#but i fear that ill stay up late just to game with them or something. maybe that's something i can just tell them though

[hexslvt]

i dont rly know what to do bc usually just leaving it at "we can flirt and nothing more" is feasible but them becoming my fp has Complicated it

[divinesolas]

Distractions

Summary: Despite how close the two of you are you're sick of waiting around for Jace no matter how much you like him, so you decide you’re going out on a date! but he doesn't like that.

r.q: childhood friends to lovers with modern frat boy Jace and he's like rlly popular and known to go from girl to girl. reader is like really smart and different from Jace so people get surprised when they find out you two are really close. Jace is always dragging you to parties and you’re always at his football games and he gets really protective over you. idek where im going with this 😭 but w smut too, your fics are acc amazing ty for your work 🙏

w.c: 2.5k

c.w: reader has hair (unspecified type, could be a wig wtv), Jace's anger issues, idk what locker rooms look like, cregan <3, fingering (f!receiving), p in v, unprotected sex (wrap it up guys), not proofread (as always)

a.n: I CANT STOP WRITING FOR JACE every request of him i get becomes my priority, literally when i woke up and saw this i had to get to writing it immediately like there’s smth wrong w me, anyways hope you all enjoy <3, this ones probably not my best T_T

Knocking on the door cuts through the music playing out of your speaker while your getting ready. “Come in.” you already know who it is. Your longtime best friend and housemate Jace who comes in with a smile on his face before it turns to shock as he looks you up and down, “woah.”

You finish clamping your necklace around your neck and look at him, “what do you want?” He leans against the door with his arms crossed with an amused look. you ignore how your heart flutters at him and turn away to adjust the dress you currently had on. “i just wanted to tell you im about to head out for the game, its a little odd to get all dressed up for a football game no?” The looks falls from his face as you drop your gaze from his in the mirror and fiddle around with your hair. he says your name breathlessly as he pushes away from the frame and takes a step into the room. You finally lift your head and meet his gaze in the mirror. “I'm not going to the game tonight Jace.”

He flinches as if you had thrown something at him and stutters for a moment his face covered in pure confusion as he brings one of his hands to his neck. “what do you mean you're not coming? you always come! if this is about me eating your leftovers then im sorry i thought you left it for me-” “i have a date.”

There it is. You didn't want to tell him. Hes always been, well a little protective of you, but you mostly blame it on your introverted personality while he's more of a people person. Youve had a crush on him for as long as you can remember but he's never been interested in you not the way you wanted him to be anyways, barely staying single or without a girl on his arm for a second you don't even know the girls names or maybe that's the point. He doesn't bring them around you but you know he's with them when he returns home super late with his hair all messed up. You fear he does it on purpose, he must know you like him and he doesn't bring them around you to make you upset.

You really didn’t want to tell him. You had thought maybe he would have just left for the pregame and just shot you a text and you could have faked some sickness or have pretended to go to sleep early. You walk over to your bed sit down grabbing your shoes to put them on. His silence is off putting. and you don’t dare raise your head to look at him.

“with who?” “This guy from lab, mark.” you finish lacing your shoes and stand up, finally looking at him and noticing the blank look on his face. “Jace-” “I don’t like this. i mean i don’t even know the guy how do we know he’s not some serial killer or something? Mark? Why don’t you just push it off for a couple days, come to the game and ill find out if he’d a good guy-” “I'm going whether you like it or not.” you cut him off. You couldn’t let him stop you from forgetting about him even if it was just for a bit. You grab your purse moving to push past him only for him to grab your arm. “Jace-” “You look beautiful.” The skin where he was holding you burns. You don't say anything as he lets you go and keeps his back turned to you. “text me?”

You try to ignore the pit that forms in your stomach at his sudden change of tone. you want to say something to him, you’re not used to seeing him like this. he would usually be pestering you about how you he asked you out or did you really like him but he was quiet. The sound of a horn outside brings you back to reality and you nod at his back as if he could see you and walk out. Putting on a fake smile as your handed a nice bouquet of flowers from mark, gulping to try and swallow the pit in your stomach.

—

“who the hell does this guy think he is?” His fist slams into the wall of lockers he's pacing in front of. All his gear is put on, his helmet is laying on the bench next to cregan who can only watch his best friend act like an idiot with an annoyed face. “Who the hell are you to care? Her boyfriend? No. So you have no say in it.” Jace bites his nails as he ignores the urge to hit the wall once more. “she’s my best friend.” “and? shouldn’t you be happy she’s on a date with this guy. i like mark he’s nice. what you like her or something?”

Jace ignores how is blood boils at the idea of you now sitting in your pretty dress smiling and giggling at some other guy that's not him. that doesn’t mean he likes you…. Jace attempts to come up with an excuse in his head about why he's so upset and why he's always been so upset over you going out with other guys, he usually just tells himself he's all worried about you and then he finds some girl to take you off his mind for the night…. that doesn't mean he likes you.

Cregan watches with a raised brow as Jace has an internal conflict with himself. He expected Jace to turn to him and admit it but all he does is grumble to himself and grab his helmet walking away from him. “I don't like her.” Cregan just shakes his head and picks up his own helmet following after him, “that fucking idiot.”

—

Mark is nice. Hes cute. He told you you could order anything you wanted off the menu since he was paying. He pays attention to you when you talk. Hes not Jace. You try your best to not think about him but you can’t help it. You wonder how the game is going, you’ve never missed one of his games. Maybe you pushed it too far and should have scheduled this date for a different day, but you know if you did Jace would have managed to convince you not to go and you would have fallen into the same cycle you always do. You nod your head and hum as mark tells you some story as you phone begins to buzz. You ignore it but it just keeps on buzzing to the point even mark looks concerned. “You can check it i don’t mind, ill use the restroom.”

You let out a hushed thank you as you check you phone to see what looked like a million texts from cregan.

‘hey i know the two of you are like fighting or wtv but you gotta see him asap.’

‘never seen him lose his mind like that’

‘got himself hurt’

‘nothing too bad but he’s bleeding’

‘know he thinks it cost us the game’

‘now he wont talk to any of us not even me’

‘think his head wasn’t in it’

‘know it’s not my place but he likes you so much’

‘losing his fucking mind over you not being here and being on some date’

‘please, for his sake at least try to talk to him, know you’re busy sorry to bother but I'm worried for him’

You stand out of your seat in shock as your heart begins to race. He was hurt? He likes you? Mark hadn’t come back yet so you open your purse and throw down some bills before running out of the restaurant. You sprint your way back to campus where the field was, thankfully living in a college town meant everything being super close by, you cant hear anything other than your own racing heart and the sounds of your feet as they slam on the floor.

You slam the hallway door open and cregan and some other guys look at you in shock. You stand there and take some steps towards cregan barely being able to catch your breath. Cregan stands up and looks at you shocked, “You ran here?” You just nod as you look at him expectantly, “where is he?” He uses his thumb to point behind him to the locker room doors, “Completely alone, everyone's already left.” You nod as the guys wish you good luck and leave.

You just stare at the doors for a moment, clarity finally hitting you as you realize how ridiculous it was you just left your date and ran all the way here. You couldn't just ignore cregans message. Pushing open the door its dead quiet other than the sound of running water. You walk slowly into the room the door closing behind you louder than you expected causing you to wince before you call out his name. He doesn't answer so you walk around the wall to where the showers were and you can see him outlined in the curtain and almost gasp but you cover your mouth to prevent anything from coming out.

“Jace?” His head finally snaps up due to your voice being so close and he looks in your direction, calling out your name softly in question. “I’m here.” “What are you doing here?” He turns off the shower and you turn your back incase he stepped out of the shower. You attempt to suppress the heat and want that fills your body as you imagine him naked before shaking your head, “Cregan texted, i was worried about you.” He just hums. You wish you could see his face but you hear the curtain open and the sound of him stepping out. “What about your date?”

You freeze as you clutch your purse tighter in your hands as you let out a deep breath. “What about it?” Hes suddenly standing so close to you you can feel his breath tickling your back and you gulp. “You’re here and not there, why?” One of his hands slides down your arm to grab your clenched hand as his forehead hits your shoulder, he's takes a deep breath as he awaits your answer. “Does it matter?” You don't want him to ask because you don't want to have to answer him. you don't want to have to admit to yourself you just wanted to be with him and nobody else.

“You wanna know why it matters? Because i was so fucking mad that you weren’t here i threw the fucking game and hit my head. because nobody makes me lose my mind like you do. Needed you here and you weren’t. You were out with some stupid fucking guy and i was so pissed.” He presses a kiss to your shoulder and you try to suppress the whimper that climbs its way up to your throat. “What are you saying Jace?”

His hands move to wrap around your waist and his head moves to your neck, You can feel his wet naked chest soaking the back of your dress and the heat of his breath on your neck “You know what, That i would go find a new girl to fuck because i couldn’t have you, that i think about you all the time because i like you so much, that it makes me sick when i think about you with a guy that's not me.” He begins to suck at your neck and you now do nothing to hold back the moan you let out as his grip moves to your hips pulling you back against him closer. “You mean it?” His hands slide down to the hem of your dress and he slides his hands under it and upwards pulling your dress up to poll around your hips, “of course i do baby, can i touch you?”

You let out a strained please and he pushes your underwear aside to run a finger down your slit letting out a groan, “fuck..” He quickly sticks two fingers into you and you fall back against him, withering under his touch as he moves at a rough pace, clearly very eager to please you and his other hand comes down from your hips to play with your clit. Your knees almost buckle from the amount of pleasure but he keeps you pressed tightly against him curling his fingers.

You swear he has magic powers because as you were right about to cum he pulls out of you and you whimper. He chuckles at your reaction and twists you around to face him, “want you to come around me.” He pulls you into a heated kiss as you two frantically pull off your dress, kicking it to some random corner of the locker room along with your underwear. “I don't have a condom.” You hear him swear and mumble to himself but you cup his cheeks to stop him, “I'm on the pill.” “It’s not the same-” “what are you not clean?” “of course i am-” “Then fuck me Jace.” He looks in your eyes for any signs of hesitation and when he doesn't find any he quickly pushes himself into you.

You feel like you can’t breathe, he pushes you against a nearby wall and feverishly pounds into you as his hands move to play with your tits. Hes talking but you can’t decipher what he’s saying so lost in your own pleasure. “fuck you feel so good fuck.” You tug on his hair and pull him to kiss you, your on the brink of release as the feeling of his thumbs rubbing on your nipples and the combination of the millions of emotions racing around you. You grip on his hair tightly and he groans, “You close?” You nod you head, “Wait for me.” You open your mouth to complain but his hips begin to move faster and his hands move to your hips to slam you closer to match his thrusts. “Want to come together.” His words are slurred as he’s approaching his release. Your hands scratch down his back as he groans in your ear, taking your ear and sucking on it.

“Come.” He breaths in your ear and you do, he hisses as he feels you pulse against him, your fluid completely covering him and he cant help but follow suit. He kisses you running his hands down your arms. As the two of you settle down he makes no move to pull out of you, seeming content within you.

“I'm gonna get a fucking earful from cregan.”

[shiny-kaibernyte]

Arven Headcannons (Romantic)

No warnings: Just pure fluff

There are a few general headcannons in here and a couple of how i think him and Nemona's friendship would be. But its 90% fluff. I actually wrote WAYYYY more than what's in this post but i didn't think people would want to read an entire Essay. So here are a selection!

This man cannot bake for anything. Give him a grill and bread, he will give you a 5 star meal. Give him a whisk and a cake tray, he will burn the house down. So don’t expect a homemade cake on your birthday. Or at least don’t expect one from him.

He was Smitten with you the moment you agreed to help him on his Titan Quest. Reluctantly or joyfully, hearing you agreeing made him fall head over heels for you and he didn’t even know it. Maybe that's why he tried extra hard on those Sandwiches. 

Arven and Nemona used to fight over the best friend position, You’d usually have to stand in the middle of them to prevent their Pokémon battles from spilling into personal ones. Arven would later claim the Boyfriend card once Area Zero was dealt with, Nemona was very pleased to cement the best friend spot.

You are the only other person who's allowed to take Mabosstiff out on walks. You're his person, so you get the puppy. Nemona and Penny both tried, it resulted in Arven throwing a tomato at Nemona and Penny slowly backing out of the room. He did mourn the tomato though… he wanted that tomato.

Arven isn’t necessarily Protective, but he is observant. He will defend your honour and voice with every ounce of his being. But he also isn’t a violent person, that's what Pokémon battles are for. 

That being said, if something did happen to you, especially if you fell ill. He would go to hell and back to find some way of helping you. He already proved that much, just don’t bail on him if he needs you most.

Love Language: Gift Giving + Quality time.

If he can, he will SPOIL you. He never had someone love him the way you do. Show him the kindness and compassion that makes his heart sore. If he could give you the world. He’d hand you the Galaxy on a silver plate. But until he can find a Cosmo. A plushie will have to be done for now.

He is not a morning person at all. The only reason you will ever find him up before midday is for one of two reasons: A teacher told him off for being late and he’s only got 1 more warning before another suspension OR Mabosstiff dragged him out of bed by the ankle and forced him to go outside. There is no other reason.

Terrible at video games, absolutely horrendous. Dude can’t even play Minecraft without throwing the controller. Penny tried to teach him how to play Stardew Valley, he got angry at Pierre for the backpack price and hasn’t picked up the game again. Though he’s happy to watch you play and will hold down a button if you get tired. Never ask him to play though… unless you need to laugh, then ask. 

One time you tried to put a bow on Mabosstiff ‘s head. With no recollection how or why, it somehow ended up in Arven’s hair. You have now learnt Arven can rock a manbun and a sparkling pastel pink bow. 

When you first stayed the night, dude slept like a board. He did not move a single cell in his body. It wasn’t until you were resting your head on his chest that he actually moved. He has since loosened up, but it took a while for him to trust himself enough to even touch you when you slept. 

He cannot Flirt. You cannot tell me otherwise.

He bought you both onesies to wear on movie nights. Yes he has to have a Saturday movie night with you or he gets grumpy. 

Sometimes Arven will bring you lunch or make you breakfast so he knows you have eaten at least something during the day. Plus he also uses it as an excuse to see you smile but he will never say that to your face. Only Mabosstiff.

Dude is terrified of Cetitan. Ever since the "mountain incident" Cetitan is his greatest enemy. Arven tries to act tough and unafraid to impress you but, Grusha has and will continue to use this fear to his Advantage any time Nemona drags Arven to the Mountains. You totally didn’t make a deal with Grusha and Nemona, that isn’t something you did… Wink wink.

You don’t borrow his clothes, he donates them. There have been numerous occasions you have opened a drawer or wardrobe to find one of his numbers, jackets, vests, anything! Just something new of his somewhere for you to have. He will even buy different sizes if you prefer baggy shirts or snug shirts.

He remembers everything and yet nothing at the same time. You ask him what day it is, he’ll look at you like you just asked him to explain calculus to a class of year 1’s. Ask him your favourite movie!? Arven will go into excruciating detail about everything to the point you’d think he directed it. Nemona and Giacomo once held a quiz night on Arven just to test how much he did remember. Dude remembered nothing about anyone else, except birthdays… he’s good at that. But you dude could write your autobiography. 

Dude has zero fear of heights, once Miridon learnt how to fly, anytime Arven would join you, he’d always sit behind you so he could hold your waist. It’s been a little thing of his ever since Area Zero, he can’t not do it. Even if he’s the better driver; Dude will sit behind you as an excuse to just hold you.

Almost No PDA he is a private person. He does lean on you though or will stand behind you almost like a bodyguard. If he does touch you in public it's usually a reassuring hand on the shoulder, on the small of your back to guide you somewhere or your arm locked into his. He isn’t a hand holder, he usually is carrying something or needs his hands free so he does subtle stuff instead.

[helloalycia]

𝐍𝐎 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐁𝐘𝐄𝐒 [𝐎𝐍𝐄] — 𝐊𝐀𝐓𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐍

summary: when Katniss gets sick and doesn't show any signs of getting better, you fear the worst and have to do whatever you can to make sure she does.

warning/s: mentions of dying + usual warnings that come with writing for the hunger games.

author's note: thanks to everyone who voted on my first lil poll yesterday haha, here’s the katniss one that won! there’s 2 parts and it was written after i just reread all the hunger games books and became hyperfixated on katniss again lmao

i’ll post the jackie taylor yellowjackets one after this for anyone who voted that too :)

two / masterlist / wattpad

I tightened the woolly scarf around my neck, hoping it would do something to keep the cold, bitter air out despite its flimsiness. Winter in District 12 could be unforgiving, but by the look of things from the front window, it hadn't snowed anymore last night.

"I'm leaving, mum!" I called from the front door, grabbing my school bag.

"Have a nice day, hon!" she called back from the kitchen.

When I left my house, the first thing I stepped foot in was grey slush, and I wasn't sure if that was worse than a blizzard at this point. Nonetheless, I sucked it up and headed over to my best friend Katniss' house, not far from my own in the poor, ragged part of the district, the Seam.

We always met at her place before school since it was on the way and we could walk in together, but when I arrived, her little sister, Primrose, answered and looked worried.

"Hey, darling, what's up?" I asked, accepting the hug she gave me as I stepped inside.

"It's Katniss," she muttered. "She won't get out of bed."

Trying not to show my concern, I said, "I'll go check on her. You finish getting ready so we're not late, yeah?"

She nodded and I watched her go into the kitchen to finish her breakfast with her mum, the older woman offering a small smile when she saw me. I returned it before letting myself into the other room of their house, the bedroom that all three of them shared. Inside, Katniss was still in her bed, under the covers and blocking out the light. Whether she was awake, I wasn't sure, but this was certainly unlike her.

"Katniss?" I called, shaking her body slightly. "We're gonna be late, you've gotta get up."

She groaned slightly, not appreciating my interruption, and then seemed to realise what was happening as she rolled over, eyes squinted with confusion.

"Huh? What are you doing?" she mumbled, rubbing her face, and her voice was raspier than usual.

"It's time for school," I said knowingly, before frowning when I saw her cover her eyes with her hand. "Why are you still in bed? Prim has been trying to wake you."

"What...? I don't..." She stopped, before attempting to sit upright, but she squeezed her eyes shut and steadied herself on the bed.

"Hey," I said, much more concerned now, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. "You're not okay. Is it your head?"

She clutched her forehead, breathing out slowly. "I don't know. It hurts, it– god, it's bright in here."

I frowned, taking in her pained expression and connecting all the dots. "You're sick. You should stay home today. Get better."

As if I'd accused her of murder, Katniss shook her head and pulled the duvet off her with determination. "I'm not. I'm fine, I–" But just on cue, a throaty cough rattled her.

"I can stay home if you want," I offered, already pulling the duvet back on her. "Help you."

The last thing I wanted was to leave her alone whilst she was ill. Technically her mother would be here, but she wasn't the most attentive since she'd lost her husband, so it was essentially like leaving Katniss alone.

"No, you don't need to," Katniss gave in with a sigh.

"I don't mind," I offered, resting a hand on hers. "I can–"

"It's one day," she assured me, before clearing her throat. "I'll be okay. Go. Please. Or you'll be late."

I sighed disapprovingly before nodding, knowing one day of rest would hopefully prove to be useful. I leaned forward to hug her, about to wish her well, but she shoved me back quickly.

"Don't or you'll get sick," she argued tiredly, making me rub my chest where she shoved me.

"Ow," I said with annoyance, before rolling my eyes and standing up. "Very well. Lay down at least."

Thankfully, she obeyed which was how I knew she must've really felt rundown. Pulling the duvet to her shoulders, I tucked her in before wishing her well and leaving the room. After letting her mum know what was wrong and to keep an eye on her, Prim and I left the house together.

"She's okay, right?" the twelve-year-old asked me as we trudged through the muddy snow.

"Oh yeah, of course," I reassured her with a smile. "It's nothing. Just that time of year."

This seemed to work, as Prim sighed with relief before smiling too. But deep down, a small part of me was a little worried. Firstly, Katniss never got sick, ever. And secondly, whereas a cold might not take some people out, it could be the difference between life and death in a place where it was freezing and had no electricity. I only hoped she'd be able to sleep it off and recover soon.

All day I was thinking of Katniss, unable to focus much at school. When the final bell rang and we were finally let out, I was relieved, only wanting to check on her and hopefully see some improvement. Our friend, Gale, accompanied Prim and I back home, since he lived in the Seam also, and we all went to the Everdeens to see if Katniss was okay.

When we reached their house, we saw Mrs Everdeen helping someone out as part of her job as a healer, so decided not to interrupt and instead headed straight for Katniss. When we walked in, Prim ran to her bedside whilst Gale and I took in the scene. Katniss was still under her covers, as if she'd not moved all day.

"Hey, Catnip," Gale said, hoping to lighten the mood and stir her awake, if she was even asleep.

An annoyed moan was the only response we got, so I settled by her bedside and pulled the duvet down carefully, revealing her face. Her eyes were closed, scrunched with discomfort, but she was sweating. I felt her forehead, surprised at how hot she was, and my worry was increasing.

"How is she?" Prim asked from behind me.

I cleared my throat, pulling my hand back. "Er, warm. But it could be nothing."

Clearly I wasn't the best liar, since she pushed me out the way and felt her sister's forehead before frowning immediately.

"That's not nothing," she exclaimed, before going for the door. "I'm getting mum."

I sighed, but knew it was for the best. When her and her mum returned, the four of us attempted to coax Katniss awake properly. She was reluctant, but finally opened her eyes when I closed the curtains, blocking out the light that was bothering her.

"You're burning, Katniss," I told her gently, taking her hand. Her mum rested a cold cloth on her forehead, moving her hair from her face, and I looked back to her tired eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm just tired," she said dismissively, yawning. "A little cold."

I exchanged nervous glances with Gale, who was as concerned for her as I was.

"You need to listen to your mum and sister," I told her. "They're gonna help you feel better, okay?"

"I'm fine, I just need to rest," she tried to assure me, but she wasn't very convincing.

"Katniss, please," I said quietly, and she looked to me with dark eyes, softening. "Just listen to them."

She nodded, giving in, and I offered her a small smile before looking to her mum for the next step.

"You should both go home," she said to Gale and I. "You can visit tomorrow."

I nodded, not keen to leave Katniss' side but knowing the best care she could be in was her family's. Gale and I said our goodbyes before walking home.

It was supposed to get better after that, Katniss was supposed to get better. But none of it did. She was still bedridden when I visited her after school the next day, though a little more awake than yesterday and itching to get up and leave.

"My legs work fine," she told me with frustration. "Why can't I just get up and push on?"

"Because you're weak, idiot," I told her, giving her a disapproving look. "You've still got a fever, too."

She frowned petulantly, staring off at the wall instead of me. I sighed, resting a hand on hers, and thankfully she didn't pull away.

"Your mum is taking good care of you," I reminded her. "You're gonna be okay, but you need to rest."

"You shouldn't visit me meanwhile," she said after a moment, finally looking at me. "What if I'm contagious?"

I tried not to smile, the thought of not visiting her sounding insane. "I'll live, Katniss."

She exhaled weakly, not bothering to argue. I swallowed hard, taking in her expression. Circles were becoming deeper under her eyes, showing her struggle to sleep properly, and she was still glistening in a thin layer of sweat. Even now, her hand was hot beneath mine, and it terrified me. But I tried not to think of the worst, instead manifesting positive thoughts the best I could.

Enough positivity to make Katniss puke, that was the goal.

Unfortunately, it only got worse from there on out. It was getting colder the deeper we got into winter, which wasn't helping, and Katniss was missing more and more days off school. And then we finally finished school for the year, and Katniss was still unwell.

Unlike that second visit, she wasn't fighting her weakness anymore, unable to play it tough when her migraines were ruining her. Her fever would break, then return, then break again. I didn't understand what was wrong and I'd never been so scared in my life. Gale and her family felt the same, but her mum was surprisingly consistent with her care, doing everything she could to make her daughter better.

But we all knew what nobody would admit – Katniss needed real medicine, none of this herbal stuff.

One day, I was visiting Katniss, going over more and more now that school was done, but she wasn't always awake when I visited. Thankfully she was today, and when I walked in, her head turned to the door to see who it was. When she saw it was me, she shook her head, unimpressed.

"You shouldn't be here," she said as she always did, and I rolled my eyes playfully.

Ignoring her, I took a seat at the edge of her bed, aware of her eyes following my every move.

"Prim," she began, but I answered before she needed to finish.

"She's at Gale's," I reassured her, making her sigh with relief.

Having Prim seeing her like this always worried her, but I was making sure that the younger Everdeen wasn't always around. Of course, she was stubborn like her sister and sometimes insisted. Today though, she was content spending the day with Gale's siblings.

I looked down at Katniss, noticing how much weight she'd lost these past few weeks. She was already skinny, a consequence of living in District 12, but this was sickly, haunting. I'd never seen her so rundown before and I was seriously terrified that if we didn't get her real medicine soon, she could die. Nobody had a cold or flu or whatever it was for this damn long. She was struggling to eat properly, to stand at all, and she looked like hell. I couldn't just watch her deteriorate like this. Not my best friend. Not the girl I cared way too much for.

"Stop it," she said, an accidental whisper. "Stop looking at me like that."

"I'm not doing anything," I defended, embarrassed I'd been caught.

She knew me too well though. "I'll be okay. In fact–" She paused, and then suddenly attempted to sit upright, but her arms were too weak to hold her up and she slipped right back down. The tears were quick to pool in her eyes, a matching scowl on her face, at her incompetence.

"It's okay," I said sympathetically, taking her hand in between mine.

She squeezed it tight, like a lifeline, but avoided my eyes. A tear slipped from hers, and I pretended not to see it for her sake.

"I need to hunt," she said with a hoarse voice, no doubt holding in her emotion.

"Gale has it under control," I said, only imagining all she'd been worrying herself with whilst stuck here. She was the sole provider for her family, and with her out of action, the responsibilities were piling up.

"He has his own family to worry about," she snapped, before catching herself, instantly feeling bad. Quieter, she said, "It's not enough."

She wasn't wrong, of course, but I would never let her know that. Gale barely found enough to feed his own family, especially during winter, and he was sparing what little he could to keep Prim and her mum afloat. I did the same with what scraps I got, but I was no hunter and couldn't offer extra game like he could.

"We're sorting it," I said confidently. "Your mum and Prim are okay, aren't they?"

She finally met my eyes, hers glassy and exhausted. "For how long?"

It was much harder to lie to her when she was looking right at me, so I cleared my throat and forced a small smile. "All the more reason to get better, right?"

She pursed her lips, looking away again. It was quiet as she laid there, me holding her hand and keeping her company. I knew how horrible it could be when you were sick and alone, so I made sure not leave her side, as her eyes began to flicker close, struggling to fight the tiredness. I moved closer, pushing the hair from her eyes and raking my hands through her roots, knowing she liked the feeling but would never admit it. I was proven right when she let out a deep breath, squeezing my hand in approval, and I smiled softly at how cute she could be when she didn't even know it.

Only when she was out of it did I feel my tears blur my vision, unable to pretend that I was okay. She wasn't looking any better, and I couldn't just watch her like this, unable to do a thing.

I leaned forward, kissing her forehead, and closed my eyes briefly, praying to whatever God was out there that she'd be okay.

Everyone had their special something, a skill they had perfected or a hobby they could get lost in. Mine? I hadn't discovered it yet. I suppose I was doing pretty well in school, so taking tests could count, though it was a shit skill to have, impractical. But hunting, that was Katniss' and Gale's thing. No, definitely not mine.

They'd taken me out once, letting me join them on their weekly escapade. Gale found it hilarious that I moved too loudly, scaring away the prey, or that I stepped in my own trap, getting my foot stuck in the rope. I let him enjoy himself at my expense, knowing it was inevitable. Katniss however, despite the small smile that would ghost her lips at something stupid I'd do, was adamant on helping me. She took it too seriously, showing me how to use her prized bow and how to sneak around better. I'd like to say it worked, that I learnt something, but it didn't. It was safe to say they never took me again.

So, when I found myself in the forbidden woods outside the District 12 fence, with Katniss' bow in hand, I felt like a foreigner. I wasn't familiar with these woods, especially not in winter when it was a completely different ballgame to what I'd 'practiced' in last summer. Katniss' bow was too big for me, and no matter how hard I tried to take her familiar hunting routes, my approach always scared away the prey.

I was out there for two hours, certain my fingers would fall off from the cold, but I refused to give up. I couldn't return empty handed. Gale hadn't been successful last week, and family responsibilities had kept him from hunting today like he usually did. So, I took it upon myself to do it, especially because Prim was so hungry, her little face shrinking the longer Katniss was bedridden. I couldn't let her down, any of them, so I pushed on.

But every arrow I let fly missed its target, and every squirrel I approached scampered off. The sun, hidden behind thick clouds, was setting and it was getting dark out, even though the afternoon was barely over. I had to go home, but I had nothing to show for it. I couldn't even pick any edible plants because everything was frozen. I was a failure.

I couldn't catch a thing; the one job I had, to keep Prim fed, was failing; Katniss was dying and I couldn't do a thing to change any of it.

Tears streamed down my face, hot against the cold of my cheeks, and I collapsed in the snow, unbothered by it melting into the cotton of my trousers. It didn't matter anymore.

She wasn't getting better. Every day I visited her, she looked worse for wear. If it wasn't her fevers, it was her migraines. And if it wasn't her migraines, it was her throat. I was losing her day by day and I felt powerless. I couldn't even shoot a fucking squirrel to help. Nothing was working.

I was going to lose her.

Admittedly, I wallowed in self-pity for a little longer, appreciating having somewhere private to let it all out. It was hard playing it positive and tough all the time, for Prim's and Katniss' sake, when the truth was I was scared shitless. Living in a world without my best friend, the girl I so deeply loved to the point that she'd laugh if she ever found out, was terrifying. I didn't even want to envision it.

It was dark by the time I returned to the Everdeens home. I would have much preferred to go straight home, but I couldn't not update them on my false promise.

"Y/N!" Prim exclaimed when she opened the door, before tugging me in instantly.

"Hey," I said, forcing a smile, and I was glad the redness from the cold disguised my red eyes from crying.

"You're freezing," she realised, before calling for her mum. "You were gone for ages! Come, sit in front of the fire."

I pulled back as she attempted to drag me to the fire, and then her mum appeared and noticed the same thing Prim did.

"Y/N, you need to warm up–"

"I will, at my house," I promised her. "I just came to tell you that I– that–" I paused, afraid of the shakiness of my voice. Swallowing thickly, I said, "I'm sorry. I couldn't– I'm not–"

Fuck, why was this so hard?

"I'm gonna figure it out," I changed my words, nodding confidently. "I'll get some food. I'm sorry. I–"

Prim suddenly hugged me, arms wrapping around my torso and squeezing so tightly that I could have snapped in half from how frozen I was. But I appreciated it nonetheless and returned the gesture, letting out a shaky breath.

"Don't do it again," her mum said gently, resting a hand on my cheek before hugging me too.

I blinked back my tears as I let myself relax in their comfort.

I couldn't just stand by and do nothing anymore, and there was only one thing that I knew I could do. None of us could ever afford the medicine Katniss needed from the doctor in town, unless we traded something valuable, like food.

If I used my tesserae, adding my name another time into the potential tributes for District 12, I would receive a year's supply of oil and grain. Participants could only apply once for themselves, and once for any of their family members if they were between the ages of 12 and 18. I'd used mine for this year, but I could still use it on behalf of my parents. They never wanted me to, but this was an emergency and they didn't need to know.

So, on behalf of them, I used my tesserae and traded that two years' supply of oil and grain with the doctor in exchange for the medicine that would make Katniss better. After describing all her symptoms, he explained how it was some complex form of a cold, rare but deadly. I was lucky I'd got to him in time.

Gale didn't approve of my plan when I told him, trying to talk me out of it. Just like Katniss, he cared about whether I used my tesserae without needing to. I could see it was killing him to watch me do it anyway, wanting to do it himself if he could, but he'd already used all his family's tesserae for the year. It was the first thing he did every time it was available, having no choice since he had a big family.

After I collected the medicine from the doctor, I was quick to return to Katniss' house, giving a rushed explanation to her mum about the medicine and what the doctor said about administering it and how it would save her life.

"Y/N, how did you get this?" she asked once I finished to catch my breath.

"It doesn't matter," I said to her. "But it'll help. We can give her the first dose now."

"Y/N–”

"Mrs Everdeen, please," I pleaded, and she must have seen the desperation in my expression because she nodded slowly and went to make Katniss some tea with the medicine in it. It was a syrup of some sort, so the mint tea should have made it a bit more palatable.

Eventually we both went to Katniss' room, where Prim was sat beside her, holding her hand and chatting quietly. When she spotted us both, she perked up and smiled a little.

"Hey, Prim," I said, returning her smile and joining her side. "How's the patient?"

"She's got a headache," Prim answered, and I looked to Katniss who had a wet towel pressed to her eyes, both cooling her down and also blocking out the light.

"Y/N?" Katniss whispered, though unmoving.

"Yours truly," I said playfully, needing to disguise the permanent concern that was in my voice. "We brought you some tea, Katniss."

She groaned quietly. "I don't want it."

Her mum glanced at me, unsure how to proceed, so I took the mug from her hand and placed it on the bedside table.

"It'll help," I promised her, before gently pulling her duvet down. "Can you sit up for me, please?"

She sighed but thankfully obeyed, allowing me to help her sit upright. She leaned against the bed frame and let me remove the towel from her eyes. I smiled when I saw her blue eyes, though they were fatigued as they had been since she'd gotten sick. Not for long, hopefully.

"Drink up," I encouraged, offering her the mug.

She silently accepted it, blowing on the tea before taking the first sip. Her face scrunched up with disgust. "What is that?"

"New herbal remedy," her mum answered before I could struggle to.

Katniss wasn't impressed, but managed to drink the whole thing, probably because she knew I'd let her go to sleep if she did. After laying back down, I pulled the duvet back over her and pushed her hair behind her ear, smiling reassuringly.

"You should feel better with that," I told her with certainty.

She didn't reply, eyes avoiding mine, something I'd noticed she'd been doing for a while now. It was like she knew she wasn't getting better and was scared to admit the truth, but this was different. This would finally work.

Prim and I stayed by her side until she fell asleep, and that was when I told her about the medicine. The pure joy and relief on her face was enough to let me know I'd made the right decision, and she hugged me so tightly that I almost lost my breath.

"I told you she'd be okay," I said with a small smile, accepting her hug. "And so will you."

"Thank you," she muttered into my shoulder.

I squeezed her gently before we stayed there, sat side by side. She didn't want to leave Katniss' side, and neither did I, but it was getting late and, at some point, Prim had dozed off on my shoulder. Only after I had tucked her into her mum's bed did Mrs Everdeen politely kick me out, forcing me to get some rest of my own at home. For once, I didn't argue it, my exhaustion catching up to me. Plus, I could sleep well knowing Katniss would already be doing a lot better tonight.

As soon as I woke up and remembered the medicine the next morning, I headed straight to the Everdeens place, hoping to see some sort of improvement with Katniss. So you can imagine my surprise when I walked into her room and saw her sat upright in bed, eating an actual breakfast on a tray.

"Katniss!" I said with disbelief, before rushing to hug her. "You're eating!"

She returned my hug and I pulled up a chair beside her bed, studying her curiously. She'd looked like she'd had a better sleep than she usually did, and she was actually holding up her own weight which was an achievement in itself. The medication was working!

The sight of her looking a lot healthier and actually improving from her poor condition brought tears to my eyes, but I willed them away. She'd hate to see me crying over her, but I genuinely couldn't believe it.

"I'm not stupid," she said with a raspy voice, eyes narrowed my way.

I furrowed my brows. "What?"

She frowned. "You think I don't know that you gave me actual medicine last night? There's no other explanation for why I'm feeling better. And I know it's not because of a damn herbal remedy. I was doomed, Y/N. So, what the hell did you do?"

"So you do feel better?"

"Y/N!"

I sighed as she raised her voice. "Okay, look, I'm sorry for lying to you, but you wouldn't have taken it if I'd told you."

"Damn right I wouldn't have!" she snapped, glaring at me. "We can't afford that! Which brings me to my next question. How the hell did you get it?"

I shook my head, looking down at her breakfast tray. "It's not your concern."

"Y/N, I swear to God I'll–"

"What?" I cut her off, meeting her hard stare with my own. "You'll what?"

Her eyes flickered between mine before softening. "Y/N. Please."

I could have given in so easily, just from a simple glance, but I refused to let her bait me. I ignored her instead, shaking my head and returning my gaze to her breakfast tray.

"You traded something," she guessed, back to her irritated self. When I didn't answer, she said, "What? What did you trade?"

Again, I said nothing, neither confirming nor denying, but she wasn't having it.

"Goddamn it, Y/N!" she shouted, but her voice was still weak so it was more of a broken yell. "You can't just sit there in silence whilst I–"

"Stop it!" I raised my voice too, glaring at her.

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

I frowned, eyes pooling with tears. "I was thinking that I couldn't just sit here and watch and not do anything! I was thinking that I was terrified that you would die! That you were getting worse and worse every day, and that I would lose you, Katniss!"

Her eyes were glassy as they met mine. "How many times?"

I scoffed, looking away. "Katniss, not now."

I expected her to yell again, but she said in a quiet voice, "Please. How many times is your name in there?"

I clenched my jaw, crossing my arms over my chest stubbornly. But when I glanced at her, she was watching me like a little girl who'd just lost her puppy, and I couldn't not respond.

"Not a lot," I tried to sugar coat it. "Only twelve times." At this, she released a sharp breath. "I traded two years of food with the doctor. It was enough to get the medicine."

She pushed the tray off her lap before pulling her knees to her chest, hiding her face between them. She was shaking her head and I knew she was crying, the sniffling giving it away. Feeling insanely bad, I sat on the bed beside her and pulled her in for a side hug the best I could.

"It's okay," I told her, rubbing her arm. "I chose to do it, Katniss. And I'd do it again, over and over, if it means you'll be okay."

She shook her head. "You shouldn't have," she said with a muffled voice, her head still tucked between her legs.

"You shouldn't have got sick," I tried to joke, but she only looked up at me with red eyes and quivering lips. I lost my smile, admitting, "I wasn't going to lose you. You don't get it."

I love you, I wanted to add, but I couldn't.

"Neither do you," she mumbled, before shoving me off her childishly.

I didn't get to question her because she pulled the tray back onto her lap and tried to finish off the remainder of stale bread in her plate. I returned to my seat next to her bed, watching as she sulked, ate and gave me the temporary silent treatment. I didn't care too much, as long as she was eating.

Once she finished, I took the tray and put it to the side momentarily, flashing her a supportive smile.

"You finished every last bit," I pointed out. "I'm proud of you."

She rolled her eyes, but that only made me smile more because it meant she had the effort to be annoyed at me, which was something she hadn't had for a while now.

"Did you have your morning dose of medicine?" I asked reluctantly, but needing to know.

She nodded, crossing her arms. "My mum gave it me earlier."

I relaxed. "Good."

Before I could say anything else, the door to the bedroom opened and Prim ran in, a bright smile on her face. Despite Katniss' annoyance with me, she couldn't resist returning her sister's smile, accepting her onto the bed and hugging her.

"You already look so much better," Prim was saying with amazement. "I was so scared."

"Well, there's no need to be," Katniss reassured her. "You didn't struggle too much without me, right?"

Prim shook her head. "Gale and Y/N have been helping. Y/N wouldn't leave. Mum had to kick her out a lot."

I facepalmed, feeling my cheeks heat up with embarrassment. It only deepened when Katniss glanced my way with an unreadable expression.

"Yeah, she has a tendency to not listen," she said, making me roll my eyes.

"She saved you," Prim said to her.

Katniss licked her lips. "I know."

I felt awkward, definitely not wanting the credit, I just wanted her to be okay. But then Prim changed the subject, catching Katniss up on all she'd missed, so I was able to sit back and witness it all, chiming in whenever Prim needed.

For once, Katniss was able to listen and actually hold a conversation. It was heartwarming to see, and if this was what she was like after one dose, I couldn't wait until she'd had the full thing.

[kydrogendragon]

Sad Dads, please, for the wip game

Sad Dad!! I really liked this au and had this typed out about it, but never got to making into a true fic form, but I want to one of these days!!

Okay, so this was a Human!Au I had in mind. We've got freshly divorced Dream who's still getting used to not having Orpheus in his life on the daily and dealing with arranging schedules between him and Calliope and overall, having a not so great time.

Then, we've got Widowed Hob with young Robyn who loves the beach more than anything in the world. Except, apparently, the chance to go to Disney World with his cousins.

Hob still has work to do when they're planning to leave, so he leaves Robyn to have fun with his family and insists that he calls every day since it'll be the first overseas trip he's taken without Hob. (Yes, he's still with family, so Hob knows he'll be fine, but he worries!)

Hob, meanwhile, decides to treat himself with a trip of his own. So he rents out a spot along the coast and plans to make some progress on his research publication with the sound of the waves.

When he arrives to the little cottage far removed from society, however, he finds a car already parked there. Said car belongs to none other than Dream.

It's late in the evening and the weather's coming down hard. Driving back out with such little light on the precarious cliff roads it took to get here would be ill-advised, so Dream, not wanting this man to die on the roads just because he wanted privacy, tells him to stay the night and they'll resolve this all in the morning.

Well, the downside to this house is, of course, there's only one bedroom. Neither looked for a place with more than one bed when it was just supposed to be them, after all. The couch is... well, it's not very large to say the least and the springs inside it are guaranteed back killers, no matter your age.

The two stay up for a while though. There's a fire going which is nice. Dream has already gone through half a bottle of wine by himself, Hob helps him finish it. Dream, deep into his cup, spills his life story onto the strange man who will be gone come morning.

Hob, in return, shares his own. He shares the fears he has of raising Robyn without El, of messing it all up. He shares the fear he has over this trip which should be a fun thing for his boy, but he's so worried that something will take him from Hob, just like it took away El and he'll be too far away to do anything to help it.

They talk and cry and drink and then talk some more.

It's late, the rain has just started to calm down, the fire is at a gentle crackle - mostly embers at this point - when Dream leans forward and presses his lips to Hob's. Hob is not a strong man. Especially when being kissed by such a gorgeous creature. The wine doesn't help. And it's been so long since he's been kissed or touched or anything. So he gives in.

And the two stumble to the shared bedroom and fumble their way through drunken hand-jobs and if they each have another cry about it about intimacy after going so long without it, that's between them.

In the morning, Hob's awake before Dream and works on making breakfast with the meager rations the cottage has on hand. Mainly beans and toast with eggs. Better than nothing. And good for the headache he's nursing.

When Dream comes out, he's prepared to make apologies but Hob cuts him off, saying he thinks they both needed that. A good cry, a good chuck of alcohol, and a reminder that they're not unlovable.

"Perhaps," Dream replies, thanking him for the plate of food. And so they talk more about their lives, about the mundanity of it now that they know the tragedy of each other. And if after breakfast, they put off calling the rental company a bit longer, neither of them mention it. And, if by lunch (once the headaches have started to fade and they've each showered and dressed), they decide to go explore the beach some, together, neither disagrees.

And if, perhaps, after their five days are over, and Hob has to leave first, they exchange numbers (and maybe a chaste kiss), they'll simply smile and know that maybe it's not the end of everything.

[eyesfullofsttars]

— I can't decide if it's a choice getting swept away, I hear the sound of my own voice asking you to stay. . .

sypnosis; the beginning of the relationship between duchess abigail and the new viscountess ellie seems complicated by their own prejudices against each other, causing animosity. although, as they get to know each other better, they may be able to find a middle ground, right?

notes; just finished the second season of bridgerton (way too late...) and got totally obsessed, so i ended up here writing a little something about the beginning of the relationship between these two in a similar universe... (even though none of them wear dresses, i dunno why, but i just can't picture ellie or abby in those dresses!!!)

warnings: none! just historical inaccuracies

The beginning of their relationship sparked a genuine scandal, with Abigail brimming with prejudice toward Ellie's poor manners and defiant nature, never fearing to question everything, excessively abusing her newfound position as a newcomer to the Miller family.

Ellie, on the other hand, proudly rebuffed Abby's feigned courtesy, fully aware of her true sentiments. After all, it was the prevailing opinion when eyes scrutinized her from head to toe.

Thus, their relationship evolved into a constant competition at balls, where they vied to invite more ladies to dance, paying more attention to each other than to their own partners. (Even if Williams detests dancing with her life)

Ellie would purposely brush past Abby, aiming to test her patience, yet she couldn't help but stare whenever Anderson rolled up her sleeves and flexed her muscles, though she would never admit it aloud.

Abigail would murmur uncertain rumors about Ellie in the company of her friends, relishing in how Williams had mastered the skill of lip-reading to uncover secrets and complain about it.

"God! I can read her lips from here and tell she's speaking ill of me," Ellie comments to Dina, completely outraged, rolling her eyes and letting out an annoyed huff, unable to believe it.

Dina simply looks at her curiously. "Why are you even looking at Anderson's lips?" she questions teasingly, causing Ellie to release an even more exasperated sigh.

Though the Anderson dukes' family maintained a cordial relationship with the Miller family, who held the title of viscounts, Jerry often accompanied Joel on hunts, enjoying long evenings discussing business and their families, both having daughters in their legacy.

Thus, in the summer, while in the countryside, Ellie and Abby found themselves forced to spend even more time together, much to their horror, competing in croquet matches in the vast gardens. Ellie used every turn to distance the ball as far as possible from Abby.

However, Anderson returned the gesture, using her strength to push her away, taking up more space than necessary, blocking Williams' view for her next strategic shot, ruining the few occasions Ellie decided to focus on herself.

"It was my turn!" Ellie exclaims, utterly indignant, continuously tapping Abby's shoulder to get her attention. "Move!"

"Miss Williams, you're only going to use your turn to sabotage me, aren't you? Leave me alone," Abigail replies, rolling her eyes and not even paying much attention, too focused on calculating the perfect shot.

"You're tricking. How low you've stooped, Anderson," Ellie mutters under her breath, defeated, crossing her arms and stepping back to judge her with her gaze. "Unfair..."

Ultimately, the supposedly friendly match ended with both arguing, demanding the other to surrender, but neither would yield to the absurd, pathetic victory of a simple family game aimed at improving their relationship.

That seemed impossible until one night, when Ellie, unable to sleep, wandered through the grand corridors of the country house admiring the artwork, she encountered Abby, who seemed to be in the same predicament.

That night, they argued again, but this time not about each other, but about their views on the art talent reflected in the paintings, with Ellie contradicting Abigail, who reluctantly gave her the floor knowing she was an artist, albeit ashamedly denying it.

"You're much more intellectual than I am..." Abby whispers that statement near Ellie's ear with a slight smile on her lips, which the latter isn't sure whether to interpret as genuine or playfully teasing.

"Not at all." Williams quickly shakes her head, her hand moving to tuck a strand of Abigail's blonde hair behind her ear deliberately and effortlessly. "You're not so bad yourself..."

"Shut up." Abigail responds teasingly, letting out a small laugh, her warm breath brushing against Ellie's freckled cheek. Without hesitation, she leans in to accept the touch she offers. "Accept the compliment, will you?"

"You're so irritable, Miss Anderson." Ellie retorts with the same tone, not backing down but also not feigning any innocence about her own words.

Well, it seems they can't even agree on that!

And although they tried to ignore it, that night they both went to bed with a shared complicit smile. Ellie continued to compete relentlessly with Abby, who never seemed to be beaten, willing to play along without any annoyance, but rather enjoying it.

Upon their return, the rumors about Williams ceased within society. And if anyone dared to spread misinformation, Anderson would swiftly intervene, considering it unnecessary to mention Ellie's surname, not because he liked her, but because it was... repetitive.

Thanks to that encounter in the countryside, perhaps Anderson softened towards Williams. They spoke sparingly, but always about specific topics, something they found difficult with others. In Abby's case, it seemed everyone agreed with her due to her position, while with Ellie, no one seemed willing to listen.

And what better than two intellectual women arguing over tea time, where tranquility was supposed to reign? There they were, contradicting each other, but no longer with the desire to feel superior or with pure malice derived from dislike, but rather finding pleasure in the discussion, spending hours without reaching a conclusion.

Over time, Ellie and Abby's discussions became a regular ritual, a moment awaited by both to exchange ideas and opinions on various topics, from politics to art, literature, and science.

"You can never grant credence to such thoughts. It's illogical," Ellie argues with a smug smile, leaning back in her seat with her legs comfortably spread, albeit not in a very ladylike manner. "They should revoke your right to speak."

"And yours to partake in society," Abby retorts wryly, tapping her foot against Ellie's ankle to prompt her to sit upright and formally, even if they were alone.

"Oh, please," Ellie sighs exhaustively, rolling her eyes and ignoring Abby's indirect commands. "I've seen you sit the same way countless times."

"Not that I can recall," Abigail counters, shaking her head slowly, adjusting in her seat similarly, sitting rather ungracefully with her knees apart, her arms resting there, holding her chin with one hand.

Williams, once seen as an intruder, was now a necessary companion in Abigail's life, sought after at every gathering, dance, or event, for a chat, even if only for a few minutes of silly, sarcastic banter. It seemed Ellie was able to amuse Abby like no one else.

Ellie, on her part, was more than pleased to leave behind her indifference toward Abby. Now she greeted her without hesitation, with a smile on her freckled face, offering her hand with the need to maintain minimal contact. She always found herself standing by Abby's side at balls, no longer seeking other dance partners.

[serialeclipse]

happiest opening, i'm so excited to meet everyone! i'm pom ( 21+, s/h ) & this is jeong domi, the girl who wouldn't have made it if not for terra, but now she's really flying high as the two time iron fist champion... though it's come with some strange side effects! jumped in with no pages prepared yet but info / plots are under the cut, pls like to plot or ask for my d/scord & i’ll be there! 💗

info

domi’s born with a ticking clock from the moment she arrives—the doctors tell her parents to brace themselves for the worst, because while her baby avatar can't feel pain, or illness, they warn that there's something wrong with her physical body

but the worst won't come, if they pay for extra care on outer world. and so they do, because what other choice could they have?

she’s on the cusp of it, but terra always comes through for her. at least, that's what they say. everything's worth it to her dad, who pays up willingly, but love isn’t enough in the face of all of this, and her mum leaves & never looks back, tired from the constant reminders of her daughter's imminent almost-death. domi has pictures, but doesn’t rlly remember her face

domi gets used to the thought of dying, but maybe it's less scary bc she can't feel any pain or any real concept of death? is she still here? what if she's just an npc and her physical body's gone kaput ages ago? all questions with no answers, so she whittles her time away with as much as she can

it's kinda relieving when she realises she can feel pain in iron fist. there's something there about grappling w mortality in a game where you can die, & maybe it's the wrong sense of mortality, except she keeps playing, & then she keeps winning, & suddenly she's signed onto orbit with her own fighter & her ranking's climbing up & she's actually winning one tournament, then two, and now it's been 8 years since?

not to mention that she didn't actually think of the consequences of being signed so domi never hid her face or did anything to protect her privacy lmao. she has a side gig as a broadcast staffer for a late night podcast even tho she has big gamer money just to fill up her time

but as of late, she's been noticing that something's up with her. specifically, she keeps phasing through things like she's actually shadow, when she's... pretty sure she's not. unless she is? it's more a minor inconvenience bc it doesn't happen often, but when it does, she can't touch anything around her & gravity starts acting up, so she goes floaty!

her chart: gemini sun ( go fast ) aries moon ( & go big ) virgo rising ( & you’ll get to the terra moon! ) she’s been living like she never knows when she might kick it so she sits and smells the roses, but doesn’t know where else to go. domi says she’s content but it’s a lie she tells herself. in her existential crisis era rn bc she keeps being told she'll die & then she doesn't & maybe she has died but is a cookie? and the glitches don't help either... the conspiracy theory board is real! big What Do I Do Now energy all the time bc she’s never had to think about the future & still doesn't, not really. doesn’t think ahead & will pay for it in the future ( that she still has, can you believe it! )

i think i have everything important here but this might get updated later!!

plots

iron fist / shadow fans who've followed her career! or are just bandwagoning for one of the most successful players currently?

people she works with due to her gaming career! fellow gamers, orbit developers, maybe even offshoots of marketing campaigns or stuff that comes with her famous person ranking

she also works for a late night podcaster, mostly due to wack sleeping schedules and being used to staying up in fear of her own mortality. your muse runs the late night radio sessions, & she works for them!

she doesn’t have a lot of forward thinking experience, she’s easily tricked—so your muse figures this out and makes good use of it

new residents at one of the gated districts who came here for the privacy and quiet… so why is your next door neighbour trying so hard to befriend you??

someone she found via gaming & treasures very much ( potentially one-sided )

a friend who's in a similar situation ( bad physical body, keeps getting fleeced by terra ), who understands her situation really well

someone who doesn’t get her situation, but she appreciates them all the more for it. they don’t treat her like she's fleeting, like everyone else does

someone who’s tired of mourning her before she goes. something complicated and ancient and maybe codependent, relationship fraying at the seams

someone who’s her guide to living! bring her out let her experience life. touch grass ( not literally )

she falls in love easily, but doesn’t bother taking it seriously bc the long-term was never viable for her... she owes u an apology

ofc the usual suspects: besties, childhood friends, enemies, fwbs, exes! i also love a brainstorm too we should do that 💗

[herlockslimbo]

sometimes i think about rui kamishiro a little too hard and absolutely die inside because some of the shit he says casually is so ???

for example, sometimes he just has these throwaway menu lines that make me fucking ill

like the april fools mikudemy menu line where he says he never thought he’d see the day where he felt comfortable and happy at school

or his ny 2020 menu line where he says that this year has been so joyful, but also very emotional for him. (this was the year the game started running so he’s likely referring to joining wxs)

nene’s line, but her saying that rui has always been reluctant to celebrate his birthday because he knew nobody but nene would come… rui and his birthday in general make me fucking sad. like his one wish for his birthday was to have a normal party with his friends because he’d never had one before. what the hell. ughhhh his bday card story is soooo,,, he’s so happy to have friends who support him and care for him now🥲🥲🥲

sorry i’m just spiraling now but also ruis got this reoccurring habit of calling himself childish or cowardly when he gets too emotional about stuff. just for a few examples in cheer squad during both the conversations he had with kaito and luka he says he feels like he’s a coward cause he just can’t overcome his fears of people rejecting him. then in curtain call he says he’s acting like a child when he doesn’t want to “let go” of wxs… somebody PLEASE tell him he’s allowed to feel this way. and let’s not even start on him calling himself selfish every time he talks about not wanting wxs to fall apart. my guy. you found people you belong with. it’s not selfish to want that to stay.

also speaking of the too emotional thing, did y’all read his admidst a dream card story??? JESUS CHRIST. basically what happens is it’s late at night and he’s trying to work, but he can’t focus because he can’t stop thinking about the fact that the day wxs will have to disband is drawing closer. so to distract himself he goes to sekai in hopes of talking to kaito, but everyone’s asleep, except for meiko and luka because luka slept through the entire day and meikos keeping her company lol. rui then says he doesn’t really want to get into why he came here because it’s his own personal thing to sort out, and he just wants someone to talk about SOMETHING to right now. but then he ends up trailing into pretty much just?? ranting about his feelings. he says he hates that even though humans have the ability to use logic and reasoning, our emotions still get the better of us and we can’t control them perfectly. then he says that sometimes emotions get too much and it takes everything you can to hold them in and stop them from overflowing (WHICH IS??). then he adds on the last, horrifying part, where he says he wishes someone could just take his mind and handle his emotions for him, because right now everything is such a mess. eventually meiko and luka manage to get him out of this stream of conscious by talking to him about kaito, and rui thanks them for their help and promises he won’t do anything irresponsible, like just throwing these emotions to the side, and he goes home. LIKE I SAID. ITS FUCKED. was so expecting bumper cars and then i got hit by a BRICK.

alright i’m done now i just needed to get that out of my system

[cerealmonster15]

im letting sims mostly run in the bg as i do other things and peek back in now and then

chenya!!!!! he maxed mischief i think almost completely on his own bc i mostly left his sim up to his own devices lol

ive also let deuce hatch threeeee chicks in his coop. i kept getting the notif that the chickens and rooster were getting old but they havent died.. im not sure if it's bc i have aging turned off for regular sims so maybe the same goes for animals but they just stay old forever? or maybe it just takes a while and you get notified a lot lol. i remember selling epels cow bc i thought it was gonna die but maybe i was bamboozled.

chenya wants to start beef with some random npc and i do think his mischief related aspiration goal thing needs him to be disliked so i mean go nuts pal

riddle also got level 9 gaming skill lol everyone loves to autonomously use that gamer mat, and since i play heartslabyul house the most often they have the highest skills... you know who i havent played in a while tho? fish dorm. ill check them after i see if i can get trey that last promotion-

...he heard me.

he let himself in and started fixing the sink lol

i had cater practicing his spells and now SILVER HIS BOYFRIEND has called to challenge him to a duel. ive been rejecting the duels lately bc i get them when ive got sims in the middle of something but sure why not!!!

rip...

aughhh trey please yorue so CLOSEEEEEEEE next time for sure...

YAAAAY!!!!!!

...cater is so close to his too tho. fish can wait a little longer...

riddle is listening to him practice :)

YES maybe he can play jazz tunes in the mostro lounge... i s2g if i get the dine out or whatever expansion it's all over for u bitches... actually what if i remade all my twst sims again but in sims 3. i could have azul slowly purchase all the businesses in the land. true tycoon fdsjfklsdj

why does this feel like a threat kfdsfklh "hey lilia and i are FRIENDS so goof fucking LUCK trying to thwart my deal with bananaclaw now bitch"

^ this was all from earlier in the week lol i forgot to come back to it!!! but cater should have his promotion when he goes into work today. also the reaper rewards week 2 started i guess!!

so while i waited for cater to go to work i summoned the reaper again, and we gotta be friends with him, which is kinda hard bc my sims all keep developing a fear of death lol. i did swap this household to have the scare enjoyers trait on this lot or something bc JUICE IS SCARED CONSTANTLY but that makes the others get bored sometimes lol. so caters scared but hes also excited about it. i hope he doesnt fucking die or whatever lol

ok well it worked and then cater i guess got over it. he went to go talk to trey and fucking SPRINTED through the house to get to him lol it was kinda cute 😭 trey has i guess just been standing there making drink after drink after drink lol

FSJFDSFKLJ OK I GOT A SHOT OF HIM RUNNING hes going to work now and bc hes so energized i guess hes got this manic sprint going lol.

this grim reaper quest is like "ooo you need to be leveling stuff like gardening and cooking :)" as if trey and riddle havent already got that covered!!! fishing is another story lol i really need to check FLOYD but while im waiting for cater i may as well knock these out

keith invited ortho over and ortho went to go hang at treys bar lol

CAY GOT HIS PROMOTION!!

and trey learned to confuse people with magic lol. OKAY TIME TO SEE WHAT OCTAVINELLE IS DOING!!!

i sent floyd to fish and like. he has cowplant berries. i have NO memory of how he couldve gotten those. anyway that finished up the grim reaper quests this week!!! i kept seeing people on youtube pop up in thumbnails being like IT'S HARD??? but like. not with my twst boys who have stacked skills lol i have been breezing through them so far...

oh yea lemme check the relationships-

oh my god. jade and malleus went from disliked or w/e to mega haters. i dont see much different with anyone else kfhsg

i forgot floyds life aspiration stuff was related to being a spellcaster so thats why he was the only one that was already magic when i went to turn everyone else lol

azul got a huge W at work??? one of those pop up choices to invest or not in a startup and i got 50k for doing it... godspeed you business master i guess - OH HES ALREADY LEVEL 10 AT HIS JOB i didnt even realize lol... i mustve pushed it a while ago lol and jades level 9 mixologist ... good for them

okay my question on if jaderook happened bc i did it or if the game did it was answered - it mutstve been the game bc i had to make them introduce themselves despite already being in a relationship lol

also even tho i have relationship decay off it still feels like it does lol the romance i had for trey and jade seems to have shrunk and also hes stuck at acquaintances despite such a big friendship bar. thats an issue ive had pop up quite a few times in sims 4 tbh 😑 floyd and trey have also seemed to decay in the romance bar they auto started lol. but i guess maybe thats from story progression also idk!!

trey called and asked to come over so now theyre having a little polycule party while i sent floyd off to go fish more and azuls at work

HANG ON i had azul invite jamil over so they could play chess bc azul was stressed after work and like. DID I NOT ALREADY HAVE THEM DO THAT?? i guess not. i just had them at max romance soulmate level and i never had them make it official LOL wow. and azul did that on his own just now like i didnt click on it. i invited jamil over and made them hug, jamil auto rubbed azuls shoulders, and azul turned around and was like WILL YOU BE MY BOYFRIEND lol

lilia showed up while floyd was fishing so i made them hang the fuck out!! chaos bffs RIGHT NOW!!!

i had jamil stay the night and cook w/azul... in sims azul can fulfill his dream of getting jamil in his kitchen and to willingly hang out with him LOL... floyd JADE is lurking in the back to come cause problems i think tho, hes headed straight for jamil while theyre trying to coo- HANG ON

WHAT THE FUCK LSDOFHGKLJFKLSJ he just walked right through them into the counter hdlfkjsj HEY GUYS STOP COOKING WHATS UP HIIII even at the top it says awkward encounter... fkhsdlfhs he fucking broke the laws of physics to crash their DATE!!

okayyy like he left the counter but hes standing directly between them just going on his phone , jamil and azul are just 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️ waiting for him to leave LOL

i saw malleus outside doing pushups and since jade hates his ass i had him run over and commit the greatest sin possible with malleus and give him a FALSE INVITATION!!!

also ace showed up uninvited, and neither of the tweels had met him yet so i had them do that - floyd immediately annoyed him LOL. then he just kinda walked inside and started using their computer, as sims tend to do . i had floyd bother him more and that hiad mixed success, so theyre not off to a great start

anyway im sleepy and also hit image limit anyway so i guess thats the end of this update klhsdklfhs maybe ill revisit diasomnia next time, i wanna give someone the goth jeans i unlocked from the grim reaper rewards. and the earrings? idr if i remembered to give them those either.

[eomayas]

best friend • kms

pairing: minseok x gn reader, platonic lovers, best friend au

synopsis: a brief look into a 20 year friendship with kim minseok

genre: fluff

a/n: the thought of being a life long friend of minseoks sounds so warm and sweet.. so i had to write this rq!!

since you were 13, you and minseok became inseparable. back when you both were at an awkward stage in life: bad haircuts, ill fitting clothes, glasses. you two bonded one day at lunch over your tomagatchi that you’d been keeping alive for twenty days. he had a tomagatchi that he’d been taking care of for far longer, and saw the look of desperation on your face as your digital pet started to die.

what started out as a friendship built on taking care of fake pets blossomed into a real connection. it was fast forming, and one of your realest friendships to date. he was there through all of your embarrassing and monumental moments: your first kiss, your first heartbreak, bad hair days, bad moods. and you were there for him, evolving together.

you talked about your dreams together, during conversations where time doesn’t exist and you can’t tell if you’re really tired, or if it’s just late. he wanted to be a singer and dancer, to be on a stage. he was talented from the get-go, and you told him so. you supported him, because at that age everything seemed possible.

and it was possible. when he became a trainee, it was like you became a trainee. you didn’t have much money at the time, but you took him out to celebrate, just the two of you. you raved, telling him how he could be as big as shinee one day, maybe even bigger. you could imagine him up on stage in front of thousands, millions, singing the songs he wrote.

but you could see the doubt creeping into his face, his features going slack. “minnie, what’s wrong?” you had asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

he never beat around the bush with you, always told you what was on his mind because he could be truthful and honest with you. “what if i don’t make it, though?” he asked you, and that same fear he felt was transported into you. you never considered that—it wasn’t an option for you. you only saw snd heard success when he told you he had been picked up by an agency. “what if it’s for nothing?”

but it was for something, because he debuted four years later. four years, where you didn’t get to see him, and it quickly turned into six. by the time you were out of undergrad, and starting grad school, you were finally able to see him again. you had to tell yourself that he was just on a long vacation, and that one day he’d come home to you again and everything would be the same.

and it was, but it also wasn’t. he was a star now, an idol. he was in the public eye, being watched by everybody. he was older too, but his face stayed the same; the boyish smile he wore never fading. and when you finally saw him again though, it was like you were 18 again and he had just got the news that he was debuting. you couldn’t have been happier; you were 24 when you finally saw him again, but it was like time had barely passed between the two of you.

while you couldn’t see him due to his trainee days, you wrote him letters that you didn’t send each week. and when you saw him for the first time, you gave them to him. to your surprise (or not), he had done the same thing. that’s how well you two knew each other. even with years and time between you, you still managed to he in sync.

of course, you couldn’t read every single letter that day, so you two caught up verbally and in between conversations you were able to read.

by then, you were back like he had never left you, meeting all of his band members and hanging out like old times. of course, he wanted to keep you away from the camera and public, so you arrived places separately and left alone, but it was better than nothing if you wanted to go out to eat or go shopping. your traditions that you had as children persisted when he came over, movies and video games, and horrible food choices.

because of minseok, you were exposed to another form of life, to luxuries you could only imagine. but he had stayed the same boy youd met all those years ago, still teasing you over your crush on minho from shinee, even after he introduced you after his companies concert. you could barely look the man in his eyes, and minseok let it be known that you once had poster of hanging up in your room growing up.

on the topic of lovers, minseoks opinion always mattered to you. while he was away and you were in college, you didn’t have his opinion to rely on, and you’d never say it out loud, but you wonder if that’s maybe why you didn’t last with your previous partners. minseok always have good advice and had a good sense of judgment that you feel would have helped you when you were younger.

you had made an unwritten rule that your next partner had to be approved by minseok, and had to be okay with your friendship. it turned a lot of people off, seeing how close you and minseok were. people accused you of cheating, that there was always something more going on between you and him. it’s safe to say that you’re friendship was threatening to the people you were romantically involved with, but you weren’t giving up your relationship with minseok for anybody or anything. you knew you’d find somebody who could understand.

and you did, with your partner hyunjin. from the moment you met them, you ran back to gush to minseok like you were fourteen gushing over a crush you had in class. minseok knew right away that you’d probably found your life partner, and wasn’t shocked when the proposal came a year later. minseok was there for the engagement, wedding, and your children. they called him uncle minseok, and hyunjin looked at minseok like a brother.

the love you had for minseok was unmatched, and you don’t think it could be replicated. you loved him like you’ve loved nobody before, like a brother and then some. your relationship was built on trust and raw honesty, on commitment and on loyalty. if you were asked if you’d give your life for him, you’d say yes in a heartbeat.

[apuff]

@sagaofa-dying-star thanks for the tag!!! rewriting the post because it's long asf

 Do you have freckles?  everyone has a little freckles. but i dont have too many

 Do you drink tea or coffee? How do you take it?  i only drink southern style sweet tea bc we never have any good hot tea around

What was the last song you listened to?  MAMA APPARENTLY?? i was on that black parade grind i guess

Do you sleep on your back, stomach or side?  stomach usually but sometimes i go for the recovery position

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?  yes

Do you prefer drawing or writing?  probably drawing but i like writing too

What’s your ideal number of blankets to sleep with?  i have 6 blankets in my bed and it's not enough

What’s your favorite band/artist?  ahem. aheem. hehe. my chemical romance

When is your birthday?  am i not supposed to say this for internet safety-? anyways its in december

How tall are you?  5'2 is on my id but my family says im taller than that

What color are your eyes?  green 😏😏i have the rarest eye color 😏😏😏

Who are five (or more) people you want to hug right now?  two of my online friends one of my irl friends one of my mutuals and one person i don't even like but probably really needs it

Fears?  im afraid of people i love dying, being in trouble, being late, and tape measures.

What’s your favorite color?  green BUT I LIKE ALL OF THEM

What’s your favorite season?  I LIKE ALL OF THEM

Want any tattoos? What of?  i kinda want some of those semi permanent ones that last for a few months of just random shit like band members and memes actually maybe i just want to draw on myself in sharpie

Want any piercings? Where?  i just want normal ear piercings :<

Who is the last person you texted?  my ex- camp roommate

Do you have a best friend? How long have you been friends?  yes me and my bestie have been friends for like two and a half years

What/who do you miss?  i miss having good breakfast at camp 😭😭 also i hate to say it but getting exercise. also going outside..

How was your day today?  pretty good

How much sleep did you get last night?  like eight or something

Do you believe in aliens?  y'all. the universe is REALLY big. there's gotta be some alien bacteria hanging out on SOME planet SOMEWHERE

When was the last time you cried? Why?  yesterday because of algebra 😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️muhammad ibn musa al-khwarizmi when i FUCKING CATCH YOU ITS OVER

What’s your favorite decade?  2020s- if i had to pick something else it would be 2000s

What are some seemingly childish things you like?  laughing at my reflection in spoons (i highly recommend doing this btw)

What’s your favorite book? Or just one you’ve read a few times?  i like too many books to count and i have read hp and pjo too many times to count, but recently ive wanted to reread the outsiders so much i go to bed thinking about it and wake up thinking about it

How are you, really?  fine but every other time in my life i have thought i was fine i have been very mentally ill in retrospect so 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Does it take you a long time to make decisions?  depends on the type of decision..

What are you looking forward to in the near future?  artfight being over

What are you looking forward to in the distant future?  moving out :v

If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go?  i am going to the house of my online friends

Do you sleep with your door open or closed?  who sleeps with the door open

What’s your favorite flower?  cherry blossom or lily of the valley

Do you currently have a squish?  i don't know what the difference is between this and just loving your friend, so, idk?

Do you like your middle name?  yeah, i actually use it as my internet and gaming name

Do you prefer dogs or cats?  cats, i respect dogs but they have no concept of personal space

Do you have any phobias?  y'all i really don't like tape measures

Do you stay up late? i consider 11 30 to be late but some of my friends stay up all night sooo its subjective i guess

Do you like the beach? Do you prefer it sunny or cloudy?  yes; sunny beach is better because where i live the water is always freezing so you need it to be hot or else it's just miserable

What’s your favorite cartoon?  maybe she-ra

Tag 5 of your favorite blogs i'm already tagging my moots later.,/,/

Do you have siblings? How many?  i have 6 siblings

Who was the last person you said “I love you” to?  MYSELF- i am lonely right now

Is there anyone you would die for?  why is this such an intense question 😭😭😭probably no i'm a bit of a coward

What do you need when you’re sad?  gerard way but i need him all the time so

Have you memorized your phone number?  no and it haunts me every day

Who’s someone you can trust with your life?  myself (no offense)

What does your last text say?  just had the most transcendent sandwich on the way home

i know this one is really long so no pressure to do all of it OR do it at all LMAO @the-mighty-q @karineverse @the-mighty-mittens @sea-creeture @thankyouforthev3n0m @hopelesshardrockfan @wannabescemo @starbird06

[softpine]

is this the closest we’ve gotten to seeing brandi’s ideas for a post-apocalyptic story/au? my ass will happily wait for this treat and take these crumbs yes, please, and thank you 🍞🐜 (only if ur comfortable with sharing more!!)

aww no i'm sorry it's not the apocalypse au 😭 however that's always in the back of my mind and i have a document i keep adding ideas to whenever i think of things. i still plan on doing a mini story for that someday!! the thing i'm working on right now is just a silly one-off. but since you were so excited and nice i'll give you some spoilers hehe

edit: the fact i said "some" spoilers and then proceeded to basically share my whole outline for the first two chapters is such a brandi move. sorry i'm like this

i'm going the last of us route by not having typical back-from-the-dead zombies and instead they're infected humans, but in this case it's going to be something similar to mad cow disease in that it originates in livestock and can be transmitted to humans (i'm using allllllll of these words colloquially for brevity, just know this is a massive oversimplification), where it stays dormant until it's far too late to be treated because the brain has already been compromised. the first symptoms are confusion, then problems with emotional regulation, dementia, and finally violence & insatiable hunger. however, these people don't possess inhuman strength or speed, though it may seem that way because they're working with unlimited adrenaline, so they're not slowed down by pain or fear. but you have a fighting chance! and any way that you can kill a normal human, you can also kill an infected person. it just might take longer. essentially i want it to be grounded in reality, mimicking the way a real disease spreads and mutates rather than going fully into video game-y horror (i love that stuff too, but it's not the story i feel like telling in a post-covid world lol. i'm much more interested in seeing how humans can survive and rebuild in the face of unimaginable chaos and tragedy!). the other important thing to note is that the disease doesn't have a 100% transmission rate. it's the same as if you had the flu and coughed in 100 people's faces, only a fraction of them would actually get sick. so if you get bitten by someone with the disease, it's not 100% certain you will be infected. so there is no singular special immune person, it's just a matter of chance & your immune system.

in the early days, this mysterious illness is only happening in remote areas with low human populations. meat that's been properly cooked & pasteurized dairy can't transmit the disease, so people in cities are generally safe, but improper handling of food, poor working conditions, factory farm employees, traveling, etc. all contribute to the spread of disease. though the illness can't be treated, it's easy to contain in the beginning. patients are restrained/sedated when they become violent and eventually they die (once the brain is completely taken by infection, the body dies too). however as the number of infected people grows, it becomes harder to hold everyone in basic hospitals. sanatoriums start popping up to study the disease and keep it quarantined. this is around the time where the story actually starts.

mikaela was a pediatric nurse at the hospital, but she was moved to one of these sanatoriums a few months ago. however, she's 20 weeks pregnant (with sadie) and she's nervous about continuing to work in a high risk environment. she asks to be moved back, but the hospital denies her request. that's how she knows shit is really hitting the fan. she warns everyone she cares about that something big is happening, but that's not how the disease is being reported on by the media, so no one really takes her seriously. and then the big outbreak happens.

there's a whole backstory to that but i'll skip it for now fjskjds the relevant part is that mikaela escapes unharmed and returns home to gather her family up. danny, casper (home from college for thanksgiving break), and asa (spent the weekend with his dad) are already there. mikaela is scared to stay there because it's a farm; they have cows, chickens, pigs, etc. and they still don't know exactly how the disease is transmitted. so she loads everyone into casper's truck (there's less space, but it's better for off-roading). on the way out, asa opens all the gates so the animals can have a chance at living even though he knows it's probably not a good idea. they desperately try to get a hold of caroline and beth, but the phone lines are dead, so they leave a note saying they've gone to their shared vacation cabin up north.

ummm and this is extremely long already but we haven't even gotten to the interesting part yet so.... they make it half way to the cabin before night falls. they don't want to run out of gas at night (and it's late fall, so pretty cold). so they stop in an area that's completely free of people. asa says he knows how to make a fire so they won't waste gas running the car for heat. casper goes with him for protection (he's buff college casper, not scrawny teenage casper fjksjd) to find wood. danny doesn't think they have anything to worry about because asa spends his days in the wilderness already, and he assumes mikaela is just being overly cautious because she's pregnant. so he lets them go.

okay so casper and asa stumble upon a small, seemingly unoccupied hunting cabin. they think this will be perfect to stay in for the night. but when they open the door, they see a horrifying sight: a man sitting in complete darkness, chewing on a freshly dead deer. the man lunges at them, managing to grab asa and bite his thumb clean off along with a chunk of his palm, before casper tackles him to the ground. he manages to immobilize him, but he's badly bitten on the neck in the process. it takes all his strength to just hold the man down, let alone fight back, so asa knows he has to do something. he finds a rifle in a bag that the man must've been carrying earlier, before the sickness set in, and he tries to shoot him in the head with it, but since he's never even held a gun before, he misses and it grazes casper's arm. he has to shoot two more times before he hits his target and the man stops moving. buuuut the sound of all the gunshots has attracted many others; they can hear them approaching in the distance. casper is in no state to move, already starting to bleed out from the wound on his neck (the accidental gunshot certainly didn't help), so asa does the only thing he can do; he leaves the gun with casper and starts yelling to attract the hoard's attention while he runs away from the cabin. he hopes danny and mikaela have heard the gunshots too and will find casper. he leads the infected further into the woods. on instinct, he tries to climb a tree to escape, but his right hand is effectively useless and he's in way too much pain to attempt it. he thinks he'll most likely die here, until he hears a distinctly human, non-infected voice shouting at him to follow his voice .... and that's where i'll leave it :D

[guessimate]

We are concluding the 2nd rotation in the Asian part of my town with the Tians. They are getting a free goat from the ROS gods, which makes sense, since they have sheep already. I ended up just giving them 2 goats - a male and a female, for the chance of producing baby goats, because they really just started and they had some disposable money.

I rolled for a ROS for them again, because I felt like I went too easy on them. The 2nd ROS decided I would have to fulfill their wants this round (otherwise I'd need to do the same next round, but for fears). It was not difficult to achieve, but I must say Hiroki had the weirdest wants for a Popularity sim. He wanted to buy stuff, and get some skill points (that part I can understand, as it was autumn). The illness must have changed his priorities in life. Sadly, I couldn't get him a lot of the stuff he wanted (TV? toy dog pen (bunny)? I really wanted to give him a recliner, but the want wouldn't fulfill). He did get to Charisma level 5 at least.

I found a job for the man of the house, as this family is not going to be selling anything for a while. There was a vacancy in the Culinary career, and this is the perfect job for a food provider, and Hiroki's One True Hobby happens to be Cuisine, too. Hiroki also wanted to hire a nanny, but that couldn't happen... I'm guessing that means he prefers going to work instead of staying home though.

~*~

Tasuku is a Taurus. He's 6 Neat and 6 Outgoing just like his dad. He's also 4 Lazy like his mom. But he's also more Playful (9) and Grouchy (3) than both of his parents. Both Fumi and Hiroki are 7 Nice.

Fumi taught Tasuku all of his toddler skills (she actually wanted to teach him all 3, which is quite rare in my game). His dad taught him the Nursery Rhyme, because I wanted him to remember something related to his firstborn.

I wanted to wait with more babies, like I did with the Lao family, but Fumi wanted another baby, and I was supposed to be fulfilling wants...

So their next baby was meant to be twins, but one of them was not meant to be due to terrible rolls. I also rolled 3x at birth, as if it was a twin birth, but Fumi still survived it, so I guess it was just that unfortunate infant. Hopefully they will get one more later, but nothing will replace the unborn twin.

Fumi threw two birthday parties for her firstborn this round, in both cases when the man of the house was at work. Is it offensive to her husband? I don't know, but he works late, so I am not blaming her.

I wanted to add that I'm not sure if Fumi really wanted to throw the 2nd birthday party for her son, or for the occassion of her giving birth. Her husband just came back home and the party was halfway through, when she started giving birth and everyone ran to her. I named the newborn Hanako. She's a blue-eyed girl with black hair.

~*~

On the very last night of their rotation the burglar decided to come over. I flipped a coin and it decided that I should let Hiroki beat her up. I flip a coin for it now, because the Anyone Fights Burglars mod is always successful. I think the burglar wanted to steal some of the sheep, but she didn't get to do it fast enough.

Hiroki had two days off, I believe. Overall he got promoted once so he's on level 2 of the Culinary career track, which doesn't pay very well. But he has earned earned 966$ total.

500$ - rent

386$ - tax

97$ - tithe

They needed to pay 986$ (rounded down to 950$) + 500$ rent for last round. They are left with some change they could use to set up a store, but I don't think they'll be selling anything before spring comes.

There is 8800$ in the town's bank... Let's say it was all spent to erect the monastery from earlier, because the unfurnished building is worth around as much. I imagine the monks are starting out sleeping on the floor or something...

[briar-craft]

So I was just thinking about some things about Red, Green, and... Giovanni.

This is just my own theories/headcanons, and this is based solely on the games. I don't know nearly enough about anime Giovanni, and I'm also going to treat them as separate universes.

Now, Professor Oak. We know that he's Green's grandfather. We never get any indication of who his actual parents are in the games, father or mother. What if Green somehow found out that his father was Giovanni. At first, he only knows his father was the Viridian city gym leader, and he's been off training for a long time, doing something Professor Oak isn't happy about and cut ties with him over. He meets a couple of people along the way who know about him, like Mr. Fuji, as Giovanni did have the lab up.

But then it's at Saffron city, Silph Co, where he finds out from a grunt the name of Team Rocket's boss. He is there ahead of Red. He made it through the floors, pass all of the other grunts until that one mutters that name.

He doesn't want to acknowledge it's real, and so heads back, pretending he was just waiting for Red. He doesn't want to believe he's related to the boss of Team Rocket. Instead of proceeding through Seafoam Islands, he heads back to Pallet to clear his head and talk with Daisy, asking about their parents.

After getting his head back in the game, he heads down to Cinnabar and gets into a verbal fight with Blaine after their fight, asking why he never stopped Giovanni from his plans. Blaine, heavy with regret, locks the gym to recollect himself.

After Red gets through fighting Giovanni for the last time and he disappears, Green feels the need to prove that he can beat Red more than ever if his own father couldn't stop him from getting the last badge. He throws himself into training and becoming stronger. He doesn't care his team is tired, he doesn't care of how anyone else thinks of him. He will become champion, and prove himself.

... Red defeats him...

Not only that, but he manages to find Mewtwo, the pokemon his father's team created. And the day after, he was gone. Kanto's champion had left, the eighth gym leader is gone. Green was left alone once more with a grandfather who only sees his own son's hunger for power in him, and a sister who pities him.

He can only turn to one place: Viridian City Gym. He stays for a while, until Lance finds him. Offering him the position.

Now a divergence from what happens in the game timeline. Green and Red make up after Gold beats Red and convinces him to come back down. Green decides to travel and find his own way away from being the region's professor's grandson, while Red takes some time to acclimate back to society, eventually returning home after Kalos. He and Red get invited to the Battle Tree and they accept. While he and Red are back on good terms, they don't have the same energy as they used to before their journeys. Green just can't understand why.

One night, walking along Alola's beaches, a voice calls out to him. Green stands, frozen. From fear or shock, he doesn't know. Giovanni had found him. Here he was, looking older, with a cane and a hat to hide his thinning hair. Persian at his side.

Giovanni wasn't there to battle, for the better as Green's team was still recovering. They sit for a long time in silence. Eventually, Green only asks one thing: Why.

That single word held so much weight behind it, it could have meant anything or nothing. He didn't have to elaborate though, Giovanni knew what he meant. "Power. I was obsessed with power. Your mother had an illness, and I was working on a cure, but it was too late. Then, I found those journals about Mew. A pokemon with the power of all other pokemon. Surely, I thought, with the technology that we had to reconstruct fossils, we could make another Mew, and bring her back. I lost my love for the living long ago, feeling resentful. But then, I felt I had the key to life. It's no excuse, and I'm not looking for forgiveness. I've given up on that long ago."

"As for the reason I left. Red. He had so much more power than I could ever hope for, and still loved his pokemon and trusted them, rather than commanded. I needed to understand once more what it meant to be a trainer. But, I can understand him being terrified after facing Mewtwo. It was born from greed and hate. From what I know, he only understood love and compassion. So I can only imagine he'd want to be able to understand Mewtwo to help it. The only way to truly know is to ask. I'm only giving my insight."

I'm going to make a fic sometime this weekend, but I would love to see any other fics or ideas inspired by this post too! I know people like to think Giovanni was Red's father, and I do too when it's done right, but I for one never seen this idea and needed to share it before I forgot all about it. Plus can add in Silver being Green's half brother, or could be Giovanni fell in with his mother who had tried convincing Giovanni to revive Team Rocket, thus the special celebi event, or can just say that never happened and Silver was maybe adopted by Giovanni's new partner after Green and Daisy's mother passed. Either way works.

[captainaikus]

At first glance, I immediately--- I just have to refresh my feed just to be sure of what I'm seeing right now. A BLUE LOCK MATCH-UP EVENT MADE BY THE ONE AND ONLY BELLE???!?!? (//▽//) aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! I WOULD LOVE TO PARTICIPATE IN YOUR LOVELY EVENT (and I don't mind receiving a late reply! I'll just patiently wait for it ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡)

I'm okay with either making it an SFW or NSFW. Whatever suits your mood! Cuz either way, your writing alone is already godsend ;; and the fact you'll consider sparing a few minutes of your time to pair me with a Bluelock character is enough for me to make me squeal /////////// Now, on to the details >:3

꒰ Tell me what your likes and dislikes and fav things to do in your past time ꒱

Likes: Draw digitally, watch productive videos, study whatever piqued my interest (Right now it's Nihongo, discover my own "Branding", study Adobe software, and how to draw digitally even better), play videogames (gacha most of the time and multiplayer games with my friends + lil brother!!!), spend time with my little brother, listen to my playlist while walking home during dusk (it's just pretty and fascinating to see the colors compliment each other so well) (same with stargazing while in a road trip back home as well!), hug the peeps I cherish with consent (it's just so warm/healing), and sleep. Seeing people do the hobbies that they love keeps me motivated and think "I should work hard too!" Eating desserts with one or a small circle of friends is one of my favourites too! And I treasure those moments a lot.

Dislikes: I don't like it when people speak very ill of the people I care about. It makes me angry. MATH. I HATE MATH (I can only gaze in awe at those who can do calculus and mental arithmetic). I also don't like it when people decided to be dishonest when they can just talk to me in a straightforward manner (I prefer a frank approach than being lied to). But most of all... I don't like drinking alcohol. It reminded me of... something... from the past...

꒰ What would you describe yourself as/ how people describe you ꒱

I'm an introvert, straightforward, and honest, and because of this, I straight-out tell the people I care about how special they are to me privately or in an open environment, but the one who gets easily flustered when they try to compliment me. The type of person who won't hesitate to be really serious at times (especially when I needed to be strict to accomplish a task) and the one who managed to stay calm/joyful at extreme rides inside amusement parks as my friends quiver in fear. My MBTI told me that I'm an INFJ though. However, whenever I ask my friends about what they think of my personality, they appreciate my determination despite my timidness, punctual, and genuine wholesome personality. Maybe the fact that I hug them a lot (w/ consent) at school became a factor lolol. I just want to appreciate their existence and make them feel special/important (cuz I know they're facing something they can't open up to anyone just yet.). It's the least I could do as their friend :3

꒰ The last book you read or the genre you mostly read ꒱

The last book I read was 4 years ago... Soman Chainani's "The School for Good and Evil: Book 1." I still want to accomplish my list of books though (classical literature & horror genre books at that too, since I want to compare/observe the book and their movie adaptations to see if the previous research and learning I had from multimedia subjects have any use). When it comes to manga, however, I read anything that catches my eye (especially when it has a good art style). Blue Period is my number 1, next is "Blue Lock" and then, "Witch Hat Atelier."

꒰ Your insecurities (if you want to, no pressure!) ꒱

Err... it's my tendency to have low self-esteem and the fact that I don't have a solid statement to answer the question "what are my standards to look for in a guy?" I'm still in the middle of figuring it out so I only answer those questions with "I love 2D husbandos/ikemen. Do you see this character?? I love him a lot!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I hope this info helped you a lot :DD I'm sorry for making it long... I hope you're doing okiii with university stuff and I'll help pray for the love of your life to show up in BlueLock cuz as u said 4 months?! That's way too long for one character to not show up ;; >w<)b !!!

Mino! you’re making me blush \(//∇//)\

No worries about making it long! Honestly, I’m glad to be learning new things about people and expanding my book reading (i'm learning of new authors here) and the way i'm able to relate to some a lot of you (like i like digital drawing as well and blue period! and honestly- color coding and gazing at stars too !!) … Oml, Oliver hasn’t showed up in 4 months and now I finally get to see him in Germany vs Ubers match (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`) *cue ugly sobbing*

I match you with - Alexis Ness!

Vibes I get from this relationship - fitting in spaces and awkwardly geeky (its really adorable) He is a golden retriever who isn't afraid to bite. He is a human calculator - literally in charge of Kaiser's bills and I'd like to think that he knows about software, looks like a secret boy genius behind kaiser. he also doesn't like speaking ill about people he knows (that one time Kunigami spoke ill of Kaiser and he was pissed) he is passive aggressive and looks like oblivious... but looks can be deceiving and he is sharp. He also appreciates digital art and here's what it looks when he does -

"Why are you wasting your time with that?" he asked, pointing at your setup as you were digitally drawing. "Why do you waste your time with that?" you asked, pointing towards the other room where his personal computer sat. "Touché." he said, walking over, looking at your tablet as you were drawing with your stylus. Taking his finger, he made a dash on the side of the tablet, drawing a line that interrupted your drawing, making you pout. "Don't do that, Alexis." you said, erasing the line off the layer and exiting the page, instead opening a new one. "You wanna try to draw something, here. Let me see what you've got." you said, placing the stylus in his large hands. Taking it awkwardly from you, he began to draw from what looked like a coconut tree, making you giggle. "Is that a coconut tree?" "Mhm." he responded, drawing a 'v' near it. "And is that supposed to be a bird?" you asked, pointing at it. He said nothing as you watched him drawing random things across the page that included a football. Taking the pen from him you drew a smiley face with messy hair and placed the tablet near his head, laughing as he turned his head to the side. "This looks so much like you." you chortled as he gave you a look of disapproval. Tossing the tablet aside on the sofa, he pinned your arms by your head, figure hunched over you. "Why don't you make a whole picture of me? Maybe without clothes to get in the way. What do you say... artist? " he said, leaning in close to your ear, voice dropping to a low octave, teeth biting the outer shell of your ear. "Draw me like one of your french girls?"

[daedrabela]

when i was a little younger and a little more naive, i used to think that maybe the only place i truly belonged was in a psych ward. and now that i've had two stays (one on isolation for covid) i can safely say i was right all along. it's the only place that makes sense. the nurses are kind, the food is good, there's a sense of comraderie that comes with being ill at the same time as others. no one yells at you for sleeping all day. no one makes you feel bad because everyone finally knows it's not your fault - nothing is and nothing ever was. i had an ex that used to tell me i needed to go there, under threat that he'd leave me because he "couldn't handle it." if he had, i know now i would have been just fine. i needed help and he wasn't willing to provide that and no one else around me was going to do it either. so i'm no longer surprised that i lost my mind that night, when my dad tried to take my life because i couldn't stop screaming. everyone around me was constantly pushing me to uphold their standards. i couldn't be my own person for even a moment or face rage and ridicule. i'm no longer surprised that i left that relationship for the first person that told me i was my own person, even if he just wanted me to walk into his clutches. i was a vulnerable, broken person. a shell. a ghost. even now i still grasp at my shattered pieces and hold them to my heart, desperately willing myself together every morning, day and night. i come apart when i sleep and return to the moments that hurt me most in my dreams: my childhood bedroom. the house shifts into a prison, a place i don't want to be. it catches fire. it's haunted. i'm running from something inside of it. i'm late to school. it's all fear. fear. fear. when was the last time i wasn't so scared? i'm not scared in the ward. they wake me up for breakfast and i get to pick whatever i want for lunch and dinner. i can snooze or color or learn a new game. it's where i belonged. how else did i know that was what i needed all along?