#and it's been literally over a decade and a half since I last tried it so who knows if I even still can?

[outoftheirdifferences]

about me!

rules: bold the ones that are true and tag 15 other people to do it too!

appearance:

i’m over 5’5” // i wear glasses/contacts // i have blonde hair // i prefer loose clothing to tight clothing // i have one or more piercings // i have at least one tattoo // i have blue eyes // i have dyed or highlighted my hair // i have gotten plastic surgery // i have or had braces // i sunburn easily // i have freckles // i paint my nails // i typically wear make-up // i don’t often smile // i am pleased with how i look // i prefer nike to adidas // i wear baseball hats backwards

hobbies + talents:

i play a sport // i can play an instrument // i am artistic // i know more than one language // i have won a trophy in some sort of competition // i can cook or bake without a recipe // i know how to swim // i enjoy writing // i can do origami // i prefer movies to tv shows // i can execute a perfect somersault // i enjoy singing // i could survive in the wild on my own // i have read a new book series this year // i enjoy spending time with friends // i travel during school or work breaks // i can do a handstand

relationships:

i am in a relationship // i have been single for over a year // i have a crush // i have a best friend i have known for ten years // my parents are together // i have dated my best friend // i am adopted // my crush has confessed to me // i have a long distance relationship // i am an only child // i give advice to my friends // i have made an online friend // i met up with someone i have met online

aesthetics:

i have heard the ocean in a conch shell // i have watched the sun rise // i enjoy rainy days // i have slept under the stars // i meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // i enjoy the smell of the beach // i know what snow tastes like // i listen to music to fall asleep // i enjoy thunderstorms // i enjoy cloud watching // i have attended a bonfire // i pay close attention to colours // i find mystery in the ocean // i enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favourite season

miscellaneous:

i can fall asleep in a moving vehicle // i am the mom friend // i live by a certain quote // i like the smell of sharpies // i am involved in extracurricular activities // i enjoy mexican food // i can drive a stick-shift // i believe in true love // i make up scenarios to fall asleep // i sing in the shower // i wish i lived in a video game // i have a canopy above my bed // i am multiracial // i am a redhead // i own at least three dogs

Tagged by: borrowed from @let-me-be-surprised (like a week ago, it's been sitting in my drafts ever since because no internet xD)

Tagging: Whoever wants to!

[cheolaholic]

ring of love; csc (06)

summary; agreeing to join vernon spectate an underground boxing match wasn't how you'd expect to spend your friday night. you also didn't expect to see seungcheol, someone you've lost contact with for years, become a part of the ring.

modern! au • boxer! au • hhu focused • multiple kinds of tropes • fluff, angst, smut

chapter warnings: brief mentions of crimes (drugs, robbery, abduction), brief mentions of sex and hormones

a/n;; i have risen from the dead, everyone. I know it's been a while since I last updated (4 months 💀) But, please enjoy this chapter and hope that I do not disappear for another few more months until the next update lmao. Also posting this update while I'm on my lunchbreak lmao

You didn’t think that figuring out a place to meetup with Seungcheol would be difficult, but alas, it was. The places Seungcheol had initially suggested were either too far or the price range of their menus could amount to at least a month’s worth of your rent. Maybe it was the years of not seeing him that you had forgotten his parents had their own businesses, which obviously, means money is never an issue for Seungcheol.

After telling him you had to commute to some of the places or either needing to Uber or have Vernon pick you up, Seungcheol found a decently priced cafe near your place with a cosy looking interior design. Having finally settled down on a place to meetup, you now began to stress about an outfit.

You tore through your entire wardrobe before finally panic-calling Aki who agreed to help, on the condition that you tell her everything that will go down at the meetup. You agreed and after hours of outfit try-ons, you settled on a brown oversized sweater, a black pleated skirt, paired together with doc martens loafers.

“Are you sure this looks okay…?” your voice full of uncertainty as you stared at your reflection. Aki, who was on video call on your phone that’s propped up on your dresser, rolls her eyes at your question. “Babes, you’re literally so pretty right now that you could be someone’s gay or bi-awakening. Don’t worry, okay? I'm sure he’s equally nervous of finally seeing you again after what? Almost half a decade?”

“That's a dramatic way to say almost 5 years, but okay.”

“Just be your normal self, ___. Even if he’s changed appearance or physique wise, I'm sure he’s still the same ol’ Seungcheol from more than a decade ago. Well, at least for you, it’s more than a decade.”

“That is true… thanks for helping me out, Aki.”

“Anything for my bestie. Now, go and see your prince charming!”

“Can you and my parents stop calling him my prince charming?” you whined, only for Aki to shoo you through your phone.

“Tell me the deets afterwards! I want all the nitty-gritty - don’t you dare leave anything out!”

Seungcheol got to the cafe an hour earlier than the agreed meeting time. He tried to get some sleep but the adrenaline of being able to see you again kept him up. Sitting at the booth and occasionally glancing at the door, he would try to come up with things to talk about. Of course, he knew he had to explain why he dropped off the face of the earth for years without contacting you. But, he still needed to think of other ways to fix the rift between you both.

“Seungcheol…?”

When he hears his name being called, he lifts up his head and it was as if time had stopped. There you were, shyly standing in front of him as you fiddled with the hem of your skirt. A few seconds after he realised he was staring, Seungcheol snapped back into reality. “Have a seat, __.” Ushering to the seat across him, flashing you that gummy smile that still sent your heart running for miles.

You did as told and after placing both your orders to the waitress who came over, Seungcheol nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “So… I didn’t know you were friends with Vernon…” he began, “Let alone a best friend since, y’know, Aki.”

“Yeah, I didn't really have a choice when he came up to me with that awful tie-dye during orientation. I was so glad when he got rid of it with how much my eyes were hurting.”

“That's Vernon for you,” he chuckles, “When he said he invited a friend, I was expecting maybe a classmate since Mingyu did the same with him.”

As you fidget, Seungcheol takes notice and leans his elbows on the table, reaching out a hand. “Hey, no need to be scared, okay? I know it’s been years and you’re most likely overthinking things right now, but I'm still me.”

“Where did you go…?” you asked in a shaky voice, “You just… ghosted me and later on, I found out you’ve been in Seoul for a while. Why… why didn’t you try to reach out?”

Withdrawing his hand and thrumming his fingers against the surface of the table, Seungcheol was silent for a moment before explaining himself. “That weekend when I headed to Seoul to check out Pledis, they had told my parents I qualified for one of their pre-u programmes. But, the slots in Korea were full, and if I did want to join the programme, I had to join their partnering unis abroad. They had Carat University in Japan and An Ode University in Melbourne.”

You quietly listened to Seungcheol as he continued.

While he wouldn’t mind waiting for an empty slot to be available in Pledis but, his parents had encouraged him to enrol into An Ode as they had an apartment in Melbourne. In the event he didn’t want to stay on his own, they’d be more than willing to pay for his dormitory. “They said the enrolment opportunities for pre-u programmes like these are rare… And, since I was given the opportunity, they encouraged me to take the chance.”

“… And you did…”

“I missed you like crazy, _. But, I couldn't get your calls or texts, not even reply nor call you back because I had to wait two weeks to be able to get a new phone and sim card. When I finally did get them, you had changed your number…”

Your face went red with embarrassment at the memory. A few days after your return from Jeju, your parents had brought you to go shop for a new phone and you’ve decided to change your number in the process. Since Seungcheol had dropped off the face of the earth at the time, you thought it wouldn’t matter anyway if you had changed your number since what were the chances of him calling you?

Turns out you were wrong.

“When I finished the programme, I stayed in Melbourne for a year and a half for their business course before transferring back to Korea to finish it in Pledis.”

“That was… that was at least two and a half years ago. Seungcheol, are you… are you telling me within those two years you never bothered to even look for me?”

“I did! I went back to Daegu to look for you, but your parents had told me you went to Pledis! I tried finding you all over the place, but for some reason you were never in my line of sight!”

“Wait, wait,” holding up your hand in disbelief to stop him from talking, “you went to see my parents? They never told me anything!”

“I begged them not to tell you!” he defended, “I wanted it to be a surprise! I wasn’t expecting our first meeting after years to be you witnessing me boxing!”

“How did you get into it in the first place though?” you asked, the waitress arriving with a tray of drinks and some cakes, “I heard you’ve been underground boxing for a year now.” Taking a sip from his drink, Seungcheol stared out the window, watching random cars and pedestrians pass by.

“I’ve been underground boxing for two years, actually, when I was back in Melbourne.” he answered. “A senior saw me during one of my Taekwondo matches during pre-u and invited me to try boxing. A few months later, he introduced me to this trainer who was looking to coach someone for a boxing match and everything just kinda fell into place.”

As a blanket of silence fell over the table, you muttered out a small “I missed you…”. Seungcheol gives you a smile, reaching out his hands to hold yours as he brings them to his lips, placing a kiss on your knuckles – an action that causes you to blush. “Well, I’m here now. I’ll make it up to you, alright?”

“I expect good food.”

And he replies with a sentence that has the butterflies you thought had died start fluttering again.

“Anything for you, pup.”

“...No…”

“Yes.”

“No… You’re lying…‘

“___, I swear on my life, I am not lying.”

“Ew, Cheol, that’s gross!” You whined, pushing at his shoulder with a disgusted expression, “I don’t need to hear about your sex life – much less a three way you had!”

Seungcheol laughs at your reaction, “Hey, if you think mine’s gross, you sure hear Mingyu’s. Who knew models were so… hormonal.”

“Lalala, I’m not listening!”

After your catch-up lunch at the cafe, you brought Seungcheol to the park near your apartment. The area enroute… was sketchy, to say the least, and that was putting it lightly. If you were to remove the sugarcoating, it looks as though you could get mugged or abducted if you lady luck was having a bad day and decided to take it out on you.

“No offence, pup –”

“Non taken.”

“But, at least three blocks of your housing area looks like they’re being used for drug operations. I know you can fight for yourself – I mean, I taught you how to defend yourself when we grew up together. But, have you ever thought about… y’know, moving to a safer area?” 

You had thought about moving out, but with the current rent prices being equivalent to a monthly mortgage payment, the dingy area is the best you got.

“I mean… It can’t be that bad, right…?”

“___, look at the place… I know you value your independence but, surely there are studios or apartments for rent that are safer and more… well lit, y’know?” Seungcheol notices how you began to pick at your nails, a habit he’s noticed when you both grew up and a sign that you were either anxious, nervous or both.

“Budget restraints?”

“Yeah… This is the best I got, Cheollie… Anywhere close to campus is expensive, and a decent apartment is… well… if I had a mortgage, I could pay that off, y’know…? I have a part-time job – I work as a barista at one of the cafes near campus. It pays decently, kind of higher than the usual amount part-timers get per hour but, let’s say I move out and rent an apartment near campus – I wouldn’t be left with much money after paying for rent and the utility bills…”

“Ever thought of getting roommates?”

“In case you’ve forgotten, Mr Choi, I am not a people’s person. Ask Hansol, it took me a year to actually open up to him, even after he’s been introducing me as his best friend for months.”

“Your parents should have property in Seoul, right? Why don’t you stay there instead?”

“Because I’m an only child, Seungcheol. My parents will pay the bills even if I was willing to fork up my own cash!”

Adding on the fact that you had no transport of your own, the dingy little apartment area really did seem like the best option for you – at least, for Seungcheol he was still… iffy (rightfully so, he wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you).

“Any public transport nearby?”

“There’s a bus stop that’s a 5 minute walk away from my place.”

“Okay…”

What you forgot to mention however, was the lack of reliable or functioning light source of said bus stop to your apartment’s lobby. But, surely, it wasn’t a detail worth mentioning to Seungcheol, you thought to yourself.

“Y’know, I thought your crush on Seungcheol would actually die down within those 5 years of no-contact.” Aki confessed as you typed on your laptop, phone propped up against one of your pen organisers. “I mean, it kind of did? But, instead of you being over over him, it’s more like… it’s more like your feelings weren't as obvious as back then.”

“Was it that obvious though?” you asked, turning your head to look at her as she shrugged her shoulders, “Not gonna lie, you’re pretty good at hiding it. I only noticed it after spending more time with you and noticing the subtle signs. If anyone was observant enough, they’d notice. But, to those that just look over the surface, not really.”

“...Do you think Cheol noticed…?”

“___, I might offend you and almost all the male species out there with this statement but, boys are dumb.” Aki moves her position from her desk to her bed, lying down on her stomach. “You both have been friends since you were kids so he should be picking up the signs. If he doesn’t then he’s either dumb or playing dumb.”

There was a moment of silence between the two of you before you asked, “Do you think he knows I like him and he’s just playing me?”

“You and I both know Seungcheol isn’t like that,” Aki began, “Your well-being is a priority to him – you’re a priority to him. Maybe he’s never thought about it, y’know? You both grew up together, maybe the lines were blurred to him.”

“But… what if he is, and he’s just really good at hiding it?” you asked again, the anxiety and nervousness eating you up as you thought about Seungcheol taking advantage of your feelings.

“___, darling, you and I both know Seungcheol always puts his loved ones above him – he makes them a priority. And, he’s always put you first, even up to the point he dropped off the face of the earth!”

Aki could still see the uncertainty on your face, which by all means, you had every right to feel that way. After all, Seungcheol had gone no-contact for 5 years and a person can change a lot within those 5 years. Who’s to say he actually is just a bastard who would step on people’s heads just to get what he wants. “Why don’t you start spending more time with him? Like the good ol’ times!” Aki suggested.

“Rekindle the friendship, y’know? Sure, you both had a catch up session today, but you and I both know that isn’t enough. 5 years worth of catching up – and not to mention, I need to kick his ass.”

You let out a small laugh, “You’ll need to fly over to do that, Aki.”

“Hey, don’t tempt me, ___.” Aki playfully warns, narrowing her eyes at you and pointing a finger at the screen, “I have the money to do so, and I will.”

“God, Aki…”

"Hey, Seungcheol isn't the only one that would do anything for you and has the money to do so."

[0212] cheollie: hey, ik it's pretty late rn [0213] cheollie: but, i just wanted to text you this before i forget [0213] cheollie: thanks for agreeing to meet up with me today and hear me out about my whole disappearance and lost all contact [0213] cheollie: and i'm really, really, really glad that you still see me as that boy you grew up with all those years ago [0214] cheollie: and i really had a great time catching up with you today [0214] cheollie: and i'll always be here for you if you ever need me, ok?

Seungcheol stared at the text he's about to send out.

i'm always going to be right by your side no matter what

After silently debating with himself, he deleted the draft and set his phone on his nightstand, laying in his bed as he stared at the ceiling of his dark bedroom - contemplating as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

taglist (unable to tag a few ㅠㅠ)

@yoonclip @1004luvangel @catjunhui @mystikha @spk93 @tinkerbell460 @yoozuku @dnylwooo @christinewithluv @limbomoon @plutoxxxworld @i-give-up-1234 @m1ngyuc0re @yunloyal @leclercloverbot @bettybeako @billboard-singer @ocyeanicc @krupyadoorrahe @seobinnieshi @xcynthiaaa @k411z @disneyprincesshuri @sunnyapp @khxsh @staygenezy @loufi8iepuff @ursweetener @noisypapergalaxy @wonwootakemyheart @sugainpinksweater @leah-rose03 @thisisnotthelastofus @yearnoclock @kwonhoeshi @ohmygodwhyareallusernamestaken @ru-lin @deobiforever @belladaises @cheoliekkuma @duskunt1ldawn @hyneyedfiz @marshmallowshouse @ak6ko @chwevernonlover @jejuboo-s @tsukinluv @atinytinaa @gyros-cum-sock @soupbinlily @jungwoos-luvr @ener-energy @watermelon-sugars-things @cyberpunkhwx @ddaengpotate @nightwingsrobbinhoods @chaerrylov3r @joshuaahong @wonussmile @uliceeeeeeee @wonwoo24 @shinetogether17 @simplejihoon @luvkpopp @minhui896

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Gay wrongs tournament, major bracket quarterfinals

*Daisuke Jigen x Lupin III and Mystique x Irene Adler are now an alliance since they tied in the last round. Old Gays as in they've been around for decades at this point, gay and doing crime.

Propaganda:

For Arsene Lupin III and Jigen Daisuke :

The start of be gay do crime! Jigen literally buys Lupin flowers while Lupin calls him "Jigen-chan" but they also shoot and kill and steal!!!

Lupin and Jigen have been Partners in Crime (and more) for over 50 years of media history. From the very beginning, when Jigen thinks Lupin has died in Part 1 episode 13 he openly weeps, tears streaming down his face and everything. Earlier that same episode Lupin tells Jigen he looked sexy in the maid costume he wore for the heist. In Part 5, they pretend to be two old men living together in an apartment above a cafe. They bicker like an old married couple. People are tying to track Lupin in the first half of the season and this: ‘As Lupin’s Lover where ever he is Lupin must be too’ is said about Jigen. In Part 6, Lupin keeps giving Jigen flowers. (He’s buying the flowers to keep an eye on someone and doesn’t want to look suspicious but he gives them to Jigen, after telling the store owner their for his wife) he calls Jigen either a ‘Fuzzy Angel’ (sub) or Hairy Hunk (dub). Jigen also tries to break Lupin from mindcontrol by bringing up their partnership. Like Sub line is ‘I’ve always been your partner man’ and the Dub line is ‘is that any way to treat your partner?’. The biggest thing though is in Lupin Zero, where Lupin declares he’s going to make his first official heist as Lupin III. He walks up to Jigen, places his hand on his chest, closes his hand and draws it back to himself then asks Jigen ‘So Jigen…was I able to steal it?’ To which Jigen replies ‘I’d say so’ while pulling his hat down over his face. Lupin’s ‘first real heist’ was STEALING JIGEN’S HEART! Also in Lupin III vs Cats eye Lupin pats Jigen on the ass (sound effect and everything) and Jigen doesn’t even react. There’s way more stuff from various movies and specials, this is just some of what jumps to mind right now. They may not be CANON but they’re pretty close :)

They are in fact husbands and they do be murderin’ (since 1960)

For Irene Adler and Mystique:

They have a daughter they train to be evil. They've been gay for so long they're one of comics first be gay and do crime couples ever. They're wives.

They are married and in love and have been for decades! Mystique is totally down to kill anyone in her way and so is Destiny. Destiny died years and years ago and for all that time up until recently one of Mystique’s most common motivations was trying to find a way to bring her back to life, which succeeded a few years ago

For the Leverage trio:

No murder (except occasionally by Elliot) but the theifsom as they are sometimes called rob from every kind of evil rich asshole they can find. Three of the best criminals in the world. Be poly do crimes. 

A canonical (Word of God) triad who run cons with the ultimate goal of helping people. Hardison is a hacker, Eliot is a hitter, and Parker is a thief

[charklenee]

Im bored here is chase x y/n [house md] part 1

I have clinic duty today and I've never felt more exhausted. Working five to nine is already hard, but in addition to the headache I got from my hangover, it's a new kind of hell. I knew I shouldn't drink an excessive amount of liquor during a week day but what more can I say? I was in a state of absolute vulnerability and had a rough time processing an end to my two-year relationship, with my now ex-boyfriend. My head ached tremendously and I could feel a beating pulse on the back of it. I closed my eyes and relaxed my shoulders and sat calmly on the chair in House's office.

He walked in his sneakers with his cane towards the coffee pot and poured a glass for himself.

Currently, I'm still closing my eyes and ready to pass out any moment. I had enormous eyebags in dark shades of brown and black. Slightly smudged mascara and eyeliner was still visible because I haven't washed my face since last night. My hair was scuffed in a bad way, but I managed to clip it so it wouldn't be unbearable. I looked like a mess, I sound like a mess, my hair looks like a mess, and I have clinic duty today. This day couldn't not get any worse, right?

"Patient is in a severe state of comatose," House said while sipping his coffee.

"And?" Cameron replied.

"What is the word "severe" implying?" Chase said with furrowed eyebrows.

"It means she is half-dead and in a state of comatose "

"Great.." I say. "Just put her on the IV and wait for her to emerge from her beauty sleep three decades later, easy-peasy."

House turned his head from the whiteboard and looked at me straight in the eye, "oh yeah, I thought of the same thing, well obviously - are you hungover, Dr.?" House said it in the most sarcastic tone he could possibly say and I was about to tip over the edge of my seat listening to his rambling.

"Yeah. I am, House. I'm going to literally faint any minute now -have you done a tox-screen on the patient, might've been drug related."

"Patient's tox screen was clear, no sign of anything related to drugs." House said.

"Organ failure? Kidney? Or maybe cardiac arrest?" asked Foreman urgently.

"So you meant to say that half-dead meant bruised and butchered?" Chase replied to House.

"She's full of scars head to toe and has nasty fleshy wounds, my guess is high blood sugar is an underlying cause of all of this." House said.

"Hyperglycemia as an underlying problem?" I said with my eyes closed and palms covering my face.

"Yes, three points to the alchoholic." House pointed.

Chase was looking at me all concerned but I honestly don't need that kind of attention. I need something like a rebound, alchohol could get me far, but not far enough to forget. Memories of him linger, linger so dearly, hauntingly.

Chase said coldly, "Wake up, House told you to draw blood." He tapped my back whilst I was covering my face.

"Yeah..I'll do it." I said, in a breaking voice.

"Damn, what did this guy do to make you look like this." He left to check up on the patient.

He stopped and looked at me before he went out of House's office.

After a few minutes, I got the sample and I did some tests. I was looking through the microscope at the office and examining the patient's blood culture. There he was, he walked in. He slided the door and tried to not make it obvious he was there for me, but I could tell the opposite from his glare piercing through the back of my mind.

"Yeah, I'm here for you. Are you okay? I brought some juice for your hangover. I know we don't get along and I hardly know you but please just take the juice."

I stood up and stray away from the microscope. I folded my arms, "it's nice to think that somebody is here for me during times like these, but I don't quite enjoy being somebody else's guilt. I don't want your pity, Dr. Chase. But I will accept this juice, thanks."

He handed me the juice and glanced down, this somehow made me guilty for treating him like I did. I keep blaming my shitty behavior because of a break-up. I guess it's somehow true that it did lead up to this behavior but it is also my fault I don't take care of myself.

"Chase. I'm sorry I was acting all bitchy, I-"

"Yeah, I get it. I did pity you, from personal experience I felt a need to help, I guess."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for the juice."

"Hey.." Chase said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Do you need a rebound, I could help you. It could ease the pain. No alchohol, no meds, just you and me. We could talk your feelings out. I don't want to smell your vodka scent anymore."

"Sure, whatever you say." I initially was thinking it would lead up to this but when I heard the words I just gave up and followed to his sayings because I think something like this could bring me some sort of rejoicement.

"I have clinic duty. I'll be at your place at seven."

"Deal."

[atqh16]

Modern sasunaru fic

“You’re going to overwater it”

“Shut up, I know what I’m doing”

“That’s way too much water”

“It’s my tomato plant. Go away!”

“Naruto’s going to be really sad when he finds out you killed his present”

“I’ve had it for five years. Go away!”

Sasuke literally hiss’s the last two words at his brother, gingerly holding his watering can over the potted plant but just as he’s about to tip it, he stills.

The can is dropped onto the the balcony tile with a furious thump and Sasuke turns around to grab the leaflet Naruto had given him to re-check the instructions. Finding his measurements correct as if he hadn’t memorized every word the second he got home all those years ago after they’d spent the whole day celebrating his 13th birthday with his best friend. Sasuke raises his head and grits his teeth at the barest glint of a smirk on Itachi’s face.

“Made you look”

If Sasuke was angry before, he was absolutely burning with fury now. Putting all his effort into not crumpling the leaflet in his hand (It’s been half a decade since Naruto gave it to him and it’s still in pristine condition and it’s going to stay that way) he points at the sliding door into their apartment.

“Go away!!!”

Itachi gets up and leaves with a shadow of a mischievous smirk still winding his lips and shimmering in his eye. It would’ve been better if the older Uchiha had left cackling. That way Sasuke would actually have a reason to attack him.

With the pest gone, Sasuke returned to his beloved plant to continue his care. Snipping off dried leaves and shuffling the soil a bit so the water would pass through it better and not get stuck on the surface. He smiled at the small buds that were soon going to grow into plump juicy tomatoes. Even after so many years his pride and joy was still going strong.

After a while he does finally admit to himself that there wasn’t much else to do and he’d been staring into space for about 5 minutes trying not to think about the person who’d given him the plant in the first place. Trying not to think about his friend’s attempt at a comforting grin five days ago right before he boarded a train to Sunagakure as if his time spent there, for the next few days scouting universities that offered humanity courses, wasn’t going to decide on whether their friendship would be a long distance one.

But most of all he desperately tried to distract himself from the image that was currently trying to push its way into the forefront of his mind. The image of the smile sliding of Naruto’s lips. The way the blonde had looked at him with wandering eyes that were somehow more comforting than a smile would ever be. Sea blue irises that flashed an even paler blue from how it was reflecting the midday sun above them.

How an apprehensive look clouded over his face before it instantly disappeared and Naruto leaned forward.

And kissed him.

The shock of it had been broken a few seconds later when the train conductor made a final call for passengers and before Sasuke could react, Naruto had rushed onto the train and damn efficient speedy trains because by the time Naruto had found his seat, his form had become a blur as the train sped away.

Today was the day Naruto was supposed to come back. If his train arrives on time he’d be arriving at their apartment in a few minutes to pick up Kurama.

5 days and Sasuke was still unsure what to do.

Well, that’s not true. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. The only thing that stalled his steps was worry. Fear. Trepidation.

Could he really be enough? Was he really allowed? To reach out and grasp this chance to have everything he dreamed off? Was he worthy of it?

But all of it would be pushed down and drowned by one thought. If Naruto could be brave enough to take this chance, couldn’t he at least do the same.

Suddenly the familiar ding of their doorbell echoed throughout the apartment.

It was time.

[hollygl125]

On Sara’s feelings in “Immortality”

“In her better moments, Sara still believed Grissom had loved her once.  She still believed it had been worth the risk, to be with somebody who really got her and who, for a time, loved her for who she was.”

*Don’t worry; it’s just me getting emotional about “Immortality” again.*

Somewhere on this website there’s a post about how your ideal ship is your type + someone you can project onto.  (Unsurprisingly, I couldn’t find the post, so my wording may be off.)  I would not historically have thought of Gil Grissom as my type, but smart, handsome, funny, caring, and confident (in some settings) while vulnerable (in others) probably fits the bill.

Do I project onto Sara Sidle, though?  That is an absolute yes.  I (thankfully!) did not have her tragic childhood, but otherwise I generally identify with the tall, smart, awkward, (unfortunately often) short-tempered brunette.  I generally feel like I am viewing the GSR love story through her eyes.

That said, I always try to imagine Grissom’s perspective as well, and there are definitely moments where I strongly identify with him—especially when he is floundering in inaction because he doesn’t know how to proceed (ask out the one he loves, tell her about his sabbatical, etc.).

I have a lot of feelings about the moment when our two lovely science nerds see each other again for the first time in “Immortality.”  Historically I have thought a lot about what Grissom must be feeling in this moment.  He’s come back to the lab for the first time since the divorce.  He’s tried to “White Fang” his wife/love of his life, and, as such, he’s not kept in close contact.  He doesn’t really know what’s going on in her life anymore.  He doesn’t know if she’s moved on.  He doesn’t know how she feels about him now.  He doesn’t even know if she’ll feel like the same person, or if instead he’s succeeded in breaking their bond.

(Please excuse me now while I go sob.)

A few months ago, though, I started getting especially emotional about Sara’s feelings here.

In undergrad, I did an overseas exchange.  One of the guys there decided we were best friends, and for about a year and a half we kept that up, even after I returned home.  But he started dating one of his other friends, she (unsurprisingly, in the full circumstances) didn’t like me, and… yadda, yadda, yadda… he ghosted me (long-distance).  I was truly heartbroken; I’d really loved this silly kid.  (Think Greg & Sara, though, not Grissom/Sara.)

Roughly two decades have passed since then.  It took a while, but I got over it.  In my waking hours, I am genuinely at peace with it all.  But then, every once in a blue moon (almost literally, since we had a blue moon last week and this happened again a couple nights ago), I have a dream where I meet up with this guy in person, and I’m always super, super excited in the dream finally to have this opportunity for closure.  Then I wake up, realize that it was (yet again!) just a dream, and am super, super bummed.

Back to the science nerds:

I can’t imagine Grissom comes back to divorce Sara in person.  I don’t think he could go through with the divorce in person.  So, like me, she kind of gets ghosted long-distance.  They never really hash things out, and she never really gets proper closure.

To quote myself, “In her better moments, Sara still believed Grissom had loved her once.  She still believed it had been worth the risk, to be with somebody who really got her and who, for a time, loved her for who she was.”  But, to quote myself again, “She wondered whether he’d tired of her.  She wondered whether she had simply helped him transition from the lab to the next stage of his life.  She wondered whether she’d merely been his midlife crisis….  Sara knew she’d never love any man but Grissom, but sometimes, in her worst moments, she wondered whether he’d ever really loved her at all.”

I think that, even two and a half years later, she still doesn’t really understand what went wrong between them.  (In all the circumstances, she couldn’t, really.)  I imagine she has dreams where she sees him again and they finally get to hash things out.  I imagine she has dreams where she sees him again and finally gets closure.  I imagine, most significantly, she has dreams where either they reconcile or they never broke up.  Then she wakes up and reality hits her like a gut punch.

I imagine that, in the years between their divorce and their reconciliation, Sara isn’t sure whether she will ever even see again this man she’s loved so desperately for fifteen-plus years.  But I imagine her (day)dreaming about what it would be like to get to see him again—to talk to him in person again—and somehow to shake some answers—some understanding—out of him.

Then suddenly he’s coming back to Vegas—for Heather (she thinks)—and the for Heather part is definitely a slap in the face.  But in other ways it’s like a dream come true.  Even if he’s coming for Heather, at least maybe now she’ll get some better explanation.  At least maybe now she’ll get some better understanding.  At least maybe now she’ll get some closure.

And then… “I’m back.”  But also… “Guess your cell service is better than it used to be.”  And also… “Wow, 30 minutes in the car, no words.”

But on the other hand… “I miss working side by side with you.”  And… “There’s a great mammal in the ocean known as the 52-hertz whale.  All year, he practices his love song for the female.  Travels thousands of miles to find her….  They call him the lonely whale.  And year after year, for a hundred years, he works on a new love song and never, ever gets a call back.”

And it’s all so confusing, and he’s still completely inscrutable.  Half the time he has nothing to say, but then he’s going and claiming it’s because seeing her again left him a little speechless.  What on earth is she supposed to do with all that?  He still has nothing to say to her: “Sara didn’t know what she’d expected him to say to her, in the end; it was clear he still had nothing.  Eventually she’d had to be the one to say goodbye.”

After all this, I imagine she is as confused as ever.  After something like 36 hours of non-stop anxiety, she somehow has even less closure than she had before; her gaping wound has been torn even farther open.  How is this her life???  But then….

There’s a videotape.

The point is, when I think of all of Sara’s thoughts and feelings and anxieties and sadness during this time… it’s a lot.

And I’m so very grateful that, in the end, she finally gets to sail off into the sunset with the man she loves. She deserves it.

[invinciblerodent]

If you had to pick a song for Iona, Arvid, Petyr, and Mara each-what would they be? And why, if there’s a significant reason.

ooh, thank you for asking!

i was gonna say that I have pretty long playlists for each of them, but yeah, condensing it into just one song is harder than I thought...

If I can only pick ONE, right now I'd go with-

Petyr

.... which is to say, "yeah, I may have failed to live up to everyone's expectations of me, but, have you considered that maybe I'm an arrogant prick for a fucking reason."

this is one of the few non-instrumental songs on his playlist, and it just feels like his entire Thing, crystallized lol.

(.... the lyrics fit too. I mean he did also kinda cut off his family. Or at least hasn't spoken to them in a few years.)

Arvid

This one just really fits my little uncertain cleric boy, holding onto his faith with white-knuckled fists. (A lot of songs on his playlist are either in part about Gale as well, or they're kind of more vibes-based and less literally fitting, but this one has been his theme song since like... last September lol.)

I love that first line of the chorus for him, that "I am creation, both haunted and holy, made in glory".

Iona

Even just the line "this fire eats fire, and the fire is in you" hits very much like her.

Over the months I have gone so far into her that I kinda struggle to summarize her now, but this is still a very "Iona-core" song to me, specifically for those early game, reeling parts of her, when she's kind of trying to have her whole crisis of identity without anyone noticing, and while trying to keep her head straight and not get consumed by the sudden freedom she's experiencing.

My sweet little fucked up weasel-woman, oh how I love her pretty little messed up head. <3

Mara

This one was difficult to pick- her whole playlist, I kinda tried to make work by quickly switching back and forth between the "rip and tear, cult leader, blood on my hands, killing and violence" type of songs and the softer, gentler, kind of more mournful/scared songs, which kinda reflect her more as a very adamantly resisting Dark Urge character who is kind of terrified of her own urges, and actively wants to be soft and sweet, but can't fully deny her nature.

this one might still change as I get further into her playthrough, tho

..........

and though you didn't ask, my head has been chock-full of this guy lately, so fuck it,

heeeeeeeere's Raymond

It's just. Very that "noble boy was originally willing to do what was expected of him, but was painfully aware that it isn't what he wants, and that he just let himself be carried by the waves and whims of the world, right until he was forcibly made to take responsibility for his own life and grow himself a fucking spine".

This has been sort of his theme song for the past decade, ngl. I really like Radical Face either way, but I straight-up can't listen to this song without thinking about him, lol.

head in my hands I love him so much

[zurajanaizurakoda]

Which EP that make your into ginzura ?!

I know who you are, and you know you don't want to hear this. There wasn't any episode, I first watched the series almost ten years ago and distanced myself from it because it was making me physically sick worrying about characters. I remember looking for Ginzura and not finding anything but not being particularly attached to it. Like I didn't really see g*nhiji so I figured Ginzura had at least as much reason?

I thought the most interesting relationship was between Gin and Kagura (NOT sexually or romantically, I was just fascinated by them.

When I saw that the series was all on Crunchyroll (as far as I knew except the love potion arc which I wasn't a fan of in the manga so I decided to watch the series and see how it ended. Got obsessed again. It seems like I latched on to Katsura more that time, although I remember liking him the first time through. Finally I decided to find the second movie, which I remembered liking. I was enjoying it, and then it got to the scene on the balcony where Katsura talks about the last time he saw Gin, and I was fucking run over by a 50-ton freight train of feelings. I've never had a ship hit that fast. When he started choking up it was suddenly clear that the outfit wasn't a popularity joke, Katsura was literally shattered by losing Gin. He'd lost his entire family and his Sensei and his cause and everything he'd ever cared about and he'd persisted, but losing Gin broke him. And it struck me just how miserable he was in the movie, and how no one seemed to care. Kagura flatly states that he went insane because Gin disappeared, and they go back to talking about everything else like that wasn't important. Gin makes a half joke about murdering him and goes back to worrying about Gengai. This is runaway Kotarou, his literal claim to fame is running away. He escapes all the time, even from the inescapable prison, even when he was a screwdriver. And he just sat there and let the execution happen because he was so broken down. And of course, Kagura says he talked about destroying the world, but all he talks about, both with Kondo and Gin, is how much he wants to help the world. He hates the world but he just wants to help, so badly. And he was breaking down and Gin saw the Blight guy and left Katsura and probably forgot him as soon as he was out of sight. Then during the final battle, Katsura makes the long, impassioned speech about how every single one of them is there to support Gin. If Gin hears the speech, he literally does not react at all. I wondered if this was the Katsura who had mourned Gin for ten years. Everyone else forgot Gin, but for Katsura he lost his best friend and suffered for it for a decade. Here he is finally able to do something for the person he cares about more than everything. And again, how happy would he be if Gin just took a second to acknowledge him?

And it's been the same ever since. His introduction is based on how much he values Gin, how he was willing to dirty his hands to get him back. But he accepts Gin's decision, even if he doesn't like it, and he tries to influence Gin but he never endangers him again. His next major appearance, he says the Harusame is too big for his entire organization, but when Gin says he's going, Katsura goes with him without hesitation "I'm your left hand" isn't just an idle term, he makes an enemy he's already stated he doesn't think he can defeat if it will help Gin. In Benizakura he tells Takasugi he rearranged his core beliefs based on how strong he sees Gin as. I could keep going. The constant standbys. Wanting to be in the Cartesian Arc., In the soul-switch arc he literally is willing to fight for Hijikata because Hijikata in Gin's body took him seriously and offered him a job. When he saved Gin from Nobunobu (Which again, Gin literally never acknowledges, Katsura spends most of his time talking about Gin and Gin spends the whole time playing support for Hijikata. Katsura gets his rawest line in the series, about how when you're near death you just want to be with people you care about. This reframes his asking Gin to commit seppuku with him. When he lost all hope, his one wish was to be near Gintoki when he died. Meanwhile, in the Farewell Shinsengumi arc, he doesn't get to see Gin. It doesn't even appear that Gin bothered to talk to him about Utsuro until Matako and Nobume bring it up. Gin literally fucking renamed him and it changed how his friends treated him for the rest of his life. When he stayed in the ship in The Very Final. I don't see much Ginzura in the series, but if Katsura isn't in love with Gintoki it's still obvious that a good chunk of his sanity revolves around his relationship with Gin. I truly believe there's more support for his romantic feelings for Gin than his romantic feelings for Ikumatsu, and I truly believe he cares about her and I can even see them ending up together but you cannot possibly convince me that their main bond is based around his understanding how hard it is to lose the one you love to the cause. And every time I see Katsura I want to throw a supportive Gin at him, even for a minute, even for a single panel, and it never happens. So I write.

Obviously this is all my opinion. If you really want to discuss it that's fine, but if you just want to tell me how wrong I am I'm aware my opinions are very different from most of the fandom. When I say you can't convince me it's because I'm stubborn as fuck and I suffer from cognitive rigidity, not because I think I'm the smartest person on the internet. Just assume you're right

[crockettmarcel]

exes meeting again after not speaking for years au + sockett!!

I've been thinking about this request literally ever since you sent it I'm so sorry it took five months to write. but anyway this is a fun new au that I haven't mentioned at all anywhere (except in a couple of people's dms) and I love it so so much

wc: 717 warnings: implied child death, mentioned dog death (but literally just from old age), sarah's an oncologist

Crockett sees her before she sees him. She’s standing with her back to him at a computer at the nurses’ station, but even before her face is visible, he knows it’s her. Her hair is the same — darker than it was ten years ago, but pulled up in a bun the way she always used to — and he’s never met anyone else who rubs their neck when they’re stressed the way she’s doing right now.

He slowly makes his way over to her, setting his tablet down at the computer next to hers, then waits a moment before speaking.

“My mom came by the other day with the box you sent. She didn’t mention you were moving here.”

“I didn’t tell her.” She’s still staring at her computer, brow furrowed as she tries to make sense of what’s on the screen, and Crockett takes the opportunity to peer at the words embroidered on her white coat.

Sarah Reese, M.D.

Pediatric Oncology

“Oncology. Interesting choice.”

She snaps her head around to look at him.

Now, face-to-face with her, he can see how much she’s changed in the last decade. The nose ring she’d worn the entire time he’d known her is gone, and it’s only because he knows to look for it that he can see the hole it left behind. Her face looks thinner than before, her cheekbones more defined, and she’s not wearing any makeup either - no more dark eyeshadow or thick black mascara like in all the photos tucked away in albums at his parents’ house.

“Can I help you with something, Dr Marcel?”

Their eyes meet, and for a moment, he can see reflected back at him the same pain he’s become so good at hiding from everyone. He wonders if she can see it too, if his guard is down enough to be vulnerable for once, but if she can, she does a good job of ignoring it.

“It’s been a while.”

She nods, then turns her attention back to her computer. “Ten years.” 

She’s not interested in talking, that much Crockett’s sure of, and if it were anybody else, he’d just shut up and leave them alone. But it’s Sarah, and he has so much he wants to say that he can’t even get the words straight in his head, so he stays where he is and tries his hardest to make conversation.

“How have you been? How’s your mom?”

“We’re fine.”

“And Buffy? Her birthday should be coming up around now, right?”

“She’s dead.”

His face falls, and Sarah has to bite back a smile.

“She’d be twenty now, Crockett. How many twenty-year-old dogs do you know?”

“No, yeah, of course. My bad.”

He turns back to his computer, but every few seconds he glances at Sarah from the corner of his eye. Her attention is fixed completely on her own screen, and she chews absentmindedly on her bottom lip as she reads. Crockett’s never seen her do that before, so he watches, oblivious to the fact that he’s staring until she turns to face him.

“What are you doing?”

He quickly looks away, then mumbles what sounds to Sarah like an attempt at an apology. Maybe he means it, maybe he’s just saying it to get her to stop looking like she wants to kill him, but she doesn’t care enough either way to try and figure it out. Instead, she logs out of her computer, grabs her tablet and half-empty cup of coffee, and makes it approximately two steps before Crockett’s voice stops her in her tracks.

“Sarah, wait.”

“Is this important? Because I have patients I need to see.”

“What happened to your accent?” he asks, sounding almost, genuinely sad that it’s gone.

“It went away when I moved to New York. Now is that all? Because I can’t just stand here and make small talk when I have patients that are relying on me. You’d have hated it if Harper’s doctor had done that.”

She walks off without giving him a chance to respond, and for a moment he just stands there, mouth hanging open, as he watches her walk towards the elevators. She doesn’t look back, and he doesn’t expect her to. Maybe the Sarah he knew ten years ago would, but she’s long gone, and he's not sure if she's ever coming back.

[ninacytosis]

For the time lost

Summary: Zuko wants to erase every reminder of his past mistakes, and Katara will take him on a journey to, quite literally, heal both of their scarrings.

Contains: Angst, Fluff, Katara has burns scars from Aang's first attempts to firebend, Katara tries to get over her resentment towards the FN, Zuko doesn't hate Azula.

Dear reader: I hope you enjoy it! <3 Let me know if you want me to continue posting

Find chapter one here and chapter three here.

┊┊┊┊☆┊*🌙*┊☆┊┊┊┊

Chapter Two

Katara thought about her students while folding clothes. A decent amount of people decided to move to the Southern Water Tribe after the war ended, and she knew a lot of families took this as a chance to start over. For now, she was in charge of nurturing the minds of the young benders that arrived. Even though she loved this new job, it was time for her to take a break.

“Hey, what’s with the sunglasses?” her dad asked, taking them off the nightstand and putting them on. “I know it’s summer but we’re still in the South Pole, kid”

Katara smiled. “I’m just packing them for tomorrow”.

His dad offered to help her, but she was almost done when he arrived, so she thought of two plans for her trip instead. Plan A, she would eat at the first rotisserie that appeared on her way to Zuko’s fancy royal mansion/palace/casa. Then, she would go to his house and even though she insisted on staying in a hotel nearby, she would eventually agree to stay. She would get a Fire Nation royalty-style spa day, Zuko’s treat (it’s important to clarify that, at least half of this plan was stolen on Toph’s visits to the Fire Nation. Though it is quite obvious). After all of that, she would ask him (preferably during a beach day) why he is visiting the North Tribe so much. And right before leaving, she would spend a day at Iroh’s shop.

However, it seemed like she had to go with plan B. Sure, it wasn’t a bad plan B, but it definitely involved fewer massages and face masks than the original, and Katara was just a girl who wanted a little self-care. Can anyone blame her?

“I like what you’ve done to the place” Katara stared at the wooden panels on the wall. She was too shy to confess her feelings about fire hazards, she didn’t even know if it was offensive for him.

“I tried to make it a bit retro, you know?” Iroh explained. “Everything is changing so fast, I’m afraid the world forgets its roots. But I guess that’s not a big preoccupation for younger folks”.

The words of Iroh resonated in her head on most occasions, especially since she was aware that he was Azulon’s firstborn. Even if he had spent more than a decade fixing his past actions, it was still weird for her to share the same table as a guy he had resented from the moment she gained consciousness. It’s hard to get used to this new era, and it’s probably the reason she barely went to the Fire Nation, even if it meant fewer hangouts with Zuko. In the last months, Aang helped her a lot to channel her antipathy into different, less draining emotions. Today’s emotion is: curiosity.

“I think I know why you are here, Katara” he offered her a cup.

“Well, we both needed a vacation”, she said. ”Zuko’s told me how busy these last weeks have been for him… plus I missed swimming without the risk of dying of hypothermia”.

“Then you’re certainly going to love the beaches down on Chaisee’s island” Iroh gave her a warm laugh. “Oh, the times I had there when I was your age!”

Katara took a sip on the cup and smiled.

“But be careful, Zuko’s skin might be sensitive after last week”, Katara cautiously nodded, “as a water bender yourself, you know how the healing procedures work”.

Healing procedures? Katara nodded again. Could Iroh tell she was nervous?

“Yeah…. I totally forgot. It’s such a sensitive procedure!” she said, having no idea about this healing thing. “And I wouldn’t want to hurt a Fire Lord, they have a history of heated arguments don’t they?” Apparently, it was impossible for Katara to shut her mouth. “Anyways, promise I won’t interfere in the treatment. Don’t know how I forgot, Zuko told me all about it on my way here… I mean, on a letter of course. He wasn’t on the ship. I guess you know that” shut up shut up shut up.

Iroh widened his eyes and made a frown that immediately told Katara that her attempts to sound unbothered and casual failed, as usual.

“Did I say something I shouldn’t?” Iroh covered his mouth his hand.

Katara tried to comfort him. “Well, he technically told me about his trips to the North Tribe, so it was a matter of time until I figured out what was going on”, honestly, she never even considered the idea of him wanting to get rid of his scar. He hadn't mentioned since he was sixteen. “I have a few questions now, though”

“Maybe you should ask him directly, I’m sure you’re going to notice the change once he arrives. A healing process is slow, and you know Zuko: he wants everything fast”, Iroh sighed, “but in his last letter he told me that this healing session was quite intense”.

He poured the water into two cups.

“The thing is,” he cleared his voice, “Zuko doesn’t understand that there are some parts of a wound that can only be healed by him.”

[catierambles]

Shades Ch.15

Pairing: Walter Marshall x Faith Culver (Vampire!OFC)

WC 1582

Warnings: highly alluded to sexy times Minors DNI 18+ ONLY

@brattymum96 , @ouroboros113 , @peaches1958 , @summersong69 , @henryownsme , @greensleeves888

Faith woke to the sound of a phone going off, burrowing deeper into Walter’s chest as she heard him feel for it, the tone stopping abruptly.

“Marshall.” He said drowsily. “Yes, Sir, understood. I’ll keep an eye out for them. You too, Sir.” He hung up the phone and she heard it hit the bed.

“Walter?” She asked.

“I’m on paid administrative leave pending the completion of the investigation. They’re going to station an unmarked car outside of the house in around-the-clock surveillance, just in case he tries to come here.” Walter said and she nodded. “Doubt it’ll deter him, but they don’t know that.”

“It won’t, but if it makes them feel like they’re actually doing something.” She said and he rolled over, turning her onto her back and half laying on her, shifting so he could bury his face in her neck.

“You smell good.” He muttered into her skin and she snorted, petting her fingers through his curls. “You said that drinking human blood will make you stronger.”

“Yes.”

“What if you--”

“No.” She said and he picked his head up, looking at her. “The amount I would need to take from you to get the kind of strength I would need in a short amount of time would kill you. Even if I took from you slowly over time to gain strength, it would severely weaken you. The human body requires over a month to regenerate lost red blood cells and something tells me we don’t have that kind of time. Besides, my body would work through what I took before you regenerated the amount again and we’d be back at square one.”

“It was just a thought.”

“And I appreciate it, but it’s not feasible, not from you.” She said, “I would literally need to starve myself and then binge. Like I did back when I was Rebecca Doyle.” She sighed, “There’s someone I can get into contact with again, a friend from back in the day. He doesn’t drink animal blood but has a reliable source of human blood that doesn’t involve taking a life. I’ll see if he can get me in touch with his supplier. The fridge may look like a horror movie for a while, but I can probably put it in the bottles to disguise it like I do the animal blood.”

“When’d you meet him?”

“Shortly after I came over on the boat.” She said, “Made my way west, he was living in Texas in a little town that doesn’t exist anymore. Already about a hundred when I met him. It’s been a while since we last spoke, but I should be able to get in touch with him.”

“A while as in a few months? Or a while as in a few decades? That phrase could mean something drastically different to you.”

“About a year, smartass.” She said, “His number should still be the same. In fact, where’s my…” She looked over, reaching for her phone but he cupped the side of her face in his palm, turning it back towards him and shifting upwards so he could kiss her. “Uh….okay.” She said when he pulled away, “Bit of a shift, don’t you think?” He just kissed her again, pressing her back against the pillows as he pushed up her t-shirt. “Wait, Walter, hold up.” She said, pulling away from his lips. “It’s not that I mind but are you…are you jealous?”

“Why would I be jealous?” He asked.

“Maybe because I have a male vampire friend that I’ve known for over a hundred years now whose number I still have.” He went to kiss her again, but she stopped him with a hand against his mouth. “Oh my god, you are. Walter, sweetheart, Jacoby and I are just friends. He helped me acclimate to the US when I first came over. I was used to living on a reasonably sized island, not something as big as the United States.” He didn’t say anything, not that he really could with her hand over his mouth still and she sighed. “For the love of--” Taking her hand away from his mouth, she pushed, turning him over onto his back and sitting up on him astride his hips. His hands immediately went to her thighs as she leaned over him, pressing her lips to his in a kiss that she quickly deepened, a groan shaking his chest as her tongue swirled against his. “I have never thought about him like that. You, however…” She pushed up his t-shirt, sinking her fingers into the muscle of his chest before she moved down, pressing her lips to his diaphragm as her nails dragged down his sides, making his breath hitch in his throat.

“Faith…” He tried to pull her back up, but she laced her fingers with his.

“Nuh uh, Mr. Green-Eyed-Monster.” She said, “Lay back and let me show you how much you mean to me.”

Once she was finished and he finished, she laid back up at the top of the bed after tucking him back in his sweatpants, propping herself up on an elbow and looking at him with a small smile. His eyes were unfocused but fixed on the ceiling, his lips parted as he panted heavily.

“Convinced?” She asked.

“Uh huh.” He said with a nod and she giggled, resting her forehead on his shoulder. “Is that going to make you sick?”

“I’ll be sick later.” She said with a shrug, “But I’ll be fine." She got off the bed, heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth and went over to her phone when she came back into the bedroom, picking it up and going through her contacts until she found the one she was looking for. Selecting it, she held her phone to her ear as it rang.

"Hey, doll." The accented voice said when it picked up.

"Hey, Jake. Got a favor to ask of you."

"I don't hear from you for almost a year and you call to ask a favor?" He asked, "See how you are? Anythin for you, darlin, what's up?"

"Can you get me in contact with your blood supplier?"

"Bout time you stopped drinking that animal shit." He said, "Sure can, but why the change of heart?"

"Quintus is in town."

"The fuckhead?"

"The fuckhead. I'm with someone and Quintus has taken an interest in him."

"From what you've told me about him, that's one hell of a storm brewin." Jacoby said, "Understandable you want to get as strong as you can for it. How about this? You still livin at the same place?"

"Sure am."

"I'll come by with some of my private stock and you can pick what tastes best for you. Then you'll get in touch with my supplier for your own stock."

"I can't ask that of you, Jake."

"You ain't askin, darlin, I'm offerin." Jake said, "I'm in your neighborhood anyway on a job, so I'll be there in a couple days."

"Thanks, Jake."

"Again, anythin for you, doll." Jake said, "Lay low until I get there. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?"

"I have a business to run, staff to pay. I can't lock myself away."

"Well, keep that man of yours close then, don't let him outta your sights."

“Appreciate it, Jake.” He just hummed at her and they said their goodbyes, Faith ending the call and setting her phone back on the nightstand. “We’re going to have company in a couple of days, Jake’s stopping by with a gory sample pack. He’s in town on a job.”

“A job?” Walter asked, looking over at her.

“He’s a bounty hunter.”

“A vampire bounty hunter.”

“Yeah, I know how it sounds. He’s like you, been in some kind of law enforcement his entire existence. He was the Sherriff of the town he was in when I met him, pulled me into the station not long after I got there to make sure I wasn’t going to cause trouble.” Faith said, “Bounty hunting allows him to scratch that itch and still be independent.”

“You could hire him to take care of Quintus for you.” Walter suggested.

“He’d probably do it for free if I asked, but I couldn’t ask that of him. Quintus is my problem.” Faith said and he nodded, watching as she got onto the bed again and settled against his side. Rolling, he turned her over onto her back and held himself above her, her hands going to his chest. “What, babe?”

“I understand that drinking human blood comes with…baggage for you.” He said and she nodded. “Unless it’s during certain activities.” She snorted at that and he gave her a soft smile. “So, thank you.”

“You have nothing to thank me for. I should have done this a long time ago, protecting you is just giving me yet another incentive to put him in the ground.” Lowering himself down slightly, he kissed her, feeling her hands slide across his chest and up into his hair. Pulling away from her lips, he pressed his to her chin, ducking under to lay kisses against her neck.

“Now you lay back and let me take care of you.”

“Walter…” He pressed a finger against her lips before shifting, moving down her body, and pushing up her t-shirt to press a kiss into her stomach, his hands going to her yoga pants and pulling them down her legs slowly along with her small clothes.

[sunflowersometimes]

hello! the amazing @callouiee tagged me in their post spelling their url with songs they like for me to do the same if i wanted and i thought it would be fun! they made theirs l&h/larrie related but i have such a long url that i think I’m going to use my favorite songs as well! this will also give me an excuse to gush about some of my fav songs

so i wrote the above paragraph and then tried to find and narrow down songs which proved to be very difficult lol. i probably made it harder on myself than needed bc i wanted to choose best and most perfect songs but there are just too many. this is the best list i could come up with, but i feel pretty good with it! if anyone ever wants to talk music, i’m so down i have so many favorites.

p.s. i really truly did gush about every song i’m so sorry for how long this is

s- Satellite (Harry Styles) this song is my baby. i love her with every fiber of my being. i have dance parties by myself in my apartment when this song comes on i literally can’t get enough of it. i honestly thought matilda would be my fav song off harry’s house cause like... it’s matilda, but this is the song i come back to most often from that album.

u- U.N.I (Ed Sheeran) okay so i have so many distinct memories listening to this song on the bus to/from middle school. anything from ed’s + album was my favorite. his stuff from that time used to be my favorite music along with 1D. i thought i was so cool when i memorized the rap part lol

n- No Children (The Mountain Goats) i will admit i did find this song through the tiktok trend but i absolutely loved that trend, i thought it was so cute. i listened to the full song shortly after discovering the song and it shortly became my second most listened to song of last year. w/o getting into too much detail, this song holds a special place in my therapy journey lol 

f- Fine Line (Harry Styles) what is there to say about her? she probably holds the biggest spot in music related to my healing journey. i fully annotated her once through the lens of my own therapy and healing journey. she means a lot a lot to me

l- Like Real People Do (Hozier) i am a hozier slut and i’m not afraid to admit it. i love anything this man puts out. sometimes i listen to his music like i’m a thirsty begger and his music is the only water that’s been offered to me in weeks. i could have put any of his songs on this list and you would have gotten the same reaction out of me. he makes me feel feral and ethereal at the same time.

o- Outer Space/Carry on (5SOS) god this song will never not get me. this song was my fine line of my middle school/high school years. if i ever see this song live i’m pretty sure i’ll die on the spot. i have a half-ish sleeve tattoo planned around this song. there’s like five songs on this list that i have tattoos planned around but none of them as big as this one. everything about this song is just perfect.

w- Written All Over Your Face (Louis Tomlinson) do i even need to say anything about this one? it’s been on repeat since the album came out. it’s literally so good and i know it’s everyone’s favorite but it’s for a damn good reason. have you heard louis’ voice?????? literally perfection absolute bop and i can’t stop listening to it. this is louis’ sound and i’m so proud of him

e- Emotions (5SOS) any time i make a new playlist of things i’m currently listening to to have one shuffle/repeat, i put this entire album on there. i feel like the more i listen to it, the more addicted i get. also, Liz told me this song was very me codded and i feel like that’s so true. i’m always in my emotions lol. also also, that little clap/slap that happens every so often in this song gives me an unnecessary amount of serotonin. 

r- Right Now (1D) i also could have put any one direction song on this list but there’s something about this song that has always had a grip on my brain. immediate performance mode whenever this song comes on. they’re my boys. my babies. i’ve been a fan for a decade now which is absolutely wild. i miss them

s- Spaces (1D) this might have to be in my top 5 favorite one d songs. i don’t know if i even have an actual top 5 but if i did, this song would be in it. i feel like i’m ascending whenever i listen to this song; it’s similar vibes to satellite in dance party mode for me if that makes sense lol i can’t help but move whenever i hear this song

o- Only the Brave (Louis Tomlinson) again, does this need any explanation? there was a while when i couldn’t listen to this song bc it hurt my closeted heart too much. it still makes me sad but also very optimistic. i hope i can hear this song live one day surrounded by fellows queers who’ve also found their family through the boys. it doesn’t make it a solo song anymore then does it? we’re a family; more of a family than any church i’ve been a part of. 

m- Mum (Luke Hemmings) another album where i could put literally any song on this list bc i love them all so much. this song, however, beats the others out ever so slightly as being my favorite. i’m noticing a pattern with my favorite songs: satellite, spaces, mum. they all have a really big build up to an absolute cathartic release later on in the song. mum does give me church song vibes but in the least song ruining way possible. this song actually inspired me to make a playlist of songs that make me feel like im ascending whenever i listen to them

e- Egg and Soldier (Cosmo Sheldrake) okay okay okay i know you’re thinking that this song came super duper out of left field and is really weird and i definitely agree but here me out. all of his songs are super fun and kinda weird but so so cool and unique and unpredictable. i have yet to come across a song of his i don’t love. they all make me feel so connected to my inner child/the creativity i pushed away for so long.

t- To Be Alone (Hozier) again, i’m a hozier slut. this might be my favorite song of his but i’m unsure if i can even pick a favorite hozier song. that slide on ‘feeeeeels good’ gets me every single time. i’m weak in the knees i’m obsessed. the grungy, dirty electric guitar???? i can’t it’s too much 

i- If I Could Fly (One Direction) i couldn’t not add this one. it’s iconic and makes me cry maybe half of the time i listen. who let them write, record, and release this song? it’s literally so raw and vulnerable and i know i’ve written some pretty raw poetry but i don’t think i’ve ever written anything on this level. like ?????? i forget this song is a real song they released and not something a fanfic writer made up

m- Matter of Time (Ashton Irwin) god this album destroys me in the best way possible. and this song???? literally speaks to me and my soul. this is another one i want to get a tattoo of. it’s just like a warm hug from an older sibling/older friend. everything’s gonna be okay bud

e- evermore (Taylor Swift) I do love me some good taylor swift, especially folklore and evermore. i don’t think this one is my favorite, that’s probably the lakes, but i do remember hearing it for the first time and absolutely loosing it at the word switch at the end of the song. it still holds a special place in my heart for the hopefulness it’s able to give me whenever i don’t have a lot of it.

s- Sunflower Vol. 6 (Harry Styles) and we’re ending on the song that i wish i could be. if i could have the vibes of any song it would be this one. i’m one of those obnoxious people that make sunflowers their whole personality and whenever harry released this song i went feral for it. i love her so much and i hope i grow up and make her proud.

okay now that i’ve written more than anyone wanted to read, i want to tag some recent mutuals to do this too! Obviously there’s no pressure to do this or to write as much as i did, simply just putting a song is enough lol

@bravetemptation  @lunarheslwt  @primary-wicf​  @flyhometolou28

[megatownac]

I don't want to talk about Ankha, but I'm going to, just once

To the person who's sent me three asks this week regarding Ankha's status as a meme, both accusing me of not caring about her and then insisting that I must care because of all my totally-normal posts about her:

I'm not going to post the text of your messages, because, frankly, I don't want to. I try to keep this blog safe for all ages, even if I do dance around some adult or risque topics. I'll joke about giving Henry a sound thrashing, or burying Tom Nook alive, or, and this is what seems to have upset you, the fact that NSFW artwork of Ankha exists. But that's where it ends. I try to avoid swearing or using any explicit language, and you went for it in your asks, and that's why I won't be posting that text here.

You've asked me to speak out against the meme of Ankha as a "sex doll," saying that sickos on the internet are ruining her, and making it impossible for people to find normal, work-safe fanart of her.

I'm not gonna speak up FOR that, for sure, but I can't speak against it, because I disagree with your basic premise. I don't think that it's become impossible to find the cute artwork, and I don't think she's being ruined by anyone. As I said myself in my post on Sunday with my latest character poll, on this blog, Ankha is just living her simulated life on Supertown, completely unaware of anything else that might be said or done on the internet. She's just hanging out, like any other Snooty islander.

Maybe it IS hard to look up Ankha on Google image search, or even here on Tumblr, without finding her drawn in ways that differ greatly from her Animal Crossing character design, which is, let's not forget, this:

She looks like a child. She has the exact same proportions, the same mesh, as every other cat, male and female. She's just there, a blob, in fun makeup and with a fun hat that looks like a smiling snake. That's not what's turning people on. They're projecting a fantasy onto her. It's not her. It's them.

And it sucks! And I wish it wouldn't happen! But I do not have some kind of dark and terrible power that I can use to "call upon the Animal Crossing fandom" to do anything about it beyond saying what should already be obvious: you shouldn't post stuff that isn't work-safe in places where kids will stumble upon it. That's not a hot take. That doesn't need ME, of all people, standing up on my soapbox shouting it. You know how many people actually read this blog on a regular basis? Maybe half a dozen, tops. My "last three days" activity view right now says I've gotten eight notes across my most recent 13 posts, man. MOST of my posts get zero engagement with the internet at large.

This kind of thing happens in EVERY fandom, to some degree. Maybe you're old enough to remember when My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic actually tried to embrace their older male audience? It made the online fandom for that show pretty hard to tolerate!

I'm a big JRPG guy. Have been for over thirty years, because, as I've pointed out in the past, I'M OLD. I remember as a teenager, in the early days of the internet, finding NSFW fanart of my most beloved game and cartoon characters and being very upset about it, too.

If you're upset about, say, the Zone cartoon that featured Ankha, I've got news for you there, too: Zone's motto literally used to be a boast about how he's been ruining people's childhoods since 2000. This is a thing that happens, and we all just have to ignore it and move on.

I get it. You like Ankha. A lot. You used a different account, but I'm pretty sure you're the person who did this:

You went back a decade and liked hundreds of my posts featuring Ankha. That's great! I'm really glad that you enjoyed seeing her through the years. I love Ankha, too. She's wonderful. Hang onto that. Don't stress about what other people are doing with Ankha. Ankha does not mind. Ankha is not a real person. Ankha is a video game character. Everybody who has Ankha in their town has their own copy of Ankha, in the same way that everybody who bought a Rainbow Dash figurine has their own copy of it, no matter what extremely gross things they've chosen to do with them. It does not "ruin" Rainbow Dash for other children that there are people doing messed-up things with theirs. It does not "ruin" Ankha that people are getting turned on looking at artwork that other people have drawn and posted to the internet.

Does it make it harder to be a fan? Yes, of course it does. And that sucks. It makes it hard to find the cute stuff that you're looking for. I'm telling you this as someone who first started going online and looking up his interests when he was 1) a young teenager, and 2) a HUGE fan of Final Fantasy 7. The original one, back in 1997. And BOY HOWDY, even THEN, even with a 56k modem that took several minutes to download a single image, I sure did accidentally stumble upon some absolutely gross stuff. It made me angry! And all I could do was focus on the good in the world, and it taught me how to do that, to where now I can play Mario games without thinking about Bowsette, for example.

(Though I actually rather like Bowsette as a concept, I do not like scrolling Twitter and suddenly seeing adult images of the character without asking for them)

If you won't take it from me, take it from Sonic the Hedgehog.

Trust him. If there's ANYONE out there who would know what it means to have fans who are ruining him on the internet, it's Sonic the Hedgehog.

Now, please, go back to peacefully enjoying cute little Ankha the adorable yellow cat in a children's video game, and I'll go back to making silly posts about her that waste everyone's time and clog up the tags so that people have to block me.

[alketaire]

since 2022 only has 30 seconds to hurt me again

FUCK 2022. FUCK 2022 SO FUCKING HARD.

I don’t even remember half the shit that fucked us over this year, but I’ve got a highlight reel, in order:

Worked 2 weeks straight, culminating in The Worst Day Possible at work

Sick with Not-COVID and unable to move or breathe right when my parents needed my help moving out of my childhood home

The fucking convoy, meaning we and most of our neighbours couldn’t sleep or go grocery shopping without being harassed or threatened

My beloved needed urgent surgery that left him bedbound for a month (OHIP aqbar, at least)

Decades of bullshit from a relative finally boiled over into temporary NC and it happened in front of close friends

Inflation, you know, where my pay was more than enough to have some left over for savings at the start of this year and by June I was dipping into those savings for fucking food after we eliminated most of our other spending

Lifted a 75-pound unconscious dog in a weird way and my knee has been increasingly fucked up since

Even when I was overscheduled at work (contract says 20-30, was working 42-45), still barely making food money and literal months just fucking disappear because I’m too tired to function

Go to one of my favourite places in the world for my birthday only to get COVID while I’m there

Both of us knocked out with COVID for a full month despite having four shots

My PARENTS get COVID from some dipshit at the grocery store a week later, the nightmare scenario of the last two years (they’re fine now)

Found out someone who was a close friend went from “vaccine hesitant” two years ago to full-on convoy-supporting crypto-broing anti-vaxx CPP-voting fascist and THAT’S why he’s leaving the country permanently

Tried to get treatment for focus/anxiety issues brought on by COVID, ended up with meds that make me depressed and achey and doctors seem to be allergic to telling me “yeah you can stop”

CRA says they want half our CERB back because of a requirement I’m dead sure they introduced AFTER they sent it out

and, hopefully finally, somebody smashed my driver’s side wing mirror while I was at work right before Christmas.

2023, you’ve gotta work pretty fucking hard for me not to be grateful for you.

[ramblingaro]

this shit is also not equally applied to athletes. It would take an immense amount of resources to look into the genetics of all elite athletes. So instead, it’s just the women who “seem more masculine” who are subjected to extra tests, which really just means black women because womanhood has been historically defined through whiteness. (If you want to look more into this stuff I’d recommend learning about Caster Semenya and everything she’s been fighting World Athletics over for the past decade - they literally made the rule banning women who naturally produce high testosterone from running certain distances because of her. The distances they chose? Her best distances. It’s always targeted and calculated)

I’m blanking on the specific years, but there actually was a brief period of time (I think 80s-90s?) where the IOC tried to use chromosomal testing to “identify women” but this practice was ultimately stopped because they realized it was inconclusive and not useful.

also since one of the people above brought up Phelps I feel obliged to share that he was found to produce HALF the amount of lactic acid as a normal person. There’s a reason Phelps’s performances at ‘07 Worlds and ‘08 Olympics are legendary and it’s the sheer volume of (not short!) races he was doing (and winning and breaking records in!). He won 8 golds in Beijing - that was done through 5 prelims swims, 4 semifinal swims, and 8 finals swims. 17 swims in 8 days and 12 of those swims were races over 100 Meters.

For comparison, Emma McKeon had one of the most impressive performances in women’s Olympic swimming at the 2020 Olympics where she won 7 medals (4 gold). She won these 7 medals with 3 prelims swims, 3 semifinal swims, and 7 finals swims. 13 swims in 8 days, and only one of those swims was a race over 100 Meters. Less swims than Phelps, less records than Phelps, less golds than Phelps, shorter races than Phelps. This is not to trivialize Mckeon’s performance at all - it’s arguably the best women’s swimming performance in any Olympics ever. It’s to put into context how absurd Phelps’s Beijing meet was.

Phelps did what he did because his body was built, innately, to tire less during longer races and recover more easily between races. You can’t separate what he did from those advantages. And that’s part of what makes those performances so special. Sports are about working with what you have - whether you win or lose the genetic lottery. But now, sports have (arbitrarily) decided that some genetic differences are “evil” because they’re “not woman enough” and that is vile and it starts with trans women but it will come for any cis woman who steps beyond the bounds of what femininity “should” be. Also, the sports stuff EXPLODED last year literally because a trans woman won an NCAA title in swimming. There have been guidelines for trans women in elite sports for almost 20 years now, but it (largely) wasn’t a problem until trans women succeeded (Track and Field has always been a bit worse, and racialized shit gets more complicated - see Semenya; but the flashpoint that drove international attention was last March in womens NCAA swimming).

Wait... Wait wait wait, let me understand something.

So for this cisgender woman with naturally high testosterone (and/or an intersex condition, I do not know her specific condition and it's honestly none of my business) has to be be forced to take the same testosterone suppressing medications that these same competitive regulatory committee said wasn't good enough to suppress trans women's testosterone to allow them to compete in women's sports.

If she has naturally high testosterone, similar to that that trans women experience in their lives pre-transition then wouldn't she have the same advantages that a trans woman supposedly inherently has and can not be corrected with said testosterone suppression?

Like, no one should have to undergo forced medical treatment to be able to compete or to make it "fair" for their competition. Other athletes have all kinds of natural advantages, like Michael Phelps having an abnormal wingspan and larger lungs and heart. In fact, every high level athlete has some kind of physical advantage, that's how they're such high level athletes. You think the people they beat out for their spots just, what, didn't work as hard? Didn't grab those bootstraps tight enough? Fuck no.

Racism, intersexism, and transphobia are all linked, and this case is maybe the most glaringly obvious one.

[ashcovenews]

'I'm depressed, don't want to lose my house': Homeowners and renters in UK gripped by rising costs

A London housing organization that manages affordable rental homes for lower-income tenants has raised rent yearly and most recently declared a 4% bump to 170 pounds ($223) a week.

LONDON: For Sadie James, the cost-of-living crisis in Britain just never seems to ease.

First, it was skyrocketing energy and food costs stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Now, the 61-year-old worries whether she can keep a roof over her head.

James, who lives in south London, has struggled for years to stay on top of her finances. Just as she was starting to clear her debts, she’s back to square one: Her rent keeps rising, and on top of higher food and energy bills, her welfare payments just can’t keep up.

“I’m actually in a meltdown each time I think about it,” said James, who cannot work because of underlying health problems. “I’m literally depressed, I’m angry, I’m totally overwhelmed about it because I don’t want to lose my home.”

Interest rates have risen rapidly in recent months, which in turn have ratcheted up mortgages and rents across the United Kingdom. Rates have hit 5% after being below 1% for the past decade as the Bank of England has tried to bring down the highest inflation in the Group of Seven major economies.

As is often the case, the poorest households are bearing the brunt. The rate hikes have led to the biggest fall in household wealth in Britain since World War II, according to new research from the Resolution Foundation think tank.

Unlike the United States, where many mortgages are fixed for up to 30 years, U.K. homeowners are more exposed to changes in the cost of borrowing because a large percentage of them have loans that need to be renewed every two or five years.

Around 2.5 million such deals are due to expire by the end of next year, with around a million households facing a 500-pound ($655) monthly increase in their average mortgage repayments by 2026, Bank of England Gov. Andrew Bailey said.

That has put pressure on both Bailey and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose hold on power is tenuous ahead of a likely general election next year. Making it more expensive to borrow is how higher interest rates help lower inflation — people potentially spend less, reducing demand and pressure on prices.

Though inflation has eased from a double-digit peak last year, it’s still stubbornly high at 8.7%, and the central bank is expected to keep hiking rates — already at a 15-year high. That has led to mounting fears of the economy sinking into recession.

Many landlords facing higher mortgage payments want to pass on those costs to renters. A dearth of rental options doesn’t help either.

James says her landlord, a London housing organization that manages affordable rental homes for lower-income tenants, has raised her rent yearly and most recently declared a 4% bump to 170 pounds ($223) a week. For James, who is barely managing to cover her other bills, the rent increases seem relentless and she is terrified of being evicted.

“It’s a nightmare, thinking they’re going to come one day … lock my door and I can’t get in,” she said.

Despite the sharp increase in mortgage rates, renters have struggled to afford their housing to a greater degree than homeowners, according to Britain’s statistics agency. Renters typically spend a higher proportion of their income on housing costs, it said.

Jon Taylor, a debt manager at the charity Christians Against Poverty who has helped James, said his organization has seen a large increase in the number of people in rental debt in the past two years. Almost half of the charity’s new clients seek help paying their rent.

“Already, the rent increases are astronomical here in London, and people can’t afford that,” he said. “There’s this group of people that would have just about been able to pay their rent, but it’s just not sustainable anymore. And so something’s got to give.”

The rising rates are not just affecting people on the breadline or on social welfare, he added. He’s also worried about workers who could easily be tipped into debt because they can’t cover the simultaneous increases in food, housing and energy bills seen since last year.

“I’m extremely concerned that we’re going to see more people coming to us saying, ‘We can’t pay the mortgage’ — people who you’d never have thought of needing that kind of help are now going to be struggling,” he said.

The interest rate hikes have sent the average two-year fixed mortgage rate to 6.66%, the highest since before the 2008 global financial crisis.

Joanne Barker-Marsh, a single mother who cares for her teenage son with special needs, is trying not to think about February, when her fixed-rate mortgage is up for renewal. She is bracing for her payment to more than double.

“I will fly by the seat of my pants,” Barker-Marsh said. “I can’t even address this right now because I am terrified.”

The 51-year-old from Rochdale, in northern England, lost her job during the pandemic and relies on social services payments. She spends a third of her state benefits on the mortgage.

“I don’t have any spare cash, I don’t know where we’re going next,” she said. “It will swallow up the majority of our social services payment.”

Bailey, the central banker, expressed hope that the country’s biggest banks are resilient enough to offer more help than they could before the global financial crisis. He said banks have more capital and are carrying far less debt than they did then, allowing them to offer struggling households more financial options.

Whatever options are available, the drip-drip of bad news doesn’t help those fretting about where the cost-of-living crisis will go next.

“I don’t have a chance to catch up, to get better, because next minute there’s something else,�� James said. “And I don’t understand why.”