#but maybe it'd be nice to be able to pick it up and play again sometime

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Beachfront Bliss

Fandom: Top Gun: Maverick

Pairing: Billy "Fritz" Avalone x F!Reader

Summary: You're walking your dog, Delilah, along the beach until she decides to chase after a handsome man playing football with his buddies.

Manny Jacinto Characters Masterlist

The sun is slowly setting on San Diego. You'd just gotten home from work and now you're getting your dog, a border collie named Delilah, ready for her walk. She's excitedly shaking her tail as she stares up at you while you hold her leash.

"Wait," you command and Delilah sits, watching you expectantly.

You clip the leash onto her collar and open the front door, "Good girl!" Delilah promptly races out the door, only stopping when the retractable leash has met the end.

"Come!" you call for her and she rushes back to your side, sticking to it as you walk down your street and towards the beach.

As you grow closer, the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore become louder. Once pavement becomes sand, you slip off your sandals, stuffing them into your tote bag as you continue to walk.

There isn't a lot of people on the beach since it's midweek. However, you do see a group of people playing football.

The commotion alerts Delilah as the two of you near the group. There's boisterous laughing and hollering. The group spreads out as you grow closer, so you walk further away to not potentially be hit.

You avert your attention ahead, moving on from the football group, however, Delilah seems very keen on watching them, trying to stay in place.

"Come on, Lilah!" you lock the retractable leash and give her a warning tug, urging her to continue walking, "Let's finish your walk!"

Your commands fall deaf on her ears as she watches the group continue their game of football. One of the men throws the ball and another tried to catch it. The ball grazes his fingertips and causes the ball to go flying in your direction. It falls a few feet away from you and, before you could even blink, Delilah pounces at it. The sudden movement frees her leash from your hand.

"Delilah!" you shout as your dog starts running around the beach with the football in her mouth.

The group of people all laugh and begin to join you in the chase for your dog. Delilah clearly thinks it's a game as she dodges and weaves through everyone's legs. Men and a few women topple into the sand as they attempt to catch Delilah.

You and the others eventually start to slow down, growing tired of your dog's antics.

You stand there, hands on your hips, looking at your dog like a disappointed mother. She meanders over with a pep in her step and drops the football at your feet.

You sigh, pinching your nose, "Thank you, Lilah." You pick up the football and hand it to the nearest man. His tanned skin and toned chest are on full display. He's wearing classic ray bans and a smile that makes your heart stop for a moment.

"Sorry about her."

He chuckles, "Don't worry about it. Never thought it'd be a dog to take down a group of Navy Pilots."

Your brows shoot up in surprise, looking at the group of people around you, "You're all in the Navy?"

He nods, "Yup and I think you just proved to our Captain that we need to work out more."

You giggle, "Yeah. Again, sorry about her. She's probably a little stir-crazy. Haven't been able to take her out as much due to work. As you can see, she has a lot of energy."

The man kneels and begins to pet her, "She's cute so I'll forgive her. What's her name?"

"Delilah or Lilah or Deli."

"Well hello, Delilah, I'm Billy, but my friends call me Fritz."

"Fritz?" you look at him confused as he rises to a stand again.

"My call-sign."

"Frtiz! C'mon, man!" one of the guys hollers.

"I gotta-"

"You should-"

Both of you speak at the same time and stop with a chuckle.

Fritz holds his hand out, "It was nice meeting you..."

"Y/N. Nice to meet you Fritz," you shake his hand, "Enjoy the rest of your day."

"Thanks! You too! Maybe I'll see you guys around again!" he gives you a wave and heads back to his Navy friends who were all in position for the next game.

You watch them for a little bit, admiring the very attractive group of people before you. Then you chuckle, ruffling Delilah's fur before tugging her along. She's apprehensive, wanting to go back to "playing" with her new friends.

"C'mon, princess. We gotta go back home and start making dinner." Delilah reluctantly proceeds to follow you through the sand, leaving her new friends behind.

_______________________

It was your friend's, Jackie's, birthday and she wanted to do a bar crawl. You were one of the designated drivers so you've mainly stuck with water throughout the night and keeping a careful eye on your friend.

The next bar on her list was called the Hard Deck, which is apparently home to a lot of Navy officers. When you hear this, a part of you hopes you might run into Fritz, but there's no way, right?

Your group clamber into the bar, which was jam packed considering it was a Friday night.

"It's my birthday so feel free to buy me drinks!" you're already drunk friend hollers. A few men already begin to approach her ready to fulfill her request.

You tell your other friend, Abby, that you're going to find a table for your group. She gives you a salute and turn back to watch the rest of the group.

As you're weaving through bodies, you suddenly bump into someone, spilling their drink.

"Shit! I'm so so-Fritz!"

He looks at you in surprise, "Hey! Y/N!" then looks at you confused, "I'm kind of surprised to see you here."

You snort, "Yeah, um, not a place you'd usually find me at on a Friday night, but it's my friend's birthday," you point over your shoulder to Jackie with her birthday crown on her head and down a shot as your friends and a few Navy men cheer her on, "We're doing a bar crawl, but I'm the DD."

He nods in understanding, "Got it."

"Actually, you don't happen to see any free tables, do you? That's what I was doing before I bumped into you. Also, I will definitely get you a replacement drink for that!"

He chuckles, "It's fine. Really and you and your group can join me and my buddies."

"You sure?" you look at him apprehensively.

"Yeah, besides, I know a few of them will definitely pay for your guys' drinks," he gives you a smirk.

You snicker, "Alright. Let me go grab them."

"I'll follow you," he places his hand on your lower back as he follows you back to the counter where your friends are gathered.

"Hey!" you tap Abby on the shoulder, "This is my friend, Fritz," you point to him over your shoulder and he waves.

Abby gives you a questioning look, "Friend?"

"The guy I met on the beach because Lilah stole their football?"

"Ooooh!" she waves at him, "Hi!"

"Hi! I told Y/N that you guys can share tables with my buddies and I."

"You sure?"

"Oh yeah. Some of them will most likely pay for your drinks too."

Abby snorts, "Well I can't deny free drinks." She proceeds to tell the other women the plan and grabs Jackie's hand, leading her away from the men chatting her up.

She stumbles and you catch her, "Easy there, babe!"

Jackie spots Fritz over your shoulder, "It's my birthday!"

He laughs, "So I heard. Happy birthday!"

"Thanks!" she looks to you and not so secretly says, "He's cute!"

You chuckle, "Yeah, babe. Let's go to the table, 'kay?"

She nods, "Okay," and follows you and Fritz towards the back of the bar. He stops at three tables filled with the same group of people you saw on the beach weeks prior.

"Hey! Beach Girl!" a brunette with a thick mustache calls out.

You wave, "Nice to see you again."

"What're you doing here in our neck of the woods, beautiful?" the tall blonde one asks with a grin that makes you roll your eyes.

Jackie stands beside you and you gesture to her, "It's my friend's birthday. We're doing a bar crawl. This is one of our stops. Jackie, say hi."

Jackie waves, "Hi," she looks at everyone in awe, "Why are all of you guys so hot?!"

You facepalm, "Jackie's filter flies out the window when she's drunk," you explain to Fritz.

"The guys are gonna love it."

The men let the ladies have their seats, standing around them and making conversation.

You continue to stand beside Fritz, fanning yourself. He looks at you in concern, "You okay?"

"Just getting a bit warm."

"Wanna step onto the deck? It's just out there," he points to the double doors behind you. You take a look at your friends and make sure they're okay before you step out.

Once you're outside, you give a sigh of contentment. The cool breeze immediately chills your body in a welcoming way.

You rest your back against the railing so you can still keep an eye on your friends. Abby looks at you through the window giving you a questioning thumbs up. You smile giving her a thumbs up back and she goes back to her conversation.

"When did you guys start the crawl?"

You look at the time on your phone, "About two hours ago, but Jackie and a few others pregamed. So by the time we hit like the second bar, they were far gone already."

"How many more bars are on your list?"

"Jackie wanted to hit ten, but I'm not sure if we'll even get to the fifth one." There's cheers from inside as Jackie downs yet another shot.

"Not much of a drinker?"

You scrunch your nose and shake your head, "Nah. This overall thing isn't really me, but Jackie's one of my best friends, so I'll come out of my cave for her."

Fritz's nose crinkles as he laughs and you think it's the cutest thing ever.

"How's Delilah?"

"Good. She's happier now that work is starting to slow down and I can take her out for longer walks though."

"She hasn't stolen anymore footballs, has she?"

You snort, "Fortunately not, and she hasn't managed to take down another group of Naval officers either."

"Hey, she took us by surprise. We'd already been out there for a while, our energy was already low."

"Suuure. Keep telling yourself that, Fly Boy."

The two of you stay out there for some time, getting lost in conversation and each other's company. You've discovered that not only is Fritz handsome, but he's funny, kind, loyal, and a nerd. He has his parents and two sister back at home. He's a very family-oriented person and you admire him for that.

You two lose track of time and before you know it, Abby is coming out to you two.

"We're calling it a night. Jackie's is so far gone and some of the other girls are getting there."

"Alright. We should start closing tabs then."

"His buddies took care of it," she nods to Fritz.

You and Fritz grin at each other, "Told you," he says.

"Well, thank your friends for me. And thanks for keeping me company out here."

You step to leave, but Fritz stops you, "Wait, actually, is it okay if I get your number? I'd like to take you out some time."

You smile and nod at him, "Yeah. Of course!" you two quickly exchange numbers and promptly head back inside with Abby.

You gather your friends up, Fritz and his buddies helping you and Abby walk Jackie and the others out.

Your group piles into yours and Abby's car, waving at the group of men, "Thanks again, fellas!" you yell out before driving away.

Fritz stands there with his buddies and once you're out of sight, they begin to badger him about getting your number.

He reluctantly says that he did and his pals cheer him on with pride.

Before he goes to sleep that night, Fritz sends you a text:

It was nice chatting with you. Let me know your schedule so we can plan that date. Hope your friends don't give you too much trouble.

Sweet dreams. - Fritz

[miowritings]

hi hi there!!!

Maybe a fic of the reader baking together with Tsukasa? I feel like lots of cute things could happen in it ><

have a Nice day!

Muffins or cupcakes?

Tsukasa Tenma x GN! Reader

✮A/N: HIHI!!! SO SORRY FOR BEING OFFLINE phone was too broken to use so💔 i havent been able to play pjsk that much so idk if tsukasa can or cannot cook/bake?? SO SORRY IF THIS MISCHARACTERIZE HIM💔

✮synopsis: after his performance went well, what's a better way than to bake for him? In fact, bake for the whole family!

Your boyfriends theater group was a success! You were proud of the accomplishments he received, and what's a better way to congratulate him by making homemade cake?

This was a mistake, you thought, not only did you burn the cake, but flour, batter, eggs were everywhere... Messy wasn't the right word.. disaster and catastrophe was, you quickly tried to clean everything before he arrived, but it was too late.. you hear the sound of the door clicking open, he's home yet the place was a mess!

"Y/N..?" He mumbled, looking around the place.

"W-what are you doing here so early?! Arent you going to celabrate with your family? And... I told you to come at 8.. its still 6" you utter, trying to clean the place

"Hey! I didnt wanna be late like last time.. plus im planning to celebrate with my family on dinner.." he answered, tilting his head, he pulls out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to you. "How did flour get into your hair?" He asks, you ignored his question, wiping yourself with the handkerchief, Tsukasa stays silent for a bit, wondering what to do next, suddenly, he grabs your shoulders, looking at you with big eyes. "Aha! I know! Let's try baking together! Its been so long since i last baked yknow? Cmon it'd be fun! You could even come over and present the food we baked!!" He exclaimed, looking happy with his suggestion, a sigh came out of your lips and you nodded in agreement. Sigh "okay then, lets do it.! Right after i clean this place up.."

Once finished with cleaning, Tsukasa went ahead and prepared the remaining ingredients, he first arranged the ingredients and measured them already. "First things first! We measure the ingredients! Small or big so that we dont get lost! Here, try putting the flour into a mixing bowl! Now add the rest of the dry ingredients!" He instructed while grabbing some whisks and a baking trey, doing as he tild, you carefully put the dry ingredients together.

"Done! The wet's next right?" You asked, already holding the water in hand, Tsukasa nodded walking over to you. "WAIT-!!" he yelled, stopping you right in time, he puts his things aside, going behing you, he carefully guided your hand. "You can do it like that but... It the results would give the batter plrnty of air bubbles.. we should.. there! Fold! Then you want to scrape the sides so it wont go to waste!" He added, looking confused, you step away for a moment. "Ehhh? Oh! You do it! Maybe i can learn a thing or two!" You exclaimed, he smiles at the idea and did as told.

After the mixing step, he grabs a couple of cupcake trays and placed them onto the baking sheet "WAIT--!" he yells, stopping you yet again. "Y/n! Its better to scoop it out, that way, theyre all even! Ahahaha! You really cant do anything without me!" He teases, ruffling your hair, you smile at his joke, picking up the tray and placing it in the oven.

"Youre glazing yourself too much.. but yeah, I guess half of it its true.." you added, adding more to his joke. Time passes by and ping! The cupcakes were done baking. Putting on the mittens before you, you hurridly open the oven door to take out the baking trey, the smell of freshly baked cupcaked hitting your nose. Tsukasa runs over and looked at the cupcakes in hand, you set them onto the table, patiently waiting for it to cool down, Tsukasa smiles

"Hehe, we make a good team dont we?" He asks, you playfully roll your eyes at him and sigh "cant say i dont agree!" You replied, looking at the cupcakes. "...The icing.?!" You exclaimed, Tsukasa, looks around, now looking as surprised as you, he fixes his shirt and clears his throat. "Or we could just say they were muffins.. no one has to know!" He exclaimed, thinking about it... Cupcakes and muffins are alike, you nodded "good save! I'll put these on a container... Lets go.! We should be quick! Wouldnt wanna let the flies eat first!" You cheered, tsukasa smiles. "You got that!"

[osleeplessflowero]

if it's ok can you do a Dream x reader with fluff and in it Dream and reader are dating and the reader is fem and a smart, kind and chill Tomboy and they have the soul of kindness and they like to sing while playing guitar.

thank you for your request! ooh, i think i can see what you're going for. i'll do my best!

Request Specifics: Fem Reader

Kindness Soul 💚

A gentle breeze blows in the air. You feel your hair gently sway with it, smiling as you close your eyes to take in the fresh air. You lean against a tree, sitting atop an empty hill with a guitar in your lap, currently playing your favorite song. Humming along to the tune, you get a bit carried away, unaware of footsteps approaching you from behind. Someone kneels down, putting their gloved hands over your eyes with a chuckle.

"Guess who?" He asks, his calm voice easily recognizable to you. You smile, reaching your hands up to touch his gloves gently with your hands.

"Hmmm..is it.. Blue?" You joke, knowing the answer already. He rolls his eyes with a smile.

"Try again." "Ink?" "Ink doesn't wear gloves, silly." "He could wear them. You never know." "That's true..but come on, try again." You gently pull down his hands, turning around to look at your partner.

"Hi, Dream." You grin, unable to stop since he's here. He looks a tad bit surprised at first, before a smile forms on his own face as his adoring eyes meet yours. "Hello, Sunlight."

He walks out from behind you and sits down beside you, relaxing with his hands in his lap. "It's such a beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Yeah..it's really nice." You wipe some dirt off your pants, sliding your jacket down since it'd gotten a bit warmer and tie it around your waist.

"Have you been playing? You have your guitar with you." He gestures to it with the hand that's closest to you with a browbone raised. "Yeah, mostly just playing whatever comes to my head. Got any requests?" "Play me your favorite song. Something you really love to play." He raises his arms so his elbows are over his legs, resting his chin between his hands.

You snicker, grabbing your guitar pick. "Yeah, okay. It might not suit your tastes, though."

"I'm not worried about that, if you enjoy it it doesn't matter what I think."

Your face flushes a bit. You avert your eyes from the skeleton, able to see his warm smile out of the corner of your eye. How did you manage to pull this guy? He's so sweet..

Taking a light breath, you begin playing one of your favorite songs, closing your eyes as you sing along to it.

His eyes light up with adoration and wonder as he listens to you, your voice being one he could listen to for hours on end.. Such a beautiful sound, he thinks. Perhaps even his favorite sound..

Positivity practically radiates off of the skeleton, helping you feel a little more confident in your singing with his support. Eventually you finish the song, opening your eyes when you hear his polite applause and seeing that his eyelights have shifted into little hearts.

"You did wonderfully, Sunlight." "..Thanks, Dream." You smile, reaching your hand over to hold his. "I've..been practicing a lot more lately. I'm glad you could hear me..I think I'm doing good." "You certainly are, my dear." He trails his thumb over the back of your hand.

"I'll keep..doing my best. For you, and..maybe a little for me." "That's my girl."

Your face heats up way more at his reply, and Dream can't help but smile..he thinks your reactions are just.. so adorable! His adoration knows no bounds.

Turning to him, you move your guitar aside and shift so you're properly facing him, sitting on your knees and reaching forwards to hold his face in your hands. His cheekbones flush a bright shade of yellow at your touch, the skeleton looking a little surprised. ..He's still smiling, though.

"Hey..um..thanks for..sticking with me all this time. It really means a lot to me."

"You mean a lot to me. I'll always be here for you, Sunlight..no matter what. I promise."

"I love you, you dork." "I love you too, my dear." He leans into your hand, unable to break eye contact with you.

You avert your eyes a moment. Now would be the perfect time to try something different, but..would..he want to? Is it the right time yet? Too soon? God, why is this so difficult to ask?

Dream seems to notice your frustration, his browbones knitting together in worry. "What's wrong?"

"Can I kiss you?" You blurt, not meaning to say such a thing so suddenly. He practically jolts, his face flushing much brighter.

"I-I mean we just- we never have before and I feel like this is the perfect time and-"

"Sunlight."

"And I really care about you and I wouldn't wanna make you uncomfortable just because I want to-"

"Sunlight."

"And I really just-"

He slowly leans forwards, placing his hand onto your cheek before pressing a kiss to your lips. It's sweet.. just like him. You feel yourself relax in his hold, losing the tension in your shoulders as you put your trust in him.

A gentle breeze blows through once more, causing your hair to blow in the wind lightly as the two of you savor the moment. You wish this moment could last forever..just you, him, and the scenery..but you really need to breathe-

You break the kiss, taking light breaths as he presses his forehead against yours with a fond look in his eyes.

"That..that was wonderful, Dream.. I liked that very much." "Would you like me to do it again?" He smiles, earning a flustered reaction from you.

"T-..Too soon-"

You hear a chuckle, feeling him wrap his arms around you in a hug.

"As you wish. Sorry, I'm a little starstruck.." He smiles, holding you close and resting his head on your shoulder. "..Me too." You smile a bit yourself, pleased with the evening's events.

Leaning back a bit, you put your hands on his shoulders.

"You wanna go back to my place? We could just..I dunno, hang out somehow. You could make that tea you really like that you're always talking about."

"I'd love to!" He perks up, watching as you stand to grab your guitar and hold out your other hand, helping him up. He doesn't let go as you both walk back to your house, which is pretty close by thankfully.

[hn-undercover-9503]

Originally put this on AO3 and decided to post it to Tumblr as well to spread my manifesto to the world :) please give me rat Ren please please please pow...pow I'm begging so much rn please

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵

Martyn didn't understand. This shouldn't have been possible. And yet…here he was.

“Damn it, Doc.” He mumbled under his breath as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head with an unfortunately familiar paw-like hand. He could already feel his tail. It'd been a while, but he remembered the feeling of it. He also remembered using it to help him clamber his way up walls and through tiny holes in order to run away from giant humans living in a big mansion. He remembered all too well the feeling of being a rat.

He didn't think he'd ever be back here. Although, to be fair, he didn't recognize where in the world he was, at least not right off the bat. It definitely wasn't the same house, though. He seemed to have woken up in some kind of large contraption, considering all the gears and levers he was surrounded by. They made soft ticking noises as he tried to gather his thoughts, leading him to believe it was some kind of clock. He wondered if Owen was still here.

Whatever the case, it shouldn't have been possible for him to come back. He specifically remembered leaving this world through the portal, so why was it that he was back here again in the same tiny little rat body all over again? Unless…

No, that was stupid. There was no way they would put him in this body for one of those. That'd be ridiculous.

A loud chiming noise startled him, making his tiny heart race in his chest. He'd forgotten how it felt, being this small and vulnerable. Looks like he'd have to get used to it again, though. Well at least this world had been fun the last time, apart from the ordeal with pushing Krow through a random portal. Hopefully that wouldn't happen again.

He stood slowly, scanning his surroundings for where he could exit the clock. He could see what must have been its face, and was shocked when he saw the sheer size of it. It was easily ten times his own size and towered over his head, the second hand tick tick ticking away. He was just about to start looking around the mess of gears for a way down when he spotted something sitting at the clock face.

He frowned, squinting to try and get a better look. It was small, but not so small that he couldn't see it at all. Curious, he grabbed hold of one of the various levers around and hoisted himself up a few more inches to get a better look. From this distance, he could make out the shape of ears and a tail, and his heartrate picked up again. Was it another rat? Maybe a player! Maybe it was Oli again, that'd be nice. He was always a great companion in these worlds, and one of the few regulars he saw that he could say he was pretty sure they were a player and not an NPC–or worse, an agent.

He climbed up higher, trying not to let himself get too excited. The last world had been chaotic and he'd ended up having to abandon all of them in it, players and NPCs alike. And after all that, he still hadn’t been able to make contact with Doc. And, well, maybe he sort of just missed having somebody to talk to, alright? Sue him.

As he got closer to the clock face, he stopped as he heard soft mumbling. The voice sounded oddly familiar, but also didn't at the same time? It definitely wasn't Oli, unless he was playing a different character this time who didn't have the same accent. But no, this voice didn't sound like any of the rats he remembered, so why did it sound so bloody familiar?

“Hello?” He cupped his hands over his mouth and called up. “You up there! You alright?”

The mumbling stopped, followed by a shuffling sound. A moment later, the face of a rat poked over the edge of the wall where the clock face sat, slightly obscured by shadows. As he'd thought, this wasn't one of the rats he'd met in the last world. They must've been new. He watched as this rat broke out in a smile and leaped down from the wall to land on a gear close to where Martyn was balanced. Immediately, once he was level with this new rat, however, his breath caught in his throat.

No way.

“Hi there, dude!” The rat greeted with a wide grin, the pointed brown ears twitching. Of course he still had his stupid dog ears, even in this form. They were smaller, obviously, and slightly less pointy, but Martyn still really wanted to touch them. “My name's Ren! What's yours?”

“I'm–Martyn,” Martyn nearly choked on his own words as he looked over Ren's new form. He couldn't believe his eyes. Ren was really in front of him, in a world that wasn't one of those damn death games, in a world that was generally pretty peaceful and death didn't mean the end. Against his will, his eyes began to well up.

“Nice to meet ya, Martyn!” Ren reached up and pointed to the face of the clock. “Didn't know there was someone else in here with me. I was just trying to figure out how to get down. I really need to go find some food. I might starve if I stay here much longer.”

“Uh, yeah–yeah, same here. We should–” He sucked in a deep breath, forcing the stupid, traitorous burning feeling in his eyes to dissipate. “Let's try looking down. Can probably slip through the gears and find a way out through there.”

“Sounds good to me, dude!” Ren hopped down from his gear and moved to stand next to him, leaning over to look at the array of mechanical things below them. “You escaped from clocks before?”

Martyn laughed despite himself, joining the other on his search. “I guess you could say that. Say, you wouldn't happen to know where exactly we are, would you?”

“Oh, that's easy, dude!” Ren reached down and poked at a lever, which made a loud squealing noise as he did. “We're in Paris! The city of love, dude!”

Martyn chuckled to himself. “Yeah, alright. I can buy that.”

He didn't know what was going on. He didn't know why he was a rat again, or why it was in Paris, and he really had no goddamn idea why Ren of all people was here, but…

Well, you certainly wouldn't hear him complaining about it.

[monpalace]

hi! really hope i'm not bothering you but i absolutely adore your writing and i was wondering if you could maybe write something for ororo (storm) again? if not, that's completely okay! hope you're having a nice day, love you 💗

gn reader (you/your pronouns), ororo isn't actually present, reader is heavily implied to be a mutant, 600+ words.

It was a last-minute decision and yet you were glad to have made your class a free period when the first raindrop fell.

Your students looked half-dead (some more especially than others) whereas the ones who had managed to stay awake were only managing to keep themselves conscious by murmuring to one another.

There was a movie playing on the television mounted in the front of the room. Supposedly it was to act as an introduction to the lesson that was going to be taught today— but all it really stood to do was entertain the teens who weren't able to find a way to pass the time.

You're halfway to dozing off yourself to be entirely truthful. Reading through thirty-seven students' papers on varying different subjects (your favorite was the differences of the kinetic abilities and where each stems from) had begun to make your eyes droop and eyes fill with tears from each yawn.

It's a necessary step to take a moment to yourself to wake up.

You're not sure how long you're out, but time is all like a blur. The zombie-esque walk you take to the teachers’ break room is much needed to get your blood pumping when you go cross-eyed enough to nearly knock into a wall.

You thank the Gods that there was no one to witness it— and that whoever had last made a pot of coffee.

It was piping hot and fresh. The taste of the room had yet to penetrate the taste, your favorite mug, and everything you usually put in your cup was set out beside it.

Your head tilts.

Could it have been Xavier holding sympathy for his employees, or Jean repaying you for when you substituted in her class when she had to leave unexpectedly for her X-Men duties? Was Kurt doing his weekly acts of kindness for his co-workers, or was Logan evening it out with you for when you saved his ass at a bar a few weeks ago?

All are very likely if it weren't for the smell of dew, honeysuckle, and grapefruit.

There's a bounce in your step as you make your way back to the classroom. Pulling your nose from your mug reveals the students who hadn't been able to sleep before were starting to dwindle on energy.

"Doc," one of the students struggles to say through their own yawns. Their head is still pressed against the desk with its full weight, but that doesn't stop them from sluggishly lifting a finger to point at the large window fit only for an overly expensive apartment— and your classroom.

If it were a painting, it'd be straight out of the Rococo era. The natural greenery that covered your wall all curled around the now-opened window to highlight the bouquet that sat pretty on the table pushed against it.

While beautiful, the gift and placement were subtle. You wouldn't have noticed it if the student hadn't pointed it out.

Passing by your desk to set your cup down and pick up your phone. It's difficult to not take more than a few pictures of the sight, but you manage to turn away to look at the few remaining students still conscious.

When you ask for the name of who managed to set everything up in such a short amount of time, they only turn away.

You know who it is you need to thank when the window is gently lowered by a gust of wind and the rain resumes.

[taradiddled]

@inubaki isn't feeling well. and I think @lilacwriter07 could use a pep-up, so I'm putting here another sneak-peek at the chapter I'm working on.

--

"Only a neglectful shepherd would leave their sheep's hooves unattended." She picked up her scrub brush again and began layering the hoof in soapy foam. "They need routine cleaning, because who the fuck knows what shit they pick up on a regular basis. I had one sheep that must have been not right in the head, because it used to stand in its own shit, totally oblivious to how filthy it'd get. Needed a cleaning twice a week, or else its wool would stink. I thought I'd have to put up with it for maybe eight or nine years, since it was so dumb, but the bastard managed to live to eighteen years before it croaked."

Lucifer snickered, amused at the mental image given. "I can't imagine you putting up with that for more than eight years."

"Well, I did," Adam stated proudly, her chest puffing up just a bit with pride. "It was under my care, and my protection. Just because it wasn't too damn bright didn't mean I was going to mark it for meat. Not when its wool was some of the softest I'd felt, and it was especially patient with the grandkids when they wanted to play." It'd almost been like having another nanny available, when the children's parents were busy with their own business of foraging and hunting to support their families. Though Adam had bemoaned caring for the sheep, she'd actually cared for it in her own way, and mourned the creature when it eventually passed away.

"What was its name," Lucifer asked, genuinely curious.

"Birn," Adam replied. "Birn the Burr." She finally finished cleaning Lucifer's hoof to her satisfaction. "Because of all the damn times I had to comb so much crap out of its wool." The first comb ever had been invented purely because of Birn. It'd been the size of Adam's hand, with four thick teeth, able to sort through Birn's thick-thick wool to pull out all the foliage Birn managed to pick up in a week's time. It'd been one of Eve's best inventions, and had saved Adam's fingers further abuse from the sharp twigs and tree needles that would get stuck in Birn's wool. How the beast had managed to collect so much debris in the pastures, Adam and Eve had never uncovered.

"You're good now," Adam proclaimed, setting Lucifer's hoof back into the water. "Your hooves could use a little trimming, but it's nothing urgent. Maybe in a week's time you'll need to give it some actual attention." With the task of cleaning Lucifer's hooves done, Adam turned to cleaning herself, tossing out the washrag she'd been using for a clean one.

While Adam started lathering up with some soap, Lucifer examined his hooves, blonde brows arching as he looked in awe at the difference made. "This looks better than when I use magic," he said, rotating one hoof so he could admire its underside. "Feels better, too. Yowza. You've got magic hands there, my Pretty Prickly Mistress!"

Adam scoffed at the syrupy sweet praise, rolling her eyes. "You said the same thing about me handling your balls a couple nights ago, Your Majesty." Still, it was nice to be appreciated. She brushed her foot against Lucifer's thigh beneath the water, lips curling with a naughty smile as she observed Lucifer's cheeks color that tangerine hue Adam knew so well.

Lucifer gulped, eyes going down to where Adam's foot was sliding up and down the inside of Lucifer's thigh beneath the water. "Wellllllllllll," he stretched out, voice taking on a higher pitch when Adam's toes found Lucifer's cock. "It's good manners to give credit where credit is due--oh!" He gasped when Adam's big toe rubbed against the tip of his dick. A pant rose from the king's throat. "Ada, as much as I would love to fuck around some more, we still have breakfast to get to, and that call we promised to make to Charlie."

Adam hummed, cocking her head to the side, making a face of consideration, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth, weighing her options, before she retracted her foot from its fondling between Lucifer's legs. As much as her ramped libido desired another go around, there were things that needed doing, and Adam remembered that the new Soul Counter was long overdue. She needed to check in with Charlie about her progress with her research, and start pulling together information so that they could start something substantial.

It's been over a month since we started, Adam reminded herself. If I keep lazing around, this shit won't get done until after Oz is born. And she'd be too occupied with her newborn baby and Lucifer to put any extra energy into starting up the Soul Counter.

With a sigh of reluctance, Adam resumed her scrubbing, washing away any sticky residue from her and Lucifer's earlier activities. "Sucks to suck," she grumbled, "Buuuuuuuuuuut you're right." She then threw the washrag at Lucifer's chest, the King of Hell just catching it. "We have work to do," Adam agreed, turning around so her back was to Lucifer. "So wash up my back quick, will you, goony? You're the one who wanted to finish on my back, anyways..."

"Orrrrrrrr," Lucifer started, wading his way over to Adam, seating him right at her back, "You could just ask nicely, like a normal person." Nonetheless, he began to tend to Adam's back, wiping away at the skin in careful, gentle circles. It was a relaxing experience, and Adam found herself leaning back into Lucifer's care, releasing an audible sigh of contentment, as well as a chuckle at Lucifer's suggestion.

"And why should the great Dick-Master of Humanity have to ask to get her back washed?" She looked back at Lucifer over her shoulder, grinning with ego she felt was rightly earned. "Especially from the devil whose dick the Dick-Master conquered."

Lucifer paused in his ministrations. With great amusement, he chuckled. "Is that what we're going to call me knocking you up from now on?" He resumed washing Adam's back. "Would make a far more interesting story: the naughty devil who met his comeuppance, ahem, literally, when his dastardly dick was valiantly, valiantly, conquered by the heroic Dick-Master?" He and Adam both laughed at how ridiculous the tale sounded aloud.

Adam's smile was rueful, and she shrugged her shoulders. "Hey," she humored. "You fucked it."

"And I will gladly do so, again aaaaaand again," Lucifer hummed with a melodic note.

[good-beanswrites]

HI 🎬 THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THESE AHHH It did get eaten so I'm really glad you sent it again!!

It's interesting, because this movie night could take place right before T2 begins, and act as a little celebration/preparation night. But also, I like the thought of doing it after T2 closes, since they'd have their verdicts in mind while they watched the videos...

No matter when it takes place, this round of videos would definitely be more tense, but at least some of that would be lessened by the fact everyone was involved in filming. While the first movie night was a way to break the ice and have a little fun, this event feels more solemn. It's definitely used as a pick-me-up after such an ordeal -- a way to offer tons of praise and support and understanding to their fellow prisoner before/after a time where they had to pretend to hate one another.

Haruka, Mahiru, and Amane's require some serious time afterwards to talk and recover. LMAO I love the thought of Yuno's video resulting in some cheers as well as some "yes ma'am"s 😂 But I think despite her honesty, actually seeing her in those situations would cause the prisoners to understand her much deeply that before. (And I like to think she tries to bond with Amane over having multiples of themselves in the video :D) Mmm, and having a little moment between Muu and Fuuta would be so nice here. As bad as he felt seeing her be a victim in the T1 video, now he feels bad for her for a different way -- he can relate to her situation more and knows her pain.

Ahhhhh I want everyone to meet and hang out with Shidou's family so bad ;---; Although they're still not allowed to leave the facility until the experiment is over, everyone immediately starts making plans to hang out. Mahiru asks their favorite foods so she can have him over for dinner. Haruka asks if they have any similar hobbies/games so he can play with them. Amane doesn't say anything, but listens really closely to all the conversations. And yeah, by this time Jackalope would have received too much pressure to ignore the paperwork surrounding Amane any longer. While he's at it, they make him look into Haruka and his sister as well.

I wanted to make a John joke so bad you don't even know 😭😭😭I'm definitely going to sneak some teasing in post-neoplasm because I just think that's so funny and the others would never let him live it down OMG (I saw another post about it, but maybe secretly Red thinks it's fun -- despite hating the actual name John, he's excited to actually receive a nickname after Mikoto has given so many out to others)

But no matter how serious it gets, they'd be able to dance and sing along with some of the upbeat videos! The singer themselves may encourage the others to join in, since it would take some of the heaviness off of watching themself like that. It's such a bizarre situation, but they embrace it and find a little fun where they can.

I also just realized they'd get to watch Undercover!! It's the first time they get to hear Es sing and they're very impressed, and also enjoy seeing everyone together after separate filming. The visuals are pretty basic, and I think it'd be mostly teasing one another about the uniforms or looking like a sad wet cat behind bars...

Once again thank you 🎬!! These were so amazing and big brained 👏 I really appreciate you taking the time to write them out and send (twice ;-;), and I know a lot of others have enjoyed reading them as well!

[geese-ball]

I still don't know who you are, I only know that I'm still lonely chap 3

ch.2

Donnie and April have a chat

It had been a few days since Donnie's 'bad night' as they called it and Missie was almost ready to be picked up. Maybe she would make them feel less lonely. Unlikely considering they already lived with three very supportive and loving siblings, and that didn't seem to help.

Maybe they'd talk to April about it.

There was less pressure opening up to her since they didnt live together (even though they spent most of their free time together anyways) so it didn't feel like they'd have to confront it again of they didn't want to.

They were snapped out of their thoughts by a reminder sounding on their wrist brace. They were supposed to pick April up from an after school event tonight. Convenient.

They checked the time, unsurprised to find that it was almost time to leave. Time had been wrong since The Technodrome. Or more likely, she had changed something in them to perceive the flow of time differently. But thinking about that made them want to scream and throw up and cry. So they much preferred the first option.

Streching and shaking that thought out, they left their lab to get changed, making sure anything that needed to be turned off was turned off.

They decided on their comfort hoodie and comfy jogging bottoms over their galaxy compression leggings. Before they leftt, they switched rheir contacts out for their glasses. They were just picking April up and maybw grabbing a drink, so unlikely to be doing any sort of acrobatics where they could lose them.

They exited the lair through the garage and sent a quick text to the groupchat so everyone knew where they were. They turned on their favourite playlist as they bagan the journey there.

~~~

"April!!", they exclaimed, removing one hand from their walker and turning to the side to hug their sister.

Donnie loved being with April. She never acted as if they were fragile or broken. She wss never afraid to play fight or shove them (she was more gentle with it now but that was understandible considering that they would 100% fall over), and she never tried to stop them from doing things under the guise of protection. So they, in turn, felt comfortable being around her, because the mood isnt going to change on a whim when she decides they cant do something anymore. They can decide their own limits.

So they listened while she told them all aboit all the drama and funny anecdotes from her day, and in turn shared their own (like how Leo manages to fall down the stairs and make the most cartoon 'bonk' noise they'd ever heard).

And before they knew it, they were back at April's flat.

They agreed to sit in the living room with Mayhem whilst April got changed.

"Hello little man." they said, cupping Mayhem's little face in their hands and rubbjng the top of his head with their thumbs. In response, Mayhem slow blinked and rested his head more into their palms. "What a sweetie pie, I hope you get along with Missy, it'd be nice for you to have another animal friend, wouldn't it?".

They planted a kiss onto the top of his head just as April walked in and Mayhem wriggled free of their grasp to jump into her arms.

"He HATE me. sad face emoji." They pouted.

"He doesnt, hate you, Dee," she moved Mayhem to press his 'lips' against the side of Donnke's head, "See? he loves you!" Donnie snorted in response, reaching up to scratch behind Mayhem's ear as April sat next to them.

"So, when does Drax reckon you'll be able to pick up Missy?"

"Some time this week, he said." they paused, "I'm not really sure about it T.B.H., like obviously she's gonna be a massive help and it'll make me feel better but also. Change. Y'know?"

"yeah, but we're all here for you and we'll help you adjust, yeah?"

"yeah." They gently knocked their heads together.

They argued over what film to watch for a while after that (as kf they weren't just going to watch the Atomic Lass one for the 4734736th time).

~~~~

When Donnie got back to the lair, they were surprised to see one Barron Draxum standing in the living room.

"Ah. Donatello."

"... Yes?"

"I must inform you that your, uh, service dog, will be ready for pick up tomorrow afternoon."

[anonymousmothman]

I had another weird dream surrounding star trek (this time with jackie chan and thundercat???)

So basically I won this thing (idk if it was a giveaway or something) to hang out with thundercat. We were walking around chicago and he kept talking about being a werewolf and that was weird cuz . You know... cat is in his name. But then he turned into a werewolf and tried to hunt me.

Then I went to this star trek convention but for some reason star trek was real? And I got to talk to worf and ezri they were really nice. Some other stuff happened but I legitimately remember none of it. I then was watching a jackie chan movie with the ferengi (basically all the guys from the magnificent ferengi episode) and suddenly got transported back in time to when rush hour got released. I was sitting in the audience just minding my buisness then Quark started to film the movie cuz yay piracy! But he was horrible at hiding his camera and everybody kept staring at him because they knew. His camera didn't have a zoom feature so Brunt gave him this can you were supposed to put in place of the lens and it'd act as a zoom for you. But then, of course, everyone was like 'wtf are they doing with a can' so Quark gave the empty one to me and I had to pretend like it was Tuna I was eating. I was really bad at it. Then, at the end of the movie, a cardassian was playing with his baby (throwing her up in the air and stuff) and a founder took it from him while he was doing that then dangled it over the side of the railing (idk the seats in the theatre were high) and said "a sacrifice to the founders..." but then everyone started booing them and throwing popcorn at them so they gave the baby back.

After that, I went to this weird renaissance fair mixed with comic con thing (still in the past atp). A dude dressed up as an ensign knocked down this stand of books and I helped him to pick it up. Then, I wanted to buy one, so I was looking through them and eliminating options and was gonna buy something on dinosaurs? Idk it was weird it looked like a dork diaries book though. But another one caught my eye and it had medieval paintings on the front despite the fact it was a book about mesopotamian chemistry. So I went to buy it, but I got tied up in (honestly I forgot what happened) so had to leave it for the time being. When I came back though, a lot of people were bidding and arguing over who should get it. The only way you could buy it was by messaging the shop owner on discord so I tried to text them but I kept misspelling 'shop' as 'Schofield' so none of the messages would go through (there was a bot that prevented you from sending a message unless it had the word shop). I don't think I was ever able to get it, or maybe I was, also sort of forgot this part....

Then it cut to my backyard where Picard was stuck in my garage. He kept asking to be let out but when I let him out there were two animals on leashes in there. One was Porthos so I let him off, but another was those klingon dogs.. I forgot what they're called. Picard kept telling me to let that one off it's leash and I said "but its your pet :(" and he said hed pay me 30 coins so I did it. Then I finally let Picard out of my garage and it cut yet again to another scene.

I was on ds9 laying down to go to bed when Damar and Keevan entered and Damar was like "you weren't at Quarks" and I said "I had a really long day today man..." so they layed down with me and we cuddled YAYYYY but then I woke up BOOOOO

[crest-of-gautier]

briefly picked up pq again after not having played it in a month, i got through the cutscenes that happen when you start the second labryinth, but didn't progress past that! thoughts™ below

i basically spent my time in Many Cutscenes (all strolls available to me, the abilities 1/2/3, what do we call each other, navigational differences, and why a group date cafe) + also did the fuse xiezhai request as well as help with the trading showdown.

i think the only downside from this play session is seeing how... how badly they exacerbate teddie's "comedic" relief traits. this isn't a problem exclusive to pq (i've watched arena all the way through and am maybe halfway through ultimax, and teddie also suffers there). but MAN. it's so hard to remember that teddie has a good arc in golden sometimes 😭

bitching about teddie aside, i do appreciate him being there because teddie's origin story of being from the TV world and then leaving it to be with the investigation team acts as such a nice metric of comparison for whatever zen and rei is supposed to be. i've been over this a billion times but the way the game explicitly has made note of this in cutscenes is just so!! juicy to me!!! it does feel like a low hanging fruit for me to latch onto in terms of "clues regarding zen and rei's identity," but it's definitely the easiest to understand.

naoto prompting an attempt to investigate of the clock tower and the lore surrounding it's real-world counterpart was very interesting! i have faith in the writers for this cutscene to make sense later down the line with more context, but it does feel like a clue. i just. need some more time with the game (and possibly more details) to put things together.

i can't help but feel that rei expressing the want/hope to "go back" (in lieu of what teddie did with going to inaba) isn't going to end well... i mean, maybe it will! but to be able to "go back" (whatever that contains) is hardly guaranteed in the first place and i feel like hoping for something like this is bound for heartbreak (i would be interested in that given that rei's entire personality is based around food and zen LOL)

the velvet room scene too!! super juicy, i really enjoy all of the angles that theo, liz, and margaret all presented in regards to the distortion of the p3 + p4 casts from different times being gathered into this one place. given how the wild card power has been neutralized and changed it really makes me wonder about the power of the end-game entity... perhaps so powerful that zen and rei could be considered "shards" of that entity who forgot about that? very interesting for margaret to refer to the world as "finite," me thinks.

the game did give a brief glimpse to a silhouette sitting on a crystal(?) and was obscured by broken glass/spider web of sorts... i wonder whatever it could need from bringing TWO wildcards, i mean, yeah that's powerful but. i wanna know the motive!!! not that. divine entities and the like always have motivations in this series but. y'know. LOL.

anyway that's all for now! short progress today bc wahoo cutscenes and i got things to do but. really intriguing, i'm super interested in seeing how this gets followed up on. also i love yosuke whenever i see yosuke's animations in this game it makes me so happy!! he's so expressive and fun i love him a lot. and it'd be very interesting to play this game again on the p4 side to see minato speak but also see what has changed between versions, as well as catching any details i've missed.

[sdyuteiaok]

Well, here we are. I just dread it's going to start getting warmer, and of course, Joe and company are heading out...I find myself sad and angry as time goes on thinking about that. But I did get a nice 5-3 in the draft earlier, including picking up a Joe Biden, actually--that's Jace the VP, as we used to call him. It was a splash for that and the 4/4 bounce/discard guy, off of pretty ok lands--woulda like one more dual. But we did pretty well, including racing an imposing RW deck that went all in on his double striker finishing me, or maybe he, like me, just had to hope his opponent didn't have it, but I had initiated that calculus by attacking with my Bat and Gurmag, he didn't chump with his sole creature, a souped up double-strike Eidolon. I had to swing in under the notion that he couldn't get me for 9 in a big, single attack. This brought him to 7 (which I hadn't calculated, but intuited that it'd bring him low enough to put him in the Abyss). So then he attacked back--with no pump. I was down to lethal next turn. But I cracked back with my guys, and sure enough played my Reassembling Skeleton with Extort for the final point. So even if it didn't work out, I could have the Skeleton chump to buy me one more attack--and he'd have to get rid of my Bat since it was evasive and represented more drains, which means Gurmag could probably get the Abyss going since he'd be at one or two life. So it was definitely sweet, we both had to play to win and both took somewhat risky plays that could have easily gone poorly, but fortunately we got it done. I had a similar game, where I chose not to block and took a ton of damage one turn, setting myself up for a lethal finishing blow his next attack, but on my turn, I was able to cast a creature, Extort off my two Bats, and then sac two creatures--again, one sac being my trusty Skeleton (deck had two!)--to give my Aristocrat pro his two blockers, and then an alpha attack for exactly lethal. It was delicious. I had three bats, and even a Bile Blight, which would have single-handedly won my final out cuz my opponent played four or five of the 3/1 Hannes UW detain flyers. I woulda Plague Winded him down to a 1/1 Pilgrim, and my guys surely woulda closed the gap, especially with three Bats to find. but I couldn't draw my Bile Blight and was too behind by then. But I had an active Mentor of the Meek (speaking of Hannes--though they got some neat Ixalan art for his card) drawing me toward my BB instant, but never quite got there, nor another flyer. The loss didn't sting too much, even though it was our third, cuz the games were so good and cuz it was already an infinitivo, so no big deal, just want to be able to draft for free again, and that's what we achieved, on top of a couple of dual lands and Jace, though lamentably, I understand Jace is no longer good. This was like a whole man yen back in the day. I opened three over the course of our constant drafting of Origins cuz they played for raredrafts after hours, so it was the easiest way to mass open packs and since they were mostly pros--we even had a GP winner in the group(!--they always called him "GP Champ"), so I was definitely low on the totem pole, so I'm sure they were thrilled whenever I'd open a Jace, cuz it was free money for them when they inevitably trounced the draft. One highlight was I got the Jace-Beguiler of Wills combo, where you just steal creatures every turn by targeting them, despite the rarity, I believe I got the combo twice. Pretty cool. Anyway, good draft, eager to hop in the queues again and forget everything else.

[rejaytionships]

for Kanan and Hera! does it ever get a little cramped on the Ghost? do you guys share a bunk with Jay? and what do you do to get a little space from the others? @rexscanonwife

[ ⚔️ kanan | ✈️ hera ]

✈️ Thanks for the question, @rexscanonwife! We hope you're doing well out there.

⚔️ Cramped? Talk about it! It already started getting a little claustrophobic back when we picked up Ezra, but when we picked up our second stray from Lothal (I'm referring to Kel here) the size of the Ghost started feeling even smaller than it used to.

✈️ When Kel first joined the crew, we had her room with Sabine because Sabine's room was the only one with a spare bed, and the two seemed to be fine around each other. This lasted for a while even after Kel and I got together, but it wasn't until Kanan completed the trio that we considered having Kel move into our room.

⚔️ In my defense, three people to a room at the time seemed like a lot, you know? It'd get pretty crowded pretty quickly in there.

✈️ You know there were other aspects at play, love...

⚔️ Alright, sure, I'll admit there was a bit of jealousy of those two sharing the same bed on a bunk before we all ended up together.

✈️ See? That wasn't so hard.

⚔️ I know, I know... It got better once we agreed to switch it up every so often, taking turns on who paired up on one bunk and who got to sleep solo on the other bunk. Once we tried all three on a single bunk... all I'll say is that we are never doing that again.

✈️ It was a worth a shot, wasn't it? Haha. Back on topic, though, we were asked what we do to get some space from the kids? I guess it's pretty similar to what Kanan and I did even before Kel showed up. Our tried and true method is having them all run errands on our behalf. It's true we need them done, and it isn't like we need a whole team for a shopping trip, but we have our ulterior motives as well.

⚔️ Frankly, it's nice having the room to relax. As much as I care about the others, specially with how much some of them roughhouse with each other, we need the time to clear our heads.

✈️ It's nice, like a private vacation for just us three.

⚔️ Yeah, except it's a vacation to the same place we always are: our ship.

✈️ Hey, sometimes we get to walk around a bit outside of the ship too. Mainly though, I will admit we bundle up in the main area of the Ghost and chat with each other, maybe while we're playing a game. Just when you think everyone's out of life stories to tell, there's always another!

⚔️ Tell me about it... we've all kept pretty busy over the course of our lives, haven't we? And I bet we'll have even more to talk about, especially once the war is over.

✈️ You said it, dear... That'll be the day, seeing everything we've worked for finally pay off.

⚔️ Maybe then we can go on an actual date, right? Without worrying about the Empire looming around every corner. It'd be nice to be able to go out and do that more without having to worry so much.

✈️ Maybe some day... Well, I hope this answered everything! Thank you again!

[newwwwusername]

Chicago (Stage Version) - Amos & Mary Sunshine - Tourette's Syndrome Awareness Month Prompt 2 : Motor Tics

Prompt : Write a fic about a character with motor tics Headcanon : Amos has motor tics, Autistic!Amos Author's note : Mary Sunshine's character was based on the real-life reporter who wrote the original play it was based on partially out of guilt for platforming people like Roxie, so I'm just running with the idea that Mary knew Roxie wasn't as innocent as she presented herself to be

Mary and Amos had met immediately after Roxie's trial, once the chaos from the outside murder had died down. Mary, now off the clock, saw the man sulking outside the courthouse and felt a bit of sympathy. Deep down, she knew that Roxie wasn't being 100% truthful in her trial. All of the signs were there.

Amos never seemed like the horrible slob Roxie had framed him as in the court. Of course, Mary also understood that people could be two-faced. It'd be hypocritical to question the legitimacy of Roxie's story but take Amos at face value. Maybe he was a really shitty person behind closed doors and Roxie was right to present him as such.

But he just didn't strike Mary as that good of an actor.

So, she approached him and asked if he wanted to go get dinner with her. Having nothing better to do now that he was alone, he agreed and they promptly made their way to the closest bar, ordered the cheapest appetizers they had, and got to talking.

It took Mary Sunshine a moment to turn off the journalist part of her brain and just listen to his ramblings but, once she did, she found herself fascinated by the way his brain worked, drifting regularly from the trial to his job as a mechanic to what he had for dinner the previous day to the trial again.

He seemed relieved to talk so openly, and that just made Mary more suspicious of the picture that Roxie had painted for the jury. If Amos was really so heartless and sloppy, why was he being so polite and why did it seem like he hadn't been able to talk so freely in years?

Eventually, Mary began to pick up on these little motions he was doing. She didn't notice it at first but sometimes he would blink rapidly and then his eyes would dart to the side or his neck would jerk or his hand would shoot up. She'd been so enraptured in hearing the man speak that she didn't even notice these at first.

When she did notice, though, she couldn't help but ask. "What's with all the little movements?"

"And then he... What?"

"Like the..." Mary trailed off awkwardly, unsure of how to word it. She poorly mimicked the motions and Amos went rigid. "It's not a bad thing, dearie" she backtracked. "I'm just curious"

"I'm sorry" Amos swallowed thickly, his gaze fixed on the table rather than on the woman across from him. The motions ceased, though the sudden tenseness in his jaw made it seem like ceasing them was uncomfortable, even painful, for him. Mary raised her hand off the table to reach for his and assure him that it was okay, but the flinch and the brief increase of the rate of breathing made her falter.

This was definitely not the douchebag that Roxie described.

"I'm not gonna hurt you" she assured him, and he cautiously opened an eye, expecting to get that same, disgusted look Roxie would always give him whenever he twitched too much, but he was met with only a kind smile and concerned eyes. "I didn't mean to freak you out like that... I'm sorry"

"Why are you being so nice?"

Mary smiled. "Because you're a nice person" she told him simply. "I'm simply returning the favor"

"Oh"

"You don't have to hide the movements, by the way" she told him, noticing him closing his eyes tensely for a moment as he seemed to suppress a twitch. "And you don't have to explain them if you don't want to. I was just curious"

"I can't really control them" he admitted, hesitantly letting out a neck jerk and sighing in relief when Mary's kind expression stayed the same. "I mean, I can suppress them for a bit but it hurts" he elaborated. "They just... Happen"

"Fascinating"

"I guess"

...

"Now, about this coworker you were telling me about" Mary said, clapping her hands definitively. Amos' eyes lit up and that light didn't leave even when his hand involuntarily shot up again.

"Right!" he said a bit loudly with a big smile. "So, anyways, you would not believe what he did next..."

Do not repost on other sites! If you want to participate in this month's challenge, there are 15 Tourette's-centered prompts that you can find here

[taneraltan]

"What gave you that impression?" Taner's curiosity piqued as he tossed a lopsided grin her way then glanced back to catch the label of another scent as he turned the candle on the shelf with his fingers. "Hmm... linen and sea breeze." A quiet laugh bubbled up and he shook his head just slightly. "Who comes up with this?" But despite the comment and line in his brow Taner brought the candle close enough for a whiff, then extended it to Sonny. "Cocktail or alcohol scented candles are the worst, by the way. Plus, it's not exactly the impression you wanna give off. My old neighbor across the street's gonna think I'm a boozer if she's smelling that each time she stops by with baked goods." It was so foreign, almost unsettling, to be in an environment like that these days.

Maybe it was because he'd seen her bare and vulnerable in more ways than one he was able to pick up on a cagey energy coming off of her. Sonny was someone that was talented with a cool exterior but he'd been surrounded by too many people that played tough and nonchalant. Was she uncomfortable with him? Taner didn't exactly have a good reputation in this town. It was long ago, though, and he didn't quite look the same as the 18 year old boy that had left and never looked back. Maybe she was worried someone would get the wrong impression? They weren't even flirting, though.

As soon as she'd dropped her son's name it'd rang a bell. That post sex afterglow, lost in languidity moment of time in the wee hours of the morning where their guards were down and they'd turned the bed into a confessional of their greatest sins was where it'd happened. At the bar when the drinks were flowing and only one thought was shared between them Taner hadn't expected where it would turn up. To connect with someone on a deeper level. He and Sonny were on very similar endeavors. Even if it were just for those few hours it had been nice to not be a villain and to feel the comfort of someone that understood his particular situation more acutely than anyone else could.

Well, that was what he had thought... until this moment.

"I remember," he told her, a soft smile pushing at the corners of his lips. "He's about seven, right?" His Billie was six but Taner remembered how incredible it was just how much had lined up with their situations. "Don't worry too much about it though, yeah?" Taner's brow lifted. "Even if he doesn't end up outwardly showing it at first I'm willing to bet he'll cherish that thing in the privacy of his bedroom." His thoughts had run to Elijah's father and how the boy might try to shield him from his attachments to the absent parent. "You'll see him," he assured again like he had when they'd been lying naked next to each other.

Though, Taner wouldn't voice it now, there were his own doubts that had crept in. Sure, he'd already made contact with Billie, but he really had no idea what it was going to take to get Leyla to come around him being involved.

"There was no obligation to come chat," Taner said with a shrug at her comment. Hazel eyes panned around the seaside shop briefly, something about this interaction had felt forced whereas the other time had been smooth and easy. Reaching out with a bit of humor on his face he gently pulled on the sketchpad Sonny was clutching to her chest like a lifeline. "Easy now, Lenny," he teased, hoping the reference wasn't lost. Downtime on the rig there wasn't much to do so he'd devoured books. Of Mice and Men was a classic. "Better loosen up or that's gonna be a wad of paper by the time you're ready to give it to Eli." For a moment he bit his bottom lip at how casual that was but then decided they should be past that.

Then she was off rambling and while he still wasn't able to put his finger on the change from first encounter to now Taner was smiling a bit at Sonny. "I'm not so sure on the favor," Taner admitted, fingers lightly scratching at the light beard along his jaw. "It's been a long time and I guess I look different enough that people don't immediately recognize me, but... my name isn't exactly on the list of favorites." He'd been a boy in rebellion. Angry at the world and terrorized the town because his pain had demanded an outlet. "If you don't mind being seen or associated with me we could get a drink at Firefly or The Anchor."

Which, her behavior up until the invitation had made Taner think she had heard some things about him. Given her mission he could understand if she didn't want the sour taste his name left in this town's mouth derailing her.

Sonny gives a soft, nearly imperceptible laugh, the kind that sounds more like a sigh than anything drawn of humor. Her fingers flex around the paper bag holding the sketchpad in her hands, briefly pulling it tighter to her chest as if it might shield her from something—or someone. Her eyes flick down to the candle formerly in his hand and now back on the shelf, then to his face. “That’s fair,” she concedes, lips twitching into a small smirk. “Though if I had to guess, I’d say you’re more of a bourbon and bonfire kind of guy than a sandalwood and citrus.”

She didn’t respond to the artist comment right away. The longer his eyes linger, the more aware she becomes of how disarmed she feels—how caught. Taner wasn’t supposed to be here. Or not here, in this shop, in this same moment with her. Not while she was trying to stitch her life back together with string-thin hope and a handful of borrowed second chances. What if someone sees? Yet there he stands. A tangible reminder of one of her weakest nights to date. But also one of the few where she’d actually felt… seen since leaving this town and the only man she's ever truly loved nearly a decade ago.

“I’m not,” she answers finally, holding up the pad in suggestion. “This isn’t for me. It’s for Elijah, actually.” Saying his name aloud always felt a bit like tearing open a wound that hasn't quite healed or begun to, but she did it anyway, her voice low yet steady. “My son.” The same one she briefly mentioned as they laid bare, admitting their gravest sins, if only to each other instead of the ones that actually needed to hear them.

There was no real point in hiding the truth anyway—not after what she’d already confessed the night they met. If he remembered half of what she told him, then he already knew more than most people in this town ever would. Still, the weight of it presses hard against her ribs.

“Thought I’d bring him something if…” she hesitates, scanning his face for any hint of judgment before finishing, “if I ever get to see him again.”

She shrugs then, trying to make the moment lighter than it was, though the edge in her voice betrays her. “And here I was thinking I’d slip in and out of this shop unnoticed. So much for that.”

Her gaze flicks back toward the door as if debating whether to take that exit after all. But then, her eyes return to his while she chews on the inside of her cheek, the sketchpad now a little more crumpled in her tight grip. The silence between them stretches long enough to feel like a crossroads—she could walk away, chalk it up to another strange twist of fate, or... she could lean in. See what happens.

That voice, the same one that landed them in bed and hot water together her first week into town, resurfaces. Begging the same question it had that night. What's the worst that can happen?

“Hey, you know, I was gonna grab a coffee,” she informs him casually, like it isn’t taking everything in her to offer the olive branch. “Or something stronger, if this town still serves it before five.” She tilts her head, eyes narrowing slightly in challenge, like she was already regretting the offer and daring him to take it before she changes her mind.

“I’m not looking for another deep dive into our tragic backstories, if that’s what you’re thinking. Just...” Her voice softens a touch. “It might be nice. Not pretending like we don’t know each other. Perhaps, having a friend to talk to when we may need one. Lord knows, I'm not exactly a crowd favorite around here. Really, you'd be doing me a favor."

There was a beat where she could’ve taken it back, rescinded the offer and vanished into the late afternoon boardwalk crowd like she originally intended. But she didn’t. Instead, she stood her ground—that same olive branch, held out between her scarred hands.

[sockeyesoren]

rewatching Hibike! Euphonium has made me realise how much I miss playing an instrument

[actualaster]

Playing HZD and HFW back to back now for my series replay, I’ve got a few Mechanics Wishlist items for if we do get a 3rd game in Aloy’s story.

Currently 8 12 of them.

The climbing system was refined massively in HFW, like amazing job there to the devs!  I'd like to see them continue to improve on it, tighten some things up a bit, etc.  There's still some oddities once in a while and all, getting stuck, etc.

Hybridize the fishing mechanics.  I like being able to just grab a fish in the water, but it's a huge annoyance to keep swimming after a fish that keeps dodging you XD  If possible, it'd be nice to have the option to both catch them by hand or snipe 'em.

Return the datapoint indicator to the HUD at the up alongside the waypoints, machine sites, campfires, etc.  In HFW I found that I was missing them a lot more often because the overworld indicator was just not as notable.  I'd like to see it return and expand the range.

Extend the time machine weak points remain highlighted!  Or maybe have a "remain highlighted indefinitely within X range" option?  They never seem to remain highlighted long enough for me, I have a hard time making them out sometimes...

Return the "discovered campfire" icon to green, especially on the HUD navigation at the top.  Or another color.  Anything but "brighter white vs slightly darker grayed out for undiscovered one".  Maybe settings to change the colors of icons?

Amazing job on the accessibility options, by the way, did great work on those!  Be nice to see those continue to expand!  Maybe the above 3 points (3-5) could be folded in under customizable options in the future?

Retain some form of the gliding mechanic--if Aloy has to lose all her gear again or something, I get it but it'd be nice to have something to replace it return early on because that was invaluable to navigation once you unlock it.

Hybridize the crafting systems, maybe?  I liked the ability to craft upgrades on the fly from HZD rather than needing a workbench...  Maybe some sort of portable workbench you can craft or buy for a decent cost, or for limited uses?

Keep the "people will tell you about stuff at shelters and camps in the wild allowing you to get sidequest and other location markers before you get close to them yourself" feature! Especially if they expand the number of extra missions and quests and errands you can pick up.

PLEASE do not bring back "tie some of the skill points to fully max the tree to a board game" feature. By all means, keep that as a way to get skill points, but also let there be ways to obtain them all through other means such as leveling and the other sorts of quests. It's a huge pain if you just suck at it no matter how hard you try. (Yes yes, NG+ but it'd be nice to get them all first play lol)

Maybe less underwater stealth segments. They are. Hard and also so very different from tbe rest of the game because you CANNOT fight anything. Or at least offer some limited underwater combat options? Special weapons for underwater combat?

A way to mark custom locations on the map besides our single waypoint! It would be great to be able to put a stamp on the map to mark favored hunting locations for certain machines so its easy to tell at a glance (for those of us Bad at maps and remembering where we were)