#go to your community's fireworks display

[mudwerks]

don't be an asshole

[singharit]

.

[maxiemclaren]

hiii!! i love your writing, and do you think you could do one where american!reader and logan gang up on reader, but then logan "accidentally" reveals reader's crush on oscar? tysmmm <33

The Backfire

Pairing - Best Friend Logan x American!Reader x Crush!Oscar

Warnings - Fluff

Summary - Logan and y/n play pranks on their friend Oscar all the time, until one prank backfires and secrets get spilled…

a/n - Let’s get it. Also don’t ask questions about the half-assed pranks.

The three of you have been best friends for years, it’s no surprise really, after all you’ve been racing against each other since F4, growing up in a racing community surrounded by teens; pranks are not a rarity. From small things like changing the color of someone's shampoo to making a sponge look like a brownie and giving it to Oscar after a race win.

Fast forward to the present day where you are all in F1. You couldn’t really understand why it upset you so much when Oscar started to ignore you after played a harmless little prank on him, like you’ve been doing for years. So what does any rational person do? They go to their best friend and bombarded them with questions. Barging your way into Logan’s driver’s room, you bang on the door until he finally answers. “Yes y/n? To what do I owe the pleasure?” he says in a posh voice. “Cut the crap Logan, I need to figure something out and I need your help” you say voice teetering on edge. He moves aside and lets you in the room, where you both sit on the couch and try to figure out what’s going on.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me Logan, it’s like all of a sudden after the prank he started being dry and blunt towards me. And normally I’d just brush it off but this time it just feels different? Like my heart hurts.” You breathe out. Logan just sits there like your own personal therapist, listening to you basically confess that you have different feelings towards Oscar now. “I get like tingles when he walks by or looks at me” you state as you notice Logan starting to drift off, “LOGAN WAKE UP!” you yell. He just looks over to you and says “I know what’s wrong y/n” desperate for an answer you gesture with your hands for him to get on with it.

“You my dearest friend, have a crush on Oscar” He lightly teases. “I most certainly do-my god maybe I do, please don’t tell him!” you begged Logan. He pretended to zip his lips shut and threw you the imaginary key, like he previously just did with Oscar moments before you came in.

Oscar and Logan

“Mate I can’t even talk to her anymore, it’s like I’m scared I’ll say something stupid and she’ll want nothing to do with me. You have to promise me you won’t say anything” Oscar begged his best friend. “Oscar, would I honestly do that to you? Hell the two of you have been making googly eyes at each other for years. You have my word, lips are sealed” Logan stated simply.

The both of you were trying to figure out a way of getting Oscar to talk to you again, you decide that maybe Logan needs to pull a prank on Oscar in hopes that he will complain to you about the shared American. Which all leads up to this master prank that you two Americans were up to, something you and Logan both missed about home was the firework shows that would be on display for the Fourth of July. Since you can’t just set off fireworks because you were pretty sure that it was illegal, you decided on a glitter box. The whole idea of the box was that you would disguise it like a gift from Logan, and put it in his driver’s room and wait for him to open it after the race, then poof glitter everywhere.

In hindsight sending in Logan was probably not the best idea, seeing as the two of them were still on good terms and can get distracted and lose track of time. So here you were, waiting for Logan and hopefully Oscar in your driver’s room. You start to grow bored and decide to shut your eyes. Unbeknownst to you, something major was just shared to someone special.

Logan placed the glitter box in Oscar’s driver’s room, and attempted to sneak out but was unsuccessful. “What are you doing here?” Oscar says with his hands on his hips. Logan whipped his head around so fast he thought he had given himself whiplash. Stuttering out some lame excuse about leaving a gift for his best friend. Oscar not believing it for one second gave him two options, the first one being tell him what he was really doing here or open the box to prove that it indeed is just a gift and not a prank.

Logan knowing what would happen if he opened the box, and knowing what would potentially happen if he told the truth, he decided to do the right thing. “Ok ok I confess, y/n and I decided to pull a prank on you with a glitter box, because she wants you to talk to her and she’s sad that you are ignoring her” he manages to spill out. “There’s more to that Logan, you and I both know it, she wouldn’t just be upset if I didn’t text her because we are busy” Oscar said knowingly. “Uh, I, god, she’s going to murder me” Oscar just looked at him to continue. “She might, maybe, most definitely has a crush on you. She told me like 10 mins after you left the other day”. Oscar, too stunned to speak, just left and practically sprinted to your driver’s room. 

You wake up to someone calling your phone, and someone banging at your door? Seeing you have 10 missed calls and 7 texts from Logan, you immediately open the door thinking Logan would be standing there. Instead, you were met with a face you knew and missed all too well, “Osc- Oscar, what are you doing here?” you say shocked. “Is it true y/n? Please tell me what Logan said is true’’ he panted out because he ran all the way from McLaren to Williams. “What’s true? What are you on about?” you say seriously confused. “That you like me too, and like more than just a friend. Because let me tell you, it’s been killing me for years to not be able to say anything to you about it” Oscar pleaded. Torn between what you feel from wanting to strangle your fellow American, to wanting to just kiss Oscar, you decide to grab Oscar’s hands and hold them while you tell him the truth “Yes, it’s true Oscar”. Happy with the confession he picks you up in a hug and says “Well I guess I need to take this pretty girl out on a date hm?” You blush at the compliment. “I suppose so Piastri” you giggle. “About damn time, you two,” says Logan from behind Oscar. You shoot daggers at him and then he backs off, “So tomorrow at 7pm?” Oscar asks you, to which you nod “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” you say and then peck his cheek.

[robsheridan]

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---------

NOTE: This alternate reality horror story is part of my NightmAIres narrative art series (visit that link for a lot more). NightmAIres are windows into other worlds and interconnected alternate histories, conceived/written by me and visualized with synthography and Photoshop.

If you enjoy my work, consider subscribing to my free newsletter to stay up to date on my projects, or supporting me on Patreon for frequent exclusive hi-res wallpaper packs, behind-the-scenes features, downloads, events, contests, and an awesome fan community. Direct fan support is what keeps me going as an independent creator, and it means the world to me.

[piastrinorris]

busy streets and busy lives • ralph penbury x reader

A strange day at work gets even stranger when you meet a man who claims he's from 1926. With no certainty as to when he can get back, you decide to take him in until that time arrives.

masterlist | prev. | next

Tags: Timewasters (series), modern!au, slow burn, mutual pining, idiots in love™, fluff, some angst, swearing and mentions of adult themes throughout, eventual adult content, alcohol content, drug content, penbury is a fanon surname

Word count: 6.4k

A/N: I literally had last chapter's cliffhanger planned before most of the fic pahahaha, thank you all for reacting exactly as I'd hoped. You're the best community of writers a gal (gn) could ask for. <333

The next five seconds seem to last nine whole days as you and Ralph stand in front of one another. 

You don’t seem to be running out the door, which Ralph is at least thankful for, but you’re not exactly looking certain about what’s about to happen. Surely, if it was your friends that told Ralph about this New Year’s tradition, you’d know full well about it, too. You won’t even look him in the eye, for crying out loud. Had you forgotten about this tradition, or something? Were you just approaching him to ask him something, not realising the time? You had been in the kitchen, after all, perhaps you’d lost track of time entirely.

Still, it’s the perfect moment for him. When else is he ever going to get a chance this good, to kiss you with no other consequence? Perhaps if this goes well, he can tell you all about the interaction he had with Pete- No, Ralph, we don’t talk about that weekend anymore. At least, not while that particular boundary is still very newly set. He’s still got to prove himself worthy of your forgiveness before he can toe that line again.

You manage to lock eyes with him as they flicker ever so slightly, as though he’s arguing with himself in his head. You wonder whether he feels obligated to kiss you, whether he even wants to. Had you predicted correctly, that he’d be far too flustered to kiss you under societal pressure, hence why he’d thrown that plastic mistletoe as if it burned him? And again, that circles back to whether it’s a matter of a lack of relationship between the two of you, or just a lack of attraction to you on his part.

Not to mention the fact that all of your friends are here. Sure, most of them will have their New Year’s kiss, too, but not all of them. Will you kissing Ralph be papped by one of them? Will it be the talking point of a whole other group chat? Will they assume more of what’s going on between the two of you? You once again contemplate the consequences of admitting to your friends that you’ve been lying about Ralph’s situation, about how well they’d take it versus how much they’d still trust you if they found out you’d had them hoodwinked for this long.

But there’s just about enough alcohol in you to convince you to say fuck it all, it’s New Year. Once Ralph’s eyes focus on you, you give him a silent, very subtle look, checking in on him. He swallows, and then nods gently.

Trying desperately to keep your smile of affirmation as small and soft, rather than the ear-to-ear grin that so badly wants to stretch along your face, you lean towards him. You expect Ralph to stay standing upright, so you’re surprised when, as your eyes close, you feel him sooner than you’d thought.

Just as the firework display broadcast on the TV starts to go off, your lips connect with Ralph’s for the very first time. The lips that press against yours envelope them - so plush and so soft, tasting ever so slightly of whiskey and lemonade - and his facial hair tickles all around your mouth as he keeps leaning. It’s just a peck, it’s not a real, deliberate kiss, but somewhere between the euphoria of finally getting this contact, the alcohol you’d already consumed so far tonight encouraging the butterflies in your stomach, the fireworks going off in your own imagination drowning out the ones on the television, and Ralph not quite knowing when to stop moving, you feel yourself become light-headed.

Your hand flies up to Ralph’s cheek to steady yourself, and he takes the hint by stopping himself, pulling himself back upright again. His ears resemble sun-dried tomatoes, and his blush has even reached his cheeks, just dusting along the top of his beard. He seems a little dazed himself. You try and gauge how he is by smiling at him, “Happy New Year, Ralphie.”

“Yes, rather!” he beams, still not apparently fully present. He nods to you as some movement catches in the corner of his eye, which he flickers over to notice, “Ah! Connor!” and head on over to his best friend. You start to go back to the kitchen, but take a detour into the bathroom to lock yourself in and just sit on the edge of Connor's bath for a bit.

You've kissed Ralph. You've kissed Ralph. And the universe didn't implode on itself, and he didn't seem to hate you for it. Your friends weren't all crowded around you, watching you like spectators at a zoo. It was… Just a kiss. A kiss that felt so good,  even if he did almost fall on top of you. You bring your face up to your cheeks, feeling as though you could turn Connor's heating off entirely and keep the house warm from your blush alone.

You splash some water from the sink onto your face and dab it dry a few times, in an attempt to cool your face off before making your way back into the main room.

Ralph feels as though he's walking on clouds as he recognises Connor. He can't even begin to process everything just yet. Connor, who had chosen to nurse his bottle of beer as his way to ring in the New Year, looks at Ralph and grins, "Happy New Year, mate. Did you end up near anyone?"

“I certainly did!" He beams, his head bobbing back and forth, before he stops and frowns. "But you didn't get to kiss anyone, now you'll have bad luck all year, will you not?"

Connor shrugs at him, scrunching his face up, "Eh, there's always 2024." Ralph looks puzzled as to why someone so insistent on a luck-based tradition would be so carefree about having bad karma for a whole year. Connor, seeing this, gets him back on track. "At least you got your midnight kiss in! How was it?"

Ralph’s eyes light up as he gestures wildly. "Oh, Connor, it's been quite the rush! I'd never had a New Year's kiss before now, why, I'd - the only time anyone's ever kissed me was my sister's friends, but I think those were dared to because they would run away in an instant and wipe their mouths to be rid of me, but my, what a rush kissing is when it’s not a practical joke! Why doesn't everyone do it all of the time?!" Ralph rambles until Connor puts a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Easy, fella. Take a few deep breaths." Connor coaches him through a couple until he somewhat returns to a normal breathing pace. "Firstly, fuck them other girls for doing that to you. But I'm glad you enjoyed this one. Think it had anything to do with who you were kissing?" He waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Ralph looks away momentarily, eyes unfocused and yet still staring intently at nothing at all as he escapes into his own thoughts. You kissed him. You kissed him! And he got to kiss you back and you didn't shove him away. You didn't run off to a chorus of "ew"s and "yuck"s. You were even smiling as you'd wished Ralph a happy new year.

Oh, drat. You'd said that of him and he hadn't even returned the gesture. What a terribly rude impression to leave, especially after having kissed you. What are people even supposed to do after they kiss? Was Ralph supposed to have stayed and kissed some more? The others certainly did, though they were very established with who they were kissing. Has he already locked shut the one open door that could have led him to a more fruitful relationship with you?

You’re ushered back into the room at the same time that Ralph is shaken out of his trance to make sure you both can take part in the singing of Auld Lang Syne. You end up between Scott’s partner and Ralph, linking hands with them both and singing away. Ralph doesn’t seem to really know the words, but he’s certainly having the time of his life bouncing his arms up and down and nodding along to everyone else’s singing. Scott, Anna and Grace take great delight in copying Ralph’s addition of swinging his hips from side to side as well.

When it stops, Ralph squeezes your hand. You turn to him, and he holds your hands up between the two of you. “Alright?” You ask with a laugh, unsure of what is happening.

“Happy New Year to you, too. Apologies for not remembering to say it back sooner,” he nods sincerely before dropping your hand and leaving you to simply watch him, in your confused state, go over and greet Scott for the new year, too.

From there, you all start to wind down with a few rounds of Jackbox, which has quickly become Ralph’s favourite game to play with everyone. Even when he doesn’t entirely understand the assignment at hand, he gives it his best shot, and unless there’s an outstanding answer amongst the group, Ralph’s always tend to get singled out and voted on unanimously, just for trying.

Grace and her boyfriend are the first to excuse themselves for the night, naturally. You glance over at Ralph, wondering what the vibe will be between the two of you once it’s just you two. No party atmosphere, no other people to distract yourselves with. Just you and him in the flat. He certainly didn’t seem too offended over the two of you kissing - him rushing over to Connor seemed more fuelled by the excitement of the night than out of a need to get as far away from you as possible, though he didn’t exactly stick around for more. Perhaps the whiskey you could taste on his breath had affected him already by that point - you wonder how much more affectionate-drunk Ralph you’re going to have to handle tonight.

The whiskey on his breath. You look over at him chatting away to Scott and his partner, stroking his jaw as he listens to them. His hand right where yours was just an hour ago, when his lips were pressing against yours, soft and sweet and eager. You’d overheard snippets of Ralph talking happily about his first New Year kiss, which explains his excitement over it. The rush of still experiencing new things must be exhilarating for him. It almost makes you feel bad for enjoying the kiss for other reasons.

Anna’s gentle touch of your arm startles you out of your trance completely. “Oh, god! I was miles away,” you giggle as you hug your friend goodbye.

“Staring, eh?” Anna smirks, and you panic, flustering as you try and think of an excuse.

“Just… Tired, is all. Wasn’t aware I was staring. Getting too old for all this staying up late nonsense, I think,” you chuckle under your breath, glancing over at her. “I think I was trying to see if Ralph was looking tired, too, and I crashed for a second.”

Anna nods slowly, a little too knowingly and disbelievingly, but the events of the night have you too mixed-up to notice that. “I’m sure he’s ready to go when you are.” Before you can say anything else, Anna’s shouting, “Ralph!” and extending her arms out for a hug.

Matching her energy, Ralph practically bounds over to her, wrapping her into an embrace so strong they both end up stepping side-to-side just to stay upright. “Happy New Year to you, Anna.”

“And to you, my little protégé,” she grins back at him, ruffling his hair before pulling away from him. “Are you staying for much longer, or are you getting sleepy?”

“Well, now that you’ve said that,” Ralph begins, the rest of his sentence lost in the yawn that follows. “Oh, goodness, excuse me for yawning like that in the presence of you both! How uncouth of me.”

“’S fine,” you say through your own yawn. “Anna’s being evil by making you want to,” you tease.

“Anna’s not evil!” Ralph defends with a frown, crossing his arms as his eyes dart back and forth between you and her.

Anna giggles, “Ralphie, are you just trying to get more head pats now?” The look he gives her says it all, as does the delight on his face when Anna reaches up to pet him again. “Who needs a puppy when you’ve got a Ralph, eh? Night, you two!”

You both chorus a goodnight before deciding between you to go around saying your goodbyes to the others, too.

You’re not certain exactly how you and Ralph came to be linking arms on your walk home - you didn’t offer yours out to him, he didn’t to you, and you would have felt it if Ralph had done it intentionally without asking you - though he’d never do that. But here you are, walking the streets of Croydon, the air still being littered with the occasional firework and thick with the sounds of celebration.

“So,” you break the silence between the two of you. “You’ve seen the year 2023 now. Mad.”

Ralph muses, “It’s not exactly the flying cars and automatic humans that I had imagined a hundred years ago!”

You laugh loudly, “I’m sorry to disappoint young Ralph there!”

Ralph shakes his head with a small smile, deliberately not looking at you as he says, “Oh nonsense, this life is far from disappointing.” He fears that if he looks you in the eye and tells you that directly, he won’t be able to stop himself from telling you how meeting you has been the best thing that’s ever happened to him, and that he never wants to be without you again, and that -

Just at the right time to cut off that train of thought, he looks up and watches a particularly large firework go off, his face illuminating red and green with it as his eyes fill with wonder. Yet another moment in which you find yourself feeling that if your inhibitions were just the slightest bit more compromised, you could kiss him again. Again. Instead, you try and commit that face to memory as best as you can as he carries on walking, arm still wrapped around yours.

When you’re back up at the flat again, you notice Ralph’s collar is upturned at the end and start to fix it for him. As you do, all of the highs of the night seem to come crashing back down on you, along with the crushing weight of reality. This will be the last year you get to spend with Ralph. Almost certainly. This time next year, you’ll be coming back to an empty flat, all by yourself, just like all the others have been - except not like the others, because next year you’ll know the loss of Ralph’s presence. Next year won’t be filled with old-timey slang to censor swear words. Next year won’t have the constant need to explain every slight pop culture reference. Next year won’t have mornings filled with sweet greetings, chocolate button eyes and swing dances around the flat to start your day.

Your hand lingers as your heart sinks, and you look up at him slowly. His big, warm eyes look down at you with an emotion you can’t quite read. You wonder whether you could get away with one more kiss. Just a goodnight one. 

Ralph contemplates the same, except it would be his kiss. Not just one he almost fell into, but he could take your face into his hands and he could pull you close to him and he could keep kissing you until you knew just how much he cares about you. But he couldn’t. That wouldn’t be fair to you, assuming that you’d just let him have his way with you. He’s not sure enough about that, yet, despite the tiny bit of whiskey-addled brain telling him to go for it, anyway. If he’d have had a drink or two more, perhaps he would throw more caution to the wind, but he couldn’t risk alcohol clouding his memory. Tonight is something Ralph wants to remember for the rest of his life. His first real, reciprocated kiss.

He leans back ever so slightly to remind himself of the social boundaries of the platonic friendship the two of you share, and you clear your throat, letting his collar slip between your finger and thumb. “Don’t even know why I thought to fix that now, bit late, innit?” you laugh, and Ralph chuckles, too. You look into his eyes, and ask him, “We’re gonna make this one the best one yet, aren’t we?”

“Most certainly,” he grins back, and you pull him close for a hug. Maybe you can’t kiss him again. Maybe you can’t tell him how much you care about him, and how heartbroken you’ll be to live your life without him. But perhaps if you hold him tightly enough, he’ll know. 

You bury your face into his shoulder, and he rests his head on yours as you both sway gently from side to side. Your arms wrap tight around Ralph, willing every ounce of your affection for him into the embrace. He does the same back, and for a fleeting moment you wonder if it’s for the same reasons.

Until you remember how quick Ralph was to reciprocate Anna’s excitement just from the tone of her voice. Of course. Ralph always gives as good as he gets. That doesn’t mean he feels the same way every time, he went from hyperactive puppy mode to sleepy in a second back at Connor’s. You’ll never know the truth from subtle exchanges like this, but you can keep your happy little delusion alive for one day more.

Thinking that thought makes you yawn again, and Ralph chuckles in your ear. “You should take the bed, tonight.”

“I’m getting deja vu here,” you giggle, and Ralph makes a noise of confusion. “This is almost exactly how your first night out with us ended, remember?”

“I’d rather not, I made quite a fool of myself,” he admits bashfully. “But I did make a lot of friends that night.”

“You always do,” you tell him with a smile, still holding onto him. “Wherever you go, you can make anyone like you. Don’t ever forget that, will you?”

Ralph understands what you’re talking about, now. You’re still assuming he’s going back to his own time soon. “I don’t think there should be any reason for me to any time soon,” he says softly into your hair. He allows himself the luxury of placing his face into it gently. Not to kiss your head, but his lips happen to make contact with it as he rests his face against you to keep hugging you.

“Well, we’ll just make the most out of you while we still can, eh? Like I said, best year yet.”

“Absolutely,” Ralph whispers into your hair. “Suppose I should get my things ready to sleep on the sofa tonight.”

“Or…” You curse yourself as soon as you say it, knowing you've doomed yourself. What, are you going to suggest that you suddenly start sharing the bed now? Besides, with all of this talk of him going back to his own time, it’d only be another thing to add to the pain of him not being around. No longer having him wish you a good morning every day is one thing, to get used to waking up to him every morning just for him to disappear from your bed forevermore would be heartbreaking. “Or… If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Just go to bed, Ralphie, I’ll be fine.”

He pulls away from the hug and frowns at you, but you raise your eyebrows at him and he sighs in defeat. “Very well. Goodnight to you. Pleasant dreams. And a Happy New Year.”

“Same to you. See you in the morning,” you smile softly, rubbing your eyes before heading into the bathroom to get ready for the night.

Ralph wakes up unusually later than you the next day. You even manage to shower without waking him. Once you’re dressed - in another set of pyjamas and the bathrobe that Grace had bought you for Christmas, you consider knocking at the bathroom door but, as if knowingly, he swings the door open himself.

“Ahh, he awakens!” You exclaim, before groaning, “Oh, god, I sound just like my dad!” You start to laugh, but Ralph looks white as a sheet. “You alright? You look as though you’ve seen a gho-”

“Please do not talk of ghosts or anything of that matter to me!” Ralph cries out, marching into the bathroom hurriedly.

You frown, calling after him, “Ralph? What’s wrong?”

After a few moments he reappears, still looking shaken. “Well, I… I couldn’t get to sleep last night, and so I thought, perhaps I will ask the people that talk to me on the Twitter would recommend some light reading to help me doze off. Next thing I know, somebody’s sent me one of those… Long sentences you click on, and it’s got the word pasta in it, so I thought, well, perhaps it’s a tale of an Italian chef of sorts, how interesting, but…” He looks off into the distance, horrified, and you realise what’s happened. 

Quickly video calling your one friend who knows the website you fear Ralph has been on better than anyone, Connor’s yeah? doesn’t get acknowledged as you focus on asking your flatmate, “Okay, but Ralph, did the link just say pasta or did it say creepypasta?”

“Ah, fuck,” Connor says over the phone. “Okay, I’m with you now, I’ll be down after work. What did he read?”

Ralph mutters, “There were… Many… I did ask them to stop sending me the creepy pasta stories, but that seemed to egg them on tenfold.”

“How many times have we told you, never tell Twitter not to do something,” you groan, pinching the bridge of your nose. Ralph sighs apologetically, and Connor hangs up, promising he’ll be as quick as he can. You look at him sympathetically, “Well, you know what this calls for?” He shakes his head, and you beam. “Perks of getting a shit ton of skincare stuff for Christmas means… Self-care day! Go put on your comfiest clothes, you can use my old bathrobe too, if you like, we can do it together!”

Ralph takes a deep breath out and nods, heading back into the bedroom. While he does, you take your phone out and tweet:

You collect a variety of face masks and other skincare products together, finding as many large tubs as you can and filling a couple with warm, soapy water. Ralph meets you, wearing the white tee/grey sweatpants combo from his first night with you beneath your old bathrobe, and sits on the couch with you. “So, what is all of this?”

“Well, we’ve got different kinds of face masks, would you rather have the kind you smear on your face, or a sheet one?” You ask, holding different packets up.

“Um, well… These look a lot less messy… Would they still be alright with my facial hair?” he asks, taking a sheet mask packet from you.

“Do I look like I’ve got experience with beards?” You ask with raised eyebrows, making the pair of you laugh. A quick Google search tells you that with the amount that Ralph has, it shouldn’t be too bad. He still runs to the bathroom and trims it as short as he can get it while still keeping it, which you silently appreciate.

As you take yours out and apply it, you hear an, “Am I doing this right? It rather feels as if I’m not.” Based on how muffled his voice is, it sounds the same way. Once yours is on properly, you look over and burst into laughter as you see Ralph with his sheet mask starting halfway down his forehead, his eyes barely visible through the holes and the rest of the sheet hanging off of his face entirely.

As you fix it for him, you try and explain through your laughter why you find it so funny, “I’m sorry, it just looks like you’re some kind of serial killer who’s wearing his victim’s face!”

You feel Ralph’s eyebrows knit together beneath your touch. “A rather specific example. Not exactly a humorous one, either.”

“Oh, cheer up, Dwight Schrute, you’re all fixed up, now,” you giggle as you finish placing the mask on him. “Now, we just bring over those tubs and -” you let out an exhaled gasp of relief as you put your feet in one of them to soak. “Sensational. Go on, Ralph, you too!”

Ralph dips his feet in, and a delighted ooh! bubbles out of him. “That feels wonderful! But… But I wash my feet every day and it doesn’t feel like this!”

“Yeah, soaking just your feet hits different. Especially with your new job, you’re on your feet all the while, it’s nice to just give them their own little break.”

Ralph giggles as he wiggles his toes amongst the bubbles, and you find something nice and wholesome that definitely won't scare him to watch on the TV while you both relax. 

You later show him what a pumice stone is and how he should use it, though you lead by your own example rather than demonstrating on Ralph himself, which proves a good idea as you quickly learn through him that Ralph has very ticklish feet. After a highly entertaining twenty minutes, he finally manages to properly exfoliate and moisturise his feet, and so you move onto his hands.

“I don’t want them painted,” he states plainly with a slight frown.

“Good job I wasn’t offering to, then,” you smirk, “but a manicure is more than just painted nails. Look.” Despite you showing him how to refresh his cuticles, and properly clean out under his nails to trim and buff and shape them, he looks far too puzzled over it, and so you take his hand in your own. Last night still very fresh in your mind, you focus entirely on the task, terrified of how you might react to the tenderness of holding Ralph's hand.

After a few more products, you grin at him, “Now go have a look at yourself,” as you gesture towards the bathroom door. 

Ralph hops up, disappearing into the other room, but you can tell the moment he’s seen himself in the mirror by his immediate, “Good heavens! I’m simply glowing! Look at me! This is remarkable!” You laugh as he runs back out, mouth wide open in a grin of pure joy as he holds his cheeks. “Why, I look incredible! I feel incredible! This is spectacular!”

“You should tell all of your Twitter friends that you’re feeling better,” you smile, and Ralph’s face falls.

“I’m not so sure I can trust them,” he states, shaking his head.

“Nah, give it a go, I’m sure there’s some far nicer replies to that one tweet by now. Just don’t click anything with the word Reddit in it.”

Ralph goes back to admire himself in the bathroom some more as your front door knocks. You head on over and let Connor in, debriefing him on what had actually happened with Ralph and the tweet he’d posted.

“Yeah, I should be able to filter his feed in case he ever ends up on Reddit again,” Connor nods.

Your conversation is interrupted as you hear a scream of anguish from the bathroom. As you and Connor both rush over to the other side of the flat, Ralph comes marching out of the bathroom to meet you, brandishing his phone in outrage. “My tube is broken as well, now!”

Connor pulls a face, “Dare I ask what tube you’re referring to?” but you wave him off, knowing exactly what Ralph means.

“We’ve been over this, Ralph, the app is called YouTube for everybody.” Ignoring Connor’s snorts of laughter, you prompt Ralph to explain himself.

“Well, I tapped on the first reply that you can click on that I saw on the Twitter, and it was a video of a song, which I thought a little strange, how is that supposed to help? And so I scrolled down to the next one, and lo and behold, the same man! Every one that I click! Who is this mystery redhead and why can’t I see any other videos and why are you two laughing so hard?!” Ralph asks exasperatedly as you and Connor fall against each other, holding each other up as you crease up laughing.

“Oh, mate, you are a legend,” Connor grins at him. “You lot wanna do dinner together, since I’m here?”

“Uh, yeah, but we’ve not really got much in the way of drinks anymore, we’ll have to pop over the road.” You slip some shoes on and look over at Ralph, gesturing at the door with your head. “Coming?”

Ralph looks puzzled at you. “Without getting dressed?!”

“It’s the shops, mate, it’s hardly New York Fashion Week. Why, is there someone you fancy working there?” It comes out before you can stop yourself. It’s the way you’d usually tease Connor, but it hurts more to say the same of Ralph. Connor’s head also snaps to look at him intently.

Ralph simply shakes his head. “Well, no, but who’s to say you need to impress others before keeping your own dignity intact?! Whatever will people say of the people walking around in dressing gowns?”

“There’ll be at least three other people there in the same clothes, I promise,” you nod, kicking Ralph’s shoes his way. “C’mon, I’m not giving you the choice now, you can come with us and I can prove it’s not a big deal.”

Ralph shuffles uncomfortably the whole way there, trudging along behind you and Connor as you find some drinks, but also a dessert you could all share, as well as something for dinner tomorrow… As you’re getting carried away, Connor notices something and grins wickedly. “Dare me to do something truly evil?”

“Do it,” you grin back, and Connor takes his phone out, types at the speed of sound, and pockets his phone again. 

“Wonder how long that’ll take,” he muses as you carry on.

A few short moments later, Connor hears something familiar over the speaker playing through the shop and points upwards at it, grinning as a radio presenter says, “And now, someone who wishes to remain anonymous has requested a special song for a special friend. You know who you are.”

You and Connor look at Ralph expectantly, who seems totally disinterested in everything except others’ potential perception of him, despite nobody actually looking at him. He has no idea what’s happening around him - until a now-very-familiar song starts playing throughout the store. That’s the kicker that activates the sleeper agent within Ralph, that brings him back to life.

Looking horrified at the two of you, he wails, “I didn’t even tap anything this time and I can still hear it!” He wrestles his phone out of the pocket of the bathrobe he’s wearing, throws it down into your hands and yells, “Burn it!” as he runs out of the store.

You and Connor hold yourselves against whatever’s closest to you to keep yourselves upright as you laugh harder than you have in a long time. “Oh, we really are menaces,” you eventually sigh.

“Nah, it’ll do him good, get him working all that post-creepypasta tension out,” Connor shakes his head.

You give Connor your key and tell him to go after Ralph, that you’ll pay for your shopping and meet them back at the flat to explain everything to him. While queuing, you catch the others in the group chat up on the day’s events and invite them over, as well. Despite Scott’s joke of “ugh, don’t I get a day off from you people?”, everyone agrees to meet at yours.

You get back to the flat to see that Ralph has been quick to forgive Connor, as your oldest friend is now teaching your flatmate how to play a new song on his ukulele. You tell them to go practice in the bedroom so that they can surprise everyone with their performance, which Ralph agrees to, suddenly excited at the thought of putting on a show for his friends.

After the six of you have all reconvened, eaten together and laughed about everything that’s happened today, Ralph claps his hands together, “Would you all like to see something that Connor and I have been practising today?”

“I was wondering why you two were in the bathroom together,” Anna waggles her eyebrows.

“Hardy har,” Connor smiles back sarcastically. “Ralph couldn’t handle me as a lover even if we were compatible,” he jokes, making Ralph’s ears blush. “C’mon then, mate, let’s show them!”

You clap and sing along with the two boys as Ralph strums the tune of The Beatles’ I Wanna Hold Your Hand. You burst into a full round of applause at the end of the song. “Ralph! You did so well!”

“Well, it was a rather easy song to pick up on,” he admits bashfully.

“And at least it’s not bloody Taylor Swift,” Connor comments, turning his nose up, causing a scoff and crossed arms from Anna.

“Oh, because The Beatles are less basic?!” All of you start laughing at that, even Ralph.

“You know, there’s something different about the way you all argue and tease each other,” he states. “And I felt it when you played that practical joke on me earlier. Once it was explained to me, I actually found it funny, too. Not like the ones that are usually played on me.”

“Well, yeah, because like I said last night, fuck those girls from before,” Connor pulls a face. “And, y’know, it’s why we as a group work so well. We tease each other to show we care, it’s what we do.”

Anna sidles up to Ralph to coo, “Yeah, we bully you ’cause we love you.”

Ralph’s eyes wobble with tears as he whispers, “Love?” She and Grace nod, shuffling over to wrap their arms around him. “Nobody’s ever really - I mean, especially not as friends, I - I rather don’t know what to say.”

Grace and Anna each kiss one of Ralph’s cheeks, causing his ears to darken, as they cuddle up to him. Connor also reaches over to squish his cheeks together. “Course we love you, mate.”

“Definitely,” you simper. You consider saying something along the same lines as everyone else, but anything you could say catches in your throat. The thought of telling Ralph that you love him is far more daunting than the others, though you certainly don’t think any lesser of him as you do them. As you watch Scott animatedly tell Ralph what his presence has meant to the group, you start to fearfully ponder how platonic the love you feel for Ralph really is.

Once your friends have left for the night, you stretch out and yawn. “Suppose we should hit the hay, too, we’ve both got work in the morning,” you tell Ralph, but he’s staring at the dark void that is the open doorway to your bedroom. “Ralph?” You ask, holding his arm.

“I, um, is it any lighter in here than it is in there at night?” Ralph asks. “Oh, it’d be pointless, of course it wouldn’t, and I can’t sleep in the light.”

“Are you that scared, still?” You ask quietly.

“I know I shouldn’t be, that it’s silly to, but I just can’t shake the things that I’d read,” he shakes his head.

You sigh in defeat. It’s almost as if the universe wants this to happen. “What if… You weren’t alone tonight?” Ralph’s head snaps around to look at you, perplexed. “Well, yeah, I mean, we’ve shared before, right? And that way, if anything scares you, I’ll be right there. Sound good?” Ralph nods, and you smile at him, squeezing your grip before going to the bedroom and turning the light on for him. Once he feels comfortable doing so, he follows you in. “Any side you prefer?” You ask him, gesturing to the bed, and he points towards the side furthest from the door. “Oh, that works out perfectly then, I used to sleep on this side anyway!”

The pair of you get into bed, Ralph still trying to keep a respectable distance away from you. You reach around under the covers - an extremely dangerous game - and find his hand to squeeze it. “I’m here for you, remember?” You ask softly, and suddenly, in a complete 180, Ralph rolls over to hug your arm, his head naturally nestling on your shoulder, just under your jaw.

“And you’ll stay?” He asks. “Even while I’m asleep?”

You laugh softly, “Course I will, silly sod, why would I willingly go back to the sofa?”

“Always?” He asks, his voice thick with sleepiness.

One more day of delusion, you’d told yourself. Of course, that was last night, but it had technically been past midnight which means today still counts, right? You rest your head on his, since your arm is now being held captive, and close your eyes as you breathily tell him, “Yeah, Ralph. Always.”

Contented, he mutters, “Goodnight to you. Pleasant dreams.”

Your plan was to let him cuddle up to you long enough until he fell asleep properly, when you could gently shove him back away from you so that you weren’t embracing each other all night. But the soft snuffles of him falling into a deep sleep, his chest rising and falling as it rests against your side, his curls tickling your cheek. One more day of delusion, you repeat to yourself as you very gently press your lips onto the top of his head, safely knowing he’s too far gone to notice you doing it.

You don’t get to see the sleepy smile that adorns his face as, while he dreams of being in your arms entirely, something about the way his version of you kissing his head feels especially real.

next chapter

[crrative]

New Year - Sanders Sides

It's like 2am and it's appropriate. Prinxiety nation, human roommate au. You know the drill.

Having a community of young people who look to you and your work for comfort and feeling unable to provide when you didn't expect the pressure in the first place sounds heavy to shoulder alone. It makes sense that the last few years have been unstructured with the context. Because I know there's a chance Sanders himself is seeing this: you did something great.

Happy New Year, fuckbags

It's a tame environment. There are only six of them and everyone would rather be in bed, but the year has been so taxing that it feels right to sign it off with a huge middle finger and then go to bed. All there is to do is wait.

Barely a minute left until New York lights up on the TV and Logan has finished his second glass of wine in the last five. Patton is hunched with his obnoxiously long fingers against his temple, resisting the temptation of accepting yet another offer for a glass and opting to nurse the sleep-deprived headache in stead. Roman has put himself on the couch, fiddling with a pen and its lid from the coffee table. Virgil is on the arm of the couch, crouched like an obnoxious prick in an attempt to express his edge, which only really serves to make him look like a dork and unintentionally lightens the mood a smidge.

"Where are the chuckle twins?" Logan poses, observing the swirl in his drink as it settles from being poured.

"Janus said 'surprise' when he went into his room," Patton answers.

"Remus went with him," Virgil grumbles.

The silence reignites as a door opens from down the hall. Remus walks out with a tray of six shot glasses, brimming with syrupy liqueur. Janus walks a metre behind him, head held high.

"We'll all sleep better after this," he insists proudly as Remus parades the tray around, face blank and ashy as slate. He doesn't take sleep deprevation particularly well, but he handles it better than Roman copes with Janus sitting beside him. Where Virgil has turned and planted his feet on the couch seat, Roman parks himself, arms curling around his waist as the countdown starts. The crowd on the street chants and the six watch, breath held.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" It screeches, fireworks filling the screen with a blinding light, flooding the living room with a rectangular explosion of warm white. The group heaves a collective sigh.

Before the festivities can draw themselves out too long, Virgil leans down and over Roman, placing his fingers flat and sideways beneath his chin. In compliance with a rhythm long established, Roman closes his eyes and allows Virgil control. Their lips part, connect, and close around the other's in a chaste display of commitment and affection. Roman seasons the display by running his hand up Virgil's outer thigh.

"Oh! Well, if we're getting crazy," Patton posits with a muted smile, skirting the breakfast bar he'd been slumped on and bending over the couch. Janus looks up and to the side to recieve and return what he had rightly expected to be a sweet, tired peck. It brings a modest and satisfied smile out of the shadow that was his bored expression.

"This does not constitute crazy," Logan commented, unbeknownst to the presence lurking behind him. It makes first contact with his waist, cold fingers slid beneath his sleep shirt. He sucks in a shocked breath as the ice burns his skin. "You do."

"Love you, too."

Janus sits up and addresses the three behind them with a raise of his glass. "Are we ready?"

"Affirmative."

"Yeah."

"Okay..."

"Indeed!"

"I don't have to, do I?"

"No, dear, but it's not ordinary spirit. I think you'll like it." Patton grimaces at his glass and observes the others. A beat passes, Janus gestures to the room with his drink and everyone follows his lead in taking the shot.

"It's almost unbearably sweet."

"I did not expect that coming from you, Logan," Roman comments as he inspects his cup. "Do you not like toffee?"

"I didn't say that."

"No need for the defenses, Doc, I only asked."

"He just wants us to know to save him some whenever it's goin' 'round," Virgil swoops in, smile on his face, voice raspy. Roman takes his glass and hands it to Patton.

"I wonder why you chose something so sweet," Roman implicates. Janus turns around and looks up at Patton, who is smiling with such soulful conviction that it hurts.

"I loved it."

'Score,' Janus thinks as he settles into the couch and joins the others in watching the screen.

[tamapalace]

New Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom Includes PAC-MAN Anniversary Celebration and More

The Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom application has been updated with a PAC-MAN collaboration to commemorative the 50th anniversary of PAC-MAN! The update includes not only PAC-MAN collaboration goodies, but also some new features and tons of bug fixes!

What’s new?:

Play the new PAC-MAN mini game for free for as much as you want and earn gotchi points and other awesome rewards! You can play as any of your Tamagotchi team members!    

Aim for the top on the special PAC-MAN Mini Game Leaderboards! Who's going to be the Waka waka champion? 

Decorate your Tama camp and home with new PAC-MAN decoration items!

Earn new daily rewards during the PAC-MAN event! (note: don't worry if you miss a day, you still be able to get the rewards even if you miss a few days)

New Royal Trail added

Community Request added! Mametchi can now interact with items in the Tama camp and home!! 

Players can now return to the current time of day after changing to night or day by talking to Meteoritchi! 

Fruit will now respawn every day. 

Campfire unlock cost has now been decreased to only 5 orbs.

Bug Fixes:

Fixed the issue where the quest to drop off flyers disappeared from the quest log after talking to Tamaptchi.

Corrected the display issue, ensuring the Guru window now appears correctly on all walls in every room.

Fixed the color issue where the stained glass window lost its color after exiting decorating mode.

Resolved the issue causing all characters to freeze in the mine area.

Firework Flower should appear in Antique Town at night near the TamaTama Museum.

Fixed the issue where the game froze when trying to get Sebiretchi to follow to Patchi Lake as the quest is no longer available.

Fixed the bug preventing the quest from appearing in the list despite having the Audition Flyer.

Resolved the freezing issue when talking to Teacher Gorippa during the quest.

Fixed the issue preventing players from using the car in Tama Town.

Corrected misspellings and removed unnecessary brackets in the item description.

Fixed the floating geyser issue in Windmills West Road and ensured materials do not remain suspended in the air.

Resolved the issue with the in-game time not reverting to real-time after setting it to an alternate time through Meteoritchi.

Fixed the visual glitch where square and round glasses appeared as white squares.

Ensured love letters are correctly categorized under the Misc. category in the inventory.

Fixed the issue with Agetchi requests not showing and tasks not displaying exclamation marks correctly.

Fixed an issue where Whinypatchi was not appearing on the map despite being indicated and can be found near "Fear the Hot Spring" in Patchi Forest Town.QD

Icky-poo stuff quest can no longer be finished as the quest is no longer available in the

Corrected the issue where the player could not receive the toaster from the picknickers, preventing quest completion.

Resolved the issue preventing the completion of the queen mission to obtain night vision glasse, players should take a walk at night after receiving the "Helicoptor Queen" quest from the Gotchi Queen.

Corrected the issue causing Loveli windows to become invisible in certain rooms.

Fixed the issue with the Award sticker appearing backwards when given.

Resolved the issue with the parquet pathway appearing as black squares and the inventory image not loading correctly.

There was no issue with Acepatchi being only visible on rainy days and is working as intended.

Resolved the issue where players could not pick up orbs on the ground after sealing a mini geyser.

Be sure to update your application to take advantage of the new feature and bug fixes! Bandai Namco Mobile is encouraging your feedback on the official Discord to help better the application overtime. They’re clearly listening to the fans!

[knywriting]

Birthday hcs [Hashira]

What they do for your birthday

Kyojuro Rengoku

Kyojuro believes that nothing is more precious and genuine than taking action in making something from the heart to express yourself

So he puts this to work and asks his dear brother Senjuro to teach him how to cook some of your favourite meals; so he can treat you throughout the day, rather than buying it or having someone else make it!

On the day, you can tell he's dramatically improved from the last time you tasted his cooking and tried extremely hard for your sake; over all it's a very sweet gesture

He then accompanies you to the market and buys whatever you wish, offering to carry your items for you so you can shop with a free mind

Tengen Uzui

You can bet on your life this man and the entirety of the Uzui household are gonna be throwing you the most flashy birthday party ever!

Man isn't afraid to splash his cash on you, especially as it's your special day; he wants to make you as happy as possible

He'd rally together his fellow hashira, his wives and his mighty mice to throw a super flamboyant firework display before treating you to a night out of the finest cuisine money can buy

From there, the night would gradually die down as he'd take you back to his mansion to spend the rest of the night as you'd like;

Obanai Iguro

Obanai isn't really one to celebrate birthdays, with the exception of you; he doesn't want to be cliché but at the same time he doesn't want you to feel overwhelmed by having extensive plans

He starts your birthday celebrations the night before, he allows himself to be much more openly loving and vulnerable with you; pressing his forehead against yours in comfortable silence

Before you awake he's collecting various gifts he's prepared prior to assemble for you to find, giving Kaburamaru the duty of waking you up with gentle snake kisses; since he was too shy to do so himself

Once you've opened all of you gifts he then takes you on a peaceful walk, far outside town; if you're lucky enough you might even see the cherry blossoms in full bloom and with that receive a rather brief but passionate kiss from Obanai

Sanemi Shinazugawa

Sanemi is completely stumped as to what to do for your birthday, he doesn't know what he should get you nor how to spend the time

In the end he confides in Shinobu and Mitsuri as well as Kyojuro to organise something special amongst the two of you and your close friends

He adores you so much, he's extremely critical when Giyu and other "outsiders" try helping out with planning and organising the festivities; he wants this to be as breath-taking as you; and he sure as hell doesn't need anyone annoying messing it all up!

On the day it's you two and your fellow Hashira (as well as a couple of your other friends) with drinks, food and of course every one sharing their fondest memories of you; meanwhile Sanemi can't help but smile as he holds your hand and see your smile grow

Giyu Tomioka

He makes extensive plans in advance, slowly compiling possible outing ideas and gifts on his missions, your dates and in his personal time

You're the best thing that has happened to him and he wants to convey this to you, but struggles to communicate from his heart

Settles on a rather expensive gift, which you later find out he used his months paycheck to pay off;;

From there he takes you out to your exclusive restaurant renovation, although he isn't much of a fan of being in the eye of the public; he wants to show you how much he's grown as a person and as a man since he's met you; so he puts his own comfort aside for the time being to celebrate you

Muichiro Tokito

Once he overhears that your birthday is steadily approaching, he starts making plans; however these are swiftly derailed as he gets distracted by a bird before going about his day

However, while training with Kyojuro one day the fire hashira brought it up; jogging his memory and ever so grateful, he hastily left the training session to figure something out for you

On the day everything seems as normal as any other day, until he approaches you asking you to follow him to his room; this is when he presents you with a beautiful necklace

He doesn't try and hide his previous short comings, and actually makes a point of apologising that he couldn't organise something more elaborate;

Gyomei Himejima

Makes you a super warm blanket with a cat patch, he wants you to feel as warm and safe by yourself as you do when he's around but out on a mission unable to hold you himself

Lots of soft and slow tender kisses

It's a pretty quiet day with the giant of stone as you patrol together later in the evening

You both huddle around a kotatsu and eat hotpot together for dinner and your drink of choice

Shinobu Kocho 

It's a quiet morning in the Butterfly Mansion, and you're left to sleep in for a long while; until Naho along with Kiyo and Sumi come in to wake you up and bring you breakfast

Lady Shinobu herself woke up extra early and started cooking away to make it just for you; this makes you smile brightly, your mouth slightly ajar

Shinobu herself watches you eating from the doorway with a smug grin on her face as she welcomes herself into your shared room

You both talk a short while before Shinobu decides to dote on you and offers to feed you, advising that this is a special offer and she'll refuse to do it any other day; so you hastily accept

Once you finish this meal, you listen to Shinobu talk about her morning and enjoy some tea on the veranda outside your room and observe the serenity of your private Japanese garden

Mitsuri Kanroji

You wake up to her peppering your face is small kisses, before she gives you a proper kiss on the lips; followed by a beaming smile

She's so happy she gets to be with you on such a special occasion, this is evident as she's in an even better mood than usual (if that's even possible)

Cuddles you in bed for a little before bringing you in a very cute breakfast, courtesy of the love Hashira herself!

Takes you out to a traditional spa for a well deserved massage before bringing you along to the nearby hot spring to unwind at the end of the day, she wants you to take care of yourself and feel as beautiful and loved as you are

To finish the day off she takes you out to dinner where she offers to pay for anything and everything; since she sure isn't gonna hold back on her appetite

[lacunafiction]

Is there anything the town of Fernweh does as a community to usher in the new year? And are there any personal (or familial?) traditions that are important to the ROs that they observe/partake in each year?

Hi Anon,

I hope that your 2023 is off to a good start! 💚 I'll list some facts about the ROs and general vibes for now, though I may expand on these ideas in the future once we discover more about Fernweh community events/traditions. I'm going to focus on New Year's Eve.

Prior to the MC’s Return to Fernweh

Staying up until midnight is something B would romanticize to a degree about the importance of ‘welcoming’ a new year of possibilities, but also one of new challenges and learning experiences. It might be hard to spot; however, B is a little muted, maybe even reflective, as the hours stack up and the year rolls over to the next one. Watching the ball drop or some flashy firework display on television is likely what occupies them unless the MC roped them into a party or for them to be celebrating elsewhere. A more lowkey celebration overall, but an acknowledgment of the day. 

Ringing in the New Year is something Mrs. Dorran takes a bit seriously with chatting about resolutions or gently asking her child one thing they would like to do in the upcoming year. (She will then try to do everything in her power to make that happen; it becomes a goal for her as well.) The Dorrans will likely share dinner together before S naturally witnesses the New Year due to their night owl sleep schedule. There is a high chance that R did invite S to come out with them or at least to meet up for one drink, but the acceptance of that invitation depends on S's mood, haha. They might have somewhere else they need to be on that particular night. 👀

I wish I had that 'shots, shots, shots' gif or maybe it's a distinct sound from a song. I can hear it in my head as I type this while also imagining a few people chanting it at the afterparty to the glamorous New Years gala R attended. Their actual feelings on observing the New Year might be hard to tease out as they seamlessly navigate the room to mingle and greet a few guests in particular. (Did their mother tell them who to speak with, or did R just decide who was worth their time? Hmm.) I feel like they will have the most variable night; it will largely depend on their mood and if S met up with them. Heck, they could even run into J patrolling. Who knows what R will get into tonight. XD

Hmm, for the most part, J views it as any other day. All that matters to them is the year will now change (2022 → 2023) when they write up their next report. They are more likely to take a late night patrol on New Years Eve since fireworks, sparklers, alcohol, staying up late, and partying can be a potent mix, so they would be keeping a watchful eye on things. Any invites to a party or a dinner were turned down by them, even if A was the one making the invitation. They would prefer to forget about time passing by or slipping away; sometimes it doesn’t always register to them, but when it does, J tries to occupy themself to keep their mind from dwelling on things. 

Thank you for your ask! 

[hom3land3r]

Hello, everyone. Homelander here.

Another year over and gone, huh? Where does time go? It’s flying by almost as quickly as me haha…almost.

This year has been a rather big one for me. A lot has changed. I’ve gained a loving partner, a family, even those so called friends things you mudpeople have. I’ve also been blessed with a wolf pup who is my pride and joy, and had various artworks drawn of me.

2023 will always be a special year. It’s the year where I finally had some sort of life outside of Vought. It’s been a year of revelation, of discovery. Of growth. And of course only furthering your obsessions with me.

Which brings me to my next point: 2024. It’s going to be bigger and better. It’s going to knock 2023 out of the park with my Presidential Campaign. I’m sure I can count on you all to vote correctly.

Happy New Year, mudpeople. 2024 is my year.

- H 🇺🇸

P.S: Enjoy the fireworks display near Vought Tower. You’re welcome.

//Hey guys, Mun here.

It’s officially 2024 here in the UK and I just wanna wish you all a very, very Happy New Year! 🎉🥳

Pat yourself on the back for making it through the highs and lows of 2023. This is your fresh start. I truly hope it’s a good year for you all. I hope you’ve got things lined up to look forward to, and even not, I hope this year is another great chapter for you full of wonderful and amazing surprises.

Just remember: no matter how bad it got, you pulled through. You made it. You showed life who’s boss. This year? Be the baddest badass you can be. 💪

I also just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of you that I’ve interacted with over the past year. To the new friends I’ve made and the little RP community that’s developed and grew. I never ever expected any of this when making my Homie blog. It’s been incredible fun writing with you all and answering your questions.

Thank you for letting Homie into your lives and for giving me the chance. I’ve always tried my best to do him justice and I’m constantly trying to improve. It means the world to me that you guys like him and interact. I truly do appreciate it and love you all for it. Thank you.

From my heart to yours, I truly wish you all the very best for 2024.✌️💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

- Mun

[harmonyhealinghub]

Happy New Year 2024: A Fresh Start for a Bright Future

Shaina Tranquilino

January 1, 2024

As the clock strikes midnight and fireworks illuminate the night sky, we bid farewell to another year and welcome the dawn of a brand-new chapter in our lives. Happy New Year, everyone! January 1st, 2024 marks the beginning of not only a new year but also an opportunity for fresh beginnings, personal growth, and endless possibilities.

The transition from one year to another is always accompanied by a sense of excitement and anticipation. It's like turning the page in a book, eager to discover what lies ahead. And as we embark on this journey into 2024, it's important to reflect on the lessons learned, celebrate our achievements, and set goals for the future.

Looking back at the challenges we faced in the previous year, it's remarkable how resilient and adaptable we have become. From navigating global crises to adapting to remote work environments, we have proven time and again that together we can overcome any obstacle. The collective strength and determination displayed by communities worldwide serve as a reminder that even in times of adversity, hope prevails.

Entering 2024 with optimism sets the stage for personal growth and self-improvement. It's an opportunity to evaluate our priorities and realign ourselves with what truly matters. Whether it's focusing on physical well-being, nurturing relationships, or pursuing long-awaited dreams – let this be the year where we prioritize self-care and make conscious efforts towards achieving our aspirations.

Moreover, let us not forget about spreading kindness and compassion throughout this new year. In a world often filled with division and strife, acts of goodness go a long way towards creating positive change. Reach out to your loved ones more frequently; lend a helping hand to those in need; embrace diversity and encourage inclusivity – these simple gestures can shape a brighter future for all.

In addition to personal growth, setting realistic goals can guide us towards success. Whether it's landing that dream job, travelling to a new destination, or learning a new skill – let these goals act as stepping stones towards personal fulfillment. Remember, the journey is just as important as the destination. Embrace every step along the way and celebrate progress, no matter how small.

As we embark on this new year, let us also take a moment to appreciate the beauty of life itself. Cherish sunsets, laughter-filled gatherings with friends and family, and moments of solitude where you find solace in your own company. Life is a precious gift, and it's up to us to make the most of each passing day.

So here's to 2024 – a year filled with hope, growth, and endless possibilities. Let us enter this chapter of our lives with open hearts and minds, ready to seize opportunities and create positive change both within ourselves and in the world around us.

From Tumblr: Harmony Healing Hub and Etsy: Flower Therapy Healer, I wish you a Happy New Year! May this be the beginning of an incredible journey towards self-discovery, love, and joy. Cheers to a bright future ahead!

[happiestplacehq]

FESTIVE FEAST EVENT

It is no surprise that the people of Redwood Hollow love a good party, but as the festive season rolls in, it seems the Community Events Committee are making things a little more formal for their winter celebrations.

The people of Redwood Hollow are cordially invited to a town-wide feast. What better way to beat the winter blues than with a full belly and a full heart? Local businesses and caterers have been kind enough to offer a reduced rate on meals, and town's folk have volunteered their own cooking skills to put food on the tables too. The main celebration will take place within Town Hall, with seats reserved at the top tables for our most valued members of Redwood Hollow, including The Mayor and his Council, the founding families and lucrative sponsors including the illusive Mr. Borovsky, who has made recent investments in the town's local economy. The tables will spill out into Town Square, with heated marquees and fires to gather round and roast your chestnuts on.

While tickets are required to be purchased in advance, part of the price will go toward various local charities.

Our Festive Feast will take place on December 8th, with dinner commencing at 6 O'clock. Live entertainment will follow from 8:30pm, with a night ending with a Holiday Lights switch on and fireworks display.

                                                ——————

An OOC information post will be made shortly with OOC details for players, and will be linked in the source once posted. This event will take place between Friday 8th December and Sunday 7th of January OOC to give everyone a chance to take part during the festive period. In character, this event will have taken place on December 8th.

This event will be a kick off for the next phase of our plot. All players who have volunteered to be involved will be messaged shortly. If you would like to volunteer your character for any plot drop related business at the event, reply with their name!

Please like this post once you have read it.

[starlightoaks]

CELEBRATE THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON AT THE LUNAR LANES STREET PARTY!

Kick off your lunar new year celebrations at Starlight Oaks' annual Lunar Lanes Street Party! Each year the Lunar New Year celebrations in Starlight Oaks only get bigger! The Lunar Lanes is a return favorite, and from 4pm to midnight, this weekend (10th February & 11th February), the bustling laneways outside Chin Chin and Seoul Kitchen will buzz with live entertainment, roving performers, food trucks, market stalls, DJs playing the latest in C-Pop, J-Pop and K-Pop, and plenty of Insta-worthy moments from art and light activations to dazzle the crowds during this two-night event. The best part? The Lunar Lanes organizers have also teamed up with your favorite Asian restaurants to bring you cuisine from China, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysian and Japan! The owners of Chin Chin, Gravi-Tea and Seoul Kitchen, as well as members of your local Asian community are excited to share their culture with the people of Starlight Oaks! Be sure to visit the Chinese Garden of Friendship that has been set-up at the very end of the street, for tea ceremonies and fortune readings, and look out for the seventy-foot long traditional Chinese Dragon weaving its way through the streets, to thunderous drumming! Or, go in search of the 100 Good Wishes Quilt displays that'll be located in six locations throughout the downtown area. These beautiful quilts have been based off drawings from children living in Starlight Oaks that symbolize good luck, honor and success for the new year. Or, if lanterns are more your thing, head to the activation outside Gravi-Tea to see stunning lanterns light up the night. End your Lunar New Year celebrations with a brilliant firework display on Sunday night at 9pm, lighting up the sky with brilliant steaks of red and gold; you may even spot a dragon amongst the stars! Come and celebrate the Year of the Dragon in Starlight Oaks!

ACTIVITY IDEAS

lunar new year crafts (Chinese dragon craft, sock puppet, Chinese coin bracelet), dumpling making class, learn how to play mahjong, lunar new year bingo, paper lantern making, Chinese calligraphy, cherry blossom painting, traditional Asian cooking demonstrations, DIY bubble tea station @ Gravi-Tea + many more!

EVENT DETAILS

This event will begin on Saturday, February 10th (from midnight PST) and end on Tuesday, February 13th (until 11.59pm PST).

All threads pertaining to the Lunar Lanes Street Party must begin during this period. No new starters should be posted after this time, however you may continue in the days following to wrap up these threads.

This event is entirely optional! Previous threads may continue as normal. However, we would love to see you get involved!

Please tag all event related posts with #starlight.event, and make sure you're following @starteroaks as we will be reblogging any open event starters over there.

[celestriahq]

please read the triggers found in the tags + find a summary sans triggers below the cut if you do not wish to read the plot drop

many party goers were nervous to attend such a large and public gathering after not only one, but two murders. questions of both investigations were certainly the talk of the crowds, whispers and blame being thrown in all directions. many still blame the vampires for the first death, despite not a single puncture wound being discovered on the body, and who but the dragons could put someone at the top of a building ? assumptions are being made left and right, dividing the once quiet and somewhat peaceful city.

but all seemed to be going well. the clock chimed midnight, and the sky light up with a beautiful display of fireworks thanks to the witches, followed by a delicious champagne toast catered by the dragons. was it this the perfect ending to the year ? could they start the new year on a peaceful foot?

of course not.

a loud scream pitched higher than the cheering crowds, casting a hush across solaris plaza. very soon all guests would see what the scream was for as a body was hurtling down towards the masses. scattering, fear of something landing on them, created the gap for the thing to land. a thing, because the body no longer looked like anything alive in celestria. the largest wounds to be seen ? two gouges to their back.

everything after that happens quickly, protectors swoop in and tape off the area, guests are questioned and then released to their homes, the nobility escorted by their guards and extra protectors.

over the next few days the headlines are anything but calm, the city is shaken after such a sight. eventually it will be released that the victim was bex summerkill, a low level malakim protector that had been on duty for the party. the body suffered so many wounds that dna was the only way to identify their remains, most notably so, their bright blue and grey wings were missing.

maybe a party wasn't the best idea after all.

tl;dr: party ended in a death, and more speculation is circulating over how. this body was a malakim named bex summerkill.

thus ends the first event ! like i've said, you are not required to drop your threads, you just may want to so you can incorporate our first plot drop. either way, it's your choice ! since the event has ended, each player is allowed one free starter so we can refresh that tag + keep things flowing !

for all new members + those who haven't posted in the previous week, please try to post ic within the next 48 hours. if you're unable to, please reach out ! i'm more than happy to work with everyone who comes to me. there won't be an interest check this week bc i think everyone has been pretty vocal about why they've been busy, but when i check activity in 48 hours i will be dm'ing new members who haven't posted at all, and those who haven't posted in the past week. you'll have 24 hours from there to post/ask for a hiatus/extension. i definitely never want to unfollow people here who want to be here but are just busy, but that relies on communication !

as always, please reach out for any questions you might have !

[wisheduponastar]

Message in the Sky (1.2k words, M/M)

For Day 12 of @danganronpashipmonths Saioma month. Inspired by the prompt : Fireworks

Kokichi has been planning this day for almost as long as he's gotten out, and he discovered quite how many fireworks one could by. Especially as he discovered you could spell out letters. The ring was sorted, and now all Kokichi needed was the night...

Or~ Kokichi finally invites Shuichi on a night walk, with fireworks and a wedding ring

Read on Ao3 or below

At first, Kokichi had been adamant about the fireworks all only being in blue and purple (the two of them had a brand, afterall). But after discovering there were a lot less purple and blue fireworks than he expected, Kokichi had eventually agreed to let some others in. Some golds and silvers, maybe a green or two - but not any other colours. He still wanted some theme of colours in his display, even if the control wasn’t there as much. Besides, he was paying a lot for these.

Admittedly, Kokichi had enough money to last him several lifetimes, thanks to signing up for Danganronpa. Shuichi always complained the money felt disingenuous - he hadn’t asked for it after all, whoever he used to be had. But Kokichi thought if they were going to have ruined his life, then he was entitled to all the money they could give him. Especially as they didn’t even offer free therapy, and getting good therapy in the middle of nowhere was surprisingly expensive. And seeing as he and Shuichi had been dating for so long, they’d merged bank accounts - which left them with an even stupider amount.

There were advantages to living in the middle of nowhere, however. People still recognized them from the show, but not nearly as much - and no hardcore fans lived nearby either. Him and Shuichi could live out a relatively mundane life. Most of their community just saw them as the pleasant, if eccentric, gay couple who had moved in. And Shuichi was happy to keep it that way (personally, Kokichi wanted recognition for them both as being the best people alive). It also meant there was almost no light pollution, so the sky was always clear and beautiful.

Whenever Kaito and Maki came to visit, the luminary of the stars wouldn’t shut up about their skies, and how beautiful they were. Admittedly they were rather incredible, but Kokichi never liked standing outside and staring upwards. He did enjoy it when Shuichi dragged him out on dates to look at the stars though. He would always get Kokichi blankets, and hot chocolate, and they would lie on the grass together as Shuichi pointed out constellations as Kokichi called him a nerd.

But Kokichi had been thinking a lot about the sky lately. Well, a lot about other things… and just how perfect the sky would be for that. So he had arranged a fireworks show in a nearby field. Well, a thirty minute walk away field - he didn’t want to keep everyone up. That kind of reputation wouldn’t work very well for him. All of the meticulous planning had led to him and Shuichi driving in the night to their walk, while Kokichi’s fireworks expert waited for them.

Parking, Shuichi slowly stopped the engine and turned off the front lights, smiling at Kokichi, “Thanks for thinking of this night ‘Kichi.”

“I am an evil genius after all,” Kokichi grinned back, “It’s only natural I have the best ideas.”

“Because evil plans and date nights have so much in common?” Shuichi shot back, getting out of the car and going to the back, starting to pull out their coats. Kokichi quickly hopped out as well, following along, “Honestly Shuichi - I’m already warm!”

Ignoring him, Shuichi continued to reach into the boot - pulling out their gloves. Undeterred, Kokichi moved slightly closer and clung to Shuichi, “What if I told you this date was the key to my world domination?”

“Haven’t you already achieved your world domination?” Shuichi’s tone was teasing as he pulled on his coat, a dark blue one, on the lighter side. Kokichi had gotten it after he saw it in the window of a shop - it looked rather like the ones detectives used to wear, and he thought it would suit his beloved. Glad that Shuichi was still listening, Kokichi played along, “I still need to annex Australia, silly!”

“Of course,” Shuichi held out the coat, “Here, put this on.”

Kokichi pouted, “But I look nice like this! Besides, supreme leaders don’t get cold.”

“For me?” Shuichi asked, mimicking Kokichi by batting his eyelashes in a simply stupid manner.

“Nuh-uh,” Kokichi shook his head again, folding his arms. But he knew exactly how this stand-off would end, and looked up at Shuichi.

“For a kiss?” Shuichi proposed, smiling as he saw Kokichi nod eagerly. Moving slightly closer, Shuichi tilted his head down slightly as Kokichi accepted his kiss. They did this so often, yet every time was special to Shuichi - a feeling of butterflies, as though fireworks were going off. Eventually breaking away, the two looked at each other, cheeks slightly flushed and eyes sparkling. Still pouting, Kokichi took the coat off Shuichi, reluctantly pulling it on.

“And your gloves,” Shuichi tried to hand them to Kokichi, but Kokichi shook his head yet again. Before Shuichi could insist, he cut across, “Look, if I get cold - I’ll just hold your hand, kay?”

Shuichi shook his head, but he was still smiling, “Okay.”

The walk was rather fun, if slightly chaotic at times. The thing Kokichi was most glad about was there was only one path, so they couldn’t get too lost. But he was still glad he had scouted the route ahead of time. He wasn’t glad it got incredibly cold, but he had Shuichi’s hand to hold. And they were always warm, and always there for him. Along with fond smiles and affectionate words.

Eventually, Kokichi recognized the gate that led to their field. Smiling, Kokichi suddenly pulled his hand out of Shuichi’s - sticking his tongue out and running away. Going as fast as he could, he yelled briefly over his shoulder, “Catch me!”

Kokichi could hear Shuichi move up immediately, but Kokichi had always been faster (and he had a head-start). Reaching the gate, he volted himself himself over - smiling as he saw the fireworks guy over there. Kokichi gave him a thumbs up, before shooing him away and exiting the field again. Smiling, Kokichi caught up to Shuichi again - running up and launched himself up, wrapping his arms around Shuichi. All the while the two of them smiled at each other like kids, Kokichi grinning wildly and looking up, Shuichi a tiny bit softer - but with just as much love.

Spinning around in Shuichi’s arms, Kokichi positioned himself to look up at the sky - just as the fireworks began. The sky began to fill with blue and purple stars, at the very start, before gold and silver joined. Briefly, Kokichi took his eyes off the sky to see Shuichi. And met grey eyes, who were looking down at him as well, smiling at the joy on his face. Playfully, Kokichi stuck his tongue out - then spoke briefly, “It’s prettier up there Shumai! I spent a lot on these!”

Laughing slightly, Kokichi slipped gently out of Shuichi’s hand as he saw a massive purple star suddenly fill the sky. He knew what it symbolised, even if Shuichi didn’t. There was a small frown on Shuichi’s face as Kokichi escaped from him, but Kokichi simply pointed upwards. Just as the lettering began to appear in the sky. Spelled out with fireworks of blue.

‘SHUICHI, WILL YOU MARRY ME?’

Followed by purple hearts, and then tears. But tears from Shuichi, and happy tears. The small distance between them was crossed almost instantly as Shuichi hugged Kokichi as hard as he could, all while whispering, “Yes!”

[omahane]

Things to Do in Omaha, Nebraska

There are numerous things to do in Omaha, Nebraska. With its background of wagon trains, railroading leaders, as well as western pioneers, Omaha has something for everyone. Whether you delight in the outdoors or art, Omaha has something to provide. The art scene in Omaha uses a mix of old and also new structures. From 20th century design to art deco, there is something to please any type of preference.

For art lovers, there are many museums in Omaha, including the Joslyn Art Museum. This art gallery has been around for 90 years as well as is considered among one of the most noticeable art establishments in the city. The museum features a revolving collection of long-term and unique exhibitions.

You can spend some time in the Joslyn Art Museum, which is complimentary and available to the general public. This museum is home to the biggest art collection in Nebraska. The marble-built building has more than 11,000 screens from musicians spanning from classical times to the here and now day. There is also a sculpture garden and cafe. You can spend a mid-day or night appreciating the art on display screen at this museum.

If you have children, a journey to the General Crook Residence gallery is a fantastic method to educate them concerning Omaha's history. The gallery was originally built for school teams, yet it has periodically open up to the general public. The museum also hosts a special trick-or-treat occasion on Halloween. The museum is also home to the Omaha Children's Museum, which was founded in 1976.

The museum includes nine interior and outdoor displays, with a range of displays that discover scientific research, modern technology, art, and also zoology. The museum likewise features a Splish Splash Garden, which is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

One more tourist attraction worth a go to in Omaha is the Henry Doorly Zoo and Fish Tank. The zoo has a number of points of interest, including the biggest indoor jungle in the USA. You can also go through a 70-foot-high tunnel, where you can see sea turtles and sharks.

For the youngsters, the park additionally has a large collection of Native American art work. This display is complimentary to check out, although you might require to purchase tickets to check out some unique displays. Whether you're going to with children or moms and dads, this display makes certain to make any household time more enjoyable.

One more tourist attraction that is enjoyable for families is the Omaha Farmers Market, which features a variety of suppliers and also a historical feel. It's also a great area for relaxing as well as buying. Later on, check out the Zorinsky Lake Park, where you'll have the ability to invest some time outdoors as well as take in the scenery.

Another location to visit in Omaha is the Heartland of America Park, which is positioned in the city center. It is house to the renowned 250-foot water fountain, a walking trail, and boat flights on the lake. An additional wonderful destination in the city is the Fun-Plex Waterpark and Rides, which is Omaha's own amusement park. The park also flaunts a wave swimming pool and also water slides, along with bumper watercrafts and go-kart auto racing. You can likewise take your family on a trip on a miniature roller coaster.

Omaha has something to do for every period. The springtime and also summer have lots of celebrations, concerts, as well as fireworks, while autumn and winter months have even more farmland and also haunted houses. Omaha additionally has an indoor theme park, the RiverFront, which is a public-private initiative that is a three-park development.

For outside lovers, the city is home to a plethora of lakes and parks. Whether you're trying to find a peaceful area to relax or an energetic activity, Omaha has something for everybody. The Dundee Community is house to some special tourist attractions and a scrumptious food scene. There are several dining establishments in the location that supply excellent food, including the popular Kith & Kin Southern Kitchen as well as the Avoli Osteria. If you wish to shop, there are numerous excellent retail stores that deserve having a look at.

The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge is just one of the many stunning views in Omaha. It is free to stroll throughout as well as looks sensational at night. Located near Omaha Plaza, the bridge extends a number of thousand feet and also is ideal for cycling or walking. The Old Market is another location worth looking into. The city's historic area is home to many elegant restaurants and unique stores.

On this city, you can count with Blingle! When you intend to mount brand-new lights at your office or home room, you can work with a specialist blingle lighting contractor to create a style that will certainly match your design. On Blingle! specialists comply with a comprehensive procedure to make certain that you're satisfied with the outcome. They will certainly see your home to evaluate its requirements and also requirements as well as will certainly produce a digital depiction of the home with illumination. After that, they will certainly set up installation and also supply continuous maintenance.

Blingle! 18735 F Street Omaha, NE 68135 402-838-2046 https://blingle.com/omaha-ne