#everybody has been having a bad day ever since they were born

[rainbowgod666]

Basically what I did since i...

E x i s t e d . . .

Huh.

Well thats a way to do soul-searching i guess

a comic about fix-it fanfics

[h0nology]

Pacify Her

Tired blue boy walks my way…

warnings: angst, jealousy, cheating, kissing, neteyam and reader are aged up, smut 18+

Tired, blue boy walks my way. Holding a girl's hand, that basic bitch leaves finally…Now I can take her man

When the courtship was announced it felt like your world shattered into a million pieces. The love of your life, your best friend since childhood was to be mated with another. You couldn’t understand why you were so upset; you knew it would never be you. Despite Neteyam telling you that it would be, and that he’d figure something out. But you knew that it was final, and nothing was to be changed.

That didn’t stop the two of you though. You couldn’t stay away from one another, you never did. Even before, you two had spent every day together since you were kids. Eventually nights too, by the pond. Neteyam either deep inside of you or you two in a deep conversation.

Now it’s only nights or really whenever you two can sneak off to get some privacy, Neteyam is usually busy during the day so you rarely see him, and when you do he’s with his soon to be mate that you couldn’t stand to look at.

Someone told me stay away from things that aren't yours. But was he yours, if he wanted me so bad?

You knew what you’re doing wasn’t right, and it ate you alive. But you can’t help it, after you had gotten use to something and have been doing it for so long, you can’t just stop. It’s like you were addicted to him, you two were addicted to each other.

All of your friends and siblings knew about you two messing around before the courtship, but they figured you two had stopped now that it was announced. But not Lo’ak, he saw you two all those nights—when Neteyam would magically just disappear while everybody was asleep, he knew exactly where his brother was at.

Or during the day, when you’d ask for his whereabouts.

“Lo’ak, have you seen Neteyam?” You asked the boy as you approached him, still looking around.

“He is out hunting.” Lo’ak says, “Look, your dirty little secret is safe with me but all I am saying is you should leave it alone, be with someone who is actually allowed to show you off…like me.”

The thought of you even touching Lo’ak made you cringe, you have always looked at him as your annoying little brother, “Shut up, Lo’ak.”

You sat with him all day, the others soon joining you two. You talked with Kiri, played with Tuk, and tried to ignore Lo’ak as much as you could.

“Oh look, here comes your lover boy.” Lo’ak says, your ears perking up at the words.

“That is not funny, Loak.” Kiri scolded, little did she know her brother was not joking.

“Hey guys.” Neteyam approaches the group out of breath, slinging everything he was carrying onto the table before bending down to pick up Tuk who was waiting to be in his arms.

Neteyam was so good with kids, it made you swoon each time at the sight. Ever since Tuk was born he has been so caring and gentle with her, you had always imagined it being your kids that he held next, but that dream had been crushed.

“May I borrow my best friend?” Neteyam puts Tuk down, looking over you and Kiri as you two crafted something together.

“I guess…” Kiri rolled her eyes, “Hurry back.” She looks at you.

You nodded in response, knowing the little project you two had started may be finished by the time you got back. You got up from your seat, following Neteyam out and into the forest. Once you two were out of anyone’s sight, he grabbed your hand, interlocking his fingers with yours.

“How was your day, my love?” Neteyam asked as you two approached your notorious spot.

“Spent the whole day thinking about you, Nete.” You leaned against a tree, looking up at him as he towered over you.

“Yeah? You missed me?”

“I always do.” You frown.

“I will always be with you, love.” He tilts your chin up, softly kissing your lips, “I love you.”

He attaches his lips back on yours, the pace picking up rather quickly. The both of you knew you couldn’t be gone for long, those days were over, so quickies were your thing unfortunately. His hands start on your hips, then make their way down to cup your soaked, pulsating pussy. You moaned into the kiss, squeezing your legs together at the contact.

“You’re so wet.” He groans, “All for you.” Your voice cracked as his fingers started rubbing against you.

“It better be.” He picks up his pace, “You’re mine, love.” He leaves trails of kisses on your neck, “You want my cock? Is that what you’ve been thinking about all day?”

“Yes, Nete.”

Neteyam unties your loincloth before untying his own, his cock hitting your stomach as it sprung free. Without any thought, you grabbed it, slowly beginning to stroke it causing Neteyam to let out a shaky breath.

“My love…" He moans in your ear, “As much as I love the way your hands make me feel, we do not have time. I need to be in you. Now.”

You pout, looking up at him as you continue to slowly stroke him. He was right, dusk was approaching and you two needed to be back before anyone started to get suspicious. He stared right back at you, sending you a warning with his eyes before they squeezed shut. You felt him twitch in your hand and that’s when you had reluctantly let go of him.

“Jump.”

You immediately did what he said, his hands cuffing you underneath your thighs as he held you up against the tree. The way he picks you up so effortlessly every time really gets to you, watching his muscles flex as he held onto you. Neteyam quickly aligns himself up with you, dropping you down onto him with no warning. His lips attached to yours, swallowing all your loud moans. He thrusts up into you, your nails scratching his back. You knew it would leave marks, but he was yours. So you didn’t care.

“You trying to mark me, love?” Neteyam chuckles, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

You slightly smile back in response, embarrassed that he had caught onto what you were doing.

“I’m all yours, baby.” He says into your ear, making your walls clench around him at the words, “You like hearing that? That I’m all yours—Fuck, you feel so good.”

“I love you, Nete.” You moan, your orgasm taking over you as he hit that sweet spot over and over again.

“I love you. It will always be you, only you. My beautiful girl, you’ll always be mine.” He rambled into your ear, “You’re the only one I want.” His body jerked against yours, signaling that he was close.

All you wanted was for him to fill you up, fill you with his seed. But that could never happen. Neteyam’s slowed down his motions, coming to a stop before he could shoot his seed up into you. He pulls himself out of you, looking you in your eyes as he began to pump himself in front of you.

“Nete, let me.” You softly say, pecking the corner of his mouth before grabbing ahold of his member again.

You slightly push him back before dropping to your knees, you look up at him as you kitten lick his throbbing cock. If you had more time, you would’ve teased him more, but instead you took all of him in, his tip hitting the back of your throat.

“Oh, just like that.” He looks at you before throwing his head back, “So good, baby.”

It didn’t take long for his warm liquid to shoot into your mouth, trickling down the back of your throat. Neteyam muttered all types of words as you sucked him off one last time before pulling your mouth off of him. You stood up, grabbing your loincloth and putting it back on as Neteyam stood there still trying to get himself together.

“Nete.” You chuckled, throwing his loincloth at him, “Come on, we have to go back.”

He smiles at you, still out of breath as he puts his loincloth on.

“I love you, my sweet girl.” He squeezes your cheeks, placing a kiss on your lips.

“I love you, Nete.”

Pacify her. She's getting on my nerves, you don't love her. Stop lying with those words.

You had gone back before Neteyam, bumping into Kiri as you made your way towards where you were going.

“It is about time.” Kiri rolled her eyes, interlocking her arm with yours, “You took forever.”

“I know, I am sorry. We got caught up in our conversation.”

You and Kiri approached the others where everybody ate, you two took your seat and dug in. Neteyam joined not too long after, taking his seat next to his soon to be mate. You tried to not even look at them, your stomach twisting just at the sight of them together.

“Neteyam how was your day?” You hear her ask, her sweet voice making you cringe, “How are you?”

“Amazing, how was yours?”

You couldn’t help but peek at them, her hand on his arm as his hand was rested on her leg. Neteyam wasn’t a mean person, he wasn’t going to make the girl feel unwanted, you knew that. But you couldn’t help but feel somewhat used. You knew it wasn’t like that, at all, but you couldn’t stop the thoughts running through your mind. They continued their conversation as you continue yours with Kiri.

“I cannot wait for the ceremony, Nete.”

Your ears perked up at the name. Nete. Nobody else has ever called Neteyam that, ever. Only you, since you two were kids that has always been your nickname for him.

“Sorry Kiri.” You cut her off in the middle of her sentence, “I do not feel well, give me a moment.”

You quickly get up from your seat, walking off as far as possible so no one could see the tears forming in your eyes. Eventually you heard Neteyam’s voice calling after you, making you stop in your tracks.

“My love.” He places his hand on your shoulder, turning you around.

“I-” You we’re about to yell but remembered where you were at, “I call you that. I am the only one to call you that. You are my Nete.”

Was he really yours anymore though? Only for a couple minutes during the day and a few hours during the night. But never how it used to be. He’s not yours anymore.

“I know, my love.” He sighs, “I know. I do not know where she got that from.”

“I do not know if I can do this anymore, Nete.” You shook your head, “I cannot be yours, if you are hers.”

“No, I am not hers. I am yours, only yours and you are mine.”

“You are to be mated with her, Neteyam!” You slightly yell, “You are not mine, not anymore…”

“I do not care about the courtship!” He pulls you closer to him so he doesn’t have to yell, “I do not care. You are mine; you will be mine. I will do anything it takes to be with you, my love.”

[ghostclowning]

SVSSS IDOL AU BRAINROT

i was going insane about it on my twt but here's a brief summary:

LBH is the top ultimate absolute idol with countless fans, one of then being SY. SY loves him sm that he even decided to become an idol himself, hoping to get closer to him(he first discovered LBH when he was in high school,,,since LBH's career started real early). He also dragged SQH into it...but, frankly spoken, they're quite a second-rate band.

Looking at it realistically, both understand that there's no chance they'll ever get to even stand next to LBH, but SY keeps trying!! And SQH hooks up with LBH's hot manager(accidentally)(they're so crazy about it). Anyway, SQH drops out bc yo...screw being a scum idol...they earn way less than they waste. And LBH's manager is hot and offers to live with him and shit. SY can't rly judge him, bc, yeah. SQH even tries to carefully get his hot manager daddy(who happens to be MBJ) to help SY, but fails and never talks about it again. Bros be bros but he likes where he is now and wouldn't want to risk annoying his bf too much. Especially considering how much he can make now being a secret paparazzi/reporter thing, since MBJ basically opened the doors to the big world for him.

One day SY's video with performance got absolutely accidentally spotted by LBH's former agency...YQY immediately notices how similar he is to their idol SJ. And SJ has one major flaw: his absolutely non-idolish temper. On stage he could keep an image, but off stage? Letting him out in public was not the safest thing to do, especially if he was in bad mood.

SY received an invitation for audition, and he passed. He was not as good at SJ, but that could be fixed with some practice; besides, he didn't need to be as skilled anyway. All he had to do is substitute SJ on shows, interviews, fan meetings etc. Of course, SY would have to get rid of all evidences of his past career and stuff, but he gladly agreed bc after SQH's leave he lost any hope. He knew he just won't make it all alone.

He knows that this agency is also the one that LBH initially belonged to, but later left for unknown reasons. Well, now he found out the reasons.

Young Binghe decided to become an idol because someone told him he looks like a famous permormer from the past...He tried looking it up and dived into idol industry. Everybody loved idols, and idols had a lot of fans to love. LBH decided to try bc his life of an orphan, there were no direction or perspectives anyway. He passed the auditions only bc SJ, another idol a couple years older than him, spotted him and recognized his talent immediately. SJ wanted to make a band with LBH, cause in the long run, this talent would bring benefits to SJ as well. After all, if LBH steals too much spotlight, SJ knows many ways how to get rid of him.

At same time, SJ never hesitated to treat LBH like trash, but LBH thought SJ is just trying to make him work harder. And LBH stole the spotlight way, way faster than SJ expected him to. In fact, everyone even forgot about SJ. Everyone was only talking about that one new idol that's now performing with him. and SJ tried to make a scandal around LBH, realizing the danger he possessed. The conflict was regulated by YQY, bc in the long run this could harm SJ and the agency as wellm but LBH could no longer keep justifying SJ. He left the agency, but he now knew better than to trust whoever.

During his time in the agency, he also found out some things about the permormer he once was compared to...and with the help of YQY's connections, figured this man could have been his father. Of course, that was to be kept in a secret...Because his father misteriously disappeared before Binghe was even born. Disappeared bc his reputation has been absolutely ruined, and he was accused in so many crimes that it felt absurd; his rep was so bad, that his lover(as Binghe suspected, that must have been his mother) was killed by some crazy fan...Anyway, according to YQY, who's been in the industry for quite a while and knew it better, "there were so many gossips and rumours that at this point it's hardly possible to say if anything known about him is true".

(In truth, it indeed was mostly fabricated...The only mistake that artist made was falling in love and having affairs with a daughter of a family with huge influence. Said daughter did not want it to end like this, but her family never really asked her opinion.)

LBH now knew how easily one's career can be broken here. And he learned a lot more...curious things. But he made his way up to the top, facing the difficulties, paparazzis and secret offers to trade his face and body for promotions(as for would he agree to those or not, this one leaves that up to your imagination).

He wanted to find out the truth about his parents, but most importantly, he had a taste of everyone's love and attention, and he wasn't ready to give it up. He was sure he won't repeat the mistakes of others...because he's not an idiot.

On stage, his bright smile filled the hearts of others with joy and passion, but nobody knew that behind the curtains, his own heart is cold and empty.

But when SY gets to meet him for the first time, he has to play SJ's role!! Fuck!! Meanwhile LBH stops playing as soon as he's out of the fans' reach.

But one day LBH figures out SY is a substitute!! Which is dangerous cuz they cannot let it leak that SJ is a fake!! but LBH doesn't hurry to reveal the secret, bc SY is kinda fine and fun to toy with....and then......... And here i got exhausted lol bye

[celestialh4ven]

A Secret

: Set in 1933. You are born into a wealthy family who is very protective and rich. You have very little freedom to roam around alone ever since childhood, now you’re a fed up adult craving for freedom. One day you decided to escape and to your luck, you succeeded! But now you had no where to go (well that’s what you thought) but to your luck (again) you met a man named Peter Parker, a famous tailor in the city. He offered to let you work for him for some until you were stable enough, even generous enough let you stay in the little apartment on the second floor of his shop. Little by little you start to fall for him, but unbeknownst to you, he has a little secret he’s been hiding…

cw : tailor!spider noir, wealthy(a lil spoiled)!reader, runaway!reader, peter is a big tease, sorta innocent!reader, lots of sexual tension, fluff, almost arranged marriage.

This is set in 1933 so some of the topics and values I made to be exactly how it was back then

———————— ————————— ———————— ——

It is the year 1933. You, are born into a rich and protective family, being an only child. You grew to be rebellious, constantly defying your parents wishes. Even now as you’re an adult in your 20s, your parents refuse to let you go, “You’re not even wed yet and you’re asking to leave? And do what?” Your father would always tell you. Trying to escape wasn’t easy either, or seemed that your mother built some sort of sixth sense that knew every time you’d try to escape. The first time you tried was simply embarrassing. Your family was hosting a party, in hopes to try to arranged you in a marriage with some other guy born into wealth. You thought it’d be simple, “All I have to do is hop over the wall in the back, how hard can that be?” It was very hard. You still had on a big poofy dress your mother forced you to wear that morning, “Ugh, it’s like her mind is stuck in the 1600s!” You grunted as you tried to climb over the wall. “I can’t wait to wear whatever I want when I leave—AH!”

THUD.

Whoops, y’a fall. But hey, you made it to the other side(ehh…) your parents were right in front of you, as if they knew you’d be there. They scolded you right in front of everybody. You’d never felt so embarrassed. “Yeah I told myself I’d never try to escape after that haha,” you let out an awkward laugh, “really? You sure don’t keep your promises, considering that you’re now here” “hmph!” Anyways! Yeah you told yourself you’d never try to escape ever again. Well…until your father lost it and tried to sell you off. “An..arranged…marriage?!” You shrieked just by the mere thought of those words, “Calm down hon!” Your father tried to stop you from making a scene. You were angry for two things: One: you’ve practically been begging to go and live and be on your own and they’ve always told you no and NOW they’re trying to basically sell you off to some rando! Two: it hasn’t even been a month since that embarrassing incident at the party. Oh my goodness! it was probably still fresh in everyone’s mind. You couldn’t leave yet at least not NOW!

You made sure to make the biggest scene of your life. You wanted everyone to feel your rage(they locked you in your room) “Now that I think about it, it actually wasn’t that bad I don’t know why I threw such a tantrum” “uh huh…” “what?” “Nothing, do keep talking” “Okay! Wait where did I leave off? Oh yeah!” Basically, you were devastated. You didn’t know why your dad would just betray you like that, just when you started to get comfortable with the thought of staying at home being a spoiled, unemployed princess for the rest of your life. “I can’t just let them sell me off, I have to escape!” And escape you did! We won’t talk about how you did it though, you’d rather bury that memory forever! “And that’s how I got here!” you exclaimed, “what a peculiar life you lived...” Peter chuckled, “I know! Ugh it was horrible!” “It’s a good thing I found you then,” Thankfully he did, you wouldn’t know what to do if Peter wasn’t around. Here’s how it happened…

You were walking on the city streets with soiled clothes, it was pretty hard to believe you were born into wealth with the way you were looking. “Ugh, does anybody not have any manners nowadays?” You thought to yourself, “what kind of men don’t help out a lady in obvious distress!” You were genuinely about to go crazy, you were so different from everyone, from the way you dressed all the way down to your makeup style. “So this is what it’s actually like outside…no poofy dresses or dramatic hair?” You sighed, maybe it was finally time to go home. “Are you alright?” A voice behind you asked, you turned around to see a rather dashing man, “Ye…actually no. I’m actually quite lost and I’m afraid I have nowhere to go,” angry tears almost fell from your eyes, you’ve never been so frustrated, “it’s no good for a young lady to wander around the streets this late at night, I have a shop not to far from here, you can clean up there” “YESPLEASE!” You quickly replied, you then linked you arm with his, “PLEASELEADTHEWAY!” You were so happy your words were all slurred together from talking so quick. “Alright then…”

It’s been three whole days since then. “Arms up and turn around for me so I can measure your waist,” he turned out to be a tailor, a very famous one at that. “Okay,” you replied. He was so nice to you, even offered you a job to help him with his works and in turn you can stay in his apartment on the second floor. “Is it alright if I take your hip measurements? I’m going to have to if you want a fitted dress.” “Oh…okay,” you felt tense as he got down on his knees in front of you wrapping his measuring tape around your hip and tightening it to get your measurements. For some reason your knees felt weak, his was just so close to your inner thighs and you just couldn’t help it. You wanted him closer, you wanted—“alright, I’m done,” he stood up to put his measuring tape back. “The shop’s about to open, I say you just hang around to see how things work before I give you any tasks,” “okay… I’ll uh be right down” “mm,” he replied before waving goodbye and closing the apartment door.

click.

—————————————————————————————

Two whole months after that day…

You were getting the hang of things now. You were running the shop with Peter, helping people try on clothes, accessories and what not. Occasionally, you’d feel a glare in your direction every time you were helping a male customer put on his clothes a bit too enthusiastically, but never dare look back to see who was giving you such looks. Everything was great! Well, almost. You parents had police searching high and low for you. You got yourself a little makeover and ditched those old fashioned clothes your mom would force you to wear, so you weren’t as noticeable. You weren’t ready to go back just yet, “I’ll give it another month,” you told yourself. As for Peter, boy did your feelings grow and fast! You wondered if you were just feeling this way because he technically provided you the freedom you have now. There were these occasional moments with you and him that you just couldn’t stop thinking about, like how he’d make you try on fitted custom made clothes that hugged your curves perfectly and have you basically put on a show for him.

Or how he’d assist you with cooking with his chest pressed onto your back, and his crotch pressed onto your ass, you didn’t stop him though, in fact you liked it, turns out you weren’t THAT innocent after all. Peter couldn’t lie that he didn’t feel the same about you. He’s been fond of you ever since you met, constantly finding ways to be near you and be as close as possible, he’d find himself taking your measurements regularly lying and saying that he keeps forgetting because he had to take the measurements of many people a day. He loved how you’d never question him when it was mostly the measurements of your more intimate areas that he just kept forgetting. He couldn’t quite place his finger in where this sudden affection for you came from but he wasn’t fighting it either. He wanted more of you.

one random night.

“I’m thinking of staring a lingerie collection, could you be the one to model some of my first pieces?” he questioned, “oh! Err sure!” What a sweet girl you were never saying no to anything he proposed. He gave you 15 pieces of clothes you went in your room to change. “Wow these sure are…intimate” you breathed out, you were a bit shy to try them on but you sucked it up and modelled all of the 15 pieces for him, he was so kind to you at the start, you just had to repay him in every possible way, which, to you, meant doing everything he asked of you. “The sides are too high up,” he pointed at you “huh?” “Come here,” he demanded. Confused, you follow his orders and walked up to him. “The sides are too high,” his hands rested on both sides of your hip slowing gliding them down to pull the sides of your panties down lower. Unable to stop yourself in time, you let a small moan.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself darling,”he looked up at you to meet your gaze full of desire, “should I keep going, love?” the look he gave you was dangerous, you’ve never wanted a man so bad. If only he were the man your parents wanted to sell you too, you’d marry him in a heartbeat. Marry…marry…, “marriage! Can’t! till marriage!” it's like you could hear your dad yelling at you. As much as you wanted him, you grew up with the idea of no sex before marriage and even though you were away from them the values you learned you still kept close to your heart.

knock

knock

knock

.

.

.

“I’ll go get that,” Peter sighed as he hurried towards the door and closed it behind him to talk to the figure outside.

.

.

.

“What is she doing in your house and why haven’t you gotten rid of her, Peter?”

[elissanatok]

part 4

pairing: Aemond targaryen x velaryon! (strong!) reader

summary: Aemond has loved and secretly claimed you for himself since the day you were born. losing his eye changed him, but maybe it did not affect his feelings for you as much as he thought it had

warnings: english is not my first language, angst, fluff, shy reader, unclexniece, possesive aemond, everybody adores reader in this

wordcount: 902

let me know what you think!! reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback are highly appreciated <33

You couldn’t help it. It had been this way ever since you were a child. Maybe even before that, maybe it was fated by the old gods. You tried so hard to forget about the warm feeling that memories still brought up in you when you thought about the past.

You could hear him giggling, a sound that now was lost forever. He would never be seven again, never sound like that again or look at you the way he used to. He had been your best friend, nothing else, and you wished so hard for it to become that way again.

The light of the almost complete full moon shone through the high window in your bedroom. It had always been your room, nobody dared to change a thing, even though the beautiful chamber had been empty for too long. It didn’t smell familiar anymore, you had realized and so had Aemond, for the hundredth time, while standing in the doorway. You did have a bad habit of not closing the door when you wished for some privacy, always feeling safe and respected in both your homes, but now it seemed like the dumbest thing you had ever done.

In his life he had visited your room more often than you did yourself, he would never say it or tell you, but it was more his than yours at this point. But than again that’s what you felt a lot throughout your life. Being more his than your own.

He stood there for a few minutes, not saying a word, not breathing too loud.

You looked pretty when you cried. Your eyes tinged red and your cheeks stained wet. The color of your lips more prominent because of the swelling. He felt captivated by the sight, but he knew that it was his fault you had shed painful tears. He cleared his throat, clenching his hands behind his back. A small gasp escaped you while your hand flew to your chest, touching the skin above your heart.

“Princess.”, he greeted- you didn´t answer. Your eyes fixed on him like a prey prepared to get his throat torn out, until they changed to the eyes of a dragon, ready for her own meal.

“Did you come here to violate me again?”’ His eyes widened. He certainly didn´t expect you to confront him so straight forward and he never wanted you to believe he had wanted to hurt you. “I…”, “or did you come to make fun of my hair?”

He shook his head. “No. It wasn´t my intention to…”, “Are you certain about that?” He shook his head again, white hair falling out of place. “If it wasn´t you intention than why did you say it? Why couldn´t you hold back when it wasn´t your intention?”

You turned away, trying to hide the tears that were most likely to fall. “I never meant to hurt you, please believe me. I -I lost control of my temper- I didn´t mean to.” He wasn´t apologizing, you both knew that. He had grown up to a man with great self control, he didn´t even know why he had not excluded you from the speech he presented. He wished he would have been controlled enough to ignore the little smirks Lucerys threw at him and instead could have talked to you in a normal way, maybe charmed you a little.

But he had not been able to control his brewing rage, that’s why he now stood in front of a woman he himself felt he had never met before. She had never looked at him like this. Full of hate and pain. It made her look different, but changed nothing about the feelings he kept for her. She was his, and he knew no matter what happened in the future, no matter how she looked at him, his love would always be reserved for her.

You heard his footsteps retrieve from your room, so you hastily ran to the door and slammed it shut – louder than you had intended to.

He had never made you feel like this. He had almost begged you to allow him to touch your hair a few years ago, because he liked it being so different than his. Curly, dark and unruly, not as silky and light as you would have liked for it to be.

It made you doubt. Doubt yourself, although you knew that it was useless. You could not change your appearance you had told yourself, you couldn´t change his view of you, just like you couldn´t change the image of him in your head – no matter how hard you tried or how hard he seemed to try to break it.

When the sun rose again the next morning, and the maids came to prepare you for the day, raking their gentle hands through your hair, you could not stop your wandering thoughts again. The circles under your eyes showed your clear lack of sleep, and everybody would be able to see them.  But you weren´t sure anymore if you were good enough to stay in the red keep, if you were strong enough to handle the ongoing feud between your family members.

This had been your home, until it hadn´t. This people were your home, until they weren´t anymore and maybe you were the only one who believed that things here hadn´t changed, just because you didn´t.

[haezen]

a/n: OKAYY IM SLOWLY COMING BACK im defrosting my writing skills ... they're frozen

(not proofread mb)

belphegor x gn!mc

2:56 A.M.

The perfect time for a late-night snack. 

You make your way to the kitchen and try to be as quiet as possible, so as to not disturb any of the demon brothers ‘peacefully’ sleeping in their rooms. Though it’s useless because you can hear Levi screaming at his teammates behind a closed door. That was normal for the third-born. If you listen carefully, you can also hear a faint tune playing all the way from behind Lucifer’s door up in his study.

You tip-toe to the kitchen and peek around the corner to ensure Beel isn’t already inside rummaging around for scraps. Aaand he’s nowhere to be seen. Perfect. 

During your time down in the Devildom with the demon brothers, you have noticed that there's rarely a day that passes where there are snacks for you to enjoy at night. Luckily, tonight seems to be an exception because a singular cookie is sitting smack dab in the middle of the kitchen island. Your favorite flavor.

You creep towards it to inspect it. How could this be?

There’s not a single letter, mark, or name written on the wrapper. There’s also no ignoring the convenient absence of any note that would indicate not to eat it.  Surely with Beel’s senses, he would have been able to sniff this cookie out in his sleep. It’s a miracle that the cookie has lasted this long.

The growling of your stomach pulls you out of your thoughts. Nobody would miss this cookie if it was gone, right? There’s no time to debate or allow your conscience to take over because before you know it, you’ve already taken a ginormous bite out of the cookie. And it tastes absolutely divine. It tastes so heavenly that you can’t help but close your eyes to savor the flavors that overwhelm your taste buds. Have you ever had a cookie that tasted so good?

The bliss you’re experiencing from a singular bite out of this godly cookie comes to an abrupt end. 

Creeaaak!

Oh, god. Please don’t be a ghost. You think as you peek around the kitchen door. Nobody’s there. You assure yourself. Everybody is busy or asleep. This house is just really old so of course it’s going to be creaky.

You take another bite and it’s just as good as the first. So maybe a moan escaped from your mouth? It tastes so good that you don’t care if any of the brothers heard you. 

A glass of milk would go perfectly with this cookie. Even though it tastes amazing on its own, it’s kinda making your mouth go dry. You fling open the fridge door to grab the carton of milk – nearly empty. 

With no one around to chastise you, you unscrew the cap and take a swig right from the container. As you begin to slowly shut the fridge and screw the cap back on, a dark figure is directly behind the previously open fridge door. 

You want to scream but with your mouth full, you end up spitting milk straight into their face. 

“What the fuck!” He yells with his hands outstretched in shock as he looks down at the floor.

“Belphie?” You whisper in disbelief, trying to calm your rapidly pounding heart. You want to feel bad for the demon because he's now soaking wet. But…you don’t because he scared the shit out of you while you were peacefully minding your business. He deserved it.

Ever since you told the demon brothers about Halloween and all of its traditions that you participated in up in the human world, the brothers have been tirelessly working to make it possible for you to celebrate the holiday in the Devildom too. Belphegor must have thought that scaring the shit out of you was perfectly in season. The thought of him planning the scare makes you wanna slap him. (Not that it’d hurt him, but just to get your point across that you didn’t exactly appreciate the gesture)

As your attack left him, his face, and his hair soaking wet, he’s forced to brush his bangs back out of his face to see properly. He tries to adjust to your unexpected reaction to his prank, but he could have never expected to be standing right in the splash-zone. 

“Why would you DO that!” You whisper-yell and lightly push him backwards. 

“I wasn’t expecting you to spit all over me!” Belphie groans in his defense, regaining his balance from your shove. “I was just trying to give you a good little scare.”

You slam the fridge door shut and shake the milk carton in front of his face. “You want the rest? Because I sure am tempted to dump the rest over you, you jerk!”

“Are you trying to get on my bad side?” 

“Are YOU trying to get on mine?!”

“Ah, right.” He laughs and snags a hand towel from the counter to dab his face dry. “Well…I don’t suppose you want to help me?”

“Surely you’re joking?” You set the carton down by your half-eaten cookie on the counter. “You want help, Belphie? I can help you plenty!”

The look on his face sours at your sarcastic tone. He’s about to roll his eyes but the sensation of your warm hands coming into contact with the wet clothes on his skin forces him into giving you his full attention. 

You grab a fistful of his shirt and pull him closer, sticking out your tongue to lick his cheek. Belphie recoils in disgust but you don’t miss the slight tinge of pink dusting over his pale cheeks. 

“You’re fucking disgusting!” He complains as he throws his head back. As he’s lifting his hands up to try and push you away, you lean in even closer to continue your assault. “Hey!”

“You asked for it!” 

Giggles and loud protests from the both of you fill the kitchen. Neither of you want to let the other win. As the fight continues on, the louder his squeals and your laughter become.

You sneak in a particularly wet lick on his jaw and as he cringes away, his foot slips out from beneath him. In the blink of an eye, you've fallen on top of the seventh-born. The fiery look behind his violet eyes and the slowly growing smirk on his face (as he plots revenge) makes you want to kiss him.

“Oh, you’re so in for it now [Name].” 

“I would say that the BOTH of you are in for it now.”

At the sound of Lucifer’s voice, you scramble off of Belphie immediately. Heat floods your body and when you meet Belphegor’s eyes, they are just as wide as your own. The apologetic smile he offers you in the midst of being caught immediately steels your nerves.

“If this kitchen is not cleaner than before you entered it in approximately ten minutes, both of you will deeply regret having left the comfort of your rooms tonight.”

"Yes sirrrr..."

[colourstreakgryffin]

AH THIS HAS BEEN ITCHING MY BRAIN! TATTOO/PIERCER OBANAI?? (You don’t have to write this if you don’t want to :D)

Omfg! Yes! I’m soooo doing this! Now, god please save everybody who reads this. You all are gonna have to deal with my Obanai simp side! I’m gonna go wild! Ima pick just Tattoo Artist for my sanity

@local-obanai-simp! Love, this is for you and me!

Right off the bat. Tattoo artist Obanai is hot. Too hot to drop, he has tattoos all over his arms and chest, pierced ears with black jewellery and such a monochrome palette with his goth clothing style, that just highlight his yellow and turquoise mismatched eyes

He is very diligent with his work and he grabs you, holding whatever body part still if you keep shivering in pain too much. He doesn’t mean to be rough, he just gets annoyed fast with fidgety customers

Obanai does feel bad for the people who are just experiencing their first tattoo, that includes you. He was basically born with tattoos and even as a child, he was forced to have tattoos so they don’t hurt

He is so hot when he is working, his almost glowing eyes glare at the drawing he is starting to shape in full concentration and his rolled-up sleeve denim jacket showing off his forearm tattoos alongside a great amount of muscle

It’s hard to not look at him for real. You look more at Obanai, then you do complaining or whining over the pain as he is simply hypnotic!

Intense stabbing pain courses your bicep as you threw up your hand over your bust, just to clutch it. Your brain was screaming at you to push off the device causing you this level of pain but why would you do that when the man giving you the pain is so attractive

Conveniently, he is a friend of yours you met through your beloved cousin, Kanroji Mitsuri. Iguro Obanai, the owner and main employee of the infamous Serpentine Parlour. Mitsuri had spilled the beans about him a little while back and you were eager to meet him every day since

Mitsuri gave you his number after you basically bribed her for it, to taste out your curiosity over him, and got to chatting in no time. He was quite polite yet busy, he always apologised for answering late and explained himself. You never minded, a polite man like himself is all you could ever want

Almost like a un-recalled dream, tada. Now, you’re in his shop as his final customer for the day, getting stabbed repetitively by the tattoo gun-thingie with your eccentric eyes trained on him to distract yourself from the pain and oh lordy, did he distract you from the pain so well

He is beyond gorgeous as he focused on perfecting your tattoo of choice. Those heterochromatic eyes of yellow and turquoise glowed, his straight-edged raven black hair tied up in a tight ponytail, showing off the many black piercings he had, his denim jacket unbuttoned slightly at the chest to show the wiggly fancy writing of “Kaburamaru” running over his collarbone

Your cheeks blew up into ruby red at the attractive man before you, just switching between his face, open arms and the small peek of his built torso as he kept working. Yeah, his mouth was hidden by a clean, medicinal-like mask so you couldn’t see all of his face but you still found yourself worshipping his looks like he is some model

“I can tell that you’re looking at me” Obanai remarks gently and calmly as he usually is, reaching his spare hand up and pressing thumb on your chin and fingers on your cheek to crane your head up. The sharp pain disappeared as Obanai have seemed to pull the gun away

“Don’t toy with me, girl. Don’t you want a good tattoo~” Obanai remarked, his voice going from sleek and mature to sexy and demanding in a second. Sudden heat flooded you in response as his wondrous eyes basically ate up your reaction, cheeks burning bright and light stutters breaking through your lips

If only Mitsuri could see this side of her best friend! “I-I… y-yes! I do.. b-but i…” It was pretty obvious that he was smirking at you, with the way his pierced eyebrow rose as he rolled his eyes and let go of your chin, his hands were smaller than most men but still very strong, with a few veins underneath the black gloves. “Good~”

Obanai’s occupied hand still held the non-longer running tattoo gun that he brought it back to your bare bicep and flipped on the switch with his fingertip rather quick. Almost unbearable pain begun attacking your senses again when he pressed the needle into your skin and dragged down

You looked away in a instant, very embrassed at getting caught as you kept staring at the marble cupboards decorated by a white glass snake ornament. Obanai, from the left side of the long table that you laid down on, frowned at the lack of gaze. He was just trying to tease you, he didn’t want you to actually stop. Obanai brought back your attention by snapping his spare hand’s fingers in midair. Your head turned in conjunction, slightly jumping from how loud it was echoing through the quiet colourless room

“Did I say you are to stop looking at me?” Obanai barked slightly, eyes never leaving his work but you can he was talking to you as your cheeks somehow got darker, at his statement, then they already are. Your free hand trying desperately to cover your embarrassed and flustered self as Obanai carefully and quickly moved your arm to a specific spot, reaching over and grabbing your wrist, placing it over your stomach and locking fingers with his

“Kanroji told me you’re sensitive to pain. Hold my hand and squeeze it if it’s get too bad” You stuttered out once again, gazing down his features to try forget the pain and gently tapping your fingers against his knuckles repetitively as a attempt to calm yourself down. You’re a mix of confused, flattered and embarrassed all at once, is Obanai treating you this way because you’re his best friend’s cousin or is it because he genuinely wants to?

“W-what about your work? Can you do it with one hand” You stutter back, nervous that he may mess up and trying your best to prove to him that he doesn’t need to hold your hand through it. “I can tattoo with one hand. It’ll be fine” Obanai responds, taking a quick glance up at your face, his hidden lips formed a smile at your sparkling lovestruck eyes. You did like him more than he suspected

His eyes returned back to his work as he needed to finish it quickly. One, so you won’t be in pain anymore and two, so he can wrap up his and his employees’ shift quicker to focus on the more important thing trialing his mind. He could tell his employees were done for the day as most had begun gathering their things and simply waited on their boss to give the cue

He was eager to finish this to as he has a beautifully perfect concept floating around his head, it almost clouded the image of the tattoo you wanted as he could still sense your eyes scanning over him and his body. Perfect, he gets to do what he wants with you

A not so little “talk” in his office

[internetgiraffekid1673]

Day 6 of @kharmio's OC-tober drawing challenge: Draw your first OC.

Everybody meet Lyra. This is the only OC who does not share a setting/story with the others in this art series. She is my actual first OC, and this is also the first time I've ever drawn her. I chose to do this mostly because I concieved the protagonist squad that's in the rest of this art challenge more or less all at once. I did steal some of their design or personality elements from previous stuff, but for the most part, they're a unit.

Oh, and when I say first, I mean FIRST. Like, my stuffed animals all have personalities and lives that my brothers and I developed before her, but as far as characters with a story that exist solely in my head? Lyra has been around since I was 7. And she's still here. I'll put her story under the cut because it's rather well-developed for being created by a small child, and I probably won't ever talk about her again, soooooo. You get it all in one place.

In 1st and 2nd grade, I started learning about the American Revolution in school. Around the same time, I was given open access to my school's library and was voraciously reading anything I could get my hands on. This included a number of books about wolves and some stories with animal companions.

My small child brain stuck all these ideas in a blender and ended out with an Alternate History story that involved everybody forming a soul-bond with an animal companion at birth. This is a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship that basically grants the animal all the intelligence of the human, and the human all the instincts of the animal, plus a number of mental and emotional buffs due to having what is effecitvely a soul mate.

But certain parts of "civilization" found that bond unsavory, especially when it came to more predatory/dangerous/gross/misunderstood animals, and started severing the bond by just executing the animal at birth. This was the reigning practice in basically all of the white colonial countries (I never bothered to flesh out who else in the world does it). Now, this is objectively bad for you. In this alternate history, humans were DESIGNED to be bonded. It kind of leaves you with a gaping emotional hole and nothing to balance you out, and also at a significant physical disadvantage. The only plus side is that you can operate independently and don't have to take your animal companion into account for every little decision. It's kind of the equivalent of straight-lacing a corset or medieval medicine. Like, it's bad, but there was a reason behind it.

When the British colonists came to America, they had to re-learn to commune with the animals to keep from dying, and they started forming soul-bonds with unbonded animals. While it's not quite as strong or useful as a birth-bond, it still kept them alive and was mutually beneficial.

The regime . . . Didn't take this very well, let's just put it that way. Matter of fact, they took it about as well as they took the smuggling in the real world. And uh. They kinda showed up to try to put a stop to it.

Now. The colonists were beginning to realize JUST HOW BAD it is to be unbonded and were NOT ready to go back to that. So war happened. But unlike in real history, the leaders of the revolution and the Continental Army were primarily young people born in the colonies because they had birth bonds with their companions and were more capable because of it. Double triply especially those with the especially taboo animals.

Lyra and her twin brother Luca are the main commanding officers for their section of the Continental Army, all of whom are young people bonded to a wolf pack. Lyra is their battle strategist, drill sergeant, and front man who does all the negotiations and is the one usually in the battlefield. Luca is like their intelligence officer, in charge of organizing their supplies, medical, keeping troop moral, and is almost totally secret from the Royal Army. He's kind of their secret weapon---they have two officers splitting the work, and it's helping them win.

Unfortunately, Luca gets taken prisoner by complete chance during a totally random battle, saving one of their newest recruits. This not only devastates the squad emotionally, it also seriously messes with their tactics and they rapidly start losing. It's up to Lyra and her wolf companion Guinevere (as well as Luca's wolf companion Grayson) to rescue him from the Redcoats while simultaneously trying to keep the army together. Meanwhile, Luca has to play the most backward insane interrogation games with the British Army to a) keep them from figuring out just how important of a prisoner he is, b) feed them just enough misinformation to mislead them without them catching on, and c) trying to get some of their (largely brainwashed and misinformed) recruits to switch sides.

Lyra, while intelligent enough to be a commanding officer, is a very hot-headed, lead with your heart, go with your gut, short-tempered, high strung kind of gal. This is contrasted by Luca, who is much more mellow. Each of their wolf companions also has an opposite personality. Guinevere is very no-nonsense and super rational to the point that it can come across as detachment, while Grayson is ridiculously playful and mischevious to a slightly problematic degree.

. . . And after coming back to this, my first piece of original work ever, I'm beginning to notice the origins of some of my favorite tropes. It's got a "weirdly chill with your antagonists" relationship, a screwed up but wholesome/romanticized codependent relationship, a pair of absolute menaces for the main characters.

Yeah, maybe I should revisit this. I give full credit to my 7 year old self, she was far more creative than me. I mean, I have had literal years to develop and iterate on it but still. The concept is cooler than I remembered.

[wheelin-after-midnight]

29.

You ever carve Jack Lanterns?

No. My dexterity sucks too much for this. I'd probably end up stabbing myself in the hand or something by accident.

Have you ever visited someone in jail?

No.

How cold is it where you live in January?

Usually very cold.

Do you like the smell of Jasmine?

I don't love it, but I don't hate it.

Have you ever tried a jawbreaker?

Yeah. Not a fan.

Do you like Jazz music?

Yup.

What’s your most important piece of jewellery? Why does it mean so much to you?

The one ring I have left that my Nan gave me. The brooches of hers that are in the jewelry box she also gave me that previously belonged to her mother. They mean a lot to me because I have very few things of hers or from her. Things like that are irreplaceable and she's gone.

What job have you always wanted to do?

Mother, but I can't. Always wanted to do live theatre, too. I used to in my school days. I wish I had more opportunity to do it now.

Have you ever done journaling?

Not so much as an adult. I used to write a lot of poetry. I still have it all. I guess this is a the closest thing to journaling I do now.

Do you think you’re a judgmental person or more an accepting person?

I'm generally extremely accepting. I'm usually surrounded by people I make a conscious choice not to be like. I choose to try to do much different.

What’s the key to happiness?

There isn't one. Happiness is not something that's fixed. It's not a feeling that just stays. It ebbs and flows. It's in a lot of little things. Sometimes you really gotta look for it, might not be blatantly obvious. It's not the same for everybody. Often, I think it's something we create for ourselves. All these little bits of hope and joy and fun and memories that we salvage from all the mess in our lives. Things that keep us going when we don't think we can.

What was your favourite cartoon as a kid?

There were a lot. I loved Arthur. Clifford. Franklin. Bear in the Big Blue House.

What fictional killer scares you the most?

None. They're fictional, I don't need to be afraid of them.

What kind of sandwiches do you like?

Fried egg and cheese, turkey and cheese, ham and cheese, German salami, German salami and cheese, grilled cheese, Philly cheese steak, sometimes peanut butter.

Which of your friends is the kindest?

Both of my best friends are kind in different ways, but I do more things with Brittany and see her a bit more often than Kirsten, so I'll go with Brit. She's extremely supportive and loyal, will always get back to me when I need help. Never gets upset if it's the same stuff bothering me because she knows that it's beyond my control and not stuff that I can just change on my own. Always tells me to never feel bad for venting. Has been there to do things for me that my mum should have been present for and done but couldn't be bothered to make time for, even though she lives a good drive away and is also a mother to her own young child. We do things for each other. Neither of us keeps score or holds it over the other person's head. I never expect her to pay me back, but when she feels as though she should she always promptly does, and vice versa. She spends money on food for me a lot when we go out even if I could have paid and doesn't care because she wants me to be able to keep a little money for myself. I've been Auntie to her son since he was born. I've known her since I was eight. We went to school together until tenth grade and then she moved, but we've hardly gone two weeks without talking to each other in all that time. We almost always talk daily at least once. We've not had a single argument or falling out our entire friendship. She's been through so much in her own life but never once let it make her hard or bitter or mean or turn into someone who treats people poorly. She's one of the best mothers I've ever seen, and strong. I'm so proud of her all the time. She's giving her son what she never had and it's amazing to watch. She's everything you could think of or want in a best friend. I wish everyone had someone like that.

How old were you when you had your first kiss?

15.

Do you love kittens and puppies?

DUH! 😍😍 I miss Nippy being such a tiny floofer. How is she a year and a half next month?! Look how cute she was guys! I can't! 😭🥹

Have you ever flown a kite?

Yes. Not since I was really young though.

[superm4ks]

I wanna hear all of ur thoughts on 3344!!! Please tell us everything!!!! my only addition is that that copse crash changed the trajectory of their lives immediately like they could be fighting for p15 and would be all up in each others business. there is a special kind of distrust and contempt and anger for the other that no one else recives bc they reserve it all for each other and this is why they’re best f1 rivalry of all time 😋 sorry alain

omfg yes lets go a lil crazy🌷🌷🌷🌷

My 4433/441 thoughts are always all over the place like I truly havent been able to pin them down since l started watching f1 because these 2 are both like super weird in very different ways and they have zero bridges u can cross between them except for this unreal fucking level of on sight hating that makes a rivalry soooo good u feel it in ur tummy

When I tell u in Austria the moment I heard Lewis impeded Max I knew the baddie was gonna unleash the wrath of an old testament god upon this incredibly inconsequential fl0p vehicle number 44 like. Sorry to the haters and losers but its very funny to ME 😭😭 Inspector Hamilton didnt even make much noise about this which is even funnier because either he knows he'll catch a stray for impeding first or he just cannot handle Max and his Raytheon hamilton sensors anymore like he's tired and his own tp is telling him to shut up like leave him alone. ((I doubt its the last we'll hear of it tho))

And yes 2021 like u said prolly changed the trajectory of their lives forever not just copse but like monza, brazil, Jeddah. Whats so fascinating about Max and Lewis is that for such enormously talented drivers they simply cannot let each other race normal. They leave each other more space and will still fumble because they want to pass so bad. As u put it, its distrust, but its also just racing. Its the purest form of racing there is lmfao these are both karting prodigies and they still revert back to that when they race each other. I said this once they're like 2 maddies from euphoria in 1 show. But this whole dynamic of uneasiness between them started way before 2021 tbh.

Even when Max was a teenager wid a cap and a dream and the rawest dawg inside that literally bit people and Lewis was settling back into the record books wid a glass of wine and an established, tamed dawg, he still made a point not to rate Max ever. Max was taboo. Didnt even call him by name sometimes like to his face literally called him 'guy' which is such an Hamilton ass old school way of acknowledging an Opp like look at this

F1 drivers are so insane. Anyway I think Max still feels some type of way about all that. A job will have u 19 years old getting bullied by a 33 year old that refuses to say ur name. Max pissed everybody off those days. He just wanted to do the lil debrief and the old heads truly did not give a fuck they were so mean to him. Lewis went thru a divorce too so this was all wrong person wrong place wrong time wrong car wrong team wrong wrong wrong. All wrong.

They were doomed from the start like they were set on a collision course since Max was born that was as inevitable as he is. And the noise around them has always been too loud. But they do try which I find very charming and kind of sad. Like one thing about Max and Lewis they're gonna have a lil giggle together about something dumb and that hasn’t changed

((I am convinced whatvr lewis showed him on his phone here was like deeply illegal))

((this presser is soooo like at some point Lewis leans over and whispers that theres a lot of girls there for the weekend and Max is like umm and Lewis is like oh u have a girlfriend right ew 🙄))

🫠🌷this was so cute pls

They share sm history together in the one thing that matters the most to both of them which is racing. Like the way Abu Dhabi happened bro, all that led to it, the amount of new eyeballs on the sport just thru sheer force of narrative and hubris. They built that together. Nobody else cud have done it. Like they share thirty five 1-2s in F1. 35 times one of them was first and the other was second. I think 3 more times on the podium and they break a record for most podiums shared oat. Thats not unimportant it’s not meaningless especially not to these 2 in particular. They’re special. They’re both so special and mercurial and they save the worst parts of themselves. the best part of themselves. to each other . Everybody else takes scraps. The spray aligns

Yeah. Like yk. the spray aligns

[stars-in-a-jam-jar]

You ever think about how fucked up it is that children in military families are surrounded by messages that their parents and other close relatives are Heroes who are In Danger Protecting Them whenever they leave home? Like. I only have the experience of it you get from living in Texas where it also kinda fuses and intersects with and reinforces the evangelism in a lot of ways, but I can't imagine pro-military tactics are much different in other places. If service isn't compulsory, the main way you draw people in is with the promise of being Cool Noble Heroes Protecting The Country when in reality their lives and bodies and personal goals are just being exploited for the aims of whoever happens to be in charge of this grander landmass.

And while I've seen people talk about how that whole paradigm is Bad For Global Society (because it is) and preys on the poor and otherwise disenfranchised/marginalized (because it does) I don't think I've seen anyone directly point out how it will fuck a kid up to be told 'Your parent/older sibling/otherwise close one is a big cool tough hero who goes into dangerous situations willing to sacrifice anything, specifically their own life, to keep you and the countless strangers in the nation Safe.' over and over and over again in countless insidious ways.

Like, imagine you are 5 years old and it's normal to you for your Mom not to be home, because she's been on and off deployed or multiple towns over on drill or doing other vaguely defined military shit on-base since before you were born. The main outfit you can imagine her in is camouflage, with your last name and various other incomprehensible words and symbols velcroed in various places on it. You like her shiny silver necklace with the square charms that go clink-clink, and you ask someone older than you if you can have one, and you're told 'Oh, no, you get that when you're a soldier.' 'But why can't I have one now?' and they now have the choice to either leave you frustrated that you are being left out of the loop on your mom's necklace, or they tell you 'Those are dog tags. They're used to identify a soldier in case they die. You don't need them.' If they're detailed, they add, 'You can't always identify a body depending on the way they die.' And as years go on people mince words less and less and you're taught sometime in middle or high school that dog tags as a practice started during the civil war amongst soldiers when they realized they didn't know who to send some of the corpses home to.

Imagine you're 7, and at school you're given one of those 'What job does your parent have?' worksheets that are meant to teach kids how to write comprehensible statements. Your Mom is a mechanic, and you know a lot of what the things in her toolbox are for. You feel very smart for being able to identify different models of car and knowing that cars don't just have engines, but batteries and cooling systems. Your Dad hasn't been home more than a week for the past two months. All you know is what the TV and other military kids say about what being in the army is like. You write down what you've heard. Your dad has a very important job. He protects everybody from danger and knows how to use a gun. He 'puts his life on the line'. A phrase you have heard so many times, it has ceased to mean anything. If it ever really meant anything to you when you first heard it. Whenever that was.

Imagine you're 11, and your older sibling gets home from their first deployment. They're a little jet lagged, and they almost don't recognize you because you grew out your hair some while they were gone and grew out of half your clothes. They give you a big hug and your parents say welcome home and you completely forget how just last month you were playing out in your head a situation where you got a call saying they weren't coming home and strategizing your whole life for a night around them not being there, because for all you know, that could happen anytime. Any day. Whenever they are not in your sight, they could be in danger. But of course you don't need to worry. They're home now, they'll be in danger again later, and right now, they brought you souvenirs for your birthday they missed.

And they do it for you. They do it because they're heroes. They do it because they're brave and the best and amazing. They do it because everybody needs them. Everybody, not just you. Your family doesn't belong to you, your family belongs to the country. The first people who you ever had the chance to be important to, who ever had the chance to be important to you, could disappear from your life and you wouldn't know it until the call came through from wherever they'd been disappeared off to.

Like, maybe it's bad to tell children that's Good Actually.

[notelasts]

west side story muse headcanons

families

riff’s real name is rolf wilhelm lautmann. he never uses it. the only ones who know it are riff and his parents. he’s the only child of helene and wilhelm lautmann. helene had a difficult time during her pregnancy and giving birth to him nearly killed her. both helene and wilhelm hate riff for nearly killing his mother. wilhelm is physically and emotionally abusive. riff has scars on his torso and waist from his father’s belt, but his most noticeable scar is the one just under his left eye. he broke a vase when he was eight and wilhelm hit him hard enough that he fell into the broken vase. his parents refused to take him to the hospital, so riff was forced to take care of the wound himself. neither helene nor wilhelm are faithful to each other, but neither of them have ever brought anyone home. helene is drunk or high more often than she’s sober, and she constantly berates riff for being a disappointment. wilhelm also tends to be drunk more often than he’s sober.

balkan’s real name is bernard gordon edwards. he is the third and youngest child in the edwards family. his parents, james thomas edwards i and genevieve evelyn edwards (née peterson), are incredibly rich. his siblings, francesca jacqueline edwards and james thomas edwards ii, both loathe him simply because their parents do. balkan wasn’t a planned child, nor was he really wanted. james and genevieve only wanted two children, but balkan was born two years after james and four years after francesca. he met tony and riff when he was fifteen, but he never hung out with them very much until his parents kicked him out. they didn’t want any of their children associating with ruffians and hooligans, and since they’d never wanted balkan in the first place, it was an easy decision to make. balkan was kicked out on his seventeenth birthday and he’s been running with the jets ever since.

tony’s real name is anton wyzek, but everybody just calls him tony. he is elzbieta wyzek’s only child. she got pregnant out of wedlock at eighteen years old and her parents disowned her. tony’s father, casimir bachurski, left her when she got disowned. she never mentions him and she probably never will. tony loves his mother immensely and he refuses to hear a bad word against her. elzbieta works three jobs to keep her and tony (and later, riff) fed and clothed and in a house. she is incredibly proud of her son and tony is equally proud of her, although sometimes he wishes she’d like his friends more. when he goes to jail, he writes to his mother every day. he never receives a response. he’s told that she passed away a month after his arrest. the months after tony returns home are tough, but he keeps his head down and takes the job that valentina offers him.

the jets

the jets were formed when tony and riff were fourteen. it was tony’s idea and riff went along with it because he always went along with tony’s ideas. and it wasn’t a bad idea, either. the gang was small at first, but it eventually grew to include fifteen boys (and eventually, their girlfriends) that would defend each other until their dying breath. the jets’ territory is the docks and the surrounding area that tony and riff fight on during cool. when tony goes to jail, riff steps up as leader. he appoints ice and action as his second and third. there aren’t a lot of rules in the jets, but the biggest two are no hurting women and no hurting children. it doesn’t matter who they are, if one of the jets hurts a girl or a kid, they’re in trouble.

miscellaneous

riff ran away when he was twelve. he was planning to go to the train station to get away from new york, but he had to hide from the police. he hid in the dumpster outside the apartment building the wyzek’s lived in, and tony found him when he took the trash out. when tony asked riff what his name was, he misheard “rolf lautmann” as “riff lorton.” riff didn’t bother correcting him, and he’s been riff lorton ever since.

riff’s favorite brand of cigarettes are whichever’s the cheapest. tony likes camels and balkan likes chesterfield. riff doesn’t smoke too much because the smell reminds him of his parents, but he’s trying to get over that.

riff has three tattoos. one is the word “happy” on his left shoulder that he got because tony dared him to get a tattoo when they were sixteen. the second is the silhouette of a plane on his right shoulder (all the jets have this tattoo somewhere on their upper body. tony’s is on his left shoulder and balkan’s is on his right forearm) and the third is a bouquet of hydrangeas and roses that he got for graziella. he wanted to get it colored in, but it was too expensive.

riff’s bracelet was a sixteenth birthday gift from tony’s mother. he hasn’t taken it off since he got it.

in his modern verse, tony grows up to be a doctor.

riff doesn’t like thunderstorms.

riff can speak german fluently. his parents would only speak german around the house and he learned english from tony and his mother. he knows some conversational polish, but he doesn’t know enough to consider himself fluent in it. he doesn’t speak german much (he hates the language and his heritage) but he still knows how to speak it, much to his dismay.

riff doesn’t like the smell of spray paint.

riff stopped going to school when he was fourteen. mrs wyzek kept trying to make him go, but he kept skipping, so she gave up. he didn’t like school very much, because he couldn’t sit still enough for the teachers and he doesn’t like being told what to do by people that aren’t his friends.

riff’s parents would often demand that he do things (take out the trash, clean his room, etc) immediately, and riff never would, so he’d get punished for it. it was a vicious cycle and riff absolutely hates getting told what to do because of it.

riff, balkan and tony all get fidgety when they’re nervous. riff plays with his bracelet, balkan flips his coin around and tony paces. riff will also fidget with his fingers.

riff didn’t trust elzbieta for years after he moved in with her and tony. she was too nice and he was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. he didn’t understand why she didn’t get mad at him for refusing to take the trash out or clean his room or wash the dishes. he also didn’t understand why she never hit him when he did something wrong. (he knows that hitting kids is wrong, but it had been his normal for so long that he just assumed every parent did it.)

consent is a huge thing for riff, not just with sex related things. he absolutely hates being forced to do things. he needs to have the choice to say no to whatever is happening to him or is being presented to him, and if he doesn’t, he gets angry.

when riff gets angry, he makes himself as big as he can and he gets very loud. it’s what his dad used to do to him, and if riff got scared by it, that means other people will get scared by it. sometimes he’ll shut down if he’s really, incredibly angry. he’ll go quiet and just sort of stare vacantly at the person he’s talking to. tony and balkan tend to get quiet when they get angry.

riff doesn’t like anything that reminds him of his parents. if he gets called rolf, he will freeze up. he doesn’t like the smell of cigarettes or beer (but he’s working on that) and he cannot stand the smell of marijuana. he also doesn’t like sudden movements or sudden loud noises. he’s working on getting used to them, but he will probably flinch if there’s a loud noise or if someone moves too quickly around him. if someone that he doesn’t know goes to touch him, he moves away. he doesn’t like being touched by strangers unless he’s the one doing the touching, because then he can control the interaction.

riff’s cocky jet leader persona is a front that he constructed over the years of him meeting tony and forming the jets. he perfected it when tony went to jail and he always has it up. he doesn’t trust himself to take it down, and it’s less easy to get hurt if no one can get to the real him.

riff doesn’t like seeing blood on his clothes. he’s fine if it’s other people’s blood, but he doesn’t like seeing his own blood on his clothes. if he can wash whatever got blood on it, he will, but otherwise he’s going to throw it away.

when tony gets arrested, riff stops going by mrs wyzek’s place. he stopped living there at fourteen, but he still came by for dinner and to see her. he blames himself for her death. she’d passed in her sleep, but he still thinks if he would’ve been there, he could’ve done something.

riff has lived on the streets for four years (fourteen - eighteen) by the time the events of west side story happen. he sleeps on benches or in alleys. sometimes he’ll crash at valentina’s or mrs wyzek’s, but that’s rare.

riff absolutely hates getting charity from people. his definition of charity is loose, but it boils down to money, food, and a place to sleep. sometimes it also extends to clothes, but he’s very very picky about accepting what he deems to be charity from people. he doesn’t want them pitying him, so most of the time he doesn’t take whatever is they’re offering and he insists he’s fine.

before he went to jail, tony would get loud when he got angry, but after he got out, he went quiet. he doesn’t want to lose control of his temper ever again, and he’s working on making sure he doesn’t and that he knows what to do if or when he does.

balkan is an avid reader and will constantly steal magazines and newspapers from valentina’s store to keep up with the latest news and trends. he’s probably the only jet that actually cares what’s going on in the newspapers and on the news.

[thessalian]

Thess vs The Co-Workers

So there's some good news - I don't have to work overtime today and I might not have to work overtime anymore. That is ... basically it for good news in the work sphere.

The bad news? Oooooh let me count the ways.

First off, it's entirely possible that I might have to work Saturday. See, Goblin's away again tomorrow. I mean, not that she does all that much anyway, but given how things are going at the moment, it'll be enough.

The reason I say this is because "how things are going at the moment" have devolved into every other person who even touches the typing throwing all the hard shit at me while meandering through the short easy stuff. See, we have some new junior doctors (YES, AGAIN; we have so many more junior doctors than our current typing pool can handle even if we weren't inundated with unexpected absences), and they are both very, very bad at dictating. Guess who gets stuck with them? Not to mention the ones with the difficult accents, the ones who handle complicated cases, and the ones who dictate unnecessary bullshit and make the dictations longer than they need to be? That would be me; everybody's punching bag.

The end of the day today was particularly cheeky, as I'd ploughed through several longer bits of typing already and happened to notice that someone else had taken the other two, which was great, I thought! ...At least until those two ended up back in the queue at 5pm. So someone took them out of the queue, ignored them for a good chunk of the afternoon in favour of short snappy reports, and then went, "Oh, I guess I don't have time to do these ones; back into the queue they go! [Thess] can handle them!"

(Side note: I only had the time to handle one of them because the guy who did the dictation for the twelve-minute nightmare made such a mess of the block key that I spent fifteen minutes trying to figure out what the fuck he was doing before I gave up, bolded the problem areas, saved it to PDF, and emailed it to him - copied to our quality control department as per protocol - with the professional version of "THIS IS A MESS; SORT IT OUT".)

It's only now that Scruffman bothered to tell me that he was having issues with putting in my overtime hours; that apparently I had to if he was signing off on them. Of course, no one has ever actually demonstrated how to do that on our system, but I think I figured it out. I say "I think" because I don't see any evidence that the applications are pending and Scruffman apparently didn't have time to get back to me about whether or not there were any issues. That's a significant chunk of overtime pay, and if I don't get it in this month's paycheque, I'm going to be pissed. Though I guess if push comes to shove, it's extra Christmas present money instead of extra MCM Comic Con money.

So at this point, odds are pretty good that while I may not have to work today or tomorrow, I'll end up putting in a few hours on Saturday. Just because my colleagues (including the new temp, who I shall simply call Newbie; I have seen that this individual exists, though they're taking lessons from Temp insofar as leaving me with the long bullshit goes) are lazy fuckers.

Anyway, point is that I'm not committing to doing anything on Saturday because even if I don't have to work, I am a fucking wreck right now. I hurt very badly, I haven't been sleeping properly, I have a stress headache and sinus pressure that's probably going to turn migrainous fairly soon, and overall it's just not good. Like, at all.

Don't even get me started about what's going on in the UK at the moment. I cannot even think about the shit being spewed at the Tory Party Conference. I'm miserable enough without the reminder about how much this country hates me. I would love to say it's not specifically me they hate, but they do hate almost everything I am - or rather, everything I'm not - read, a British-born able-bodied wealthy cishet white male, since I only have one of those going for me. I don't really want to talk about it but it's there. Lurking. It adds to the stress, y'know? And I need way, way less of that.

But my Placid Plastic Duck Simulator has more ducks thanks to a certain bestie. So that's something.

[smolwritingchick]

Forced To Believe Chapter 13- Catching Up Before MITB

Chapter Summary: Melanie is back in Philly to visit family and makes preparations before the PPV

Words: 3,000+

-----

Joe, Jon and Melanie visit the new WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL. 

"Here at the opening of the WWE performance center, I'm here with 3 members of The Shield, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Morgan Lopez. First of all, you guys came up through developmental here in WWE, what are your thoughts on the new training facility?" The interviewer asked.

"It's quite impressive, I've never seen a...I don't think a facility this big and this impressive ever existed in professional wrestling before. Seeing it born is pretty impressive. So much space, so much, really, expensive high tech equipment, uh, we've been in some nice gyms before but this is as nice as it gets. Pretty impressive." Ambrose answered.

"What's your thoughts Roman?" 

"I agree um, to see this much hard work, this much patience to go in it, it's a beautiful thing to watch it unfold and it's a humbling thing. It's a great day for the business." 

"Morgan, your thoughts?"

"This place is so awesome. I love it and it's really going to help the developmental roster. It's a wonderful thing that WWE has done to prepare the next generation of WWE superstars," Morgan replied with a grin. 

This was all so exciting to her. She couldn't wait to check everything out when she had the time.

"It's incredible to see you guys come up through the development area and the facilities in Tampa were good but to see this, makes you wonder about this place and how it's gonna help guys as they try to continue to make it onto the roster like you did." Interviewer added.

"The guys that are lucky enough to train here instead of a warehouse, a barn or a box with one little ring on a dirt floor or something like that, they are gonna have a real leg up on the competition. The next generation for the guys is gonna get more stiffer." Dean said.

"You jealous?" The interviewer chuckled

"I knew he was gonna ask that, haha." Morgan giggled.

"Uh, no, I mean, everything worked out for us. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for these guys. It should be bright for our future." Roman answered

"So how'd it feel to be called on the main roster?" Interviewer asked.

"Means everything. It's what I've been working my entire life for and persistence pays off." Dean responded.

"What's it been for you so far?" The interviewer asked Roman.

"I think it's been a great testament through the developmental system. A guy like Dean, he's been all around the world, wrestling in all kinds of places, he's been able to come here and polish off his skills. Morgan went to another major wrestling company and showed off her skills until she came to the developmental area in the WWE. And I was able to obtain a little bit of skills and polish it as well. Down here and on the main roster. But for everybody who is starting off here, have a great opportunity to

perfect their craft before they get on the main roster." He answered.

"Last few things, you mentioned you had some experience before you came here, Morgan. Going to another major wrestling company, how is that different from WWE?"

"Well, going to TNA and wrestling in a 6 sided ring is different from a 4-sided ring. So, when I came to the development area in WWE, it's been really tough to adjust to things since I got so used to 6 sides. But I managed. It's been hard but all that hard work paid off."

"You also had some experience too, give us a horror story on training compared to this facility." The interviewer asked Dean.

"Oh, I started training in a warehouse with a ring crammed into it with about no space in between the wall and the ring. There were some chairs around, there was a backseat of a van that somebody put there. I've

trained in some really bad rings and seen some really good rings. Bad facilities, and good facilities, this is about as good as it gets here today." Dean mentioned.

"Last thing, the excitement of being on the roster, your entrance and everything, what's it been like for you guys?" The interviewer asked.

"It's great, it's like being shot out of rocket, you know and I think we handle it like nobody else cause we're the hardest workers. That's what we do. We eat, we sleep, we train, harder than anybody and we

wrestle harder than anybody. So it's something to be expected and we want more. It don't stop here, it can only get better." Roman said.

"Roman, Dean, Morgan, thanks for your time and keep up the great work, appreciate it."

---------

After they check out the new performance center, most of the roster have a bonfire near the woods, near their hotel rooms. 

"You sure we got permission to have a bonfire here?" Melanie asked

"Yep, everything is fine," Celeste reassured with a smile. 

Meanwhile, a lot of the roster was chilling around, talking and eating. Nic (Dolph Ziggler) was playing the guitar and singing and Celeste started burning her marshmallows. 

"Man..." Celeste whined.

"Do you need help?" Melanie asked

"Oh yes, she really does." April teased

"Hey! I don't need help, it's...been a while since I made smores." Celeste muttered

"I hope everyone doesn't eat all the smores, I have a sweet tooth tonight," Melanie said as she placed a marshmallow on a stick and began to heat it up.

"If it isn't grapes, it's smores." Celeste chuckled as she blew off the fire on her marshmallow which is now burnt. "I don't think I want this one."

"Take mine," April said as they traded sticks.

"You're awesome." Celeste thanks her while April and Melanie laugh. 

Melanie puts 4 smores on a plate and sits next to Jon who has on a cap, gray hoodie and jeans.

"Hey Mel, could you pass me a Pepsi?" Phil (CM Punk) asked as he took a bite out of his smore. Melanie takes a Pepsi out of the cooler and throws it at him as he effortlessly catches it. "Thanks, grapes."

"No problem dude!" she grinned and started eating

"So am I getting one?" Jon asked with a smile.

"Fine, fine." Melanie chuckled and fed him one as he licked her fingers. 

After everyone gets settled in and eats their snacks, some of the guys start to tell ghost stories. Melanie puts her head on Jon's shoulder as they hold hands. 

Celeste sneaks a picture of them and posts them on Twitter

'#PhillysWWEPowerCouple Dean and WWEMorgan101.'

----------

The next day, in Philadelphia. Melanie tweets 'I'm home. #PhillysOwn Diva is back! #MITB'

After getting settled in their hotel room, Jon and Melanie make their way to their rental car.

"Did you tell them you were here?" Jon asked 

"Nah, I want to surprise them."

"Just like you want to surprise your dad with the new studio?"

"Yep. The studio is all ready, I just can't wait to see the look on his face. It's gonna be awesome." Melanie beamed. "I'm driving!"

"No way, sweetheart. I'm driving." He countered.

"Oh come on!" She exclaimed. She knew a faster, shorter way to get to her parents' place. Jon started laughing as he got in the driver's seat. "Fine...but I'm driving to the arena."

"Hmm...I'll think about that."

"It's my rental car!" The Philly diva gets in the passenger seat.

"Our rental car." Jon corrected with a wink.

"Screw you..."

"Oh, right here in the car? Okay." He replied as he leaned over and started to kiss her. She kisses him back but then he starts to move down to her neck.

"Aye! Aye!" Melanie laughed and pushed him off. She checked her neck. "Look how red this mark is!"

"Trust me, there will be a lot more marks, and it won't be just on your neck." 

"Bluff! That's a bluff!"

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart."

After driving Jon's way to Melanie's parents' place, they make their way up the steps. 

"Ready?" he asked with a smile, glancing at her.

Melanie nods and begins knocking but facepalms. "Why am I knocking when I have a key...?" She chuckled and opened the door. Before she stepped in, she was quickly greeted by her 3 year old female Parson Russell Terrier. "Ellie!" She beamed as the dog barked and jumped on her.

"She's energetic, today." Jon pets the dog with a chuckle.

"Why is the dog barking?" Diego, Melanie's father asked as he walked to the front door with Ellie jumping out of Melanie's arms.

"Hey dad-­" Before Melanie can continue her sentence, she gets bear-hugged by him as she laughs. "Don't squeeze me to death, I got a match tonight."

"Haha, I was wondering when I was gonna see you again!" Diego mentioned, releasing her and turning to Jon. "Jon mi amigo!" He brings him in for a warm hug.

"Nice to see you, Mister Rivera," Jon said

"What did I say about calling me Mister Rivera? That makes me feel old. Call me Diego, all right?"

"Okay, Diego." he corrected himself with a short laugh.

"That's my boy! Come on in!" He gestured to them as they walked in. Melanie smiled at her father, she loved his carefree attitude. He was welcoming to everyone. "Your mother is cooking."

Melanie sighed as the smell of tacos filled the air and saw Jane walking out of the kitchen. "Mom!"

"Sweetie, who was that­-MY BABY!" Jane screamed and ran to hug her. She began tearing up with Melanie while giving her big kisses on the cheek. "I missed you so much!"

"Me too!"

"You see, she doesn't act that way with me...all that love and kisses." Diego shook his head with an amused expression, while Jon patted him on the back.

As they released, Jane turned her attention to Jon. "Jonathan, it's good to see you!" She hugged him and kissed him on the forehead.

"Nice to see you too." Jon smiled.

"Lunch will be ready soon," she informed and walked back to the kitchen. 

"Sit down, we have time before the show right?" Diego asked as Melanie nodded and they all took a seat. Diego started studying their movements as realization set in. "So...when did you two start dating?"

Melanie and Jon turn to each other, before nervously chuckling. 

"Um...how'd you know?" Melanie stuttered but relaxed when he laughed. 

"I'm glad you picked him. He's a good kid." Diego smiled. Ellie rubbed Melanie's leg as she smiled and petted her. 

"Thank you." Jon responded with a smile.

"Sorry, I didn't tell you sooner," Melanie mentioned with an apologetic smile.

"It's all right, and besides, a father knows. You look happier than ever." Diego pointed out.

Melanie grinned at him but then heard someone yell "You're making it wrong!"

"Is that...Aunt Aria?" Melanie asked, recognizing the voice.

"Yes. She came to visit."

"Oh boy..." The Philly diva groaned.

"What's wrong?" Jon raised a brow.

"My mother and aunt have a little rivalry. My aunt thinks that my mother isn't giving me a lot of freedom and is always in my business." She explained.

"Family drama? Interesting." Jon smirked out of amusement.

"It can be amusing sometimes. Aria is more of the outgoing, party type, while my mother is more...well...protective and motherly."

Aunt Aria walked in. Melanie looked at her as her long black hair was in a nice bun. She had arm sleeves and it may seem that she was intimidating but once she began to smile and speak, she was one of the coolest people to hang around. Melanie remembered she works at a lounge in LA. 

"Melanie! It's so good to see you!" Aria grinned and gave her a big hug.

"Nice to see you too, are you coming to the show?"

"Hell yeah. I must support my niece," she said as Jane walked in.

"Want a drink?" Diego asked as Jon nodded and they walked to the kitchen.

Jane and Aria sit with Melanie as they continue to catch up

"So...am I getting grandchildren soon?" Jane asked with a grin. 

Melanie was stunned at her sudden question and began blushing. That was too abrupt. 

"Expect her to ask questions at the wrong time..." Aria rolled her eyes.

"Mama! No digas eso!" Melanie exclaimed.

"Don't say that? What did I miss?" Diego asked, popping his head into the room.

"I just want to focus on my wrestling career right now," Melanie mentioned. "So let's not talk about kids, right now."

"Wait, you said you didn't want to learn Spanish, who has been teaching you?" Jane asked, noticing her Spanish speaking.

"Um...do you know what they're talking about?" Jon asked, watching them go back and forth.

"No, I don't. We'll leave the ladies to talk. Come on, let's chat," Diego suggested as Jon nodded and they walked outside.

"Give her a rest. She wants to focus on her wrestling career, sis." Aria retorted. 

"I was talking to my daughter. Not you. I know what I'm doing." Jane snapped. She looked at Melanie and then glanced at her neck. "Is that a love bite!? Who gave that to you?"

"Jane! She's in love, give her a break." Aria snapped back while Melanie cussed in her head that she had forgotten to hide it.

"Give her a break? She should wait till she's married to start having sex!"

Melanie facepalmed. "Man, it's good to be home..."

"Jane, she's 26! Stop babying her!" Aria exclaimed. 

Melanie walked to the kitchen and washed her hands. She grabbed a taco and began eating it as she sat back down in the living room. She watched in amusement as her mom and aunt argued.

"How dare you!? I am not babying her, I just care about her."

"Don't you think it's a bit too much to overreact over a love bite?"

"Yes!"

"You're insane!"

"Am not!"

"All right, all right, can I explain?" Melanie spoke up as they stopped talking and looked at her. "I'm dating Jon."

"I knew it." Aria grinned

"I had a feeling. That's wonderful honey!" Jane beamed.

"Like you knew." Aria retorted

"Of course I knew!"

"Prove it."

"I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Then you didn't know at all."

Melanie quickly finished her taco and snuck upstairs. She goes on the computer in the guest room and goes on Skype. 

"Please be on..." She murmured.

"Hey, Mel!" Joan (Chyna) greeted, appearing on the screen.

"Hey! I made it in Philly. Jon and I are at my parents' place."

"Glad you made it home safe. How is everyone?"

"Mom and Aria are still going at it."

"Ha! I'm not surprised about that. Hey, is that a love bite on your neck?" Chyna asked with a grin

Melanie hid it with her hair. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Haha. As long as Jon is treating you right, I have no problem with him."

Melanie smiled. "I miss you."

"I miss you too, Mel. Hopefully, I'll be able to go to another one of WWE's shows soon. Love you Mel."

"Love you too." Melanie kissed her fingers and put them on the screen as Chyna did the same. Heading back downstairs, she said, "Chyna sends her love."

"I'll have to call her to send her my love as well," Jane said.

Jon and Diego walk back inside. "Hey, Jon and I wanted to show you something." Melanie smiled at her dad.

"Show me something?" Diego asked.

"It's a surprise."

Melanie, Jon, Aria, Jane, and Diego drive downtown and arrive at a nice building. "What is this place?" Diego asked as everyone got out of the car.

"Well, Jon and I have been thinking and we wanted you to have the best Dance studio possible, so...we decided to buy you one."

Aria and Jane grinned at the sweet gesture while Diego was stunned. 

"This...this is mine?" He murmured.

"Yep, it was Jon's idea, and I loved it. We both know how much dancing means to you and how you need a new dance studio. Oh, we also hired some dance teachers to help you out. You are on your way to your own big dance company." Melanie grinned as she and Jon were hugged by him

"You two are so generous..." Diego said with tears in his eyes. "Gracias!"

"Ah, no problem," Jon said as Melanie agreed. He checked the time. "We gotta meet Colby and Joe at the gym."

"Right. We'll see you guys at the show. Enjoy the new studio in the meantime! We'll be visiting the studio from time to time to see how everything is going." The Philly diva said and hugged everyone goodbye.

------

'Fearless Athletics Cross Fit South Philadelphia Gym'

Walking to the entrance of the gym, Jon opened the door for her and they headed inside, meeting up with Colby and Joe, who were chatting.

"Hey~ it's the hometown girl and Jon." Colby greeted them.

"How ya doing Mel?" Joe asked after embracing her

"Doing great." She started stretching.

"All right, let's put our game faces on. We got a PPV to rule." Colby said.

"Have fun." Melanie giggled and walked over to a woman who looked familiar to her. "Leah?"

The woman turned around and widened her eyes. "OMG! Melanie!" Leah exclaimed and crushed her in a hug.

"How long has it been?!"

"I'm great! Working with the WWE!"

"I saw! You're awesome! I can't believe we lost touch, what is your number?" She asked and they exchanged numbers.

"I see you're still working out at the gym."

"Yeah! It's my life. Wow. It's so good to see you. You're in the Divas Championship match right? I'll be supporting you. I got front row tickets."

"Awesome, I'll make sure to keep a look out for you. Or I can see if I can arrange something so you can sit with my family. We'll play it by ear,"

The two decided to work out together just like old times. Leah looked more muscular as the years went by due to her hard work and healthy eating. After placing her dirty blond hair in a bun she held up a punching bag for Melanie. As she felt Melanie's kicks and punches, she nodded in approval

"Oh yeah, you haven't lost your touch one-bit hon," Leah praised. 

"So how's your love life?" Melanie asked as she lifted weights with her.

"My boyfriend and I are still doing great!"

"Wow! I told you he's a keeper! Now, isn't it time he popped the question?"

"Hey, you never know. I'm so ready for marriage."

"Wonder how it'll feel to be in a relationship that long."

"I gotta ask...are you finally dating Jonathan?"

Melanie smiled and nodded as Leah squealed and cheered. "Yep. We've been dating for a few months. He's such a sweetheart."

"Yes! Yes! Finally! I'm so happy! It was so obvious that he had such a huge crush on you. Finally, you two are together! Long overdue, hon. Is he here?"

"Yep, right over there, looking sexy as ever." Melanie pointed him out while they shared a laugh. They see Jon shirtless and in white shorts doing lift-ups on a bar. "His hair looks cute when it's all curly like that..."

"Haha, try to focus hon."

'To The Arena.'

Melanie and Jon walk down the ramp together. She looked around in awe. This was it. The Wells Fargo Center was going to be filled with thousands of people, as she prepared to take on her two best friends for the Diva's Championship tonight. It was still unreal to her.

"Ready for tonight?" Jon asked.

"I can't wait."

"Let's spar a little bit."

"Ditto."

Getting in the ring, they practice around together. As they continued, they locked up again and she put him in a headlock and hip tosses him down on the mat. 

"All right, pretend I'm Kaitlyn. I'm running towards you, about to spear you, what are you going to do?" He asked as they were back on their feet.

"Evade!" She quickly moves out of the way as he tries to spear her.

"Good. Try to avoid those spears, tonight."

"I'll try."

"If you get hit with the spear, just try to recover quickly and make sure to kick out as fast as you can. All right, give me some kicks." He advised, while she nodded in response. The Philly diva began kicking him in the midsection. "Make them sharper and harder. You're trying to win the Diva's Championship. Fight like it's your last title shot ever." 

Melanie responded by knocking him back a few steps from a spinning kick to the face. "Ooh! Are you okay?!" She looked worried as he rubbed his jaw.

"Good kick." He complimented with a smirk, while she sighed out of relief.

"It's almost show time!" they heard as everyone started to get ready backstage. The doors open for the fans so they can get their food, merchandise and seats.

"I'll see you later," Melanie said and kissed him. 

After showering, she did some finishing touches to her hair, getting it down and on her left side. 

Nicole and Brie walk in. "Hey Melanie! Ready for tonight?" Nicole asked with a smile. Suddenly Melanie started to tear up as her emotions got to her. "Oh no, I didn't mean to make you cry!"

"Way to go Nicole." Brie retorted and hugged Melanie.

"Shut up Brie!" Nikki snapped.

"You made her cry. This is why I'm the nicer twin."

"No, it's not your fault, just tears of joy. I'm just happy to be home." Melanie sniffed as she got released.

"Aw, you'll do great tonight," Brie reassured.

"Thanks."

April and Celeste walk in. "Hey! Are you ready for tonight? They are already starting to kick off." April said.

Melanie grinned. "Yep."

"I hope you two give it your all, and make the best woman win," Celeste said as April and Melanie nodded.

"Well, I gotta go meet Colby and Joe, I'll see you later in the ring, guys." 

Melanie tweets 'Kickoff show is here! Let's show them who's boss! #HoundsofJustice'

Melanie went to meet up with Joe, Jon and Colby as they were waiting for her.

"Hey! Ready?!" she exclaimed excitedly as they were pumped too. "We'll see you out there," she gave Jon a quick kiss on the lips.

"To the kickoff show, we go!" Colby cheered as they walked with security around the arena. "So, you nervous?"

Melanie smiled to herself as she saw fans around in lines and filming them, cheering.

"Not anymore. I'm home and I'm ready,"

[your-greatest-queen]

On the verge of a full mental breakdown this morning because of how high my eco-anxiety is and absolutely nobody is taking me seriously

These are from March a few years ago:

These are from November a few years ago:

And of course December:

I live in Canada. Y'know, the Great White North.

These images are showing winter, yeah, but it's not strong. I'm only 18, I was born long after changes started happening to this environment. The winters my grandparents remember are not the same as my parents, and so far off from mine. But the changes were slower then. Less noticed.

The winters of my childhood were freezing. -23°C on a warm day. You'd spend the whole day outside in -25° if the wind wasn't too bad. I noticed the first change, the first major one anyway, when I was roughly 14. I walked outside with no jacket. Just my hoodie and my slippers. It was late December. I think it was Christmas Eve actually. I wasn't cold in the slightest. That should have sent me running back inside, red and chilled to the bone. But I was fine. I could have stayed out there for hours with no issues. I was shocked, but brushed it off as a nice day.

It's been four years and I have noticed every small change since then.

Today, it is December 7th, 2023.

It is currently +2°C outside. The high today is supposed to be +6, with the low only hitting -7 at night.

And this was this morning:

Rain.

I've seen freezing rain in my life. The water comes down hard and sharp as it freezes mid air. It can cut you if you walk through it and it's coming down especially hard. It leaves the roads slick with black ice and everyone gets their salt ready.

This rain was normal, everyday rain. But even then, it was wrong. Rain in July can chill you to the bone. This rain? Not quite warm, but not cold either. It fell all night and all morning. It was coming down hard enough that I would have brought an umbrella, had we not packed them into summer storage two months ago.

And it hasn't frozen. There are puddles everywhere without a hint of ice.

I wore a light coat, not done up; breathable sneakers; no hat; no gloves; no scarf; and I got soaked with rain. And I wasn't even cold.

I never once got to have a cool Halloween costume as a kid because you always had to cover them with a full winter coat. In October.

It's December and we have no snow, it's raining, it's nice outside- the skies are dull and days are short. Those are the only two things that are normal. Even the trees haven't fully lost their leaves.

I wanted to scream about it, but I hoped to settle for talking it through with... Anybody. To point it out to my friends and have them understand my anger and sadness and admit that they feel it too-

But no. Everybody is happy about it.

"oh well, guess we'll have a brown Christmas"

"this is great! Nice weather for a change!"

"we deserve this after always having to deal with -50!!" *(our record low is -54, this is an exaggeration. We usually don't go much lower than -40)

":D"

"Sweet!"

-

I just. I feel like my heart is going to explode and my lungs are gonna collapse and I'm. I don't know. I've been yelling about the climate crisis for years and nobody has ever once listened to me. I get brushed off every single time and it's driving me crazy that nobody can see the gravity of the situation.

New Viking artifacts are being discovered in rapidly melting glaciers and everybody is thrilled and I'm just here sobbing about it. I would happily never learn the small details of the past if it meant our planet was okay. "Yeah, this is a tragedy, but at least it's given us something super cool now!" NO. I know historians and all them are thrilled, and I'm happy for them, but I'm distraught. I don't care how cool that is, it doesn't lessen the pain or anxiety I feel. What good is any of that info gonna do for the world if everything on our planet is dead.

I'm gonna probably go have that mental breakdown now actually- thanks for reading my rambles, and sorry if I just worsened your eco-anxiety too :( this post wasn't ever going anywhere, I just needed to like. Put this into words, Idk.

Until next time, I guess 👋

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Rich Hated By Assassin,” Border Cities Star. February 16, 1933. Page 1.   ---- Would-Be Killer of Mr. Roosevelt Tells His Story ---- Always Oppressed ---- Pain in Stomach Intensifies Zangara's Hatred For Rulers and Powerful ---- By United Press MIAMI, Fla., Feb. 16. Guiseppe Zangara, the bricklayer who shot at the president-elect, has. according to police, told this story of his crime: 

HATES RICH AND POWERFUL "I HAVE hated presidents and kings since I was a boy. I have always hated the rich and powerful. 

"I have a sore stomach, too, and that has made me hate. 

"When I read in the Miami newspapers that Roosevelt was coming to Miami, I bought with $8, a gun with which to kill him. 

"I got to the scene early, but the crowd was too big for me to get near the platform. 

"I meant to shoot him while he was talking, but the crowd was in the way and I am short man. I have always hated the rich and powerful, i hoped that I would have better luck this time than I did ten years ago In Italy when I bought a pistol to kill King Emmanuel. The same thing blocked me in Italy as blocked me here. There was too big a crowd. 

"I guess I tried to kill Roosevelt because I have been troubled by a stomach operation. 

ALWAYS OPPRESSED "I would not shoot a working man or a policeman. It is the rich and powerful I hate. I am poor. I have always been poor. My people have been oppressed. As a child I had to work hard in the fields, and when I was 16, I had to go to war. 

“I hated all my officers. I determined that some day I would do my share of wiping out every official and every rich man I could find. 

"Life has been very bad for me. 

"When I was a little boy In school I began to hate very violently my richer school mates who had money to spend and who had more privileges than I.

"I am 33 years old, and was born in Calabria, Italy. 

HATRED GREW "As I grew older, this hatred for the rich became more intense and 10 years ago it reached a climax when I purchased a gun and determined to kill the King of Italy. As I told you before, this plan did not work. 

"I came to Miami from New York City, but I have also lived In Hackensack, N. J.

"I thought it would do my stomach good to come here, but it seemed to be getting worse instead of better. The pain seemed to make my extreme hatred for the rich and for everybody in authority all the more intense." 

The Italian was stripped of all his clothes as he reached the jail and his clothing thoroughly searched. 

Rogue's gallery pictures were taken of him clad only in his underwear. Later even that bit of clothing was taken from him. 

When News Syndicate photographers attempted to take pictures as he stood nude in his cell, Zangara demanded a shirt which he held in front of him. [Seen in the picture]

BOUGHT PISTOL "After I read about Mr. Roosevelt coming here,  I went to a store on North Miami avenue, and bought a pistol I paid $8 for the gun. 

“I tried to get to the park early so as to be as close as possible to the president-elect, but some people were there before me. I sat there in the park and my stomach kept aching more than ever. Maybe the excitement was responsible. I kept thinking if the crowd does not get too thick around me, I will not fail like I did 10 years ago." 

"I meant to shoot Mr. Roosevelt while he was talking, but the people in front of me were standing, and I am short. I did not have a chance. 

ONE BIG CHANCE "My one big chance came when some people got tired of standing and sat down.

"I stood on a bench and pointed the gun at Mr. Roosevelt. But the people around were pressing against the bench and making it wobbly. The gun started to shake, but I pulled the trigger anyhow I don't know how many times. 

"I do not know whether I shot Mr. Roosevelt, but I want to make it clear I do not hate Mr. Roosevelt, personally. I hate all presidents no matter from what country they come, and I hate all officials and everybody who is rich.”