues and his own mournings of his losses, Oswald in his strict servitude to duty always can act when he needs to. However as a drawback he ends up doing things he does not actually want to do at all.

In Oswald’s own words he chose to be the head of the baskervilles instead of her older brother, but those were two different duties. The duty to protect Lacie and the duty to protect the family he was a part of and the abyss. However, he never actually chose one side or the other fully, not really as with his actions afterwards he was clearly too plagued with regret. He wanted to choose both. Instead of trying to choose both he pretended to choose one, and then deluded himself after the fact.

Oswald’s weakness spotted by Jack, his contradictory behavior lies in his inability to be even remotely true or recognize his own desires. He knows that he clearly regrets killing Lacie, but when he assumes control of Leo, his first instinct is to just go into the past and kill Lacie again even though that is the mistake that started this whole mess. 

Oswald at first is too plagued by duty to recognize his desires, then after killing Lacie he’s plagued by both guilt that he’s suppressing and also a second desire in the form of simply wanting to have Jack. 

The thing about tragedies is there are multiple instances in which they can be averted. The die was not in fact cast, even after Lacie died. Jack was not beyond help, even 100 year old Jack was able to finally empathize with somebody when someone confronted him directly about his own lies, and his own selfishness and accepted him. 

The point of this scene is that Oswald already knew these things about Jack, he knew he was a liar, he knew he was somebody who could put on any face he wanted to in a moment’s notice in order to obtain his desires. He also knew that when confronted about these things, about his own lack of identity Jack will do anything to avoid it including running away.

Which is what prevented Oswald from every confronting Jack about his motivations until the last possible moment, because after Lacie was gone Oswald still wanted to remain friends with Jack. Oswald had a chance for redemption still even after doing something as unforgiveable as killing his sister, there was Alice and Will of the Abyss to take care of, and even with the central member of their trio gone Jack still remained. 

Oswald even as Glen wanted to remain friends with Jack. The two of them could have rebuilt to make up for what they lost, but Oswald was too busy wallowing in his own guilt to notice Jack. Jack is just… the one nice thing that Oswald was allowed to keep outside of his duty to the family. The one thing from the outside world that was allowed to visit them and interact with them as friends. His last remaining tie to normality after he killed his sister.

In a way Oswald reflects Jack. He wanted to keep Jack around, selfishly, for the same reason Jack wanted to keep Lacie around. Part of their identities, their normal selves, were divested in the friends around them. It’s why Oswald, Lacie and Jack have such a strong bond, but they’re also an example of a toxic failed trio.

Both Oswald and Jack also fatally misunderstand Lacie, because they’re too swept up in their broken dude emotions. Oswald his guilt, and Jack his lack of identity. 

If he had listened, Oswald at the time would realize that even if he killed her Lacie still truly cared about him and forgave him. Both Jack and Oswald forget about Lacie’s genuine love for the world, and the fact that she was at least allowed to be alive and live in this wonderful world for the short time she was, in their own feelings of mourning her.

It’s finally in admitting his feelings that Oswald makes the step he should have made a long time ago. Not in using time travel to fix his mistake, but rather simply deciding not to repeat his mistake again which he was in danger of doing. Thematically, what Oswald was doing wrong was forcing himself to make the same mistake again out of “duty” even though he knows he doesn’t want to kill Lacie and he only lived in regret last time and nothing good came from it. 

With that he also finally achieves his rest and is able to come to peace with his regrets instead of continually persisting in them even after his own death, to the point of trying to break the time stream to resolve them. 

His moment of growth is what he should have done to begin with, simply been honest about his feelings and in the case of things that already happened resolved to not repeat the mistake rather than living in regret over it forever, but that is tragedy. He reflects Jack in that final aspect too, if Jack had been honest with himself about his own cowardly and terrible personality to begin with he truly could have emotionally connected with those around him instead of only connecting through a performance that he himself did not know was real to the bitter end.

Also it’s thematically relevant that Jack finally experiences an emotion towards Oswald when Oswald was honest with himself about Lacie, especially since the reason for the divide between them was Oswald lying to him about Lacie in the first place, and Jack’s decision he could not trust Oswald from then on and had to consider him as the head of the Glen Household and somebody to manipulate. 

Which as I said before in tragic fashion, if Oswald had allowed himself to mourn openly in front of Jack they most likely would have been able to mourn together instead of both continuing to lie to each other until their relationship ended in the worst way possible. What are you going to do though that’s conseqeunces for you.