#and i told him that this is the 4th time she’s done this in 6 weeks

[stonesandswords]

.

[tkwrites]

Summer Decisions - Quinn Hughes x ofc

gif from gabelandeskog

Title: Summer Decisions - Quinn Hughes x ofc

Author: Tory / @tkwrites 

Relationship: Quinn Hughes x Sarah Roberts

Warnings: Highly emotional, angst. mild fighting, lots of anxiety, swearing, crying, fluff. If I missed anything, please let me know. 

Summary: An invitation to his family reunion over the fourth of July has Quinn and Sarah tumbling into a long conversation about their future in the off-season and beyond. Though the ensuing fight is resolved, the reality of their commitments vs. their love for each other is put to the test.

Word Count: 4,600

Comments: I’m back with some highly emotional goodness. This fic was halfway done for a long time until your overwhelming reactions to my WIP ask game really got me in gear to start writing again. I really like the way this turned out, and I hope you do, too. It's, like, 98% dialogue. So if that's not your thing, I won't be offended if you skip this one. But it is setting up all of our off-season fics.

If you enjoyed this, please let me know by commenting, reblogging, or sending in an ask. Your encouragement and comments truly inspire me to keep writing. 

I love Quinn and Sarah, and I’m constantly blown away that so many of you love them, too.

Summer Decisions

A Quinn & Sarah Snapshot

“My parents want to know if you want to come to our family reunion over the 4th of July. It’s in New Hampshire.”

“Oh,” she said, voice quiet. 

“Is that not okay?” 

“It’s just a big step,” she said, “meeting your whole family.” 

“I’m meeting your family in June, aren’t I?” he asked.

They’d discussed him coming to visit when she went home for a few weeks after school. Were it not for the Canucks making it into the playoffs, she would have bought a ticket for the Monday after her classes would be done. Instead, she pushed her visit back until mid-June, wanting to be in Vancouver to support him through the entirety of their run, however long it may be.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” 

It was a little strange to her how comfortably serious they were, but she couldn’t imagine life with Quinn any other way. It was that fated belonging she’d talked about so much when they first met. Even still, it was a little jarring to think about him meeting her family or meeting his before they even hit the six month mark. 

The phrase, ‘when you know, you know,’ never made sense until she met him. She knew, and even though it felt too fast and scary sometimes, she knew it would all turn out okay. 

“So we’ll fly out from Van, what? The night before?”

“I’ll have to fly out from Michigan.” 

“Michigan? Why?” 

“I thought I told you we train in Michigan in the summer.”

“You did, but I thought… I thought maybe that changed?” 

“Why?” 

“Because of us?” she gestured between them. 

“I mean, I’d love for you to come with me.” 

“I can’t do that, Quinn.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t just pack up and move to Michigan. I still have my research work, and if I’m not working or in school for more than 6 weeks in a quarter, it violates my education visa. Not only will I have to move back to the States, I won’t be able to finish my degree.” 

“Then I’ll fly you out every weekend.” 

Pricked, the old wound split open, and she couldn’t quite hide the annoyance in her voice, “so it’s up to me to fly to you?” 

Shit. He hadn’t taken her schedule into account again. “Sorry, no. Of course I’d come here, too.”

The annoyance still fresh in her mind she found herself asking, “why do I have to remind you my time matters for you to take it into account?”

Quinn winced. “I know your time matters. I’m sorry, it’s not fair for me to assume you could just pack up and move or fly out every weekend.”

“Then don’t bring it up again,” she said. 

Okay then. 

“I’m trying here, Sarah. This is all new to me, too.” He’d never felt close enough with June to figure out a summer situation. They saw each other once or twice when he was gone, and that was enough. Looking back, that should have been a huge sign about the trajectory of their relationship.

“And yet, I assume because I have a vagina, I was raised to take other people into account.” 

“That’s not fair,” he said. 

“No? Then why do you always jump into me coming to you? Into me changing my plans? Into me inconveniencing my life before you do?” 

Fuck. This wasn’t supposed to go this way. This was supposed to be a nice, light conversation about how he wanted her to meet everyone he loved. 

“Maybe we should just break up for the summer,” she said when he didn’t say anything.  

“What? No!” Quinn sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, hurt and disgruntled she would even suggest such a thing. 

“What would you suggest, then?”

Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own. “Do you want to date someone else?” His voice was hesitant as he braced himself for the blow. 

“No. Of course not.” 

“Then why do you want to break up?” he asked through the relief easing his mind. “Why would you even say that?” 

“Because we won’t be together.”

“That doesn’t mean we should just call it off. Why do you always jump into ‘we should break up’ or ‘I should go’ when something hard comes up?” 

“I…” Sarah broke off, caught. “I don’t know.” 

“Maybe you should figure that out because I’m willing to put in the work here,” he said, gesturing between them. 

“That’s not fair.”

He raised his eyebrows instead of throwing her words back in her face. 

“I’m sorry, Quinn. I am trying, and I know you’re trying.” Tears pricked at her eyes, “I’ve just…” her mind whirred, trying to find the right explanation. In the end, as it always did with Quinn, the truth won out. “I’m scared I’m going to fuck it up and I don’t want to lose you.” 

Bridging the space between them with one big step, he pulled her against him. When they boiled down to the heart of the problem, they were both scared of the same thing. 

Tucking his nose into her hair, he breathed in the calming, smokey scent that was uniquely hers. “I don’t want to lose you, either,” he said. “We can still be together. Just separately.”

A laugh snorted from her nose, and she pulled back, “what?” 

“Long distance?”

It was Sarah's turn to suck on her lip. “I’ve never done that before.”

“I have. It's not easy. But I think we're both committed enough to make it work. Plus, we'll see each other pretty often.”

She had her thinking face on as a pregnant pause passed, so Quinn didn’t interrupt.

“What would that look like?” she asked, finally. 

“We’d talk on the phone and video chat a lot. I can come see you every weekend.”

“That doesn't make sense, Quinn. You go to Michigan to train and be with family. If you're flying back here every weekend, won't that mess with those things?”

“Probably, but —”

“Then it's out of the question. You need to do what you need to do.” 

He felt whiplashed. “I thought you wanted me to come here.” 

“Only in equal measure to me coming to you. I won’t let you give up your summer training for me.” 

It stuck him how much care and understanding were laid out in that statement. 

“Just like I know you wouldn’t want me to give up my research for you. It wouldn’t be fair.” 

Still wrapped in each others arms, Sarah rested her head on his shoulder as they thought. 

Tucking his face into her hair again, Quinn breathed deeply. As always, that smokey, vanilla scent was so calming to him. He couldn’t ever get it out of his mind. 

“This fucking sucks,” he said, voice muffled.

“I know,” she agreed. “I wish it could be different."

It couldn’t. They both had commitments that needed to be fulfilled, and they just didn’t match up.

“I wish I’d known. I would have made different plans.” 

“How would you have known?” she asked. “We only met four months ago.” 

“Has it only been that long?” he asked. The reality of the swiftness of their relationship hit him full force. “I feel like I’ve known you forever.” 

“I know. I do too.” 

“I don’t want to go the summer without you,” he said, caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers. 

“I don’t either,” she agreed, “but it’s not like it’ll be five months where we just don’t see each other.” 

“Four,” he corrected. 

“What?” 

“Four months, I come back in September.” 

Well, that was a relief. 

“Okay, four months. I mean, we already have stuff planned. Let’s talk through what we do have,” she suggested, breaking away from him all together and pulling her planner from her bag. Flipping to the summer months, she lay it on top of her comparative physiology textbook and sat at the table. The urge to make a plan itched beneath her skin. 

He sat next to her, leaning in.

“So we have my family in June,” she said, pointing out the 10 days she had blocked out for her visit, “I sort of expected you’d come on the weekend?”  

“Yeah, that sounds good. And our reunion over the forth,” he said, flipping the page. “Then, we’re going to Hawaii at the end of July. You can come. I’ll get you a ticket.” 

“Hold on, have you talked to your family about this?” 

“No, but it’ll be fine.” 

She shook her head. 

He couldn’t believe she was turning down the option to spend two more weeks together. 

“That’s your family vacation, Quinn. I’d love to come, but I don’t want to go inserting myself —”

“You’re not inserting yourself, I’m inviting you.” 

“And I’m telling you I won’t come unless all your family is okay with it. Including Jack.” 

Even though Quinn had assured her Jack was a good guy and very devoted to his family and would come around once they met, he was still aloof anytime she happened to be around when he and Quinn were talking. Even Ellen had said as much, but Sarah still felt hesitant. Until she saw it from Jack himself, she wasn’t about to jump into an already planned vacation. She knew what it was like having a new person join the family. She didn’t want to make it any harder than it had to be. 

Quinn huffed. 

“The last thing I want is to come between you and your brothers,” she said gently.

His expression softened. “Okay. I’ll talk to them about it when they’re here.”

“So, it looks like we’ll see each other every three weeks or so, depending on when you come to Nevada and what Hawaii looks like. At least until August.”

Every three weeks felt like too long. He could hardly stand a week on the road, and they weren’t even living together. Yet. 

“I’d like you to come out to Michigan,” he said, “meet the guys. See the house.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “And you can come back here sometime here,” she said, her finger circling over a few weeks in August. 

Quinn nodded. It certainly wasn’t going to be easy, but it did feel better to have a plan.

“Are you renting this place out for the summer,” she asked, “while you’re gone?”

“I kind of thought you might move in here.”

“What?” 

“I mean, it’s just going to be empty, and I’d really like to live with you when I move back.” 

She couldn’t believe he could drop such a huge bomb so easily. As she tried to reconcile what he was saying, she repeated, “what?” 

“I mean…” he paused, voice and expression suddenly hesitant, “only if you want to.” 

Her brain finally caught up, “it’s not that. It’s just…we haven’t even talked about living together, and now you have this whole plan about how I should live here over the summer.” 

“I just thought there’s no real need for you to pay for rent anymore, since you spend so much time here anyway.” 

“I…” she was struck with the care in that statement, “that’s really sweet, Quinn.” 

He beamed.

“But I can’t live here alone all summer.” 

Expression falling, he opened his mouth.

“I just —” she interrupted before she lost her nerve. What was one more in a series of already vulnerable conversations? “I’d love to live here with you, but I can’t…I don’t know how my depression will act up if I live alone for that long. I’ve never lived on my own before, and I don’t think a summer where I’m missing my boyfriend is the best time to start.” 

The thought that she’d be here alone hadn’t crossed his mind. Not in a concrete way. Like, he knew she’d be here, and he knew he’d be in Michigan, but he never thought about it like she would be the only one in the apartment.

“Oh,” he whispered, taking her hands in his, “then of course not.” 

His immediate acceptance made tears rush to her eyes. 

“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked as she took a hand back to wipe her face. 

Smiling despite the tears on her cheeks, she shook her head. “I just really love you.” Her voice sounded full, almost like she had a cold.

“I love you, too,” he said, feeling a little confused, “but I don’t know why you’re crying.” 

“Just…” How could she explain something like this? “The way you accept and trust my needs. It’s really nice.”

“The last thing I want is for you to be unhappy, Sarah.” 

This brought on a new wave of tears, and she tucked her head into his shoulder, trying to pull herself together. 

Quinn still felt a little whiplashed but tried to roll with it, running a soothing hand over her back. 

“What?” he asked when she mumbled something into his shirt. 

Pulling back, she wiped her nose before repeating, “I’ll have to sign a new lease. It comes up in July.” 

“I’ll buy you out of it,” he said as if it was the simplest, easiest solution to any of the problems they’d discussed that day. 

“I can’t let you do that, Quinn. That’s a lot of money.” 

He hated having this conversation, but it needed to be had. It was actually a little surprising to him that it’d taken this long for it to come up. June had asked him about it a month into dating.

“Sarah, I make eight million dollars a year. I can buy out your lease.” 

Her eyes went wide. They’d never discussed money so concretely. She knew he made big bucks. All pro athletes did, but, “eight million?” she asked. “What do you do with it?” 

“I have a financial advisor who’s helped me invest most of it,” he said, “and I don’t really have all eight million available all the time. But I paid off my parents and some of our families’ houses, and I give quite a bit to charity.” 

She’d seen the way he was with money. He never worried about it, but he certainly didn’t throw it at anything and everything. He wasn’t irresponsible. 

Opening her mouth to say something, she found her mind still reeling and closed it again. 

The annoyed look he would give her when she paid the dinner bill flashed in her mind. No wonder. He made so much more than she did. All the same, she wasn’t about to become some sugar baby. That went against nearly everything her parents had taught her.

“I still want to pull my weight,” she said.

Quinn was a little taken aback by the fierceness in her voice, “what?” 

“If we move in together, I still want to pull my weight.” 

His lips pursed, and he held back his initial response in favor of gathering more information. “What do you mean?” 

“Like, if I make $80,000 a year, I want to pay whatever percentage that is of what you make.”

“You only make $80,000 a year?” he asked. 

“No. Right now, I make $50,000 a year from my research stipend. It pays for my schooling, too, so it’s technically more, but $80,000 is a general base salary for a marine zoologist.” 

“You’ve been living on $50,000 a year?” 

“Yes, and I’ve been fine,” she said, giving him a look that stifled any follow-up questions he may have had. “My point is that if —” she paused to correct herself, “when we live together,” he beamed and she lost her thought for a moment before continuing, “I want to pull my weight, even if it is just a small percentage of the household. I don’t want to be some beholden trophy wife.” 

“Beholden?” he repeated, an amused smile playing on his lips.

“Yes, I don’t want to be some kept woman. A lot of financial advisors that I listen to say you should split the household and each pay the percentage compared to your salaries. How much do you pay here a month? Do you rent? Is it a mortgage?” 

“It’s a rental. It’s not really smart for me to buy a place when there’s a chance I may get traded in three years. It’s not enough time to build adequate equity on a home.” 

Sarah stuck a mental pin in that to come back to, “and how much is your rent?” 

“12,000.” 

“A year?” she found herself asking, even though she knew that couldn’t possibly be the answer.  

“A month,” he said with an indulgent smile, knowing it was her shock speaking more than anything else.

She wasn’t quite sure why, but this fact struck Sarah harder than anything else they’d talked about. She knew she’d never be able to afford an apartment like this on her own, but this was insane. More than a fifth of her yearly salary went to Quinn’s rent each month. She counted herself lucky to find a private room for under $2000.

“Okay, so if I make,” she paused, doing mental calculations - moving decimal points. Her voice was flat when she spoke again, “one percent of what you do…” She trailed off, looking into his face, “Quinn, this is insane.” 

“I know,” he agreed. “I’m happy to just pay, but if you would feel better paying whatever, I’m happy for you to do that, too.” 

 “So, I’d pay one percent of the household expenses.” Saying it out loud, it sounded so silly. One percent? That seemed minuscule, too insignificant to matter. “Maybe I could pay ten percent? One feels too tiny.”

“Sure,��� Quinn said, knowing this was important to her. Unless she was storming in, trying to take over all the bills, he was happy to have her contribute in whatever way she wanted. “If you want to do that, let’s do that. Whatever you’re comfortable with.” 

They sat quietly for a moment, and he gathered his thoughts.

“I know it’s important to you to contribute,” Quinn said gently, “and I’m not saying you shouldn’t - but I just want you to know I’m happy to pay for things. I know I’m insanely blessed to make the kind of money I do to play a sport that I love. I’d really, really like to live together once I move back. So if that means I need to buy out your lease, I’m happy to do it if you’re comfortable with that.”

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she thought. If Quinn paid off her lease, she wouldn’t have to put off moving in with him or live on her own in this giant apartment or find a place to live for the two months between when he was home and when her lease was up. 

She wondered if this was one of those instances her grandmother often talked about. “Sometimes,” she would say while they were cleaning the basement or kneading dough, or working in the garden, “life showers you with blessings. And it’s up to you to catch them.” 

She always accompanied this wisdom by shaping her hands into a bowl as if to fill them with water. 

Sarah did the same now, pulling her other hand out of Quinns to cup them together. 

Eyebrows knitted together, he glanced from her hands to her face. 

She giggled and told him the story. 

“I should start doing that every morning,” he said, cupping his own hands together. 

“Every morning?” she repeated. 

“Well, every morning that you’re here. When I wake up next to you, I feel like the luckiest guy alive.” 

Despite it being incredibly cheesy, Sarah couldn’t help feeling moved. “Quinn that’s really sweet,” she said. “I feel like that, too,” she paused, feeling like she needed to add a caveat. “And I want you to know your money isn’t part of that. I would love you no matter how much money you were making.” 

“I know,” he said, leaning in to brush his lips over hers, “I’ve known that from the start.” 

His hands found her waist as their lips connected. 

A while later, that pin she’d stuck in for later snapped back into her mind, and Sarah pulled away. “What did you mean about getting traded?”

Well, they might as well have all the hard conversations all at once. “I’m in contract for the next three years, but after that, or even before, there’s always a chance I could get traded.” 

The trade deadline had already passed for the season, and Sarah had watched, fascinated, as players were moved around from club to club, like pieces on a chess board as organizations tried to build the best teams possible. Now, she had a new level of understanding, knowing lives and families were being uprooted in the process.

“But they love you here.”

His smile was wide and genuine, “I love it here, too. I don’t really expect I’d be traded anytime soon, but I can’t say never with what I do. I could get seriously injured, or my game could crash.” 

She gave him an incredulous look. 

“Its happened before.” 

“To you?” 

“No, but it has to people I know. I really like it here, but I can’t guarantee I’ll play here forever, or even for the next three years. I think I will, but I can’t say for certain.”

“What happens if you get traded while I’m still finishing my degree?”

“I don’t think that will happen, but I guess we’d make it work apart until you were done. Most players get traded right at the end of their contract, so we’d be apart for the rest of the season, and then we’d decide what to do moving forward. If I was moving clubs by choice, we’d decide where to go together. ”

She nodded. “Do you get any say in trades?” 

“I think I probably would, but it doesn’t always work out that way. I mean, Bo had a monster year last season, but they couldn’t come to an agreement, and so he got traded, and I know he would have liked to stay. It’s just never guaranteed.” 

“How do you live your life like this?” she asked. 

He shrugged, “you just kind of have to get used to the idea that things could change tomorrow.” 

“That sucks.”

“Yeah.” 

The concerns his parents had expressed when they were here snapped into place, and a sudden, consuming worry that she might not want this kind of life overwhelmed him.

“Are you,” he paused to lick his lips, trying to find the right phrasing, “I mean, do you think you could be okay with that?” 

Even as it was racing with anxiety, the worried look on his face melted Sarah’s heart. It was difficult to reconcile the fact that while it felt steady now, his life had the possibility of being in flux all the time, and that where he chose to work was only partially up to him. At the same time, she didn’t want to be without him. The pull between them was too strong, too fated in a way she couldn’t deny. She was too in love with him to be scared of the reality of his life. 

There was only one thing for it. “It’ll take some getting used to, but I think I can,” she said. Perhaps this wasn’t even something she needed to be worried about. Thoughts buzzing, she tried to think of players on Quinn’s level who’d been traded recently. She couldn’t remember any off the top of her head. She’d have to look it up. 

He gave her a relieved smile, and she saw moisture shining in his eyes. 

“Oh, Quinn,” she said, her hands coming up to cup his face. The course hairs of his beard tickled her palms. “I think I’d probably move to the ends of the earth with you.” The words just fell out of her mouth, and once they were out there, spoken aloud for everyone to hear, she realized how true they were. For someone so practical, it was strange for her to have such a frivolous thought mean so much. 

His face split into a beaming smile, and he pulled her into a hug. Tucking his nose into her hair again, he let a few grateful tears fall. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you,” he said. 

“I don’t know either.” 

A sudden, surprised laugh barked from his chest, and he pulled back with a raised brow.

“Oh no,” her hand went to her mouth as a blush blazed over her cheeks. “I meant that I feel the same way.” Shaking her head, she wondered if she had ever said something so stupid. “You’re the most understanding, accepting man I’ve ever met, Quinn. I’m so glad the Universe brought us together.” 

He nodded, “me too.” 

Looking into his eyes, which seemed more hazel than usual to the point that she could almost see a ring of green near the iris, the reality of what was coming hit her square in the chest, “this summer is gonna fucking suck.” 

“I know,” he said, pulling her into his lap. 

Arms around his shoulders to bring herself closer, her feet hung awkwardly off the sides of the chair. Though she knew her toes would be tingling from lack of blood flow within a matter of minutes, she didn’t readjust, savoring the feeling of his solid chest against hers. 

The deep breath she sighed out moved her whole body against his. “We’ll get through it together, right?” 

Tightening his grip, Quinn agreed. 

As the minutes passed, his hands traveled over her back in slow, calming waves that put her totally at ease. 

“Do you have homework?” he asked quietly, almost as if he didn’t want to hear the question himself. 

“Yeah, but it can wait a while.”

A pleased little hum filtered up his throat, and he pulled her tighter against him. 

“Can we move to the couch, though?” she asked. “My feet are falling asleep.” 

Laughing, he stood, hands cradling her butt to keep her wrapped around him. When she hooked her ankles around his back, Quinn filed the position away to try later. 

Halfway up the stairs, Sarah unwound herself from him. Sure, he was an athlete, but carrying her up the stairs was still taking a toll. 

She lay down on the suede couch and held her arms open for him. He gratefully lay on top of her, his head on her chest. 

Running her fingers through his hair, Sarah replayed their relationship in her mind. Knowing what she knew now, both about Quinn’s celebrity status and his quiet nature, the fact that he came up to her at all was a miracle. He could have any woman in the city, and he’d stuck his neck out for her. It was overwhelming to think about sometimes. She hoped she was living up to his expectations. 

Half an hour later, Quinns phone chirped with a notification, bringing them out of their sleepy reverie. By that time, they’d switched places, and Sarah was draped over him. 

“It’s 6,” he whispered into her hair. “I’ve got to get up to make dinner.”

Even as she whined, Sarah pushed herself up. This soft, caring version of Quinn was always her favorite, and she didn’t want to let him go. “I love you,” she said, looking down at him.

“I love you, too,” he said, standing and hugging her to him again before they had to get back to real life.

Her arms tightened around him. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you, Quinn Hughes, but I’m so glad you’re mine.” 

Tucking his face into her neck, he pressed a few soft kisses there before telling her, “Sarah Roberts, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Want more Quinn & Sarah? Check out the Snapshots Masterlist

To read all my fics, check out the Fanfiction Masterlist

[2knightt]

5 things dallas winston hated about you.

—even when you were on his last goddamn nerve, you were still everything to him. is he still everything to you? after all he’s put you through?

-> in no way is this me changing my style nor should this be taken seriously…i’m just bored. and sad. and bored. and i miss my boyfriend. posted on queue!! i’m probably either studying, working on asks + event, or sleeping. either one.

(I.your snarky remarks.)

“did nobody ever teach you how to properly play uno of all games?”

you asked, a chuckle in your voice as you held your one card in hand. dallas glared at you from across your table, holding 12 cards. this was the 5th game you two played. he was never one to accept defeat easily.

“this game is just fuckin’ stupid. n’ you’re a dirty lil’ cheater.” he grumbled, staring down at his all red cards, eyes shifting back to the green 3 that you had placed down. dallas wanted to say more not-so-nice words, but knowing you fully, you’d say something even worse back. he hated that about you. you always said that it was apart of your charm, he always disagreed.

“why would i ever need to cheat when you can’t seem to count?” you snapped back, brows furrowed. you referenced the fact that dallas tried to pick up only 4 when he had to pick up 6, thinking he was slick.

dallas just huffed, picking up another card from the pile before mumbling a small, ‘go.’ there was a tug at the corners of your mouth, causing you to grin a little too hard as you placed down the winning card. for the 5th time in a row. dallas threw his cards down, clicking his tongue in annoyance. he leaned back into the chair, his head turned away from you as his arms hung off the chair.

“stop bein’ a baby and help me clean this up.”

“no. it’s your house.”

“and you’re the one who’s bumming around in it. clean up with me before i let you walk those streets. again.”

(II.how important your looks were to you.)

you stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, fingers running through your hair as you starred at yourself in the window of a convenience store.

“are you serious, y/n?” he asked, pockets in hand. he stopped walking when you did. he said it was so nobody hit on you. in reality, he liked it better when he had his eyes on you 24/7. he likes knowing you were safe. even for a second.

“yes, dallas. i am.” you replied with an eye roll. you grabbed your pink lip gloss, re-applying it for the 4th time today. sure, you were willing to admit it slowed you down—your focus on your looks. but were you gonna change? no! if someone doesn’t like it, who cares?

once you were done, you continued walking, leaving dallas to rush to catch up. he walked beside you after speed walking behind you for a few seconds. your lips shined under the hot tulsa sun, eyes glowing along with them. dally couldn’t help but wrap an arm around your waist.

he grew more and more aware of the men around. he held you closer, even when they paid no mind to neither you or him. he felt almost threatened for a moment.

“are you even listening?”

you chimed in, breaking his train of thought. dallas nodded, head empty. he didn’t hear a single thing you said. was he going to admit it? no. he didn’t want these other guys to know about how terrible of a boyfriend he was.

you just hummed, walking to your house in silence. any insults, compliments, comments, or cries would fall to deaf ears as of now.

(III.how you were blindly loyal.)

“i cannot believe you right now.”

“i jus’ said she was pretty. god forbid.”

he muttered as he entered your car, sitting in the passenger seat. dallas knew it’d be a terrible idea to try and make you jealous. boundaries, you’d shout. boundaries!

“i’ve told you how many times on how uncomfortable that makes me.”

“m’sorry, doll. i…i know. it was the alcohol.”

dallas lied right through his teeth. in all honesty—he’d been hoping it’d make you want to show him off. he was stupid for ever thinking you’d so something like that.

your silence scared him. you usually would’ve spat something back at him without a single thought. a sigh left your lips as you started the car, finally speaking up.

“i know.”

you muttered quietly. goddamn, maybe loyalty was gonna be the death of you. he didn’t mind much, though. at least you knew where home was. with him…right? right, y/n? he wanted to ask over and over again. dallas wanted the reassurance. he needed the support.

for what? he didn’t know. he just wanted to make sure you still felt the same way he does.

(IV.the way you fought.)

“she got you good, y/n.”

“oh, shut up, dal.”

you muttered, washing your bloodied and bruised hands under the faucet. you stood there, spacing out, letting the water run off your hands. dallas tapped you on your shoulder, snapping you out of it.

he handed you a clean shirt, a couple of bandaids in the other. you ushered him out of your bathroom, closing the door to put the clean shirt on. ‘she got you good.’ what does that even mean? was there seriously no, ‘are you okay?’ you wondered to yourself as you opened the door.

dallas sat you down on the toilet, brushing the fresh blood that slowly streamed down your cheeks with his thumb as he placed bandaids all over your face. he kissed every single one after doing so.

he wanted to make sure you still knew he likes you. that dallas winston liked you a whole lot.

“you’ll be alright, doll.” he comforted, patting your head. he thought back to your several other fights. you fought strategically and with honour. something he’d never do. but, recently, you’d been fighting just for the fun of it.

when you fought before—he felt a little angry. he didn’t like seeing you fight, but he didn’t like knowing you were good at it. knowing you were at the same level as he was at something he took pride in hurt him. dallas was frustrated at you and himself.

maybe his bad habits were rubbing off on you. a way to remember him, as dallas thought about it. he said he’d talk to you later about it. he never did.

(V.how quickly you were able to move on. faster than he ever could.)

you realized you needed better. dallas didn’t treat you like he used to. why? you didn’t know. you tried to be the best girlfriend he’d ever have, so why did he have to ruin it? was it your fault?

you kept on asking yourself questions like this when the reality of it all sunk in. that same day, you left dallas winston.

he felt his world crumble before him. this whole, self-sabotaging thing that pony warned him about was catching up to him. dallas felt hatred for you. well, at least he wanted to. he wanted to feel angry. hatred for you.

he couldn’t no matter how hard he tried. even when he watched you move onto another guy. from afar, he’d see you giggle and flirt with him. like how you used to do with him.

even when you’re with someone else, you’re still everything ti dallas. would you ever forgive him if he said sorry? would sorry even fix the way he treated you?

[lostryu]

i need gay rights because literally not a single self-proclaimed cis/het 'ally' understands the alienating experience that comes with being the only gay person in the workplace.

i am a gnc butch lesbian. i use he/him pronouns. when i came out to my manager regarding my pronouns (i had been an open lesbian since the moment of my hire), she told me that she supported me, but she could not enforce or ask our clients to use the correct pronouns for me. she told me it was something i would have to learn to deal with. she never uses the correct pronouns for me unless a person from a different department (who also happens to be LGBT+) is present. she is our HR in addition to manager.

none of my coworkers in my department ever remember to use my pronouns. if i remind them, they go over the top with the "im sorry's" and the "im still learning" and "you know i try my hardest's!" and "i swear im not homophobic!", it has been over 6 months since i came out. if i say nothing, they continue to use she/her (unless that other lgbt+ person from the other department is present, then they miraculously get it right).

sometimes they call me 'girl'. they always flounder and correct to "man-boy-uh youknowwhatimeanright". they laugh it off. they never bother to ask what terms i am comfortable with, or if i even cared in the first place. they don't care about my gender, they never bother to ask. somehow the subject gets changed every time i try to tell them, or set a boundary.

once in a while in a slow shift, the conversation will hop to our dating lives. somehow, it always jumps to how men suck and how dating a woman must be so much easier. they wish they could be gay and not straight. every time, they'll stare at me expectantly, like i am an animal at the zoo. no matter what i say, positive or negative, i must be lying. i cannot be that happy in my relationship, or if i have any issues, they must be minor. if i say 'why don't you try dating a girl then' to their remarks, they'll laugh, say something like "there is no way i possibly could" with that special tone of disguised disgust.

i am a prop, at work. they tell me about how much they love their kids. how they could bring anyone home and they wouldn't care. "they could be black, brown, or purple," they'll say "it could be a woman or a man! I support gay rights!" Then they will talk about how hungry they are, and how they will be going to Chick Fil a for the 4th time this week. 'as a treat'. it is thursday. they talk about going to Hobby Lobby again for christmas decorations, or another sale. sometimes i think i can taste blood.

its june. they talk about the pride parade and how excited they are to see the queens and their 'funny costumes'. they talk about how fun it is to go and watch, how they like the free things the corporations hand out. they don't want to bring their younger kids though. they're not old enough. they do not know that the first pride was a riot. they do not know what happened during the AIDS crisis, how many died. they don't really care when i try to tell them, they'd rather focus on the fun parts of the parade. the spectacle.

i wear a pronoun pin, to make it easier. still somehow no one can get my pronouns right. a client notices it. commends me for "being brave" and "coming out." she never uses my correct pronouns. i stopped wearing the pin after the 11th person asked me if my name on my name tag was my real one, and after the 45th person went out of their way to use incorrect pronouns every sentence. my manager, the HR, did not care.

i need gay rights, but somehow everything got resolved when they allowed us to marry in 2015. to our allies, the work is done. somehow i am left more alone than when we started.

[rorywritesjunk]

I can’t tell where the journey will end But I know where to start

Prequel to my Kid Buggy fic, set about 11-ish years before that story.

Buggy meets you by chance when he needs his buttons sewn back onto his jacket. He’s young, up and coming, and he thinks everyone should cower before him wherever he goes, but all you do is smile at him.

Rating: PG-13ish just for some swearing. Warning: Buggy’s in his early 20s. He’s an asshole. He just is because I wanted to write him loud, demanding, everything. There’s 3 new characters thrown in because why not? Future Wife gets a name as well! A/N: I have no idea when Buggy became a Captain, so he’s a fresh faced captain in this. No clue how long this fic will be. I just started on the 4th chapter but I’m excited to write it out! I had fun with the original fic and decided to write the prequel to how they met. Enjoy!

Title comes from “Wake Me Up” by Avicii.

TAGLIST: @lostfirefly @ane5e @kingofthemfingpirates @the-angriest-angel @tiredemomama @valen-yamyam16 @i-reblog-fics-i-like @plethora-of-fickleness

Chapter 1 + Chapter 2 + Chapter 3 + Chapter 4 + Chapter 5 + Chapter 6 + Chapter 7 + Chapter 8 + Chapter 9 + Chapter 10 + Chapter 11 + Chapter 12 + Chapter 13 + Chapter 14 + Chapter 15 + Chapter 16 + Chapter 17 + Chapter 18 + Epilogue

Chapter 4

The girls refused to speak to you because of how you defended Buggy. They still thought he was rude and didn’t like him, and they didn’t understand why you’d defend him. They were also mad because not only did they have to clean the kitchen twice that night, but Miss Pins had them sort fabric scraps by color before organizing all the threads the same way over the last few weeks. The final act of punishment was organizing all the pins and needles by length and gauge. 

They didn’t think it was fair. 

Had you been in charge you would have dismissed them from their apprenticeships entirely. 

Yes, Buggy was loud, had been rude each visit to you and Miss Pins but he was a pirate and all the shop’s customers were pirates. A lot of them were rude to you and Miss Pins, some even threatening, but he was also becoming a repeat customer and overpaid you each time, and when you brought it to the attention of Miss Pins, she let you keep the extra amount because you took on helping him. 

Honestly, and you didn’t want to admit it to your boss just yet, but you liked Buggy. So far he hadn’t tried to flirt with you, act inappropriately, or threaten you. Countless others had since the day you started as an apprentice. Miss Pins was protective of her girls, having no problem pointing a gun at any pirate creeps should they make her apprentices uncomfortable. Buggy was loud, demanding, but he wasn’t a creep.

It had been a month since you last saw Buggy and you figured that you weren’t going to see him again. Why would he return to the shop after what the girls had said? You felt bad about it and wished you could have talked with him a bit more, but he took off so fast that you didn’t get a chance to. 

You still had his socks that you fixed for him and even secured him an extra pair. Maybe he’d stop by to pick them up? You weren’t going to hold out a lot of hope. No doubt he would be on his ship, sailing for treasure or adventure, forgetting about the incident a month ago. 

Hopefully.

The shop was closed for the evening but you were still working when you saw him again. You wanted to get extra work done before taking a few days for yourself to celebrate your birthday. The girls originally wanted to do something with you but now that they weren’t talking to you, you got to do whatever you wanted. 

You were going to go to a nearby lake and feed the ducks while enjoying a packed lunch. 

The pounding at the door startled you. You grabbed a broom to protect yourself as you approached it and looked through the peephole. You saw the bright red nose and immediately relaxed as you opened the door, smiling at him as he stood on the doorstep.

“We’re closed, you know.” You told him teasingly. “We’re not a clinic where you can stop by whenever you need me to fix something.”

He looked flustered as he tried to think of a response, but you grabbed his hand and pulled him into the shop, closing the door behind him as you headed back to your work. He followed after you, looking around at the different bolts of fabric on shelves, the trays of thread, and several dresses that hung on a rack behind the counter. You took a seat and gestured to the other chair as you picked your sewing back up.

“You left your socks, you know.” You said as you passed the needle through the fabric. You were finishing up another dress for a customer, attaching the bodice and skirt together with piping along where the two pieces met. “I was worried you wouldn’t come back for them.”

Buggy sat down and crossed his arms, turning his attention to what you were doing. Your fingers were careful as you worked, your fingernails guiding along the piping to keep it in place as you sewed. He didn’t think you actually made things, just repaired them, so he watched you for a moment before responding.

“I had other socks.” He mumbled as you removed a pin and stuck it into your little pin cushion. “I… was going to come back.” He glanced up at your face, seeing the look of concentration, and looked back down at your work. “Why are you up so late?”

“Why are you at the shop late?” You countered as you stuck a pin in your mouth before repositioning the fabric. He hesitated and looked away. “Surely not for your socks, Buggy.”

“I… was out on a walk.” He replied as he clenched his jaw. “And I saw the light on and thought maybe you were being robbed.”

You took the pin out of your mouth and stuck it back through the layers of fabric. “And you knocked so kindly.”

“I don’t have-”

He stopped himself and took a deep breath, trying not to overreact. You were just teasing him, trying to rile him up, but there was no malice in your voice. He looked back at you and saw you were smiling at him and his heart skipped a beat and his face was warm. He cleared his throat and tried again.

“I just wanted to stop by and… say hi. I didn’t realize how late it was.”

“Well, hello and good evening then.” You chuckled. “What would you have done if Miss Pins answered the door with her shotgun?”

“I’m not scared of her!” Buggy shot back. You looked over his shoulder and grinned.

“Good evening, boss.” 

Buggy spun around, eyes wide, but you laughed. There was no one there. Oh, you were cruel. He turned back around and glared at you. You were still laughing as you set your sewing down. Buggy huffed and looked away from you with a glare on his face. 

“Sorry, sorry.” You giggled as you wiped the tears from your eyes. “As for your question about why I’m up so late… My birthday is in two days so I want to get as much work done as possible so I can relax.”

“Oh, birthday?” He repeated. Girls liked getting gifts. Should he get you a gift? Why would he get you one? He looked back at you as you picked your sewing back up now that you had calmed down from laughing. What kind of gift would he get you if he was to get you something? He was a pirate, he could go find some treasure and give half to you, but would that be weird? Why was he even considering that?

“Mhm.” You nodded. “I’m going to go feed and watch the ducks and have lunch.”

“Ducks?” Buggy laughed. Ducks were not exciting, but if you liked them, he would take you all around to show you all the ducks in the world if you wanted. “Just duck watching, that’s it?”

“Yea.” You frowned when he laughed. It wasn’t really anything to laugh about. You didn’t need to do something exciting to enjoy yourself, just sitting and taking it easy was enough. “It’s something I like to do, Buggy.”

“It’s your birthday, though! You should be going out and doing something fun!” He said. “Drinking, having a party, something like that! Go on a raid or something!”

“I’m not a pirate, Buggy.” You reminded him as you looked back at your sewing. “I’d rather do something quiet.”

He leaned back in his seat and watched you with a frown. You lived in a town frequented by pirates, you had to be used to what they got up to, so why would you want to do something as boring as watching ducks? Maybe you were just never given the opportunity to do something fun. Buggy would change that.

“How about we-”

He didn’t get to finish that sentence because he saw you look up, eyes widening at something behind him. He wasn’t going to fall for that again so he rolled his eyes. “The old hag’s not there, so don’t try and trick me again.”

THWACK

“Get the hell out of my shop!” Miss Pins barked as she raised the broom up again. “Do you realize how late it is?!” 

Buggy fell out of the chair and dodged the blows from her broom. He almost made it to the door before she threw it at his feet, tripping him up as he scrambled. She stormed over to him and grabbed the door, pulling it open before pointing out. 

“It’s too late for you to be coming around!” She snapped as he hurried out the door, but not before he looked back at you for a split second. You were still in your chair, looking rather amused by the whole exchange. At least you weren’t frowning at him anymore. Maybe he could sneak back around for your birthday. He just needed to find out where the ducks would be.

Miss Pins slammed the door behind him before rounding on you. “Stop encouraging him!” 

“I haven’t done anything!” You exclaimed. “I’m just being nice to him!”

“That’s encouraging him! I don’t need another lovesick pirate after you, Sunny! He’s as bad as the last one!” Miss Pins snapped. “I can’t keep chasing these pirates off!”

“He’s not like the last one!” You shot back. “And he’s not lovesick, he just needs a friend, Miss Pins. It’s not like he’s asking me to marry him every time he sees me!”

Your boss glared at you as she locked the door and picked up the broom. The last one wasn’t like that until the fifth visit, where he had demanded you to marry him while you were fixing his coat. You were only 19, the man was almost ten years your senior and if your boss hadn’t been there, who knows where you would have ended up. She wasn’t going to lose you then to that man and she wasn’t about to lose you to some nobody pirate. 

“He’s not welcome here anymore.” Miss Pins told you. “And next time you see him you tell him that.”

She left after that, returning upstairs without another word, leaving you alone to think about what she said.

[maggiedelusional]

Let Me Go (Epilogue)

Pairing: Hangman x f!reader, Rooster x f!reader

Warnings: none, teenagers being teenagers, ANGST (but you knew that), bittersweet ending

Word Count: 5.8k

Summary: Reader is married and shares a child with Hangman, Life and circumstance drives reader into Rooster’s arms, but Hangman isn’t giving up that easily

A/N: Here it is the epilogue of Let Me Go. I can't believe this story that I thought of during my commute to work last summer, a story that I didn't anyone but me would care about is now at its official end. Even if it did take almost a year, and several hiatuses to get here. I will admit this past year has been some of the hardest of my life, with so many changes and obstacles I've gone through. But this story, this community has always been a safe space for me to run to. I'm sure that not everyone will be happy with how I chose to end this story, but this past year has taught me to trust my instincts as a writer and I will not please everyone, but I hope you understand why I went with what I did. I don't know if you all know this but Let Me Go is actually the first full-length multi-part series I've ever created, and I just wanted to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for taking this journey with me. Whether you've been here from the beginning, if you're a casual reader, someone who has waited months for me to update, to the people who have left me kind and supportive comments, and even to those who weren't necessarily the kindest. Thank you. Enough with all of that, without further ado, Let Me Go the final FINAL part.

Declan Belmont had Astrid pressed against the brick wall at the back of their high school. They definitely should not have been skipping 4th period, but the feeling of how soft her lips against his and the sounds of her whimpers as he grabbed the skin of her hips, definitely made him forget about the important test review they were currently missing. 

“Dec, slow down.” She pulled herself away from him, trying to even her breath. 

“We are not hooking up next to the soccer field.” She told him with a raised eyebrow. 

He let out an exaggerated groan before turning them both around until Declan’s back was the one against the wall. 

“Fine, fair enough” He chuckled as he gave his girlfriend a small peck on the lips. 

“I can’t help it, you look so good today.” He sighed pressing his face into her collarbone breathing in her scent. 

“I can’t keep my hands off of you.” He mumbled into her chest. 

Astrid let out a giggle, pulling his face away from her.

“You say that everyday.” 

“And it’s true!” He exclaimed

“Every. Single. Day” He pecked her lips in between every word. 

“You’re such a dork.” 

“YOUR dork.” 

“Ew you sound just like my dad.” She said, feigning a disgusted face. 

“Speaking of your dad, when are you going to introduce me to your family?” Declan asks her, his once joking demeanor fading to nervousness. 

Astrid backed away from his touch, putting distance between them. 

“Dec..” 

“Come on Atty! We’ve been official for almost 6 months! You’ve met my mom, my brother, even my stupid cousin.”

“Your cousin doesn’t count, we have trig together.” You pointed out.

“Okay fine, but besides the point, you’ve met them!” 

“Are you ashamed of me?” He asked solemnly

“No! That’s not it Dec! My family is just…” Astrid stops to piece together her thoughts.

“They’re absolutely insane!” 

“My aunts and uncles are so loud ALL THE TIME. It’s basically impossible to get ANY work done whenever they’re around.” 

“Don’t get me started on how nosey my Uncle Mickey gets. Like I think that man forgets that he’s nearing 50 and does not need to know why Beca from fourth grade and I aren’t friends anymore.” 

“Or how my Aunt Nat and Uncle Bob, LOVE to torture my dad and the sweet little imbecile he is always takes the bait.”

Astrid didn’t notice how intense her tirade was until she felt her face heating up and Declan staring at her in amusement.

“Sorry..” she told him embarrassed at her outburst. 

“You should really breathe in between monologues, you were turning blue babe.” 

“See what I mean? They make me CRAZY, and I didn’t want you to see that side of me quite yet.” Astrid admitted.

Declan chuckled before approaching Astrid, wrapping his arms around her waist, and using a finger to have her look up at him. 

“In case you haven’t noticed, I happen to like your crazy.” Declan kisses the pout off of Astrid’s face. 

“And I really like you, and I don’t see anything short of you committing murder, changing that.” 

“Can I get that in writing?” 

“I’ll even get it notarized.” 

“Lucky for you, my family’s monthly barbeque is happening tomorrow, and I can maybeee get you an invitation.”

“Aw you’d do that for me babe?” 

“I guess, and I do happen to know the host of the party.” 

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

Declan felt a knot form in his stomach as he stood outside Astrid's house, trying to muster the courage to knock on the door. He knew he shouldn't be nervous, but he couldn't help the feeling of apprehension that was creeping up on him. What if her family didn't like him? What if he did something embarrassing? What if he accidentally insulted someone?

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Technically this was his idea, and Astrid had continually warned him about her family’s many quirks but assured him that they did have good hearts. But she didn’t elaborate further. Declan now mentally kicked himself for not asking more questions about them, now he was going into this meeting blind with no preparation or any talking points. 

“Fucking Amateur Hour Declan!” He muttered to himself, there’s no going back and changing the past now. He couldn’t stand on the front porch forever. 

Finally, he raised his hand and knocked on the door. He could hear the sounds of laughter and conversation coming from inside the house, and his nerves intensified. After what felt like an eternity, the door swung open and he was greeted by an older man, a silver fox with a broad chest wearing a leather military flight jacket. He wasn’t very tall but it didn’t make him any less terrifying. 

“So you’re the boy our little Astrid has been seeing.”  He greeted Declan with a grin 

The man had a warm smile and Declan felt himself release the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. 

Declan held out a hand towards the older man to shake. 

“No need for all of that son, welcome to the party!” 

The older man pulled Declan into a hug, clapping him on the back and dragging him into the house. 

“Don’t scare him off Pete, he just got here!” A beautiful older woman with brown shoulder length hair and kind eyes laughed at the man. 

“Sorry about him Declan, he’s just excited.”

“I’m Penny, and this is Pete.”

“Call me Mav, son.” He smiled at Declan. 

They led him to the back of the house towards the glass doors with a deck where he had a a clear view into the backyard. 

He saw a handful of men and women standing around the large yard. They held themselves in a way that made it obvious that they were military despite being out of uniform. 

Declan felt his previous nervousness return, feeling his throat get dry. He placed his hand on the door to open it, when he realized that he never properly greeted Astrid’s parents. 

“I am so sorry, I was so nervous that I forgot my manners. It’s so nice to finally meet you Mr. and Mrs Seresin.” Declan beamed at the older couple. 

“Astrid is an amazing girl and its an honor to meet the people that raised her.”

Penny and Mav stared at Declan in confusion before bursting into laughter. 

Declan stood confused at the sudden outburst. 

After they settled down, Mav clapped a hand on Declan’s shoulder. 

“You flatter us son. But we’re not Astrid’s parents.”

“I am Atty’s godmother, and Mav here is her grandpa.” 

“Hey! You say that like I’m old!” Mav pouted.

“If I’m her grandpa that makes you her grandma.” He pointed out.

“No way old man, I am perfectly happy being Auntie Penny.” 

“Yeah Yeah.” Mav wrapped an arm around Penny’s waist giving her a kiss on the temple. 

Declan felt slightly awkward watching this interaction, he wasn’t exactly used to PDA from adult couples, mostly due to his own family history of divorce. But most of it stemmed from the embarassment of wrongly assuming his girfriend’s parentage. 

“You can relax son, we definitely helped her parents with babysitting and carpool, but we can’t take credit for the woman she’s become.” Mav explained. 

“And don’t worry about us, if Atty likes you, then we like you.” 

“And that goes for all those other meatheads out in the backyard.” Penny reassured him. 

Declan nodded as the couple led him to the outside. 

“Look whos here!” Mav announced to the other attendants of the barbeque. 

The group waved and roared with excitement, greeting Declan from his vantage point on the deck. 

“Hey Dec!” His girlfriend greeted him. 

Declan momentarily forgot his troubles as he took in his girlfriend’s appearance. She looked like sunshine in her frilly yellow sundress, her head adorned with a puffy white headband, her smile beaming as she walked towards Declan’s position on the deck. 

“You’ll be okay son, we all got your back. The only person here you need to impress is that guy.” Mav pointed at a younger man, taller and somehow more menacing looking, manning the grill. 

Declan took a hard gulp as Astrid finally approached him, grabbing his hand and dragging him down the stairs of the deck towards a gathering of 3. 

“Dec, This is my Auntie Nat, Uncle Bob, and Uncle Mickey.” 

“Guys, this is Declan Belmont, my boyfriend.” 

“Nice to meet you Declan.” The woman greeted him. 

The shorter man with wire framed glasses simply smiled and nodded at Declan in greeting. 

The final man, seemed to be of hispanic descent with short buzzed hair. 

He surprised Declan by pulling him into a hug. 

���Its nice to finally put a face to a name!” Uncle Mickey beamed at Declan. 

“We all know how picky our Atty can get, so you must be something special.” 

Uncle Mickey pulled back on hug before throwing an arm around Declan’s shoulders and pulled him aside from the group and whispering. 

“ I want to know everything, do you know what you want to do after graduation? Anything you’re thinking of studying? How did you and Astrid meet? Do you love her?”

“Uncle Mickey!”

“Fanboy!” 

The other members of the group obviously heard everything from the forced huddle despite Mickey’s attempt at whispering. 

“We’ll reconvene later.” He gave a final whisper before turning back around to the rest of the group. 

Declan found purchase by Astrid’s side one again wrapping an arm around her wasit. 

“Oh no you won’t Uncle Mickey.” Astrid glared at Fanboy. 

“Yeah leave the damn boy alone.” Phoenix added. 

Bob stood silently in the middle amusement clear on his face, holding in his laughter. 

“But mija, How am I supposed to find out?”

“Fanboy, the boy has been here less than 5 minutes and you’re already giving him the third degree.” Phoenix rolled her eyes at her frend. 

“I just wanna get to know him better, see why Atty likes him so much.” 

“And don’t act like I’m the only one who’s curious” Fanboy pointed at his friends. 

“You know what, you’re right!” Bob finally spoke out. 

“I do wanna know.” 

Natasha stared at her friends in disbelief, before her face released its scowl in a look of agreement with the two men. Crossing the middle and standing by the two male daggers. 

“Traitor!” Astrid frowned at her aunt. 

“Sorry kiddo, Fanboy’s got a point”

Astrid’s face turned red in embarrassment. 

“Y’all promised to be cool.” Astrid pouted. 

The three aviators shot her an apologetic look with a shrug. 

Declan felt so much warmth and joy from watching his girlfriend interact with her family, despite their antics they all clearly deeply for one another. Almost made him forget about the menacing man across the yard watching his every move. Especially at his hand placement.

He quickly took his hand off of Astrid’s waist. Which took her by surprise, and made her think that he was horrified at her crazy family. 

“I am so sorry about them Dec. I asked them to be normal ” Astrid turned to him with pleading eyes.

Declan was confused at her uneasiness

“Don’t be! I think they’re sweet.” He replied joyfully. 

“And I will be happy to answer any and all questions you all ask me.” Declan announced to the three before distractedly looking off to the distance back to the man by the grill. 

“Then why did you..?” Astrid began to ask but trailed off as she followed her boyfriend’s line of sight, her aunt and uncles doing the same. 

“Ahh, the big man.” Mickey deduced. 

“Him? A Big Man?” 

“Are we looking at the same person right now?” Phoenix raised an eyebrow at her friend.

“I mean yeah he’s not a big man to us, but imagine how Declan feels right now.”

“Guys, you’re not making it any better.” Astrid sighed. 

“Don’t worry about him, he only looks like a grizzly bear, in actuality he is a big soft teddy bear.” Phoenix reassured the boy. 

Declan was still frozen in his place, feeling smaller he’s ever felt in his life. 

“He’s gotta meet him at some point kid, go rip the bandaid off.” Phoenix reminded her niece. 

“You’re probably right Aunt Nat.” Astrid sighed. 

“Come on Dec, lets go.” Astrid grabbed Declan’s hand and dragged him towards the grill. 

“Dad!” Astrid exclaimed as walked towards the aviator, with Declan in tow. 

“This is my boyfriend Declan.”

Declan felt frozen in place, never feeling quite as intimidated as he had in this exact moment. He outstretched a hand, a gulp trapped in his throat. The older man gave his hand a firm shake, his grip tightening and holding Declan’s in a steel grip, staring him down. 

“Dad, stop it.” Astrid chastised the man after several agonizing seconds that felt like hours to Declan.  

“But its so funny.” 

The man released his grip and his entire demeanor changed in that exact moment, like a light switch being flipped. The stoic look on his face changed to a dopey grin. 

“You should’ve seen your face! You look like you’re gonna pee your pants!” The older man chuckled. 

Declan laughed awkwardly alongside the aviator. 

“I’m sorry Dec, my dad thinks he’s funny.” 

“You used to think I was funny.” Astrid’s dad pouted.

“Yeah when I was 4”

“When I also used to think mac and cheese and mashed potatoes mixed together was the greatest food to exist.” 

“But Atty…you still think that.” Declan muttered. 

The two men maintained eye contact with one another, their grins slowly getting larger before bursting into laughter. 

Astrid stood still in her spot, a frown planted on her face. 

“Come on babe, just joking around with your dad.” 

“I think I liked you better when you were afraid of everyone.” She glared at her boyfriend. 

“Sir, has she always been this intense?” 

“Yup, even when she was a little girl, terrifying minimum wage teenage face painters who merely suggested to paint her as a butterfly, insisting yoshi was cooler.” 

“Please tell me you have a picture sir.” 

“Come on.. You know I do.” Both men laughing with one another once again. 

“I can’t believe you two are ganging up on me!” Astrid exclaimed.

“And I still stand with that previous claim, Yoshi is cooler than a butterfly.”

“You’re just further proving our point babe.” Declan smiled, reaching for Astrid’s hand once again, now feeling more comfortable. 

She dropped his hand in a huff, folding her arms across her chest. 

“I’m not a big fan of whatever.” 

“This.” waving a finger between the two men 

 “Is”

“Come on Little Chick! I thought you wanted me to get along with your boyfriend.” The mustached man pointed out. 

“Well the two of you can get along all you want in this corner, I’m going to talk to Uncle Javy and Uncle Reuben. At least they’re nice to me.” Astrid pouted as she walked away from Rooster and Declan.

Declan had the biggest smile plastered on his face watching his girlfriend walk away. 

“She’s something isn’t she?” Rooster referred to Astrid’s retreating figure. 

“That she is.”

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

Declan was honestly having a really nice time. He couldn’t remember the last time that he was at an event with extended family. It was just him, his mom, and his brother (sometimes his aunt and cousin) for as long as he could remember. Large in part due to the divorce and his dad constantly traveling for work. So it meant a lot to him that Astrid’s family welcomed him with open arms.

He had spent the better part of the hour asking Astrid’s family members funny embarrassing stories from her childhood, and he also got to meet Astrid’ Uncle Javy and Uncle Reuben, with a few more attendees joining. 

Declan was currently helping Astrid’s dad with the grill, with Mav often coming around to nitpick  the younger men’s work. And Rooster telling him to “fuck off, old man”, with Astrid and Penny laughing at their antics. 

What confused Declan was the lack of appearance from Astrid’s mom. Astrid had never mentioned having a single father so Declan knew that she probably had a mom. 

He was about to open his mouth to ask when he was interrupted by the sound of the backyard fence opening and his girlfriend’s booming voice. 

“Daddy!” 

Daddy? Wasn’t Declan already standing next to her dad?

An older blonde man dressed in service khakis had arms wide open for Astrid as she ran towards him nearly knocking him over. 

“Bagman!” Astrid’s (other?) dad exclaimed. 

The other attendees of the party approached the man. 

“Look what the cat dragged in.” Phoenix smirked

“We thought you’d be out in the Pacific for a few more weeks.” Payback commented. 

“Well y’all know me, I get shit done.”

“Plus, I missed little Pixie over here.” He answered hugging his daughter once more. 

How did Declan not know that his girlfriend had two dads? How heteronormative for him to assume that his girlfriend had a typical nuclear family? Then again she’s never mentioned too much of her family. 

The aviators threw greetings and questions at Hangman, with the man in question trying his best to answer them all. 

Declan stood at the edge of the crowd, bewildered at the new addition. Jake noticed the unfamiliar boy amongst the group.

He parted the group stopping all conversation and made eye contact with Declan. 

“Now, whos this?” Jake asked walking towards the boy. 

“Oh, daddy this is Declan. My boyfriend.” Astrid smiled introducing him. 

“Boyfriend already?” Jake turned to Bradley. 

“I thought we had more time.”

“Thats exactly what I was thinking, I was not ready.” Bradley clapped jake on the shoulder. 

“I am 16. I am more than ready. You should be too” Astrid rolled her eyes at the two men. 

“As long as you’re not ready for other things.” Bradley raised an eyebrow at the girl while Jake gave Declan a death glare. 

Astrid’s cheeks turned bright red. 

“Dad, Daddy, you’re embarassing me!” She was mortified at their behavior. 

“We just wanna make sure this boy is not gonna pressure you into something you’re not comfortable with.” Jake explained. 

“I would never sirs!” Declan interjected. 

“I can vouch for him Hangman, hes a good kid.” Bradley responded. 

“I’m going inside, this is mortifying.” Astrid ran into the house. 

“Do you need me to-?” Decaln started to follow behind her before being stopped by Jake. 

“She’ll be fine son, you stay right here.”

“ Rooster might’ve vouched for you but I’m still gonna take a peek under your hood. Make my own conclusion.” Jake led Declan to the outdoor seating beside the deck stairs. 

“So Declan right? You got a last name?” Jake asked as they both sat down.

“Belmont sir.” 

“Belmont? As in Vice Admiral Richard Belmont?” He inquired. 

“Yes sir, he’s my father.” 

“I know your dad, he works right under me, good man, dedicated to the work, dedicated to his country.”

“He works under you?” 

The pieces finally connected in Declan’s brain. Astrid Seresin. Seresin. Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Jacob Seresin. 

How did not put that together before? 

Declan stood up abruptly, assuming a salute stance. 

“I’m sorry to be disrespectful sir, I did not know you were THE Admiral Seresin.” 

“My father taught me better than that.”

“At ease son, no need for all of that.” Admiral Seresin chuckled

Declan dropped the salute but still remained standing in stance. 

“Did Astrid not tell you?”

“No sir, we did not speak too much about our families.” 

“Well if you’re really afraid of being disrespectful, kid, you gotta know that all of these people are decorated officers.” 

“Them right there are Captains Avalone, Lennox, Lee, and Bassett.” He said pointing to the men and woman that Astrid introduced as Uncles Billy, Brig, Logan, and Auntie Callie.

“Maverick was also captain before he retired.”

“Over there are Rear Admirals Floyd, Garcia, Finch, and Machado.” 

Uncle Bob, Uncle Mickey, Uncle Reuben and Uncle Javy. 

“Finally, Old Rooster and Phoenix over there. Vice Admiral Trace, and Admiral Bradshaw.”

“Holy Shit.” Declan gulped. 

“So you better treat our Astrid right, if you’re smart you can forsee how people with our experience can ruin your life, in more ways than one.” Admiral Seresin warned. 

“Understood sir.”

Declan shifted in his spot, desperate to change the subject from the possible harm that would befall him if he ever made the mistake of hurting his girlfriend. 

“So my father works under you, sir? Last I spoke to him he was stationed to the Pacific.”

“Yes, that’s where I just returned from. Your dad is still out there though.” 

“Yeah I figured, I reckon he would’ve called by now.” Declan tried to hide his disappointment. 

Jake read him easily however. He quickly remembered his absence from his daughter’s life earlier in her childhood. Immediately feeling sorry for the boy, he motioned for him to sit once again

“I get it, it's hard, I wasn’t around much for Astrid’s childhood, I was too focused on getting to.. Well here.” 

“Was it worth it sir?” 

“Not sure I can answer that, I missed a lot, but I was lucky enough to have someone who understood my ambitions.” 

“I don’t know how y’all did it sir, especially since you being the Commander of the Pacific fleet and Atty’s other dad also being an Admiral.” 

“And especially with the stigma you two had to face with the Navy.” 

“It was a little weird and difficult at first. But Astrid made it worth it. And Bradshaw has been a big help.”

“Well you two raised an amazing daughter. How long have you been together?” Declan inquired, knowing about the rampant homophobia that still unfortunately plagued the military branch. 

But seeing how well respected and high in rank the two men were he knew that couldn’t have been easy, but now they’re both in positions where no one would dare to criticize them.

“How long have we..? Wait. Do you think me and Bradshaw are..” Admiral Seresin broke out into boisterous laughter.

“Hey Rooster! Get over here!” Declan looked at the older man in confusion as the second Admiral made his way to the duo. 

“What’s up Bagman?” Rooster responded as he halted his jog. 

“Come and give me some sugar.” Jake chuckled as he brought Bradley into a tight embrace planting a wet kiss on his cheek.

Declan felt his face heat up at the PDA presented in front of him by his girlfriend’s fathers.

Bradley stumbled back after Jake released his hold, a look of amusement on his face. 

Hangman threw an arm around the other aviator. 

“Not that I’m complaining, but not sure how my wife is gonna feel about you planting one on me Bagman,” 

Rooster laughed.

Wife? Now Declan was even more confused than before. Astrid’s dad has a wife and is also with her other dad? Is the wife okay with this? Is the wife also with Commander Seresin?

Declan felt a migraine coming on from the heavy wheels spinning in his mind trying to piece together his girlfriend’s interesting family dynamic. 

“Nicholas Bradshaw! If you don’t stop running right now, you’re not getting any Ice cream!” 

Declan’s thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a woman that looked like a more mature, not necessarily older version of his girlfriend making her way down the deck, running after a little boy that looked like a miniature version of Admiral Bradshaw.

Is this the wife? She was very beautiful.  Admiral Bradshaw is a lucky man. 

Declan had so many questions. The boy he gathered was Astrid’s little brother. And then the woman , possibly her mom??? Declan just became more confused with every passing minute.

Both Admirals stared at the woman in adoration as she chased after the boy.

“But Momma, Uncle Jakey is here!” The boy ran into Admiral Seresin’s arms who picked him up with a chuckle. 

“No love for your dad buddy?” Rooster feigned hurt. 

“Uncle Jakey. Toy please.” 

“Ouch! Little man, and here I thought you were just happy to see me.” Jake answered also feigning hurt.

“Sweets! Come and meet Pixie’s boyfriend.”

“Sorry for messing with you Dec, you just made it too easy.” 

“Now who’s this?” The woman approached their chattering.

She had kind eyes and a beautiful smile. She was dressed in a sundress that almost mimicked the one his girlfriend was wearing except in an emerald color. 

“Declan, Ma’am nice to meet you.” Declan nervously held out hand to the woman who shook it gently.

“I’m Astrid’s mom, y/n. And you must be the boyfriend we’ve hardly heard anything about.”

That one annoying song that his sister used to sing non-stop, Stacy’s Mom he thinks it’s called, never made more sense to him than at that moment.

Don’t get him wrong, Declan loved Astrid, more than anything. But in some kind of alternate universe where they weren’t together and he didn’t know her and her entire family. He would proudly declare her a MILF, but at risk of pissing off his girlfriend, her grandpa, godmother, her large array of uncles and aunts, and her dads who also happened to be top ranking navy officers, he would never admit it to another soul.

“So where have you been hiding?” Astrid’s mom asked jokingly.

“Mom! Dad! Daddy!” Astrid shouted as she exited the house and jogged down to the outdoor furniture.

Astrid slid into the gap between Declan’s arm and torso, laying a hand on his chest.

“Stop giving him the third degree.” She glared at her parents. 

“Hey! I was just introducing myself to Declan here since you refused to give your poor mother anything.” Her mom pouted while poking Astrid on the tip of her nose. 

Astrid stuck a tongue out at the older woman.

“Yeah okay mom, stop acting like you didn’t grill me about Dec last night.” Pointing a finger at y/n.

“It’s not cute, mother.” 

“Your mother happens to be very cute.” Bradley wrapped an arm around the older woman planting a kiss on her forehead. 

Jake nodded in quiet agreement, but Declan noticed a glimpse of sadness behind his eyes. He wonders what’s that about.

“Ewww Mom and Dad, can you please not do that in front me and Dec.” Astrid exclaimed, further burying her face into the crook of Declan’s neck. 

“How come you two can have PDA and me and your dad can’t?” Her mom responded. 

“Because you’re old.” 

“Don’t listen to her Sweets, you’re as beautiful as the day I met you.” Jake chuckled. 

“Atty!” A small voice originating from lower ground whined. 

“Oh her buddy!” Astrid kneeled down to her little brother’s height. 

“Did you have a good practice?” She asked grabbing Nick’s little body into her lap tickling his neck and making him laugh hysterically. 

“I want kiss!.” He shouted through his giggles.

“Anything for you Goosey!” Astrid covered her little brother’s face in kisses. 

“Momma too!” 

“Oh of course my little goose.” Y/n laughed as she kneeled down to the same level as her children. 

“What a lucky little dude.” Bradley smiled. 

The two other men chuckled watching the love fest before them. 

“Not to interrupt your little family time but since you were distracted Bradley, I took it upon myself to cook the steaks PROPERLY.” Maverick shouted across the backyard. 

“Come and get your steaks!” 

“Oh sweet, steak grandpa mav style is my favorite.” Astrid exclaimed picking up her little brother and making her way to the grill, Declan close in tow. 

“Yay steak!” Nick cheered

“Is it ‘Hurt Dad’s feelings day’, Little Chick?” Bradley groaned as he followed the rest of the group to the food. 

Jake hung back watching the sight before him. His daughter, so grown up, so beautiful, smart, and headstrong. Just like her mother. 

Jake thought back to Declan’s earlier question. Was it all worth it? Those 4 years where y/n and Astrid away was some of the loneliest of his life. He honestly took that time to take every deployment, work every detachment, and because Y/n needed time to think, he for that time being never felt guilty for his ambition.

.Y/n could never be malicious enough to keep him away from his daughter. She gave him every opportunity to be involved.  Of course, he visited his daughter as often as he could. But it definitely was not often enough. His work was all he had, he thought, so he threw himself into it completely. Up to the point where he finally surpassed Rooster. 

When those four years were up it was clear where his priorities lied, and in a way he understood what Y/N said before. He was selfish for making her take a back seat to it for so long, when she and their daughter deserved so much more than that. 

It honestly didn’t surprise him when Y/N chose Bradshaw in the end, he was there for Y/N and for Astrid when he couldn’t. It didn’t make it hurt any less though. He definitely had some dark years after that. Years where he would go months into his work, not bothering to keep in touch with his ex-wife and daughter. 

No one heard from his for an entire year after he caught wind of their wedding and Bradshaw legally adopting his daughter. 

All he had was his career, his ambitions, it was the only thing keeping him going. He thought that’s all he needed. It should have been enough. His lifelong longing should it been quenched when he was promoted to Admiral, a full 4 years before Bradshaw. He finally won. 

But did he really? 

He threw himself into a drunken stupor at the Hard Deck, ‘happily’ celebrating his promotion. Alone. Completely Alone. 

But Y/N, sweet and strong Y/N, walked into the bar. And dragged him to his feet pulling him to his senses. 

“I gave you space all these years Jake because I thought it was what you needed. I know the news about me and Bradley was not going to bve easy for you so I stayed away, I didn’t want you to think we were rubbing it in your face. I didn’t say anything when you went years making Astrid feel like she didn’t have a father, Bradley stepped in because that is the type of man he is and he loves her. But that deosn’t change the fact that you’re her father, she still looks for you every birthday, checks the news to make sure nothing bad has happened to you, still tears up whenever she sees or hears Pixie Sticks. We may have not worked out Jake, but that doesn’t mean you abandon her.” Jake hadn’t seen so much pain in your eyes since that final night before you left. 

“She doesn’t want to see me. You left me.”

“Exactly. I left you Jake. Your daughter didn’t.” 

“ And all she wants now is you to show up and apologize for the years you missed and eat the cake she baked for you for your promotion, instead of sitting here wasting away alone”

“She baked me a cake?” Jake asked his eyes filled with tears and hope for the first time in over 7 years. 

“Yeah she did. Even wrote “Congrats Daddy” on it with light green frosting to match your eyes.”

You nodded. 

“Okay, take me to see Pixie.” He smiled. 

That was 5 odd or so years ago. It took a lot of work but through endless groveling, apologies, and carefully curated gifts. Rooster finally forgave him. 

Just kidding, Astrid forgave him. Of course she says that there was no forgiving needed to be done in the first place, the young girl knew that her dad had things to work out on his own before he was ready to come home to her. But Hangman knew better and he made sure to make up for the 7 years of missed birthdays, holidays, and just regular Daddy-Daughter time, and as an admiral he had more leeway to pick his schedule and deployments. 

Things with Rooster also got better, despite his years of resentment towards the man, he definitely appreciated the care that he gave you and your daughter in his absence (even if he didn’t appreciate the way it begun). After a couple years of awkwardness where the two men couldn’t be left alone in a room together, they found a mutual respect and admiration for both of their work and dedication to the Navy. 

The two were definitely more alike than they realized, it just took an intense rivalry, a couple of punches thrown, a few black eyes, a pair of bruised jaws, a divorce, a wedding and adoption, and a couple of years of close proximity to unlock.

From there bloomed a friendship that can’t be described by anything other than a total “bromance”.

As he stood in the yard contemplating his journey to that moment, he was pulled out of his thoughts by your hand caressing his cheek. 

“How you doing Zuko?” You smiled at him with bright eyes. 

“I’m doing good Sweets.” 

“Just thinking about how fast time has passed.” He explained.

“It has been a wild ride hasn’t it?” You responded, dropping your hand, placing it back to your side. 

Jake felt cold from the removal of your hand, his body still searching for your warth even after all these years. He tried to hide his disappointment from his face but you knew him better than that. 

“You know I will always love you, right Jake?” You smiled at him sympathetically. 

“We’ve been through so much together, and even though it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, I will be eternally grateful to you.” 

“You gave me her.” Your eyes twinkled looking at Astrid. 

“And you know I will never get over you right?” Jake responded, his voice thick with melancholy. 

“Maybe…” You began.

“But I hope someday you will. Our love, our connection was so filled with fight and fire, and I loved it… I loved you. But after all of that, we were just left with ashes.” You looked at him, your smile bittersweet. 

“You taught me how to love Jake, and loving you, prepared me to love him.” You gestured to Bradshaw. 

“To love them.” 

You looked lovingly at your family, your friends, your husband, your children. 

“Promise me Jake, that when the time comes. You will take that love, the love you had for me, the love we shared, and you will use it to love someone who deserves it.”

“Because you deserve someone amazing, someone who will love better than I ever did.” 

You walked backwards towards the others, flashing him that same smile that started all of this, before turning around and walking away. 

“Okay.” He smiled to himself, joining the rest of the party. 

Tag List below!

@dhekebekenen

@alldaysdreamers

@frenchtoastix

@gummybear1178

@blackkcami

@fuzzy-panda

@callsignvenus

@puriini

@roosterschanelslut

@babes4barnes

@rintheemolion

@sapnapsbandana

@mamimia300

@tracysnook

@alexwinchester23

@samthespousehaver

@babyice1274

@mylittledaydreamlog

@sunshine-hufflepuff31

@saramaple

@therealautobotgirl

@nonononomiles

@townmoondaltwistle

@seresinhangmanjake

@zzsloth

@thegladeslut

@playingfordean

@jostyriggslover96

@starshipfantasy

@offftotheraces

@daisyhollyxox

@callsignhoney

@spidey-d00d

@multifandomfangirll

@rintheemolion

@bluecrush611

@abentz

@babes4barnes

@icemansgirl1999

@users09

@alexizodd

@mrsjobarnes

@starwars-fan26

[have-you-seen-my-sanity]

Little Bunny 7

Yandere William Afton/Steve Raglan x reader

Dead dove do not eat! - you will get exactly what's in the tags!

Tags: FNAF, mature themes, description of injury, blood, wound treatment, obsessive behavior.

William returned into the Pizzeria. Entering the supply storage, he rounded the springlocks back in place. It took him some time to do it because of the parts on his arm that pierced his flesh, but eventually he got it and started to remove the suit.

After removing the suit, he got a first aid kit, rolled his sleeve up, grabbed a cloth and wrapped it around his arm just below his elbow to slow down the blood flow through the area, he got some sterile gauze pads and pressed them onto the blood leaking wounds before bandaging his arm up. After making sure his arm was treated William left the Pizzeria.

Meanwhile you and your friend were back Home and having a discussion,

"After you told me your story I think it would be wise to call the police." Your friend suggested

"What should I tell them? I got attacked by an animatronic in an abandoned Pizzeria, kicked it in the arm and it started bleeding? They would immediately think I am mentally insane." You made clear and your friend took a deep breath before continuing

"Listen...Mr. Raglan told you about those springlock suits. If you tell the police, they will check the whole place, find the suit and if there's blood left then they will for sure analyse it to see who it belongs to."

You thought about the possibility but then a doubt came in,

"But what if the guy took the suit? Trust me I haven't seen this suit at the first night after looking around the place."

Your friend sighed, "True, but what if we tell Mr. Raglan about this? I'm sure he will come up with anything." she suggested as you frowned,

"The owner of the place already improved the security, I don't think he will improve it even further.",

"Okay, hold on a second. I will come with you tomorrow, we would be two and could inspect the place. And if that guy shows up again, we will kick that guy's ass and get him arrested this time." your friend suggested and you thought about it before agreeing with a nod.

----------

4th Night.

12 AM.

You sat inside the office, watching the security cameras while your friend walked around the place. She checked the whole place, even parts and service but couldn't find any trace of the suit, not even blood. So she got back to the office as soon enough the Animatronics came out once again. They were curious about your friend but other than that, they kept you company.

It was 5:30 AM and that's when you realized something suspect.

"You know what's weird? The first night the animatronics showed up. The second night the animatronics didn't show up, and that's when I was attacked. The third night, they showed up for about 2 hours but left again. Then the Yellow Rabbit attacked me. I remember hiding inside Pirate Cove and Foxy was like- deactivated. And now the Animatronics came to us once again and no signs of that yellow freak." You explained to her as she paused to think,

"So you're telling me whoever attacked you deactivated the Animatronics before he went inside here? Or- uhm- controls them somehow?" She gave you a confused look and frowned.

You sighed and shook your head a little bit, "To be honest I don't know." you answered as soon enough it was 6 AM and both of you made your way home.

----------

William was watching on his laptop again, still furious at you for the stunt you pulled on his arm. He went to his bathroom, slowly unrolling the bandages, removing the gauze pads and turned on the water to wash dirt out of the rather deep flesh wounds, then dried his arm lightly before renewing the gauze pads and wrapping the bandages back around his arm to keep the wound cleaned.

As William was done he went to his bedroom, taking some pills for the pain and going to sleep as his thoughts were filled with how he could make you pay for what you did to him and most importantly:

Making you his.

[multiversemaker169]

Even more Inside Out incorrect quotes

1.Anger: People tell me I have a unique way of lighting up a room.

Disgust: It’s called arson, and those people are called witnesses.

2.Ennui: You think that’s cringe? Moms around the world wait 9 months just to end up naming their kid Anger.

Anger: Hey, fuck you.

3.Fear: Tommorrow's garbage day.

Ennui: I can't believe they made a whole day dedicated to you.

4.Embarrassment: Unfortunately, due to several experiences in my youth, I can not just 'walk up and join a circle of people talking', but it does sound lovely, thank you.

5.Anger: No homo. We’re fresh out. We should get a new shipment in on Monday.

Ennui: Can you check in the back?

Joy: There might be some in the closet.

6.Disgust, about to leave the house: Don’t spend all day watching YouTube, okay?

Ennui: I FORGE MY OWN PATH!!

7.Anxiety: I need life advice.

Joy, sipping Gatorade and eating cookie dough: You came to the right person.

8.Anger, to Embarrassment : Please, picking locks is my specialty.

Anger: *throws a brick through the window*

Anger: Okay, let’s go.

9.Ennui: *looks at Envy*

Ennui: Baby girl. Baby.

Ennui: *looks at Anger*

Ennui: Evil.

10.Disgust, setting down a card: Ace of spades.

Joy, pulling out an Uno card: +4.

Anger, pulling out a Pokémon card: Jolteon, I choose you!

Fear, trembling: What are we playing?!

11.Joy: How late were you up last night?

Anxiety & Ennui, in tandem: Me?

Joy: No, not you two. You stay up late all the time.

Joy, to Sadness: You.

12.Fear: Good morning.

Sadness : Good morning.

Envy: Good morning.

Ennui: You all sound like robots. Try spicing it up a bit.

Anger: MORNING MOTHERFUCKERS!

13.Joy: You're a lying piece of shit!

Anger: Oh yeah? You're the idiot that thinks you can get away with everything you do, WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!

Anxiety: I'm leaving, and I'm taking Envy with me!

Fear, gathering cards: Aaaaand that's enough Monopoly for today.

14.Anxiety: What did you get Fear for his birthday?

Anger: I got him a kitten.

Anxiety: Really? Me too!

Disgust: I also got him a cat.

Joy: Looks like we had the same idea.

Anger: Ennui, please tell me you didn't get Fear a cat as well!

Ennui: ...I got him a kitten.

*later*

Fear, in his apartment surrounded by cats and kittens: This is the best birthday ever!

15.Shapeshifter: *transforms to look like Disgust*

Disgust: Okay, are you like BLIND? You look nothing like me. First off, I'm way taller. Secondly, I DO NOT look so sleep deprived, and lastly, if you could drag comb through that hair, you're like a 7 on a good day, and I've been told I'm a constant 10.

16.Fear, to Anger: You drink too much, swear too much, and your morals are highly questionable.

Anger: …

Fear: You are everything I’ve ever wanted in a best friend.

17.Disgust: What are you two arguing about this time?

Anger: She's always using common phrases incorrectly!

Joy: Cry me a table, Anger.

18.Embarrassment: Where’s my chair?

Joy: Anger broke it over Anxiety’s back while they were wrestling.

Anxiety: Correction, Anger was wrestling. I was eating soup.

19.Anxiety: What's the worst thing you guys have done?

Joy: Rickrolled my teacher in 4th grade.

Fear: I accidentally kicked Disgust in the shin-

Disgust : -So I purposely kicked Fear between the legs.

Anger: I burned a town down.

Anxiety: What?!

Disgust: What the hell is wrong with you?!?

Anger: A lot of things.

Anxiety: No shit!

20.Joy: Every time I hear someone talking about updog, I’m torn between not wanting to fall for it and wanting to help them complete their joke.

Envy: Okay, but what is updog?

Joy: Updog is a long sausage in a bun, often served with ketchup, mustard, onions, and/or relish.

Anger: No, that’s a hot dog. An updog is when a new version or patch of an application is released.

Sadness: No, that's an update. You’re thinking of the fourth largest city in Sweden.

Ennui: Surely, that’s Uppsala, where’s updog is the giant spider in Harry Potter.

Anxiety: That’s Aragog. Updog is a symbol conventionally used for an arbitrarily small number in analysis proofs.

Fear: You’re thinking of epsilon. Updog is an upward-moving air current.

Embarrassment: No, that’s an updraft. An updog is the modern version of a henway.

Disgust: What’s a henway??

Joy: Oh, about five pounds.

[zhaozi]

before we get into what happened in the kindergarten mafia discord, i want to make sure that this post doesn't end with people critcising the ethics of taking and using screenshots of private conversations. if you are needling someone over the ethics of screenshots, please remember that the focus of this conversation is about racism and a two month long cover up from a mod plus a lot of questionable behaviours from the admin team.

this post might jump around a lot in the timeline but in order to be as concise as possible i am going to share the original screenshots of the timeline from the server admin themselves.

as you can see from this timeline, this is not an isolated event. this is a continuing pattern that has been going on a long time during which whenever will entered the server he was greeted by those who were lying to him about the progress that was being made. now to start my recollection of events. 7th October

someone used the phrase 'spirit animal' in an incorrect context and was graciously told by tay, a member of the server, that it was not oaky. isak came in with 'a joke' (jokes are funny and do not harm cultures, this is not a joke but for the statement i am using their terminology). isak was 'modded' by rachael who equivicated native culture to a religion which is further offending native cultures and practices. will, who is native, came in and made a short statement defending his culture. he was not rude, he was not offending other people, he was clearly stating that his culture is not a joke. after this statement will did not re-enter creative chat or the server to talk about anything. however, rachael swiftly came into his inbox and modded him about his behaviour stating that he was 'almost mini-modding' and that was against server rules. this was done without the knowledge of other mods.

you can see those screenshots in will's post and draw your own conclusions. you can also see the apology rachael sent.

Between the 7th and 26th of October

A lot of conversations happened between Hann and Corvus during this time that I was not privvy to as I was just a mod at the time. 26th October during the mod meeting we had, rachael made it clear that she had modded isak in an official capacity for his comments about native culture. the other party involved had also been modded in an official capacity and made the mistake out of ignorance - they then took the time to educate themselves. during the meeting, mods faye and morgan pushed for a statement about racist behaviour in the server. highlighting the important of educating ourselves to protect members of our community. it was also decided that a poc mod would be bought onto the team because 5 white people are not fully equiped to handle the topic of racism.

Between 26th October and 4th December

during this period, not much hapapened to my knowledge. we continued general modding of the server which included an uncomfortable topic of xenophobic actions and fetishisation within the server. the task of handling this conversation was given to the poc mod. immediately they were talked over by the server member and the server member went straight to the admin - invalidating the poc mod and further proving that there is an inherent problem regarding views of poc in the server.

4th of December

on the 4th of december, mod faye bought it to everyones attention in the mod chat that rachael had not done what she said she would regarding adding the conversation where she 'modded' isak for his comment. she was given 6 weeks to do this and hadn't done it.

the following conversation happened - please be aware the timestamps are different because these screenshots have been gathered from multiple sources.

6th December

a statement was released talking about how rachael had left the mod team. originally it contained the phrase 'stepped down from the mod team'. faye and i pushed for this to be changed because 'stepped down' makes it seem like she left for honest reasons. in reality she left before she could be fired. we always wanted to have an announcement about her no longer being a mod that included a brief explaination of why she was no longer a mod and a second anouncement about racism within the server.

san shared concerns that people of colour were not being listened to in the server and was immediately pushed back against with an admin asking why people are sharing information. i sent a private message of my concerns to hann and they asked for clarification so this is what i said

after this hann and corvus talked and decided to take some time to rest as it was a stressful experience for them. during that time communication from me was limited as i was in hospital - it is not necessary to know the reasons, just that i had to prioritise what i spent my limited time doing.

faye was amazing during this time and came up with a step by step plan for the mods to follow.

7th of December

after having enough of placations and pleasentries, will dropped his account of what happened into the server. he put it in four threads, all of which were relevent to the situation.

he did this without telling anyone.

this is rachael's immediate response to the statements.

immediately she is trying to get the statement deleted on a technicality. i was the only mod awake at that time because of timezone issues. it was not fun. i refused to delete the statements that will made because i was not going to be complicit in covering up what happened. i refused to silence the voice of a native man who's culture had been the butt of some 'joke'. concurrent to rachael leaving, the clarifications channel was on fire. people were immediately running to attack will for what he had done. calling on him to be banned and asking him to 'prove' what happened to him.

during this time the original person who made a joke admitted that he knew it was a racist joke but he did it anyway. he was still never modded for this behaviour and considering one of the rules is don't be racist, you'd think the mods would've banned him after this but no.

me and faye worked overtime in that thread. consistently fielding questions about 'what do poc want?', 'why isn't will here explaining himself?', and 'what is going to happen next.' i devoted the limited time i had in hospital to answering the questions in the clarifications channel. this meant i was less active in mod chat and i explained this situation to the admins/other mods at the time. me and faye gave action plan after action plan, we wrote and provided statements, we fed back on what people of colour were saying both in the server and in our dms. it was exhausting but we btoh did it because we wanted the server to be a safe space for everyone. so imagine our suprise when we were promptly fired for our actions. on. fayes. birthday.

faye was removed from mod chat after this but i remained a little longer. (image has some redacted personal information)

we were fired for listening to poc voices and trying to highlight the systemic issues within the server. i can't add anymore images but this issue was reignited a few days ago. in response to innocent questions, a mod started cruelly talking to a black member of the community, telling them how much they were disliked. they followed by banning her. they also refused to delete their work within the server. same with will. given how much hann preaches about content theft - it's ironic that they keep ideas that aren't theirs. i entered into the conversation again because i am in a position of privlege with my whiteness. i fielded questions about will and jynx and 'how accusing someone of racism is worse than being racist'. following this my friends and i were also banned from the server. the server was eventually put on read only but not until after the mods had a lovely joking session about banning us with the server members. hann said she apologised to the server members for their 'gallows humour' when joking about the banned people.

this is a little reminder that gallows humour is for those at the gallows. when you're in the audience, you're just laughing at a dying person.

hann never apologised to us but hann & alex did have more fun vagueposting about us on tumblr and making memes about purging members. all while there is still no response to the racism that happened in the server that they were complicit in.

following the closure of the server, hann created a new server with cult like rules which i'm sure you have seen floating around. i was not innocent in all this mess. at first i was complicit in wanted to keep a calm, steady ship. then i was educated by some truly wonderful people in the fandom that sweeping things under the rug just leaves more room for hostility to grow. from then i changed my views and started advocating for firmer stances on racism within the fandom space. that idea wasn't received well.

tldr; racism in fandom spaces spreads further than you think. the amount of bias that people unwillingly show is intense. i was fired as a mod for supporting poc.

[kaylawritess]

sypnosis: When Steve told you he wanted six kids, you thought he was joking. Spoiler! he wasn't.

Dad Steve Harrington.

"Steve do you really want six kids?" You ask, a little worried considering you're 9 months pregnant and about to pop and he's already talking about your second.

"Oh yeah. All girls too. Though a mini Steve doesn't sound too bad." He says, flicking through a magazine with his hand on your thighs that are draped over his lap.

"I'm not promising you six kids. If this one's gives us hell you best believe you're getting the snip." You say pointing at his croch and he winces when he thinks of it.

"I'd obviously never force you but doesn't a van full of kids sound fun? Never a dull moment in the Harrington house." He adds with a happy look on his face.

Little did you know your first daughter was hours away from being born.

21/11/87, The first Harrington daughter, Sylvie Harper Harrington, was born.

"She's so cute." You say, your eyes welling up with tears from holding your daughter for the first time.

"She won't stay this small forever." Steve complains, a sob leaving his mouth and you hear Robin's cackle from the side of the room.

"I'm not saying now but when she starts walking maybe we could have another one?" You cave and Steve looks up smiling.

"Really?" His eyes have such excitement and love filling them, how could you ever say no to him?

Steve was whipped. He knew he loved you but seeing you give birth to his child and raise her had him obsessed with you.

So it wasn't much of a suprise that 6 months after Sylvie's birth you were staring at positive pregnancy test.

16/2/89, the second Harrington girl was born. Her name being Juno Faye Harrington.

Both the Harrington girls gave their parents hell. You and Steve thought you were done with kids.

Steve was upset but he knew he would always love his girls but he never felt like their family was complete.

You weren't trying. But 4 years after Juno was born you were sat in a random diner, on the way to Iowa to visit your parents, which already had you nervous since they hadn't met Juno yet, the two lines on the pregnancy test didn't help to calm your nerves either.

4/11/93, the third Harrington was born. You and Steve hadn't thought of names after your other two girls made you not want more kids so after a very stressful pregnancy and a few days of thinking after she was born, Aven Samantha Harrington was finally named.

Juno and Sylvie were obsessed with their little sister. So was Steve. He missed the getting up at night and seeing you feed his daughters.

He missed seeing you getting excited over the tiny milestones.

It was you who brought up the idea of a 4th child.

Aven was one and a half when you started trying, you knew Steve was fertile but 9 months after you were heavily pregnant and trying to figure out a name.

"Why didn't we just find our the gender?" You ask with a huff, throwing the baby book down on the floor, but quietly not wanting to wake your daughters.

"We both know it's a girl. I'm incapable of having boys, not that I mind. I love my girls." He looks over to you and you have a look on your face.

"Livia! If it's a girl can we pleaseeee call her Livia?" You beg. Even going as far as to clasp your hands together.

"You're acting like I'd say no to you. Of course we can. What if it's a little boy though?" He says, rubbing your belly with a smile.

"Junie said we have to name him Wells." You smile, not hating the name at all.

"Hi Livia or Wells." Steve leans down and kissed your stomach.

4 days later, 22/1/96 Livia Rose Harrington was welcomed to the world.

Now with 4 kids life was more hectic then ever. Sylvie was 8 and wasn't happy sharing a room with Juno anymore. So they were house hunting.

What didn't help was Aven kept pointing at your stomach saying babies were in there.

"Aven, if mommy's pregnant why isn't she big?" You asked your sweet daughter with a sigh, trying to get her to go to sleep.

"Because the boys are only little mommy." She says, pushing her face into your chest while you sigh

That night, 6 months after the birth of Livia, you were sat on the toilet with a positive test in your hand. Just like you were 7 years ago with Juno.

On the 28th of May, 1997, you gave birth to twin boys. You also got your tubes tied that day.

Your boys, Lux Becker and Wells Elliot Harrington were born.

You and Steve agreed no more kids at the appointment when you found out it was twins.

Steve got his van full of kids and you got to feel like your family was complete.

Growing up in the house, there was never a quiet moment. Whether it was Sylvie kicking her younger siblings out of her room and then playing Metallica as loudly as she could (Eddie always gave her Cds)

Or Juno crying about how she can't figure out what to draw next and needs to call her uncle Dustin right at that very moment, didn't matter if it was 2am.

Or even Aven running after Steve with her makeup begging to make him pretty or asking if her she could go to a makeup store.

And Livia, their quietest child would have her nose in a book while her younger brothers ran around throwing baseballs at their dad who always had a smile on his face.

When Sylvie came and told you both that she was expecting at 18, just as you were 18 years ago. Steve broke out in tears.

Excited to be there for a whole new newborn stage and to be a grandpa.

Robin never let him live it down.

"Dude you're a whole grandpa at 37!" She teased and Steve's eyes welled up with tears again.

"My baby is so grown up." He sobbed and you rolled your eyes, moving yourself in front of him.

"Honey, you really have to stop crying when anyone brings it up. You cried in Cosco yesterday." He shoves his head into your shoulder, his body shaking as he cries.

"Mommy! My water broke!" You hear Sylvie say and Steve stands up so fast you stagger back slightly.

Sylvie waddles downstairs with her hospital bag in hand.

"Steve start timing her contractions. Sylvie come sit down we won't be going anywhere until your daddy calms down." You sit your daughter down and rub her back, letting her squeeze your hand through her contractions.

You look up at Robin and she's already nodding, knowing you're asking her to watch the other 5.

"Steve. Honey, snap out of it. Go start the car please."

"I'm gonna be a grandpa!"

...

Cute lil Steve fluff!!

[thechaotictheoryy]

Unravel | 6. The Boy I Once Loved Pt. 2

summary: What if you had chains around your heart but you were the one who put them there? If you took a look at Parker’s heart, you would see a nice beating heart but Parker felt there were heavy metal chains wrapped it. After years of a disconnected relationship with her parents and a hard break up with her boyfriend of four years, Parker Williams made her heart mentally chained. Declaring to never fall in love again but what happens when she meets a witty musician who is all about seeking love?

pairing: main character x Hongjoong ft. ex! Yeosang

genre: (18+ minors dni), romance, fluff, lots of angst, coming to age, college au, smut, strangers to lovers, self discovery

word count: 4,636

chapter warnings: flashback againnn, self realization, Parker talking to the girl from Yeosang's apartment, Jessica being the goat.

song rec for this chapter: Better Things by Aespa

Wednesday November 4th, 2020 

The time was finally here. 

The showing of my big art piece was going to be shown in the LAMC. I was going to be a part of the November to February art gallery because my piece fit the theme better. I ended up destroying the piece I had been working on and painted the new piece for almost eighteen hours straight on that Sunday after I was discharged from the hospital. Nicole and Kayla had to pull me out of my room for dinner because I didn’t eat that entire day. I was determined to get it done because my emotions were at an all time high. I ended up breaking down like twice while painting but it made the details even more beautiful. 

It was about 7:30 at night and the gallery was opening up at 8:15. I looked in the mirror at my outfit and I smiled. I was really about to let over thousands of people see my work and I was excited yet nervous. All of my art class including Mr. Cook told me they were coming to see it. My class was a very supportive bunch, you always just needed a group of people who knew it was okay to fail because there is always room for improvement and success. I hope Mr. Cook was going to be proud of me. I always take the opportunity he has given me since freshman year to heart. He really is one of the first teachers I ever had to treat me like I was his kid and wanted to see me be something in life. 

“Come on Parker! It’s like a 30 minute ride!” I heard Nicole yell. 

“I’ll be right out!” 

After I finished fixing myself and grabbing my bag, we headed out. Los Angeles was so beautiful at night and I was always amazed when we came down here at night. Despite me being from here, I never was downtown till I had started dating Yeosang. 

Yeosang... 

He tried to contact me a few times after that night but I always kept ignoring it. I blocked him  a few times then would unblock just because in case he was in a death or life situation, he could still reach me. I hated him for what he did but I still loved him very much. He was my first love after all, I could never leave him to suffer when he needed someone on his side. It was the kindness in my heart and just how insanely in love I still was with him. I wish it would go away but love never goes if it was real and I, Parker Williams, was indescribably in love with him. I hate to admit it but I probably won’t be dating for a while. 

I must have been thinking about it for a long time because we had just parked in the parking lot of the museum. I took a few deep breaths before getting out of the car. I saw a lot of people dressed up and walking inside, it made me even more anxious. I felt my palms getting sweaty and my body slightly starting to tremble. I felt Nicole grab my left hand and Kayla grab my right, they both smiled at me. I smiled back at them and we walked in the museum. My ears were filled with all the voices in the room, there were over thousands of people here already. I saw the gallery and there were red clothes on all of them. I had to be there a little early so I could stand next to my piece, I squeezed my roommates hands then walked away. I told the people at the red ropes my name and showed my ID, they let me right in. I looked around at all the paintings that were covered, it had to be about 20 pieces that were going to be shown today. I just hope mine was up to par as the other talented painters. 

Most of these were shipped in, all the painters were from different parts of the world and all order than me. I was the only person under 27 who had a piece in here today, that was huge in my eyes. I saw my name and the large canvas on the wall. I walked slowly to it and tears came to my eyes. I wonder how many doors this would open for me, I wasn’t trying to be too emotional but I knew this opportunity could either put me on the map or just another mediocre piece that would be known to locals. I checked the time again and it was two minutes before they were going to remove the ropes for people to come. I saw two men walk over to me and they removed the red cloth off the painting. I was in awe at my own piece, it felt so different seeing again. I think that atmosphere had an effect on my thought process. It felt like the two minutes went by fast because I could hear the noises of people filling the room and the sounds of heels hitting the ground. 

“Wow,” I heard someone say behind me. 

I turned around and there were 50 people staring at my piece. I think it caught other people's attention and almost everyone in the room was looking at me and my work. I moved to the side so they could read the title and the description about it. The name of it was called “Trouble in Paradise”. It was two angels crying and facing each other, holding bleeding hearts. There were big holes in their chest to show the pain and struggle of ripping out their hearts. The sky was blue and the shine was shining bright on them. Their mouths were open to indicate they were yelling at each other. I remember crying about this after I finished it. It was one of the best pieces I ever did so far and it was just an expression of my pain. I felt someone tap my shoulder and I turned to see Mr. Cook and my class. 

“You guys made it!” 

“Parker, this painting,” Mark said. 

“Do you guys like it?”

“Hell yeah,” all of them said in unison and gave me a thumbs up. 

“I’m proud of you Parker, especially after you told me what happened,” Mr. Cook said, patting my back. 

I slightly smiled at him and looked back at my painting. Two days after my break up when I went to turn in the painting to Mr. Cook, he could tell I was off and he has observed me for the past year to kind of know me more than I know myself at times. I broke down in front of him. He just listened to me and watched me cry. He let me vent for about an hour straight, he didn’t judge me nor did he say the words “everything will be okay”. He was real and honest with me. 

The world won’t stop because you’re sad. Take that heartbreak and pain and place it into your work. 

He let me hug him for thirty minutes as I got myself together. He was the kind of person I wanted as my father. He was right with what he said, the world won’t stop rotating or take a pause for me. It’ll keep going until it’s ready to fall apart. I knew his words were going to stay with me for a while because I needed to take the phrase with me into every hardship I go through, whether it be my paintings not getting noticed or more heartbreaks that happen to me. 

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see Jessica.

“You told me you couldn’t make it,” I gave her a hug. 

“My job let me get off early because I told them I had to come support my little cousin,” she rubbed my back. 

I remember telling Jessica about my break up and she was ready to find Yeosang. I know the first thing she would want to do is to bear his ass but I didn’t want him to get kicked out of the university. I know her reasons for coming to school and I didn’t need to fall into the place she was in before she got here. Jessica always felt like something was up with Yeosang but she saw how happy I was with him so she put her opinions to the side. 

But her opinions were right. 

“This is beautiful,” she said, looking up. 

“Only took me a few hours because of how hurt I was” 

“Guess this is how painters put their best work out by being hurt sometimes” 

“Sometimes, some painters are just happy in general or in love when they put out their best work” 

“You know I know nothing about art but I support it because I find it interesting” 

“I know,” I laughed. 

Two hours passed and I met so many people in that amount of time. I was watching how I represented myself and talked to them because I didn’t know who was big time or who could have connections to someone important. I hope I will get something out of tonight. The gallery was about to close in about an hour. This family I was currently talking to were some sculptors and they were just giving me some tips if I ever wanted to invest into it. 

“Are you Parker Williams?” I heard a voice with a thick Korean accent behind me. 

“I am,” I turned around and my eyes widened. 

It was Mr. Oh Se-jung, he was the president of Seoul National University. I was in complete shock that Mr. Cook had to pinch my side. 

“Mr. Cook has told me so much about you and your class. He invited me here about two weeks ago, saying you got picked to have your painting here. He also sent me photos of some of your other work.  I just want to say your piece is amazing,” he shook my hand. 

I looked at Mr.Cook and he smiled at me. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. The 27th president of Seoul National University was speaking to me, admiring my painting. I didn’t think this would ever happen or maybe not this soon in my life. 

“It’s an honor to have you here sir”

“I heard you were thinking about doing a study abroad program at Korea National University for the summer?”

“Yes, it was one of the schools I was thinking about” 

He turned to my painting and walked up to it a little more then turned his head, smiling at me. The next words that came out his mouth was nothing that I was expecting. 

“Mm, I would like to give you a summer scholarship to SNU. Everything paid including your flight there and back. You’ll also be able to stay in one of the small apartments near the university. You don’t have to give me an answer right now but I need one in about a week so I can put your name and send you the application to apply” 

My mouth slightly dropped and I felt my heart rate increase. Did this man just say a full ride and everything paid for? This isn’t just my imagination right? My legs felt a little weak but I need to be professional right now, I could not embarrass myself right now and faint. 

“Yes, yes I accept. It would be a pleasure to be a student at your university” 

“It’s settled then, I’ll get Mr. Cook to email me your information. It was nice meeting you Parker and can’t wait to have you with us this summer,” he smiled and walked away, going to look at other pieces. 

I looked at Mr. Cook and hugged him tight. This felt like a dream, a dream that I didn’t want to wake up from. Maybe my break up happened for a reason. I didn’t believe in fate or things aligning with the stars but it was just the right timing for what I just went through. My nights of crying till my eyes dried and beating myself up in my head got me here, which is sad but it’s the truth. This night is definitely going down as one of the best nights ever in my life. 

As the night came to a close, the director told me at the last minute that the artists present had to say a thank you speech to everyone before the closing for the night. I didn’t have a fear of speaking in front of crowds but I hated when I would start talking fast so I would trip over my words a lot. I was listening to some of the thank you speeches from some others who were present and they kept it too short for my liking. 

When it finally got to my turn, they handed me the mic and I took a deep breath. 

“Hey everyone, my name is Parker Williams and I’m a student at USC. Thank you to everyone who came and checked out my painting called Trouble in Paradise. Special thanks to Mr. Cook, my art teacher, for giving me such an opportunity to showcase my work. Thank you LAMC for giving me a chance and having me displayed in the November-February gallery. I hope my painting made you think and made you figure out the meaning. I can’t wait for my next pieces to share with the people of Los Angeles and in the country. You guys have a nice night and thank you again” 

I heard people start to clap and some cheered, the loudest ones were my classmates and Jessica. I laughed a little and blew a kiss to them. I was ready to go back to my dorm and sleep. I was so worried about how to go tonight that the mental exhaustion was starting to hit my body. After telling everyone goodbye, I headed back to campus with Nicole and Kayla. 

I fell into my bed with a big smile on my face. I wanted to relive this night for a long time. I pulled out my phone and went through my contacts till I found my mom’s name. I sighed and pressed the call button, putting the phone up to my ear. I usually call sometimes just to check up on them because they were still my parents. 

“Yes Parker?”

I told her everything that happened in the past week and it was just silent for a few seconds. I don’t know if she didn’t know what to say or she was trying to process everything that I said. 

“Sorry to hear about your break up and congratulations,” her voice was so monotone. 

“Thanks mom” 

“I’ll let your father know what you told me tonight” 

“If you don’t care, I’m sure he wouldn’t give two shits about what’s going on with me” 

“So why do you call?” 

I was silent. Why do I call every chance I get knowing they don’t care? Was I trying to be a respectable daughter to let my parents know what’s going on with me? Did I feel guilty in a way for not being what they wanted me to be? 

Or was I looking for acceptance and love from the two people that thought they would love and accept me no matter what? 

“Just keep you guys updated mom,” my voice cracked a little. 

“Parker, cut the crap okay? We haven’t had a real conversation with you since you were about 15 and we haven’t seen you since you been in college” 

“Why did you guys let my dreams tear us apart?” 

“We wanted better for you and you wanted to be a creative with little to no possible future Parker” 

“Can’t believe you just said that,” I felt tears fall down my cheeks as I closed my eyes. 

I hung up on her and threw my phone across the room. I sighed and sat up, while wiping the tears off my face. I felt so abandoned by the only two people who were suppose to have my back and love more than anyone in this fucked up world. They were supposed to be my rocks, my shoulders to cry on, my encouragers. Instead, they broke me and left me. Literally moved across the country so they didn’t have to see my face. My first heartbreak will forever be my parents. They shattered it and stepped on the pieces. 

I always felt like they might change one day considering they still sometimes send me money to survive on since I have no job. If I didn’t supposedly care about my child, I wouldn’t be dropping three thousand dollars in the account every month. Most of the money went to my savings anyway for me to find somewhere to live after I graduated from here. I was going to find a job so I didn’t have to depend on them anymore since they clearly didn’t care about my success. It was like they wanted me to fail in life since I didn’t want to be a lawyer or an attonery. I feel like even if I made it big with being a creator, my parents still wouldn’t care. They were well off and definitely didn’t need money from me even if I made more than them. 

I took off my shirt and headed into the bathroom. I turned on the water for my shower then stopped at the mirror. I touched the necklace I had on and played with it. It was a paintbrush necklace that Yeosang had given me for my birthday last year. I yanked it off and it broke off.  I threw in the trash and rubbed my neck. I wanted to remove everything that reminded me of him. I looked at the tattoo on my left rib and ran my fingers over it. It said “Kiss me in the rain till the sun peaks and finds warmth on our skin”. It was a tattoo that I got with him but he had it on his right rib and it said “Kiss me in the sun till the cloud filled with rain  finds us and wets our skin”. 

It was the only thing that would remind of him but at least it wasn’t his name or anything. It was just two quotes we made up together but someone could think it’s from a book because I do like to read from time to time. I took out my hair out of the bun it was in and took off the rest of my clothes. I hopped in the shower and let the water immediately hit my face. I hope my days become better and brighter. I didn’t want these clouds of pain to cover the sun that was trying to shine on my brain. 

It’s been a week since the gallery and everytime I would be out on campus, someone would come to me and ask if they could watch me paint sometimes or be invited to the next art gallery I was in. It was a bit overwhelming for the most part. Attention was nice but too much of it made my anxiety go up a little bit. 

 I was currently in the art studio, just doing some freestyle drawing. I had the window open so I could hear the people outside and just the nature. The building was by some trees so I could hear and see birds a lot. It was currently around 6:17 in the afternoon and all my classes were finished for today. I didn’t have anything planned till around 8pm. Nicole, Kayla, Jessica, and one of Jessica’s friends named Emmett wanted to go to this ramen spot downtown. 

 I heard the door open and I saw a girl. I raised my eyebrow and she was just looking at me.

“Can I help you?”

“Parker right?”

“Yeah, who are you?”

“My name is Isabelle, I was the girl in Yeosang’s apartment that night” 

My eyes widened slightly and it started coming back to me. I knew she looked familiar in a way but I didn’t know where from but now I know. What could she possibly want? To warn me to stay from Yeosang? She didn’t need to threaten me about that. 

“What’s up?” I put my pencil down. 

“I just wanted to talk to you, I felt like we were both confused and hurt that night” 

I put hand out as a signal for her to sit in front of me, I don’t know why I was so chill right now but I always been known for nothing wanting to be in a lot of drama so I probably get my attitude from my dad because he stayed out the way a lot when I was growing up, especially when him and my mother would get into disagreements. 

“How long were you and Yeosang together?” she asked. 

“Four years, four long years,” I crossed my arms and rubbed my forehead. 

“Are you fucking serious?” she looked at me in disbelief. 

“Yeah, how long were you guys together?”

“Parker, I got with him almost like a year and half ago”

The thought made me want to throw up. Yeosang was cheating on me for nearly almost two years and I never caught on. Considering he wasn’t here yet, he could have met Isabelle anywhere when I wasn’t around.

“Where did you guys meet?” I asked. 

“He was at this party that I went to with some friends, I wasn’t even trying to pursue him but he came on to me and we had sex that same night. Then after I think like 3 months, we started dating” 

That explains when sometimes he wouldn’t mind when we didn’t go out sometimes or when he was “busy” some days. He was playing and toying with both of us. He is fucking sick and it’s even more disgusting he was having sex with both of us. He would only cling to me when Isabelle wasn’t available to him. We had discussed some more about both of our relationships with him and just found out how we were both getting played. We cried to each other because undeniably we were both in love with him. Isabelle's cries were not like mine, I was sobbing all over again. I can’t say I was deeper in love with him but if you saw us both, you would believe I was. I even showed him the tattoo that  I got. 

“He told me it was a quote he heard one of his family members said,” she said, wiping her eyes. 

That was like a sucker punch to my stomach. His friends are some bitches too because that means they knew about me and Isabelle. Isabelle told me she went out with Yeeosang and his friends a few times. They were always telling me that they were rooting for me and Yeosang to stay together forever. They were even there when we got the tattoo. 

“We got a tattoo too” 

“Where” 

She pulled out her bottom lip and it read “Yeosang, the only angel I need” in Korean. I knew she would regret that tattoo for the rest of her life unless she planned to go back to him. 

“What does his tattoo say?” 

“It should say “Belle, the only star that shines on me” in Korean but who knows if that’s what he really got” 

“It’s not,” I sighed. 

“Are you kidding me?”

“He told me he was being spontaneous and got “My skies are blue when I’m with you” in Korean, and he showed it to me. He said I always said it to him on occasion so he got it tatted. 

“That man is fucking evil” 

“Very evil” 

We talked for another thirty minutes then she left. She gave me her number in case I ever wanted to hang out with her. I don’t think that would do me and her any good honestly. We would just be reminded of who Yeosang used to be with. I couldn’t wait to tell everyone at dinner about this, it was just unbelievable to hear. 

I can’t believe he was really cheating on me for almost two years like that’s real mind blowing to hear. He didn’t care about his actions. Those tears that came out of his eyes when I was in the hospital were fake and he knew they were. Who knew how many other hearts he hurt out here. What if me and Isabelle weren't the only ones? It made me feel so sick to my stomach to think about it. 

I checked the time and it was 7:30 and I cleaned up everything before heading out. When I made it back to the room and saw everyone waiting for me. I dropped off my stuff in my room and changed my outfit before we headed out.

Those beautiful lights that shone around the LA downtown area always got me. We found the ramen place and the scenery inside was so beautiful as the waiter took us to a table. I heard this place didn't check for IDs for drinks so that was the first thing we ordered. 

“The wildest shit happened today,” I put my menu down

“Share with the class,” Jessica said jokingly. 

“The girl Yeosang was cheating on me with, popped up at the studio”

Everyone got quiet and stared at me. 

“Are you serious?” Nicole said. 

I nodded and started to explain everything that happened. I told them everything Isabelle had told me even about the fucked up tattoo. I tried my best not to get emotional because I was tired of crying over this evil ass man. 

“Parker, please let me whoop his ass,” Jessica pleaded. 

“No, he’s not even worth it” 

“He cheated on you for almost two years and got this Isabelle girl to get his name tattooed inside her bottom lip, if that doesn't deserve to get your ass beat then you are too nice Parker,” Kayla said. 

I looked down at the menu. I knew Yeosang deserved everything coming his way because I didn’t want my friends to get in the middle of it. Some way or somehow Yeosang was going to get the karma coming his way maybe not now but soon in the future. The first part of it is not giving his power to believe that I would just forgive anytime he decided to come back around or try to talk to me. 

“I think me and Isabelle just moving on will show him that both of us are threw with him and we’re not his beck and call anymore. My revenge is showing my ex I don’t need him and I never will again,” I looked at them. 

“I support that,” Emmett said. 

I smiled and nodded at him as a “thank you”. 

“You know we support you no matter what but if he pulls some shit, I’m punching him,” Jessica said, looking back at her menu. 

I rolled my eyes in a joking manner. I loved my friends so much and I knew they would always be here for me when I needed them most but I didn’t want to be dependent on them when I got hurt.

I had to go through things myself and learn how to trust myself in these situations. I won’t go back to Yeosang and that was a promise I just had to make to myself. 

He just had to be the boy I once loved. 

taglist: @hwaslayer

previous. next.

[pbandjesse]

I didn't expect to get rained on this afternoon. But now I am freshly showered and in my current favorite hoodie eating dinner on the couch with James. Today was a pretty good day.

It didn't start that way though. I was miserable when I woke up. I was so tired. I was so upset. James would try and be nice and take care of me but I was not having fun.

I got dressed but I think this dress is going to go into storage. The material doesn't feel nice when I get sweaty. I like the pockets but I felt a little uncomfy all day.

The humidity did not help. I was just uncomfortable and tired. And my work bag has yesterday's socks in it still and it was the end of the world. James tried to make me be normal but it was a struggle.

They would come out with me and sent me on my way. Getting to work was hard because my eyes did not want to stay open. But I made it to camp in one piece and got right to work making sure things were set up for the day.

I was pretty nervous for this field trip. It was the last one of the season! I wanted it to be a good one.

I went to the hacienda and set everything up there. And went to sit outside to wait for the bus. Mannie would come up and I let him know his materials were at the council ring and made sure he felt comfortable running the program. I think I could have done better, both with him and with Nick. But they are smart and capable and I believed in them.

And I was right to do so. When the school got there I would meet them and told the bus driver he could just stay parked where he was. I was surprised how old all the kids were!! I don't know why I struggle to remember what middle schoolers look like but it also doesn't help that they are going into 8th grade. They are young teens! And they were such good kids.

It was a small group of 26 students. Half were form the environmental club and the other half were student union members. And I was able to really get into stuff with them but also just be chill and that was such an ideal day.

We would do the paint brush making project and they were super into it and did an excellent job. Some of them made more then one. I was annoyed that a lot of the boxes were missing their scissors. But we made it work and shared.

Sarah would come up to help guide the groups to their programs. I would take my group to the art building and she took everyone else to the woodlands village. And while I wasn't down there checking on everything, it sounded like they had a good time. And I had a great time doing pigments with them. It was a lot of fun.

I would do plains sign language (hand talk) with them first. I handed out some of the sentences I have laminated and they would act them out, while everyone else guessed what they were saying. That was actually really fun. Because this group was so mature but also chill they were just really trying everything and having fun.

For the pigment section I had them paint symbols to represent themselves. And they did a very good job. It was interesting to see how 7th graders took their time and really put effort in. Compared to the 4th graders who also really try but also make many things instead of just one. It was interesting to see the difference.

We would have a very long two hour break for lunch. Because the teacher, who is a former counselor at camp (and is coming back this year!), wanted to take them on a hike and then they had a pizza party. Which the invited is too. I could have made that shorter for sure but I think they actually liked the freedom to hang out.

Sarah had had to go back into midnight the fire because the fire Marshal was on camp today. So we would save her pizza. But we didn't know if she wanted cheese or pepperoni so we saved her three of both. She would laugh at us later for saving her 6 pieces of pizza.

I had my last group after lunch. Because there were 3 groups and 4 programs, all of us would have 1 half hour of no groups. Mine was the last half hour. So after my last group I would clean up best I could. But I am going to spend a lot of time tomorrow cleaning and resetting all the boxes so they can be stored for the summer. I am thinking it will take a good amount of time and it will be nice to have something to focus on.

At the end of the program everyone came back to the hacienda. And I thought it would be funny to set up my closing quizo and then when they came in make a big fuss about a quiz.

And they played right along. "Not a quiz!!!" "No!!!" But they did so good and only got two questions wrong. And they are questions I think they probably just never actually got the answers to today. Which happens. It's all good. The quiz was fun and silly and everyone was in on it and that was great.

We would say goodbye. They would help stack up the chairs before they left which was so nice of them. Mannie has stayed behind and helped put all the tables away with me. They collected the trash while I cleaned the tables tops before we stored them. And then I swept while he went to collect all the program materials which was so nice of him. When I told James that later they said they raised him well (Mannie was James's camper back in the day). Very sweet.

I would go to the office once everything was clean. Mannie was still running around collecting the program materials. Which was very kind of him. I would do some editing on the schedule that Heather asked me to do. I poked around online for a bit. I paid my credit card off. But it was going to start to rain soon. And I wanted to get home before that. So I said goodbye to everyone and headed home.

I struggled with being so sleepy again but it was fine. I listened to my podcast and just focused. And was home by 4. No traffic at all! Incredible.

It has started drizzling but it was actually raining when I got in the house. I opened the backdoor for Sweetp. He kept going out and getting wet. There was bubbles coming down the gutter?? It was very strange. I am keeping an eye out on that one. I would spend some time on the studio. Cutting some wood for a project for later. I would staple the cords for the new wire lamp to the ceiling for a less chaos messy, more purposeful messy look. I would tidy up the kitchen and eventually went to lay on the couch.

Soon James was home. They had picked up their bike from the shop but they were clearly upset. They didn't want to talk about it but I'm assuming drivers were being terrible. They would get changed and calmed down but I hate seeing them so upset.

We would talk about dinner but when it was discovered that the dumplings I wanted had gone bad we decided to go out to get more. And make a stop at Ace to get me a new key. I was slightly disappointed when we got there and they had no brass keys! Annoying. But I like the black one I got with a moon and stars on it. I will continue to keep an eye out for a brass one.

We also asked them about screen doors but they don't have them at that ace. Ah well. The hunt continues.

We went to the grocery store and it was pouring so bad. We both got soaked even with our umbrellas. So it was a quick in and out because we were freezing in the air conditioning.

One last stop to get gas. And then we were gone. Still wet. I would go and take a shower and while I was doing that James made us dinner.

We are finished eating now though. James is working on their computer and I am struggling to sleep my eyes open even though it's only 730. It is a sleepy day.

Tomorrow I have lots of cleaning and organizing to do. I hope it is fun. I think it will be fun. I hope you all have a great day. Take care of yourselves. I love you all. Goodnight!!

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

4th March >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Monday, Third Week of Lent 

(optional commemoration of Saint Casimir)

(Liturgical Colour: Violet: B (2))

First Reading 2 Kings 5:1-15 There were many lepers in Israel, but only Naaman, the Syrian, was cured.

Naaman, army commander to the king of Aram, was a man who enjoyed his master’s respect and favour, since through him the Lord had granted victory to the Aramaeans. But the man was a leper. Now on one of their raids, the Aramaeans had carried off from the land of Israel a little girl who had become a servant of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘If only my master would approach the prophet of Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy.’

Naaman went and told his master. ‘This and this’ he reported ‘is what the girl from the land of Israel said.’

‘Go by all means,’ said the king of Aram ‘I will send a letter to the king of Israel.’

So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten festal robes. He presented the letter to the king of Israel. It read: ‘With this letter, I am sending my servant Naaman to you for you to cure him of his leprosy.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his garments. ‘Am I a god to give death and life,’ he said ‘that he sends a man to me and asks me to cure him of his leprosy? Listen to this, and take note of it and see how he intends to pick a quarrel with me.’

When Elisha heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king, ‘Why did you tear your garments? Let him come to me, and he will find there is a prophet in Israel.’ So Naaman came with his team and chariot and drew up at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent him a messenger to say, ‘Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will become clean once more.’

But Naaman was indignant and went off, saying, ‘Here was I thinking he would be sure to come out to me, and stand there, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the spot and cure the leprous part. Surely Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than any water in Israel? Could I not bathe in them and become clean?’ And he turned round and went off in a rage.

But his servants approached him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had asked you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? All the more reason, then, when he says to you, “Bathe, and you will become clean.”’

So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, as Elisha had told him to do. And his flesh became clean once more like the flesh of a little child.

Returning to Elisha with his whole escort, he went in and stood before him. ‘Now I know’ he said ‘that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.’

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 41(42):2-3,42:3-4

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God.

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life; when can I enter and see the face of God?

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

O send forth your light and your truth; let these be my guide. Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

And I will come to the altar of God, the God of my joy. My redeemer, I will thank you on the harp, O God, my God.

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

Gospel Acclamation 2 Corinthians 6:2

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus! Now is the favourable time: this is the day of salvation. Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Or: cf. Psalm 129:5,7

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus! My soul is waiting for the Lord, I count on his word, because with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption. Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Gospel Luke 4:24-30 No prophet is ever accepted in his own country.

Jesus came to Nazara and spoke to the people in the synagogue: ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country. ‘There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.’ When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[lowkeyclueless5137]

Hmm… how about we settle the timeline first? Also, I have a proposal idea.

I like your idea of the timeline between the worlds are the same, and when Ren was a second year, Riddle was still a first year since the timeline for p5 start in April. Now you also said that Riddle is not a dormhead since his first year, and I said that he will be a good one in his third year. But what about this? Considering by the time he is a second year, Riddle is already part of the PT for some time, meaning he already a good enough person for it. What if he is a dormhead in his second year, appointed to him by the previous dormhead who will be a 4th year the next year. Everyone agree since compared to canon, this Riddle while strict is never a tyrant, and only shows his more scary side when a student broke a rule that could endanger them or others.

Now, let's talk back to timeline. Since Riddle is not the first OB, meaning book 2 is now book 1, and so on and so fort. We agree Riddle's new OB will take place around book 5 or 6, but what if his take the place as the new book 4? Since you said that he could OB during the VDC training camp so it will take place close to Sae's already prolonged palace. If he is a dormhead here, it means he can still be the head commitee for the School Festival, meaning more stress added to his already stressed live that just got worse ever since he became a second year.

We could say that during the summer vacation, while helping the PT when he has time, he was constantly berated and controlled by his mother because he failed to become a dormhead early on like she told him to. Instead of showcasing his talent, he choose to do some side job (it could be something he made up to Crowley and his old dormhead to make up the reason why he often gone missing for hours during off class time) and lazying around. He at first just endured it, but as time goes and include the whole Akechi knowing them and Ren's life at stake, he has a lot in his plate.

It then resulted in his OB.

It could at first went like his canon story, where he use his UM left and right in frustration at the students not following the rules. But in this AU, he always immediately notice his wrongdoings and murmur an apology while take down the collars. If we follow this scenario, instead of his students fear him, they now more to fear FOR him. They tried to talk it out to Trey, but he told them to calm down and that everything is alright. Cue in more problems for Trey from the PT later on.

It was just days before the Festival when he finally snap and OB. It could be a failed Unbirthday Party hold by his students, which also include Yu and Grimm that were invited also. We could use that Montblanc scenario again. But this time Riddle just cry, and went like, "Why… why???? Why did everything just go wrong?! Why can't you all just, follow a simple rule?! What have I done wrong? Did I do something wrong? Am I a bad leader? A bad child?"

It was only after he OB and then meet up with the PT that he finally told them the truth. Maybe he has been hiding his problem at home, because he genuinely believe that he can face it himself. It was this meeting, that they just so happen to do it while Akechi was there, that he propose the idea to maybe they could try to look up Madam Roseheart's name.

While we're on this, I must say I love your take on her palace! Though I am curious on what your original idea for her palace?

If we follow this scenario, book 5 will happen shortly (much to our Idiot trio's horror) just like canon. Since Shido's palace can't be controlled by Riddle's trully blessing of a bonus, it could take place shortly before book 6, since we know that there was some time gap between book 5 and 6, a good enough time gap for us to fit in Shido's palace. And then Riddle's kidnapping. Then we got to the Final Battle before the whole false world of Maruki.

Now, what if Maruki's whole palace happen around the same time of Malleus's OB. It could lead to a whole lot new drama on Ren's side. Since while Maruki not really know about Riddle's existence and clearly everyone else remembers Riddle, for some reason Ren never able to reach Riddle. I myself didn't think Malleus's OB will take months, probably just some days and at worst a week or so. So I think during the time Ren waiting for his friends arrival at that fight against Maruki after he tried (and failed at first) to remind his friends, Riddle also arrived.

What do you think?

Time shenanigans! Woo! :D

Well you did read my mind with the overall sketch of the time-line. And making Riddle a Dormhead in 2nd year jut builds up a lot more for his overBlot, which will make it all the more natural :v

As for the og Mrs rosehearts palace idea... That's reserved for the next gen au ;3

I will put sum heavy spoilers for both chap 6 and 7, so under ✨cut✨

So far what we can conclude from the time-line would be:

Ren and Riddle first exchange letters

Riddle starting 1st year at NRC

Ren getting on probation

Discovering Kamoshida palace and wildcards meeting face to face

Taking on Kamoshida.

Summer holiday for Riddle

Madarame and Kaneshiro palaces extending up until September

Riddle starting 2nd year

Futaba palace

Leona overBlot

Azul overBlot

Jamil overBlot

Aketchi joining the team and discovering Sae's palace

Riddle overBlot

Mrs rosehearts palace

Finishing Sae palace

Ren gets arrested

Bamboozling Aketchi :3

Vil overBlot

STIX encounter

Idia overBlot

Shido palace

Fighting God >:3

Malleus overBlot

Reality getting altered in Ren's world

Fighting Maruki and the wannabe God again :v

If it sounds a bit jarring about the Vil overBlot, it is mostly due to the fact that in hindsight, book 5 marks as one of the longest books, taking up from early January to late February. A whole month compared to the others. Currently Ignihyde ranks as the shortest since this whole action took place in the span of less than 48 hours and apparently takes place 2-3 days after the VDC, once the culture festival was done. (I could be wrong, but I know that around that time it was) :v

So for Riddle's overBlot, we can just... Stack things. It was clear that during his first year and also his summer holiday, Riddle was more focused on just living the student life, maintaining his perfect grades and very poor social skills. Adding the whole metaverse and palaces, his justice vision gets challenged and now Riddle wants to discover more about the metaverse and what a persona can do. Doesn't help that he can carry multiple ones. He just wants to understand how it works because it was literally his mind and body put to the test here.

And so, the dormleader problem came. With 0 experience prior and already the whole knowledge and palace handling, it was clear that some things would clash. It wasn't anyone a simple busy schedule, it was a mountain of activities one after another. No free time or anything unless Riddle made plans in advance.

Put overblots on the plate as well. New palaces mechanics that even Morgana didn't know about. And the real world threat that the overBlot actually poses. At least this one is a problem that ties in with his Dormhead position, somehow making it easier to excuse himself for things such as 'investigating' the future overBlot's plans and schemes.

But as every coin, it has another face. By 'investigating' and solving some of the overBlots problems, it was clear Riddle built for himself a proper name as a reliable Dormhead.

And what does NRC do when they have a reliable student? Pile up more work! Of course! Crowley sure knows how to reward his most trusty dormleaders -3-

So work keeps piling up, to the point Riddle might become unavailable for some mementos missions. He would clear up his best to attend palace infiltration days, but other than that, he couldn't do much else.

Then, the VDC gets announced. And Riddle gets an idea! Why not invite his friends to the culture festival? It was an open gates event! No one would suspect a group of curious teens looking around and having fun.

And they do accept and mark it off. Riddle also marks it off as to clear up his own schedule. It was only one date. One free date of relaxing and hanging out with friends! He actually looked forward to it.

And as he gets bombarded with work from all places, Riddle's only hope becomes that day. That singular day of peace and good time. He will reach it one way or another. He told around that he won't be available for that day, he scheduled and declined any work that could possibly interfere with it. It was his day! His day out with friends! All of them were looking forward to it!

But things go south. With Aketchi revealing that he knew their identies as Phanthom thieves and Ren's innocence and life being at stake, it was clear that things had to be settled before the VDC day.

And that becomes one of the real threats to the perfect hangout day. It also adds a layer of guilt since not only Ren was on the line, but the rest of PTs as well. Riddle would be the only one getting scout free since Aketchi had nothing on him and neither had an influence in his world, where the phantom thieves weren't even known at all.

Slowly, those threats towards the hangout day become more and more. Unfinished papers, unbirthday parties to organise, making damage control for his dorm students. At this point he wished he could just collar everyone and tell them to stop making things harder for him.

Which results in him making mistakes. Small ones such as accidentally collaring some students who broke a minor rule or sometimes misplacing things, which further frustrates him more. He does apologise when it affects other students and it's clear that he doesn't mean it, he was just tired and overwhelmed.

So the students come to their next best solution: Trey. He was pretty close with Riddle. They were childhood friends! And Trey was vice, which meant that his words do hold some water. He could convince their dormleader to actually take a break and not become an absolute mess.

At this period, Adeuce were at the VDC auditions. So imagine them giving the news that they passed! Less of a worry for Riddle. Vil was a responsible Dormhead and he surely would take good care of his freshmen.

Trey also seems to be dismissive of the other Heartslabyul students's concerns. He says he will handle it, but so far the 'handling' part is so passive that the students doubt things are going to even change at all.

The tipping point I imagine is not because of Adeuce(as they are in VDC camp hell), but actually Trey.

Imagine Riddle oversleeping due to a late night of work. He rushes to the classes, some students point out how he looks a bit disheveled(the teachers really didn't give any flying fuck about a crooked tie) and things just are a chaos of trying to patch up the lost time due to sleep, resolving to using magic all day to try and patch up for it.

And then Trey comes and asks how things are going. Things are civil at first, before Trey brings up that tomorrow it would be an unbirthday party. This rocks any of Riddle's plans of catching up to schedule as now he had to prepare for that!

And that's when he started to spiral. He realised he could never catch up. His hangout day, the day he worked so hard for it to be free, that only day of relaxation from this work madness... Was all compromised just because he forgot about an unbirthday party. And he was the one who choosed the day on top of it! He asked Trey if by chance he could reschedule it, but already Trey baked everything needed for it and that it was no need to reschedule, that they couldn't reschedule, because already preparations were almost done.

And Riddle breaks down. Apologies and crying over being so useless and lazy to the point he couldn't even assist his friends. Trey is very confused since for sure he didn't make any plans with Riddle before, nor Che'nya.

Cue overBlot :v

After Riddle is snapped to reality, it is all a mess. It wasn't like overBlot solved anything... It only added more to his plate because now he lost time and had to also do damage control.

Thankfully, instead of stressing too much, he goes to rest a bit and the next day, he talks with Ren about it.

Cue Ren coming and barging in as if it was the end of the world. Boi is he ready to murder in cold blood.

The 2 have a cute lil moment together, mostly consisting of venting and hugs. From everything he knew up until now about his friend, Ren drew a line and finally presented Riddle with his idea: Check if Mrs rosehearts had a palace.

And from here on, we have the rest of the time-line flowing normally. Aketchi get the bamboozling treatment and also STIX shenanigans happen. :3

I imagine that maybe the guys had access to their phones, but because of the shit signal and different high tech measures they couldn't do much with them. But since the metaverse goes under very different rules, the metanav can still be accessed and used like normal.

Riddle just discovering his most safe escape, but also it would bring up suspicion and Idia already seemed to have a palace. A very weak one at that, meaning it didn't take long since it first formed. And unlike other palaces, this one had the treasure already materialised because it seemed like Idia felt threatened about the source of his desires constantly. :'3

Cue forced overBlot messing that one up beyond repair.

As for Maruki's perfect world... We could say that since he primarily messed up with mementos, he could've stranded a bit the bridge in between the 2 worlds. On the other hand, I don't believe Malleus's OB would be too long. By how things are going, we are still in a dream and time in dreams is a very wierd thing. For all we know, we could've actually fall asleep a few minutes ago. That would also explain why Malleus takes so much to find us, because maybe for him is a few seconds, but for us it could be weeks.

And of course, since we are talking about cognition in dreams, we can say that Riddle was in the velvet room, trying to find a way to hop directly into the metaverse without passing through the reality. But because the metaverse was messed up by Maruki, that would take more than just a bit of willpower.

Yep... Chaotic hours :3

[captain-daryn]

I wanted to share a story, but my story telling skills are terrible so bear with me lol. I was at work tonight, and me and my coworkers were all hanging around waiting for the store to close in five minutes so we could go home. I heard a loud older man's voice call down to us from the other end of the aisle, "Can some help?!"

Oh boy, here goes a grumpy boomer I thought to myself.

Turns out he was purchasing a new vacuum for his wife and the one he wanted to get was an online-only item. He was frustrated and thought he had wasted a drive down because we didn't have it in store.

I do some digging, nope, none of our other stores have it either. So I put it into our ordering system and it says it won't be here until the 15th at the soonest (two weeks from now). Great. He's not happy but he says he will live with it if he has to. It's like 5 minutes after we are closed now.

Before I confirm everything, he says he wanted to open a new credit card through us. No biggie, I get credit for doing so, and it only takes a few minutes.

We finish the sign up, it's now like 10 minutes after we closed. it's New Year's Day, I had like 5 hours of sleep at most in the last 24 hours at this point, I wanna go home, but I'm putting on my customer service act and smiling and being polite for him.

I go grab his credit card paper work and I'm able to surprise him with a coupon for $100 off his purchase (the coupon comes with every new credit card opened, but the amount off varies based on the purchase amount). And I'll be honest I forgot that the coupon was a thing bc I was so dead tired, so it was a nice surprise for me too.

Not to mention he is also a veteran, and we offer a 10% discount at my store for vets, which automatically applied to his purchase when I put in his info. So, at the end of the day, he got a $600 vacuum for like $400 after tax. So he was happy.

As the paperwork printed, I realized the delivery was actually bumped up to the 4th! So it's actually going to get here in like 3 days instead of 14!

At the end of the interaction though, he asked to see a manager, and I thought oh no I must have done something wrong.

Call my manager, wait for a minute, no luck. I find my other manager and she came out to speak with him.

"I have a complaint id like to inform you about. She did a *fantastic* job tonight. Ran right over to help me...." and basically told the manager about our interaction.

Since we were now closed though, I offered to walk him up to the entrance to make sure he got out okay. He told me how even with a full time job with his degree back in the day, he still had to work a part time job at JC Penny's call center in order to afford caring for his 4 kids and wife. He said in the 6 years he worked there, only 10 people had ever taken the chance to call back and let a manager know they appreciated his help. So now he makes sure to always tell a manager when he has had a great experience anywhere, because he knows how much it means to the worker at the end of the day.

By the time he was out the door, it was about 25ish minutes after we closed, but I didn't mind because I knew I had done something good for an older gentleman, and he in return did something good for me.

Idk if there's a moral to this story, but it made me feel good that he wanted to pass that along. I think we take for granted the help people are able to give us day-to-day. A little gratitude really goes a long way, especially in jobs like retail or food. And I think some patience from everybody is appreciated.

So maybe take an extra minute, and thank the person who just helped you. You might turn their shitty long day into a pretty good evening.

[stopbreathe-for-a-moment]

December 24 2024

Friday- hung out with B. He slept over, I know he doesn’t like me. He ignores me sometimes. It’s a game. I won’t leave though just waiting for him to leave. He left early in the morning since I had to work a 6 am shift. Made it to work about an hour late. Store assistant manager was mad. I get it this is the 4th times she’s calling me. I won’t leave him. Waiting for him to leave to I guess prove my belief that I’m worthless. I wish he loved me.

Saturday- hung out with S. I just wanted to be held. I don’t know what I even am looking for anymore. I told him I don’t think it would be a good idea to have sex but he said “I mean we’ve done it once”. That once was about a year ago but then we had a gap in talking since one of the dates I told him I was talking to B & he got upset…he made me pay for my own food lmao. Welllll about a year later he reaches back out…I responded & now we’re talking. I don’t think this will go anywhere but he’s giving me some attention for now.

I have a UTI…I get these dumb UTIs after sex. Maybe this is God telling me to not have sex. Idk. But goodness health insurance is expensive & that doctors visit + antibiotics + lab draw was like 300. FUCK. The sex is terrible but it’s something I guess. I don’t feel great after it. I’m insecure so I’m in my brain during it. It’s so bad. If I was smaller maybe id feel better thus be better at it