#coz she had a bunch of kids to look after

[msbhagirathi]

A Note On Some Things From Episode 2

1. Expressions :

I don't have words to describe the magic, that these two bunch of talents (Mr. BS & Mrs. SI), have casted on us through their soulful portrayal of Arnav and Khushi.

They have often bragged about being able to do the scenes easily without any visible discomfort because of their heartfelt friendship. But, let's also not forget the professionalism that they showed while performing the initial scenes. Because friendship between all the star cast came later on, as they kept shooting.

There were the initial scenes, for example the first scene of Arnav with his Di, on the stage or the dori scenes with Khushi, were the first, the very first of Barun's scene with Dalljeet and Sanaya. In an interview, it was mentioned that he was a very shy person at first. But, still he didn't let the awkwardness of not knowing them properly, affect his scenes with them. (I know that's the job of an actor but still it is indeed difficult to maintain it.) I am sure, the same must have happened with everyone else as well, and Kudos to the whole team for maintaining the work ethics. Such level of professionalism! Wow!

The scene, where, on hearing Di's voice, on the stage, Arnav turns back and smiles at his Di. That's so natural. Like, you can see that he is surprised to see her there, but also kind of 'I knew it!'.

Hehehe. Lol. I didn't do much mehnat in to this, this time. Hope you don't mind. :')

Yeah, so my point is just look at his (positively)delicious face look at the smooth change of expressions. The transition from being irritated to surprised to some more surprised to something akin to 'I knew, it would be you!'

And how did I forget to mention our beloved 'Dolly' here [ ;)] yeah, Anjali Di's inviting and warm smile, made us feel like "I wish I had an elder sister like her."

And the brilliance and brutality of Arnav, in the dori scene, with Khushi, being all scared, nervous and trying to convince the people around her that she is innocent. I don't know 'bout you but I definitely felt so desperate to go inside the screen and yell at those assholes (Arnav included.) to stop harassing her. And, I remember I was so so so so like so shocked so horrified, so much so that my heart started beating faster.

So.

Hmm.

Am I evil enough to give you a snippet of this scene?

Absolutely, not.

No.

NO.

NEVER.

DO YOU THINK I AM THAT EVIL!?!?

Okay, coming to this scene. This is just one of the many scenes where Sanaya literally gave out her soul. The Infamous Dori Scene.

The horror, the panic, the trembling lips and the realization that her back is exposed and that she has to cover it. Although, Arnav wasn't looking at there but when she slapped away her hair (can't find any other term coz week inglis.) he definitely looked at her long, black, straight -kind of - beautiful hair (or rather hair extension. Lol. I am kidding, ok? Sanaya's hair is indeed beautiful.)

The turning back and taking a look at his face to gauge his reaction, the tears and the way she flees away, everything is just- *chef's kiss*

2. Arnav's 'Triggered' Moment

When I was watching this, I wondered what did actually happen here?

Do you ever have this moment when you feel you are SO angry that your body starts shaking with rage? You can feel your body getting all worked up, heat simmering up to your ears and you almost see red?

You are so angry that you are not even thinking anything, you just do whatever comes to your mind, without giving it a second thought. You speak without thinking, the extent to which your words might hurt someone. Although, it may last a few seconds but is powerful enough to engulf you wholly.

And what happens when you calm down? You almost feel as if your body has gone limp, after all that rage. Your hands and legs feel weak and wobbly. Your stomach feels like someone churned it, with one hard smack. You come back to yourself. You return back to where you were, before you'd got triggered like that. And how often does this happen to you? Very rare. Depends on the situation as well.

But, guess what, this type of anger comes to Arnav, as naturally as breathing. Sad. But, true. I am not justifying what he did to Khushi, here, I am just giving an insight as to how he feels every time someone, more or less accidently, reminds him of his trauma.

This is, exactly what happens, with Arnav, each time, he is 'triggered'.

And that is why he needs serious therapy. Mental and emotional healing. Being with the right person still might not guarantee one's healing. A trauma, as deep as his, needs serious treatment.

He doesn't like to go back to his past. It makes him feel weak and vulnerable. Although it's very natural to feel so. But, he CANNOT--WILL NOT let himself, be in that type of a situation ever again, where he does not have the upper hand.

And, hence, whenever someone or Khushi (mostly Khushi, I think.) unknowingly triggers him, he has the worst reaction to it. He gets so livid, where he feels the need to 'punish' that person. He feels the need to make that person realize what a grave mistake they have committed, albeit unintentionally.

So, maybe when he sees her tear-stricken face, he jolts out of that state and thinks out of all the kind of reactions that he knew, he hadn't expected it to be this.

And so, he is -kind of- shocked, that maybe, this girl is not, whom he had thought her to be.

Therefore, he let's it pass, to be what it was, a mistake.

3. Marriage, Dowry and The Society

In today's world, getting married is just another grand event and not something directly related to one's 'honor'. ( I feel like I am writing an essay for some school's essay writing competition. Lol.)

But, back then, this was not the case. A broken marriage or even getting divorced used to be look down upon, like some kind of disgrace or 'curse' for that family and their 'honor'. And accepting dowry was just as normal as accepting gifts from someone (anyone).

The sheer audacity of the boy's family for asking it after imposing most of the financial burden on the girl's family. As if, they are doing some kind of favor to them by getting their SON married to their daughter. You see what I did there?

That's the thing. The inequality. It SO gets on my nerves, every time I think about the inequality, the patriarchy. The superiority complex & the inferiority complex. The misogyny. The chauvinism. UGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Ok so, that is it, then. I will add if I find something else. Bye, then. Have a great day/night ahead. God bless you.

Next!

[znzn06]

had the opportunity to attend the meet and greet with kagami takahiro! ✋🏼✋🏼✋🏼 here is my report

i had no plans on attending the event at all but after looking at sns last minute and realizing he was coming, i had to go... my animator friend had the hand model too so she decided to tag along (thank you so much... if it weren't for you i would have combusted on the spot)

i've been wanting to get the hand model but kept putting it off... since they were selling it at the booth i thought this was 2 birds with 1 stone... not saying kagami takahiro is a bird but you get it

there were different timeslots for the meet and greet, and our first session had a small crowd of people. it wrapped up within the indicated timeframe of 45 minutes... i guess it's also coz people were still queuing to enter the hall. this year they're maintaining the crowd very well.

we were second in line and i felt like my insides were going to burst.

i was holding the hand model box + millennium memory anime guide book + my uchiwa and my letter which i later then stuffed into my pocket... the staff also noticed i was really nervous and kindly told me to breathe and calm down... thank you kind staff......

then came our turn! i went up and didn't wanted to waste anytime and just started talking

me: TAKAHIROSAN NICE TO MEET YOU I AM A BIG FAN!!!!!! kagami: ?!?! NIHONGO??!! JOUZU!! are you okay with speaking it? me: aahaaa yesfsjfsk (omg i got nihongo jouzu'd by takahiro kagami) *note: i wanna punch myself for not using his family name I MUST HAVE BEEN SO RUDE wTFFFF BRAIN)

then i went on about how i was a fan of yugioh as a kid and when i grew up got to appreciate animation more. we passed our things to him to sign and i said my friend here was an animator and she is really grateful for this hand model...

there was a staff beside him who was translating too, and the convo went something like this: my friend: i'm an animator but my hands aren't very nice to use for reference, so i'm thankful for this model translator: (translating and she used the word 醜い) kagami: ?! (looking at my friend's hands) no no! not 醜い! :) us: 😭😭😭🥹🥹🥹(exploding inside) we laughed... he was so nice and humble....

i passed him my letter and said i wrote it last night and threw all my thoughts inside and he was like "EH?! IN JAPANESE?" "ya.... sorry if the handwriting is bad" "not at all!! i'm very happy!!! thank you very much!!!" 🥹🥹🥹🥹

i thought we could only sign one item, but confirmed with the staff it could be multiple items... so i asked him to sign my anime guide book and when he took it he was like "wahh this is really nostalgic.." (it was released in 2016, back when takahashi kazuki was still alive. kagami was in charge of the cover and has an interview inside)

after that we asked for a photo coz i feel like if i don't do this, i might regret it... life is really short! i'm not a fan of getting my photo taken but since we're already here... you know.

the staff helped us a lot, thank you!!!!!

then we took a group photo once everyone had their items signed! it was a really memorable time and i'm so thankful!!!!!!

as takahashi kazuki sensei is not around anymore, kagami takahiro was the next person i wanted to give me thanks and appreciation for their hard work and passion for yugioh. i've been saved multiple times by it so i really wanted to show my appreciation.... i hope it went through!

anyway leaving this yami marik ARIeNAI..... at a bunch of really cute xiaoheis!!!!!!!!!!!!

(this report is written to the best of my recollection so i may have missed out some parts)

[momoleesq]

Chapter 3

​​3

“What time did you say the Bank was robbed?” 

“Between 1:30 am and 5 am,” Nairo replied as they walked through a gabble of counter Gnomes who had turned up to work with nothing to count and a whole lot of complaints to lodge. 

“Aint a single clue in that vault, so the clue has to be out here,” Ridley said as he patted down his long coat looking for a smoke. 

Nairo dodged a stricken Pixie who was sitting cradling its head in its hands and muttering to itself. She stopped to look at the worrying sight but Ridley kept on striding forwards. 

“Why's that?” Nairo asked him as she trotted to catch up. 

“Coz there wasn’t a single clue inside the vault and there's always clues. In thousands of years criminals ain’t come up with the perfect crime. If they had they'd be doing it all the time. Right?”

“Right.”

“So if the clue ain't in there, it must be out here, right?”

“Right,” Nairo agreed, “So which way?”

“Right. No left.” 

Ridley hopped off the pavement, into the seething stream of bodies in the early morning up town rush. Peddlers, commuters, and commuting peddlers overflowed from the pavement onto the cobbled roads. Ridley slipped in and out of the crush, weaving his way with the experienced roll of the shoulder any self respecting city dweller should have. Sergeant Nairo found this wholly unnecessary as she was given the same berth as a shark in a school of fish. The crowd widened around her, a few nodded, most kept their back hunched and their speed inconspicuous. Ridley posted up on a corner by a lamppost and surveyed the streets around him. 

“Earthquakes in Ling! Thousands of refugees pouring into the city! Read all about it! Mayor Pleasently facing back bench, front bench, and opposition bench revolts as food shortages worsen!” A young, grubby faced boy in a shabby green coat and matching hat squawked while brandishing a crumpled newspaper. “Hey mister, only a copper piece!”

“No thanks. I prefer to get my lies face to face,” Ridley responded, shooing the youth away. “I’m old school like that.”

The boy looked around and then sidled closer to Ridley. 

“I got a line on some fresh produce coming into town. Green and crispy. Might even be some carrots that ain’t gone brown yet,” he whispered. 

“I bet the only thing green and crispy are the insects it's infested with. Get lost, kid.”

The youth opened his mouth to curse at Ridley when he saw Nairo approaching. He tugged his hat at her and melted away into the crowd. 

“When was the last time anyone saw the Diamond?” Ridley asked. 

“It was placed in the vault by the bank manager at 1:30 am.” Nairo said as she danced around an old Gnome matron who was carrying another Gnome on her head in a basket. 

“So the only thing open would have been Royle Cafe.” Ridley traced the line of sight down an alleyway, and proceeded to slip away from the mainstream of the populace. Nairo followed curiously. 

“We have already canvassed this entire area, questioned every vendor and beggar, they saw nothing, and I'm reasonably sure only half were lying.”

“Better to ask one person the right question than a whole bunch of people the wrong ones,” Ridley replied over his shoulder as he weaved his way through the criss-crossing alleys of the city. Every now and again he would kick the odd lump of rotting trash, or sniff at a questionable corner. 

“Err... are you ok?” Nairo asked, concern in her voice. 

Ridley puffed his smoke and scratched his stubbly chin. He ignored Nairo and continued to splash through the murky puddles, and other questionable liquids, his coat flapping in the cold morning wind. Finally he stopped and began to stare at a pile of festering fish heads and other assorted abandoned foodstuffs. The staring contest went on for a good few minutes before the pile began to wriggle. First she thought they were rats, then one particular large rat, then after a few seconds of shifting, Nairo found herself staring at a face made out of garbage. A long hooked nose protruded the trash heap, with skin so crusty she could not fathom what colour it had been, or even what it was currently. The lips on the face peeled back, or at least the place she assumed it's lips would be, and revealed a row of teeth so decayed they wiggled when it spoke. 

“Ridleeeeeeeyyyyy!” the trash face squealed, it wriggled until its beard came loose, bin juice oozing from every bristle. 

“You're a hard... thing to find these days, Oz,” Ridley said, taking a few surreptitious steps back from the seeping puddle of ooze.

The trash creature narrowed its wild, jaundice stricken eyes at Ridley.

“No,” it spat irritably.

“You dunno what I'm gonna say, Oz.” 

“No!”

“You owe me one,” Ridley said as he stooped down and wagged a finger in the trash creature's face. 

“You owe me one!” Oz squealed indignantly, a decayed limb burst out of the trash pile and a bony fist shook at Ridley. 

“How’d you figure that!?” Ridley snapped.

“That debacle with that herd of cows in the King’s Square!” The fist wagged harder. 

“No no, coz remember I got you out of that jam after.”

“Which jam?”

“When you got tossed into the bin carriage and nearly got your mangy bones incinerated!”

“That's not a favour! That's civic duty,” Oz said, waving a dismissive claw and splashing garbage juice across the cobbles. 

“Ha, civic duty would have been to let ‘em burn you,” Ridley muttered. “Almost did. It was only the thought of the smell afterwards that stopped me.” 

“How dare you!”

Nairo watched this verbal tennis match back and forth whilst she tried to breath through her mouth as much as possible.

“Beg pardon,” she said and cleared her throat. “I'm not sure if this is part of your interrogation strategy, but the trail grows colder while you two argue.”

Ridley flicked his dog-ended smoke and magicked another one, lighting it while muttering a curse under his breath. 

“I heard that!” the trash creature cried, his crusty claw scuttling out and snatching up Ridley’s dog end, and popping it into his mouth like a mint.

“Fine! We'll call it me owing you one,” Ridley conceded, as he tapped his shabby loafer on the cobbles impatiently. 

“Good. Last thing I expected this mornin' was to wake up to a PI and a lady copper at my heap!”

“Yeah, well something big has gone down…”

“A burglary in the bank district,” Nairo interjected, making sure to give the 'official' line on the situation. 

“Oooooh, juicy, please tell me it was sumfin Elvish wot got nicked.”

“What makes you think it was Elvish?” Ridley said. 

“Dunno. First expensive fing I could think of. Ooh, maybe those new communication scrolls they bring out every other month. It's all the same garbage you know, I know, I should know, get enough of ‘em in my Heaps.” 

“Something was stolen that we need to get back, Mr. Oz, was it?” 

“Corr, she's polite ain't she. You could learn a lesson Ridley.” Oz ignored Ridley's sullen curses and continued. “But what do you want with me? I ain't seen nuffin, heard nuffin, said nuffin, stole nuffin, planned nuffin, done nuffin, and know nuffin.”

“We just need to ask you a few questions Mr. Oz,” Nairo said, her little notepad already in her hand with a matching miniature pencil, ready to begin. 

“You still pilfering fish heads from the Heap outside Monterry's fish mongers?” Ridley asked. 

“Yessir. S’not illegal, anything thrown into the Heap is public domain,” Oz replied, narrowing his beady, crusted up eyes.

“Damn, and there I was hoping to collar you for the great cod head caper. That would have been a real feather in my cap,” Ridley said, rolling his eyes.

“No need to be snarky.”

“The fishmongers don’t close until midnight, right Sarge?”

“Oh… yes I believe so.”

“And the bank was robbed at some time between 1 and 5am. Only place open at that time is The Royle Cafe, which has an uninterrupted eye sight from the Heaps outside Monterry's, right Oz?” Ridley deduced, hands stuffed in his pockets as he bounced on his heels. “And of course Oz the Bin Demon recognizes a face in every part of the city.”

“That's a fact,” the little trash monster beamed with pride as he replied. “I know all of them and they all know me!”

“But you only know scumbags and degenerates like your good self.”

“Yessir.” The note of pride had not disappeared.

“So what would a filthy degenerate be doing in one of the swankiest parts of town at midnight, other than raiding fish bins?” Ridley leaned closer, well as close as he could bear, to Oz.

“Oh ummm... well no, you see, I didn’t see no one that night.”

“But you can't go to a place without recognising a face.” Ridley had adopted that wheedling tone of voice one uses when both parties know the truth but one is unwilling to admit to it. Oz, being a veteran of the city streets himself, opted for a tried and true method when dealing with an investigative authority: belligerence.

“Get lost with yer questions, Ridley!”

“Who'd you see, Oz.”

“I ain’t a rat!”

“No, you just eat their droppings. Who did you see crusty?”

“Shove it!”

“Oz, I'm warning you...”

“Shove it up your aged mother's...” 

Ridley, who had been quietly pulling on a pair of leather gloves while they were talking, lunged into the pile and grabbed a fistful of the demon's soppy beard. Oz tried to retreat into his Heap but Ridley was quicker.

“Oii! Gerroff!” 

Oz kicked and squealed as Ridley hauled him from the Heap. Extracting him was difficult, it was almost as if the trash was alive and actively wrapping itself around the demon's scrawny yellowed limbs. Nairo felt her head swim as a fresh wave of smell and squelching noises hit her. With a sucking plop sound and a fresh cascade of pus like ooze, Oz was wrenched free. Ridley grabbed an abandoned fish head with the backbone still attached and brandished it at the sopping creature.

“Don’t make this any more disgusting than it already is!” He slapped Oz across the face with the fish.

“Ahh assault! Brutality!” Oz cried, his little wet body dripped a yellow green liquid, too thick to be just water. He could not have been three feet, his entire scrawny frame was being held up by Ridley with one hand while he shook and berated Oz with the fish in the other. 

“Who did ya see Oz!?” He slapped him again, this time harder and accompanied it with some more vigorous shaking. 

“Enough!” 

Nairo grabbed a fistful of Ridley's coat and slammed him against the wall, his arm wrenched none too gently behind his back. Oz fell to the floor with a wet squelch and he slithered back to the safety of his Heap.

“Wah! What're you doing!?” Bemusement took the steely edge that Ridley's voice usually carried and replaced it with pained confusion. 

“Battery and assault with... with dead marine life,” she responded calmly. “The offices of upholding law and order do not look kindly on police brutality.”

“Since when?”

“1266, such forceful interrogation tactics were outlawed, and as a sworn official of the peace, I will not stand idly by while you brutalise a member of the public.” 

Ridley squirmed against her for a few moments, then realised the woman had a grip like a lion with a haunch of zebra in its mouth, and relented. 

“Ok, ok, I'm easy.” 

Nairo let go of Ridley and stepped away from him as he spun around and realigned his jacket, his pride a little sorer than his shoulder. Oz snickered from within the depths of his Heap.

“Stupid horse faced pig,” he hissed at Ridley. 

Nairo held up a hand to Ridley and then knelt in front of Oz's Heap.

“Mr. Oz, now you are going to deal with me, is that okay? I am Sergeant Nairo of the police and I have been tasked with a mission of the utmost importance. I'm afraid, unless you tell us what we want to know, I'm going to have to cite you for obstructing the course of justice.”

“Ooooh laa dee daa, I'm quaking in me banana peels,” he retorted nastily.

“Well you should be sir, under the better citizenry Act of 1378: Any citizen of City’s municipalities seen to be ludicrously-slash-offensively dirty will be subjected to a mandatory hosing down and scrubbing in the HQ gaol.”

“What? Mandatory hosing?” Oz’s tone had gone from nasty to frightened.

“Don’t forget the scrubbing,” Ridley added.

“But I'm a trash demon, you can't wash me! That's... that's... speciest!” Oz yelped, his whole Heap practically quivering. 

“Well do you have any documentation attesting to your official status as a trash demon,” she asked with the most pleasant of tones, familiar of the one a secretary would use when answering communication scrolls. 

“Documentation? Look at me, woman! I live in a damn trash heap!” 

“All I see, sir, is an isolated anti-social member of society, in desperate need of governmental intervention in order to become a reformed and healthy member of said society.” She finished with another pleasant smile. 

Oz did not understand most of that sentence, but it contained all his least favourite words.

“Should have left Ridley to beat me with the fish, woulda been more humane,” he muttered glumly.

“Couldn't agree more,” Ridley said. “Now tell us who you saw before we have to get soap involved.”

Oz cringed at the word and held a hand up from his Heap in supplication.

“No soap, please, I'll tell ya.” His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “But you didn’t hear this from me Ridley.”

“Never do.”

 “No! I'm serious this time Ridley, these is nasty people and I have to sleep out here on these streets every night, understand?”

Nairo and Ridley exchanged a look, before they both nodded their agreement.

“Was Benny Two Coats,” he said. “Saw him like four nights in a row just sitting in the cafe for hours, watching. Subtlety ain’t his strong point, everyone from here to Bakers Alley knew he was casing sumfin.”

“Benny Two Coats? One of Uncle Sam's heavies?” Ridley asked.

“Aye.” 

Ridley mulled this new piece of information over in his mind before he nodded.

“You've been most helpful Oz, shame you can’t be more forthcoming. As much fun as the dramatics are, they’re bloody time consuming.” Ridley turned and began to walk back down to the main road.

“Yer Yer, PI!” he called after them. “You can shove it, Ridley! And remember you owe me one!”

“Goodbye Mr. Oz thankyou for your help.”

“Ta ta Sargent.”

[poirott]

Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989 - 2013) + Hercule Poirot: The First Cases (2021) parallels → Poirot's early career

The First Cases PS4 game expands on the Agatha Christie book canon we've previously had about Poirot's career as a young policeman in the Brussels Police Force, before he became a detective in England. Newspaper clippings in the game's intro give us a glimpse of an officer with a bit of a wild streak, who doesn't shy away from defying orders when he deems it necessary.

In Agatha Christie's Poirot tv series' episode 5x06 "The Chocolate Box" young officer Poirot clashes with the Superintendent over an investigation involving the future mayor of Brussels, and gets yelled at for poking his nose into delicate affairs. Refusing to be cowed, Poirot takes on extra cases in his free time. He is admired in the press for being an excellent policeman, "a spark in the otherwise dull embers of the police force." His skills as a marksman are also established in the novel "Curtain" and the tv episode based on it.

Source: Game intro with newspaper clippings of Poirot + Launch trailer

[marsipain]

hi i literally know nothing about cyberpunk but im DROOLING OVER UR DESIGNS…i like do not have the patience or mind to ever do smth like that so its so cool to see other ppl make really cool designs for several characters like wow. i think zane and harumi r my favorite IM OBSESSED.

what kind of things did u use for inspo ?😳

OH MY GOD?? OH MY GOD?? THE CLAM IS IN MY INBOX?? DIES

anyways hihihi sorry it took so long to answer this eeee

Okay so I didn’t actually do that much formal research for it, because anytime i try to do that i feel my creativity and livelyness is sapped out of me (probably one of the reasons i hate school lmao) anyways

It’s actually a really funny (and long) story how this au came to be, so at first i saw the party clone of MK in lego monkie kid (this won’t make much sense if you haven’t watched that show sorry, but also at the same time if you haven’t YOU REALLY SHOUDL ITS REALLY GOOD AND THE ANIMATION MAKES ME DROOL NGL) and i was like yo wouldn’t it be cool if Lloyd had an evil party clone too? and then it expanded to an RGB evil clone au (cuz i’m a sucker for RGB siblings haha) and then i got the idea for nya to be a racer and to have a cyborg gf (cough cough pixal) and i was like okay scrap all the clone stuff were making this a completely independent au because this is MUCH cooler. and yeah, idk where the whole cyberpunk thing came from, i just thought it would really fit into the themes of fighting rings, clubs and races :DD

After that i was a bit busy for a while with school (just like i am now :c) but the brain rot for this AU was still going strong, so I made a pinterest board where i saved just a fuck load of cyberpunk shit that i thought looked cool, and whenever i had time i’d use those to draw the designs! here are some sketches with their references :D (zane and harumi included since they were ur favs! ps zane is my fav too, he just gives off such manager vibes but, hot, HAHA)

(ignore the lines, procreate just fucks up stuff if you change the canvas size and you try to access prior versions of the drawing through the timelapse option lmao)

anyways as you can see not even all of the references are cyberpunk stuff

AND YEAH I USED UR LLOYD AS INSPIRATION, I REALLY LIKE UR ARTSTYLE OKAY MOVING ON

some of the stuff was different and changed a lot through the process, like for example i decided against harumi having the furs because she would never wear them in this AU, she needs practicality in her fighting matches haha. I also changed a lot of lloyd design, cuz i was like “hehe, heelies” cuz zoom zoom, yk? and then u have zane, which was really straightforward coz i had almost exactly how i wanted him to be set in stone in my mind xd

Here’s a link to the pinterest board if ur interested! there’s a bunch of stuff in here i never got to use, so if anyone is interested idm it being used for stuff ^-^

ANYWAYS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SENDING IN THIS ASK, I HOPE IT WASNT TOO LONG AA

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

Ghostly Connections. 👻 🎃

Hi! I wonder if you’re still taking up requests? If it’s fine, I’d like to request that reader can see ghosts, feel the past or some sort, and Steve freaks out but Eddie’s more enamoured with you (coz he likes horror and mystery stuff), and like Robin and Jonathan’s asking bunch of stuff like how they do it, and Nancy’s a bit skeptical just saying “what number am I holding out rn” and the reader’s like “it doesn’t work like that but the dude in a military suit said 3 and then you changed it to 2” and the kids were so amazed

Request by anon.

Warnings; Spookiness, fluff.

Likes, comments, reblogs etc are always welcome ❤. I do not give anyone permission to copy my work.

Ever since she was very young she could see ghosts, feel their presence and seek them out if needed.

At first, she was very scared, the first time she was only five years old and she asked her mother who the little boy was that kept asking her to play hide and seek.

Her mother suddenly went very quiet and reassured her it was just a dream. It wasn't. The little boy came back and he told her that he died in a fire at the house along with his parents when he was very young.

After that, she saw ghosts pretty regularly, she saw the boy whose name was Matt, his parents and various other ghosts as the years passed.

It took a long time to get used to but she did, she was even able to spot the signs of paranormal activity even when ghosts didn't make themselves known.

The room would turn a few degrees cooler than normal, she would sense them moving past her, little whispers of cold against her body and she would hear whispers, faint whispers of the ghost.

The only people she felt comfortable enough with to tell were her friends in Hawkins.

Her boyfriend Eddie and their friends Jonathan, Nancy, Steve and Robin.

When she told them at first they all looked stunned but now they had questions and she was happy to answer them.

"How do you do it?". Jonathan asks curious and Steve hangs back looking nervous and freaked. It seriously creeped him out while Eddie gushed about it.

"That's so freaking metal princess". He beams.

"Do you feel a presence even if you can't see them?". Robin sits beside her excited. Meanwhile, Nancy frowns sceptically.

“What number am I holding out right now then? Tell me?” Nancy frowns and she sighs.

“It doesn’t work like that Nancy, I can see ghosts. I'm not psychic, but the dude in a military suit said three and then you changed it to two if you really want to know”

Nancy gapes and Eddie beams.

"So fucking cool princess". He kisses her hair and she cuddles into him.

"Okay, that's... That's freaky. Wow". Nancy says looking impressed. Y/n smiles glad that she can be herself around her friends, and that Eddie is so accepting of everything she's told him.

He's the perfect boyfriend and she's so glad she met him. Steve even seems slightly curious now and she doesn't want to spook him anymore about her abilities so she keeps the questions light for now.

Best not to mention to him that the military dude is now sitting beside him. That she will keep quiet.

❤

[madelineorionswan]

The Summer Break Challenge.

Day 1: Day at the Beach!

A/N: Yes, I'm actually alive 🤣🤣sorry guys for my absence, exams were killing me and I had one hectic schedule. So I present to you guys two short stories for the amazing, the glorious, mah bestie @usernoneexistent summer prompts. I hope you guys like it!

Summary: After a long week of work, Madeline returns home to her family. It was great to just sit back and have a nice evening with them. But what if they decide to have a weekend at the beach?

Warnings: Tooth rotting family fluff😂

Madeline sighed as she stumbled to her and charlie’s house. Boy, the week had been HECTIC! There had been so much work at the ministry with the disappearance of a death eater from Azkaban and the new Auror recruits’ training sessions, Madeline was on the verge of pulling her hair out!

Thankfully, she knew she had a relaxing, long weekend ahead of her. Sure, she had three, rambunctious children, who seemed to always get themselves into trouble. 

But Madeline and Charlie were the parents so what were you expecting?

Feeling her muscles relax, Madeline kicked the door open, before kicking off her shoes. “I’m home,” she announced loudly as she booted her shoes and threw her bags onto the couch. 

And just as she had predicted, she heard the thunder of footsteps down the stairs as she took off her uniform coat. She turned to face the stairs just in time to see their boy, Drake speed down the stairs, closely followed by their twin girls, Sophia and Isabella, laughing loudly as Charlie called after them, running down the stairs too. 

Madeline sat on her knees and opened her arms, laughing as the three siblings ran up to hug her, but all of them fell to the ground, a laughing mess as Charlie stood above them, shaking his head and chuckling. 

“This is why I told you lot to slow down,” he told them, helping Madeline up. The kids got up and hugged their mum properly this time. 

“Did you guys miss me coz I missed you bunch a lot,” Madeline said, kissing the children's heads.  

“Well, I can assure you, love, they definitely missed you,” Charlie chuckled as he picked up Drake and sat him on his shoulder, “drove me insane all DAY!”

“Mum, dad’s lying! He said he loved having fun with us!” Izzy complained, making Charlie clap his hand on his face as Madeline burst out laughing. 

“Well kids, looks like your dad’s changed loyalties,” she chuckled, picking up the girls in both of her arms, “who’s excited for bath time?” 

The kids squealed with excitement, scrambling out of their parents’ arms and running up the stairs, leaving Madeline and Charlie chuckling and shaking their heads. 

“There’s no doubt they’re our kids,” Charlie joked, snaking his arms around Madeline’s waist. 

“Hmm. There’s no doubt about that,” Madeline laughed. 

The couple smiled lovingly, looking into each other's eyes. Charlie pulled Madeline closer to him and kissed her lovingly. Madeline sighed into the kiss, feeling her body relax into Charlie’s embrace. As they pulled apart, Madeline kissed Charlie again, briefly, before putting her arms on his shoulder, smiling softly. 

“I missed you,” Charlie whispered lovingly. 

“Me too,” Madeline replied, smiling.

Just when they were leaning in for another kiss, Madeline stopped and turned around when she heard giggles. Charlie frowned and followed Madeline's gaze. They noticed little shadows near the base of the stairs. Charlie carefully tiptoed towards the end of the stairs, closely followed by Madeline. There they found the kids arguing and giggling amongst themselves in hushed whispers, to not get caught by their parents. 

Madeline and Charlie shook their heads for what seemed the hundredth time in the last hour or so. Madeline cleared her throat, grabbing the three kids’ attention. This caught their attention as they stopped their banter and turned their heads to see their parents standing at the base of the stairs, hands crossed on their chests. 

They were clearly not amused. 

“And what are three doing down here?” Charlie asked, quirking his brow, trying to keep a serious expression. 

“And as far as I remember, you three were supposed to be in the bathroom upstairs?” Madeline added. 

The children shared a mischievous look amongst themselves, before quickly running upstairs leaving Madeline and Charlie behind to follow them up, a laughing mess. The kids really took after them, didn't they?

—

After one long, never-ending time in the bath and dinner, where the kids almost upset the table with how excited they were to learn about the new dragon hatchling at Charlie’s reserve and the “mean wizard” Madeline had fought. Finally, the kids started to feel and look drowsy. And so Charlie and Madeline carried the kids up the stairs and tucked them in bed. 

Once they were sure that the little ones were actually asleep, they headed to their bedroom. 

"Charlie, I've been thinking…" Madeline said as she saw Charlie walk out of the shower, a towel tied around his waist. 

"Hmm?" Charlie hummed, busy drying his damp, red hair, with another towel.

"How about we go on a vacation?" 

"A vacation?" 

"I mean, it's been a while. And let's face it all of us are kinda getting bored at being cooped up in our daily routines," Madeline said, pulling aside the covers as Charlie sat down beside her and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Honestly, I agree a nice weekend away at the beach sounds like heaven to me," Charlie fell back against the bed cover with a relaxed sigh, a smile on his face. 

"So it's the beach then?" Madeline asked, letting out a chuckle and laying down beside him. 

"I mean, do you want to spend your entire weekend in those freezing Scottish highlands," Charlie retorted. 

"Ok fine, you win. We're going to the beach," Charlie let out a quiet cheer just as Madeline turned off the bedside lamp with a smile, knowing that the upcoming weekend was going to be exciting.

—

It was safe to say that the three orionswan-Weasley siblings had gone bonkers when Madeline and Charlie broke the news that they would be spending the weekend at the beach. 

"Will we see uncle Bill ?!?!!!?!" Drake asked, squealing. 

"Sorry, sweetie he and aunt Fleur are away to France, so it's just us," Madeline said from the living room, where she was packing up a suitcase.

Drake's face fell a little and he fiddled with his food. Charlie noticed Drake's slightly grumpy face. Lowering his voice he said, "Don't worry kiddo when mum's busy we're gonna go on an adventure to find sea shells alright?" 

The mention of sea shells immediately excited the 6-year-old boy and his face light. Charlie high-fives Drake and he immediately gobble up his toast before trying to climb off the chair. 

"What's gotten you into a rush bud?" Madeline asked playfully as she helped him get off his chair. 

Drake wasn't interested in answering as he tried to wiggle himself out of Madeline's grip. Madeline chuckled ad let him go and the moment she did, Drake ran up the stairs at lightning speed. 

"Now what exactly did you tell him?" Madeline asked, tilting her head towards Charlie. 

Charlie had a guilty smile on his face. He shrugged and walked over to her and slung an arm around her shoulder bringing her closer to him. 

"Just got him a tad bit too excited for the trip," Charlie grinned. 

Before Madeline could say anything she heard calling them from upstairs. They looked up and saw Drake run down the stairs, grinning widely. He had a black wooden box in his hand and a red bandana around his head. Box made a rattling sound, possibly from the dozens of seashells delicately preserved in them. 

As he came down the stairs, he carefully placed aside the box of seashells, before putting his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest.

"To the beach!", he declared, making the entire family burst out laughing. 

Charlie laughing picked up his son and hoisted the little boy on his shoulder, making him giggle. 

"You all heard the little man! We have some shells to collect, family!" He declared, mirroring Drake's determined look. 

"To the beach then, " Madeline chuckled, as she picked up the suitcase and headed outside to their car. 

It was gonna be one heck of a beach weekend. 

[that-little-zebunny]

HBC Wicked Wednesday: Lilies & Roses

For @the-th-horniest-book-club 💚 wah finally can hop in and participate to this lovely weekly event 😍

I took the plot Love at first sight. (At least for one of them.) for this one.

Pairing: Loki x fem!Reader

WC: 1900

Warning: rough treatment on a child,? (Just a tad bit i dunno how to properly word it sorry 😅), fluff, loki and flowers coz thats a deadly combo,

*Its been a while. I had been trying to get back to writing after a looooong time of not being able too. T.T I hope you'll like this one. I know its a bit rusty but pls do enjoy. 🥰*

Loki got tired of all the plotting and fighting that he’s been doing for millennia so he decided to lay low to everyone’s last place to expect him, in Midgard. He had been very fascinated with the only beautiful thing in the wretched place, the flowers, so he decided to open a flower shop in a small town where he made sure that no one knew of him.

He’s been there for almost a year now and things are doing well. He’s minding his own business which he likes the most, in the morning he tends to his field and in the afternoon he’s in his shop arranging beautiful bouquets.

One afternoon things are as they are since he’s been there until the bell on his glass door rang indicating a customer entering. Raising his head from what he’s doing on his working table to try and welcome whoever it was but he didn’t see anyone. His eyes narrowed as he looked around the empty shop shaking his head he returned to the task at hand. He’s about to insert the final piece of flower on the bouquet he’s working on when a small voice suddenly flooded the quiet shop.

“I know that! It's Carmation! It means sweet because it’s white.” A cheery slightly high-pitched voice said. It startled Loki that he froze on the spot eyes wide. How did he not know the kid is here? It’s rare that people can sneak on him. Shaking his surprise away he looked down at the small Midgardian raising his eyebrow.

“How smart of you to know that.” He told her, he roamed his eyes again around the shop and pointed at the stocks of Iris. “Then what do those mean?” he asked. The little girl put her hands behind her bouncing at the ball of her feet as she stared sharply at Loki making him a bit nervous. She looked at where he pointed then looked back at him pouting her lips in a...he might not want to admit it, a very adorable way.

“The purpurl ones?” She asked, raising both eyebrows.

“Indeed.” He said.

Nodding her head as if she agrees with something that she only knows what.

“They awr Iris. they mean respect and wisdom and uhm...for the pwince and pwincesses.” she said proudly smiling wide at him showing a vacant front tooth that he found cute. He magically made an iris appear on his hand that he had hidden behind him and offered it to the kid.

“Here, for a very smart princess that I now respect. What is your name child?” HE asked, putting the flower on her left ear. She smiled widely at him.

“My name is Lily. Like those”, she pointed at a bunch of white lilies. she giggled when she saw his face light up on her flower-related name.

“A very beautiful name, Indeed” he said to her.

Surprisingly he enjoyed talking to the child even if she had a hard time pronouncing some words, she is very talkative and does know a lot about flowers.

Half a minute into their conversation a very frantic man came rushing into his shop walking straight to Lily, grabbing her thin arm roughly, speaking loudly, curses, and other harsh words that even as someone that wanted to break this world before knows it should not be spoken in front of a child. He walked out from behind his counter to confront the man.

He grabbed the man’s arm to steady it from shaking the poor kid making it look up at him. He saw how his presence made the man unsure of how to react next. He stared down at him.

“If you know what's best for you, you'll unhand the poor child now.” He said through gritted teeth. The man swallowed a lump on his throat, slowly letting go of Lily. He walked infront of her shielding her from harm.

"That's my kid!" The man shouted, pointing at Lily who's holding tightly on Loki's pants. "S-so will you mind your own business? That kid roamed around when she knows she's definitely not supposed to." He continued.

"Is that true?" Loki asked softly. Lily slowly nodded her head as she whispered a faint appology.

He sighed and look back up again to her Dad. "Then may I ask how you're able to loose your child for almost half an hour and just noticing now? Even my father would not be that careless even with the flaws that he had." He said smirking as he saw the man's face turns pale.

"H-how did-" the man wasn't able to finish talking when another figure came rushing in his shop, running and almost stumbling trying to get near Lily. The child for the first time since people started invadin his sacred space lets go of his pants to run to the woman that came in sobbing loudly. The smell of freshly bloomed flowers surrounded him making his brain hazy as if it's caressing the deepest longing he had in his being. His eyes landed to the weeping mess on his floor, hugging the child tightly. A soft smile appeared in his lips as he saw Lily pats the womans head whispering assurance. What a unique sight *but what a sight indeed* he told himself as he stared at you. Something in him is being pulled and he's not sure why but his heart felt like it's finally beating the way that it should be. *Oh Norns* he thought again.

You're a sobbing mess and you know it. Nothing is scarier for a mother than the news that her child is missing. So after dismissing your botanical 101 class early, you run as fast as you could to your car and drove to the park near your home where your ex-husband said he'll be *quote **bonding** unquote* with his daughter but you know its only for show as it's almost election day and he needs to save face to the townsfolk. God, you wished you didn't agree but the thought of giving Lily a chance to be with her Dad can help give her a little normality in her life but this just prove it wrong.

"Are you sure you're okay sweetheart?" You asked her again, roaming your eyes from her head to her shoe.

"I am Mommy. Mr. Loki here was very nice to me." She said pointing at the tall man beside the both of you. Oh goodness, you didn't even noticed him there and he's huge. Wiping the tears on your face you stood up to face him.

Having the chance to properly see him you couldn't help but admire how beautiful he looks and surrounded by all these flowers makes him ethereal.

"I'm so sorry for all the mess and thank you for keeping Lily safe in here." You told him. "Luckily we didn't have to look long or I might just loose it." You said with gritted teeth as you look at your ex who's standing at the corner like an idiot.

"Not long hmm..." The man, Loki was it. What a unique name.

"We should go." Patrick said his voice shaking a little. "Your kid had caused enough trouble as it is." The man said and tried to reach out to both you and Lily but Loki blocked him before he got the chance.

"Who caused trouble again?" He asked raising an eyebrow. "Tell me what you told me earlier Lily." Loki said looking down at your daughter who only swallowed as she looks at her dad. You frowned at them.

"What's going on?" You asked.

"How long were you looking again?" Loki smirked as he challengely stare at Patrick but you know the question is for you.

"Ten to fifteen minutes give or take?" You answered unsure of what's going on. You are looking at Patrick to Loki back and fort. Your hands softly pulled Lily to your side and you felt her small arts embraced your waist.

"We'll, this bright young girl here had been woth me for almost half an hour. What kind of father let their child roam around unattended for that long?" Loki's voice started to sound angry as he stared at Patrick. Hands closing into a fist as he felt anger rise up his mind but he wasn't able to continue expressing that as all the flowers on the shop started dying. From beautiful colors to a decaying brown. You heard Patrick gasp as he look at you, eyes pleading.

"Norns, what's going on?" Loki said but he sounded far away from your ears. All you can focus on was Patrick. The man had let your daughter on her own for that long and had the gull to lie about it? Gritting your teeth as angry consumes you.

"Mommy doesn't like being angry." Lily said as she runs to her father's side holding his hand and air started to return on his body. "Can you pls make mommy not angry?" She asked, eyes full of maturity as she assess the situation and Loki understand what's going on.

They're mutants, of course. This mother and daughter duo gives and takes life. Acting as fast as he could he turned you toward him hands touching both of your wrist and used his seidr to fill your mind with his and Lily's conversation from earlier. How she laughed at him from being serious and how she named all the flowers she can see and how she told him how much she loves her mommy and that you're be best of all mommies in the universe.

Lily let go of her Dad's hands and he's been breathing on his own and didn't take a second before he's running out of the shop. Serves him right Loki thought before returning his focus to you. You're stating at him as if in daze.

"T-thank you." You whispered and he smiled gently at you. Oh how he wants to keep you in his hold and protects you.

"It is nothing." He answered as his eyes felt like they're trapped in yours. He can see the uncertainty, the guilt and the longing in them and he wanted nothing else but to ease your heart and mind. How in the norns could such beauty cause such grift, and knowing hot that ends all he wants is to be there to assure you it'll be alright.

"Mommy and Loki, staring like trees K-I-S-S-I-" Lily's gigly high pitched voice broke your both on your trance, your face heating up at what she's singing.

"LILY ROSE Y/L/N!!!" You gasped, wided eyed as your daughter just giggled and run around the shop touching flowers after flowers and they all returned to how they are, fresh and colorful. "I am so sorry for everything." You told Loki and he only smiled at you.

"Would you like to stay for tea?" He asked, his hans went up to wipe a stray tear on your cheek and you couldn't help but lean on his touch making him smile wider.

"Yes please!" Lily answered for you making you blinked rapidly.

"Uhm..y-yeah. we'd love that." You answered and how thankful you're for that day as life became very colorful and full of love for you and your daughter thanks to Loki.

Thank you so much for reading!!! Likes, Reblogs and comments are well appreciated. Its been a while I'm so happy to be back 😭😭😭

-zephy

[chipper9906]

The First... Chapter 1: The First... Meeting

Pairings: Dylan Lenivy/Ryan Erzahler

Chapter Word Count: 3,635

Status: Multi-Chapter - In Progress (1/?)

Summary:

“Look, I get it. It’s hot, and you wanna cool down, right? But as much as we like to have fun here, we have to realize the dangers, okay? You’d be surprised how easy it is to…”

Something moving on the other side of the fence catches Dylan’s eye — and attention. He turns his head towards it, seeing that—

Jesus Christ, that dude was gorgeous.

* * *

A continuation/sequel of my fic 'Truth or Dare 2.0', in the form of a collection of oneshots of 'First' moments in Ryan and Dylan's relationship, set after the events of 'The Quarry'.

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Author Notes:

Okay, okay, I know I said "set after the events of 'The Quarry' ", but I HAD to expand on the 'pool scene meeting' I mentioned in 'Truth or Dare 2.0', coz honestly it seemed like a crime not to. So... Prequel oneshot first lol.

* * *

Goddamn summer.

It's only just begun and he's already done with it. It wasn't even this hot yesterday, Dylan's sure of it. But apparently, now the sun is deciding to be a massive dick and do its best to make everyone melt on the first day of camp. It's hard enough keeping track of a bunch of over-excited kids making their arrival to camp; adding unbearable levels of heat to the mix is just a recipe for disaster.

Not even the shade of the trees overhead was doing much to cool him down as he made his way down the path, the uphill climb towards the cabins only worsening the amount of sweat pouring out of him. On the bright side, he wasn't yet leading all the kids toward their five-star accommodations. Nope, it was just him, the box of stuff Mr. H asked him to store in the radio hut, and what he's pretty sure is about seventy-five percent of his body's water leaking onto the ground as he goes.

" 'Oh hey, can you go trek out in ninety-degree heat to a cabin with no air conditioning to store some old and rusting tools while we stay in the nice cool lodge?' " Dylan readjusted his sweaty grip on the box before it could potentially slip out of his hands. At this rate, all his sweat is gonna turn the cardboard into mush… " 'Oh sure, no problem! I'm sure, uh… uh—'" Dammit, what was her name? She told him literally five minutes ago, something like… "Kaitlyn! 'I'm sure Kaitlyn will LOVE testing out her first-aid abilities when you find me passed out, face down in this stupid box…'"

Dylan peeks into the contents of the box as he walked. Every year Mr. H wanted to store more and more stuff in the radio hut… It won't be long before it becomes a storage hut with a radio, instead of a radio hut with a bunch of crap lying about. Well… not crap, he knows all that stuff has got its uses, but still. What use does the owner of a summer camp have for a chainsaw, anyway? He's fairly certain that chopping down trees wasn't one of the activities offered on the curriculum this year…

Dylan crests the top of the hill (Thank Jesus—), trying his best to pretend he wasn't out of breath despite the fact that no one was around to judge him. He crosses over the small bridge, glancing right towards the direction of the radio hut, and that's when he hears it.

Yup… That was definitely the delighted 'we're doing something we shouldn't be' laughter of children. Man, he's glad it's daytime, because that sound in the middle of the night when it's pitch black would either have him swinging his fists wildly or screaming. Perhaps even both. At the same time, most likely. Not that he encourages violence against children, of course. But… y'know. Self-preservation and all that.

The laughter was coming from right up ahead, along with the subtle sounds of splashing water. Dylan peers closer at the pool house, looking past the fencing wrapped around the pool, and... yep, suspicion confirmed. He could just make out a few heads bobbing about in the water, making some attempt to stay quiet, but failing miserably as they giggle unabashedly and splash water at one another. Dylan sighed, dropping the box down next to the bridge with a groan. Alright, time to be a responsible counselor he guessed…

Even if he thought the kids had the right idea on how to beat this heat…

…And the non-responsible part of him — which was a lot of him — wanted to jump in that pool, too…

He had hoped that stepping into the pool house would provide some cooling relief, but nope — the building was practically an oven. Dylan caught the curse on the tip of his tongue as the door softly shut behind him, reminding himself that there were kids with keen ears just on the other side. He headed straight towards the towels, grabbing a stack of them before heading back out towards the pool.

The kids still hadn't noticed him, even as he approached the fencing, too wrapped up in… being kids, having fun in the water. He knew this was a hundred percent something he'd do as a camper if it was ever this hot, but unfortunately, he's not a camper anymore. Now he's gotta do some boring adult shit and make sure Chris's summer camp doesn't go out of business day one into the season because he let a bunch of kids drown.

He ducks through the hole in the fence that Chris swore he would get patched soon, and still the kids don't notice him. He puts the towels down on the bench attached to the side of the pool house, leaning his shoulder against the brick wall, arms loosely folded and leg crossed over the other as he waits for them to become aware of his presence. "Having fun?"

As expected, the kids squeal at the sound of his voice, panicked at being caught. He chuckles at the response, which seems to put the kids at ease a little bit. "You know, if you wanna try and sneak away to do stuff you're not supposed to, you really gotta get better at the whole 'keeping an eye out thing'."

"Sorry, Mr. Dylan…" One of the kids mumbles, all of them wearing matching expressions of guilt as they paddle in place.

"Ugh, no 'Mr', just Dylan," Dylan tells them, his exaggerated scrunched-up face of disgust getting a few giggles from some of the kids. He pushes himself off the wall, leisurely strolling up to the poolside where the kids were closest. "Look, I get it. It's hot, and you wanna cool down, right? But as much as we like to have fun here, we have to realize the dangers, okay? You'd be surprised how easy it is to…"

Something moving on the other side of the fence catches Dylan's eye — and attention. He turns his head towards it, seeing that—

Jesus Christ, that dude was gorgeous.

Seriously, it was unfair how attractive this guy was. He didn't even know who the hell he was; he'd definitely have remembered seeing him in orientation. Or speaking to him. God, he wondered if his voice sounded as good as he looked… That might just kill him.

Dylan could just about see he had a pair of earphones in his ears, connected to what he didn't know since Chris had already taken away their phones this morning. Then again, if the guy wasn't at orientation, maybe he didn't get a chance to. He was walking along like the heat wasn't bothering him in the slightest, nor the heavy weight of what looked to be way too many life jackets he was balancing in his arms. The only indicator that the heat of the day was affecting him was by the sheen of sweat coating his skin, and dammit, he even made that look good! Now that was just unfair. No one should look good covered in sweat, but here was this guy walking around looking like an oiled-up Greek God or something—

Dylan's next step meets air instead of the floor, which is a little confusing, to say the least. But then it very quickly meets water after, and the reality of how much of a big fucking idiot he is sinks in at the same time his entire body sinks to the bottom of the pool.

Whelp… This was embarrassing. There's no way the kids didn't see that, given that they had been watching him the entire walk over to the poolside. Probably meant they had seen him gaping at 'Mr. Unreasonably Hot' too before his dumb-ass tumbled over into the water. He could only hope that 'Mr. Unreasonably Hot' didn't see him falling in, too. Maybe he should stay down here and drown to save himself from the coming shame. It wasn't exactly like he could figure out a way to joke out of this situation—

Wait.

Maybe there was.

You know what, scratch his previous statements. He's not an idiot.

He's a genius.

Dylan kicks off the bottom of the pool, breaching the surface with a dramatic gasp for air, making exaggerated movements as he smacks at the water around him. "Oh no! What a fool I am! And with no lifeguard to help me?! Whatever will I do!"

The kids burst into a fit of giggles at his acting, watching with rapt attention as he 'struggles' over to the side of the pool. "If only I hadn't entered the pool by myself! If only I had made sure there was someone responsible for my safety watching over me! Now I must sit with the consequences of my actions, and face almost certain death! Oh, woe is me, left to drown when there's so much life ahead of—"

The sound of footsteps pounding toward them stops Dylan mid monologue, turning himself around to see who was coming. To his surprise — and yep, there was that embarrassment — it seemed that Mr. Unreasonably Hot had indeed noticed him falling in the pool. He wasn't entirely sure how given he had earphones in. Then again, he was giving his little lesson to the kids at a fairly loud volume. Along with all that splashing…

Yeah, okay, he would have had to be pretty oblivious not to notice.

The guy was racing towards him, life jackets discarded to the ground as he leaps through the hole in the fence, getting to what he perceived as an actual emergency as quick as he possibly could. It was… kind of touching actually that this guy who has no idea who he is was outright sprinting to his aid.

"Holy—" The guy skids to a stop at the edge of the pool, stopping himself from swearing just in time, and dammit, his voice did sound as good as he looked! "I heard- You just fell in, and-" The guy stumbles over his words, slightly out of breath from the impromptu run. "Are you okay?"

Dylan smiles up at his concerned face, easily swimming in place. "All good, man. Was just teaching these little rebels here about the dangers of swimming unattended."

The guy glances over to where the kids were still huddled together, some of the concern they were feeling about being in trouble returning now there were two counselors here. "Oh, you were…" The guy sighs, running a hand across his face. "Jesus, I thought you were drowning…"

"Sorry… Didn't mean to scare you," Dylan apologizes. The guy can only shake his head, another soft sigh kicking out of him. He bends down, anchoring himself in place and holding out a hand to Dylan. Dylan grabs hold, making sure to lean most of his weight into the side of the pool as the guy pulls him up, not wanting to be the asshole that drags the person trying to help into the pool with you.

"Alright, come on—" The guy calls to the kids still in the pool, hand still clasped with Dylan's as he gets to his feet. "Aren't you guys supposed to be back in the lodge for orientation?"

'Could say the same for you' Dylan thinks.

"Yeah…" The kids don't exactly hide their feelings on the matter, looking rather miserable as they make their way to the ladder of the pool. The guy finally (by which Dylan means regrettably) drops Dylan's hand, having spotted the towels Dylan had got for them. He heads over to them, grabbing the entire stack and handing them out to the kids as they unenthusiastically skulk over to him.

"Let me guess, you guys were already friends before you got here, huh?" Dylan asks.

"Uh-huh," one of the kid's answers, voice muffled by the towel he had thrown over his entire body, pulling off a very convincing ghost costume.

"Thought so. And yeah, I know, you just wanna get to camp and have fun with your friends, right? But the fun part about camp is making friends! Okay? All those other little dudes back at the lodge right now aren't just gonna be your fellow campers, but future friends you don't even know about yet. How cool is that!"

"But… it's hot," one of the kids whines.

"Yeah… Okay, yeah, it's hot," Dylan concedes. "But—"

"There'll be plenty of time to go swimming throughout summer." The guy jumps in. "Believe me, I used to come here as a camper all the time. In fact, you'll even get to go out to the lake, too."

That seemed to do the trick, the kid's disappointed faces lighting up with excitement. "We will?!"

"Yup. It's literally my job — to take you guys out sailing."

"See? Plenty of cool and refreshing fun to be had, and with a bunch of new friends you'll get to meet once you get back to the lodge!" Dylan adds, keeping his voice as upbeat and overly-enthusiastic as possible. "Now, get in that pool house and go change before I actually drown you."

Thankfully, the kids laugh at his fake threat, shrill and over-excited voices trailing off as their feet pitter-patter over to the door of the pool house. The two of them watch as the kids go, making sure they all filed into the pool house. They both look back at each other at the same time, and — oops, Dylan didn't realize they were standing that close together. He awkwardly clears his throat, taking a little step back to get out of the poor dude's personal space. "So, uh… You're the sailing instructor?"

"Yep," Mr. Unreasonably Hot - No, Mr. Sailing Instructor - wait, he's sure he saw the guy's name in the information booklet Chris sent out.

"Yeah, uh… You're Ryan, right?" Dylan holds out a hand for a handshake, and oh God, please let him have guessed right, please—

"Correct again," Ryan says with a hint of a smile, grabbing hold of Dylan's hand once again and giving it a shake. "Should I be concerned you knew my name without me telling you…?"

"Maybe," Dylan replies with a sinister smile. "You're very easy to stalk with those earphones in."

The handshake goes still. "Uh…"

"I'm just kidding," Dylan assures him, letting go of Ryan's hand. "Your name was in the booklet thingy Mr.H gave us, remember? 'Ryan the Sailing Instructor'."

"Oh, right. I, uh… I don't know what you do other than apparently nearly drowning yourself to… teach kids a lesson?"

Dylan snorts. "Nah, that's just my side hustle, y'know? All part of the counselor experience, I guess… I'm in charge of that beauty over there—" Dylan gestures with his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the radio hut.

"The… radio…?" Ryan guesses, confusion briefly written across his face before brightening with his realization. "Oh! I guess that makes you Dylan."

"Ding, ding ding!" Dylan places a hand on his chest. "Meet DJ Dylan: The sultry voice you'll be waking up to every morning."

"Right, right, the- uh… radio announcements and all that. That's your role, then?"

"Sure is. Along with a bunch of other stuff I'm sure, since two of the counselors didn't show up…"

"Yeah, that's… Not great." Ryan pauses, looking Dylan up and down — particularly at the way he was still dripping. "Uh, do you want me to like… get you a towel…?"

"Nah, it's cool," Dylan waves him off. "Literally. You have no idea how much cooler I am now. I'll just drip dry." Dylan follows this by shaking his drenched mop of hair side to side. Ryan tries to turn away to avoid the spray of droplets that come from it, but his efforts prove fruitless.

"Dude…" Ryan protests weakly, arms stretched out to the side as he looks down at his water-speckled shirt.

"Oh, shoot…" Dylan says, tone not at all apologetic. "I'd say I'm sorry, but technically you should be thanking me for cooling you off."

"I'd… rather cool off in a way that doesn't make me smell like chlorine. But… thanks?"

"You are more than welcome," Dylan says, dipping his head in a mini bow. "So, uh… How come I didn't see you in orientation?" Dylan places his hands on his hips, his ask getting a questioning eyebrow raise from Ryan. "Or… didn't meet you, at least."

"Oh, no, I was - um…" Ryan trails off, gesturing with a thumb behind his back as he glances back in the direction of the lodge. "I wasn't at orientation."

"Oh. Cool, that… answers my question. Very informative, thank you, Ryan."

Ryan huffs, glancing away to hide the subtle smile on his face. "Yeah, uh… I needed to talk to Mr. H before the kids arrived, and he sent me out to go fetch some of the life jackets he left stored in one of the cabins last year, so…"

"So… you were skipping orientation?"

"No—"

"But you weren't there?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Ryan sighs, readying himself for this explanation. "Sometimes meeting so many people at once is kind of… overwhelming? It's not that I don't want to meet you guys, but… I'd prefer to do it in my own time. Y'know… gradually."

"Hey, I get it," Dylan holds his hands up. "Honestly, I think you had the better idea. Meet your co-workers one by one… Maybe rescue one from drowning in the pool…?"

Ryan snorts, looking as surprised at his own snort as Dylan was to hear it. He coughs to cover it, hiding behind his clenched fist. "Uh, yeah… I mean, I'll definitely remember you after this."

"If anything, I am a memorable person," Dylan gloats. "And I'm sure I'll remember the guy who came to my rescue."

"Hard to forget, I'm sure," Ryan played along. His eyes slid over to the pool house, a little unsettled by the uncharacteristic silence from the kids inside. "We should probably…" Ryan flops his hand up to point towards the pool house. "Get them ready to head back to the lodge."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Doubt they know how to get back by themselves on the first day…" Dylan agrees, the two of them beginning a slow walk towards the front of the pool house. Hopefully, Ryan won't have noticed the way his voice had lost some of its brightness, perhaps a little disappointed that their conversation was coming to an end. Dylan looks over to the bridge where he had left his box, chewing thoughtfully on his lip. "Hey, uh… Any idea where I can quickly store a box full of rusty tools and a chainsaw where the kids won't get their hands on it? Probably wouldn't be too responsible of me to leave it laying about while I get the kids back."

"Uh… No. But don't worry, man, I'll… I'll get the kids back to the lodge," Ryan offers, both of them coming to a stop just outside the doors of the pool house.

Dylan's brow shoots up at the offer. "You sure?"

"Yeah, it's cool. I was headed down towards the lake anyway, so I can drop off the kids at the lodge on the way back."

Dylan smiles brightly at Ryan, his smile seemingly proving to be infectious as he gets the first real pull of a smile at Ryan's lips that he's seen — and not attempted to hide. "Sweet! Man, first coming to my rescue and now offering to take a bunch of rebellious kids off my hand?" Dylan walks back as he speaks, holding a hand over his chest for dramatic effect. "Man after my own heart, Ryan."

Ryan hums in a way of both acknowledgment and also in a way that sounded a lot like 'ha, ha, real funny', watching Dylan and his unwavering grin as he goes. Dylan quickly snatches up the box from the ground, turning back to Ryan. "I'll be seeing you around, Ryan," he says, balancing the box in one hand whilst giving Ryan a mock salute, heading back down the path in the direction of the radio hut.

"Just… Maybe not drowning next time?" Ryan calls after him as he goes.

Dylan spins around to face Ryan, teeth gleaming in the sun as he all but skips backward. "Hmm, I dunno… Maybe I'll go for a 'dangerous' swim in the lake… Have our camp's sexy sailing instructor come save me again." Dylan throws in a wink for good measure, turning back around to face where he was walking before he could get a chance to see Ryan's reaction.

The kids apparently had terrible timing and had exited the pool house just in time to hear that last comment. If Ryan said anything in response, Dylan wasn't able to hear it over the chorus of enthusiastic, "Oooooo's!" of the kids, quickly followed by a chorus of, "Mr. Dylan and Mr. Ryan, sitting in a tree! K - I - S - S—"

"Alright, alright, knock it off…" Ryan's grumble in response only gets more laughter from the kids. Dylan could just about hold in his own laughter at the response, not able to see the way Ryan's eyes followed him the whole way up to the radio hut.

It was only once the door of the hut had swung shut behind him and he had carefully put the box down that he glanced out of the window back in the direction of the pool house. He couldn't help but smile softly to himself at the sight of poor Ryan trying his best to pick the life jackets back up whilst a group of children flock around him, all vying for his attention.

Two whole months of summer camp, huh?

Maybe this would be more fun than he thought…

[alishamaybe]

Wrote down a bunch of thoughts in a notebook while rewatching Pacific Rim: Uprising last week. After some clean-up, here they are:

The colours in the opening scene actually match PR1's vibe

Hmm Hermann's workspace is too messy-I know it's from drifting with Newt but...really?

AHH there's a photo of him and Newt on his desk that's so cute!!

Newt's so mean :(

Direct inconsistency about Precursors' motives?? What.

"And now we're shouting. There's no need to shout." WHAT. NEWT?? Not being loud??

Mako laughing with Jake!! :')

Uppercut to Lady Avenger through the building was funny

Jake tearing up as he runs to see if Mako's ok ;-; (yay emotions! good acting John Boyega!)

"I really am sorry about your sister. Half-sister." Hmm...feel like tension broke for humour too soon

Yeah, not liking Mako's death. A Hero, dying like that? No.

"Activate Gravity Sling!" Ahahah it's what a kid would come up with-I think GDT would like this

The jaegers don't have as much weight as in PR1

Newt's littol run down the stairs. It's him! It's Newt!

Newt's flat is waaay too neat. How.

"The boss could have died. Would have been great, actually!" Yay Newt! It's him!

Good transition from the shot of Jake asking for permission to the shot of Siberia

Escaping through the ice was cool

Callback to Chuck in Leatherback fight :')

Jake talking to Amara after she got dismissed had good weight-even the humour landed well

"I have a mission? Finally!" I think the emotion is defo a Hermann thing but expressing it? I guess drifting with Newt means it makes sense

Quan has zero personality

Wait, why is Newt working in mathy stuff and Hermann in bio??

Oh wait, Newt can use drifting as an excuse but he just needs the resources for the Precursors' plans

"I will shoot you. I will shoot you twice. You're officially fired!" Ahahaa

Hermann trying to get Newt to snap out of it haha trope! but also ;-;

"Yes!" from Hermann after Shao shut down feedback grenade-what was that shot?? loll

We don't know the other pilots-there's this shot of one pilot launching some missiles from the jaeger's fist but who was it?? Feels very not GDT

I laughed at this then, I laugh again now-what is this montage?? rrrghh

Lol the visual of Earth being covered in red clouds already designed and programmed? Newt, was that you?

"Knew it'd work." Hermann should be more confident because he's like that

Anti-kaiju refuge lift goes down, lots of people don't get in? The jaegers are damaging buildings-what?? Not pacifist GDT, especially Saber Athena, just rushing up and slicing

Strike Whip? GDT-like.

Ok, but I guess Jake and Nate trying to see how much impact Raijin(?) can take works...

Car gently being hit callback joke. It works :) (reluctant smile?)

Nate should have been given a different name. Too similar to 'Newt'

Shots of the little kaiju crawling onto big kaiju + red smoke-nice visual, sorta GDT, yeah! nice colours, dramatic. Weight was almost there!! Especially with Newt sighing. But Nate just had to say, "He's pretty big." Sigh.

Oo cam movement from Tacit Ronin statue to Amara's pod was good

Amara jumping yess, good arc conclusion

"You got this, brother." :')

Liwen smiling and looking relaxed! I liked that!

Amara and Jake having a snowball fight-too early? Suresh died.

Uggh why do the Precursors have to be generic aliens who want to invade Earth coz That's What Aliens Do-I mean, that's what it seems like with how mind-controlled!Newt is acting ("We are never gonna stop! Lousy little world")

[depressedacadamia]

A kiss would be nice

Summary: Magnus develops feelings for his roomate and has no idea what to do; when theres' some serious miscommunication, Alex and Magnus have to solve an obvious problem.

Pairing:  Fierrochase

A/N: THIS WAS MY FIRST EVER REQUEST!!!!  I swear I'm gonna organise my Masterlist on tumblr coz its a hot mess rn and then I will get a prompt list up. Anyway, I hope this lives up to the expectations of the request- enjoy and comment!

Read on A03        M;List

Magnus liked Alex.

How exactly was he meant to process this?

Yes. Alex was sometimes a girl and other times a boy but what did it make him?

He could remember the moment Alex came floundering into his life, confident about who she was and Magnus could only think about how much he didn't know about himself. It was ridiculous, in his opinion, to think that he fundamentally changed as a person just because he liked someone.

So why did he feel so scared to come to that conclusion that he did in fact like Alex?

“What are you thinking so hard about over there, pretty boy?” Alex asked dryly as he scrolled through his phone while he dangled off the top bunk of their dormitory. Startled, Magnus snapped his head towards Alex and with no game whatsoever stuttered a terrible lie.

“Uh- Uh, nothing.”

“Uhu,” Alex emphasised. “ So that totally wasn't a lie.”

“Yes, Wait, I mean no- wait,” Magnus stuttered out again, his hands beginning to fidget and his palms becoming sweaty.

Alex simply raised an eyebrow before softly sighing and returning to his phone scrolling. He knew that Magnus wasn't the kind to keep secrets in a malicious manner- if he wasn't spilling something, it was because he didn't feel comfortable and Alex knew as well as anyone else that if Magnus was uncomfortable, nothing was spilling from his lips.

Clenching his fists in finality, Magnus got up, accidentally banging the top of his head on the top bunk above him where Alex was elegantly dangling off, his hair defying the laws of gravity by maintaining its rightful position on his head. He rubbed his head, swore under his breath and continued to make a bashful exit from the dorm room.

Alex could tell that something was definitely up.

Sure, Magnus was weird- he sometimes came back home at incredibly odd hours, always seemed relatively silent when one were to ask him where he had been and he almost always wore his lengthy blonde hair in a way that covered the majority of his face; in fact, Alex had thought about tilting his chin up just so he could get a better view of his elegant features.

So what exactly was it causing his roommate to act so oddly?

Magnus was in the bathroom. In fact he was hiding out in one of the stalls, trying his best to avud Alex at all costs. What had started out as a way to skip the horribly boring parts of his classes, now became a full blown ritual in which he would run away to his favourite bathroom stall- the one by the very end, next to the hand blow dryers, were his favourite but also alarmed him because it was there where he could hear whether anybody really washed their hands and there was an alarming amount of evidence which contradicted so.

He would take a book or sometimes just plug in his earphones to listen to music as he essentially hid out in the stall. Sometimes, when he felt a bit more confident- and knew Alex would be off campus- Magnus would hide out in the library; a much more comfortable and all round better smelling place to read, study and or listen to music.

But now as he slowly emerged from the stall after hours of sitting, heading back towards his room, Magnus could only feel this inevitable feeling of impending doom. He had managed to distract himself from the Alex situation for so long and now, he was about to crumble.

It was only a matter of time.

“Magnus?” A familiar and - dare I even say- dreaded voice asked him.

Glancing through the blonde locks of hair which curtained his face, he caught a glimpse of familiar green hair which he had been avoiding.

“Huh?” He managed to mumble.

Alex frowned. “Don’t ‘huh’ me. Where have you been? I’ve been calling you all day.”

Magnus’s eyes widened- he had left his phone on silent as he didnt want to deal with others. “I-you did? Sorry.”

“That doesn't matter now. Where have you bee- actually nevermind that as well, come on, we need to get back, it’s already late and I know you have an early class tomorrow.”

Magnus hesitated.

Alex noticed. He refused to stay silent about the matter any longer.

“Okay. Spit it out. “

“What!” Magnus stammered. “ Spi- spit what? Spit wh- what out exactly?”

“The reason you’ve been avoiding me? Did I forget to do my chores or something? Or did I accidentally make some sort of mess of your stuff?”

“No- No, of course not!”

“So?”

Magnus found himself too enamoured with Alex’s features to respond. He could feel the bubble bath slowly overflowing inside his mind. What did it mean if he liked Alex? Was he now a completely different person? What did it matter if he liked Alex?

Wasn't he just like everybody else?

But Magnus’ mind told him that it was so obvious that Alex was in fact not like everybody else, otherwise why was it Alex whom he couldn’t keep his eyes off of? If Alex was so like everyone else, why was it his eyes that Magnus always wanted to stare at, why was it Alex’s hair that Magnus always wanted to ruffle or Alex’s hand that he always wanted to hold?

Why was it always Alex whom he wanted to hug when he was having a bad day?

So when he looked back at Alex, he felt the overwhelming need to throw himself and wrap his arms around Alex so tightly that Alex would have trouble breathing and then - in Magnus’s perfect world- Alex would also wrap his arms around Magnus and they would hold each other in their arms and stand their leaning on each other.

“Nothing,” Magnmus mumbled as he came back to reality.

He walked past Alex, eager to get back to their dorm and just sleep his feelings away- something he was used to doing thanks to his years of being homeless. He wasn’t about to escape when a slender hand wrapped itself around his wrist and dragged him backwards.

“No.” Alex huffed almost angrily. “You’re not running away from me,not again.”

Magnus could have sworn- looking back- that he may have let out a squeak.

“You are avoiding me Mister and I’d like to know why. It’s bad enough that you spend all your time hiding in the bathroom stalls, it’s even worse that you're doing it to avoid someone as fabulous as myself. So if we could quickly get this over with, It would be greatly appreciated and I’m sure it would relieve your nostrils as well.”

“I-”

“You…?”Alex prompted.

“Ilikeyou.”

Alex paused, scrunched up his nose before raising an eyebrow in ridicule and letting out a laugh. And while Magnus truly believed there was nothing more beautiful than Alex’s smile, right now, it was the most damning thing he had ever seen.

Of course Alex would be laughing! Who wouldn't be laughing if some weedy, shady blond kid confessed their feelings for them in the most pathetic way possible!

Magnus had no other choice but to clench his fists to resist the burning sensation gathering in his eyes as he turned on his heel and hurried back to his dorm.

He was curled up on his bed, binging criminal minds on his laptop because what else was meant to comfort you after getting rejected if it wasn’t watching people getting brutally murdered by psychopaths and sadists?

He was wrapped with this specific episode- involving a bunch of very explicit murder- when Alex snatched his headphones right off his head plopped himself in the computer chair that rested right next to the bottom bunk where Magnus had been hiding out.

He could feel himself paling as he remembered that he lived with Alex.

“We need to talk.”

What? He was so sick of Alex making every decision, afterall- it was Alex who chose to laugh at him.

“We have nothing to talk about,” Magnus managed to snap back.

“Why do you keep avoiding me? First in our own dorm, then in public and now you don't even want to look at me.”

“I’m sorry,” He retorted, his words coated with so much sarcasm, had there been anymore, he may have become Samirah at that very moment. “Was I expected to hang around after being ridiculed?”

“Ridiculed? What do you mea-”

“-What do I mean? I guess you wouldnt understand what it feels like for someone whom you really really like to outright just laugh at you after confessing. I guess you don't know how- how nerve racking and horrible it is to not feel comfortable and safe wherever you go. I guess you were privileged enough to not deal with doubting yourself with every decision you make and every thought you have!”

Alex started. “I-”

“-No. I’m not finished. Do you know how that made me feel?” Magnus was on a roll. “ Like shit. I felt shitty. I felt like shit and I was curled up like a bratty 5 year old and do you know what I’ve realised? I’ve realised that I have nob reason to feel shitty because I'm not the one who was so insecure in myself that I laughed at someone else who was struggling, esepcially when I rejected a hot piece of ass such as myself!” He finished his ramble with a shout, his chest heaving, cheeks flushed and somehow, his hair messy.

“So,” Alex drawled causally. “ Am I allowed to speak now?”

“No.”

Rolling his eyes, Alex sooke anyway. “ I’m sorry that you feel this way and I guess I can't change that I was the person who made you feel like- well, shit, but I have to say Beantown, you really shouldn't assume things so quickly.”

Magnus frowned, turning his shiny, glossy eyes towards Alex finally. “Huh?”

“Well. If you were to give me a chance to explain, I’d be able to tell you that I laughed because I thought you looked adorable. I would be able to tell you that I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings in any way and I’m very sorry if I did and…”

Alex held Magnus’ chin, pulling his head a bit down so he was able to fully look him in the eye rather than just looking away under Magnus’ chin, forcing him to look him in the eye.

“And…?” Magnus whispered hesitantly, almost afraid of the answer.

“And, I would be able to tell you that I like you.” Alex smiled dopily.

Did Magnus hear that correctly? Did Alex Fierro- the most confident, and in Magnus’s eyes, the most attractive person out there just admit to liking the scraggly kid who used to live on the streets?

“Excuse me?”

Aex sighed. “I said that I like you and your … What was it you said?” He paused for dramatic effect because lighting up his eyes. “ Oh yes and your ‘hot piece of ass’ I believe it was.”

Magnus cringed at his previous words as he started at Alex. Alex fierro liked him!

“What?” Alex smirked on noticing Magnus’s innocent stare.

“Can I try something?” Magnus tilted his head to the side innocently. Alex nodded.

Yes, please do try something, A kiss would be nice.

But to Alex’s surprise, he felt Magnus’s arms being wrapped around his body. It was an odd sensation that at first made Alex want to reel backwards.

But then this familiar ignition in his stomach tugged him back to wrap his arms back around Magnus and bury his face in Magnus’s chest, just about reaching his collarbone.

The hug was brief. Perhaps not even longer than 15 seconds at a maximum, but it was enough for Magnus to feel better.

Alex decided that perhaps next time Magnus would kiss him.

Super cool people Taglist: @wisegirl773 @ddepressedbookworm

[athys-obelia]

summary: the non dysfunctional!imperial family au hcs no one asked for 😳👉👈

character/s: anastacius de alger obelia, claude de alger obelia, athanasia de alger obelia, jennette de alger obelia

here's part 2 :)

let’s set our stage, shall we?

first of all claude n anastacius’ dad is dead coz we don’t like him at all ew

so ana is the emperor, and claude is his heir presumptive (aka he’s got the strongest claim to the throne rn, but this can be changed by the birth of someone who has a stronger one - ie, anastacius’ child who would be the heir apparent) also bc “i know my mom and i gave u lots of childhood trauma that you prlly won’t be recovering from because therapists aren’t a thing here but here’s a crown you might get to make it better”

claude’s in a position where after the birth of ana’s kid/direct descendant, he’s gonna be given a duchy that athy should inherit after him while still retaining the title of prince

but after hearing of diana’s pregnancy, ana tells her and claude he doesn’t really plan on having children and wants to make their future kid his successor

he basically reserves a spot for their child in the directory and rather than announcing anything publically, anastacius names her athanasia after the sex is confirmed

then this mf obviously pulls a clown move and gets penelope pregnant and complicates things, ultimately naming her jennette, finding the name fitting - ‘god is gracious’

and really, what could be more evidence of god’s grace than the child he’s now fathering, when he thought his legacy would be ending with him?

anyways!!!

so since athy and jennette are born near the beginning of ana’s reign, both claude and anastacius are wayyy too busy trying to bring back the empire from the literal brink of bankruptcy and a possible war to really spend time w their kids

it’s alright, though!! lily is hired as athy’s nanny, while jennette gets kiel’s mom as hers

they all still live together, though obviously the main palace is for ana + jennette while claude + athy are in a separate one

this 'separate one’ is ruby palace after ana dismisses the concubines and he definitely 100% did this on purpose, and whenever he’s summoning claude he’s such a shit about it and goes about it the way you’d summon a deadass concubine

on a separate note, it’s surprisingly claude who visits athy first - he’s seen her here and there with lily but hasn’t ever had the chance to spend time w her. but now it’s almost been a year since athy’s birth (or diana’s death), her first birthday is fast approaching, and he is drunk

lily is a reallyyyy light sleeper and enters the nursery upon hearing someone inside

she doesn’t expect to see the prince standing above his daughter’s crib, a strand of her golden hair between his fingers as he just…stares at her

she approaches quietly, curtsying in greeting - he’s too absorbed to notice, and after a few minutes of silence lilian tells him, “babies can get lonely too, your highness.”

he glances at her then, confused. “how?” he really can’t understand how this girl, who can’t even speak yet comprehend something like loneliness

“princess athanasia is very responsive to her surroundings, much more than children her age usually are,” lily says, “and i like to believe children are able to tell when their parents are with them.”

he scoffs - what a foolish thought. still, claude sits by her bedside, and before he can register it, he’s taken over by sleep

the next night, claude makes his way towards the nursery and stiffly asks if athy could sleep beside him for the night - it’s fairly late, but lilian allows it

he’s gone to the main palace too early the next morning for athy to be awake, but she spent about two minutes tops worrying about the strange surroundings, saw the shiny chandelier and fancy bed and decided yes, she doesn’t mind this kidnapping

this becomes somewhat of a regular occurrence soon enough, and sometime that week she wakes up in the middle of the night with her nose pressed into something soft and literally falls off the huge ass bed at the realisation that this something soft is actually her papa’s hair (you just know that hair smells great i mean uh-)

this mans wakes up and peeks at her on the ground, reaches out to grab her from the front of her nightdress (he swears it’s exactly how he’s seen lilian do it) and plops her back onto the bed

she backs up OBVIOUSLY, you don’t just wake up with a random ass man in your bed and just vibe together?? lee jihye is dying but he glares at her for disturbing his sleep and athy pulls her act together in 0.000001 secs as claude pulls her closer and goes back to sleep

as athy grows, claude starts allowing her to visit his office during the day until it becomes a sort of ritual - he’d have tea and milk prepared and she’d come, sitting somewhere completing a puzzle or sum while he works

mans nearly tears down the entire imperial palace the day she doesn’t show up until he finds her in the garden, teaching jettie the 'proper’ way to hold a teacup during tea parties while lilian and roger’s wife, vivian, watch

athy emotionally blackmails asks him to join the tea party, so half an hour later, anastacius finds his brother sitting on the grass with a plastic teacup that athy’s filling with hot water as she lectures him to learn to fix his posture from lily so he can sit like a “proper dignified lady”

so in the beginning, jennette actually ends up spending more time with claude than her dad. though one day, the brothers are in the audience hall when athy runs in with felix running after her telling her not to run (there’s a shit ton of guards surrounding anastacius so felix has orders to be with princess athanasia when claude is with ana)

anastacius is used to this sight, and watches, smirking at his brother’s subtle smile as athy offers him this wonky looking flower crown - claude accepts it wordlessly, and ana wants to slap his ass to sanity, who wouldn’t thank their kid when they do adorable things like this??

but then they hear another voice, and in comes jennette with vivian not too far behind her. now jettie has a much cleaner looking crown in her hand, but she glances at her father’s elaborate and beautiful crown all embedded with gems and glittering and then at the one she’s fashioned out of daisies

she's always thought she was much like her uncle - jennette was so fascinated by the plain daises, they weren’t flashy but caught her eye all the same - while athy was shiny and bold like her dad

but now she’s second guessing her choice, how could she make such a simple crown for her dad, the emperor??

claude sighs from beside anastacius and literally picks off his brother’s crown before tossing it towards a very tired felix

athy urges jennette forward, and with a bright red covering her entire face she offers the crown. jennette glances at her uncle for comfort before muttering, “for papa”

anastacius.exe has crashed

this blushly, embarrassed, and apparently talented at flower crowns kid was his?

long story short he forgets to breathe or react and jettie thinks he hates the crown and hates her and won’t ever like to see her again so she starts getting teary

claude pushes his brother’s head down before athy can be convicted for murder

ana 100% almost faints when her tiny chubby fingers delicately place the crown in place, he’ll never admit it but he closed his eyes and almost hugged her instinctively as she shyly adjusted some of his bangs around the new headpiece, muttering, “papa pretty”

jennette rushes back to her sister, who’s glaring daggers at the emperor

anastacius tries to smile to calm jennette a bit and maybe look nice enough for his niece to not kill him in his sleep

right well kiel becomes the royal playmate for both the princesses - athy has her classes with him since she’s advanced and honestly they’ll be going back forth with infodumps one minute and he’s teaching her to make paper airplanes the next

(she writes notes on the paper airplanes the next time she’s in claude’s office and flies them towards him, stuff like, 'does uncle cius also snore loudly like papa?’ and he gets seriously offended like a pissbaby)

jennette first met kiel when he was visiting his mom - vivian had to leave for a bit and she taught him a bunch of flower names and their meanings in the meantime - he makes sure to research a new flower every time he visits her, and brings her a bouquet of said flowers she always knows them but never says anything coz she doesn’t wanna hurt his feelings and he gets so excited as he tells her about their meanings it’s so cute

speaking of jennette - claude and ana may seem worlds apart but they’re at the same level of emotionally constipated

ana watches his brother and niece interact and he craves that, an unconditional, timeless love that can’t possibly be tainted by ulterior motives or the like, but he just doesn’t know how to approach little jettie

it seems easy enough - she’s a smiley, sweet girl and theoretically would be friendly if he is to approach her

but gods he’s just so ashamed - such a sweet babe grew without either of her parents and he doesn’t have an excuse because holy hell, even claude is close to athy

he’s being served food in his chambers when he asks the maid about jennette, and she tells him how among her first words was 'love’ and the brunette would just stroll the palace pointing at people and declare “love you” and watch their face light up

thats so CUTE OMFG

his jaw is touching the floor when he’s told that his daughter knows the names of every worker within the palaces

at this point he’s honestly questioning whether this child is his at all

he’s absolutely horrified at the realisation that this maid, who doesn’t even work in jennette’s part of the palace, knows more about her than he does - hell, he hadn’t even asked vivian to keep him updated on her growth, what right does he have to stick himself into her life now?

now, the maid quietly suggests starting with something small like inviting jennette to tea and

of course he goes about it the wrong way??

poor jettie thinks she’s being tested by the ruthless emperor on her etiquette and spends the entire day practicing with claude after athy guilted him into it

she’s so nervous in front of her dad that he honestly feels even guiltier, and anastacius hurries to grab her hands in his to calm their tremble as she reaches to serve him tea

she apologises lmao and he’s just so flustered himself that he orders for her to sit down and instructs her through a few deep breaths

as she calms down, ana serves her the tea before asking whether girls her age even drink tea

she says no and you can literally hear the crickets

he slides the cup he’s poured for her over to his side before gesturing towards the deserts (it was claude’s daughter-luring pro tip) on her side

“you look like you read a lot,” ana says, before asking whether she’s been reading anything interesting lately

“i don’t, actually,” she tells him shyly

anastacius laughs at how of all things his hate for books is what she got from him - and only when jennette chuckles does he realise that he said that out loud

he lets her go around her bedtime, feeling rather… energized? he doesn’t know how to explain it, but it’s a good feeling

he’s busy again the next day, but has an aide send her flowers - the same ones she had put in her flower crown for him

yes lucas is still sleeping in the palace, yes athy still finds him

so athy sees the flowers from uncle cius and is enraged, literally walks up to her uncle and demands he leave jennette alone if he’s only gonna break her heart by neglecting her

and so we have fifteen minutes of the emperor of obelia stuttering as he explains himself to this seven year old

smfh his cluelessness reminds her of her own dad and she takes pity on ana’s suffering soul

the next morning, to give him a chance to redeem himself, athy asks all four of them to have breakfast together - they accept the invitation, and despite an awkward start, the meal seems to be going well

peace is not written in this family’s fate however, and this is where the first coughing up blood thing happens

ohhhh the palace staff almost gets massacred that day

athy’s limp body is moved to jennette’s room since it’s the closest - lily bursts into tears at the very sight of her princess, jennette refuses to eat or drink until her sister can, felix hears his heart break, claude is barely holding himself together

ana is livid - who dares poison a member of his family? what has he even done to earn the privilege of calling these girls his family, when he can’t protect them, at the very least?

claude absolutely refuses to leave her room and finishes all his work right outside her door, lest she wake up in pain again

anastacius can’t keep his own anxiety about jennette at bay, insisting she sleep with him as long as claude stays with athanasia - he can tell she’s drained, and she ends up sharing some of her worries late at night. he soothes both her worries and her cries, letting her curl up into him despite it being a rather uncomfortable position

the family is thrown into chaos again once they realise it was never poison, but athy’s own magic that caused this

aka when chibi lucas drops by and voodoos her back to 100%, everyone legit starts worshipping the ground he walks on - he saved their precious princess!!

ana insists on making him athy’s royal playmate after hearing she isn’t fully healed yet

what does this give us? well, a very very early lucas vs kiel

since they’ve both got the title of royal playmate, they constantly argue on whether being the future duke alpheus is a better title than the future royal magician

the girls are always dragged into this - athy always takes kiel’s side to avenge blackie, and jennette likes kiel too, but the young magician sir saved her sister!!

so.

when vivian passes away due to an illness, it’s like roger is an entirely different person

jennette + kiel + athy all help with the funeral preparations since she was a mother/aunt to them all

felix seems to be paying extra attention to kiel

it isn’t long after this that roger decides to send him to arlanta for his studies, leaving behind two disillusioned princesses

athy spends her time viciously studying to stay ahead of arlanta’s curriculum, while jennette takes an interest in cooking

(athy tries and fails spectacularly; lucas laughs at her and jettie accidentally serves him his favourite food too salty to be edible)

a/n: this would be the first of the two parts, so stay on the lookout, hope y'all enjoyed n have a great day <3

edit: part 2

[softer-ua]

Ok had another fucking moment that came to me when I was daydreaming this one time and another AU popped inside my head.

Ok so mermaid AU x Pirate, BUT—

Mermaids are the same size as their fish genetic.

A angel fish mermaid is about the size of an infant.

A shark mermaid is the size of a boat, depending what Kind of shark it is.

Ok now, imagine with me:

Pirate Katsuki x Whale Shark mermaid Izuku

Baby whale sharks are about the size of a big koy fish so Izuku is about the size of a infant.

Katsuki and Izuku met at the dock, Baby Katsuki likes to spend his time splashing his feet into the ocean, dreaming one day he could be the most awesome pirate of all time.

This is where he met Izuku.

See, Izuku is really small compared to Inko rn coz he's a baby, so he got washed by the unforgiving waves in the middle of the ocean into the dock where Katsuki was.

Katsuki saw a passed out mermaid floating ashore and immediately ran to where it was.

No one has ever seen a whale shark mermaid up close before because they live in really deep water and all that.

So Katsuki was fascinated by his tail bcz hello? It has DOTS! It looks pretty! And it HAS DOTS!!!!

(lmao like his freckles)

So when Izuku woke up, he panicked bcz he doesn't know where he is and there's a human that saw him so he cried.

Katsuki, confused by this, he asked why he was crying, they were both still too young to understand that humans and mermaids were supposed 'sworn enemies' (lmao) yet so Izuku told him that he was washed up into the waves and he Didn't know where his home is.

And hearing this, Katsuki asked if he knows which direction his home was, Izuku told him he was from the very very deep sea and that he didn't know where and he's scared to go alone.

And Katsuki, the brat that he is, decided to accompany the mermaid with a boat! Izuku was happy that Katsuki would come with him and bring him home!

Ofc next day, they meet up, (Katsuki snuck out lmao) and Katsuki has this tiny little boat that the other fishermen gave him from his birthday that he would use to come with Izuku.

So they set sail! Katsuki had forgotten to bring food so he was hungry, Izuku had an Idea!

He sometimes see these random circles that grows on trees near the beach and they would sometimes fall and float in the ocean, he also seen humans eat these kinds of things so he decided to look for it!

Katsuki ofc saw Izuku coming back with a coconut and he was delighted to eat it!

(Izuku eats fish lmao)

So it took 5 days for them to reach the center of the sea where everything is so deep. They got to know each other at that time!

Katsuki asked if this is where Izuku lives and Izuku heard a loud shout from below.

Low and behold, Inko rising to the surface where they both were, her eyes were puffy and when she saw Izuku, she immediately hugged her son.

Katsuki was amazed by how big Izuku's mom is, so that's why they lived in the middle of the ocean, they were really huge!!

Inko saw this little blonde human boy on a tiny boat and asked why was he here and Izuku exclaimed that he is Kacchan! (Coz he has sharp teeth and that's the closest he could pronounce his name) and that he helped Izuku crossed the ocean to find his home and that he was so brave and kind!

And Katsuki blushed at the compliments Deku gave him (that is ALSO the closest thing Katsuki can pronounce his name bcz of his human teeth too haha)

Inko was touch by this and thanked Katsuki profusely, giving him a little necklace with a tiny shell that could be use as a horn.

Inko told Katsuki that if he ever was in the middle of the ocean again or whatever, and wanted to meet them again, he just needs to blow the horn.

Katsuki was thrilled by this, he thanked Inko as well and promise to come back and meet Izuku again and Inko asked a bunch of other little mermaids to help Katsuki get back to where his home was in record time.

Izuku was a bit sad to see Kacchan go but he promised would come back! So he'll just have to wait till he hears the horn to know that Kacchan would be back!

Katsuki got back on land that afternoon (wow the tiny mermaids were really quick)

And he gotten back to his parents, he told them that he told them what happened had why he was gone for 5 days.

They were horrified by this bcz mermaids drown humans whenever they could and that Katsuki was with one for 5 days made them feel sick.

Katsuki was not allowed to go near the ocean from then on.

Ofc Katsuki threw a fit bcz how on earth is he gonna visit Deku?!?

Mitsuki screamed and slapped him on his head and told him that he would not go outside and see the ocean at all.

Cue sad 10 years of waiting (they were 4)

The time finally came where Katsuki snapped and sneaked out of the house once more and leave his parents for good.

He decided to go to another city to start his journey of becoming the most well known pirates of all time!

(cue another 4 years lmao)

He had became the most notorious pirate of all time, in the eyes of the government, he was a threat to them, but to the eyes of the people who had met his crew, they were heroes.

They give out money that they stole from corrupted kings and queens' ships all around the world. they had the most biggest ship called 'Queen Explosion Murder' (bcz why NOT LMAO) and that they had the most advance equipment in the sea (ft. Hatsumei lmao)

His crew (class 1-A minus mineta, plus Shinsou, Hatsumei bby Eri, bby Kouta and bby Katsuma and Mahoro) was the most powerful and skilled people he knew, they were like family to him. (Not that he'd admit it out loud)

He still kept the necklace, he had forgotten what purpose it had, but he know it was something special.

One day they were attacked by the Royal ship, it was the most intense battle they had yet. Most of his family crewmates were already injured and passed out, the kids were crying alot, they were loosing.

Then he suddenly blew the horn.

There was a loud spash from the side and both of their ships rocked.

One of the men from the other ships looked below and saw big glowing green eyes. Then the Royal ship was grabbed by very big hands and suddenly brought down into the depts of the sea. Sinking everyone in it.

Katsuki was shocked, what just happened???

Then there was another loud splash once again, something was rising from the water, it looks big, the creature was looming over the ship, he looked up to see the creature and saw—

"Deku...?"

It looked at Katsuki with big watering eyes.

"Kacchan.."

And the next thing he knew, he was being lifted by some big ass arms and being suffocated by a big ass hug.

(lmao they REUNITED!)

Izuku asked why did he called now and Katsuki told him about what had happened to him all this time. Katsuki's crew was hella shocked to see their captain talking to a big ass Mermaid. The kids were in awe, they never seen a real life mermaid before, and Izuku laughed coz their eyes reminded him of Katsuki's when they first met.

Katsuki blushed and denied it and Izuku responded playfully.

It was so weird to all of them to see their captain smiling? And joking around?? With a fish??? Like old friends???? Holy shit???

And after that, they had a new member! Izuku comes along with their adventures now! And the whole romance and drama for the crew to enjoy too!

(lmao the end(?), Hahaha, I'm so sorry if it has some wrong grammar, I'm kinda stayed up late hahahaha! Hope ya like this Au!)

This so fun! I love it 💞

[char-lotteral]

Look I'm not one of those people who believe Kishimoto decided to have Hinata and Naruto end up in the middle part of Shippuden. I believe he decided in the very last arc but he wanted to sound smart so he said he decided earlier on. Otherwise, they obviously would have more scene together. In Shippuden, they have only three scenes together ; when Naruto came back, the pain attack and the neji death scene. That's it. In the original Naruto, they probably have less than ten canon scenes not including fillers.

So I'm sorry I'm one of those who wasn't convinced by The Last. They literally had a basic villain go after Hinata who was cringe btw (the villain). They gave Hinata op powers which she doesn't have in the novel 👀. Despite having op powers, they made her the damsel in distress. Very "The hero saves the princess" cliche. Again, to justify them being together. I mean Naruto can't differentiate his love for ramen and romantic love so how??? He was just being nice to Hinata just like he does to everyone. He stood up for her just like he does for everyone.

Don't get me started on the Sakura Sasuke relationship 🤣. Cringe. They never knew each other. The whole Sakura's love for Sasuke saved him doesn't make sense. They spent barely a year in their genin year before sasuke left. Sasuke tried to kill Naruto and Sakura multiple times. Then at the end of the war, Kishimoto tried to do the "oh they have such a deep understanding between each other" which comes off as cringey. He gets her pregnant then leaves for years. She's literally a single mom who's broke.

Every relationship in Naruto is so cringey and forced except shikatemari. Kishimoto should've focused on the main story and fixed his potholes and leave the ending open.

Naruto would not have been perfect but at least it would've been remembered for staying true to its vision but instead it's remembered for cringey relationships, dumbass villain (except pain and madara) and a story that lost its core which is a shame coz I used to love Naruto. I was inspired by its messages but now....

OKAY LOL WAIT I ACTUALLY HAVE THIS LONG ASS RANT PREPARED XD

BUT FIRST Ive read what you said and I lowkey agree :p

HOWEVER

I DRAW THE LINE AT TONERI SLANDER. BECAUSE WHY

TONERI?? CRINGE?? THIS SEXY MOTHERFUCKER??

LOOK AT HIS WHITE FLUFFY HAIR AND HIS CERULEAN BLUE ORBS STARING DEEPLY INTO YOUR SOUL

SAY SIKE RIGHT NOW?!#*@*#&@*

okay lol now for the juicy part click readmore and beware I shall be brutally honest so yea enjoy

I mean, Naruto in general is a mess, not just the ships if we're being realistic. Alot of plotholes, rushed endings, this and that, the w a r a r c, Kaguya, the way they rushed Boruto ehhh. Honestly, getting into Naruto is literally my biggest regret of 2020 :"DD

Im an NH shipper as you can tell by my hotmess of a blog but i fully respect your opinion and understand your point of view. I also know a bunch of nh stans who have their complaints with their development. I wish Kishi gave more attention to his female cast really, thats all I fucking ask. If he did that one single basic thing, then maybe the endgame relationships wouldnt have been an asspull and theyd be given propper screentime with their love interest, both Sakura and Hinata. The Last tbh i think the writers played it safe and stuck to the whole Naruto shounen vibe thingy, so im not surprised it was plotted that way. Typical cliché shounen movie.

But does that bother me? No! The Last was a mess, their development was shit, they definitely needed more screentime but hey at the end of the day theyre cute as fuck, we have that kiss scene, flirting scenes, a shit ton of official art, three kids, Seiki's gif :33 and a whole ass arc for their wedding all that for just a shounen anime so eh. Compensates for it i guess xD theyre not toxic, unhealthy or whatnot. Theyre wholesome, soft and vanilla as fuck and exactly what i need in my hectic life rn. No drama, just two kind souls who are adorable as heck and theyre dynamic means so much to me and I will love them until i shall leave this earth.

Anon, im not even gonna waste my time and defend their development because i think it sucked too xD but if you wanna know why i love them so so so soooo much, Id be more than willing to tell you :33

Sasuke and Sakura on the other hand eeeehhhh i can see why people like them. Sasuke's hot, he's your typical hot bad boy aad Sakura's hot and pretty too. Basic blue and pink trope. Aside from their canon interactions, fans have all the opportunity to play around with their dynamic but for me, its just sooo basic and so hetero and can easily appeal to any 16 yr old teenage girl, no wonder it has an active fanbase on twt and---- AM I MAKING ANY SENSE? AHDBAJJE LIKE ITS SO-- BASIC, your usual bad boy x pretty girl trope that you get to read in YA and coming of age novels. Not only that, but going back to canon, they have too many negative interactions for me to like them together :p The least Sakura can do is put down her own foot and yell at him for not contacting them for god knows how long. I also dont like how he always gets easily forgiven >=[[. I mean at least He's compensating as a dad good for him but ehhhh i still dont like him and Sakura together :v And im not falling for that "Sakura is the reason why Sasuke isnt lonely anymore" because thats NARUTO AHHH. Sasuke said that Multiple times. HE LIGHTS A FIRE INSIDE OF ME. HES MY SUN. MY ONE AND ONLY FRIEND. LIEK?? THATS NARUTOOO romantic or not, Naruto was the reason for his not so lonely existence anymore smh >=[[

Sasuke almost murdered her and Naruto and made their lives a living hell but hey its all good!! He's my best friend and Sakura loves him!! So set him freeee into the worldddd~~

Sasuke left his family without even simply contacting them but can easily contact Naruto through a hawk but hey thats fine! His and Sakura's feelings are connected afterall! Sasuke gave her a ring and said thank you! Who cares about leaving your family. She loves him and he loves her so yey!!! All is forgiven :D

DID I MENTION SASUKE ALMOST MUREDERED HIS OWN DAUGHTER AND HE WASNT CALLED OUT FOR THAT@*#&@??!?#,*@#,#

Sasuke gets too many life points this isnt fair >=[[ But tbh he's nerfed so bad in Boruto manga and anime power wise. Like in that time travel arc and the manga. The rinnegan kunai thing was still so funny to me even if it was Borushiki. I just idk its so funny to me lmaoo

OKAY WHAT ELSE. I dont even know any more. Im tired of complaining about Naruto and just when Ive finally gone a little bit away from Naruto, Hinata fucking pulls me in again 😩 she has me on chokehold pls send help. Watch castlevania!!! and one piece!!!! ten times better than this anime about a loud blonde boi who wants to be president. Trust me

overall, i dont fully agree but i lowkey agree i guess. I do respect your opinion tho :))

EXCEPT WHEN YOU CALLED TONERI CRINGE. HOW DARE YOU CALL THAT SEXY MF CRINGEY---

[editorialsonlife]

Well

Welp, feeling like doing an update because there's been a lot going on to be honest. its one of those weird dichotomies where every day feels like an eternity and there's so much going on and then you look back and you're like oh, ok its just my brain making it difficult and making things take forever but anyway.

LOCKDOOOOOOOWWWWWWNNNNNNN

Lockdown life was good, apart from being thrust into it so suddenly dave left a banana on his desk. Wasn't great to come back to after 5 weeks out of the office - mummified mouldy banana!! Classic. We luckily got our first jab before lockdown started so that was good, and we were reasonably well stocked up on food and were generally a lot healthier this lockdown that last. honestly, there's a level of chill and serenity in lockdown that i just love. the ability to set my own schedule and only work the hours I actually work to get the job done? Amazing. getting 8.5 hours of sleep each night without having to wake to an alarm blaring? AMAZING. getting to go for walks every afternoon? SO FLIPPING GOOD. I love it so much, I really really do. I need this to be my life permanently.

WORK

Work is just ongoing and draining and honestly, coming back to the office was so fucking stressful and it was only one day. Being at home is just the fucking bomb. Pending home decisions, I wanna go contracting I think, but also ideally two part time contracts to have more flexibility? I dunno. You'd think a big 4 would provide variety but it really doesn't and honestly, with Richie leaving, wellington is just a sinking ship. Sean's off on parental leave, Kirstyn is down to four days a week, ben will be gone if he doesn't get promoted (and I don't think he will be tbh). Jack is just muddling along, Nigel wants to swap to consulting as well, Matt's going to be a shit leader in terms of bringing in work so it's just not going to work. and in our wider group it's going to get even more messy with heaps of the analysts leaving and a couple of senior hires too. so I think it's probably time to jump ship in general, pending the home stuff below. Also, coming back after a break again, I'm like, I don't actually like a lot of you? All the people I enjoy here are in other teams and groups, and I'll be sad to leave you all, but like, not enough to stay anyway lol.

Pending the home below, two options are to just going and get a job with a $30k payrise to make up for the maternity leave benefits I'm gunna leave behind when I leave this role - 18 weeks full pay, $100 a week for the first year back and a full year of maternity leave. It's basically 30k post tax which is a bit nuts to walk away from to be honest.

Otherwise the other option is to go contracting. Less security overall but holy shit so much money. If I went in as a project coordinator at the lowest rate to build up a bit of a portfolio I'd need to work 40 weeks of 40 hr weeks and Id basically match my current salary plus the lost family leave benefits and still qualify for govt maternity leave payments. Realistically I could go in as a project manager for $140 an hour ($60 more an hour than the above math) and absolutely smash it at that level as well so ya know, there's a bunch of other info. I like the idea of the flexibility of it and only having 6 months even if its a shitshow and beign able to walk away at the end of it. I really don't want to get a govt job and this is a v govt town which is fine but also, if I can avoid it that would be great. I just know I'm not gunna thrive in that environment.

Need to talk to Dave to get him across the line on the security issue part of that though. I've mostly come a long way in terms of my financial management (thanks YNAB) so I think he'd be ok with it mostly.

So there's a lot to toss up there because......

HOME

We got the reno plans done during lockdown, finally. which was super good. but holy fkn jesus $$$$$$ ++++++++++. The guy is coming around for the final quote on Thursday. We indicatively said $100k total because we're doing kitchen laundry bathroom and toilet. so only the most expensive rooms and when I was talking to him last week he said 'that might cover it' and they're seeing cost escalations of 7-10% a week which is just insane. we're not doing anything structural apart from putting in a cavity slider in the bathroom, and the quote they'll give us won't include flooring since they won't do it.

Meanwhile, the prefab homes I were looking at for our site were $425k fully done. Like, I'm not going to spend $130K on doing up my 1940s ex state house ya know? That's not good cost benefit ratio.

So depending on what that comes out at on thursday we'll be able to make some plans.

We also want to start trying for kids next year and need these renos done first - I am not having kids and no dishwasher lol.

Also we need bank financing so good to be in a permanent stable job for that application. the good thing is we have so much equity we know we can borrow whatever we need, I just don't want to spend that much money on it because it's fkn ridiculous. and if I'm going on maternity leave we need to be able to cover it all on dave's salary and whatever benefits I have as well so there;s a lot of financial planning and spreadsheeting going on at the moment lol. it's fab.

either way. we've got plenty of options up our sleeve. we've got friends who's brother owns a building company so we can talk to them, we've got the garage so we can get things prefabricated even if they're not installed til next year, Dave can get shit at cost through his work for whiteware, there;s plenty of things to like cost control we can do, we just need to know where we're starting from basically. thats the challenging part. but we'll figure it out, its just taking longer than I want it to basically.

We also planted up the vege garden for the spring/summer which was lovely, super jazzed about that. we've finally got the garden to a reasonably low maintenance level where everything is mostly under control and it's such a relief, honestly.

PERSONAL

Man what a shift to lockdown last year honestly. I think the last 8 weeks in particular has just been like, a massive reality check of how absolutely shit the last year was and how fucking glad I am to be rid of it. I spent a week absolutely spiralling 2 weeks ago now and honestly, I don't know how I lived in the state for more than a year. I actually don't know how I did it. and I could not be more glad that I'm finally on the other side of it, for the most part. There's still a bunch of other stuff to work through (hahahahahaha when is there not like damn) but fucking hell its nice to just not be anxious and nauseous and wound up constantly. life is actually accessible. miracle.

My workmate had his bebe - I went round and got newborn cuddles and was like, oh, is this what it is to be clucky? this is odd. so there's that as well. I think we'll probably start trying next year pending renos and jobs etc. If the renos can be done in jan I'll prob just stick it at the job to get the benefits but I dunno. it's a tough call to make really. we shall see. This all assumes we get knocked up without any issues which is questionable these days. I really want to feel healthier before getting pregnant as well, and part of that is losing weight. however, given discussing that is what triggered the spiral we're working on that one slowly.

Also, lets have a moment for counselling, because fkn bless anne and all her hard work honestly. I actually ended up emailing her being like, I;m losing my shit on the monday and then talked to her on thursday. And its so funny because it's such a counselling thing but I didn't realise until afterwards what she'd done but she was like you're clearly not doing well and then the night before dave got a fkn miserable migraine and he was up for like, 2 hrs powerchucking except he didn't make it to the bathroom in time so guess who was cleaning up vomit at 130am trying not to chuck herself but I digress. anyway, not doing well, couldn't even explain why, didn't even have words and super tired and she's like, what lynaire up to this week how's she going with izzy and chat about that and then be like how are you feeling about your body and then 5 more mins of chat about the cat and the chickens and then like bam hard question and then hows it going with x and y and z and its like, it wasn't til I was on my walk afterwards when I FINALLY started feeling marginally better I was like damn woman work your magic for figuring it out for me and helping me reregulate. all over the phone as well since we were still in lockdown. GREAT WORK FRIEND.

and then last week was like totally fucked theoretical discussion about religion and the role it's played in my life and fate vs free will and all this nutty shit but genuinely just a great discussion. She's the best and I love her. thank good for good counsellors. thank god I can afford to pay for it honestly.

Dave and I are just chugging along, god bless that man. I love him. its amazing. I miss having friends close by but understand why they had to move (boooooo f u house prices). Family is pretty chill, still not really talking to dave's parents which is nightmarish but we'll deal with that when we need to. gunna have to go and visit them at some point coz dave misses them and I feel for him, I really do. It's the whole boundaries renegotiation I went through with my family last year post wedding blow up and its just not a fun place to be. oh well. can't fix it for him but also I'm not putting up with that level of BS from either of our families once we have children. not gunna happen.

Either way, life is busy and full and fun and I'm enjoying it. Daylight savings starts this weekend too, its october next week WTF and I'm just waiting for 4pm to find out what's gunna happen to our girls trip. Clearly we cancelled our sept trip to christchurch and akaroa and hanmer springs so my covid travel curse continues. fkn ridic. Still dunno what we're gunna do with $2500 of flight credits coz if we get knocked up theres def no international trips happening any time soon.

thus concludes the almost 2000 word write up of life. hope you've enjoyed it. I'll throw up some pics in a separate post if people care about reno plans. such a good time!

[sarcastically-defensive17]

Do you think that maybe you can write something where the reader and calum are friends with benefits, they have been for a while but suddenly the reader grows and has been growing feelings for him but when she tells him he nearly goes off saying he doesn’t feel anything for her. After some time passes of them not together he realizes he misses her?

Thank you for this! So sorry it took so long! Also, I apologise for the boatload of angst but it just be like that sometimes! Hope you enjoy!

P.S the format looks super weird coz I had to post from my computer, sorry!!

Original story by Sarcastically-Defensive17

Benefits? - C.Hood

The closest relationships are also the ones with the highest risk of breaking.

Every decision has the risk of causing a downfall, or to further strengthen the foundation that the connection rests upon.

Whether need-complementary, or similarity based, every friendship or relationship is feeble.

Even ones like the relationship Calum and Y/N shared.

Y/N had been introduced to the men when they were still boys, and had been working as their band photographer for the years that they had been on tour.

She was there through the One Direction days, to Rock Out with your Sock our and to Sounds Live, Feels Live. All of tours were shot by her, and she loved every minute of it.

She wouldn't have chosen a different path, despite the trials and tribulations, the criticism placed on her work and the slander she faced for her deep friendship with one Calum Thomas Hood.

They were as thick as thieves. Almost every waking moment was spent with one another, and an emotion filled night during their three year break had led to Calum warming Y/N's crisp hunter green sheets through the night as their naked bodies pressed against one another.

It became normal, and they both enjoyed it. They could be as close as they were before and be able to share a deeper connection through their internal desires with somebody they trust more than almost every other person.

Their chests would be heaving by the time they finished, and they lay together. Sweaty bodies tangled under the covers, and random thoughts spilling from their lips.

"This is nice," Calum said. "Two friends, bumping uglies then chatting about noodles at 3 AM in the morning."

"Please never say 'bumping uglies' again or I will never bump your ugly again," Y/N snorted, pulling herself into a sitting position to pull a tshirt over her naked torso. "Also, you don't need to say AM and in the morning. It's redundant."

"Don't tell me what to do, you Wookiee," he groaned, voice soft as sleep worked its way to overwhelm his mind.

"What did you just call me?" She fixed him with a confused look, brow arched as she stood to her feet.

"A Wookiee."

"And that is..."

Cal shot up, sheet bunches around his waist as his eyes locked into her with such offense.

"What?" She asked, averting her gaze to calm the thumping of her heart.

"You are not allowed to be this hot, and this awesome while being so uncultured."

Her stomach erupted in butterflies and she fought the smile on her face by biting her lip.

"Such a dick, hood," she whined, turning away from him to shuffle through her drawer for sleep shorts.

"But that's your job," she turned with a shocked look on her face only to receive a wink from her best friend.

"Shut your mouth before I smack you," she tossed a pair of his shorts at him. He tended to leave many of his clothes at her house, even before they increased their relationship to friends with benefits.

They were going on nearly seven years, and over time he had gathered quite a collection of items left at her house, as she did with his.

She escaped to the bathroom in desperate need for air.

For the past month and a half she had been struggling with an internal conflict surrounding her best friend.

Despite her attempts to avoid it, she had inadvertently broken the golden rule of a friends with benefits relationship.

She was falling for him. Hard and fast, like an apple falling from a tree.

She had feelings for him when they were younger but they had been pushed aside in favourite of their friendship and various relationships they both had, but now; she couldn't fight it.

For a month and a half she had felt a stirring inside of her stomach whenever he was near. She's savored the moments they spent together and physically reacted to every compliment he bestowed upon her.

Only now, she didn't know what to do.

She had pre-planned to discuss her situation with him that night, but forgot temporarily when he showed up on her door with Mexican food, and a face like an aphrodisiac and eventually lured her into bed with the promise of watching a cheesy rom com afterwards (which she knew he would enjoy more than her).

Her reflection stared back at her in the small mirror that decorated the wall of her bathroom.

It was hard to gather the courage to confess something so earth shattering, but she was determined.

Countless hours had been spent discussing the situation with her best friend, Sierra, and they concluded that it was time.

"Now or never," she whispered to her reflection, attempting to force the fear down her throat. "What's the worst that can happen? Cal is a great guy."

She repeated her words in her head as she turned to exit the room, brushing her hands along the shirt she was wearing - that she noticed was Calum's.

It was exactly 21 steps from the bathroom to the bedroom where she could hear Calum laughing to 'Are we officially dating?' - his movie pic for the night/morning.

She stepped into the room and his eyes drifted to her, offering a smile as she nervously steps towards him.

Almost as if he could sense something was wrong, he pauses the movie, fixing her with a look that pulls his thick brows together.

"What's wrong?"

"Why do you assume something's wrong?" She smiles, one full of nervous energy and his frown deepens.

"Y/N, I think I know when you have something on your mind," he laughs softly, still eyeing her with concern. "You think I would just randomly pause my favourite movie? Hell no, spill the beans, sister."

"Ew, don't call me that." Her face scrunched.

"Why?"

"Because you're not meant to have sex with your sister!"

Calum's face mimicked her own, and he flicked her on the ear.

"Enough backtalk! Out with it!" He professed loudly, avoiding her swatting hand.

Her nerves threatened to spill over.

He was watching hers intently. So patiently. She couldn't help but let her mind wander to how much she adores him, even if she knew it was a dangerous game.

Steeling herself, she sucked a deep breath in through her nose, pushing it out through her mouth as she gathered herself to speak.

"Okay, um, I'm so terrified to say, Cal, and I don't want to affect anything but I can't keep it bottled up anymore and Sierra told me it would be a good idea to come clean and I hope you don't hate me but-"

"Y/N," he laughed, putting a hand on her shoulder. He was still naked, blanket still bunched around his waist to contain his modesty. "Spit it out, love."

She blinked, her eyes full of unshed tears and her mouth works before her brain can command it.

"I'm falling in love with you, Calum."

A whole 10 seconds passed with no words. Complete silence apart from the breathing of the two and Y/N felt her stress levels climbing with each intake of air.

"Calum?-"

"You're joking, right?" He laughed. He didn't laugh in a teasing way. No. He laughed at her.

Her features dropped only slightly, his laughs causing her heart to knock slightly lower with each tone.

"No, Calum. I'm not joking," she willed herself to look up at him, seeing the fear and what appeared to be embarrassment in his eyes.

He went silent again. It was not how Y/N planned for it to go at all.

"I understand if you don't feel the same way, I just wanted to get it off of my chest-"

"You seriously expected me to feel the same way?" His words came out harsher than he intended, but once they were released, there was no return policy.

"No, I didn't expect it, I just-"

He cut her off again, and she was beginning to get annoyed. "Maybe just, think about it.  You're obviously confused."

He was patronizing her, looking down upon her as if she were a confused child.

She shrugged the hand that still rested on her shoulder, off.

"I'm not confused, Calum. I'm being serious," she was getting more annoyed.

"Look, I just think you're taking our situation further than it is," he laughed again, and she forced her heart to not swell at the melodic tone. "We're adults, no need to act like a lovesick kid."

"You don't need to be so harsh, Calum," she whispered. "All I wanted to know is if you felt the same way."

It was like a switch flicked. He was no longer laughing, instead, he fixed her with a look strong enough to practically force her to combust in her spot.

"How could you ever think I would feel the same way about you?"

It was a lie. He did feel the same way, once. But he refused to let the feelings resurface.

She was a friend and that is all she would ever be.

He didn't have time for her feelings.

"Why are you being so harsh?" Her voice was small and he couldn't see through his boiling annoyance to care. He didn't know why, but the idea made him so frustrated he could barely focus.

He scoffed. "How is that harsh, Y/N?" He was standing now, dressing quickly and pulling a new shirt from her dresser. "Get over it, it's never going to happen. I don't do that with people like you."

It was her turn to see red.

"What do you mean by that?" She snapped.

He sighed, rubbing a hand across his forehead.

"Look, I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that you're not what I need. Simple as that." he placed a hand on her shoulder again, expecting his words to sooth her.

"So I'm not good enough for you to have feelings for, but I'm good enough for you to sleep with?" She asked in complete seriousness.

Calum shrugged, his ego getting the better of him and allowing his anger to take over.

Whether he was angry at her or himself, he couldn't tell, but he no longer her had control over his tongue.

"Well, basically. I'm sorry, Y/N, but you're just not good enough-"

She smacked him across the face. Hard.

"I've been your friend for seven years and you say something like that to me?" She was gobsmacked.

Calum wasn't the type of girl to use women and then toss them aside like they were nothing.

"What the fuck?!" He shouted.

"Get out."

"What's your problem?" He spoke through gritted teeth, pinching his brows together in anger.

"My problem, is that you made this moment way worse than I could have every imagined it going." She laughed but it was humorless. She was fighting the tears from her eyes. "I knew you didn't feel the same, but I figured we could just brush it away, but no. Instead you had to make me feel like I'm not worthy of you?"

His anger was blinding, and he didn't even think for a second the capabilities of his words.

"Why would I ever want to be with somebody like you? You can't hold down a stable relationship, and to make up for it you fawn over your best friend and his band, trying to make a career out of something any genius can do."

She couldn't hold back the tear that fell as his words cascaded off of his venomous tongue.

"Get the fuck out of my house, and don't ever come back, Calum." He knew he pushed her to the limit.

"Fine," was his only answer as he gathered his few belongings he had with him and left.

By the time their Meet You There finished, she had found another band to work with, just as the guys had found another photographer.

She pulled out halfway through.

She still kept in contact with the other three, but she hadn't heard a peep out of Calum.

It had been nine months.

Calum didn't consider the weight of his words until a few days had passed and he didn't have Y/N to talk to. He didn't have her to laugh with, or watch movies with, or just spend time in one another's presence with.

He didn't realize how badly she was hurt until he spent a month attempting to make contact, only to be ignored and even blocked.

He missed her. He missed her more than how a friend would miss another friend.

He missed her touch, her scent, the sound of her laughter and the way her nose crinkled before she would snort out a laugh.

He missed the way her hair fell over her shoulders and the way she sounded as she said his name through a grumble.

He didn't care about the sex. Their relationship had existed long before they decided to become friends with benefits and he had planned for it to last a lot longer.

Until he made the decision to get defensive over a simple admission of stronger feelings.

Sure, he was scared to submit himself to the woman he had growing feelings for, but he acted in a way he never should have.

Especially not with her.

He was disgusted in himself and ashamed, but he also couldn't push down the feelings he had for her any more.

The months apart with no contact had done nothing to soften the blow.

Little did he know that she felt the same way.

She had secured a job working with a band called The Chainsmokers, and life was well apart from the longing for her friends and the man she had grown to love.

All well until she was asked to be the tour photographer for the Chainsmokers' 'World War Joy' tour.

It was the first time her and Calum had  one face to face in so long.

The minute he saw her standing backstage as they arrived for sound check, he felt the tears prick at his eyelids.

Every hateful word he said that night care crushing down on his shoulders and he wanted nothing more than to hug her and let his internalized apologies spill from his mouth.

He had plans to do just that.

He was determined to pull her aside after their sound check and confess all of his built up emotions and apologies, and beg for her forgiveness.

He could wait for their relationship to reach the point it once had been, even to the next step he longed for. To call her his.

At the present time, he simply wanted to be able to have her in his life.

Y/N knew the band was coming on the tour. Their single together had been a massive hit, and they were bound to make many fans very happy.

She was sitting in the backstage area, cleaning her lenses to take test shots during soundcheck.

Drew snuck up behind her, resting his hands on her hips and pressing his cheek against hers.

He had been a distraction for her. Not a strong one, but enough to keep her warm when the nights grew cold.

"Hey, cutie, making sure you can make me look good tonight?" He winked at her, feeling her laughter through her cheek that was pressed against his own.

It was a forced laugh. She knew it. But she wanted to be nice to the man who had organized for her to have a new job. Especially after he showed her such kindness and legitimate affection.

She had feelings for him, but they could do nothing to outweigh the undying ones she had for Calum.

"Aww honey, I'm not a miracle worker," she quipped to him, turning her face slightly.

He met her lips with his own and kissed her sweetly. She smiled into the gesture only to pull away and turn her head.

She met the eyes of a certain Maori man, and she could almost see his heart breaking through his chocolate brown orbs.

"Calum?" She breathed, a gaspy sound that he was familiar with.

Without warning he took off, letting the tears that he had bottled up for the past 9 months spill over his round cheeks when he was locked away from everybody.