#fought for my LIFE trying to photoshop these

[horridcassette]

David Byrne in Germany, 1988. Photos by Bernd Mueller.

[elvenbeard]

2067

"My childhood, let’s see… Nights spent lookin’ for a star - any star… All dimmed by city lights. Silent lullabies sung by the flickering neon signs of Charter Hill…"

Born into Night City's corporate world to upper middle class managers Marcella and Kousuke Ezaki, Vince lived a very comfortable and sheltered life growing up. Nice corporate apartment in Charter Hill's bustling Grant Avenue, excellent education, always the newest clothes, the fanciest tech, the best cyberware money can buy from a young age on.

It was almost too comfortable and sheltered really. With what they had invested in him and his future, his parents demanded perfection and performance - and obedience. While Vince was eager to deliver at first, being naturally ambitious, it always felt like something was wrong, something was missing... He just never quite fit in, despite trying his hardest.

Vince's father died when he was 13 - by suicide in the company bathroom, or so it seemed at the time. The pressure had gotten too much for him to bear and he saw no other way out; that had been the official explanation. The supposed truth though, which Vince would uncover many years later, was more complex and even darker than that.

On top of it, Vince's parents had never led the happiest marriage, worn down by stress and growing disagreements. It started over smaller issues: which car to buy, when to go on holiday, which school was best for their child. But soon they fought daily, constantly, about everything... And Vince fled into the arms of kids his age and older that never had the best intentions with him, but lured him in with a sense of belonging somewhere finally.

After his father's death, Vince's mother grew increasingly paranoid and controlling - her focus shifted from her husband to her child, whom she did not want to lose as well. Simultaneously though, she refused to accept that Vince had become his own person and would never be who and what she'd wanted him to be. The harder she tried to hold on to him, do her bidding, obey, the further she ended up pushing him away...

Vince through the years (1/9)

Little BTS rambles below the cut here!

Remember these? XD Yeah, I'm finally getting around to doing my "Vince through the years" project I teased a couple months ago. I finally decided on a format! xD I wanted something diary-entry like, but not too long and complex, otherwise I could probably sink months into this, do some cool lorebook-like graphics and whatnot...

I might still do that in the future, revamp some shots, or maybe one day make a character page or something in a more complex graphic style... but for now I just really wanna share some lore actually 👀 And get these shots published before they go bad!! (read as: before I don't like them anymore cause I'm getting better with my VP XD)

Also, a little comparison - vanilla vs edited shot:

Aging him down around 10 years was hard, but also fun XD I did this a while ago and meanwhile I might do some stuff different, but I'll leave them as is now xD But yeah, I tried some other complexions first that look younger than his 2077 one, but they made him look like a completely different person, so I went with the Photoshopping approach instead. Does he look like a pre-T teenager? Eh. If you squint XD But I'll take it!

Back then he already loved his massive coats that made him look bigger and wider than he really is. Hair dyed blond mostly because both his parents have dark hair, for that good old teenage rebelliousness and self-expression <3

I kinda implied it in the text but... yeah his parents were both pretty messed up. They did see him more like an investment than a kid most of the time. It was in the end damaging to all three of them, but most to Vince, leading to him becoming a little fucked up as well.

And when I say "investment" I literally mean, they invested money into making him as flawless as possible. Got him cyberoptics and whatnot installed as a 5-year-old to combat genetic eye-problems running in their families (when glasses couldve done the trick), things like that. His mother had planned some more things for as soon as he would finish school, but he ran away from home before that.

Before that already he went on to destroy all these perfect things they tried to achive with his body, got stick-and-poke tattoos, pierced his own ear, found a semi-shady Ripper who would install him a cyberdeck *he* wanted, not the one his mother got him, etc etc. XD

He spent a lot of time with the wrong pepole, too, but the connection to them at least helped him realize that he's trans - obviously one more thing that his mother did not plan for with her "perfect child" and tries to first ignore then actively shut down as best as she can. This is a hate-post for Vince's mom <3

What really happened to his dad is gonna follow in a post to come ooooor maybe I'll leave it a secret until I finished writing his background story fic 👀

[voicefromthecorner]

32. Conductor Battle #1

Original Song: Cabinet Battle #1

Neku and his friends confront the Conductor, Megumi Kitaniji, on their way to facing the Composer, but he has a few tricks up his sleeve.

You know, in hindsight, I don’t think I enjoyed photoshopping these little displays together all that much. Still, it had its moments, like customising that laughing possessed Shiki sprite, which looks incredibly cursed up close.

This song is one that I keep kicking myself for not thinking to do from the start. It’s such an obvious fit that tackles a fairly important event and even has a corresponding second song that I already used for the second similar event yet for some reason it never occurred to me until after I’d done all the others. Washington On Your Side at least had a broad range of potential applications and I was considering using it exclusively for Reaper characters at one point but this one was a no-brainer that proved I have no brain.

First Song: Neku Sakuraba

Previous Song: The Composer On Your Side

Next Song: Hurricane

Index

Transcript:

[HANEKOMA] Ladies and gentlemen, you coulda been anywhere in the world tonight, but you’re here with us in the Shibuya River. Are you ready for a Conductor showdown???

The issue on the table: Neku and his friends’ plan to usurp the role of Composer and bring everyone back to life. Megumi, he has the floor now.

[MEGUMI] The Composer’s concern is mankind’s happiness. He stands for that ideal; He wouldn’t settle for less Of His noble care, He declares how to lead ‘em You dare to think you’d fare? You can’t beat ‘em

[REAPERS] Oww!

[MEGUMI] But you children forget Your plan would have you freely pay off every debt Now, place your bets as to whom that benefits: The egotists in power where you intend to sit

[BEAT] Not true!

[MEGUMI] Ooh, if the shoe fits, wear it You serve only yourselves— Why don’t you just declare it? Fools! To think you’d gain from His Game? You can’t beat Him; you’re not even on the same plane

The Composer is driven by boundless love He redeems. You just seek a higher view from above The self-centred toll for such absolute control Is a short-sighted goal that serves the sole few and not the whole

A droll waste of time, Soul on the line To even meet One so divine would be far over the line The Composer is the shepherd of humanity’s future Imagine what would happen if it was left to you butchers

[HANEKOMA (REAPERS)] Thank you, Conductor Kitaniji (That's my Conductor!) Rebellious Ex-Players, their response

[BEAT] Yo Shades. Those words o’ yours sure sounded pretty Welcome to the real world, we’re fixin’ a broke city Yo you wanna join us, or stay chillin’ Makin’ whoever do your biddin’ like some second-rate villain?

[SHIKI] If we save Rhyme from death, the time we spent Just trying to get home is finally all ours to own How are we not so owed? I was victoriously made a loan After all we fought for? The Composer should get overthrown

[NEKU] He says the word and you roll over. Hey Rover! Your master’s will is making us all stand still “Driven by boundless love, He redeems.” Yeah, keep rolling We know what he’s actually controlling.

[BEAT] An’ anotha’ thing, Mr. Age of “Enlightningment” Don’t lectcha' us about the Game: you didn’t fight in it! You think I’m scared a’ you, man? We almost died in those zones While you were here getting high on your own

[NEKU] Conductor Megumi, why can’t you see what you’re doing? Can’t see through me—without the Composer who would you be? Composer, he's too long unopposed, sir, we're his disposers Anyone'd be better than that mind-controlling poser

[BEAT] We gon’ take him down in two hits Hey, turn around, bend over, I’ll show you Where my shoe fits

[MEGUMI] You see? That self-serving rubbish is the root of all pain! You will be made to submit to the Composer's will. Observe!

[SHIKI] Argh!

[NEKU] Shiki!

[MEGUMI] Now we play for keeps

[MEGUMI/SHIKI] Now we play for keeps

[MEGUMI] Aha-ha-ha ha!

[MEGUMI/SHIKI] The Composer has to rebuild Shibuya and now we play for keeps

[MEGUMI] Such a blunder sometimes it makes me wonder why I even bring the thunder

[SHIKI] Why he even brings the thunder…

[BEAT] You gotta get ya head in the game!

[NEKU] I’m sorry, but how, when Shiki's free will has been claimed?

[BEAT] Yo man, girl be tryin'a kill us, we got no choice

[NEKU] So we let our friend get used to speak with this guy's voice?

[BEAT] What can we do?

[NEKU] First, we'll see this through. Let's take out Shades!

[MEGUMI] Ugh, I see now why he picked you...

[NEKU] We beat Shades but Shiki's still fighting, that’s a nonstarter

[BEAT] Winning was easy, yo, but saving her’s harder Forgive me Shiki, but...

[NEKU] Don't! We need to destroy that pin!

[BEAT] Behind you, stupid! Look out for them dolls!

[NEKU] Argh! What just happened?

Beat and Shiki are out cold; that red skull pin's been played. How could Hanekoma use us in this way!?

So…

One last fight, and then it’s over. Now it’s just me and the Composer

[yazvisualimmersion]

Critical Appraisal

What is my final outcome?  

My final outcome is a 2D paint-over of a 3D model made in Maya, depicting my scene with the theme “Forgotten Utopia”. I have made a half-sunken graveyard shrine area, situated in a lush, thriving forest, nestled, and shrouded by the surrounding trees. In the middle of the scene is a large baroque style angel statue, which appears to be praying over the graves. The area is serene, placid, and ethereal – fish swim in the waters and lilies bloom across the water’s surface. This composition of objects has been untouched for thousands of years, allowing moss and algae to cultivate and cover the graves. Though eroded over time, the area is teeming with life, spirit and an unwavering holiness – rich sunlight cascades between the trees, illuminating the shrine and giving warmth to this uninhabited location.  

What went well? 

I feel that I was able to overcome some skill-based issues over the course of this project, especially when it came to, not only making them, but composing the 3D assets into an arrangement I was happy with. When starting this brief, I found it easier to get into the flow of using 3D software than I have in previous projects, which shows that I am always learning things through practice. After some initial hurdles, I was able to get started on the 2D side of the project which is where I came into my own and produced a scene that I am proud of. I am happy to have captured the overall luminous, spiritual tone that I was going for with this piece and can say that I would follow the same processes in future projects.  

What did I struggle with? 

I undoubtedly struggled with the 3D tasks involved in this project, as well as time management and maintaining documentation throughout. I fought my way through the modelling stage, often experiencing topology issues with a, frankly simple set of assets. I struggled with being able to embed my angel sculpture into my 3D design and trying to conceive the best way to highlight this as the focal point in my chosen angles. Modelling, lighting and rendering a 3D diorama is not a set of skills that come naturally to me, however I did my utmost best to use what I could do to my advantage. Keeping up with the blogging proved difficult, however I was grateful to have done this when it came to putting my PDF journal together.  

What would I do differently next time? 

If I were to complete this project again, I would attempt to texture my scene prior to moving my rendered images to Photoshop. Within the time frame I had, I decided to leave all of my coloring/texturing up to photo-bashing, which arguably interfered with the contrast and figure of the objects I had created in 3D. This would have involved proper UV’s and the use of Substance Painter, which I’m sure I would have learnt a lot from using for this brief. Further, I would consider producing a 3D environment for Unreal Engine, as well as possibly animating this. It’s good to step out of your comfort zone, especially in creative industries – this could’ve shown further determination and willingness to learn.  

What did I learn from this project? 

Over the course of this project, I learnt many valuable practical skills, as well as moralistic lessons for my future endeavors. I have become fully confident in the use of Photoshop as a tool, which previous to year 1 of my BA, I had never used – I find this to be a huge personal achievement. I have also learnt to open myself up to the use of 3D practices to compose an image – this can be extremely useful when I am unsure as to where things should be placed in a scene. I am not massively confident doing environmental studies, so this has been a fundamental aid for me when it came to composition. I have learnt not to abandon work halfway through and keep working at it, as the result could be exactly what I had envisioned.  

[kandadiff]

Larger Than Life : New Rules

"Well I'm here to set some rules down, y'all have been here almost 2 weeks and have fought like cats and dogs this shit is fucking crazy y'all. So here's what it is"

"Is his name bow wow because thats the sound dogs make?" I ask to no one in particular, I am honestly amazed by this new information. "you know since he was brought up by snoop."

"can you stop?" Lisa hisses at me.

"What? I am amazed. but I am sorry." I apologize to him "go ahead."

"Thank you." he smiles at the table. "One, There's no more fighting that goes for everyone. One more fight and I don't care who started it y'all both will be sent home." Looks are exchanged around the table. "two, No more destruction to anyones property whether it's clothes, makeup, jewelry anything you will be sent home with a fine to the damages." More looks are exchanged, though everyone passes glances at Emma. "Three, No more smoking in the crib take that shit outside"

"Cigarettes or-" Ian starts but Bow Wow interuppts.

"Both! And lastly each person will be voting someone home every week."

"FINALLY!" Emma yells "I mean tell me we weren't all thinking it. This house could do with less skanks." She takes a deep sip of her wine.

"BUT back home your fans also get to decide who will be sent packing if both answers are different from fans and then both parties gonna have to duke it out in a challenge in order to stay in the house what kind of challenge you ask? Well that's something y'all just gonna have to wait for. Any questions?"

We all start talking about our opinions on the matter and finally someone asks “what happens when we call our lifeline. Are they up for elimination as well?” 

“Yeah I need to know that too.” She looks around the table “just wait when I call mine.” 

“Wait for what? Whoever it is can’t fight us.” Draven rolled her eyes taking a long swig of her drink. 

"Continue please, Bow wow." Jennie smiles up at him and I refrain from kicking her.

“Big fan man.” Liam smiled at him and I rolled my eyes. 

"Oh yeah?" I laugh. "Name a song of his then."

Liam glares at me but Bow wow just shakes his head laughing. "To answer your question about call ins, if they choose to live here they will be safe from going home for the week. Also they can be called any anytime."

"Can we come back into the house if voted off?" Gigi asks.

"with enough fan votes, yes unless you break rules 1 & 2." he explains.

"Any more questions?" When no one else speaks up he smiles. "good now enjoy the dinner because on... what day is it?"

"Wednesday."

"Okay, well on Friday, you are going to remind the fans at home why you are here and why you're here. We are going to have a talent show complete with a stage."

"what about us?" Gigi asks "We're models - we don't sing or act."

"Well you models will have raw photoshoots. No photoshop- no editing. Just pure talent. Thats fair enough right? Or you can try singing or acting, playing an instrument... Let your creative juices flow! Remember the fans love authenticity so write your own songs if you can, or pick a scene that is close to the heart. Anyway." he looks at the clock. "I'll be back soon, enjoy your dinner."

~ ~ ~ ~

"Well cheers to that!" Naomi smiles happily holding up her drink. "that sounds fun! This is what we came here for, right? Cheers!" She clicks her drink with Makayla next to her.

While her optimism is appreciated, not everyone feels the same. Especially given the rest of the rules, that means we have to resolve our fighting more constructively and meaning we have to put up with these people until there's enough votes to vote them off.

While we ate, small conversations popped up about the talent show and cutting his meat, Louis looked at you giggling with Edward. "Arianna" he called out catching my attention as well. "What are you doing for a talent, since you can't fight anymore. Something tells me your not good at anything else."

"Spoken like a true fucking pussy." Edward laughs turning to face him. "As soon as they say we can't physically fight, you open your dick sucking mouth and talk shit. Where were you just 2 hours ago? Hiding in your room like a fucking bloody twat!"

"Hes only talking shit because he has his group to rely on." I shrug biting a piece of my pasta. "He can pass the talent show while just singing three lines in a four minute song. So he feels safe."

"What will you be doing for your talent?" Liam asks his jaw tightened. "I can't think for the life of me what your talent is... besides -" he smirks "I'm not going to say that when your brother is right here." I grip my fork hard in my hand. I see Robin tense from the corner of my eyes.

"Don't start, man." Namjoon shakes his head.

Liam shakes his head. "Of course not. I'm not sure what talent you have, sweetheart."

"Besides sucking dick." Louis finishes, a few people gasp. Everyones eyes fall on me and Zayn laughs. It pisses me off, Zayn teetering on the fence this whole time. He did tell me the truth but then again he sticks beside his band as though they can do no wrong. Neutral my ass.

Robins fists are clenched tight around his knife and I for a moment I am scared that hes going to stab Liam. Hes not that far from him. I place my hand on his arm, he releases the knife and it clatters on the plate. "I need a smoke." he mumbles "Are you.." he trails off its his way of asking if I'm okay or he needs to stay. I nod at him knowing if he stays then he'll get violent. He stands up and purposely taking the long way so he is not tempted to hit Liam on his way out.

"How would you know that Louis? Like honestly, how would you know? Even if I was was blind, starved and begging for it on a desert island you'd be the last thing I'd ever fuck. I'd rather get railed by every motherfucker here then even look at your decrepit fucking prick. Wow, your trying to shame me from having a healthy sex life with my ex partner ... what do I dress nice too? Is my hair to shiny?" I scoff. "I was the only true friend you fucking had outside of this. and I should have been done with your ass last year." Louis jaw clenched and he shook his head standing up "No baby boy, sit down, you wanna be funny? Then let me tell you all a real fucking funny story! Liam! Did you know the real reason Louis came home from tour early?"

"She's fucking mad." Louis shook his head, tapping Liam and the boys to just leave the table.

"Why? Because they don't know the fucking truth? That you didn't fly home, you flew to New York and begged, BEGGED on your fucking hands and knees for me to leave Liam for you."

"No I didn't." Louis said but he didn't look at me, instead he looked Liam. "She's making shit up."

I shrug "I feel so fucking bad for you, I really do. It must be so hard living your life as such a fucking snake. Its pathetic really and before you start denying, just because you deleted your snap doesn't mean i didn't save the messages." I lean back in my chair. "Now you can go. I'm finished speaking."

Liam eyes Louis, then shakes his head and walks out the dining room. Louis quickly follows followed by Zayn, Niall and then harry. The room is silent and Edward laughs.

"I knew I liked you." He waves his fork at me.

"Anyone else a little hard?" Ian asks and a few groans of disgust echo throughout the room. "What?"

"I need a cigarette." I sigh throwing down my napkin and moving to the backyard with Robin.

"We should do a team building excerscise." Naomi says after a few minutes. "To calm everyone down."

"like what?" Yugyeom asks.

"There's a lot of fit fuckers here." William smirks. "Would I be wrong for suggesting a game of strip poker? Or strip truth or dare?"

~~~

[thisbibliomaniac]

Went and bought more vinyl. Spent the worst hour of my life trying to use a program that already didn't work, but has changed drastically in the last two years and put even more features behind a paywall (ultimately resorted to photoshop), fought with the vinyl, left the paper on the mats, and finished what I promised.

SO. Sarah asked me to make something on the cricut in November for her upcoming wedding. I designed it, but I hate the cricut, so I haven't made it. Now I'm seeing her in like....five hours, and I know there's vinyl around here somewhere that I bought for specifically this purpose, but I have no idea where.

[ohshy]

Secret santa gift for @/y2kbugs !!!! He's finally free :)

My thought process behind this piece I know my recipient likes seeing Spamton happy, so that was my main focus. As well as that, I wanted to combine the real world with a flower motif, into one piece. Said motif for this piece was to allude to a certain song, namely ‘’Digital Roots’’. It’s something I never see discussed, but a parallel I find interesting nonetheless. 

Both characters, Spamton and Flowey, achieve godhood, or so they think. Flowey is still very much a plant and ultimately succumbs to the control of the souls, and Spamton is still a puppet bound by his strings, having to be propped up by vines when defeated. Both characters have associations with tv, Spamton being a former tv star and making references to the Cathode Crew, while one of Flowey’s boss forms is a plant tv monster hybrid. Then there’s the fact Digital Roots utilizes the same leitmotif as “You Idiot”, both characters having stabbed the MC in the back for their own gain. 

Little is known about Spamton’s beginnings, but from what we know, we can assume his life wasn’t easy to say the least. Being an ignored darkner that fought and fought despite the hand he was dealt, he started out a bit like a dandelion; a beautiful flower that grows in between pavements despite the harsh conditions. Although I feel like sunflowers would be Spamton’s favorite for obvious reasons, I feel as though daisies fit his character just as well. Flower meanings are vast, but one of the meanings of daisies is new beginnings, rebirth and hope. Meanwhile, sunflowers stand for optimism, faith and adoration. Both sunflowers and daisies grow in abundance in large fields, something I feel Spamton would love about the light world. 

Starting his healing journey, he’d become inspired to paint again, he’d learn how to channel his trauma in a healthy way. I’d imagine that, even as he’s reached a state where he is okay with himself, it would go in ups and downs, as shown with the yellow sun ray-like line going up and down. Atleast painting makes it all a little easier, however. Autonomy plays a big part in it. He gets to choose the colors, to make the strokes. 

One of my original ideas for this work was a physical collage, but i reworked it into a digital collage instead. I used a photo of the real sky and a dandelion to try and give off that feeling of a collage, as well as him reaching beyond the borders of the game. Positive words surround him in his bliss, akin to the purple soul’s notebook in the Photoshop Flowey fight when you call for help. Someone heard his call, and he’s free.

Aside from Flowey’s connotations, the Mettaton one is most clear, and one I incorporated in the piece as well. 

In relation to Spamton’s character, I often think of the line uttered by Mettaton in the neutral run of his fight; ‘’Even if I'm not cut out to be a star... I still got to perform for a human, didn't I?‘’. Although I personally think Spamton didn’t die, their situations overlap in a way. Eventhough Spamton wasn’t meant to be a ‘’big shot’’, to break beyond the reaches of the game, he still meant something to the people around him, and people beyond the game.

He is at peace, being by himself, and BEING himself. Knowing that, despite his limitations, he made a difference in so many people’s lives. People he can’t even comprehend exist, and that alone makes him extraordinary. Finally, this going more into headcanon theory, but I like to think that after the NEO fight (lest he was defeated peacefully), he wants to change his ways. This differs if he is defeated violently, wherein he turns into the puppet scarf, described as ‘’for those who abandoned healing’’. He called and prayed, and his saviors destroyed his chance to become big without him realizing it wasn’t meant to be. 

When defeated peacefully, he turns himself into a weapon to be used for good. I believe darkners are still sentient after being turned into items, as shown with the Devil’s Knife ”smiling in your hand” when inspected. Plus, there’s also Lancer commenting on things happening around him while he’s a card in Kris’s pocket. Because of this, I believe he heard the Addisons grieving him at his storefront. I imagine he’d be furious at them, only showing up after his “death” and never bothering to show up after his downfall. And yet, despite how resentful he may feel to his former companions for abandoning him, them showing up to his storefront reinforces what the fun gang was trying to convince him of. That he has an audience. But more than an audience, he has people looking out for him. That, no matter what he has done or how far he feels like he’s fallen, someone out there wants him to be better, because it can always get better. It always can.

[swashbuckling-chicken]

Hey dude <3 I saw that you reblogged the 70 asks post (also, is that post really missing numbers 41-50 or am I hallucinating) and was wondering if you'd like to answer all asks ending in the last digit of 6 (6, 16, etc.). Go crazy!

oh damn youre right they are gone didnt notice that rip. also fuck it lets do this.

06: How do you want to die?

really starting out strong. i want to die by jumping off the balcony of my mansion, and my herd of albino peacocks jump after me but they fly and i fall to the ground. clutched in my hand is a confession to my husband's mysterious murder from 20 years before, written in his blood. drama.

16: How exactly are you feeling at the moment?

fucking tired. i had work earlier and customer service jobs are basically hell so. also i spent like half an hour trying to photoshop an eyepatch onto a chicken but chickens arent meant to wear eyepatches so it was not working. i finally just gave up but i actually like the finished product (my pfp) so maybe it was worth it. also i now have photoshop abilities so maybe you should all be scared.

26: What are you craving right now?

death. just kidding. probably sleep im really tired.

36: Do you give out second chances too easily?

i dont think so. i dont really tolerate people doing shit because im too tired to deal with it. not that many people have wronged me so far in my life tho.

56: How many people have you fist fought?

none but there's a lot of my life left to live :)

i dont think id fistfight someone fair tho because im small so anyone could fucking destroy me. if we're gonna fight i will fucking gouge your eyes out and bite you because i fully intend to keep breathing. hopefully it doesnt come to that tho

66: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around?

no but i only have one friend in the world that i act like my complete self around so. and theyre a she/they so not entirely cis but i know that doesnt count. i would like to have more guy friends tho (and friends in general lol).

hopefully you enjoy this extra special little look into my psyche :D

thanks for the ask!

[axelbluesworld]

Promises, promises

Mac has always been a person who keeps his promises, he does everything possible to fulfill them although he can never guarantee that he will fulfill them 100%

Today was his wedding day, and he promised his future wife that he would not accept a mission, but sadly, he was unable to fulfill that as one day Matty assigned him a mission.

Riley told her that she could go on the mission, but only if she promised that she would return before the wedding started. He also made his promise that he would return unscathed.

Jack was speeding while Mac was in the car with Leanna next to him trying to hide the bruise on his cheek.

"Riley is going to be mad about this," exclaimed Jack.

"Why would I be angry? Because I have multiple wounds on my face despite her asking me not to hurt myself or because we were late?" Mac asked sarcastically from the back seat.

"There's no need to be sarcastic Mac, but if that bomb doesn't kill us on the mission, Riley will kill us if he's late," Jack told him.

"Mac, you can stay still" Leanna demanded.

"Don't tell me, tell Jack not to go so fast" Mac complained.

"Do you want to be late or on time?" asked Jack

Mac just nodded and let Leanna continue her attempt to hide her bruises with makeup.

It took around 10 minutes to get to the church, and there were only 15 minutes left for the wedding to start.

Mac ran to the locker room to put on the suit and I asked God to be ready in less than 15 minutes.

Once he put on the suit and combed his hair very well, he looked in the mirror to see his cheek where he had a cut thanks to the explosion of the bomb.

Habai managed to hide the bruises on his face, but the wound on his cheek couldn't be hidden at all, he heard Jack enter the room he was in.

Jack was wearing a new suit that he had recently bought and he looked very good, Jack smiled at him with joy and affection as he approached him.

"Look, in a few minutes he will be a married man" said Jack.

"Yeah, and I'm very happy for them," Mac admitted.

Jack smiled at him and took him in his arms to hug him, Mac hugged him back.

"So what do you think Riley will tell about that?" asked Jack pointing to his cheek

"I don't think he's mad, but he won't be happy either," Mac said.

"Well, at least in photos you can use Photoshop," joked Jack.

"Well, I have to go now," Mac said as he walked to the door.

"hello, friend" called Jack

"yes?" asked Mac

"I am very happy that you are the right man for my girl, and I say it with all my heart, I am very happy for you" said Mac

Mac smiled sheepishly "Thanks to Jack, that means a lot"

Mac left the room and headed into the main room, standing in his place at the altar and waiting for the love of his life to walk down that hallway in front of him.

Then he saw her, she was wearing a beautiful white dress and Mac thought she looked like an angel with him. In her right arm she had Jack by her side and on the other side was Elwood, they had both fought over who was going. To take her to the altar, but in end Riley made them see a reason and told them that they could both take her to the altar.

She giggled slightly when she saw his tormented face, he sincerely hoped she would get mad about it, but she gave him a lot of laughter.

She gave both her parents a kiss on the cheek before they both went to their places, Riley stopped in front of him and looked at him with the most tender look he had ever seen.

"I'm sorry," Mac whispered under his breath, referring to his bruised face.

"Okay" she whispered too.

They made it through the little ceremony, and then it was time to say their vows, Riley said hers, and Mac was almost on the verge of tears now that it was his turn.

"Riley, I spent hours thinking of the right words to tell you how much I love you, but there are not enough words to express my love for you, Riles, you are the most important person in my life, you are the owner of my heart, you are the girl with him. I always imagine that I would have a future, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I want to be the man you love, who you trust, with whom you want to spend the rest of your days, Riley, with the greatest sincerity in the world I tell you that I love you with all my heart "said Mac

Riley looked at Mac with tears in her eyes and smiled after vows that the pastor allowed them to kiss.

"What happened to not getting hurt?" Riley asked with a smile.

"Well, the mission was more complicated than I thought, I thought you would be upset about this" referring to his face.

"You know I can't be mad at you" Riley said softly.

Mac just smiled and leaned in to give her another kiss after all the formal, it was time for the new couple's dance.

Mac and Riley were on the dance floor hugging while dancing to a slow song, Mac supported his forehead with his wife's and she just smiled.

"So Matty said there would be no missions this week for any of us since it's our honeymoon," Riley said smiling.

"Yes, and I promise you nothing will interrupt our honeymoon in Yellowknife" Mac said with a smile.

"Promises, promises" he smiled before basing it on his lips.

"I promise you and I will also love every second by your side, and it is a promise that I will keep to Mrs. Macgyver" Riley just laughed at his wife's comment.

They stayed on the dance floor enjoying each other's closeness, a promise they don't intend to break.

[shianhygge-imagines]

Sundown 勿忘草 [Reno/Reader]{Final Fantasy VII} Episode 2

AN: Here’s the next part of Sundown Wasurenagusa! I’m sorry that I’ve been slow on posting any new story material! I had a bit of a writers’ block, and I’m still trying to work through it!

I had intended for this to be much longer, but I felt like this part was a good length to post. The first part of this ‘episode’ is going to be formatted weird because I can’t get Tumblr to format a text conversation in the way that I want.

If you like the content I create, please consider donating to my Ko-fi! Please help me feed my tea addiction!

|Masterlist Link|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

December 12

Reno {07:10}

[Good morning, sleeping beauty]

Me {08:30}

[Morning]

[Do you not need sleep?]

[You probably went to bed late last night]

[And while it truly does make my day to hear from you]

[Why? It’s so early ;.;]

Reno {08:40}

[Can you blame a guy for being eager to talk to you?]

[Lol, Sorry. I didn’t disturb you, did I?]

Me {08:59}

[>///<]

[No, you’re good. I gotta get up to get ready anyways.]

[Flatterer]

Reno {09:34}

[I mean, can you blame me? ;) ]

[So, I was thinking about taking you on a date outside of Midgar, but I realized that I should probably get your opinion on it first]

Me {10:01}

[I mean, that depends? How early do I have to get up on my day off? And how long will it take to get there?]

Reno {10:05}

[Um… well, it’s getting pretty chilly in Midgar, so I was thinking about taking you to Costa del Sol… beach date :P]

Me {10:30}

[…]

[Costa del Sol is pretty far, Reno…]

Reno {10:31}

[And?]

[I’ve got a way]

[Don’t sweat the details]

Me {10:32}

[You’re taking a company helicopter, aren’t you  -.-]

Reno {10:33}

[Ack! You’ve figured out my master plan!]

Me {10:34}

[Are Turks even allowed to take company assets out for joy rides?]

Reno {10:35}

[ TT^TT I told you not to sweat the details!]

Me {10:40}

[I just don’t want you to get into any trouble.]

Reno {10:50}

[Awww, don’t worry about me.]

[You have a party to attend later, so do me a favor and have fun, okay?]

Me {11:03}

[That reminds me…]

Reno {11:05}

[??]

Me {11:11}

[bluedress.jpg sent]

(The image is of you in a sapphire blue dress, the sleeves long and neck high. The dress itself ends just below your knees)

[This dress?]

[reddress.jpg sent]

(The second image is of you in a backless ruby dress that ends just above the knee. There are no sleeves to this dress despite the fact that it has a high neck)

[Or this dress?]

Reno {11:13}

[…]

[Y/N]

Me {11:15}

[Reno]

[???]

Me {12:01}

[If I don’t look good in either of them, just be honest ;.;]

Reno {13:05}

[Gah! Sorry, I got pulled away for something]

[The red one. For sure]

Me {13:06}

[Just because red’s your color… >.>]

[I hope you’re okay, Reno ;.;]

Reno {13:15}

[Hey, first of all, remember what I said about red being your color?]

[I don’t lie, k?]

[But also, yeah. Also because it’s my color, you should wear it ;)]

[Do you have a sixth sense or something?]

[image.jpg]

(Opening up the image file gifts you with a selfie of Reno, looking minorly roughed up and being supported by an infrantryman. He looks like he’s by the old church that Aerith likes to visit. Despite needing to be supported by the infantryman, the red headed Turk’s winking and holding up a peace sign)

[Just a few minor bruises ;P I’ll be fine]

[Unless….]

[You want to kiss me better? ;)]

Me {13:30}

[… Well. I’m sorry for worrying (¬_¬) ]

Reno {13:45}

[Joking, joking! :D]

[All patched up]

Reno {14:07}

[Y/N?]

(´༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ`)

[I’m sorry.]

[Please talk to meeeeeee]

Me {14:00}

[image.jpg]

(It’s a picture of you in the red dress. Your hair is done up with an attractive amount of make up. You’re wearing a sensible set of black flats.)

[The party starts in an hour, so I might be answering my phone too often.]

[And Costa del Sol sounds perfect for tomorrow ;) I’ve got my outfit all picked out]

Reno {14:15}

[Uh, yeah, that’s gonna be your new contact photo]

[I’m picking you up earlier than we agreed so that we can have more time to relax in the sun]

[Duty calls. Have fun tonight, okay?]

Me {14:20}

[And what? My contact photo for you is going to be this?]

[screenshot.jpg]

(It’s a screenshot of your mobile phone screen. There’s an edit with a red arrow pointing directly at the photo icon for Reno’s contact…it’s the photo that he sent earlier except you’ve photoshopped cartoon ‘uwu’ eyes and added pink anime blush to his cheeks)

[And don’t worry, I’ll probably have enough fun for the both of us.]

[We’ll have fun tomorrow, be safe, okay?]

Reno {14:30}

[I’ll try ;) But if not, I’ll have you to take care of me.]

[Also? That picture?]

[P.E.R.F.E.C.T]

Me {18:30}

[Hope you’re safe!]

[Message me after work to let me know you’re okay!]

[image-2.jpg]

(It’s a group photo of you and your friends in silly poses)

Me {19:21}

[image-3.jpg]

(It’s a close up shot of a delicious plate of food)

[I should have brought you with me ;.;]

|You called Reno| 20:58

[Unable to leave voicemail]

December 13 - 08:21

The morning after the confrontation with AVALANCHE at the Sector 7 Pillar, one would expect the medical bay in Shinra HQ to be jam packed full of patients. There should have been a horde of doctors and nurses, running around to treat the injured infantryman and civilian survivors. But there were only two individuals in the med bay, Reno and Rude. When the plate fell, only a handful of infantryman were able to escape the chaos. Many were left behind to fend for themselves.

Despite surviving a helicopter crash and the brawl with Tifa, Barret, and Cloud, Rude only sustained a few bruises and minor bone fractures. He had been assigned bedrest after being treated by the doctors, but the weight of what he and his partner had been tasked to do twelve hours ago felt like an overwhelming burden. Needing something to keep his mind occupied, the taller of the iconic Turk duo simply engrossed himself in a novel that Elena had brought over during her visit.

On the bed beside Rude’s, Reno groaned in pain as he sat up, eyes still not open and alert as he raised a hand to press against his pounding head. “Gah, what the hell.” Reno’s face stung at the cheeks when his face scrunched up at the pain that seemed to come from every part of him. Even the act of sitting up proved too painful due to his newly broken ribs.

Rude watched his partner sink back into the sheets from his own medical bed, sunglasses on as was usual of him. He wondered how long it would take Reno to realize that it had been nearly twelve hours since they had dropped the plate. He also wondered when his sassy partner in crime would realize that he had a date this morning. Of course, Rude didn’t think you’d get angry at Reno for missing a date when he was hospitalized, but the taller of the iconic Turk pair knew that Reno would never forgive himself for skipping out on you.

While Rude watched, Reno allowed his body to collapse back into bed, an exhausted and pained groan escaping his lips as he want, arms flopping onto the bed as he fought to remember what had happened to land him in such a pitiful state.

Oh yeah…Rude and I went to Sector 7’s plate… and we fought blondie’s group of self righteous freedom fighters… and then…I blacked out. Cracking both eyes open, Reno furrowed his brows and turned his head to examine his surroundings. Med bay back at HQ… The red head swiveled in place to stare at Rude, “The mission….” He trailed off with a questioning tone.

His partner merely grunted, “We finished it and escaped.” Lacking in detail, but still straight to the point.

Sighing in relief that his work track record wouldn’t have a stain on it, Reno flopped back down, “Whooo…” The red head cheered sarcastically, pumping a fist without any energy or cheer behind it. Gah, and I promised Y/N that I’d be safe… Reno’s eyes snapped open and he bolted to a seating position with an alarmed cry, “Crap! Y/N! What time is it?” Shit, I gotta message her to let her know that I’m going to be running late! The Turk second in command thought as he pat down his person for his cell phone.

When he couldn’t find it, Reno turned to his partner, who gestured towards the bedside table. “It was damaged during our fight with AVALANCHE, but it should still be working.”

Not paying any attention to the fact that he was now bleeding through the bandages wrapped around his abdomen, Reno grinned, “Whooo boy! Partner, you’re a life saver!”

The sheer amount of relief within Reno voice made Rude stop and stare at his partner. Hmm… maybe Reno’s serious about her after all.

Meanwhile, Reno quickly unlocked his phone screen, ignoring the fact that the glass display seemed shattered beyond repair. When he pulled up the chat room that he shared with Y/N, Reno cursed, “Five missed messages and one missed call.” Quickly reading through the text messages, and smiling at how much fun you were having at the party, Reno tapped out a quick message in reply to you before listening to the voicemail that you had left.

Yesterday

Y/N {19:21}

[image-3.jpg]

(Reno’s mouth watered at the sight of the food in the picture)

[I should have brought you with me ;.;]

|Missed call from Y/N| 20:58

[Click to listen to voicemail]

Today - December 13

Me {08:43}

[Gah, sorry Y/N, I may have bit off more than I could chew yesterday.]

[I just woke up in the med bay at HQ]

[I’m going to be a little late picking you up]

[And I’m a little roughed up]

[But nothing is stopping me from taking you on our date!]

[See you in an hour?]

When Reno lifted his damaged cell phone to listen to the voicemail that you had left him, the only sound that reached his ears was an error notification that the voice recording app had failed. “I’m sorry, but the voicemail recording that you wish to listen to failed to load properly. Please quite all applications before trying again. If the problem still persists, please contact Shinra Mobile’s technical support service to resolve this issue.” The phone recording informed Reno, pleasantly.

Knowing from experience that getting through to technical support at the current hour was next to impossible, Reno merely tapped out another message.

Me {08:47}

[Hey, the voicemail that you sent to me didn’t go through.]

[What was it about?]

Satisfied with the messages that he’d sent out, Reno shifted to get out of bed, an excited grin on his lips. “Welp! Time to get going! Got a wonderful day off with a gorgeous gal!”

Sighing, Rude lowered the novel to look in his partner’s direction. “Your date with Y/N?” When Reno only gave a sassy shrug in reply, Rude shook his head, “Just remember, you’re still injured.”

“Will do, partner!” Reno saluted the older man before dashing out of the med bay, dodging the nurses swiftly as he made his way to the elevators, itching to get back to the Turk dorms to change into something that would help him blend into the slum crowds of Sector 5. On his way to his room, the red headed Turk would raise his phone to check for any new messages, lowering it in disappointment every time there was no response.

“That’s weird, normally she responds by now.” Reno mused, sending out another quick text once he’d changed into dark jeans, a red hoodie, and a dark beige trucker jacket.

Me {09:12}

[I’m on my way to your place now.]

[Are you awake?]

Around twenty minutes later, on the helicopter ride down to the Sector 5 slums, Reno furrowed his brows and bit the inside of his lip when you didn’t respond again.

Me {09:32}

[Y/N?]

[Please answer.]

[I’m on a helicopter down now]

[Message back. I’m getting worried.]

When there is still no response, Reno taps on your contact and brings the phone up to his ear, trying to call you.

“Hey, this is Y/N. I’m probably away from the phone right now, so leave a message, and I’ll call you back as soon as possible.”

Straight to voicemail.

Something wasn’t right, and Reno could feel it in his bones.

When the helicopter started to land in the Shinra barracks, Reno didn’t even wait for the helicopter to fully land before jumping out of the aerial vehicle, landing solidly before taking off in a sprint towards your apartment.

She’s not answer any of the text messages… Did she lose her phone last night? Did she accidentally break it?… Did she find out what I did yesterday? Is she ignoring me?

The worries and thoughts that raced through Reno’s mind became more and more self-depricating as he neared entered the main town area and brushed past the crowds of people gathered in the streets. I know I said it was too late to grow a conscious, but damn it, please don’t let this be the reason she decides that she doesn’t want me around.

All but flying up the metal steps to your apartment, Reno starts to bang on your front door, calling your name in the meanwhile. “Y/N!” Bang bang bang “It’s Reno!” Bang bang bang “You weren’t answering your phone. Are you ready to go?” It took another few minutes of knocking before Reno head a door open below and slow footsteps ascend the metal stairwell.

Turning and expecting to see you standing there, Reno’s shoulders visibly slumped when he came face to face with a tiny old lady. “Oh, uh. Sorry for causing a disturbance.”

“Are you looking for Y/N, young man?” The old woman inquired, tilting her head to look up at Reno through friendly old eyes.

Feeling as if he was being judged by the elderly woman, Reno stood ramrod straight and nodded, clearing his throat, “Uh, yeah. We had plans for today.”

The old woman nodded sagely, “I see, I see. Ah, to be young again. I’m sorry to disappoint you, young man, but Y/N hasn’t been home since yesterday afternoon. I think she’s still at her friend’s home.”

The first traces of alarm flashed through Reno’s head, and suddenly his Turk persona was back, “Do you happen to know where her friend lives, ma’am?”

The old woman shook her head, “I only know that dear Selene doesn’t live in Sector 5. I’m sorry, young man.”

Suddenly jittery, Reno only nods and descends the metal staircase again, “Thanks for the help. I should get going.”

Reno doesn’t hear the old woman’s reply because he’s sprinting back towards the Shinra barracks, ears ringing and vision narrowed as he contacts a friend in Shinra’s tech department for help tracking down your cell phone’s location and retrieving the voicemail you’d left him. And while his friend works on it, Reno decided to change into a clean set of his uniform, mind suddenly kicked into overdrive as he tries to recall where you said your friend’s party was.

Gah, Reno… you pay attention to everything else she says, but you can’t figure out where her friend Selene lives? Some Turk you are! Reno scolds himself as he paces back and forth in Y/N’s office, somehow trying to find comfort in familiar surroundings. Damnit, think! What has she mentioned in the past about her friends. I only remember her talking about living in Sector 7 for a whi- Reno pauses in his steps as dread begins to pool in his stomach. “No.” He doesn’t want to entertain the possibility that you had gone to a party at your childhood sector the same night that he was tasked with dropping the plate on top of hundreds. But the more that Reno thinks about it, the more likely the possibility is, and he sinks to his knees in the middle of your office, eyes wide with horror and denial. “No… I refuse to believe it. Gotta wait for-”

His phone chimes with a notification.

Pulling out his phone as fast as possible without fumbling the already hazardously damaged device, Reno unlocks the screen, only to see that a voice file had been sent to him along with tracking coordinates.

Clicking on the voicemail and tracker, Reno’s frown deepens and his face pales as he stares at the map of Sector 7 Slums with a red dot in the center of it, the sounds of your final message to him playing in the background.

No.

The voice recording loops until Reno regains his bearings, body shaking and eyes burning as his ears pick up the sounds of explosions in the background, of your sobs as you fought to leave a last message for the man who had thoughtlessly killed you, and of your fear and acceptance that you wouldn’t live past that moment. The phone slips from his hands and clatters to the floor as Reno’s fingers go slack. “No… I didn’t… Y/N…” A strangled sob escapes Reno’s lips as he raises a hand to grip onto his hair, trying to maintain his composure, “I didn’t mean to… If I’d known, I would have…” The Turk second in command paused and hunched in on himself, not caring if anyone could see him through the glass walls of your office.

M-maybe she left her phone behind when she ran? But… if she’s not there, then where would she have gone if not home?

There weren’t any excuses or any other reason he could come up with. Reno knew that. If he had known beforehand that you would be in Sector 7 Slums, he would have warned you, but you would have tried to evacuate as many people as possible from that sector, and AVALANCHE might have managed to leave, therefore ending in a failed mission. He would have done everything he could to make sure you stayed away from Sector 7, but in the end, he’d still go through with the mission.

“I killed her.” Reno sobbed in realization, biting his bottom lip so hard that he tasted copper, “Just like I killed all those people.” Shaking his head, inconsolable, Reno could only mourn quietly. “I’m just the worst. This is karma for all the shit things I did in life, isn’t it?”

Eyes dulled and slightly puffy, Reno hastily wiped at his face and sat down with his back against your desk, his phone ringing with notifications as Tseng and Rude sent him requests for ‘status’ updates. And the Turk second in command ignored his colleagues, eyes staring into nothingness as he wreaked his brain for what to do next.

I really was looking forward to the date. Reno’s thoughts trailed off, It’s sappy as hell, but I wanted to ask her to be my girlfriend. Tseng said that relationships for Turks never ended well, citing Veld as an example, but… gah! This is the worst situation for Tseng to be right!

It was only the early afternoon… maybe he could start a search party for survivors… it was probably too late, but Reno knew that he had to do something to look for you. With renewed purpose, Reno got to his feet and marched out of your office, blue eyes burning with fiery determination as he hung onto the faint hope that you might have survived.

December 13 - 12:13

You groaned in pain and shifted your body, eyes cracking open to be met with blinding industrial lights. The pain from the glaring lights startled you into closing your eyes again, turning until your body was facing away from them. For a moment, you wondered why you were laying on some sort of weird metallic floor instead of your soft bed, and then the memories of a falling sky sent your eyes flying back open as you took in your surroundings.

The floor was indeed cold and metallic because it looked as if you’d woken up in a maintenance passage. Despite most maintenance passages usually being dimly lit, the one you found yourself lying in was lit from both of the walls. The ceiling above your face had a hole in it, though it was covered with metal and concrete chunks. You assumed, as you clambered to your feet, that you’d fallen through that hole and rolled a few feet away due to the pile of rubble directly beneath the hole. Wincing slightly, you poked and prodded your person for bruises, broken bones, or fractures. Slightly satisfied with just a few small skin lesions, bruises, and maybe a fractured rib, you patted yourself down for your mobile phone, hoping to call for help. Frowning, you found that you did not have your cell phone on you, nor was it anywhere on the floor near you.

Since you hadn’t expected to live through a plate falling on top of you, you could only look on the bright side of things, turning to walk down the metal tunnel with determination set on your face. I didn’t almost die from a plate falling just to give up in an empty tunnel. Plus, a fond smile appeared on your face, I have a date waiting for me when I get back topside.

It seemed pretty simple to you. You’d falling who knows how far down, but you knew for sure that the way out was up. So the only thing to do was to keep walking until you found a passage up. Easy peasy.

December 13 - 15:35

There’s a fierce snarl on Reno’s face as he stands by several parked helicopters. All around him, emergency responders and Shinra infantrymen scrambled to load up supplies and equipment. The dark look on the normally sassy, easy-going Turk’s face seemed like a literal beacon for anyone not bearing good news to stay the away. Though, if some of the troops were to be honest, Reno had very good reason to be irate. The Turk second in command had called in an emergency rescue operation for survivors trapped among the plate wreckage nearly three and a half hours ago, and they were only just beginning to start the rescue operation.

After Tseng, the Turk commander, had authorized the mission to rescue anyone buried under the rubble, the mission had quickly been side-tracked by Shinra executives Scarlet and Heideggar. Scarlet had protested against the operation simply because of the notion that dogs living in the slums were of no use to Shinra, and therefore, the mission was a waste of resources. Heideggar, meanwhile, had agreed that while in times of disaster, Shinra’s army bore the responsibility of launching operations to rescue civilians affected, the members of AVALANCHE were widely unknown and could easily disguise themselves as regular civilians.

It took nearly two hours of careful negotiations and subtle ego inflating by Tseng and Reeve, before both executives agreed to support the relief effort. Viewing it as a strategic move to improve public opinion of the Shinra Company, President Shinra gave little to no resistance when Tseng forwarded the mission brief to be sanctioned.

Now, an hour after the mission was sanctioned, Reno felt the beginnings of a headache forming as he directed the flow of supplies to each helicopter before making sure that there were rotations of supplies and emergency responders that would journey to and from the wreckage of Sector 7 once he landed with the first round of helicopters.

When he had deemed all in good order to head out, Reno sighed and hopped into the helicopter cockpit, buckling himself in to the pilot’s seat. Plopping the headset on while he waited for the rest of the crew to load up into the helicopter, Reno busied himself with flipping switches to make sure that pre-flight and the ride down to Sector 7 would be as smooth as possible. When his co-pilot buckled himself in and gave Reno the thumbs up, the red headed Turk spoke as clearly and seriously as he could into the mic. “Alright guys and gals in all active units, hope you’re all buckled up with headsets on because I sure as hell will not be repeating this briefing.” After a brief pause, Reno continued to speak while directing the helicopter off the platform. “You all probably heard about what happened yesterday. The official reports from HQ state that AVALANCHE launched an attack to compromise Sector 7’s plate pillar. Despite all efforts directed to stop the terrorist attack, the plate still fell. Our job is to go down to the disaster zone to provide relief to all affected civilians. We will also be launching search and rescue operations for survivors.” Reno paused once more as helicopter gained enough air to safely fly out of the landing zone. “I’m gonna be real with you all. Someone important to me was in Sector 7’s Slums when the plate fell and I’m going to try my damnest to look for her. So if any of you fuck this up… not gonna lie, I’m gonna be pissed.” Nobody replied to Reno’s admittance… not that he really expected much of a reply after he dropped that bomb on them. Having enough of the silence, Reno exhaled, “Alright… good talk.”

December 13 - 16:03

It wasn’t easy peasy. Definitely fucking not.

The chrome walkways and exposed piping-lined maintenance passage that you had fallen into hadn’t been a simple few meters under the surface as you thought. No. It’s was more like several meters down with a layer of minor blocked off passageways right above. And, as if that weren’t terrible already? The maze of pathways that made up the layer above seemed to take joy in bringing you up a level, just to drop you back down a level because some asshole decided to seal off the passages at various points.

Your eye twitched in annoyance when you walked down a metal walkway only to be face to face with another fenced off passage lined with reinforced plating. To your surprise, you could see a man stumble around the corner of the opposite side. When you saw one another, your eyes widened. “Holy shit!” The man gasped, stumbling forward with a noticeable limp and sliced up arm. “I didn’t think there’d be another person down here!”

“This place is like a maze, so I’m not surprised that any survivors had yet to meet up. A-are… are you okay?” The blood leaking from the deep scratches in his left arm seemed to ooze a poisonous purple color.

The stranger bit his bottom lip as he hastily hid his injury, “Yeah… I’ll be fine. Listen, girl, you should watch out while down here. I think the rumors about the underground lab were true after all. There are monsters running around everywhere.” Your expression must have been one of utter dismay and despair because the man coughed and reached into his pocket to roll two materia under the fence. “Uh. Shit. Well, it looks like you could use these then. It’s a Cura and a Fira. Hopefully you won’t need it, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Anyways, I hope you make it out of here, girl. I gotta keep looking for other AVALANCHE survivors.”

When the man made to jog away, you called out to him, “Wait! You said that you’re looking for AVALANCHE members? Are you one of them? Do you know what happened?” You pressed yourself against the fence in order to see the stranger from around the corner.

The stranger turned around to stare at you with a grim expression. “Whatever you’re thinking, AVALANCHE didn’t cause this, okay? We were framed by Shinra.” At your confused expression, the man scoffed, “C’mon, you really think that Shinra was going to let civilians protest and riot against them? They couldn’t figure out who was a member and who wasn’t, so they figured they’d drop the entire plate on top of us to get rid of us all.”

“But that’s such a drastic move!” You protested, wanting to believe that your employers wouldn’t have such blatant disregard for human life. “They wouldn’t just sacrifice thousands to eliminate AVALANCHE!”

“Believe what you want, girl. But the reality is that my friends and I all went to the pillar to stop Shinra from dropping the plate, and it dropped anyways because two Turks were sent to finish the job.” The stranger didn’t allow you to retort as he limped away. Not that you would have responded anyways with how the stranger had said that two Turks had arrived to help ensure that the Sector 7 plate dropped.

Pulling away from the fence, you knelt down to pick up the two orbs of materia, the color of your skin taking on a sickly pale pallor. Two Turks were sent to the pillar to drop the plate on top of all of us. Your mind instantly supplied the first Turk pair that you could think of and you felt like you were going to dry heave. I don’t know Rude too well, but from what I know, he and Reno wouldn’t do something so horrendous. Surely, there must have been another pair of Turks who were sent to do it. But you did work in a different department as them, how did you know that there were more members of the Turks? And with Reno’s position within the group… He could have known what was happening…

You told Reno that you would be hanging out with your best friend… that you guys were having a party. He’s smart enough to deduce that your friends still lived in Sector 7… Did he forget? Or… Your stomach churned violently as you sank to your knees on the cold metal walkway. Did Reno just decide he didn’t care if I survived or not?

The edge of your vision burned with tears threatening to spill down your cheeks. A simple blink sent them trailing down your cheeks as you stood upon shaky legs. “Can’t worry about that now.” You muttered, eyes filled with determination as you gathered the excess fabric of your dress to gird up your loins. “I need to find a way out of here. The tunnels might not be able to hold for long.”

Lifting your arm, you pressed one of the materia into your forearm, like you’d seen a few SOLDIERs do before, marveling at how the orb of power sank into the flesh of your arm. Smiling at how seamless it was to merge flesh with Materia, you pressed the other faintly glowing orb into your other forearm, concentrating for a bit before casting Cura upon yourself.

Newly rejuvenated, you back tracked through the metal corridor to find the ladder leading down. “Welp, there’s no time like the present,” you mumbled to yourself as you descended further into the tunnels below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[fenth-eiria]

Things I want drawn on my birthday Pt.1!

Elder Cadia : That’s the key slice of truth we need to complete the entire truth pie.

The Librarian: Ooh, can we get some actual pie?

Elder Cadia : I like the way you think.

The Librarian: Hey, you want a tarot reading?

Elder Cadia : Those are Pokemon cards.

The Librarian: You got a magikarp.

Elder Cadia : ...

The Librarian: It means 'fuck you'.

The Librarian: I’m 80% awesome 20% water and 100% handsome.

Elder Cadia : That’s 200%.

The Librarian: I’m twice the man you’ll ever be.

Elder Cadia : Do you even know what an amulet is?

The Librarian: Of course I do! I eat amulets sometimes. I like the ones with cheese and onions!

Elder Cadia : The Librarian, those are omelettes.

The Librarian: Oh. Then I’ve got nothing.

The Librarian: I'm gonna need a human skull but you can't ask why.

Elder Cadia : Only if you also don't ask why.

Elder Cadia : *pulls four pristine human skulls out of their bag*

The Librarian: ...

The Librarian, grabbing a skull: This one will do.

The Librarian, holding a fork: You know your talking a lot of shit for someone who has 2 perfectly good eyeballs each cost about $16,000 on the blackmarket.

Elder Cadia : ....

The Librarian: *lip smack*

Elder Cadia : A mosquito tried to bite me and I slapped it and killed it.

Elder Cadia : And I started thinking.

Elder Cadia : Like, it was just trying to get food.

Elder Cadia : What if I went to the fridge and it just slammed the door shut and snapped my neck?

The Librarian: Are you ok?

Elder Cadia : I think you're still suffering the effects of your party last night.

The Librarian: All I drank was Redbull!

Elder Cadia : How many?

The Librarian: Eighteen.

Elder Cadia : Come on, The Librarian! How any times do I have to apologize?

The Librarian: Once!

Elder Cadia : ...No.

The Librarian: I think it’s time I get my life in order.

Elder Cadia , narrating: But they did not get their life in order. In fact, they got drunk last night and fought a raccoon.

Elder Cadia : Can I have some water?

The Librarian: *starts chugging their water bottle*

The Librarian: *chokes from drinking too fast*

The Librarian: *spills water all over themself*

The Librarian, coughing: I don't have any water.

Elder Cadia : That sounds like a terrible plan.

The Librarian: Oh, we've had worse.

Elder Cadia : What do you have?

The Librarian: A KNIFE!

Elder Cadia : NO!

The Librarian: *holding a salt packet* It’s just a little sodium chloride.

Elder Cadia : Actually The Librarian, it’s salt.

The Librarian: That’s what I said, sodium chloride.

Elder Cadia : Uh The Librarian, that would be salt.

Elder Cadia : *takes salt packer from The Librarian* This is iodized table salt, which in addition to sodium chloride contains anti-caking agents and potassium iodate, which is added to prevent iodine deficiency. So not only are you being overly pretentious by insisting on using scientific terminology for everyday items, you are factually wrong. Your arrogance is your downfall, you annoying little shit.

The Librarian: Here you go, Elder Cadia , a nice hot cup of coffee!

Elder Cadia : It's cold.

The Librarian: A nice cup of coffee.

Elder Cadia : It's horrible!

The Librarian: Cup of coffee.

The Librarian: Cup of coffee.

Elder Cadia : I'm not sure if this even IS coffee.

The Librarian: C U P.

Elder Cadia : I made tea.

The Librarian: I don't want tea.

Elder Cadia : I didn't make you tea. This is my tea.

The Librarian: Then why did you tell me?

Elder Cadia : It's a conversation starter.

The Librarian: It's a horrible conversation starter.

Elder Cadia : Oh, is it? We're conversing. Checkmate.

The Librarian: Elder Cadia , you risked your life to save me!

Elder Cadia : And I’d do it again! And perhaps a third time! But that would be it.

The Librarian: Elder Cadia ...

Elder Cadia : Oh no, 'Elder Cadia ' in B flat.

Elder Cadia : You're disappointed.

The Librarian: What is this!?

Elder Cadia : That’s the weight of guilt. Give in to the nice side. Help those unfortunate, and make the guilt go away, my friend.

The Librarian: Ow! Make it stop!

Elder Cadia : Surrender to your kindness, The Librarian. It’s nice to be nice.

The Librarian: Your guilt is strong, my friend. But it is no match for the power of my selfishness!

Elder Cadia : *in a jail cell* What about my Miranda rights!? You’re supposed to say I have ‘the right to remain silent’”! NOBODY SAID I HAD THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT!

The Librarian: *in the cell next to them* You have the right to remain silent, what you lack is the capacity.

The Librarian: I have a new hoodie.

Elder Cadia : Wrong.

Elder Cadia : We have a new hoodie.

Elder Cadia : I found a note in one of my old word .docs that said Note to self: Get revenge on The Librarian.

Elder Cadia : Except I couldn't remember what I was supposed to get revenge for.

Elder Cadia : But I trusted my own judgment, so I went with it.

The Librarian: Hmm... I don't know what you were supposed to get revenge for, either.

Elder Cadia : I can only assume you got what was coming to you. Not 100 percent sure, though.

The Librarian: Well, whatever I did, I guess I deserved it.

Elder Cadia : Let that possibly be a lesson to you.

Elder Cadia : Who's in charge here?

The Librarian, shrugging: Usually whoever yells the loudest.

The Librarian: Isn’t a bit dangerous?

Elder Cadia : The Librarian, please. We’ve in a lot of unexpected predicaments before and we always escape unhurt.

The Librarian: ...

Elder Cadia : Okay, we sometimes escape unhurt.

The Librarian: ...

Elder Cadia : Alright, we escaped unhurt once... Then we hurt ourselves in the way home.

The Librarian: Are you an ‘arr’ pirate or a ‘yo ho ho’ pirate?

Elder Cadia : I’m a ‘I’m not paying $600 for photoshop’ pirate.

The Librarian: Why are you like this??

Elder Cadia : I used too much "No More Tears" shampoo as a kid and I haven't felt a single emotion since.

Elder Cadia : Dearly Beloved, we are here today to remember The Librarian, taken from us in the prime of life; when they were crushed by a runaway semi, driven by the Incredible Hulk.

The Librarian: Aww, you knew my favorite cause of death.

Elder Cadia : The Librarian! I thought you were dead!

The Librarian: No, just in deep cover.

Elder Cadia : ...But it was an open casket.

The Librarian: It was very deep.

Elder Cadia : *holding a salt packet* It’s just a little sodium chloride.

The Librarian: Actually Elder Cadia , it’s salt.

Elder Cadia : That’s what I said, sodium chloride.

The Librarian: Uh Elder Cadia , that would be salt.

The Librarian: *takes salt packer from Elder Cadia * This is iodized table salt, which in addition to sodium chloride contains anti-caking agents and potassium iodate, which is added to prevent iodine deficiency. So not only are you being overly pretentious by insisting on using scientific terminology for everyday items, you are factually wrong. Your arrogance is your downfall, you annoying little shit.

Elder Cadia : You look like a corpse that was just pulled out of the river.

The Librarian: Wrong. I look like a cool rock star who just OD'd in their own pool. Big difference.

The Librarian: We just ate. Why are you making pancakes?

Elder Cadia : For the dogs.

The Librarian: Why are you making pancakes for the dogs?

Elder Cadia : They don't know how.

The Librarian: So, what are we doing?

Elder Cadia : Wasting our lives.

The Librarian: I meant for lunch...

Elder Cadia : I know every song to ever exist it doesn't matter if it's from the past, present or the future.

The Librarian: Oh yeah? Then continue this.

The Librarian: I don't cook I don't clean-

Elder Cadia : So let me tell you how I got this ring.

Elder Cadia & The Librarian: .....

Elder Cadia & The Librarian: GOBBLE ME, SWALLOW ME-

Elder Cadia : What are amphetamines?

The Librarian: Drugs that can go on land and water.

Elder Cadia : Ohhhh.

The Librarian: How do tall people people possibly sleep at night when the blanket can't possibly cover you?

Elder Cadia : The Librarian, it's four o'clock in the morning.

The Librarian: So, you can't sleep, huh? Is it because of the blanket?

Elder Cadia : I know this isn’t going to end well and I don’t care. So don’t you try and stop me, The Librarian!

The Librarian: I wasn’t stopping you. I was asking if you had a spare camera so I can record this.

The Librarian: Don’t preach to me about romance, Elder Cadia . I had a three-way in a hot-air balloon.

Elder Cadia : *dangling from a rope over a pit of fire* Remember when I said I’d tell you when we’re in too deep?

The Librarian: Yes?

Elder Cadia : We’re in too deep.

Elder Cadia : The Librarian! For the love of god, please turn down that music. I have a hangover.

The Librarian: *blasting the mii theme at full volume* That sounds like a you problem, not a mii problem.

*Elder Cadia falls over*

The Librarian: Elder Cadia ! Are you alright?

Elder Cadia : Is that you, God?

The Librarian: What?

Elder Cadia : It's just, you sound a lot more like The Librarian than I expected.

The Librarian: Truth or dare?

Elder Cadia : Truth.

The Librarian: How many hours have you slept this week?

Elder Cadia :

Elder Cadia : Dare.

The Librarian: Go to sleep.

Elder Cadia : I don't like this game.

Elder Cadia : If it’s any consolation, they got me here on a very misleading text message.

The Librarian: Technically, you are about to be screwed in the biology room.

The Librarian: What are your three best qualities?

Elder Cadia : I’m hot, I have soft hair, and sometimes I cry because I love my friends.

The Librarian: What’s sexting?

Elder Cadia : I'm not having this conversation with you.

Elder Cadia : *shatters a window and climbs through it*

Elder Cadia : *turns around and helps The Librarian through it* Breaking and entering is wrong The Librarian.

The Librarian: Okay.

The Librarian: I thought you were going to give me a book recommendation or something.

Elder Cadia : *laughs* Book recommendation? I can’t read!

The Librarian: Alright, listen up you little shits.

The Librarian: Not you Elder Cadia . You’re an angel and we’re thrilled you’re here.

The Librarian: Someone’s trying to break in. Call the cops!

Elder Cadia : *loads shotgun* I got this.

The Librarian: Last week you fell up the stairs, what do you mean-

*Elder Cadia sends more than 5 messages in a row*

The Librarian: I ain’t reading all that.

The Librarian: I’m happy for you tho.

The Librarian: Or sorry that happened.

Elder Cadia : *is visibly upset*

The Librarian: Elder Cadia , what happened? I haven't seen you like this since you found out candyland wasn't an actual country.

Elder Cadia : It’s nice to be wanted, you know?

The Librarian: Not by the law!

Elder Cadia : So what do you have planned for the future?

The Librarian: Lunch.

Elder Cadia : No, like long term.

The Librarian: Oh...um, dinner?

Elder Cadia : We’re all in this together. If one of us falls, we all fall. Nobody is expendable on this team.

The Librarian: Sounds fake but ok.

The Librarian: Just be careful, Elder Cadia !

Elder Cadia : *heading out the door* I'm always careful, The Librarian!

Elder Cadia : It's everything around me that's careless.

The Librarian: How are you today?

Elder Cadia : Please don’t make me think about my life.

Elder Cadia: That’s the longest worm I’ve ever seen.

The Librarian: That’s a snake.

[wellhellsbelles]

Hi! i absolutely loved both the 1st chapter of to the rythm of your wild heart and the mini fanfic you wrote :) i found somewhere this prompt that was like farkle and riley are best friends and they work as teachers in the same school and their students ship them and have bets on when they are going to finally admit their feelings for eachother

omg thank you so much!! i’m having such a fun time writing all these prompts, and this one ended up being my favorite by far (especially considering the word count is uhhh 7.1k whoops lol) 

Enjoy!!! :)

ao3 link or read below

//

Even if the universe hadn't pre-ordained them getting together, their students would've forced them in that direction.

OR

The one where Farkle and Riley are teachers, best friends, and their students are maybe a little too involved in their love lives.

(i. the challenge)

“Okay, I know I’ve said it the last few years, but this will definitely be the year my photography class beats your puny little physics class,” Riley told Farkle, dropping a box full of supplies on his desk. He peered up from his computer, adjusting his glasses as he quirked a brow at his best friend.

“So that’s how we’re starting tomorrow? With a fresh cup of competition? What happened to Miss ‘I-Wanna-Take-It-Easy-This-Year’?”

“That was summer Riley. She’s different, you should know this by now, Farkle,” Riley scoffed. “And besides, that was before I was able to get funding for really cool cameras for class, photoshop for all our computers, and was given the greenlight to start photography club. Face it, Minkus, you’re toast.”

“Okay, Riley. Whatever you say,” Farkle rolled his eyes at her, stealing a sip of coffee from the mug on his desk (Riley got it for him a couple of Christmases ago and he loved it; it said, “I don’t give a flux”, and had a helpful diagram underneath that she couldn’t even begin to understand.)

“Damnit, Farkle! Stop using your stupid head games so I can feel victorious! I know you’re in this just about as much as I am, so stop feigning disinterest. I will be the best teacher this year for once! All of those physics students are going to be begging to be in my class!” Riley shouted, picking up the box off his desk and disappearing out of the room. Farkle listened to the sound of her sneakers squeaking against the hallway tile fading out in the distance, shaking his head and chuckling as he continued typing away on his computer.

//

(ii. the meeting)

Riley spotted him hiding amongst the teachers filling up the auditorium seats for their mandatory teacher orientation for the beginning of the new school year. It warmed her heart to see him sunk low in his chair, trying to appear invisible and yet clearly waiting for her if the denim jacket draped over the seat beside him was any indication.

They’d done this meeting numerous times now since they started—they’d met five years ago, both new teachers to the school and unsure about their place amongst the other staff. Riley had been nervous as hell, but as soon as she saw Farkle sequestered to one of the rows further back by himself, she realized she wasn’t alone. She took a seat beside him, introduced herself despite his desperation to remain unseen, and from then on they were glued to the hip, the best of friends. Neither of them had been apart from one another during any school function, and they didn’t intend on changing that.

He was her partner in crime, after all.

“Miss me?” Riley asked when she reached him. Farkle breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed her, picking the denim jacket up off of the seat and gesturing beside himself.

Even after all this time, he still remained nervous at the beginning of the year, still hiding himself away from the rest of the staff he knew well by now. His penchant for anxiety was a curious one, but not anything Riley chided him for. She’d done her job by helping him get acclimated to everyone else and was definitely pushing it by encouraging him to sit closer to the rest of the teachers during these meetings; she chose which battles she fought very carefully.

“You’re late by five minutes,” he said pointedly, and Riley rolled her eyes.

“So dramatic, Farkle.”

“I prefer ‘reasonably ceremonious’.”

“Whatever you say. Now, did you bring our entertainment or what?”

Farkle flashed his phone, showing off an image of a bingo sheet.

“Bingo,” he smiled cheekily, “It’s an updated version. I think I notice new quirks about Principal Carson every year.”

“As long as the bingo space is ‘Gals and Pals’, then we’re good as gold,” Riley told him.

“Oh, you know it is. I did have to replace some of the obvious Einstein quotes into their own category to make room for the comedian stool and water bottle.”

“It’s like he wants to do standup. I think we should just encourage him to do standup, it’d be a wonderful time,” she laughs.

“It’d be fantastic, but then we’d be out of a principal. He’d be too good,” Farkle said, and Riley’s laughter quickly turned to a full-out peal. Some of the teachers around sent her looks of disdain and she cut herself off, but not before allowing one last cackle to slip past her lips.

“Alright, gals and pals! Are we all ready to get started for our new school year? I know I am!” Principal Carson exclaimed, taking his place at the front of the stage. “We better get started, because as Einstein said, time is relative!”

“Wow, two in one go. This is getting to be too easy,” Riley whispered, and Farkle couldn’t help but agree.

 //

 (iii. the bet)

Riley watched with amusement as all her students gathered around one student in particular, whispering in hushed, conspicuous tones. She loved her advanced photography class because they all had been together for so long, had formed their own friendships with one another after sharing the same class. They were sort of one big family at this point, and it wouldn’t be the first time they’d done something sneaky behind Riley’s back.

It’s only the second week, Riley thought, What could they possibly be planning?

“Alright guys, break it up. Don’t you wanna learn some neat photoshop tricks?” Riley asked rhetorically, waving her hands apart to mimic separating.

The students fled to their seats, allowing her to finally see the student in question they had been crowding around. The girl, a small red-head named Penny, was busy compiling a stack of cash and then shoving it into a plastic bag, and despite knowing Penny was harmless, Riley didn’t want to leave the matter.

“Penny, whatcha got there?” Riley said, pointing to the money. Penny shrugged.

“It’s the pot. I’m the bookmaker.”

“Bookmaker?”

“Ms. Matthews, no offense, but please follow along. It’s not that hard; I’m taking bets.”

Riley narrowed her eyes at her student.

“What could you guys even be betting on? We’re in a high school,” Riley mused, bewildered. “Also I am not about to let you guys run a gambling ring under my nose. That reeks of something I can get in trouble for.”

“Relax,” Penny told her, “It’s nothing bad. We’re all just placing bets on when Mr. Minkus is going to ask you out. Or vice-versa. Actually, there’s also a bet for if it happens at the same time. I think Frankie’s the one who’s got that bet, he’s been holding down the betting pool for the AP Physics class.”

“What?!” Riley exclaimed, “What do you mean you’re betting on us getting together?”

“Ms. Matthews, you and Mr. Minkus have been toeing around one another the last few years. We just figured we’d try and capitalize on it this year. I ran a soft betting pool last year sans money, and I think it turned out really well, personally,” Penny exclaimed.

“You two are just so cute together!” Maggie crooned from behind her.

“I really thought I was gonna win it, too, but then we came back and I had lost,” Jess pouted from the back of the classroom. Riley’s head was still reeling from the fact that her students were betting on her love-life.

“What made you think you were gonna win?” she asked Jess.

“Well, Tanner had told us that Mr. Minkus had moved into your apartment building at the end of the year, so I assumed it’d take you to the end of summer to get your crap together. I was wrong, apparently,” Jess said.

“Oh my god, I cannot have my students betting on my personal life. That is just all levels of wrong,” Riley announced, running her hands down her face. “Alright, no more of this! I am not condoning this strange gambling ring you’ve got going on. And Penny, you better tell Frankie to cut it out, too! Mr. Minkus and I need our students to recognize that there’s a reason we keep our personal lives out of the classroom. We’re here to learn, so if I catch you guys talking about it in class again, I’ll have no choice but to give you detention, okay?”

That effectively cut off any further chatter on the matter, and Riley sighed, shaking her head.

 This was going to be a fun school year, no doubt about that.

 //

 (iv. the new teacher)

“The kids have a bet going on,” Riley told Farkle three weeks later. They were waiting their turn in the makeshift buffet line in the cafeteria, paper plates in their hands as they made their second trip for dessert. A potluck had been set up after school for the staff to celebrate the first month of school going off without a hitch (it was always Riley’s favorite; Lisa the Latin teacher always brought homemade lemon squares that were to die for.)

“Oh yeah?” Farkle asked.

“Apparently they’re in conjunction with your kids, as well. I had to stop a gambling circuit with actual money from forming in my classroom, but I think it’s already too late,” she groaned, stepping forward when the line moved.

“Wait, my kids, too? I know we get competitive against one another but isn’t that taking it a little too far?” he said, eyebrow raised in concern. “What could they possibly be betting on, they’re high schoolers!”

“You know, I asked the same question. Penny thought I was nuts for pestering her about it.”

“Penny Miller? Notoriously shy Penny Miller? That Penny?”

“Yeah, she’s the bookmaker. I think I made her too confident in my class, if that’s possible.”

“I think someone has an inflated ego. Narcissus, eat your heart out!” Farkle exclaimed, clenching his fist. Riley jabbed him in the side with her elbow.

“Rude! I am not egotistic. I just know my worth is all.”

“Narcissistic,” he coughed, earning him a look of disdain from her.

“You’re mean, Farkle Minkus.”

“I am what I am,” he shrugged, grabbing a piece of cake to place on his plate. “This cake looks too good to be Stacy’s. Is it possible that she honed her cake-making skills this summer, because if so, I’m here for it.”

“Pretty sure the new teacher made it,” the teacher across from him, Landon from the history department, cut in. “Stacy had to go on maternity leave at the last second.”

“New teacher?” Riley furrowed her brows.

“Yeah, Isadora Smackle, teaches calculus. She’s right over there,” he pointed ahead to a small, lanky girl with tan skin, long raven hair, and black cat-eye frames. Farkle’s mouth dropped open and Riley had to poke him to get his attention.

“Farkle?”

“What?” he answered, not really paying attention as his eyes remained on the new teacher. Riley pouted.

“I wasn’t done telling you about the bet. Don’t you want to hear about it?”

“Yeah, sure, but could you give me a moment? I’m gonna go talk to that new teacher,” he told her as he walked off towards Isadora Smackle.

Riley felt a pang of disappointment go through her, but she ignored it for the sake seeming ridiculous. He was just going to go talk to the new teacher, it wasn’t like he was going to abandon Riley at the potluck. It was their tradition to go to these things and bear them together, because as much as Riley put on a front about being comfortable around everyone, it really was only because she had Farkle there to make her feel comfortable.

Without him it was like . . . it was like she was missing a limb.

Riley stole two lemon squares (what, she was feeling sorry for herself!) and sat back down at the table the two of them had once preoccupied. She pretended not to watch them from afar, but she couldn’t help herself in the end—she’d never seen Farkle put himself out there like this; it was strange. But there he was, standing in front of Isadora Smackle with a goofy grin on his face, and despite seeming stiff still, she seemed just as charmed by Farkle.

Suddenly Riley didn’t feel like eating her lemon squares.

She waited for him to come back, too, but after a long while, she realized that was a fruitless effort. Farkle was glued to the new teacher and Riley was left deserted, so she threw out her lemon squares, found her bag, and left to go finish work in her classroom.

And if she ignored the obvious hurt snaking its way down her throat, well . . .

 So be it.

 //

 (v. the grudge)

“Alright, I’m forcing you to eat with me, effective immediately,” Farkle announced as he barged into Riley’s classroom during lunch. She had her door shut to deter any office hours while she tried to catch up on grading, something that seemed to have been slipping by her lately.

The door was not shut, however, to one Farkle Minkus—she couldn’t keep him out even if she tried.

Riley eyed him warily as he set a bag down on her desk, pulling out the contents to reveal Chinese food from their favorite Chinese place down the street.

A bribe.

“Bribe me all you want, Minkus. I’m still busy,” she tried to brush him off, but Farkle was persistent. He didn’t take no for an answer, opening all the containers of food and placing chopsticks in front of her.

“Nope, not going to happen. You’re going to have lunch with me because snuck in all this food, and I’m not going to let it go to waste because somebody is being snippy with me,” he told her, tossing a plate in the only empty spot on her desk. “I hope you appreciate me because I bought orange chicken which I know you love and you know I detest, so dig in or so help me god.”

Well, Riley really couldn’t argue with that logic.

She sighed in resignation, abandoning her position at her computer and turning to face him. She picked up the chopsticks begrudgingly and began scooping rice onto her plate, a small smile on her face.

It was hard for Riley to stay mad at Farkle; he made it impossible.

“Fine, thank you for the food I didn’t ask for, Farkle,” she told him, emphasizing his name at the end for dramatic effect. The smug grin spread across his face quicker than lightning, and she would’ve done anything at that point to wipe it off (except she wouldn’t, she couldn’t.)

“You’re welcome, Riley. Now catch me up on stuff. I haven’t seen you in a hot second.”

“Penny’s still driving me nuts, there’s that. I know she’s still running that underground betting ring and it makes me so mad that I don’t know how to stop it,” Riley huffed. “Then, of course, I have to learn how to use photoshop along with the rest of the kids because I haven’t been able to afford photoshop on my own, so not only does my class get to fail, but they get to see me fail at it, too.”

“Riley,” Farkle said softly, reaching out to grip her hand, “You’ve got this. Your kids know how amazing of a teacher you are, and they know it’s as much of a learning curve for them as it is for you. You’ll get the hang of it because you’re Riley Matthews.”

She couldn’t help the feeling of warmth that spread through her body from his touch, how being around him alone made her mind ten trillion times calmer.

“Thank you, Farkle. For everything, really,” she smiled. Farkle smiled back at her, his mouth dropping open as he made to speak, but then Isadora Smackle (Smackle, she insisted upon being referred to as) opened the door and stuck her head through. Farkle released Riley’s hand at once, his attention turning to Smackle.

“Farkle, we have math club in five minutes! Did you forget you’re supposed to be going over important theorems in preparation for next weekend’s competition?” she asked. Farkle glanced over at Riley then back at Smackle, and Riley didn’t need to be a mind reader to know his decision.

“Go ahead, Farkle. Your math club needs you,” she told him, waving him towards the door.

“Rain check?” he asked as he stood up from the chair he’d pulled up to the desk. Riley nodded.

“Sure thing.”

Farkle waved and parted with a quick goodbye, disappearing out of Riley’s door and leaving her with a desk full of partially touched Chinese food.

 Your math club needs you, she said aloud.

 But I need you more, her heart cried out softly.

 //

 (vi. the planning committee)

As per usual, once October arrived, everyone began planning for the school’s fall festival. It was Riley’s favorite event of the year, the one she looked forward to every time autumn came around. She’d loved it so much her first year of teaching at the school that when the student council needed help after deciding to expand the festival outside of the gym, she volunteered without hesitation. And, of course, where Riley went, Farkle followed.

They always asked for volunteers inside of their classes, but this year Riley was proud that she could enlist her entire photography club to help, along with Farkle’s math club. Sure, things had changed between her and Farkle since the beginning of the semester, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t going to uphold tradition to help plan and set up the festival.

“We should be set for next week,” Rebecca, the student body class president, announced towards the end of their final meeting for planning. “I contacted all the food trucks that had said yes to confirm their attendance and they’re all still on board, Chelsea called the pumpkin patch to check and make sure the pumpkins would be delivered on time, all our booths have been divided between the photography club and math club, and we have a final announcement. Wanna take it away, Ben?”

Ben, the vice president, cleared his throat and a grin grew on his face.

“We didn’t want to say anything until the last minute just to make sure it was going to actually happen, but we booked a Ferris wheel this year!” he exclaimed. Everyone applauded and Riley’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

“That’s amazing, guys! This is going to be the best fall festival yet!”

“Thanks,” Rebecca said, a bashful smile creeping at the corners of her mouth. “Now, any last questions before we break until next week?” No one said anything, everyone in agreement that they had everything on lockdown. “Awesome! Thank you guys so much, and I can’t wait for next Saturday. This is going to be the bomb!”

Everyone began packing up, excited chatter filling the room as they all talked about the anticipated fall festival. Riley picked up her own bag and walked to meet up with Farkle, knocking her shoulder into his.

“Hey,” she greeted him cheerfully.

“Hey!” he echoed back, pulling his laptop bag over his shoulder and following her as they left the room they used for committee meetings.

“So, isn’t this awesome? We’ve got so many cool booths going on this year, food trucks, and a freaking Ferris wheel.”

“I know, I can’t believe how big it’s going to be. To think it was only a small set of booths and homemade crafts when we started out.”

“I loved it then, too, but I’m so glad we’ve been able to help it branch out a bunch. I just know I can’t wait to kick your ass at the ring toss. I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve been practicing all summer long,” she told him, smug. Farkle paused mid-step in the hall, a frown tugging the corners of his mouth downward.

“Uh, about that, Riley . . .”

“What?” she asked, glancing over at him. The look on his face was apologetic, and it suddenly dawned on her why.

“I asked Isadora if she wanted to go with me this year, I’m sorry,” he told her, brow furrowed.

“Oh. Okay,” Riley said, trying her best to keep her features schooled, “That’s . . . that’s fine. I’ll just help out with one of the booths this year. I’m sure Penny would love to have me help with pumpkin carving.”

“Riley, you love getting to do all this stuff at the festival. You don’t need me to have fun there.”

She shook her head.

“No, it’s really fine. I know Penny needed help with coordinating all the pumpkin stuff, so I’ll just do that. I want to see people enjoy it themselves more than anything, so this will make me just as happy,” she tried to reassure him, but her words felt flat even to her own ears.

“Riles . . .” Farkle trailed, wanting to fight her on the matter, but Riley gave him a sad sort of smile.

“I’ll be busy with work and photoshop classes, so see you at the festival?”

“Yeah, of course,” he agreed half-heartedly, and Riley waved goodbye before abandoning him in the hall to walk to her car.

 In that moment, Riley felt like she was losing everything. She didn’t want to, but her heart felt the loss all the same; Farkle was supposed to be her best friend, the one who she went to all these school events with, the person who stuck by her side no matter what. But now that Smackle was in the picture, Riley found herself abandoned at these functions more often than not. What was once enjoyable to her had hinged entirely on Farkle being there with her, and that realization left her feeling . . .

Alone.

She felt alone, and she hated it.

 //

 (vii. the festival)

Riley put on her favorite purple-striped t-shirt, overalls, black converses, and braided her hair into twin pigtails, preparing herself for the festival. She topped the look off by tying a bow around her head, looking at herself in the mirror with confidence afterward. She was determined to enjoy the festival despite the fact that she was flying solo this year, and really, she could. The festival was always her favorite and although her plans changed, she had a feeling she’d still have fun.

She’d be damned if she didn’t.

Riley grabbed her bag and left her apartment, locking the door and resisting throwing a glance at the apartment door across from her. All she needed to do was shut her brain off and not worry about anything, not bother being bent out of shape about the sudden shift in her life.

Easier said than done.

Her brain had this unparalleled habit of holding on to every worry and anxious thought that cropped up inside her mind. It was hard to just shut that off; it was all she ever knew. But she also knew that she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t at least try to enjoy the day she’d been looking forward to all year long. It didn’t behoove her to ruminate, either, so she remained optimistic, actually thrilled to help carve and decorate pumpkins. Fall was still fall, her favorite season of the year, and nothing could stop her from that.

Not even dumb boys and dumb dates.

 The festival was an array of glowing lights when she arrived, and that familiar spark of overwhelming joy coursed through her at the sight. There were already cars filling up the spaces of the parking lot despite the festival not starting for another ten minutes, and Riley couldn’t believe her eyes as she got out of the car, the Ferris wheel standing tall in all its grandiose glory. She beamed at all the hard work coming to fruition, knowing for certain that this was going to be their best festival yet.

“Ms. Matthews, I can’t believe you’re helping me out with pumpkins this year!” Penny greeted her, face already covered in wild face paint that made her look like a scarecrow.

“Yeah, I’m excited!” Riley exclaimed. “I’ve seen the way you’ve manned this booth singlehandedly the last couple of years and can’t wait to help you out.”

“Do you mind setting out some pumpkins for me, then? I still have to get the paint set up for the stations,” Penny asked.

“Sure thing!”

Riley did as she was told, setting out pumpkins of all different shapes, sizes, and colors, admiring each one as she set them down. She was glad that they used pumpkins from a local pumpkin patch and that they didn’t just stick to the standard orange ones, but the other sorts of gourds that came in a variety of colors. As soon as she finished, she noticed that people had already started filing in, kids, teenagers, and parents alike. They all wore bright grins and their eyes sparkled in wonderment at everything around them.

It made Riley’s heart feel warm to see it.

They manned their booth until all the pumpkins had been given away and decorated, happy to see everyone decorate their pumpkins in their own styles. Riley found herself caked with purple paint up the entirety of her arms, and when Penny saw it, she added a brushstroke of orange to her nose.

“To balance it out,” Penny had explained. Riley couldn’t argue with that logic.

By the time the last pumpkin had been gifted, the last few people remaining at the decorating stand, a familiar pair of people arrived.

“Hey, guys,” Farkle said, Smackle at his side. Riley’s smile at him came and went within a few seconds, from the moment she spotted him to the moment she noticed his fingers laced with Smackle’s.

“You look like you jumped in a vat of purple paint,” Smackle pointed out to Riley.

“I may as well have,” Riley found her voice.

“Too bad you two just got here, we’re out of pumpkins,” Penny told them with a shrug.

“That’s okay, we were just stopping by here to check out how everything was going before heading to the Ferris wheel,” Farkle said.

“Oh,” Riley said, her voice small.

“Well, why don’t you two go enjoy it, then? We’ll finish up here ourselves, thanks for visiting!” Penny cut in, an urgent edge to her tone as she shuffled Farkle and Smackle away from their booth. Riley sighed, crossing her arms against her chest as a dry hurt stuck itself in her throat.

“Hey, wanna get some funnel cake? It’s on me, Ms. Matthews; you look like you could use some sweet, fried food,” Penny offered, and Riley didn’t even have it in her to try and fight her on it. She just nodded her head, waiting while Penny grabbed her purse and then tugged her along towards the funnel cake truck.

Penny was right, in the end. Riley’s mood peaked again at the first taste of powdered sugar and fried dough, bursting into a fit of laughter when she noticed Penny had sugar caked all over her face after two minutes of having the confectionary. They wandered around the rest of the festival just to check things out, but Penny remained silent for the benefit of Riley, who appreciated the sentiment very much so. It floored her how caring and amazing her students were, especially Penny who had managed to land herself on Riley’s list after the bet debacle.

“You know, I am sorry about the bet thing,” Penny announced later, breaking the silence. Riley peered at her curiously, finishing her last bite of funnel cake before responding.

“Thanks. It did annoy me, but it didn’t matter to much to me until recently.”

“Do you think,” Penny began, “And don’t get mad at me, but do you think there might be another reason it bothers you?”

“What do you mean?” Riley asked. Penny’s mouth opened to respond, but her bright green eyes peered over to the Ferris wheel, widening in surprise when she saw something. Riley turned in time to see what it was exactly that Penny saw—

Farkle and Smackle were on the Ferris wheel together, and he was kissing her.

Suddenly, Penny’s question to Riley made sense, and more than that, the entire time since Smackle had entered the picture. Riley’s heart plummeted in her chest, her eyes stinging with regret.

 Riley was in love with Farkle.

 But she had realized it a day late and a dollar short, and now she had to face the repercussions and watch as he fell in love with someone else.

 //

 (viii. the breakup)

Riley’s epiphany at the fall festival was earth shattering and it hurt like hell, but that was it. Life went on after that and Riley did her best to ignore her feelings. She knew in retrospect that it had made sense, but there wasn’t much that knowing could do for her now. So she put herself into making herself better at photoshop for the kids, even signing them up for a special class at a local community college that focused on basic fundamentals of photoshop.

Her life wasn’t what it used to be, sure, but she learned to be happy with that. And she was.

Penny didn’t mention the underground betting ring again. In fact, she made it her personal goal to become Riley’s aide in class, sticking to her like Velcro. Riley didn’t know how to feel about the fact that her current best friend was twelve years younger than her but having Penny around was a welcome distraction. She was sweet and it made her happy that she had such wonderful students. Penny was also incredibly talented and actually knew a few photoshop skills that helped Riley out immensely.

Riley hardly saw Farkle anymore.

They were still friends, of course, but he rarely made the time he used to to see her, instead focusing his time on the math club and spending time with Smackle. Riley figured that she needed the space to clear her head, anyhow, because as much as he was her best friend, she depended on him for a lot.

This was . . . this was good for them.

Or that was what Riley tried to convince herself of.

She missed him more than anything, and not just because of her new-found feelings. Riley missed Farkle because he was her person, her best friend, the person she could depend on no matter what. And right now he was doing the one thing she never thought he could do.

He was letting her down.

But she ignored it, pushing her emotions deep down into a cavern in her chest and locking it shut. Riley had to focus on teaching her kids and enjoying her photography club, and idle feelings about Farkle were making themselves an obvious obstacle to that. So she allowed him to fade into the back of her mind, and things got better little by little.

Right until he threw himself back into her life.

“Do you mind if I take a seat next to you?” he asked her one day during one of their monthly staff meetings. It hurt Riley that he’d even feel the need to ask, but she understood that things were different. Not unfixable, just . . . different.

“Of course,” she told him, gesturing to the open spot beside her. His long gangly limbs settled himself into the seat, and Riley tried her best to not be charmed by him.

It didn’t work; it never really could when it came to him.

“You’re not sitting with Smackle today?” Riley inquired, curious. He shrugged half-heartedly.

“We broke up.”

Oh.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be. We all have a whirlwind romances,” he said, trying to brush it off, but Riley could tell he wasn’t unaffected by it. She relaxed herself around him, unable to tame her natural instinct to comfort him.

“Farkle, romance is romance. You care and regardless of the amount of time you spend together, it still sucks when it ends, even if it’s on your terms. You’re allowed to be affected by the world around you.”

“Can we just talk about it another time?” he asked instead. Riley gave him a soft smile.

“Of course. Wanna pull out the bingo board?”

Farkle beamed.

“Do I ever.”

 //

 (ix. the crush redux)

The thing was, Riley loved holidays. She loved the major holidays—Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Halloween—all of them were her favorites. But she also loved the lesser-known or lesser-loved holidays just as much.

She was just a holiday fanatic.

So, despite the event not having as much traction as the fall festival, Riley still maintained excitement for the winter formal. Dances weren’t quite the same for teachers; they didn’t get to enjoy that wonderful feeling of teenage angst and romance, of nerves and excitement at the prospect of getting to enjoy time with your crush. But it had an air of fun attached to it regardless, so Riley helped plan for it all the same.

This was, of course, one of the tasks Riley never asked Farkle to help with.

She volunteered her time completely of her own volition because she genuinely enjoyed planning events for the school, so anything outside of the fall festival Riley assured Farkle he didn’t need to participate if he didn’t want to. And he didn’t want to—usually.

Which was why it came as a surprise to Riley when he arrived five minutes past starting time and sat beside her in the planning committee room without a single word, just pure determination on his face.

“What are you even doing here?” Riley had whispered, only to earn a hush from Farkle.

“Shhh. We’ve gotta focus right now.”

She huffed back at him but obeyed directions all the same, her curiosity by his presence still piqued, nonetheless.

Everything had gotten better between them; they’d spent the last month getting reacquainted with their friendship, not only spending time together in school but out of school, as well. He’d insisted on taking her out to eat every Friday, and the two of them created lesson plans together every week. There was just one small hitch in their friendship that made everything just a little more complicated.

Riley knew she was in love with him now.

That was something she could hold back easily before, when she knew he was unavailable and didn’t want to make time for her. But now that he was single, he wanted to spend every second with her, and it made Riley want to tear her hair out from the frustration that was bubbling up inside her.

At least she knew she had the angst and romance ready to go for the winter dance.

“Any questions?” Rebecca asked. Riley stared blankly at her, her brain having picked up on none of what Rebecca had been saying.

“I’ll fill you in later,” Farkle whispered to her when he noticed the expression on her face. Riley hated being an open book sometimes.

“Let’s split into partners to get some ideas flowing for decorations. We’ll come back in five minutes. Alright, break!”

Riley and Farkle turned towards each other, both knowing they were going to be partners without having to ask.

“So, the theme is ‘winter’,” Farkle said cheekily. Riley stuck her tongue out at him.

“Up yours, Minkus.”

“Ms. Matthews,” he gasped, acting mock offended, “This is not appropriate conversation for the children.”

“You’re such a nerd! We need to be coming up with ideas, let’s go. We don’t wanna look like idealess losers.”

“Okay, okay, we can start brainstorming. I just have one question that you’re going to have to answer me honestly,” he said. Riley quirked her brow.

“Oh yeah?”

“Can you promise me we go to the winter formal together? I missed being able to be with you at the fall festival,” Farkle told her, and Riley felt the blood rush to her face.

This isn’t a date. He’s not asking you out on a date; you’re just friends! It’s a friend thing, and you’re going to be chaperones, Riley tried to convince herself.

“Of course I’ll go with you, Farkle. There isn’t anyone else I’d want to go with than you,” she said, groaning internally when she registered the weight of her words. It was too late to take them back, but it didn’t seem to matter because Farkle was beaming from her answer.

“I can’t wait,” he smiled, and Riley knew from that point forward that she was in too deep.

 //

 (x. the winter formal)

Riley signed up to help place all the decorations for the winter dance, so by the time she’s finished, she knows she’s gotta perform a miracle to get back on time. She has to return to her place, shower, get dressed, and apply her makeup all within the span of forty-five minutes. So she set a timer on her phone, painted a look of pure determination on her face, and took off like a rocket (while maintaining proper speed in order to avoid traffic violations.)

By some form of divine intervention, she accomplishes her goal with five minutes to spare. She zipped herself up inside her dress—an icy-blue, knee length dress with a semi-sweetheart neckline, spaghetti straps, and a shimmery, chiffon skirt—and slipped on her silver, strappy high heels, checking her makeup in the mirror one last time to make sure it was perfect. Her doorbell rang and she grabbed her crossbody purse, rushing off to answer the door.

“Hi,” she greeted Farkle happily as soon as she swung the door open. He looked very handsome in his navy-blue suit and silver tie and Riley felt her hands grow clammy.

This was starting to feel a lot like a date.

In fact, when she appeared in front of Farkle, his mouth dropped open as his eyes raked over her, and butterflies began fluttering around in her stomach at the notion of him checking her out.

“Uh, you look gorgeous,” he told her, Adam’s apple bobbing hard in his throat. He held a hand out to her, obviously trying to regain his cool (something she’s never known Farkle to have once in the entirety of her knowing him). “Ready to go?”

“Ready,” she nodded, grabbing his hand. His fingers laced with hers and she stepped out to shut and lock her door, following him down the hall and to his car afterward. They didn’t talk, but Riley didn’t mind it at all.

 They arrived at the dance ten minutes after it began (they really didn’t mean to; The Backstreet Boys started playing on the radio and they had to jam out to it!) Riley smiled at all their hard work once they made it inside the gymnasium, happy to see it balanced out by the soft glow of disco lights they had placed all around. Iridescent snowflakes dangled from the ceiling, twirling around and shimmering playfully. Everyone looked wonderful in their formal outfits, all paired with huge grins just from having fun being out and around one another.

“Looks fantastic, Riles,” Farkle told her, nudging her gently with his elbow.

“I mean, I didn’t do all of it,” she shrugged, bashful, but Farkle shook his head.

“You still helped it look amazing. Anything Riley Matthews sets her mind to always turns out incredible.”

Riley wanted to squeal from embarrassment and giddiness from the compliments he was giving her, but she remained calm, instead tugging him towards the refreshments table. She scooped a cup of punch for him and then herself, and then they both stood off to the side of the gym in their own little area partially sequestered from the rest of the teachers. They made sure to do their job being chaperones, of course (high schoolers had a real knack for getting too close too one another for her comfort), but they also enjoyed themselves. Riley appreciated getting to spend quality time with Farkle, and he always knew how to make her laugh.

Then a slow song came on, one Riley could only call an indie slow dance song, and Farkle turned toward her with a sparkle in his eye that she couldn’t forget if she tried.

“Wanna dance?” he asked, his eyes bluer than a sky on a cloudless day. Riley could hardly find the words to say yes, so she nodded and allowed him to draw her out to the dance floor amongst the rest of the teenagers. He laid his hands on her waist while she hooked her arms around his neck and they swayed together rhythmically, their eyes never leaving one another’s.

“I feel silly dancing among all these teenagers,” she laughed.

“Do you wanna stop?” he asked.

“That’s the last thing I wanna do right now, Farkle Minkus,” she told him, her words soft as they left her tongue. Somehow, they had shifted closer to one another, and Riley could the ghost of Farkle’s breath on her cheeks.

“What’s the first thing you wanna do then?”

“I wanna kiss you,” she confessed, her eyes darting down quickly to his lips and then back up to his gaze. She wasn’t sure what had made her so brave but she was certainly glad for it, relieved to get that thought off her chest finally. And then Farkle said something that surprised her more than anything.

“I wanna kiss you, too.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Get the girl, Minkus,” she whispered to him. Farkle grinned and then leaned in, hovering for a second before pressing his lips against hers.

Nothing could have prepared her for the feeling of kissing Farkle Minkus—it was like electricity coursing through her system, all of her neurons firing off in her head at once. His fingers reached up to cup her face, the warmth of his hands burning an imprint into her skin.

Finally, her heart sang.

“Oh my god!” someone screamed behind them, causing them to break apart. Riley peered over Farkle’s shoulder and saw Penny standing there, pure elation on her face.

“Oh no,” Riley groaned into Farkle’s chest, and she felt the vibrations of his chuckle against her skin.

“I can’t believe I won the bet!” Penny continued, grinning ear to ear. Riley shot her a look of surprise.

“Wait, you guessed we’d get together at the winter formal of all things?”

Penny shrugged.

“I’m a romantic at heart. I had a good feeling about it.”

“Well, congratulations, Penny, but do you mind?” Farkle said. Penny turned red, sputtering a goodbye as she left them on their own. Riley laughed at the ridiculousness of the entire situation.

“What even are our lives?”

“The best ones out there, I’d wager. If I didn’t take this job, I’d never have met you, Riley Matthews,” Farkle told her.

“And I’d never have met you, Farkle Minkus. Guess life has a funny way of making things work out in the end,” Riley said.

Farkle agreed with her by pulling her in for another kiss, and Riley couldn’t help but think she had the best life in the entire universe.

[jaqdawks]

added a short story bellow :)

content warnings: alcohol and implied nsfw acts, also mention of death.

—————————————

Nickolai awoke in someone else’s bed with a splitting hangover. He sat up and looked around the unfamiliar room. He checked if it was possibly Alcor’s, until he realized he didn’t know what Alcor’s bedroom looked like at all. He also didn’t know what most of Alcor’s flat looked like; he’d only ever been as far in as a single hallway.

For a few minutes, Nickolai fought the hangover to remember who he was with and what identity he’d assumed. All he could remember was Noah. He had a fake ID that said Noah, and his false identity as a Noah was a man who fixed computers. Noah was a common name though, and he couldn’t remember who the Noah here was.

He didn’t think about it much longer before he succumbed to the hangover and flopped back onto the bed—which Nickolai was alone in. The disturbed sheets on the spot next to him hinted to someone else having been in it earlier.

The door began to creak open, and Nickolai shut his eyes.

“Hey, it’s almost noon. I don’t want to be rude but you need to wake up,” sounded an unfamiliar voice.

Nickolai grumbled a little. He looked at the stranger, who had soft green eyes and curly red hair. He didn’t look untrustworthy, to Nickolai’s relief. Then again, Nickolai didn’t look untrustworthy either on a normal day.

“I have Advil if you need something for a hangover,” the stranger offered.

Nickolai sat up again, for real now. “Sorry, what’s your name?”

The stranger laughed. “I’m Joel. Were you too hammered to remember my name?”

Nickolai shook his head.

The stranger seemed concerned. “How much do you remember then?”

“I don’t know, I remember thinking I should get mad drunk in public instead of passing out on my couch. After that it’s just fuzzy.” Nickolai assumed he told Joel that his name was Noah.

Joel looked a little perturbed in an endearing way. “Ah, well, do you want me to fill the gaps or. . ?”

“Can I get some Advil first?”

“Yeah. I’ll go get some water for you to swallow it with,” Joel complied. “You should get dressed.”

Nickolai waited for Joel to leave before getting out of bed and tracking down all his clothes, which were strewn about the room. His shirt smelled like liquor to the point that Nickolai thought he might gag. However, he didn’t have any spare clothes and decided to just put up with it.

Joel was back a few minutes after Nickolai got dressed. It was clear he was trying to ignore the smell, but after Nickolai took the Advil, Joel asked if he needed to borrow something that didn’t smell so rancid. Nickolai obliged and was relieved to be able to rid the putrid button-down.

“Okay, so the parts you don’t remember,” Joel began. “I can’t say I remember it too well either, but I think I have a decent memory with these things.”

Nickolai nodded. “Go on.”

“So,” Joel continued. “It began when I think I saw the bartender cut you off on drinks, and I felt kind of bad about that. So I thought, hey, company’s much better than drinks, even though I was also drinking, like a lot. And I guess at some point we kinda started flirting, and I was like ‘should we take this back to your place?’ and you began to freak out. I think you said you have a dog that bites people or something? Is that true?”

“Nope.”

“Okay. Well anyways, you did not seem to be very happy with the idea of taking anyone to your place, so I took you to mine. And you can probably guess the rest, considering you woke up naked in my bed.”

Nickolai silently acknowledged the implications in his head. This wasn’t how he planned to start his weekend, but he could roll with it. “Yeah. Sorry for sleeping until noon, by the way. I’m not at all a morning person.”

Joel smiled with amusement. “How do you pull that off? I can’t even sleep past nine on a good day.”

“Sadness.”

Joel’s face went blank with a bit of underlying surprise at Nickolai’s off hand answer. “Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, no harm no foul.” Nickolai was vehemently aware that he may have used that saying incorrectly.

Joel veered the conversation away from the topic. “How does your head feel?”

“A little better.”

Joel was oddly kind. Nickolai wasn’t used to receiving this hospitality from strangers like him, but that probably had more to do with who Nickolai associated himself with and not people in general. Nickolai decided he liked Joel, even if he barely knew him.

“I would offer you some breakfast, but. . . it’s almost one in the afternoon. You’re probably hungry though, right?”

“Oh, you don’t have to.” Nickolai attempted to smile back at Joel but he was too tired to count off what would make it look genuine. Regardless, Joel didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m gonna do it anyway,” Joel decided. “Any allergies?”

“Strawberries.”

“Oh! That’s a rare one.”

Nickolai shrugged. “I seem to cash in on the rare things a lot. Albinism, an extra rib, and the strawberry allergy.”

“Casinos must hate you if you’re that lucky.”

Nickolai let out a genuine laugh. He decided he definitely liked Joel. He also felt a tinge of astonishment that someone like Joel casually hooked up with him, or generally anyone. He seemed like too much of an angel to even drink.

Nickolai followed Joel out of his room. Joel’s place was considerably nice, to the point Nickolai was in a bit of disbelief. He couldn’t have wound up in an upper class area if he had started last night at a shoddy bar, right? Joel didn’t act like he was rich, he didn’t seem like it either. But this place completely contrasted whatever Joel was like. Even Joel’s cat, a rather well groomed Norwegian forest cat—which was massive and somewhat intimidating—seemed to completely outclass Nickolai.

“Do you live here by yourself?” Nickolai asked as he surveyed the expensive wallpaper lining the kitchen walls.

“Nah, I have a housemate named Anwyll. He’s visiting family right now though.”

Nickolai froze. “Anwyll. . . As in Anwyll Tait?”

“That’s the one!”

Nickolai suddenly felt sick. “Oh fuck.”

“Is something wrong?”

Nickolai retched. Had his stomach not been empty, he had no doubt he would have thrown up all over the nice counter top.

Joel dropped what he was doing and crossed the room to Nickolai. “Are you okay?” He was suddenly at Nickolai’s side with his hand placed gently on Nickolai’s back.

Nickolai’s head spun. He knew he couldn’t tell Joel that Anwyll Tait took his brother’s life in the deathmatches. If he did, Joel would have a catalogue of every possible person Nickolai could truly be, and it would clearly point to Yuskol Voskoboinikov.

Nickolai ran through every excuse he could think up. He could say he hated the rich, but that could offend Joel. He could say the deathmatches made him sick, but Joel was obviously linked to them somehow if he was in league with a Tait. Joel felt like dangerous company, a double edged sword.

“Noah?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Nickolai croaked. “I think it’s just the hangover. I haven’t eaten since yesterday, so I guess I don’t have anything to throw up.”

That was the safest excuse.

Joel looked at Nickolai with pity. “Do you think you can eat right now?”

“Yeah.”

Nickolai felt somewhat content that he had definite confirmation that he had told Joel his name was Noah last night. The slight accent in his voice may throw off the authenticity in his identity as Noah Martin, but it wasn’t consistent enough to jeopardize him.

At the same time, the fact that he slept with someone of such high class alarmed him. Most public record photos of Nickolai Voskoboinikov’s face was outdated or somewhat photoshopped, but a Tait might be able to figure him out if they surveyed him for long enough.

“So, what’s your housemate like?” Nickolai asked. He tried to keep the nervousness from spreading to his voice.

“Anwyll can be such a jerk sometimes, but he’s also sorta nice. I’ve known him since I was little,” Joel said. “He doesn’t like new people that much, but I think he’d like you.”

“Dunno. I can be very unlikeable when I’m on my medication.” Nickolai knew with certainty that Anwyll would hate him no matter what. “Also I’m. . . lower class.” Nickolai also knew that Anwyll was a classist asshole.

“Lower class? That doesn’t matter,” Joel piped up. “The whole class thing is kind of stupid. I think the way it’s set up is interesting, but it won’t stop me from having friends from all kinds of walks of life.”

“I. . . yeah. I guess so,” Nickolai mumbled. He doubted Joel would be this positive if he knew of Nickolai’s illegal trades ties, the upper class notoriously hated brokers like him. They also especially hated him in particular.

Being there felt like the most dangerous stunt Nickolai had pulled, and he hadn’t even done it on purpose.

Joel set a ridiculously fancy, yet somehow definitely homemade, grilled cheese sandwich on a plate in front of him.

“Wow,” Nickolai mused. For a moment he wasn’t sure what to say. “This looks like something an expensive ass chef would make.”

“Thanks! I went to the top culinary school in the city, my parents say it was a waste of time.”

“Fuck what your parents say,” Nickolai replied before he took a bite. The sandwich tasted unreal. The last time he had food as good as this was when he posed as an intern for one of the deathmatch organizers.

“I’m glad you like it,” Joel smiled. Nickolai felt unease crawl back into his chest. Joel seemed so genuinely friendly, though a nagging suspicion told Nickolai it could be a lie. Nickolai couldn’t take a risk by being near him for much longer. At the same time, however, he felt captivated. Joel had that charisma that so many of the notorious upper class families seemed to unanimously mirror. He was a golden face among a sea of golden faces, all rotten under their skin. Nickolai knew what they were like.

Even then, Joel seemed to care a lot more than most would let on.

Nickolai took a deep breath. “I have to go home, sorry. I left my meds there, and I probably have people flooding my inbox about work and all that bullshit.”

“That’s alright. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your job?”

“I fix computers,” Nickolai lied. That was Noah’s persona, and a story that should hold up if Joel decided to try and look in to it.

To be polite, he exchanged phone numbers. Nickolai only had his burner phone on him, which was a relief. The calls and texts that flooded Nickolai’s personal phone daily would have definitely been suspicious.

Nickolai liked Joel, but he knew he wouldn’t call him. Nickolai had a hunch that Joel may not be the worst of his kind, but he knew he wouldn’t text him back. It felt harsh to shut Joel out like this, but Nickolai wasn’t going to risk identification simply because he had a good encounter. They waved goodbye, and Joel’s cheery expression was a reminder that Nickolai would have to be silently cruel.

Nickolai didn’t call for a cab, he walked until his hangover began to bother him again. Then he called Alcor—Alcor didn’t have Nickolai’s burner phone address, but he was a safer bet than any cabs in this place.

The phone rang for a while before Alcor picked up.

“Who’s this?”

Nickolai felt relief wash over him to hear a familiar voice. “It’s Nick. Can you come pick me up?”

Alcor’s words were laced with suspicion as he spoke over the phone. “. . . Sure. Where are you?”

Nickolai looked at the street sign. Of course he had to stop on Ivory Street—the richest and most notorious, and also the one Nickolai hated the most for almost no real reason. With a sigh, he said, “Ivory Street.”

“How the fuck did you get there?”

“Drunkenly and against my conscious knowing.”

“Is this going to be dangerous?”

Nickolai groaned. “Not as dangerous as standing in the house that belongs to the man who killed my brother. Now get over here, I don’t think it’d be safe to use public transport in this area.”

There was a silence on the other end, then Alcor replied, “I’m on my way.”

[bluu-print]

Journal Log #10(May 29th): - “Zine is ready for publication”

I’ve learnt so much about the life Keith Haring lived and his legacy he left us through his art.  Haring was able to bridge the gap between High Art and Street Art.  He was a social activist who made art that fought against what he believed in.  From sketching on blank billboards to then play a main role in protests speaks volume to what this man could achieve on his own.  

Going back to my zine I can say that I’m not fully proud of what I made… This assignment was a struggle for me to present an Interview in a creative way, to make something in the style of the interviewee.  If I was to do this project again, I would take a different approach by trying to fully understand the perspective of Keith Haring, to actually make my own art the same way he did.  It’s not enough to just read information on his life from the internet.  

However, I believe I’ve learnt new ways on how to present my information that I didn’t know of before.  That’s what I really love about Design, nothing is seen as black & white.  Instead, there’s always a constant of presenting an idea.  This assignment has also given me the opportunity to brush on my photoshop knowledge and also learnt a few neat tricks as well.  

[theinsanecrayonbox]

Digging your tabletop pride icons! I like the filter effect they have! :-) Do you by any chance have a textpost of the characters and their sexual orientations/gender identities? I recognise some of your characters, but not all of them, and there are pride flags I've never seen before, so I'd like to learn more. :-)

well thank you. it was just a bit of photoshop work.

i do not have a list of that made up yet...so lets do that now lol

let me preface this though with two points.; 1) i am 1 of 2 females who play regularly in my dnd group of 6 (sometimes 7) people, the other is Dixon. so i am usually the only female in the party itself. i have only ever played 2 (and a half) male characters in the 6/7 years i’ve been playing; every other male character i do in my tabletop group arts are story characters, not player characters. i am also 1 of 2 (sometimes 3) people in the group under 40. romance isn’t really a big part of our storytelling...no matter how hard i try to put it back in there ^^; 2) i identify as quoisexual myself, so all my characters have that to some degree in them just because i’m the player and you bleed into your characters that way. i also use goggle as a helpful tool to learn about all the different identities, so my knowledge and interpretation is fallible.

ok so list now;

Paige-Cupioromantic, meaning does not feel attraction, but desires that type of relationship i went with this, because Paige....well...is Paige lol. as one player once said “it feels wrong trying to date her, because she acts so young and innocent” and to be fair, she isn’t really out here looking at people as romantic partners. she wants friends, she loves her friends. also you know, mortal embodiment of an eldritch horror terror, so...

Cizma-Fraysexual, meaning has strong attraction until a relationship is formed and then the attraction fades she’s the opposite of Paige, and this is mostly based on her “relationship” with InkShade honestly; she believes she’s madly in love with him, but he refuses her, so she pursues him more. i think if he gave into hr advances and reciprocated, she’d realized her feelings weren’t what she thought they were. i admit, this one’s new to me so my interpretation could be very wrong, but that’s how i feel it fits Cizma.

Ada-Quoisexual, meaning has trouble distinguishing between romantic and sexual attraction as i said above, my default is this, so if i don’t know a character’s leanings it’s their too (yes jelena is my icon and is this too fyi). BUT in fairness, it suits Ada because of how she was raised; she has very little idea how to properly people here. and she is developing some sort of a relationship with Til. also, her first dice bag was my pride bag with this flag.

Gauzra-Lithoromantic, meaning has desires of attraction, but does not want them reciprocated again, kind of supposed to be in opposite to Ada, and seeing as i still don’t know Gauzra’s personality this could change...but from my interpretation of her right now, this feels right. plus the flag goes with her color scheme.

Rosalba-Demisexual, meaning does not feel attraction until a strong bond is formed at the time i was playing Ro, this was how i identified primarily, but it still suits her i think. if you met Rico after meeting her, you would never know WHY they were a couple, but those two kinda fought against two life times to be together (three if you count the accent into godhood). Ro’s also never been good at getting close to people, but once she did, you’re stuck with her.

K’nessan-Nonbinary, meaning does not identify with a binary gender scale; Marsic, meaning is attracted to masculine qualities ok, ok, *technically* since Ness is a hermaphrodite they should be inter-sexed BUT they do prefer the gender neutral pronouns (followed by the masc; never use “it/that’ or you will die)...and their color scheme matches the flag, so... ^^; i also included in the list the Marsic because Ness does have a preference for male partners

Nemo-Asexual, meaning has no desires for attraction Nemo is nothing but a hero, so that pretty much screamed ace to me...plus it matched her color scheme

Mekala-Aromantic, meaning has no desire for attraction i wasn’t really sure about her, since you know 2 failed campaigns in a row didn’t give her much room to grow, but i could see this working. she’s not really looking for anything, more searching her past. 

Jass-Bisexual, meaning attracted to both males and females Jass is my sabretooth, so my sabretooth headcanons are canon for her lol. we only saw her have a relationship with fantasy!Deadpool in the game she was played, but hey

Tesla-Electio Aroace, meaning has no desire for attraction, whether sexual, romantic, or tertiary  i admit, this one is completely new to me, so my interpretation could be very wrong, but the idea that this is one that is uninterested in any form of attraction suits my viral android very well. again, she has gone on record saying that “the biological imperative for emotions is distractive” (more or less) which is especially funny since she was played in a valentines game where the goal was to let Cupid infect a town with horniness to make babies; Tesla was the only one unaffected and actively trying to stop that. so yeah.

Theo-Pansexual, meaning is attracted to any gender yeah, Theo’s just out there doing and being anything

Sean-Bisexual, meaning attracted to both males and females; he however has a stronger male preference i admit, one reason why Sean is bi and not just gay is for the “half and half” joke...but yeah, he started the game with a boyfriend, he would kill everyone for his boyfriend, he woudl die for his boyfriend.

Vitanya-Gynosexual, meaning attracted to feminine qualities still learning new things as we do this, but since Vita has had little development (but will be getting more) i’m kinda aiming to have her be a bit more into girls...we’ll see how that pans out

Lokaj-Androsexual, meaning attracted to masculine qualities originally i had him as something else, but when i saw that description i liked it better, since he ended up with Arkos and all

Arkos-Transgender, meaning identifies with a different physical gender than the one assigned at birth; Gay, meaning attracted to men going more off the latest version here than my previous one for this. but yeah, he’s just straight up trans here, not intersexed, and his tribe is cool with it. plus being a tribe means not enough money to get magic to physically change anything...but he’s ok with that. in his tribe it’s less what you have and more how to act.

Rikkar-Bisexual, meaning attracted to both males and females mainly because he did have a fiance...even though they weren’t super into the idea, they weren’t against it either...but he’s far more into Ark

Tarn-Lesbian, meaning attracted to women she has been a loud raging lesbian since day one, and nothing will ever change that. not even one continuity having her in a forced, bested in trial by combat, marriage to Starlord basically. she will only go for a dude if he’s a dragon...and he’s gotta be a hot dragon...and even then it win’t lasting dude.

Reyzah-Abrosexual, meaning one’s attraction is constantly changing or fluid Reyzah started as a knock-off tarn honestly and never got to thrive too much. but compared to her siblings, she was always the one learning and trying to figure herself out, so this fits well.

Margus-gay, meaning attracted to men Margus, similarly to his sister, started off as quiet nervous gay, and by the end of the adventure he had himself a doppleganger husband and confidence to boot, so yeah, my baby boy grew up good. admittedly a lot of his self-confidence issues were more from his half-orc heritage, BUT that fed into the “no one would wanna date me cause i suck” mentality. so yeah.

Nikkos-Asexual, meaning feels no desire for attraction he’s Margus’ twins, and was always intended to be some sort of ace. the joke being the Ironbrood kids are a full set; likes girls, likes guys, figuring things out, likes doughnuts. i waffled over making him a more defined type though...but since i’ve only played him for like one session as a background character, i’m not sure where he’s at. so general ace is fine. he loves and supports his siblings, and is best uncle to Margus’ kids anyways, so s’all good.

Jelena-Quoisexual, meaning has trouble distinguishing between romantic and sexual attraction i know i said up in Ada’s that Jelena was this too, but here i am saying it again since she’s my actual icon and not in the reffed to image set. i haven’t played her, so this could change...but i’m very self projecting on her during quarantine to begin with, so yeah she’s quoi until proven otherwise ^^;

so hope you found this informative...and that my information isn’t too terribly off ^^;;;

[wandaluvstacos]

Chapter 15 is up!

Chapters 1 & 2 are free.

Pretty Things is part of the Sponsors universe, but you don’t need to have read The Sponsors to understand it (hopefully!). Please forgive the poorly photoshopped cover. :( I plan on doing it as a digital illustration at some point.

Summary:

As zhalja to the eldest prince, Rhazaaq Samir has the most enviable position a slave could boast. Yet with all the glamor and prestige that comes with being a royal zhalja, Samir isn’t living the luxurious life other see. While his sponsor Rhazaaq Zhafal is fair despite his cold nature, Zhafal’s half-brother Uyhem harbors a terrifying obsession with Samir that flips between adoring and violent at the speed of a changing wind. To ensure an illusion of safety, Samir begins building a coalition of valuable allies, from servants to ex-smugglers, who can help him cement what little control he can possess. Despite all his efforts, Uyhem’s overbearance cannot be denied, which is how Samir ends up at a gladiator fight, where thieves and prisoners of war are forced to battle it out for the amusement of the Empire’s populace. It’s at a fight that Samir meets a Mulli soldier captured from the Hahnar Empire’s rival, someone who claims to know him from a past life— one that Samir has tried to forget.

Forced together at Uyhem’s insistence, Samir grudgingly learns more about this Mulli soldier, and in the process, develops the first glimmer of hope for escape.

Artwork and a chapter archive can be found HERE.

Excerpt:

“I don’t want the bracelet. I’m done with all of this. It’s nonsense.”

Mamoud sighed. “I’m not going to force you to do anything.”

“Good, because you can’t.”

“But you’re only hurting yourself by staying away. You’re afraid, and I understand that. You can’t live your life in fear and fear alone. Sometimes you have to take a few risks if it brings your life meaning.”

“My life has meaning without taking this risk.”

“What is it that you live for?”

Samir didn’t have a prepared answer for that, and even if he’d had time to think about it, he might never have a response. Living was easier than dying, at least for now. Samir had definitely thought about killing himself. He’d never been confident enough to try. “I don’t know.”

Mamoud was silent for a while, then said, “I don’t enjoy fighting in a pit. For a while I fought because that’s what I’d been taught to do, and I was good at following orders. But over time, the idea of letting some man skewer me has seemed more and more attractive. You want to know why I’ve been winning recently?”

“No,” Samir whispered.

“Because that’s the only way I can stay here and keep seeing you.”

Perhaps Mamoud had been expecting Samir to soften. Instead, Samir was swallowed up by a wave of rage. He didn’t ask to be anyone’s reason to live, and he certainly didn’t want to be. Mamoud was letting himself be used like a dog, getting bloodied and bruised and mocked, for Samir? Absolutely not. Samir was not worth that, and Samir was insulted that someone should foist that responsibility onto him.

“Don’t hand me your life and expect me to know what to do with it,” Samir snapped, then grabbed his lamp off the floor and marched out of the cell, all without looking back.