#but then again Jordan Fish left so :(

[dhampiravidi]

if Sleep Token collaborated w/Jamie Campbell Bower or Bring Me The Horizon, I'd think I was psychic. I'd also probably ascend to some higher, nicer plane--

[musings-of-a-college-dork]

An Odd Request

Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Word count: roughly 1K

Steve’s wife goes to the gym and makes an odd request when she arrives home. 

Warnings: sorta NSFW (mdni), use of Y/N, terms of endearment (baby).

Author’s note: This is just fluffy Steve and was written directly after I got home from the gym needing this man and a very specific kind of cuddling so…here it is! Short and sweet and very silly. Hope y’all enjoy! 

It was a quiet Saturday morning in the Harrington household. Steve was the only one home, having a few hours on his own as Y/N went to meet her personal trainer. She had been seeing a trainer for a while as she, quote on quote, wanted “to be able to carry all the groceries in a single trip all by myself.” A noble and worthy cause in Steve’s eyes and yet as long as he was around, she’d never have to lift a finger. He was more than content to show off his own strength for her enjoyment…and yet wished to support her in any and all of her goals so off to the gym she had gone. As such, he had the home to himself for a few hours, a chance to get some work done. 

He had spent most of the morning thus far drinking his coffee and sketching up new basketball drills and formations for the middle school team he coached. He finally understood exactly what Hopper had meant all those years ago about “coffee and contemplation” finding more and more that the man’s wisdom was never ending the older he got. We’ve gotta tighten up their current formations, he thought as the TV played some mindless sitcom in the background while he chewed on the end of his pencil. His mind looked over the squiggles on the paper in front of him trying to decide how to fix this. It had been weeks since they had won a game and morale was dropping fast. Jamie has to pass more but Donovan can’t really shoot…maybe if we move Paul to center and then swap Jordan and Cole we could-

The man wasn’t given another moment to think as he heard the front door open and close with a loud slam, the sound of feet padding their way down the entry hallway. 

“Hey, baby!” Steve called as he continued to focus on the squiggles, drawing a few more lines before erasing them with equally as much vigor, “How was the gym?” A loud groan was all he received in reply as his wife dropped her bag to the ground and kicked off her tennis shoes, not even bothering to put them in the basket where she knew they belonged. The same basket she insisted his shoes lived in but rules didn’t apply to her, at least not right now. I’ll tease her about it later. “That good huh?” He called with a low chuckle as he ran a hand through his hair, “Well your protein shake is in the fridge. Should be cold enough since I put it in when you left.” Oddly enough, the man received no response. He waited a moment before he called again, looking up from his work.

“Bab-” And just like that she was in front of him. He jumped and let out a quiet swear as he clutched a hand to his chest. He hadn’t seen her before she had left and found himself taking a sharp inhale as he looked her up and down. She looked so fucking gorgeous in those tight black leggings that fit her just right, a simple white workout top, hugging her every curve, and the expensive black workout jacket he had saved up to get her for Christmas that she never left for the gym without. Not to mention the way her hair looked post-workout and the glow of sweat that radiated off of her. He was about to open his mouth to make some lewd remark he hoped she’d find charming but-

“Hold my tits.” The man blinked once, then again, his mouth open and gaping like a fish. 

“W-what?” 

“I want your hands on my tits,” Y/N repeated, holding his gaze with complete and utter seriousness, “Please.” 

“Like…you want my…”

“Your hands. On my tits. Now.” When the man continued not to move his wife let out a deep sigh and took the pencil from his hand, laying it down next to his sketch as she replaced it with something much better. She led his large palm gently to her breast, letting out a sigh of relief as she encouraged him to give a little squeeze. Again, Steve didn’t even know what to do, never having seen her like this. Sure, she was usually a little more cuddly and blissed out after the gym as the endorphins ran through her body but this was…new. A good kind of new. 

“So I take it you had a good time at the gym?” The man teased breathlessly as he ushered her around the coffee table to sit beside him on the couch. The woman let out a hum in confirmation as she laid down so they were pressed together, her back to his front, and wrapped his arms around her so his hands could live right where she needed them to. Another chuckle came from Steve as he buried his face into her hair finding-

“Did you put on perfume?” 

“After working out,” she whispered as her eyes closed shut in complete and utter satisfaction, being held just the way she needed to be right now, “Didn’t want to come home smelling only like sweat.”

“I don’t mind,” Steve used his nose to brush the hair from the side of her neck, making her giggle as he pressed mindless kisses there, “I smell like sweat all the time and you still love me.” 

“I do,” Y/N titled her head so he could press a kiss to her lips, one she returned eagerly before laying her head back down on the couch, “Fuck, I’m never doing the Stairmaster ever again.” 

“Y/N, baby, if this,” Steve gave her tits a little squeeze to punctuate his thought, “is what happens after you’re on the Stairmaster, by all means, keep doing it. Any excuse to cuddle with my pretty little wife and hold her boobies is more than fine by me.” 

“Don’t call them that,” Y/N scrunched her nose with a chuckle as she pressed her ass more into him to fit them closer together. 

“What?” The man teased giving another squeeze, “Boobies?” 

“STEVE!” The couple dissolved into a communal fit of giggles as they lay there together, all stress and strain completely forgotten as calm domesticity filled their hearts and home. 

[jaegeraether]

Sunsets and footballers (Part 3)

Lucy Bronze x Reader (3)

Masterlist (other parts here)

Jordan had a big smile on her face when she saw YFN. She pulled over at the front of her hotel and put the window down.

“Allo mate, need a lift?”

“I don’t have any money, sorry.”

Jordan opened her mouth in an amused and fake offended ‘O’. “You’re takin’ the mick.”

YFN laughed and slid into the passenger seat. “Do you charge by the hour or…?”

Jordan laughed loudly and slapped her arm. “Too expensive for you, mate.”

She began driving. YFN loved seeing this side of Jordan. The side that seemed much more natural, and much more of the Jordan that Lucy was describing last night.

“Wherrrrrre are we going?”

“I was thinking coffee and then shopping? Also, I’m assuming you don’t have any football gear to wear to the game tomorrow?”

“Hm, you are correct there.”

“Oh, Lucy is going to love seeing you in a Bronze jersey.”

YFN blushed and looked over, surprised.

“What? She loves seeing people in her jersey. Plus, you don’t know anybody else on the team, do you?”

“That’s a negative, and what number is she?”

“2.”

“Oh, my favourite. Okay, let’s get a Bronze jersey. Should we get the home or away kit?”

Jordan laughed. “Wow, look at you! Someone’s been doing their research!”

YFN grinned. “I love blue but the internet says something about it being a bad luck kit…?”

“Oh poppycock. Blue would be perfect with your eyes.”

YFN laughed. “Oh, and I also want an Australian flag.”

Although they only planned on a few hours, the two spent all day together. The atmosphere was great, they both bantered like they’d known each other for years. They wandered around town with iced drinks, stopped for breakfast, then lunch, and Jordan even taught her how to kick a soccer ball on an empty pitch, as well as teaching her some rules. YFN did try to incorporate some tackles to which Jordan gave her red cards for. They collected some free merchandise for the game from people in the club who Jordan knew and managed to find an Australian flag also. The day was fantastic, and of course they ended it on the beach with some fish and chips, Jordan making YFN try it with curry sauce. It confused the hell out of her, but she admitted it was decent.

The next day Jordan picked up YFN again early and they went for lunch. They had decided the day before that they wanted to catch up earlier before they headed to the game. At lunch, Jordan asked YFN about her job and what she did. She was a writer and loved to write fantasy. She’d been working for a newspaper before she left and had a very popular daily column with a lot of fans, but she left because she lost her passion for it. And so, she decided to travel to gain inspiration and get back into writing fantasy with the hope of publishing and travelling the world. Jordan was wowed by this and admitted to wishing she had the creativity for it. About five minutes later though, it seemed she had completely forgotten the conversation though, and had to ask again. YFN laughed, this had happened a few times with her the day before and so she lovingly gave Jordan the nickname ‘Dory’.

The seats for the game were in the perfect spot, just adjacent to where the team benches were. The two were dressed up, laughing at their awkwardness as they made their way down to their seats with arms of popcorn, hotdogs, and drinks. They reached their seats and were greeted by a loud man and his adorable family. YFN didn’t need a degree to figure out who it was. Jordan introduced him as Jorge Bronze, Lucy’s big brother, and his family. He gave Jordan a hug and kiss, and she picked up the kids and gave them kisses also. Jorge dragged YFN into a strong hug they took their seats next to them. It felt like a huge family affair and made YFNs heart swell with happiness. Her family life was not so joyful, and so this was a happy change. A few other friends came over to say hi to Jordan and she introduced them to YFN. They were friends, other football players, or partners of friends.

Shortly before the game, the teams ran out onto the field to warm up. The crowd seemed to yell extra loudly as Lucy came out onto the field, Jorge was the loudest of all. One kid in his arm and a drink in the other, he yelled at the top of his lungs “LUCYLUCY. LUCYLUCY.” Many people were yelling it like a chant, and Jorge recorded it for his social media. YFN couldn’t keep her eyes off of Lucy. She oozed confidence. Her dark hair was up in a messy bun, and she looked a bit different without her glasses, but a good different. YFN bit her lip, thinking her football gear was a welcome sight. She couldn’t help but see the muscles through her clothes, particularly the thigh muscles when she walked. Lucy jogged around without a care, chewing gum and laughing with her teammates. At one point in time, she even sat on a football and just watched as the others warmed up.

“Hey Dory, what’s she doing?” YFN asked Jordan.

Jordan leaned into YFN to yell over the crowd. “Who? Lucy? Oh, her knee is really bad. Like really, really bad. She’s had a lot of surgeries and she’s always in pain. She just tries to keep off it before and after games really.”

As if Lucy had heard them, she looked up and caught sight of her group. Her eyes wandered along her family who were crazily waving until she reached Jordan and YFN. She grinned when she saw YFN wearing her jersey with that little dimpled smile on her face. It suited her, she thought. Being in the crowd with her family and friends, wearing a Bronze jersey, and holding an Australian flag with pride. She and Jordan had painted the flag on their cheeks also, fully supporting their friend. Lucy wanted nothing more than to walk over and talk to them, but she knew she was supposed to be warming up. She settled for a big childish wave and re-joined her team.

Ten minutes later they left the field, Lucy waving at her section and grinning from ear to ear as she left. Soon enough after, the crowd roared as the teams entered the stadium, holding hands with their mascots. Lucy was last in line, swinging arms with her little mascot. They stood for the national anthems and after a quick team photo, the game was underway. YFN couldn’t tell if she was just biased, but it was pretty obvious to her that Lucy was the most intelligent on the field. When she didn’t see an opening she liked, she passed the ball back to the defender next to her who Jordan said was “Millie Bright – acting Captain.” She pushed up the field hard during the first half of the game, and very nearly scoring on several occasions.

“Wow, Lucy is ON FIRE today! LUCYLUCY!” Jorge shouted. “THAT’S MY SISTER!”

“I haven’t seen her play this good is a while!” Jordan shouted in YFN’s ear.

A long shot came towards the goal and Lucy was sprinting from nowhere, her speed was incredible. She leapt, heading the ball and the goalkeeper tipped it. The ball hit the crossbar and bounced back into play. One of Lucy’s teammates were in the perfect position for the rebound and struck the ball, side-netting it. The crowd groaned loudly.

“COME ON LESS!” Jordan yelled encouragingly.

“COME ON RUSSO! WHY IS LUCY OUR BEST STRIKER!” A yell came from behind them in the crowd.

YFN was confused. Jordan saw her confusion. “Lucy is a defender, not a striker. Not even a midfielder. She shouldn’t be the most dangerous striker for us today but she’s just playing so well. The other girls aren’t doing well enough to be honest.”

That made sense to her. Lucy was compensating for her team. All of her discussions with Jordan the day before about Lucy being overly competitive and not liking to lose were becoming more obvious. YFN loved it and joined in on the shouting for England’s number 2.

The whistle blew to signal half time and the scores were still 0-0. During the break the pair took Lucy’s niece and nephew up to the bathroom and brought back more snacks for the Bronze family. They settled back down when YFN noticed that Jordan was tense and uncomfortably shifting.

“What’s the matter?” YFN asked.

Jordan leant over to talk in her ear, not loud enough that anyone else would hear it. “My ex is here. A few rows behind us. She waved at me.”

YFN pulled back with wide, worried eyes. “Oh Jordan, are you okay?”

“I don’t know. We’re still friends and I think she’s a lovely person, but I just feel so uncomfortable right now. She going to want to try and speak to me after this.”

“And you don’t want to?”

“She going to try and speak to me like everything’s normal when it’s not. I don’t think I have the capacity.”

YFN put her arm around Jordan and pulled her close. “You need to tell her that you need space. Because right now, even though you’re replying the bare minimum to her, it’s still coming across like you’re okay to casually chat to her when you know you need your space to heal.”

“You’re right.” She groaned. “I just don’t want to come across nasty at all. She’s such a good person.”

“Protect yourself first. Heal a bit. And only then can you try to have normal conversations with her, hm?”

The teams came back out then, and the second half began. Jordan’s mood picked up as she was lost again in the screaming, but unlike YFN, she was yelling their names.

Lucy played even better the second half, giving so many chances to her teammates to score. She went down, hard at one point, literally tumbling over like a gymnast and the crowd seemed to think this was normal.

“NEVER A GOOD GAME UNLESS LUCY IS FLYING!”

“LUCIA!”

“LUCYLUCY!”

“BRONZEYYYYY!”

She got back up and jogged back over to her spot a bit stiffly. YFN was in awe of her resilience. Eventually the 90 minutes were up and they were given +2 minutes. Just when all seemed like it was about to be over, Lucy scored. And it was beautiful. Just like last time she came sprinting from absolutely nowhere however this time she volleyed the ball into the net, hard. So hard the net must have broken. The stadium erupted, they all leapt to their feet screaming at the top of their lungs. Jordan and YFN grabbed each other, jumping up and down. Popcorn flew all around. Lucy was bombarded by her teammates leaping onto her. Looking up at the big screen, YFN could better see the massive grin spread across her face. Of course she scored.

“GOAL FOR ENGLAND NUMBER 2, LUCY BRONZE!”

The stadium erupted again.

Play resumed for the last 20 seconds, and the whistle ended the match to a stadium still cheering for Lucy.

Jorge was again filming on his phone, kid in one arm and phone in the other. “AW TOO BAD SO SAD.” He cackled as he filmed the other team. YFN laughed at the absurdity of it. She looked around at the packed stadium. It was all insane.

“AND YOUR PLAYER OF THE MATCH IS… LUCY BRONZE!”

Lucy received even more yelling and applauses. She shook hands with both teams and then was dragged into an interview on the pitch while her teammates signed autographs and gave out some of their match worn gear to the crowd. When Lucy finished the interview, she immediately hobbled over to her section and jumped up to lean over the barriers. Jorge and her family got to her first and pulled her into big hugs and kisses. They took some selfies and then Lucy moved over to grab Jordan into an all-encompassing hug.

“I’m so proud of you.” Jordan cried, tears welling. Lucy grinned and pulled back, looking at YFN and opening her arms cheekily. YFN laughed and wrapped her arms around her in a tight, warm hug. Of course, Lucy’s hugs were amazing.

“I’m sorry, I probably don’t smell the best right now.”

“You smell like success to me.” YFN kept holding tight for as long as Lucy was, though Lucy was doing the same. They both gave up eventually so as to not give any wrong impressions to photographers or the crowd around them.

“Nice jersey. Would you like me to sign it?”

“Depends, how much would it be worth?”

Lucy rolled her eyes and took a sharpie from her brother. She shifted YFN’s hair back gently to sign her jersey over her collarbone. She couldn’t help but notice YFNs perfume. The same perfume that was on her hoody when she had given it back a few days before. A shiver went up her spine as she tried to focus on writing neatly.

“Mine too please!” Jordan quipped. Lucy signed her jersey also.

“Oh, and this please!” YFN held up her Australian flag. Lucy grinned, rolling her eyes again and signed her flag. YFN couldn’t help but stare at her, the big grin taking over her face, her hair curling at the sides where she’d been sweating, and those big green eyes. They locked eyes for a moment but both broke contact almost immediately as it affected them both so intensely. No way would they be able to keep it normal in front of so many people. They felt each other shiver and saw each other smile. Nobody seemed to notice.

“I hear there’s a dinner party tonight!” Jorge almost yelled.

“Ohhhh yeah. Family and friends. I told them you’d all be there. You’re all coming, right?” She looked at Jordan a little worried, presumably because her ex would be there.

Jordan looked at YFN. “Stuff it. Yeah, we’ll be there.”

[flashfuture]

Also I'm not sure how familiar people are with this issue but

The Flash vol 1 #168 "One of Our Green Lanterns is Missing!"

It's a real good one. It gives a historical precedent for the Guardians trusting Barry.

For context 1967 and Barry and Iris have recently been married and moved in together.

(The Flash vol 1 #168)

"While you're at headquarters see if there's been any word from Hal Jordan! He might have reached town this evening and left a message there for you !"

"Thoughtful of Iris! She knows I've been worried about Hal ! We received a letter from him last week saying he was on his way to Central City to visit Iris and me in our new house..."

"But since then there's been no sign of him ! And that's not like Hal-- To act in such a manner !" But I suppose his duties as Green Lantern-- which Iris knows nothing about-- intervened! At least I hope that's the reason ! ... Either I'm having an hallucaination-- or I'm looking at one of the Guardians of the Universe Hal told me about !"

"I am one of the Guardians, Barry Allen-- seeking Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of this sector of the cosmos!"

So Barry and Iris are incredibly worried about where Hal could be at since he said he was going to visit them and was a no show. Now one of the Guardians of the universe has popped down to see Barry and ask for his help.

"You mean-- something is wrong? Hal is missing!?"

"Yes ! And his power battery too! In our efforts to regain contact with him, we thought of you! We are aware of course that from time to time you have teamed up with him as The Flash ! My mission is to enlist your aid in finding Hal Jordan!"

So Barry agrees of course to help find Hal and even tells Iris he's too upset about receiving no word from Hal to work tonight.

The next morning Iris is just saying how she thinks it's "strange Barry, that there's still been no word at all from Hal--"

When on the tv they show off a fisherman with who could it be but Hal Jordan. And Iris in shocked starting at the tv says "Barry, get down to the dock-- on the double! What are you waiting for?" And Barry of course runs out faster than on the double to get Hal.

So the Flash hits the docks says Hal Jordan ! And realizes Hal lost his memory and the Fisherman who found Hal is like cool go with the Flash kid

Barry takes Hal back to the hotel he figures he's staying at and finds the Lantern Hal stashed away and tells him in the vaugest most suggestive way possible what they're gonna do.

"Hal, please do exactly as I say-- even though you do not understand! A great deal depends on what we're about to do-- believe me ! But we must do it right ! come-- this way--"

"Why are we kneeling down--?" Great question Hal I love that you do it anyways

"Hal, you must repeat after me exactly what I am about to say..."

In brightest day, in blackest night and well you get the rest. Barry says the Lantern's vow while holding Hal's half up to the lantern and it fixes his memory. Hal gets dressed Barry lounges on the back of a chair.

"Green Lantern, it may take the two of us to handle the super-crime! How about joining me?"

"If you didn't ask, Flash-- I'd insist!"

So they go beat up the bad guys Kabam

And then Hal takes Iris and Barry out onto the boat to show them how to fish. And The Guardians are pleased The Flash was successful and clearly know they can rely on him again in the future.

"Green Lantern, don't run out on me! Without you I'm helpless against these super-armed crooks!"

I'd also just like the point out this click bait dramatic ass break up style cover. Absolutely not what happened in the issue it's really good

[babydollmarauders]

MEDIA MANAGEMENT — JACK HUGHES (PART TWENTY-ONE)

notes: yes, this is very late. i am actually not sorry because i cried while rewatching this game to take screenshots.

previous: twenty

next: twenty-two

y/ndevils00

liked by ehaula, naterbastian, and 207,422 others

y/ndevils00 WELCOME TO HELL: ROUND TWO!!

tonight we lost against the tropical storms, 5-1.

u-haula gets a special spot in my heart tonight because he LAUGHED going to the penalty box in first period! L A U G H E D ! love that finnish fish sm!

our only goal tonight came from my lovely little sea bass, and i can assure you guys that he got the best head pats and a big hug!

we also have best friend number 1. no reason. he’s just there.

and finally, i hope jordan staal is going into witness protection tonight because i am coming for him when he least expects it. my poor baby, jackson, got highsticked by staal tonight, left with a split lip and bloody…. actually, ya know what? jordan staal, you get to keep your eyebrows for a little while…

umm, anyways, let’s raise hell on friday! i gotta go do something now.

tagged nicohischier, tomastatar90, ehaula, naterbastian, dawson1417, and jackhughes

jackhughes babe wtf?

y/ndevils00 yes?

jackhughes you want me bloody?

y/ndevils00 i don’t WANT you bloody…. i just won’t complain if you are

jackhughes i’m gonna return you

y/ndevils00 sorry, ineligible for return or resale!

trevorzegras you think i haven’t tried to get rid of her FOR you? i’ve been trying to annoy her away!

y/ndevils00 @/trevorzegras oh is that what you’ve been doing? i thought that was just your personality

john.marino97 haulzy got a HUG after his penalty. A HUG! the rest of us get sprayed with water or hit with a newspaper, and erik gets a hug

y/ndevils00 would you like some fries with all that salt?

y/ndevils00 haulaback girl got a hug because stupid weather fans were booing him and because he made me laugh. what have you done lately?

john.marino97 well, for one, i blocked a shot tonight. i also brought you back lunch today because your BOYFRIEND forgot

jackhughes nuh uh. no. leave me out of this.

user62 okay but bloody lipped jack 🤭

dawson1417 you were a lot more subtle this time

y/ndevils00 you gave me $86, that’s the magic number.

dawson1417 i gave you $80… y/n/n…

y/ndevils00 don’t open your wallet

naterbastian you give great hugs!

john.marino97 delete this!

dawson1417 you can’t hype her up! she’ll get cocky!

y/ndevils00 awww thank you bass!!

naterbastian @/john.marino97 @/dawson1417 she doesn’t seem cocky to me?

dawson1417 you didn’t just get her messages to our groupchat…

john.marino97 she has some very colorful word choices… and she’s very good at gloating

nicohischier i look good

y/ndevils00 you look alright

nicohischier why can’t you just let me have this?

y/ndevils00 because if i don’t humble you, then who will?

nicohischier why do i need to be humbled at all?

y/ndevils00 because i cannot, in good conscience, let you get a big head. you couldn’t pull it off.

nicohischier i can pull off anything

y/ndevils00 oh look, your head just grew 3 sizes like the grinch’s heart

user97 y/n is being horny on main again and i love it. she’s just like us

ehaula thank you for the hug, y/n! i appreciate it, even if i didn’t need it!

y/ndevils00 oh i know, ✨i✨ needed it. we were playing horribly and i could foresee that we were gonna lose

trevorzegras @/y/ndevils00 alright That’s So Raven, pack it up

y/ndevils00 @/trevorzegras you look like you’d lose in a fight with a chihuahua

trevorzegras @/y/ndevils00 TAKE THAT BACK!

lhughes_06 we’ll bounce back on friday! 💪

y/ndevils00 hell yeah we will, smush! lindy better put you in or there’ll be a monster in his closet!

lhughes_06 … is it you? are you the monster?

y/ndevils00 i’m the monster 😔

_quinnhughes please win on friday because i don’t know if i can handle another night of y/n getting drunk in 3rd period and shouting at ruff to “put lukey in if you’re not a pussy”

y/ndevils00 i would never!

_quinnhughes i have it on video

y/ndevils00 i would maybe!

trevorzegras okay, but did she hide behind YOU when he turned around? no. so i don’t wanna hear YOU complaining

user02 i’ve always been curious: how does y/n get these photos? like they’re from all different angles. does she just run around the arena and take photo from every angle?

user39 idk about regular season games, but i met her at tonight’s game and i can confirm: she made trevor carry her on his back and take her to different parts of the arena. they both seemed very drunk by third period

tomastatar90 you didn’t tell me you were taking this, i didn’t get to smile for the pic 😒

y/ndevils00 i’m so sorry tuna, that i didn’t yell to you on the ice in the middle of the national anthem to tell you i was taking a picture

tomastatar90 you should be

y/ndevils00 next time, i’ll be sure to tell you! ungrateful child, got a spot on tonight’s post and wants to complain 🫠

colecaufield oh yikes! @/jackhughes that looks like it hurts dude

jackhughes finally, someone acknowledges the pain that I’M in! it does hurt bro!

trevorzegras trust me, y/n took great liberty in kissing it better for him. it was actually very awkward to witness

y/ndevils00 @/trevorzegras would you like some toast with that jelly?

trevorzegras @/y/ndevils00 what? are we in 2016 again?

y/ndevils00 @/trevorzegras i’d hope not, i’ve seen pictures and your hair cut then was horrendous

trevorzegras @/y/ndevils00 MY HAIR ALWAYS LOOKS GOOD

y/ndevils00 @/trevorzegras sure, jan

[perpetualproductions]

Never Be The Same- Chapter 4:

Life in the City

- Marie tells Jordan about the crash. They discuss their futures. Jordan makes a call. Also, what happened to the table?

(Title song: Life in the City by The Lumineers)

CW: this one's pretty chill again.

3k words

<-Previous | Next->

Marie’s keys jingle as she fishes them out of her purse and goes to unlock the front door to her apartment. The moment she begins to push the door open, the handle suddenly yanks out of her hand as Emma appears before her. She gives Marie a quick welcome as she hastily pulls Marie into the apartment. “Hey Marie! Welcome home! I gotta go, don't want to be late! Byeeee!” She closes the door as soon as she's out in the hall. 

Marie is left standing there, very confused by her friend's behavior. I mean, she knew Emma was taking the late shift today, but she still had plenty of time to walk to the diner. Marie was a little late getting home because of the whole car accident, but still… strange. She turns away from the door, shaking off the confusion and is met with Jordan sitting on the couch in their fem form. They seem to have changed their clothes from earlier this morning, now sporting a plain white t-shirt and gray sweats. They are also holding a mug, taking gentle sips as they watch what looks to be Office reruns. Marie puts her purse down and hangs up her coat near the door, then slowly makes her way over to the back of the couch. 

Jordan jolts a little when they feel hands rest on their shoulders, but immediately relaxes when they realize they're Marie's. They look up and see Marie smiling down at them, the same smile finding its way into their own face. “Hello there.”

“Hi,” Marie replies sweetly, running her hands down Jordan's arms and lowering her head to give them a gentle kiss.

Jordan hums as Marie pulls away, a smile still stuck to their face. “Good day?”

“Guess you could say that.” Marie makes her way around the couch, sliding in right next to Jordan. She kisses them one more time before continuing. “I sort of saved a man's life today.”

“Wait, really?” Marie nods and Jordan puts their mug down on the coffee table, pausing the TV before fully turning to face Marie. “What- that's awesome! What happened?” Jordan says, genuinely excited for Marie. They know how hard it is for Marie to accept that she's a real hero sometimes, and especially hard to see that her powers aren't only meant for hurting people (or herself). They've seen her use her abilities to heal before. Hell, the first time they saw her powers was when she healed that girl at the club their first night out. They never doubted her hero potential since then. 

“There was a car crash when I was making my way home. I saw it happen right down the street from me, and without thinking I started running towards the two cars. In one car, there was a guy, who turned out to be a doctor by the way, and I healed a large gash on his head. He also had a broken leg, bone sticking out and all, super gross. But yeah, I couldn't really heal that but I stopped the bleeding.” Marie explained the whole scene, gesturing about, and Jordan was super invested in every word she said, smiling as Marie explained her great feats of the evening. “So yeah, he said he'd be fine, and he's a doctor so I trusted that he would be, so I made my way over to the other car. There was a man in the driver's seat, completely passed out, and I realized immediately that his heart wasn't beating,” 

“He had a heart attack behind the wheel?” Jordan interjected, eye brows shooting up in surprise.

“Yup. I mean, that's definitely a scary time to have a heart attack, right when you're driving. But luckily it was only the two of them that were hurt. I was able to use my powers to get his blood flowing again and his heart beating. Then paramedics got there so I backed off and came home.”

“Wow. Marie, that's amazing! Your powers are so cool. You're so cool.” Jordan exclaims, squeezing Marie's arms and looking at her with pure adoration. 

Marie smiles back at Jordan, loving their enthusiasm. But of course, she just shrugs it off. “It's not that big a deal-”

“No, Marie. We're not doing this minimizing bullshit. It is a big deal! You saved a dudes life, Marie! That's fucking awesome!” Jordan bounces up and down a bit, still grabbing onto Marie's arms and causing her to giggle at the situation. “Nobody else can do what you do, Marie. I'm pretty sure that doctor couldn't've saved that man's life as fast as you did.”

“Don't think he could've done much with a broken leg.” Marie added, getting a look from Jordan in response.

“You know what I mean. Just accept it, you're a hero. And I'll remind you everyday if that's what it takes for you to believe it too.” Jordan says with a tone that makes Marie think they might actually be serious about that.

“I appreciate the compliment but please don't actually do that.”

“Then say it.” Jordan says, leaning back and crossing their arms.

“Say what?”

“You're a hero.” 

Jordan and Marie sit there looking at each other for a good few seconds. Jordan raises an eyebrow trying to get them to go on and repeat the phrase. Marie exhales, giving in as she repeats in defeat. “Fine… I'm a hero.”

A smile stretches on Jordan's face at their success. “It'd be better if you actually believed it, but I'll take it.”

Marie mirrors their smile back, relaxing in their presence. It's not like she doesn't want to believe it, she just can't see herself as a hero. Not after everything that she has done, all the people she's hurt. She knows it's ridiculous and that all that stuff wasn't actually her fault, but it's just hard to break out of an image that you've seen yourself in for so long. Jordan and Emma both try to remind her every day how good of a person she is, so maybe one day she will believe it as much as they do. She pulls herself closer to them, moving to hold Jordan's hands in hers. “If it makes you feel any better, I do believe that you believe I'm a hero.”

Jordan breathes out a small laugh, “I can believe for the both of us in the meantime. I know you'll see it too one day. It's inevitable.”

“Inevitable?” Marie repeats, raising an eyebrow at the choice word. 

“Oh yeah, there isn't a future I can think of where you're not saving people for a living.” They say matter of factly, a bit of playfulness in their voice.

“Oh really? You've been thinking about my future?” Marie teases, enjoying the blush in Jordan's cheeks.

“Maybe?... just a little.” Jordan lifts their hand as they hold their pointer and thumb close together and squint their eyes. “But am I wrong?”

“I mean, no. Of course I want to help people. Save people however I can. But I don't know how I can do that for a living. There’s vigilantism, but that's kinda illegal without a license from fucking Vought. Which is 100% a no go.”

“Right…” Jordan nods along, understandably. “But, there are other ways to help people. Just think of how non-supes help people. Police, firefighters, doctors.” Jordan pauses thinking for a moment. “Wait a second. You'd be a great doctor! I mean, you can control blood. You know, the very thing that keeps us alive? Just think of all the people you could help. You can sense their heart rates, see if they're bleeding - internally or externally- or detect things in their blood. Holy shit, you could 100% be a doctor.”

Marie thinks for a moment, genuinely thinking over everything Jordan has said. They're right, they could do all of those things and more fairly easily with her abilities. She hadn't really thought about it before, all the benefits of what her powers could do in terms of people's health. I mean, she's healed people before, sure. Stopped bleeding, healed wounds, restarted hearts. She thinks back to the doctor she healed earlier today, what he had said to her about her powers and how useful they could be. Really thinking about it, it almost seems ridiculous that she hasn't thought about this before. She's been back and forth for a while on what she actually wanted to do with her life, what major she’d pick when she went back to college. What she could have a career in that didn't involve being a Vought puppet. She considered the force, maybe a PI, but a doctor… 

“I could be a doctor…”  she repeats slowly, looking back at Jordan, staring at them as she processes her thoughts. Suddenly, she pulls them back in for a hug, “Oh my god, Jordan! You're a fucking genius!” She pulls away and gives them a hard kiss on the lips, before getting up off the couch. 

“Uh, you're welcome.” Jordan looks up at Marie, smiling at the sudden outburst of affection. “I'm assuming you like the idea?”

“Yes! Fuck. I have to start applying to med schools. What are the best med schools in the country?” She looks around the room for a moment, searching for the laptop that they've all been sharing, courtesy of Andre of course. 

“Laptop’s over here.” Jordan says, pulling the laptop off the side table and onto their lap. They open it up and begin typing. Marie goes back over and sits back down, leaning against Jordan as they search away. 

—

The two spend the next couple hours doing what they've been doing for the past few days; applying to colleges and scholarships and doing research on which schools had what they were both looking for. Both of course applied to most of the Ivy league schools and other prestigious schools in the area. They didn't want to venture far from their immediate vicinity, opting to at least stay in the north east side of the country. Except this time, Marie actually knew what she wanted to do, taking her time to look through the best med schools and programs in the country, genuinely excited by the thought of being able to help people and save lives for a living, using her powers in a way she couldn't've imagined a year ago. In a way that Annabeth could be proud of.

Jordan on the other hand, wasn't so sure what they wanted to major in. They had enough credits from Godolkin to at least cover the general education requirement, leaving them the next two years to focus on a major. They debated on going back to crime fighting, but really hated the prospect of working for Vought. Maybe criminology? They always enjoyed their forensics class, but they weren't sure they wanted to spend all day in a lab for the rest of their life. They weren't too bad with technology either, so maybe computer science or cyber security. They even thought about taking the doctor route with Marie, but it just didn't seem as appealing to them as it did for her, and they wanted to let her have her own thing. 

There wasn't much that they could use their powers for. They were more made for physical combat situations. Brink had literally described them as ‘the perfect weapon’ before, which they were. Both quick and steady, hard to hit and able to take a hit. Offense and defense in one being. So they debated law enforcement, which would be like crime fighting without the supe part. They could help people, protect them, catch bad guys, and it wouldn't be under Vought. But… Vought was still the fucking problem. Since Vought exists, police aren't really needed as much, more there to patrol the public and if something did happen, they would call Vought to bring in the closest supe to deal with whatever crime was being committed. Jordan didn't want to be on crowd control while fucking homelander ‘saved the day’. So yeah, no point in that. 

Jordan started to truly despise their situation. Sure, they were very grateful for their powers, mostly the whole gender switching part. But if it weren't for compound V and all the other abilities that came with it, they wouldn't feel so restricted with what they could do with their life. There were only so many paths a supe could take. Become a crime fighting supe for Vought, a famous Supe actor for Vought, or be detained and possibly experimented on by Vought. Or you could try to be a normal nobody who keeps their head down and doesn't use their powers in public too often, in fear of Vought. So yeah, Jordan really hates the fucking world right now, mostly because Vought is in it. But over the last few months (especially after being around Marie Moreau more often), they realized that there are other ways to do things, they just had to discover them. How Marie just did with the whole doctor thing. But they were lagging behind, which just made them more frustrated. A phone call from their parents did not help at all…

It started off as a simple check-in. Jordan was very aware that they've been avoiding their family, but they were really just avoiding their parents (mainly their dad). Regardless, they did want to check in and see how their siblings were doing. They felt a bit bad leaving them with their ever bickering parents, but were happy that they finally didn't have to deal with it themselves. It's not like they could do much about it, their sister was 16 and their brother was only 12. It's not like Jordan could take them with them, and it's not like they wanted to or had to either. Their parents were annoying, but they weren't abusive. Jordan had their own thing going on between them and their parents, but their siblings were fine. They weren't supes and, as far as Jordan knew, they didn't have any gender fuckery going on. 

So yeah, Jordan called, talked with mom, talked about Claire and Matthew (sister and brother, respectively), talked about dad, then talked with dad. By the end they were having an argument with both their parents (as fucking expected), all about college and Jordan's future and whatnot. Jordan once again insisted that their living situation was fine, that they have a job, and are in the process of applying to schools. What their parents didn't take so well was Jordan's intention of no longer majoring in crime fighting and going to the seven. After about an hour or two of going back and forth (hanging up at least twice, just to be called back), their parents eventually relented and gave Jordan a deal. Basically, as long as Jordan majors in something with good future prospects that will lead them to a successful career, they would pay for their tuition. But they would have to pick from one of the options their parents gave them and stick with it. Jordan hated the idea at first, but one of their options was cybersecurity, and they had to make up their mind at some point, so they agreed. They gladly hung up for the last time that night, not before their father told them how disappointed he was in them for their life decisions, but that just solidified the fact that they wouldn't be calling them again for a while. 

A few hours rolled by and Jordan and Marie were done with applying for the day. It was getting late and Emma wouldn't be home for another hour, so they decided to pick up and head to bed early tonight. As they were about to make their way to the bedroom, Marie stopped and turned around. She had been getting the feeling that something was different with the space ever since she got home from work, and it hadn't clicked till now, exactly what was missing. “Jordan…”

Jordan stopped walking and turned around to face Marie, who was still standing in the middle of the living room, looking towards the kitchen. “Yeah?” They responded slowly, a bit of worry laced in their voice. 

Marie turns around to face Jordan, a confused and questioning look on her face. “Where did the table go?” 

Jordan moves to look behind Marie, looking at the empty space where the kitchen table used to be. “Table?... What table?” 

Marie's eyes narrow as she steps closer to Jordan. “You know, the kitchen table. The one we had breakfast at this morning, before I had to run to work?”

Jordan's eyes are wide as they try to come up with the best way to go about this conversation, and not really finding it. “Right… that table. Umm… I don't know. Maybe Emma did something with it.” They shrug their shoulders, avoiding eye contact with Marie.

“Is that why she was in such a rush earlier? What did you two do with the table?” She's just straight up asking now. 

“It's nothing bad.” They try to reassure her. 

“Nothing bad? Well that makes me feel better.” Marie replied sarcastically.

“It's really nothing to worry about… we're going to IKEA tomorrow, by the way.” Jordan adds.

Marie pauses for a second. “Do I even want to know?” 

“No. You don't. It's really not worth it.” Jordan says with 100% surety. They switch to their male form, their big brown doe eyes on display. “Can we just go to bed and talk about it in the morning? Please?” They plead with Marie. 

“... Fine. You're lucky I'm exhausted right now.” She says, resuming her walk towards the bedroom, Jordan following after her.

“I love you.” Jordan says as they enter the room.

“Yeah yeah, just get over her and let me cuddle you.” Marie says tiredly as she pulls her pants off and crawls into bed. 

“Yes ma'am.” Jordan says with a makeshift salute as they follow suit.

They both get into bed, Marie opting to be the big spoon, despite Jordan being in their larger form, but they don't mind it at all. The two cuddle together tightly before drifting off to sleep, Marie secretly dreaming of what could have possibly happened to that table, all scenarios sitcom worthy.

--

I'd say you have around a chapter or two till things start picking up. Anyways, thank you so much for reading this far! I appreciate it very much. Please feel free to leave comments on your thoughts or where you think this story might go. It's a little early to tell, but I'd like to see what you think so far. Thanks again to Venus (@paperdoll201 💜) for putting up with my long Limoreau rambles. Appreciate it.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Have a nice day!

Much love, 😎👍❤️

-PB

(what happened to the table???)

[rosethornewrites]

T & G reading since 10/13

Finished

Teen:

Velle: to will, to wish, by Aerlalaith (🔒, 6 chapters)

Wen in body, Wei in motion, Lan Wangji is certain he has never hated, nor loved, any being so much as he feels towards the boy in his room.

After Wei Wuxian's death and his own severe punishment, Lan Wangji must decide the direction his life will take.

To Deserve So Much More, by renysen (🔒, 5 chapters)

Mo XuanYu was a little too late to getting Wei WuXian's soul. A civilian family never expected to be under siege by an army and their youngest daughter happens upon a treasure niche where old writings of bringing back the dead have been recorded. In the effort to save her family, she sacrifices her soul and brings forth Wei WuXian.

Armed with a powerful Golden Core and a female body, Wei WuXian has to deal with the increasing number of cultivators that want to learn from the powerful cultivator that can destroy entire armies single-handedly, more so cultivators that want to marry "her".

Meanwhile, Wei WuXian thinks husband hunting would be a lot easier if he didn’t have to pick anyone.

Lan Zhan's University Days (a table lacking in corners), by sami (4 chapters, part of 2 series)

"Just to get this out of the way early, Jordan and I are now officially dating. You each get exactly one intrusive question, so use them wisely."

"Do I get to gloat?" Michelle asks.

"No. And that was your one question. Arguably you blew it," Ziyuan tells her.

protecting something precious, by kazzywx

The banquet hall was not a place they often visited, after all, the elders and untoward senior disciples frequented it often. However after Wei Ying became pregnant, he insisted on attending the daily dinners because it made him feel a part of the family.

“You are already a part of the family,” Lan Wangji had told him.

Wei Ying had gotten this little unsure look on his face. “It doesn’t feel that way sometimes,” he’d said in response.

Or, The Lan sect holds some contempt for pregnant!wwx. Lan Wangj makes sure his wife is well protected from their ire.

The More Brothers the Merrier, by madwriter223

Nie Mingjue decides to swear brotherhood with Jiang Wanyin. Nie Huaisang is ecstatic. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are confused.

Dead Things, by Reavv (4 chapters)

It is a year after his death that Wei Ying reforms.

It is not a sudden thing, nor is it slow. He doesn’t wake so much as stretch, as if from a nightmare, caught in the last grasp of it like a fish on a hook, struggling but made docile by the pain.

The tattered edges of his soul slide back together, but it is not an easy thing. Where once they fit, if somewhat haphazardly, they are now frayed and ragged; ill kept. He is corpse cloth, left unburied and forgotten.

The crows watch as he pulls himself, stitch by stitch, back together. It is a painful process, not healing so much as a reforging, like the reforging of an old pot, or the process in which he took a blackened sword and dreamed his seal out of it. He must layer the broken edges of himself over each other, weld them together so that the seams stay strong, a patchwork of memories and feelings and instincts.

It is, it must be said, not a voluntary thing.

Death rarely is.

From the Core of My Thinking These Thoughts Spill Out, by Preludian_Staves (🔒)

The moment leaves no room for indecision, just long ingrained instinct.

Saw My Life in a Stranger's Face, by timetoboldlygo

Lan Wangji had long since stopped thinking of Wei Wuxian's body as Mo Xuanyu's. He grew used to all the ways it was different and the same from the last. But slowly, surely, now that they were comfortable, Wei Wuxian's face had begun to change again. The lines of his jaw became a slightly smudged drawing. Not all together unfamiliar, just enough that Lan Wangji second-guessed his own memory. There was one night Lan Wangji came home to find Wei Wuxian's eyes had changed color. He woke one morning and was taller, his silhouette stretching and growing like a shadow cast against the wall.

His smile was the same. The way he pouted, and slept in, the way he kissed. His terrible jokes. Lan Wangji would get used to a new face too if the husband was still the same.

-

Or, the one where Wei Wuxian's face begins to change to look like his original body. It isn't easy on anyone. But it isn't so bad, either.

the butterfly effect, by silversshadow (🔒, 9 chapters, 8th in a series)

The Yunmeng siblings do their best to navigate a changing world.

Yu Ziyuan watches over her kids.

General:

Once more, if only..., by Pure_Magic (4 chapters)

A mysterious character, a powerful array and a dying wish. What could've been might not seem as complicated but the question stays:

What would happen if one knows a future that will never be? And does a change make a difference if the future that will never be has already scarred someone?

Alternatively, this is a time travel fic where WWX wakes up in his 12 y body after dying in the Burial Mounds. The story is from the perspective of others so it doesn't have key details as to what actually happened but the readers can guess!!

Wynn: joy, by Aerlalaith (🔒, 2nd in a series)

Sizhui,” Lan Xichen says flatly, coming to stand next to Lan Wangji’s shoulder. “Really, Wangji?

Lan Xichen has opinions about Lan Yuan's new courtesy name.

Let Them Eat Cake, by Vamillepudding

Wei Wuxian wants to hold Lan Zhan's hand. He does not want to have sex with him. But when he hears of Lan Zhan's insatiable urges, it becomes clear that Wei Wuxian will need to seduce him.

Lan Zhan wants Wei Wuxian to stop drinking, stop breaking rules, and start holding his hand. He does not want to have sex with him. But when Wei Wuxian starts talking about practicing blowjobs, it becomes clear that Lan Zhan will need to endure it.

Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng, meanwhile, are happy that their brothers are finally having their sexual awakening.

The wind told me that you love me, by idkbutimwriting (🔒)

A figure stopped a few steps away behind him. A moment passed; his lips parted, but no sound came out. Words were dissolving, suddenly too weak to handle the intensity of the feelings that strangled him.

Lan Wangji opened his mouth a second time and finally managed to utter two small words:

“Wei Ying.”

-----

They are (finally) reunited

Jiang Cheng tells Lan Wangji to get his shit together, by theninjacat

Jiang Wanyin looks at him once more.

“He loves you. You married him in front of my parents and ancestors. You are his husband. Act like it.”

or

Sort of yunmeng twin prides reconciliation where jc realizes lwj left wwx and loses his shit

until you break, until you yield, by alumiblossom1

Previously dead (recently resurrected) Wei Wuxian takes a page from Shang Qinghua's "How to Survive in a World That Wants You Dead" handbook and disappears off the face of the earth with the Wen Remnants.

The cultivation world suffers accordingly.

An Offer You Can't Refuse, by leonidskies

Lan Wangji’s general habits of tidiness had rubbed off on him a little lately, but the space wasn’t exactly up to Lan Qiren’s exacting standards.

And yet, Lan Qiren didn’t say a word, instead drifting over to the table. Taking the unexpected grace for what it was, Wei Wuxian scrambled over to fetch water, tea, and cups — if Lan Qiren wasn’t going to say anything, neither would he.

Wei Wuxian receives an unexpected visitor.

In the Cold Light of Day (there is comfort and warmth), by farawayanddreaming

The freezing cold puts daily life in the Cloud Recesses on hold and Wei Wuxian uses the opportunity to take care of his husband.

Sweetest Moments Such As This, by Preludian_Staves (🔒)

No summary

Kintsugi, by sortablue

Wei Wuxian had thought he was more well-adjusted; or, at least, that the thing that would set him off would be a little more impressive than a broken tea set.

How funny that out of all the things that haunted his nightmares, this was the thing that chose to ruin his perfectly good day.

(Or, Wei Wuxian’s treatment at Lotus Pier at the hands of Madam Yu has lasting affects that he previously had not thought to consider.)

Unfinished

Teen:

The worth of a life with no regrets, by SnowdropsAndDreams

It was hopeless. Utterly hopeless.

The night hunt had gone disastrously wrong and Wei Wuxian's tiny pebble of a core isn't enough to save him. But Jiang Cheng will be damned before he watches another sibling die in his arms, especially one that miraculously came back from the dead.

"I'm going to die here, Jiang Cheng. We both know it. But unlike last time, I'm going to make it meaningful."

"I know of a forbidden array that can turn back time."

"Didi, do you want to come with me?"

Or, a time travel fix-it fic where Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng work together as brothers.

dark in the hollows, where the wind wallows, by stiltonbasket

“Supervisory office?” Jiang Fengmian repeats. “Wen Ruohan wishes to turn Lotus Pier into a supervisory office?”

“That’s right,” Wang Lingjiao coos. Less than six paces away from her, Ziyuan’s face is so red that she looks as if she might burst at any moment, and Wei Wuxian is sprawled on the floor with Zidian sparking over his back. His robes are still whole, so the whip must not have touched him yet: but the sight of his bitten lip, already pierced through in anticipation of pain, is more than Jiang Fengmian can bear.

“Very well,” he says simply. “If you want Lotus Pier, then take it. Given that, I wonder how you can still have the face to demand that I punish A-Xian.”

Or: the one where Jiang Fengmian decides to turn back on his way to Qishan, and the capture of Lotus Pier goes somewhat differently as a result.

patching the road with vague intentions, by loosingletters

“What have you done!?” thundered a voice Wei Wuxian had, frankly speaking, never wanted to hear again.

“Old man Lan?” Wei Wuxian blurted out, staring at the aged face of his former teacher.

At the back of his mind, Wei Wuxian remembered the cut of his robes, that he wasn’t dressed like a widow at all, but like a Lan.

Lan Qiren looked around, his gaze stuck somewhere above Wei Wuxian’s head, most likely the half-ruined summoning array behind him – fucking stupid, Wei Wuxian should’ve gotten rid of it immediately. Just why did it have to be a Lan summoning him, why Lan Qiren his visitor at the door? Wasn’t death enough punishment?

“Wei Wuxian?” Lan Qiren asked wearily.

Or, Wei Wuxian is summoned back to life in the Cloud Recesses. Unfortunately, the person to find him is Lan Qiren, forcing the unlikely duo to work together to keep the circumstances Wei Wuxian's return undiscovered.

General:

An Unforseen Shift, by Remma3760

Wei Wuxian found a resentful sword deep in the bowels of a famed beast. He took it. That turned out to be fortunate since, it would seem, the sword had more than one purpose. That sword was the key to their escape from certain death trapped in the cave of the Slaughter Xuanwu.

A Blast from the Past, by NightSky07

Wei Wuxian storms into the Jin banquet to demand answers from Jin Zixun. What he wasn't expecting was to recieve those answers from someone who calls him Baba, and a future self who's more shameless around Lan Zhan then even he is.

The Unintended, by Indelible_Faith (TheWaterGoddess), Thedivinewriter_20

Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang have a perfect plan. Get Lan Wangji to confess how much Wei Wuxian annoys him out loud. And Jin Zixuan to confess his ill-treatment of Jiang Yanli in a similar manner.

Perhaps “confess” was the wrong word used here… because this is not turning out how they imagined it, at all!

[jordanandegypt]

Hello Jordan.

September 13, 2024

(Warning - this is a little map-heavy! Y'all know how I LOVE maps!!)

Greetings from Amman, Jordan!!  Salam! We have connected with our friends and met our delightful guide, Nader.  Let the trip begin!!!!

We escaped Zürich without eating cheese fondu, buying chocolate or a Swiss watch.  Yes, we have NO proof that we were ever there. Well. we did buy some grandkid stuff and we had a lovely visit, albeit much too short.   And before we leave that topic, I have a correction.  As we walked about this lovely town of Zurich we encountered some super busy multi lane roads and there, my friends, we found the walk/don’t walk signs.  So they do indeed have them despite my reporting that they did not. But they appear to be few and far between.

On Thursday, Sept 12, we flew from Zürich Switzerland to Athen, Greece. 

This morning we flew from Athens to here.  WHY? - you ask.  Money my friends - Money.  Getting to Amman from a lot of places is not easy and not cheap.  I was looking for non-stop flights that were reasonable priced and had the timing I could work with and after much research - (OMG - you cannot believe how much time to put into this silly endeavor) I landed on taking two days and doing these short flights with an overnight in Athens.  Now - the flights were on small planes - and one option I had was to pay an additional $7.00 as insurance against the airlines going bankrupt.🥴. I took that option FYI!

But it all worked out perfectly.  We left Zürich in the AM and arrived in Athens in the early afternoon. The little place we stayed picked us up then arranged for us to be picked up for dinner on the beach.  SWEET!!!!

And MAYBE the Greek Salad and grilled fish was delicious because we were in Greece or because we could hear the Mediterranean lapping right there  - but whatever the reason, dinner was delicious. (Our younger son, Logan, BTW - pointed out that all salads in Greece would be technically Greek salads - but this is not going to bring me down!)

Today we got to Athen’s airport WAY TOO early but so what.  We had a coffee and before we knew it we boarded our flight on Royal Jordanian.  Now - let me say - WOW!!  The cleanest roomiest seats ever and we were traveling coach.  With the exception of one little issue - my gluten free meal was absent - but they scrounged around and I did not go hungry.  “Come ON!” To quote my youngest granddaughter.   I will say not exactly gourmet - but you be the judge.

But would I fly Royal Jordanian again?  Why, yes I would.  A crappy lunch on this lovely airplane with attentive flight attendants was just a little blip.

Another reason I wanted to go through Greece was to adjust myself to being completely unable to read signs.  While in Greece there were somethings I could make a guess on and somethings I could not  - like the sign below.

But once we got to Amman I figured I wouldn’t have a clue about anything - and it appears I am correct.

So, somehow I thought easing myself into that would be a good idea.  BUT clearly the answer is NOPE!  So really the reason for Athen was money...

Anyway - Jordan:

Michigan is about 2.5 times bigger than Jordan but Jordan has more than 11 million+ people, about  1 million more than live in Michigan.  And of that 11 million people 5 million live in Amman - the capital of Jordan.  A peek out of our hotel window lets you know this is a HUGE city!

A quick review on the location of Jordan.

Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories to the west.   For those of you who were flipping out about us coming here (MOM!), we are indeed close to the Israel/Hamas conflict.  Amman and Jerusalem are just a little more than 60 miles apart.  

But we are visiting this beautiful city and then going north to Jerash.  After Jerash we will be heading south to Petra and we will certainly be close to Israel - but no worries.  You wouldn’t want us to come this far and not get to see Mujib Valley , the Grand Canyon of Jordan.  Hopefully, we will get a look at the Dead Sea as well.

When we arrived we had to buy a Visa and it was exactly as we had been told - EASY- PEASY!!  We stood in a short line - forked over our passports and 40 Jordanian dinars (that I got before we left Saline) and we got a single entry Visa and a welcome to “The Hashemitec Kingdom of Jordan.”  “Enjoy your time here!”

I’m so excited to learn about Jordan, the people, the geography, the history, their politics and more.  Already I learned that 85% of the land is desert and that water is scarce and they have NO OIL.  I admit I was surprised!  I discovered that it is a Sunni Muslim majority religion country (95% according to Wiki)  and I expect to learn more about this.

So the learning begins in earnest tomorrow and I’m going to bed.  We are now in Arabic Standard Time and we are 7 hours ahead of Michigan.  This adjustment is - like the VISA procurement - EASY-PEASY!

Tesbah ala khir. (Good Night in Arabic - and this is NOT easy-peasy). Also just for a little smile - my autocorrect changed that Arabic phrase to "Teabag la Kir" - which I'm pretty sure means nothing.

Salam

[invisibleraven]

online dating + rulie?

Julie scowled at the website sitting in front of her. "Remind me why I'm doing this again?"

"Because you refused to speed date, have turned down every guy that Carrie and I have set you up with, and you're constantly moaning about being single," Flynn said.

"But online dating?' Julie groaned.

"Look, we could sign you up for Tindr, but you know as well as I do that most guys on there expect only one thing," Flynn drawled. "Although, let's sign you up for that too, cuz then at least you get some."

"Flynn no!" Julie said, swiping for her phone, but failing to grasp it from her hand.

"Flynn yes!" Flynn replied. "Now finish that profile!"

Julie sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She knew Flynn would check to make sure she set up a profile, but she doubted she'd be checking if Julie actually used it... so she set up a bare bones profile, choosing a simple picture, and scowled once more as she clicked the finish program.

"Done."

Flynn glanced over the profile and rolled her eyes. "Way t put in some effort Jules. Here's your Tindr set-up."

Julie looked over the page that Flynn had set up for her, which was far better than the little effort Plenty Of Fish page Julie had done. A flattering photo, a quote from a favourite song, and enough info to make her interesting but not enough to be revealing.

"So what do I do? Start swiping?' Julie asked.

"Yup!" Flynn said. "There's a mix of guys and girls, so you have lots of options. Let's see what we got!"

They swiped left on Braydon, Brandon, Jaydon, and Jordan, a bunch of bros with fish pictures. Right on Kayla, Liam, and Andreja who all liked a few artists and authors that Julie also enjoyed. But she wasn't really upset when none of them swiped her back.

"No luck so far?" Flynn commiserated a few days later.

"Not really," Julie confessed. "I saw a few interesting people, messaged one or two, but nothing substantial."

Flynn snatched Julie's phone up, swiping back and forth before stopping, and handing Julie's phone back to her. "Him."

The picture showed a very cute guy in a black tank, giving the camera a cheeky grin. His name was Reggie and he apparently liked dogs, Star Wars, and a nice glass of wine with a rom com at the end of the day. His job was listed as musician, and his location local.

"Okay, he's pretty cute," Julie admitted, swiping right, then getting a notification that it was a match. "Oh, he swiped back!"

"You go girl!" Flynn encouraged her, waving her off to message Reggie while Flynn got them more coffee.

And message him she did!

They talked back and forth all day, finding they had a lot in common, and Julie fond Reggie was really easy to talk to. He was funny, even a bit goofy, but incredible sincere and humble. By the end of the day they exchanged numbers to text, and Julie may or may not have deleted Tindr after that.

It was weeks of back and forth, talking for hours, chatting as they watched a movie together in their own homes, Julie coaching Reggie through a recipe for her famous brownies for his MeeMaw, while Reggie gave her some ideas for a song she had been struggling with.

"You are so damn smitten with this guy," Flynn commented one day. "What's he like in real life?"

"I don't know?" Julie squeaked. "He's been travelling for his job, and I've been swamped with mine, so we haven't exactly... met."

"Julie!" Flynn exclaimed. "How do you know he's not catfishing you?"

"I trust him," Julie insisted.

"Girl... meet him. If he's all that, then I let it go," Flynn replied.

"Fine," Julie sighed. She tapped out a message to Reggie, beaming when he got back to her right away. "He says he has tickets to the Sunset Curve concert next Saturday, backstage passes and all. He wants to meet me there, get a drink after."

Flynn whistled, "How'd he score those?"

Julie shrugged. Sunset Curve was the hottest band around, scoring a number of awards last year. However they always wore masks when they played, so no one knew what they looked like, and only went by monikers, which lead to their appeal.

The next week, Julie arrived at the SoFi stadium, getting her tickets from the box office, and being escorted backstage. "The band is doing meet and greets right now, if you wait here," the nice assistant said.

Julie bit her lip, taking out her phone, letting Reggie know she was here. Though it was a bit worrying when he didn't get back to her. She paced around, looking out on the stage, the assembling crowd, the various crew who were all nice to her, even though she was sure she was in the way.

Finally the band came out, and the guy in the ornate red and gold mask-the bass player from Julie's research stopped as he saw her. "Julie?"

"Um hi?" she said, giving a little wave.

He pulled off the mask and there he was-Reggie. "You came!"

Julie was stunned as Reggie pulled her in for a hug, his smile blinding. "Y-you're..."

Reggie blushed, looking away and then back at her. "Yeah, it's kinda hard to date when you're supposed to be anonymous. So I figured I'd try just being Reggie, see how he did."

"He did pretty good," Julie admitted. "Do I need to like, sign a NDA now?"

Reggie shrugged. "Eh, I trust you."

"Reg we're on in two!" the guitarist called.

"Fuck I gotta go," Reggie swore. "You wanna hang out here for the show? Then after you can meet the rest of the guys in the green room before we go for that drink?"

"I'd like that," Julie said, and in a fit of boldness, pulled him in for a kiss. "Break a leg."

Reggie looked struck dumb, but shook himself when his bandmates called him again. "I promise to make this my best show-for you."

He dashed off, but then Julie called his name, holding up his mask, making him giggle. She put it around his face, pressing one more kiss to his mouth before he dashed off, ready to rock her world.

And Julie swore she was never admitting to Flynn that she owed her for signing her up for Tindr, but she wondered if she would accept Sunset Curve tickets as thanks. She was fairly certain that from here on out, she had a hook up for them.

[yellowocaballero]

i need seasons 2-4 of kyle rayners reworked adventures i am OBSESSED :o

OH BABY BABY ME TOO ME TOO OKAY. Believe it or not I'm trying to keep all of this as short as possible so the random little HCs are being left out, I might add some extra later.

So again this is a single season haha. Because a) it did not actually end up that short, I got a bit #poetic there, and b) Season 3&4 are a bit vaguer in my head and aren't as entertaining to tell! If/when I wrangle them into something much more interesting I'll share them. I know that there's probably a 1-2 year timeskip to Season 3 and a much, much longer timeskip to Season 4 AKA Green Lantern: Shippuden, which would have a different protagonist. Milagro Reyes, Blue Beetle's sister. Alright, that one I DEFINITELY have to elaborate on later...

TL;DR

Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 combo with Star Trek The Original Series but also the moral of the story is ACAB.

The moral of like this entire children's cartoon is ACAB, by the way, in case I was remotely subtle about that.

GREEN LANTERN SEASON 2: SOMEHOW THIS WAS RENEWED BY CARTOON NETWORK

(By the way, I'm super embarrassed to say this, but I love thinking of stories hyper-specifically styled after kid's cartoons. In case you were wondering: New Wave airs on Kid's WB between Pokemon and Jackie Chan Adventures on Saturday mornings. Green Lantern airs on Cartoon Network, it's ridiculously over promoted because the network doesn't realize how ACAB it is. That one Legion of Superheroes Zoboomafoo show is on PBS. You get the idea. Stories ought to have clarity of purpose.)

Think the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, when Aang is searching for any remaining airbenders or a firebending teacher. Same energy.

The episodes are formulaic. Kyle's on a space road trip, searching for signs and survivors of a lost culture. Each episode Kyle lands on a new planet, digs up some rumor or trail to surviving Green Lantern rings, journals, records - anything that could prove what happened to Hal Jordan. Sometimes he finds a trail to an abandoned Green Lantern outpost. Other times he's fortunate enough to actually meet an ex-Green Lantern, usually while fishing them out of some trouble. Other times he's just landing for a pit stop and finds himself wrapped up in alien trouble. Kyle's lost as hell, in over his head, and has no idea where to even begin on this ridiculously ambitious journey. Kyle's always thrown himself into new situations and new places and trusted everything would work out, but space is a little bigger than America. He just has to trust that the answer's out there. He can't go home without it. He can't look Guy, John, and the Justice League in the eyes and lie to them. Even for BTS.

He has one guide in this journey: Kilowog's ring! It serves as his personal trainer on how to use the ring, advisor, teacher, and educator on alien species. It's gruff, pretty silly, but Kyle is depressed to learn that his ring is his closest friend now. It is the sole teacher Kyle has into the actual Green Lantern Corp - it always advises him on their creed, their views, and how a real Lantern would solve a problem. It is remarkably unhelpful on finding a damn Lantern.

Instead, all Kyle finds are problems. Every planet has a problem he needs solving, a person he needs to help, or a disaster to avert. Sure, none of it's Kyle's business - but hey, he's a superhero. Not a cop. You can barely even call him a Green Lantern. Everywhere he goes, citizens of the galaxy tell him about the GLs they met and used to know - how they hurt, how they helped, how they should have done better - and who they wished the GLs would have been. They wished that the GLs actually helped instead of enforced.

They don't have an actual GL. But they do have Kyle. So Kyle says - show me where to help.

He helps wherever he can. He sees everything and learns everything. He meets heroes, villains, and ordinary people just trying to get by. He meets heroes from all walks of life, sees every kind of civilization and culture and found the good and bad in each one. He talks to everybody, from the kings to the peasants, and learns from them all. He learns about the thousand systems of government in the galaxy, and learns about where they succeed and where they fail.

He makes friends. Brave people who fish his fat from the fire. Regretful ex-Lanterns who threw themselves back into being a warrior even without their rings - and embittered ex-Lanterns who resented the loss of their power and authority. He meets a princess who spent her entire life figuring out how to govern well, and the leader of a rebel cell who specializes in freedom. He meets people who are very good at explosives and people who have sworn never to throw a punch. They all have something to teach him.

Not even the ex-Lanterns know what happened on Oa. Kilowog's ring can't show the black box to anybody but its wielder. So Kyle keeps travelling. The ring picked up an unusual energy signal in the next system over - maybe there's an outpost there!

(The unusual energy signal was space vampires. That's how Kyle saved a space Transylvanian town from intergalactic vampire pirates.)

Kyle saves people, but he has to make decisions too. He solves problems. Kilowog's Ring tells him how the GLC would have solved the problem, and he usually takes it into consideration, but usually the episode is about Kyle learning how to solve the problems his own way. He learns how to judge the values of the GLC critically and think for himself, and how to admire not the institution but the good people inside of it like Kilowog. How to fight to promote equity and justice, instead of just fighting to maintain pre-existing systems of power.

Six months later, Kyle has finally defeated whatever (Zuko/Zhao/whatever) villain has been chasing him around (they join his space found family) and makes it to the (North Pole) Green Lantern Outpost At The Edge Of The Universe. This was it. He's spent a month following this trail, and he's risked everything. He's turned over every intergalactic stone, taken every risk. If there's anything, it has to be here.

But all he sees is an empty tower surveying an empty kingdom. And Kyle looks around and he sees nothing. Not the last guru he was promised, or a mythical member of the Guardian species. There's no heroes or warriors. Nobody helpful. Nobody to fix anything. Nothing that will help the people he's met who need help, nobody who will use the GL powers for good. Nobody can restart the Corp as it deserves to be restarted, nobody to turn it around and use their immense power as it was meant to be used. Nobody to avenge Kilowog and expose Hal Jordan for who he really was. The real Green Lantern isn't here.

Kilowog!Ring: "What are ya talking about, kid? The guy's right here." Kyle, dirty with sticks in his hair, has not slept in thirty six hours, going insane: "IS HE FUCKING INVISIBLE" Kilowog!Ring: "That guy is you, kid :)" Kyle:

Well, Kyle feels like a fucking idiot. F to his hopes and dreams. But at least he's not scared anymore.

Kyle goes home.

Earth is different. Or maybe it's just Kyle that's different. Everything feels so much smaller but so much bigger, and when Kyle stands in the middle of L.A. he's captured by the beauty of the universe - the beauty of humanity as part of that universe, how humans are just another mundane strand in the great web of the universe, and how special they are for it. How he's not special, how he will always be a face in a crowd, just one insignificant person in a world of seven billion - but how amazing that is, to be among a proud seven billion! How improbable, to be the only Kyle Rayner! There are trillions of unique people in this universe, people who all have lives and stories and hopes and dreams, and there's no such thing as an insignificant soul. In an city where everybody has to be special, where everybody has to make it big and stand out and yell their names - none of them realize how special they all are just for living. Special just for being their fleshy, insane, amazing selves.

Kyle flies to the Watchtower and walks into the middle of a Justice League meeting. And he looks Superman in the eyes and says, "Hal Jordan killed the Green Lanterns."

….

Aaaand then he posts a video on his YouTube channel titled "coming clean" and the thumbnail is him sitting on a couch in his house.

Surprise bitch, he's pulling a Tati. Kyle spills EVERYTHING. He tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth. What the Earth's hero did, why he killed himself, and why it happened.

Kyle explains that the Corp was not destroyed by Hal Jordan - it was destroyed by its own greed and vanity. Its black-and-white and justice-above-all ethos took a grieving man and warped him into a mass murderer. A power such as the Green Lanterns should be used to help people, not control them. It should protect people, not impose law. So uhhh end video, I'm fucking off to space agan, Kyle out!

A year ago, a funky little blue man told Kyle "Help them." He could have warned Kyle about Rayner, told him what a Lantern was, but that was what he chose to say. Kyle never really understood what he meant. Superheroes helped people, right? That's what Kyle figured at first. Six months later, after learning the truth, Kyle believes that he must have been asking Kyle to help the GLC - find the surviving GLs, save the organization, help Jordan himself. But he never really understood until now. It took life on Earth and life in space to really get it.

The Guardian understood that the Corp failed because it cared more about fighting evil than doing good. Yes, it kept people safe, but it never helped them. The Corp was light and goodness in the galaxy, but it never put helping people first. And Kyle finally realizies that this is what the last Guardian wanted for him, and what he wanted for the Corp. This was the future the Guardian wanted. And that's what he's going to do. That'll be Kyle's ethos.

He'll help people. Nothing more, nothing less.

It doesn't matter if people believe him. It doesn't matter if the League believes him. He doesn't stick around to find out. Kyle returns to Oa and finds the ruined power battery, the same battery Hal Jordan used up in his own selfishness and grief and destroyed.

And, with the implacable will of somebody who's always known what he's wanted, who has seen how to create it and what must be created, who travelled the galaxy and back and helped people at every stop of the way, who knows exactly what he wants the GLC to become, he remakes Oa.

He reaches inside the battery and pulls out a handful of rings. Kyle is instantly convinced he's fucked up the whole thing already, because they're all different colors?! Orange ring, Black ring, what the hell? Why is Kyle so bad at this?! But he releases them, and they go zooming off. Somewhere, Guy and John get their rings back. Not the rings they wanted.

Kyle finally makes some normal-ass rings and gives them to his found family/supporting cast from the season (Gaang…Kyle Krew…we'll workshop it), people who all have different perspectives and methods and ways of problem solving but who are all equally dedicated to helping people. They will be the first vanguard of the new Green Lantern Corp.

If Kyle wants it hard enough, it can happen. And all Kyle wants to do now is become a good man, who leaves the right legacy. Season 3 is him running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to run a gigantic space organization by himself but you know what he's doing his best.

Kyle, who has been writing space emails to Alex this entire time as a framing device: "Hey, honey, so I've been worldbuilding." Alex: "Cool, for the webtoon? Or for your next DND campaign?" Kyle: "No I mean I've been building a world. Should it have volcanoes? I want a volcano." Alex: "Kyle I cannot put you in charge of dishes much less a world what the FUCK are you doing." Kyle, crying: "I have no idea honey can you come here please I suck at this."

[imnotkosmic]

The Way, chapter one: 'A Voice in the Wilderness.'

It had been three weeks. John had been stuck in that dark, dingy, rat infected prison for three weeks. His followers where scattered throughout Gailiee, even making their way to Nazereth. Andrew, son of Jonah, was one of those followers. His older brother, Simon, had told him it was a stupid idea to follow that rouge Baptizer. Now that he was in prison, Simon had told his brother to stay away from him. Andrew thought about how he could see John in prison without his brothers knowledge, when someone yelled his name, "Andrew! Andrew!" the man in question turned around to see one of the other followers of the Baptizer running toward him, waving. "Tobias?" Andrew asked. "What is the matter?" Tobias grinned broadly, "Its John! He's finally out!"

~~~

Simon put the last of the fish into the barrel and called out to James, "I've finished! How much do you have left?" James looked at his net and back to Simon, "A whole nets worth." Simon laughed. Even without their younger brothers, they got all the work done. Well, Simon had gotten all his work done. "Go back to town," James said, "I'll meet you there when I've finished." Simon nodded, said their goodbyes, and started walking into town, hoping James would put both of their barrels of fish into market this time. As he walked into his home, he saw his wife, Edah, standing at the counter, cutting vegetables, probably for tonight's dinner. He put his hand on her shoulder and leaned forward and pressed a kiss into the side of her head. They talked, and then Simon went and changed. "Have you seen Andrew?" he asked as he walked into the big main room. "Not since last Shabbat." his wife answered.

~~~

"You brood of vipers!" John the Baptizer exclaimed to the group of Pharisees. "Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Repet! Don't think you can say, 'we have Abraham as our father' I tell you, that God could make children of Abraham out of these stones!" The 3 Pharisees that had had interrupted John's sermon, Josiah, Asher, and Levi, had been asked by the higher ups of the Sanhedrin to question the rouge Baptizer. So far, no luck. After a few minutes of arguing, the quiter Pharisee, Josiah, asked a question: "Are you the Christ?" John looked at the him, "I am not the Christ." "Or perhaps Elijah?" "No." "The Prophet?" "I am not." The Pharisees were getting angryer by the second. "Then, who are you, man?!" they asked. "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the path of the Lord." John said, qouting Isaiah. "Then why do you baptise if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Phophet?" one Pharisee, named Levi, asked, pointing his finger in John's face."I baptise with water," John said, his voice getting louder, "but among you stands One you do not know. He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whoses sandals I am not worthy to untie." The Pharisees, being quite fed up with the Baptizer at this point, looked at one another, and started to leave. Most of the crowd did the same. John's followers came up to him, "Rabbi," they said, "the people are starting to leave, we should try again tomorrow." John paused, looked at the crowd starting to depart, and said, "Very well."

~~~

The three Pharisees that had questioned John the Baptizer earlier, Levi, Asher, and Josiah, had just got a earful from the High Preist, Caphias. They managed to get nothing from the Baptizer, and on top of that, actually had drawn more people to him. They had orders to go back the next day. "Ugh! How much longer?" Asher asked. He, Josiah, and Levi were on their way to the Jordan, were John proformed most of his sermons and baptisims. "We're nearly there, sir." the man who was driving them there answered. "I can't believe we have to go back to that mad man!" Levi huffed. Josiah just sat there, staring out the flap of the carriage. He, being the newest out of the three, didnt see John as a 'mad man'. Maybe a little weird, but not dangerous. Soon, they heard the Baptizer's loud voice when they got to the Jordan. They made their way out of the carriage, and quietly into the crowd. John and his dicsiples were baptising in the river. Suddenly, John started to look at a tall man coming his way. "Behold!" John cried, "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the One I meant when I said, 'a man who has come after me has surpassed me because He was before me'! I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptising with water was that He might be revealed to Isreal." The crowd watched as the Man came down to the river, took His sandals off, and went into the river. "Rabbi.." John said. The Man smiled and put His hands on His cousins shoulders. "Shalom." John paused, realising what He was doing there. "Have You come to be baptised by me? Shouldn't You be baptising me?" He smiled, "You don't realise now what I am doing, but later, you will understand. This is the Fathers will." John nodded. Then he lowered his cousin into the water, and baptised Him. Suddenly, something like a dove came and rested just above the Man's head, and a loud voice came from heaven, "This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased."

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

favorite band/artist?

Sheesh. Complicated one.

You see, my music tastes are, to put it mildly, rather varied. I think it showed in my music recommendation post and the post that further explored one of those artists, but to further illustrate, my library includes:

Earth, Wind & Fire

New Kids On The Block's Jordan Knight's first solo single

Dubstep band Hadouken!’s Lana Del Rey cover

A mashup of Wham! and a fishing anime

A Japanese bilingual melodic punk rock band's two songs about bowling

80s remixes of Justin Bieber songs

A Japanese "punk ska and melodic hardcore band"'s cover of Scatman’s World

A 140+ song Beatles remix collection, featuring such gems as "Octopus's 3D Garden", "I Saw Her Yankin' There" and "Help!" (suspicious)

A eurobeat female duo of rotating Italian and British members’ Abracadabra-sampling track about falling in love with a banana

A remix of Azumanga Daioh’s Sata Andagi scene I retrieved from a porn site reupload

Moldovan folk punk band and folk musician duo’s collab about celebrating the reopening of a railroad

The soundtrack of Pictionary for the NES

A mashup of AVICII, Rick Astley and Chumbawumba

An 80s pop Linkin Park remix

Black Sabbath covers by The Cardigans (of Lovefool fame)

JT's solo debut

A Flock Of Seagulls (of I Ran (So Far Away) fame)

One (1) DJ Khaled song

A 2011 My Little Pony-themed song by then commentary youtuber

(And I beg each and every one of the people who read this list and thought "Okay that one cannot possibly be good" to hop in my askbox and allow me to prove them wrong.)

But let's go through bands and artists I've not posted about before.

Two Door Cinema Club Just out of statistics. I can prove I played I Can Talk over a hundred times and I can tell you any number under two hundred is underselling it. There is genuinely some problem with my brain that that intro slots into perfectly.

Oh also all the rest of their first album this comes from is this great too, and if you ask me what a perfect album sounds like I will tell you it's not that far off their second album.

OK Go Now, I like the music. Actually, I'd left my two guitars alone for years until an easy OK Go song made me think "Oh, maybe I can play this" and realize that rather than -as I had prior- just play the music I'd been taught, I could actually teach myself to play the music I was listening to, which snowballed into playing more OK Go songs and then it expanded and now I have a ukulele, a bass, a third guitar I need to merge with that bass (it's complicated), a fourth "guitar" (it's complicated), a Casio calculator/synth (it's complicated), a melodica, a launchpad and a kazoo. Whoops. But really, all you need to be sold on OK Go is see two of their videos. One to find out what they're like (and you're already good on that front because you have visited the internet ever and have thus seen Here It Goes Again aka "The Treadmill Video" aka what when posted to YouTube upon its CEO begging them to do so became the biggest video of all time) and another to find out that no the first one was not a one-off fluke. I am serious, go click that link, it takes you to a playlist of their videos and each one is crazier than the last. I mean they played a song with a car. A song. That has a guitar solo. With a car. Have you seen the name of this channel.

Ah, right, the name of this channel. I guess I have to say a thing about that car now. Uhhh this video was sponsored by Chevrolet to promote the Aveo which, despite being badged as a Chevrolet, like many of the more Europe-oriented Chevrolets was made by the automotive branch of Daewoo, brand General Motors picked up after the Daewoo conglomerate (then the second largest in South-Korea which may as well be called Samsungland) went bankrupt in '99 over almost $90B modern dollars in debt. Its founder Kim Woo-chong (because Lord knows the "woo" in Daewoo did not stand for "woo what a great car") earned a ten year sentence, but I feel they focused too much on the wrong guy. The REAL criminal is whoever penned Daewoo cars.

A good person doesn't do this on purpose.

Owl City I have too few of his songs, but I absolutely love how comically upbeat he is. He is so precious. If c: walked this Earth. I mean "Golf and alcohol don't mix and that's why I don't drink and drive / Because, good grief, I'd knock out my teeth and have to kiss my smile goodbye". Protect this man at all costs. Also one time I saw the Fireflies video after what must have been a good decade and you know when you feel near crying? I adored that song when I was a kid and I was right.

Liquido European one-hit wonders - and not even "people know them just for one song", not even "people don't know them and just know the song"; I found you can tell people the name of their hit and they won't know what you're talking about. But hum the riff and infallibly, invariably any single person in my country (and, in my limited experience, the rest of Europe) will go "Ooooooh, that one". And to be fair, those guys did stumble on one of the most memorable riffs in modern history.

Not saying this is a hidden gem of a band, I am sure some bigger music nerd would stamp a big fat "SEEN BEFORE" on all their stuff, beyond some enjoyable splashes of "I wonder how much of this is them leaning into it" cheese (yes, even more than that video) - but I've still got their whole discography including all the B-sides, because to me, so what? It's good music and I'll treat it like it. What's the point of praising "groundbreaking", "genre defining" works and then glossing over those inhabiting the ground they broke and making the genres they defined? When I eat bread I don't complain that it doesn't innovate or set itself apart from the rest of the genre, so as long as my music doesn't bore me why should those be problems there? I feel like people have a problem in general separating their enjoyment of a work from its artistic merit. I'm digressing.

The Beatles If you ask me "What's your favorite number of pant legs?" I'm not going to answer five because two would be cliché.

And now we get to the final answer, the real answer, in such a league of its own it deserves to be separated from the rest via a Read More.

I lied, this is under a Read More because it's an entire fucking dissertation. Your fault for asking.

Caparezza I've spent well over a decade of my life mulling over his lyrics to the point me and my ex-flatmate played this game where she told me a random word and I'd try to find it in his lyrics (e.g. the first word of your ask, "favorite", was used in the second verse of the sixteenth track of his sixth album, yes I am neurodivergent why do you ask), and still it happens that as I am going through my everyday life I happen to accrue some information and slam my forehead going "Oh my God THAT'S what he meant there". His songs are more layered, more deep, more thoughtful, more cutting, more witty, more clever than most prose you see around and still he manages to play with his words and rhymes with incredible dexterity.

Take his last record, Exuvia - actually, take the previous record Exuvia picks up from, Prisoner 709:

Its name not only introduces the theme of imprisonment, but also of dilemmas and juxtapositions, since the prisoner's number, 709, stands for the dilemma about the number of the record: it's the 7th in his discography as Caparezza, but the 9th if one also counts the two shit records he made under his previous name Mikimix (we don't talk about those). Its tracklist, indeed, while being as typical for him incredibly varied in topics (from religions to his affinity with Ludwig II of Bavaria to "I'm not [x], BUT-" types) is arranged as chapters of the story of an imprisonment (The Crime, The Punishment, The Weight, The Psychologist, The Letter, The Visit, The Yard Time, The Torture, The Revolt, The Guard, The Infirmary, The Window, The Evasion, The Hiding) and associated to dilemmas - for instance, as the record is about his feeling imprisoned in his body and in his role, the first song -and first chapter, The Crime- is indeed Prosopagnosia (i.e. face blindness), a track about him no longer recognizing himself in the artistic reputation he built himself, with the dilemma being between "Michele", his name, and "Caparezza", his rap name. Oh, and if you also want a taste of the impressive wordplay, well, count the letters of those two names. Yep. Every single one of the 16 tracks is a dilemma is between a 7 letter word and a 9 letter word. Because of course it is.

So now, let's get to the last record, Exuvia.

Nah, the pop-up edition's cover fucks way harder.

That's more like it.

Exuvia is the exoskeletal remains left behind by ecdysozoans after ecdysis, i.e. when creatures like insects and crustaceans develop a new exoskeleton and crawl out of their old one, as this record starts from his escaping from the anguish compounded through all his previous records and through a deep analysis of his past, his self, his surroundings, his fate, condensing it all and moving on to a new self, a new birth, a new shell. (Understand how I feel when people say the greatest rapper of all time is one whose greatest record is called "Damn" because the songs made him go "Damn" and whose biggest song is "Biggie Smalls' Juicy but this time about me".)

Well, in the second track of it, about running away from the dire situation of hatred, decay and persecution described in the first track, he says, and I paraphrase,

I give it all up, I'm dying, I retreat - Caporetto plus Waterloo Dripping and smelling like my head was in a station's toilet- oh.

introducing the desperation and hopelessness of military defeats and immediately following it up with an image whose comedic nature makes a contrast so stark as to surprise even him while still, being a reference to the military's hazing and bullying, latching back to the line before. While the prose I represent it with is deliberately poor, the concept behind the words is brilliant enough that it would be a good line if it didn't rhyme at all. And yet the original lines rhyme for twenty syllables. TWENTY.

Thing is, you can be as clever as you want, but the underlying music, you know, it can't be clever, it can just be good or bad. One would think. And yet the music is not just good but full of clever, witty samples and ideas that don't just reinforce the track's mood but tie the instrumental inextricably into the lyrics' themes, like Larsen (the track about his tinnitus, which he calls by audio feedback's technical name of Larsen effect) using high-pitched synths and emphasizing cymbals, Prisoner 709's title track being 79bpm (I wager 709bpm was a bit non-doable), House Credibility's instrumental featuring intercom buzz and cowbells reminiscent of cookware, or, well, everything in Exuvia's second single. See, that song is about the choice he faces between the story of Beethoven, who despite all his challenges kept devoting himself to music until the day he died, or that of Mark Hollis, lead of Talk Talk, who despite all the fame peaced out to focus on his private life - and the entire instrumental is devoted to that concept: the verses' reference Für Elise, the chorus Such A Shame, and the bridge I Believe In You; and when you tun into the background choirs you find they are rhythmically repeating "I don't know".

You start to get a clue why there's three years between his records.

So if his songs are so fucking good, why is he not famous? Well, he is! Except for his first album which no one really noticed (fairly so in my opinion - while I like a few songs I feel he really got going in his second one), the following records did really well for someone with such dense content: his third record has been certified gold! And all the others platinum. Some twice. Never since the first one did a record of his peak under 5 in the charts, and he's got 8 gold singles, 3 platinums and a double platinum. And don't get me started on the shows.

(That's me in the background!) Hell, he's even been on the cover of Billboard! So why've you never heard of him? Well, see the word next to Billboard.

Yep. The man, Michele Salvemini, is an Italian born and raised and, like any proper Italian, doesn't speak a whole lot of English, so pretty much all the English you'll hear in his music are the handful of English features, like Michael Franti, DMC (!) and Spandau Ballet's Tony Hadley, with which he made a song about Italy's emigration crisis.

Emigration that is also internal, from the underdeveloped, falling aparty and criminality-run south of Italy to where all the industries are, the richer and we-pretend-it's-not-criminality-run north. And since he's from Apulia, Italy's heel (his rap name in fact means "curly head" in Apulian dialect), he's made a song about its woes too, featuring the music of the tarantella, Apulia's traditional dance. (I don't know why y'all add an A in front. It's fucking "Puglia", y'all.) Here's an imperfect translation with a couple of helpful explainers to the asterisked terms over in the video's description.

It depresses me every time I think about it that all the English speakers I know will never be able to fully appreciate his lyrical brilliance. But oh well. At least y'all can appreciate the music... so fuck it, have that song whose music I yapped about so much. You'll hear the choirs in the background say "non so" (I don't know)... and a bunch more Italian words (translated here for those on desktop who want to follow along).

Links in blue are posts of mine about the topic in question - if you liked this post, you might like those!

[blindrapture]

SUNDAY JULY 3RD, 2011 (Rael's Exodus V: The Anatomy of Everything)

8:34 AM “Gooood morning, passengers. This is your captain speaking. Hope you had a good sleep. We’ve got about a day and a half left of this. Try to stick with us for a little longer, will you? Stay alive. Fitzgerald out.”

8:36 AM So tired. Why am I so tired. I dreamt of buying a home by the sea. Donnie was my wife. Except we weren’t called Donnie and Jordan; she called me “Rael” and I called her “Victoria.” In the home, there was a collection of paintings, most of which were variations on album art. They were changed to feature water. Systematic Chaos had all the ants in the city drowning. Hemispheres had Dionysus and Apollo standing over a large ocean. Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV Volume II: No World for Tomorrow had the sky cloudy and rain pouring down. The only odd one was Wind & Wuthering. It looked normal, except for.. for tentacles in the tree. Moving tentacles. I’m going back to sleep.

10:02 AM Dreamt of a long corridor. One single door at the other end of it. Except this wasn’t just any door. It was a Door. I knew. Because it was my dream! I walked down towards the Door. I heard someone walking behind me. I heard multiple people walking behind me. The first person was Donnie, I know that much. We reached the Door, and I reached for the doorknob. Then I woke up. I’m getting up now.

10:08 AM I can hear loud banging somewhere. I’m not sure where I’m going. Donnie’s coming too; she’s not sure where we’re going, either.

10:10 AM I can definitely hear someone walking nearby. I’m not keeping Tiger Stripes close. It might just be me being tired, but I don’t feel like I need to. I’ll probably die thinking like this. Oh well.

10:14 AM We’re going to the bridge. We’re going to talk to Captain Fitzgerald. I’ve been thinking. There really aren’t many of us left, especially not considering a lot of the people on this boat aren’t actually.. people anymore. They’re just Campers. Part of it. Part of EAT.

10:18 AM We’re at the bridge.

10:23 AM Captain Fitzgerald says he’s had to force himself to stay awake all last night because Doctor Jackson never showed up for his night shift. He says he’s a little shaky now, but he thinks he can make it. I asked if he wanted one of us to take over for a bit. He laughed and said we’re much too young. Donnie made him promise he’d get us through this voyage. He looked her in the eye and said “I indirectly made that promise by choosing to be your captain for this mission, young lady. And I intend on following through. Just make sure you guys stay alive. Fitzgerald out.” Then he turned back to his job.

10:27 AM We’re not entirely sure where we can go now.

10:31 AM The banging’s getting louder. Captain Fitzgerald asked if we could find out what was causing that.

10:43 AM It sounds like it’s coming from the deck.

10:46 AM I don’t see anything out here. ..TEFAJI) THAT’S A LOT OF CAMPER. There’s tons of people down there in the water, people and fucking fish, they’re down in the sea, banging on the ship. Looking up at us. Some are reaching up their hands. I’m.. well, at least we found out what was causing the banging. o_e

10:54 AM Almost back to the bridge. God, that banging.

10:57 AM ..o__o; Captain Fitzgerald didn’t even notice us come in. He’s sitting perfectly still at the wheel. Is he okay?

10:58 AM “Hello.” He said that. So he’s okay. “Did you find out what was causing the banging?” I said it was people and fish. I accidentally used the word “Campers.” >.>; “Oh. Camper. That explains it. Thank you.” Donnie asked if he was okay. “Never better. By the way, do you happen to have any more of that music Yates was listening to? I’d like to hear more of it.” I said we have plenty of it. I offered to go get my folder of CDs. “That would be perfect.” Donnie’s coming with me. I don’t blame her.

11:00 AM I saw someone going ‘round the corner up ahead. Goddamn, this place is starting to give me the creeps.

11:02 AM ..I hear someone again. I’m gonna take a small detour to find out who.

11:03 AM It’s Richard Burgandy. o.o God, I hope he’s not a Camper, too.

11:07 AM He went into his room. Left his door open.

11:08 AM He’s feeding his wife water. She’s lying on their bed. Looks… well, not “sick.” …o_o She looks comatose. Oh god. She’s a Camper. >_< And he’s feeding her water! That’s jus

11:10 AM He spotted us. I tried to tell him his wife’s gone, but he just denied it and told us to leave. ..bah. ._.;

11:15 AM We’re back at our room now.

11:16 AM Donnie closed the door and locked it. She doesn’t want to go back to the captain. Or to anyone. She says this place is pretty much a ticking time bomb. I agree. >_<;

12:03 PM We can’t just stay here, though! D: That’s not gonna get anything done, and things clearly have to be done. Besides, most of what we’ve been seeing lately have been the Campers, and EAT’s already told us it’s not hunting us. For all we know, it could be lying, but it won’t do us good to doubt every single thing we find. I just have a hunch. I dunno.

12:05 PM Donnie’s putting her foot down. She doesn’t want either of us leaving this room, not now. I’ll obey. ._.;

12:48 PM The banging’s intensifying. Donnie’s holding me tight.

1:23 PM ..it’s stopped completely. I have a badrefek9fgsadgj HELLOOOO

1:24 PM Out the window, out the window. Flying zombies. Rising up from the water, flying past our window.

1:30 PM I hear voices. A lot of voices. “COME OUT, INDISEN!” It’s the voice of the Camper.

1:38 PM A lot of footsteps outside the door. >____<;;

1:39 PM DOOR HELLO HI YES? NO INDISEN HERE. THANK YOU, BYE. ohgod

1:40 PM They kicked down the door there were so many of them, one walked in and looked around, it saw nothing so then they all moved on to the next room. They’re doing an Indisen hunt.

1:41 PM They’re still walking past our door; there are a lot of them. Most of them, I don’t even recognize. Folks with eyes missing, leeches on every limb, some even with what looks like what used to be wooden legs, and a lot of torn clothing. Every single poor soul lost at sea participating in an eldritch witch hunt. Tiger Stripes, give me strength.

1:45 PM I hear screaming coming from down the hall. Sounds like Richard.

1:46 PM “Give me my wife back,” I heard. ._.;;

2:02 PM They’re still going. There are a lot of Campers, all marching systematically past our door. They move as one, for they are one. Every other head is turned to look inside whatever door they pass, while the other set of heads face forwards. I imagine that’s the perfect way to cover all directions. It’s hard for me to picture, but I can take a guess as to how they work. EAT used the analogy of my arm gaining individualistic sentience, as the Campers are basically EAT’s arms. So they’re all just.. parts of its huge self. EAT can move them individually, just as I can move all my fingers individually, or EAT can move them all at once in a system of eldritch order, much like operating my legs separately but still at once in order to walk, using my arms to balance my weight, and shifting my body forwards to get myself going. To a being considerably different, an alien or I guess a cockroach, I would look just like an eldritch horror. And that’s basically what this is. Keyword being “basically.” I mean, not even I can make my arms grow wings. o_e

2:10 PM Some of them have longer arms. o___o

2:14 PM I’m sure I saw one using its arms to help it walk. Its arms were that long.

2:40 PM ..all of them have long arms now. And wings. Gotta admit. I don’t wanna know what’s gonna happen to the Indisen when they find it. I wonder what drove them to stop observing it and start hunting it. I wonder how the hell it’s managed to avoid them for so long.

3:32 PM “COME WITH ME, INDISEN.” All of them. o_e It’s hard to get used to that. I hear struggling. The Campers are going in the other direction now.

3:44 PM …O___O Okay. Right. Indisen, Ms. Desmond, being dragged. Didn’t quite want to see that. Oh god hug me Donnie

3:59 PM Oh god, so many splashes. I take it they took her down with them. Oh god, I don’t want to think about that.

4:13 PM …something’s wrong. The boat’s not moving. We’re going to the bridge.

4:20 PM Passed by Richard’s room. He’s sobbing. ._.;

4:27 PM ..Captain Fitzgerald is gone. This is trouble.

4:39 PM Richard doesn’t want to be bothered, but we really need to talk to him. Oh god, how can we do this? We don’t know how to drive a ship.

4:41 PM Donnie’s got an idea. She’s running off. Be careful, ma’am. D: Please.

4:52 PM ��oh god, why do I still hear people walking nearby? o_o;; Please be Donnie.

4:56 PM ..Donnie’s back. u_u; Okay. Hi. She’s got Rogers’ papers. I fucking love that awesome girl.

4:59 PM Richard wants some time alone. He wants to read Rogers’ papers. We’ll let him.

5:04 PM Donnie wants to talk to me about something.

5:09 PM …she says, when in the room, she couldn’t find Rogers’ papers. Then she heard footsteps nearby. She left the room and saw a man. She said it was the same man from before, the one who handed her the receipt in Blackpool. Fedora, slendercoat, sunglasses, mustache, dark hair. He gave her the papers, then he tipped his hat, turned and left. It was Bones. o:

5:15 PM I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what the hell Bones is up to. How the hell he’s been following us, how he’s known exactly what to do and where to be. How he’s possibly been on this ship all this time without anyone knowing. First thing I’m gonna do in the States is look for him.

5:29 PM The boat’s moving again!

5:31 PM “Boy and girl, uh.. Jordan and Donnivan, I believe. It’s Richard. I.. I’ll get us to America. I have to. It’s what Meredith would have wanted, what Bill would have wanted, and.. it’s what Rogers would have wanted, too. “Besides. We can’t stay here in titan's country, out in the deep blue sea, under the same red sky as I hear they have in Asia, in America, in.. see, we’re all in the same Earth, and everyone’s suffering! We can’t sit around, it’s no good, we’re…” He’s crying. ”..I’ll get us there. If we work together, I promise we can do as the captain would have wanted. We can stay alive. Richard out.”

5:33 PM Good work, Richard. ..good work.

5:40 PM We’re back in our room. All is quiet. The ship is moving at a faster pace than before. There’s not much left before we arrive. It’s been quite a journey, journal. u_u;; In the end, there’s only three of us left. Too many unsuspecting people fall victim to the sea. Throughout history, the ocean has offered some of the world’s greatest mysteries and unexplainable disappearances. I guess we’re starting to find out what gods have been responsible for it all.

9:45 PM We’re going to bed. We’ll be touching down in America tomorrow. Then our big-ass journey will resume.

11:00 PM three

(Attached: “To conclude my writings on Salmacis, I’d may as well discuss the physical contortions. The transformations. Her Camper– both singular and plural are ‘Camper,’ that’s generally agreed as the term for her individual bodies– start off as regular people on the outside, but all their blood is now water. Her water. The water is her. Once it gets into your mind, it can start to mess with your anatomy, make your body grow entire evolutionary marvels in the blink of an eye. EAT is evolution supreme, evolution itself gone sentient and now at last awake,EAT has studied the anatomy of Everything in All Time. EAT knows exactly how far your skin can stretch– and regularly tests that to its extremes– EAT knows exactly what organs it can deem unnecessary and how to turn them into wings of water and cartilage and organ tissue- EAT knows how much digestive fluid your brain can take before it melts, and EAT knows how to hotwire your brain to be ready for more. EAT means no harm. It’s only curious. You can tell by the look in her eyes, in the eyes of every Camper: Always blue like the Earth, always glazed over, always taking in everything on the inside and utterly comatose, dead on the outside. EAT does not care. If it wanted, it could snap her fingers and have a band of a hundred Camper performing the most complicated symphony using the wrong instruments, transposing every part on the spot, and it’d still only be as much effort as a blink to her.”) (Attached, flipped: “Ask yourself this, how many songs have you heard that were written by a human? How many books have you read that were written by someone who possessed their own mind, singularly and without caveat? EAT could have written OH GOD THE RAPTURE IS BURNING. Who’s to say it didn't? Salmacis knows. We don't. And we must trust her, because there are still secrets left to tell.”)

[PREV LOG] [TABLE OF CONTENTS] [NEXT LOG]

[football-and-fanfics]

Faint - Fabio Carvalho

Who: Fabio Carvalho Request: fabio faints whilst hanging out with the lfc squad. With harvey mainly but also with a couple of other lfc members :) Requested by: anonymous Warnings: mentions of fainting

A/N: this turned out more with Harvey than with the rest of the LFC squad. Hope you don't mind 🙃

He really should not have skipped breakfast this morning, that much Fabio painfully realized by now. But when he had overslept and was running spectacularly late for morning training, it seemed like the most logical thing to do.

Somehow, Fabio managed to make it through the entire training on an empty stomach, but when he came back to the dressing room afterwards was when things went wrong.

Fabio already felt the effects of his blood sugar getting low due to not having eaten, but coming back into the warmth of the dressing room after the cold of the training pitch, was the last straw. He suddenly felt very faint. He couldn't get his gaze to focus on anything anymore, and Fabio realized only too well what was going to happen to him.

"Harv..." Fabio reached out for Harvey standing beside him. He needed some support to remain standing, but it already was too late. Fabio fainted, in the middle of the dressing room, frightening all of his teammates.

"Holy shit! Fabio?" Harvey was closest to him, and immediately dropped to his knees beside where Fabio lay unresponsive on the floor. "What happened to him?" Jordan was quick to respond as well. "I don't know," Harvey stammered, helplessly shrugging his shoulders. "Stay with him, I'm getting the doc." Jordan quickly got to his feet and ran off to get some help.

"Fab? Fabio?" Harvey carefully shook Fabio's shoulder. Fabio stirred slightly, and Harvey had never been so relieved to hear a faint groan roll off Fabio's lips. "Come on, mate, talk to me." Harvey kept his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Tell me what's going on." Fabio groggily opened his eyes. "I'm okay." "You blacked out," Harvey scoffed. "I know," Fabio mumbled, "it's because I didn't eat anything yet today."

Right at that moment, Jordan returned with one of the team's doctors. "What happened?" The doctor immediately turned his attention to Fabio still lying on the floor. "I didn't eat anything all morning," Fabio answered, sounding a little embarrassed now, too. "You did the whole training without having eaten anything?" The doctor frowned slightly. "Than it's not hard to conclude that your blood sugar got too low and that's why you fainted. Not the smartest move on your part." "Yeah, I know." Fabio accepted the quiet reprimand without complaint. He knew very well he had only himself to blame for this, but that didn't make him feel any less bad.

The doctor rummaged around is his bag and fished out a packet of Dextro Energy. "Eat a few of these until you start to feel less woozy."

Fabio slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Easy, mate." Harvey had not left Fabio's side all this time. "Careful." "I'm alright," Fabio answered softly. "Not taking any chances on that." Harvey positioned himself behind Fabio, so his friend could lean his back against his chest. "Thank you," Fabio mumbled, leaning back gratefully against Harvey. Now that he sat up, Fabio had to admit he still felt a lot more shaky than he thought.

Fabio slowly chewed on the handful of Dextro's the doctor had handed him. It took a few minutes, but finally he felt himself come somewhat back to life.

"You good, mate?" Harvey asked quietly. "I am," Fabio nodded, "but now I'm mostly hungry." "I'm sure that can be resolved." Harvey moved away from behind Fabio and got to his feet. "Let's have lunch."

Fabio accepted Harvey's outstretched hand to pull him to his feet. As soon as he stood, Harvey pulled Fabio into a hug. "Please, don't ever scare me like that again," Harvey mumbled for only Fabio to hear. Fabio chuckled a little embarrassed for scaring his friend like that, but returned to hug. "I promise I won't do it again."

Tags: @evie-pr, @auawdo, @meteora-fc, @stonesyyyy, @drizzyreese, @hbstre, @liverpoolfanfiction, @sternennebel2001, @mrswinksy, @themoon-shines PL / LFC tags: @ella33, @candlelitutopia, @percervall

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[yslende]

Clark lies on the hospital bed, blanket tangled at his feet and his suit still on. The damn suit that still doesn't protect against the kryptonite bullets Luthor publicly mass-produces. The kryptonite bullets that Luthor has been using for years.

Bruce wants to go shake his shoulders around, rattle his brain enough until Clark can put two and two together and add bullet-proof plating to his suit.

The security camera gives him a mediocre view of Clark’s exit wound once he turns on his side. The bandages aren't cutting it; they're already soaked through after fifteen minutes. Barry’s rush job was just that: a rush job. To be fair, everything Barry does is a rush job. To be unfair, it’s still bad.

The report he was supposed to add quotes to stares him down, the cursor flickering accusingly. “The guy was ugly as [expletive],” Hal Jordan said so kindly, on record, about their latest alien dispute. “His feathers were this shit gr,” which is where Bruce's work stops. He eyes it, before rising from the chair in the monitor room.

The walk to the medical wing is short; walk down three halls, turn left, left again. It’s, unfortunately, familiar enough that Bruce doesn't have to check for directions in the winding halls of the Watchtower. He doesn't pass anyone on the way. 

His cape weighs on him like an oil-soaked blanket.

Clark’s trying to sleep when Bruce reaches his room. They're not in the right orbit for the sun to reach them, which is probably why Clark's breath is snotty and ragged. The bandage is leaking, blood running down his side in loose lines over his waterproof suit. He looks pathetic.

“Clark,” Bruce speaks to the empty room, punching through the cracked silence. 

A beat. “Bruce?” Clark lifts his head up. “What are you doing here?”

Making sure you aren't dead. “Your bandage is due for a change,” Bruce says instead. He sheds the gauntlets, placing them on the bedside table, before going to find the latex gloves.

“Oh,” Clark says, rather dumbly for him. “Did everyone else go?” His head thunks back onto the pillow.

“No.” Bruce finds the size L box and snaps a pair on. It’s quiet for a bit, except for the clinks of the tweezers and such. The sounds of someone preparing to sanitize your insides probably aren't very comforting.

He starts stripping the bandage off, ignoring Clark’s hiss of pain. The wound is ugly, red and flush with blood excited to leave Clark's body for once. Bruce douses it with distilled water, again ignoring Clark's cut-off groan. He's looking for any leftover shells or shrapnel, but he doubts—wait.

“Clark,” Bruce says, 12% more urgent than before. “Barry didn't get all of the residue out.”

“Mmwuh?” Had Clark fallen asleep just now? His eyes look bleary. “What, sorry?”

He glares at the offending shell, which is glowing a subdued green. “There's a bullet still inside your wound.”

There's a pregnant pause. “Okay?”

“I need to fish it out. It will hurt.”

Clark's head hits the pillow again. “Can you distract me?” He winces as Bruce spritzes his wound again.

“With what.” Bruce strips the now bloody gloves off, throwing them in the trash and grabbing another set. What is he supposed to say? Distracting Dick typically ensued getting Dick on a topic and letting him talk for as much as he liked. Bruce doubts Clark would find it as effective.

Clark bites off another groan. “I don't know! Want to play Twenty Questions?”

Bruce pauses, the tweezers hovering over Clark's wound. “Very well.” God, he sounds like Alfred.

They sit like that for a second, Bruce frozen in place and Clark silent. “You go first.”

“What questions am I supposed to ask?” Bruce figures it would be impolite to start digging around in Clark's wound so he doesn't have to play this game. The wound gets progressively bloodier.

“Um, something like ‘what’s your favorite color?’ Or something like that.”

“What's your favorite color.” It comes out more like a statement. 

“Triangle,” Clark promptly replies. “Do you like men?”

What. How is he supposed to answer that.

His hand goes forward on autopilot, forcing the ends of the tweezers to butt into the bullet. Clark full-on shouts.

That works too.

clark: do you want to play 20 questions?

bruce: fine.

bruce: whats your favorite color?

clark, laser fucking focused: triangle. do you like men?

[mylordmyfriendsposts]

Sometimes when you read His Word, where He tells people to do things and they do, do you think if we were in the same situation,what would we have done.

Before we become apart of the Kingdom of God, we might have had real difficulty to do some of the things He asked, so the situation would be different.

I Corinthians 1 verse 19: “For it is written: I {God} will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I {God} will set aside the understanding of the experts.”

When we look back at Joshua. The Book of Joshua chapter 6: God told Joshua and his army to march around Jericho for six days and on the seventh day to march around the city seven times.

Can you imagine , what the people were thinking, what are we going to do make them laugh to death? We will wear ourselves out before those walls come down.

Through obedience , Joshua lead them to a tremendous victory, I bet they would have marched anywhere then, on the short term for God.

Gideon in Judges chapter 7: When the three hundred man that were left, Gideon split them into three groups of a hundred. Then he handed out to each man an earthenware jar, a torch of oil wood and a trumpet made of ram’s horn. What were these men thinking, when Gideon told them of God’s plan to take the Midianite camp. Imagine, a touch so they can see us coming, we will be barbequed with our own fire.

Through obedience Gideon, lead them to a great victory.

Naaman in 2 Kings chapter 5: Naaman was a fine soldier who had leprosy, a career ending disease. Elisha the prophet told him to go wash seven times in the River Jordan and he would be cured. Imagine Naaman, his response was ‘why should i wash in their dirty old river, we have much cleaner rivers where I come from.

Eventually through obedience Naaman was healed.

In the New Testament, John 21 verse 6: Jesus told them to cast our there nets again. They had been fishing all night and caught nothing. Imagine what they thought, can’t He see how tired we are from working all that time and catching nothing.

Eventually through obedience they caught a large number of fish.

Man’s wisdom in each of these stories, would have been astounded, with the way God responded to the situation.

The world would say it is foolish to believe in God, but the alternative to belief that they would have us believe, is even more foolish to comprehend.

It was the wise men of the world that sort Him, in Mathew chapter 2, and if we are to be wise, the best place to start is to seek Him {Our Lord and Our Friend], in everything we do.

it is time to start confounding, it is a time to live our Faith to the Full. No one will ever be disappointed in a life of Faith and Trust in the God that created us.

God Bless.

OFJ