#going overboard on asks since 2017

[my-practiceblog]

If I could start all over pt 2

I had posted a while back on if I started back at age 12 knowing everything I know now, what changes I would make.  That was a long post, but I have a lot more to add, and this probably will not be my last post on the topic either.  This post will focus on money.

Currently we’re still at middle/high school.  I turned 12 in 2007.  As we all know, the recession came in 2008.  I did not have much money at the time, obviously, but I did have some from money my grandpa left me when he died, as well as small savings from allowance, babysitting, birthdays, etc.  After the recession hit I would invest everything I had, leaving myself maybe $100 in savings (I’d be a kid, what do I really need more than that for) in a mix of index funds and FAANG companies.  I would continue babysitting, and attempt to get a job as a lifeguard once I am old enough, and continue putting money into stocks.  As I got a bit older until I graduated college I would leave myself more money in savings for things like eating out and other activities with my friends.  

I would take all my money out of investments the summer of 2019.  I would reinvest everything March 2020.  I would take it all out again fall 2021.  I would slowly reinvest it, putting a bit in each week into Index funds starting September 2022.

I currently have both a Roth IRA and two 401ks (once with my current, one with my former employer).  I believe I started my Roth IRA in 2018 (and have maxed it out each year since), but I actually started working in 2017.  I should have started, and maxed out my Roth IRA in 2017 (even if that means taking money out of my other investments to fund my IRA).  I did, and continue to put a large chunk of my paycheck into my 401k, but I wish I put in even more.  Going back I would get as close to maxing out my 401k as I could without it impacting my spending.  I don’t want to have to lower my standard of living to save more, especially since my standard of living wasn't all that high when I first graduated, but pretty much anything outside of my spending + maybe $200 a month in savings should go to my 401k until it is maxed out  (at least until 2020).  Dependent of how much money I am making in this “new life” if may be much easier for me to max out my 401k, or have way more than $200 leftover for savings, but this is just given that I end up in the same jobs I had, and the content creation career (that I will talk about in my next post) does not go anywhere.

I was very hesitant to spend money when I was in college.  I knew my money was finite, because I didn’t have a job (outside of the summer and a few small paid things throughout the year) so I was always nervous to deplete it.  However, I didn’t realize my entire lifesavings to age 22 I would easily be able to double in just a few paychecks once I got my first real job (or if everything went right with this redo, way sooner than that).  Going back I would have been more willing to spend on fun things with my friends, especially since my parents covered all of my necessities. I wouldn’t want to go overboard or anything, but at least going out to eat with my friends whenever they asked.  Once I get my first job and am earning a real paycheck I would figure out an actual spending plan.

I bought a condo in the winter of 2021.  While ideally if I started over I would have way more money/options, no matter what I still would buy this same condo exactly when I did.  The only change I would make is putting in an offer sooner and maybe for $5000 less than what I bought it for.  Currently I share this apartment with a roommate.  If I do end up at my same job with my same salary I would want to keep that the same, only putting stricter cleaning rules in to place when she first moved in.  But she’s moving out this summer and while she’s lived here she has traveled a ton and I have regularly had the apartment to myself which has been great, especially since living with her hasn’t had any big issues.  However, if I had much more money I would still want to have bought this apartment with the interest rate I got it for, but instead I would not live here and rent the whole apartment out.  I would live either in the city or somewhere warm, but I will get into that in a future post I’m sure.

Not going to get into it, but I would also warn my dad against his former partner, and encourage him to break up that partnership as soon as possible (at least by my sophomore year).  If that were the case certain things I paid for my parents probably would have instead, and other things they would not have struggled with.

Okay that’s it on this one, I’m sure money will come up more down the line, but here are all the big things.

[fancymuffinparty]

Hello there! I am a multi shipper as well and a big fan of AoT. Im also a big fan of your work; the Summer Fling series is probs my favorite, I love the way you wrote the Bert/Ymir pairing; in all my years as a fan of AoT I've never actually met another BeruYumi fan! ^.^ we aren't a very big part of the fandom. Anywho, are you going to write more for them in the future? also, do you have any head canons regarding the two of them?

Hello hello!!!!!!

I'll be honest... I'm always a bit hesitant to talk about beruyumi because... it gets a lot of criticism. I dont even mind that its unpopular; small ships have never fazed me. But it's the backlash and hate it used to get that deterred me from being outspoken.

It used to be REALLY bad. Now, luckily, i've found that people in SnK are either pretty chill/tolerant or just dont care lmao. And then on the rare occasion, there's people like you and me that are like 'wait, i like this pairing, it's great!' and we vibe lol.

I wrote the SFS back in 2017, and although it was a mult-ship fic, the beruyumi in it is what probably turned off a few ppl from reading it :/ But it also revealed other fellow BY shippers and so that was well worth it!!! So thank you for taking the time to read that one! It will always hold a special place in my heart because it was like one of the first multi chapter fics i actually finished lol (even tho my writing style has changed A LOT since then and yikes!!)

Now, in regards to your second question, YES! I have plans to write more for them in the future and in fact... currently, i am working on a new fic called Streamline! :) It's a modern AU, pro swimmers AU because i will always headcanon Bert and Ymir as athletic and as strong swimmers! Check it out, if you wish!! :D dude, i've been wanting to write it for like 5 years!!!)

oh lordy, i have SO many headcanons for these two! I could write a whole ass post about it 🤗 (that's tbc!! because i've already gone overboard with this post haha also, i need to warm up 💪)

anyway, thank you for this nice ask :) and for being a fellow BY shipper that appreciates this small but mighty ship!!! hope you have a nice day:)

[esonetwork]

Timestamp #277: Oxygen

New Post has been published on http://esonetwork.com/timestamp-277-oxygen/

Timestamp #277: Oxygen

Doctor Who: Oxygen (1 episode, s10e05, 2017)

Take a deep breath. It might be your last.

On a space station named Chasm Forge, workers Ivan and Ellie spacewalk across the hull to effect repairs. The pair are romantically involved and Ellie tries to tell Ivan that she wants to have children with him. Sadly, she’s running out of oxygen and her comms are malfunctioning. Even more tragic, she’s soon killed by two figures who are obviously dead because they look like zombies, aren’t wearing helmets, and move like Cybermen. As Ellie is killed, Ivan looks on with a scream.

Back on Earth, the Doctor lectures about space, the final frontier. Final because it wants to kill you. Bill watches uncomfortably and another student asks why they’re not discussing crop rotation. Nardole pressures the Doctor about his obvious desire to go off-world again. As the Doctor plots his next trip with Bill, Nardole stops him by stealing a fluid link and preventing the TARDIS from flying. Of course, the Doctor lied about that particular fluid link’s importance – Rule Number One and all that – so he throws the lever and off they go in search of a distress call.

The Doctor, Bill, and Nardole arrive on Chasm Forge and expand the TARDIS’s air bubble to envelop the station. The travelers find a dead man in a spacesuit, propped up by the suit’s systems. His death is perplexing since his suit’s oxygen tank is full and his breathing field is operational. While Bill and Nardole propose a return to the TARDIS, the Doctor presses on to find the source of the distress call.

Deeper in the station, they find an automated spacesuit doing labor. The suit speaks to the travelers in a voice that Nardole recognizes as a former girlfriend, explaining that the station is typically depressurized. Oxygen is only contained in the pressure suits because it is sold at competitive rates, and any unlicensed oxygen is purged into space. Soon enough, the station’s systems blow the oxygen overboard, forcing the travelers to seek refuge in a repair shop. Someone contacts them and warns them that the shop is dangerous. Sure enough, the dead man marches toward them, but the Doctor is able to disable the suit at the expense of his sonic screwdriver.

Upon investigation, it turns out that the suits were commanded to kill their organic components. The station is filtering out the remaining oxygen to sell it back at a premium, so the Doctor recommends that they get into pressure suits that are offline for repairs. They do so, aware that the rest of the station’s dead personnel are in pursuit.

The disembodied voice, which belongs to a man named Tasker, guides the travelers to a room of survivors. Ivan is among the survivors and helps the Doctor to find a station map. They plot a course to the station’s core – going outside is suicide – and discuss what the station is processing. Copper ore isn’t particularly valuable, so a plot to steal the ore is not the motive.

The zombies start repairing the lock to the repair room so the survivors run for the core. Unfortunately, Tasker is killed by an electrical discharge produced by one of them. With all options cut off, the group dons helmets and heads outside, but Bill’s helmet malfunctions. Since the pressure-retaining forcefield isn’t strong enough for the rigors of space, Bill is exposed to extreme cold, but the Doctor gives her his helmet for the trek.

After they return to the station’s interior, Bill is revived and learns that they are in an uncharted area of the station so the zombies can’t find them. The Doctor saved Bill’s life but has been blinded by the vacuum of space. He ensures Bill that the condition is temporary. The crew regroups as the dead figure out how to gain access to the uncharted section. Dahh-Ren is killed and the team runs for the reactor core.

Along the way, Bill’s suit malfunctions again and prevents her from moving. The Doctor has a revelation and decides to leave her behind, and the advancing horde assimilates her. Inside the core, the Doctor enacts a plan that connects the team’s suits to the reactor coolant system. If they die, the station will explode and destroy the suits. The Doctor explains that the suits are doing exactly what the corporation wants them to by eliminating inefficiencies.

Humans are inefficient, thus the endpoint of capitalism demands that they are bypassed.

The team lets the suited zombies into the core room, but the Doctor springs his trap and stops the suits in a logic loop. He also reveals that Bill’s suit battery was too low to deliver a lethal dose, so she’s okay after all. The suits swap the oxygen tanks from the dead people to the living, ensuring their own survival in the process.

The survivors head for the TARDIS and the Doctor sets a course for the company’s head office so they can file a complaint. Meanwhile, Nardole attempts to fix the Doctor’s eyes. Later, at the university, the Doctor reveals that the event precipitated the eventual downfall of space capitalism. As Bill leaves, Nardole chastises the Doctor for leaving the vault unprotected. If the Doctor were to be incapacitated, the vault would be in jeopardy and the occupant would take advantage.

The Doctor refuses to look at Nardole. When Nardole gets angry about that, the Doctor removes his sunglasses and discloses a major secret.

The Doctor is still blind.

This story has a (sadly, continuously) relevant plot, but it’s also wrapped in a very thin run-from-the-monster motif. The franchise has tackled politics and social issues many, many times in the past, and has done better many times along the way.

This story also showcases some really terrible humor moments with racism, and even if they were meant as parodies, their clumsiness sucked out any amount of funniness. Writer Jamie Mathieson has done far better in the past (notably with Mummy on the Orient Express and Flatline) and this is his last story in the franchise to date.

The story does play with the franchise mythology a bit: It nods toward the Doctor’s ability to survive the vacuum of space better than humans can (as seen in Four to Doomsday and The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe) and the semi-official nature of Star Trek in the Who-niverse (previously alluded in a handful of episodes). It also reinforces the Doctor’s core characteristics, especially the refusal to believe that his companions are lost.

Oh, yeah… it also marks the destruction of the sonic screwdriver. That won’t last long at all.

This story could be more, but it tries to do too much in 45 minutes and falls short in the end.

Rating: 3/5 – “Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Extremis, Doctor Who: The Pyramid at the End of the World, & Doctor Who: The Lie of the Land

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

[your-brother-crutchie]

Answer all the evens from the valentine's day asks!

Hoo, boy, this is going to be a journey! 😂

TW: Domestic abuse

2. Have you ever been deeply in love?Um, no? I’m going to say no. I’ve only ever had one relationship and it was awful and controlling and horrible and I definitely wasn’t deeply in love, then. I’m not technically ‘with’ Nathan, the boy I’m ‘talking’ to now, so I’m hesitant to really say how I feel, but I do think it’s at least a little bit more than ‘like.’ Perhaps not deeply in love but you know what I mean.

4. Have you ever changed for someone?I know that I did change during my first relationship but I also know that that wasn’t good. I think you have to change, just a little bit (people do, it’s natural), but you still have to be easily recognisable as yourself. I won’t say that I’ll never change for someone again but I’m definitely going to be more hesitant.

6. Have you ever been cheated on?Thankfully, no. I was threatened with it a lot, though. I’m ace and, admittedly I hadn’t told my girlfriend that, but she used the fact that she could just go out and find someone to ‘fulfil her needs’ to coerce me into things that I wasn’t comfortable with. I didn’t actually do anything but she definitely tried.

8. Would you date someone who’s well known for cheating?Absolutely not. If there’s a legitimate reason behind cheating once, I might think about it but, in general, I have no sympathy for cheaters.

10. Do you like to be in serious relationships or just flings?Serious relationships. Since I’m not looking for anything physical, I don’t see the point in flings. I understand, though, that that can scare people away.

12. How many people have you ever hooked up with?Zero. :)

14. What age do you think is appropriate for kids to start having sex?Having no urges myself, I don’t think I’m really a good person to answer this question. Legally, in England, sixteen.

16. Do you believe in ‘love at first sight?’I believe in ‘attraction at first sight?’ You can’t fall in love with someone without knowing them and I will stand by that. You may think you are in love but it’s kind of a natural reaction to beauty.

18. What do you consider a dealbreaker?I think smoking. Also excessive alcoholism and disliking animals. And being a horrible person, I’ve been through that, it’s awful.

20. Are you currently in a relationship?I am in the ‘talking’ stage. I’m thinking about bringing it up when I see him on Friday, though, because there’s really no question on whether he likes me back or not at this point.

22. Do you think people should date their friends?This question feels like an attack. 😂 Absolutely. My two relationships have started off as my best friends.

24. Do you think love can last forever?I am a very cynical person. I think it definitely fades, some more than others.

26. Would you break up with someone your parents didn’t approve of?My parents don’t approve of anyone so no. They’re also very anti-LGBT so I don’t take their advice on many things.

28. Do you think long distance relationships can work?Here I am, being cynical again. No. Not if it starts as long distance. If you were close together and then one moves away then I have more hope for you.

30. Are you straight, bi, gay, or pansexual?Transgender FTM, homoromantic, asexual. :)

32. Have you ever been in an abusive relationship?Hah! Beat you to it. 😂 Yes, but I’ve already explained that at this point.

34. What do you think about getting your partner’s name tattooed?Absolutely not.

36. Are you still a virgin.Yes. :)

38. Do you enjoy love films?Gay ones. Straight romance films are always cringey and weird.

40. Have you ever had a Valentine?I had my ex-girlfriend? I wasn’t out and didn’t want people to know so asked her not to get me anything or, if she was going to, find another time to give it to me. She decided to bake a big box of cookies and cupcakes and make me walk around with them all day for people to ask who they were from.

42. Have you ever read ‘Romeo and Juliet?’For English, yes. I do like it quite a bit.

44. Would you consider yourself ‘romantic?’Do you know what? This is horribly cheesy and cringey and gross but I really didn’t until I fell for Nathan. I’ve learnt a lot about myself since we’ve been talking. Who knew I was a clingy or jealous person? 😂

46. Have you ever been ‘friend-zoned?’I’ve never really pursued anyone. Both my ex and Nathan have made the first moves so I’ve never been rejected. I bloody wish I’d friendzoned my ex, though.

48. What’s your favourite love song?Oh, I have so many. I think ‘You Matter to Me’ from Waitress, ‘What You Mean to Me’ from Finding Neverland, and ‘Unlikely Lovers’ (if that counts) from Falsettos are some of my favourites.

50. If you’re single, why do you think you are?Because I’m a coward? 😂

52. Are you good at giving other people advice regarding dating/relationships?I’m good at telling people when to dump a bitch? I’ve been through it, I see the signs a lot quicker than my friends do in their own relationships. One of my friends refused to listen to me and he ended up miserable.

54. How important is it to make a relationship official (i.e. on Facebook?)Not at all. There’s a part of me that just wants to keep Nathan to myself forever and not tell anyone. Have something special just for us.

56. Have you ever ‘destroyed’ a relationship?As I’ve said, I’ve told people when they should be getting out but I wouldn’t count that as ‘destroying.’ I’d say that that’s the fault of the controlling arsehole on the other side.

58. Are you the ‘dominant’ or the ‘submissive’ part in a relationship?Definitely submissive. If I was dominant, I wouldn’t have let myself be bullied by my ex for so long.

60. What’s your opinion on open relationships?I won’t stop you if you want one but, because of my experience with an ex who kept trying to bully me into one because I wouldn’t give her what she wanted, I am personally very against the idea of being a part of one.

62. How do you define ‘cheating?’Being in an active relationship with someone else, no matter if it was only one night or not. It doesn’t have to be sex, if you’re in love with someone else and you’re going around telling other people that you’re in love with them, then you are cheating on me. If you are messaging other boys with the intention of seducing/flirting with them, then you are cheating on me. If you are doing something and have to stop to think, ‘could this be classed as cheating?’ you are probably cheating on me. That may sound harsh but I think, if it actually happened to you, you’d realise why.

64. Do you think Valentine’s Day is overrated?I always have but, this year, I’ve kind of thought that it’s a little sweet. I blame that entirely on Nathan.

[cutepresea]

"Hey, what happened in 2018? It couldn't possibly have been that bad right?"

...Okay nobody said that but...

Everyone remembers that AXZ aired in 2017, yes?

Fun times were had

XDU also started service in mid-2017

...So keep in mind that this was not only Kirika's first birthday Memoria after AXZ aired, but her first birthday Memoria ever

It starts out innocently enough. Three days before April 13, Kirika is walking around humming, actually excited about her birthday coming.

Two days before, Shirabe asks what she'd like to eat. Kirika answers "a cake that's thiiiiiis big"

Shirabe: If you want something sweet, this should hold you over.

Kirika: Da, daifuku…?

Shirabe: Yes. Extravagance is the enemy of the wallet.

Kirika: Ah, AH! I get it, when you asked what I wanted, you meant for a snack today, huh? I thought you were talking about the day after tomorrow…

The day before, Kirika starts thinking about how the others are probably already making party preparations and that they'll probably message her asking her to go somewhere so they can surprise her

Her phone rings and it's Chris:

Chris: Listen and rejoice, tomorrow's training is canceled.

Kirika: Train…ing?

Chris: It's great. Since tomorrow's cleared up, I get some me time. Geez though, I really wish they'd tell us this stuff sooner.

Kirika: Wa-wait just a second! Is that all you had to say?!

So at this point Kirika's starting to have doubts

April 13 comes and Kirika asks Shirabe a very important question: "Do you remember what today is?"

Shirabe: Today is…Duel Day!

Kirika: That's right! It's Duel…Day?! Wait, that's a thing?!

Shirabe: Yeah. Duel Day, when Musashi Miyamoto and Kojiro Sasaki fought on Ganryujima.

Shirabe uses that opportunity to say that she wants to "duel the dust in the house" so she asks Kirika to go out and kill time after school

While Kirika's wandering around, she remembers that Chris said training was canceled so she thinks maybe preparations are happening at S.O.N.G. HQ, but when she gets there, everything is the same and she runs into Maria

After Kirika asks, Maria says that she does remember what day it is and hands her some black tea leaves she bought while in London. Kirika thinks to herself that the packaging is a bit plain for a birthday present, but that's "just like Maria" and she's really happy for the feelings behind it. She thanks Maria for it and when she mentions drinking it...

Maria: That's right, it's a souvenir for both of you, so go home and drink it with Shirabe.

Kirika: For both of us? A souvenir? It's not a present?

Maria: I mean, a souvenir is a kind of present…

Kirika: I…I'm gonna ask again. What day is it?

Maria: It's Cafe Day. Isn't it a perfect day to give you black tea leaves?

Kirika: Ahaha…I had a feeling it was something like that…

So on the way home as the sun is setting, Kirika holds on to one last bit of hope that the party is at night and everyone will jump out and yell "SURPRISE!" when she walks through the door

She walks in and...nothing. And this child...this is what she says:

"I was stupid to get my hopes up…I should've known…since it's not my real birthday…"

And she starts crying

At this point the lights turn off, party poppers start going off, and everyone starts singing Happy Birthday (even Tomosato and Elfnein showed up)

Kirika: So, so this is…a surprise? And you all…remembered my birthday?

Maria: Of course we wouldn't forget.

Shirabe: Everyone helped make a big cake for you, too.

Kirika: I'm so glad…you didn't forget…*sniffle*

Shirabe: I'm sorry we made you worry so much, Kiri-chan…

Maria: I thought for sure surprising you would be more thrilling…

Tsubasa: It seems we went a bit overboard, though.

Chris: I told you we should've just done it normally!

And after that, Kirika just has to go and say this:

"It's not your faults! It's my fault for letting myself get caught up in my anxiety and doubting all of you…"

This poor girl still feels the need to blame herself in all this

After that she decides that nobody's gonna have any fun if she just cries the whole time, so she stops herself and they start the party for real

[babyboy-cody]

HI ALYSSA!!! 😃 What you wrote for grayson was beyond BEAUTIFUL. can you write something where they’re in a new relationship and she gets introduced on the podcast??? 🥰

i’m gonna try really hard to not go overboard this time 😭

The atmosphere was lighthearted and playful. Since 7am to the early afternoon, you’ve been extremely nervous and fidgety. Grayson recognized the early signs of an anxiety attack and made to bring out one of your sensory toys, the ones that make the popping and clicking sound. He brought you to a secluded corner of the house, away from everyone and all the noise, and blocked them with his body until you calmed down. The scent of him, the overall height of him, the gruffness of his voice, and the soft teddy bear vibes Grayson was giving off had you feeling more at ease.

“What if… What if they don’t like me, Gray? I mean, I’m not like the other girls you’ve hooked up with before. I’m not some insta baddie or a bad bitch. I’m me and they’re gonna hate it,” you quietly rambled to him while frantically popping and clicking your sensory toy, all the while keeping your eyes on your hand movements. Grayson allowed you to rant, not stepping in until you were fully finished. “I mean, Kris is different because she’s perfect for Ethan and she never really got any hate - not that I know of. She’s like a soft baddie, I’m not even 6% of a baddie.” This made Grayson smile as he crossed his arms and stared down at you. “Like, I’m not Tyson and it just… sucks feeling like this.”

“Look at me,” he told you, his voice low enough for only you both to hear. When you nervously peer up at him, no longer using your sensory toy, he places his large hands on your warm cheeks, thumbs gently stroking back and forth. “You’re not Tyson and that’s why I’m in love with you. You think I care about insta baddies? You’re the fucking queen, you hear me?” When you start looking down again, he quickly lifts your head. “Aye, I’m not done talking to you. You’re nothing like those girls and that’s what made me fall for you. Your kind soul, pretty eyes, and good vibes made me feel so comfortable that I always wanted to be around you 24/7. Ask Kris.” He smiles at the sound of your soft giggle and the way your eyes crinkled at the corners. “If I love with all my heart, the people who support us and want us to be happy will love you too.”

“Yo,” Ethan called out from across the room. “You ready?” He was looking at you, more so worried about your reputation than Grayson’s. “There’s no going back.” His tone was teasing and his eyes held no malice. You looked up at Grayson and he gave you a small nod and grin, as if telling you, ‘You got this.’ When you gave Ethan an enthusiastic nod, he excitedly claps his hands. “Lets do this shit!”

When you followed them to the room where they do their podcasts, you felt that anxious wave crash over you again. Grayson, being the extremely observant man he is, made sure you had your sensory toy in your hands as he rubbed your arms gently. He pressed soft kisses to your cheeks that felt like butterfly wings fluttering against your skin because of his growing beard. Kristina shot you a thumbs up from her spot in the kitchen as she ate some avocado toast. You felt more at ease as Grayson and Ethan shot playful jokes at each other back and forth. You took your spot beside Grayson on the swivel chair and took the headphones he hands to you. After setting up the mics and cameras, you got yours comfortable and sat a foot or two away from Grayson so that they’re able to do their intro without you in the frame.

“It’s now or never,” you quietly mumbled to yourself.

“Good evening, everybody!” Grayson enthusiastically speaks into the mic. “Welcome back to Deeper with the Dolan Twins. I’m one of your hosts, Grayson.”

“And I’m your other host, Ethan. If it’s a little harder to tell who is who, I wore white today and Grayson wore black,” Ethan states confidently. “Grayson is always wearing his greasy ass trucker hat.”

“It’s not greasy, shut up.” Grayson sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes, sending a look to the side as you covered your mouth to stifle your laugh. “So, today we are doing things a little bit differently.” You sat up straighter in your seat. “As all of you know, we had Kristina on our podcast to furthermore introduce herself as Ethan’s girlfriend.”

“And today,” Ethan rubbed his hands excitedly. “We have a very, very special guest. We are introducing… drum roll, please…” Grayson quickly tapped his fingers against the table. “Grayson’s very own girlfriend, Y/N!”

Grayson was quick to pull your chair closer to his as you held the mic and laughed quietly as they both cheered loud and clear. “This is my very lovely and very beautiful girlfriend, Y/N. Say hello to the audience.”

“Um… hello,” you awkwardly said, causing Ethan to snort. “Shut up, E! I’m nervous.” You shyly covered your face, groaning when Grayson pulled your hands away and placed his hand between yours. You immediately started playing with his fingers; a sense of calm washing over you. “Well as nervous as I am, I am extremely excited to be a guest on your podcast and I hope it receives good reactions.”

“On a lighter note, lets dive deeper into how the relationship between you and Gray… developed,” Ethan said and got comfortable in his seat.

“You tell the short story and I’ll tell the long story,” you told Grayson and lightly patted his shoulder while looking at him with such love-filled eyes that even Ethan can see from across the large table.

Grayson cleared his throat and never once move his hand from between yours. “Well we met a few years ago and started fully dating, I’d say, almost a year ago. And we met through Kristina because you’ve been really good friends story.”

“Okay, guys, people that are listening and watching,” Ethan interrupted. “Remember to get very comfortable because this story is going to be a fucking rollercoaster of emotions.”

“Oh god,” you facepalmed. “Now, for the long story. I’ve been really close friends with Kris since our childhood. I moved to Australia at a young age with my dad after my mom passed away, and we were just two peas in a pod. The way you and Grayson are with each other is the exact same way Kris and I are with each other.” Grayson leans his chin on his hand and never once looks away from you. His attention was all on you… and your lips. “And then, back in 2017 is when she started telling me about Ethan. And she had mentioned that you had a younger brother-”

“Younger by, like, 20 minutes,” Grayson interrupted with a scoff.

“Younger brother,” you emphasized a little louder, causing both twins to laugh. “And she had asked Ethan stuff about Grayson, to which she transferred back to me. So, she was like a bird messenger.” You giggled as you said that, causing a big grin to form on Grayson’s lips. “And then no sooner after that, we started talking more frequently and getting to know each other. And it just.. grew after that.”

“Didn’t Gray ghost you?” Ethan suddenly asked. Grayson groans loud beside you and covers his face embarrassingly. “I remember you freaking the fuck out because of it.”

“Yes, the motherfucker did ghost me for a few weeks. Wanna explain why, hm?” You teasingly asked him with a raise of your brows. Grayson blushed fiercely.

“So within the first three months of us talking, that was when I fully started developing strong feelings for you. And at the time, I had been fucked over so many times by so many people and was never really able to hold a long relationship. And I partially blamed myself for that because I tend to.. rush things, if that makes sense. I’m a romantic and when I fall for someone, I fall hard.” As Grayson passionately spoke and opened up his feelings, your eyes went from his eyes to his lips to his hands and back and forth. The way he spoke with his hands made you hide a smile by biting your lip. “And I was terrified because I automatically assumed that I was gonna fuck it up one way or another. The only way for me to cope was to push my feelings aside, and it just effected us both so negatively.”

“Yeah, from past experiences, it can be really difficult for someone to come to terms with the true emotions they felt. I was the same way with Kristina, you know. It felt like I had to walk around eggshells out of fear of fucking up the one thing that was good for me.” You and Grayson nodded in agreement. “I remember when we came to Australia after what happened and Gray was running back and forth, just writing what he wanted to say to you and he almost cried because his pencil broke.”

You quickly looked at Grayson. “Really?” You weren’t teasing him, you were shocked. Your voice was soft and you had a pout on your lips that he kissed away. “Stop, you’re gonna make me cry.”

“Nooooo!” Grayson yelled out and threw an arm around your shoulder to pull you into his side.

“That’s so sweet!” You whined and pouted some more. “I never knew that, Gray. I know that in the past, there were some hardships that we were able to overcome and the way we communicated with each other, it just made our relationship stronger.”

The conversation ranged from topic to topic. Your life growing up, the death of your mother, your dad’s rescue farm in Australia, your college degree, and some moments between you and Grayson. You felt so comfortable and carefree that Grayson noticed a changed. You laughed more and spoke louder. You playfully bantered with Ethan and provided your own insight on serious topics regarding the negative effects of social media and about mental health. He’s so sure in his heart that people who love and support him and Ethan are gonna love you the same.

[make-me-imagine]

🍬13 Days of Halloween: Day 1

Prompts: “I’ve never celebrated Halloween” “Well you’re going to now” 

Requested by: @destynelseclipsa​

Pairing: Sherlock Holmes x Reader

Gender: Neutral        Triggers: None       Words: 774

Benedict Cumberbatch Taglist: @accalialionheart; does not tag anymore.  Requested Tag: @fictionalhoomanofnowhere​

If you’d like to check out 2019 and 2018′s 13 Days of Halloween, as well as my 2017 general Halloween/Fall stuff here are the links: x2017x, x2018x & x2019x

Note: Just a simple drabble to start things off with, sorry it came out so short, I couldn’t really get to good of an idea for this one :/ 

Sherlock sighed as he entered 221, his recent case investigation running through his mind. It was a simple case, but the people he had to deal with were complete imbeciles in his mind. 

As he entered into the main room of the flat he continued removing his scarf, before he paused in his place as something on the table caught his eye. Looking over, he knit his brow as he observed the precarious pile of fake cobwebs, orange tinsel, an array of fake pumpkins, and small fake skeletons littering the coffee table.

Looking around even more, he spots various new candles set around the flat, and the top of the doorway laced with fake webs. Reaching over to pick up a small ceramic pumpkin he jumped slightly when he noticed a small black spider on the table. Rolling his eyes at the cheap trick he let out a sigh, looking around the flat. 

Hearing the door downstairs open, he waited silently, watching as you slowly clambered up the stairs, carrying a large, very real pumpkin in your arms, as well as two bags hanging from your wrists. You met his eyes and smiled at him “Sherlock, you’re back!”

Sherlock failed to hold back the smile that escape the second he saw your own. He was still unused to you being here, even though he was the one who invited you to live here ever since John moved out. He really didn’t expect you to say yes, seeing as you were also in the beginning of a new relationship with each other. But it seemed to be working out well. 

“I see you’ve begun re-decorating” Sherlock commented, watching as you set the pumpkin on the ground.

“Yep” you said with a smile.

“Why?” Sherlock asked, knowing full well it was Halloween but not knowing why you would go out of the way to decorate. 

You looked up at him, not really surprised at his reaction, you simply smiled at him “Well...’Tis the season” 

He looked at the bags handing from your arms “Please tell me those aren’t more decorations?”

You chuckled as you walked over to the kitchen counter “Nope!” lifting one of the bags and turning it upside down, Sherlock watched as various bags of candy fell from the bag “These are for the Trick or Treaters” turning the other bag upside down, even more bags of candy fell onto the table “And these are for us” you smiled at him with a big grin.

Sherlock walked over to you, looking down at the candy “I don’t get Trick or Treaters here”

“Yes you do, you just shut off all the lights and ignore them” 

Sherlock met your eyes, wondering if you guessed that yourself, or if John told you “Either way they are annoying” 

“Well, either way, you will be giving out candy this year” you smiled before turning away “Why do you dislike Halloween so much anyway?” 

“It’s not that I dislike it, it’s more that I’ve never celebrated Halloween” 

You looked over at him, somewhat surprise, his parents were sure to celebrate weren’t they? You wondered what the real reason was. Thinking for a second before you turned around, reaching down to a bag that you had left on the floor earlier. Pulling out a pirate hat, you turned, placing it on top of Sherlocks head “Well you’re going to now” 

Sherlock stared at you for a moment, you were not ordering him to participate, not judging him for never celebrating, but instead, you were inviting him to celebrate for the first time, with you. 

He looked up, seeing the edge of the pirate hat you placed on his head “Fine. But I will not dress up” You squinted your eyes at him making him continue his sentence “as, a pirate” 

You smiled “That’s fine, I have more options” 

“You what?” he asked, his eyes falling to the bag on the floor 

You turned away at the question “You can decide later, but for now-” turning back, you were holding a small pumpkin in one hand, and a glass skull in the other “You’ll help me finish decorating” 

Sherlock’s immediate reaction was to refuse, but pausing as he looked into your eyes, seeing excitement and hope in your eyes he quietly breathed out “Alright” grabbing the decorations from your hands, he couldn’t help but smile as your own grew in excitement “Let’s not go overboard though” he suggested as he saw you grab more fake cobwebs.

You turned and looked at him “Of course not” you said with a smirk, both of you knowing Sherlock couldn’t stop you if he tried. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Don’t really know how I feel about this one, but I hope you guys liked it!

If you’d like to be added to a taglist, for a character or fandom, let me know~

Reblogs, Likes and Comments are highly appreciated!~ 

[taekooktimeline]

December 31st, 2019 / January 1st, 2020

Following New Year’s Countdown, members take turns to talk about their resolutions. Tae says he wants to occupy himself with activities that heal his mind, although we understand it’s simply to maintain or - if possible - increase the level of happiness he experienced during 2019 as he said it was a happy year.

Jungkook interjects, interested in knowing whom he would do such activities with. If we go over prior events we can see that Tae had been going on trips with his family and various friends, including him & the wooga squad on a yacht, while Jk saw his own friends and relatives, complaining about Jhope and Jimin being the only members he had seen during their 1 month-long vacation on mid 2019, which could or could not be true, but if Taekook briefly saw each other they wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere outside an apartment. Jungkook could be bothered by this lack of private adventures and shared experiences (disregarding their variety shows). Wooga squad had also met up during Christmas Eve. Again, we don’t know if Tk spent some little time together or not.

Tae responds by saying there are many things that he can do alone. That answer doesn’t quite satisfy Jungkook who asks “not with us?”. It seems like Jungkook thought that they could be hanging out more than what they were and that Taehyung was going overboard with the closeting to the point of slightly distancing himself (although not reaching awkwardness like they later tried to sell).

Jungkook actually wrote a song that could give insight into this situation since it could have been written around this time. The Japanese demo was finished before March 2020 since it was first mentioned then, probably written only a few months before. Jk drew a big, artistic eye on a whiteboard on Dec 4th, which suggests he was already working on the songs’ adaptation to the Japanese film which gave it its name. This means he wrote the Korean version before December of 2019 and it had nothing to do with the pandemic. “Your Eyes Tell” talks about Jk being fearful of someone leaving him, even crying over it. He wants this person to believe him when he says that he wants a future with them no matter the hardships, even if he can’t say it out loud yet (meaning not ready to come out yet?) and his past demons haunt him sometimes (his lowest being late 2017/ early 2018). To believe him when he says that he finds this “darkness” to be beautiful if they are together. He says the world would be dull without the other and that he won’t take his eyes off of this person making sure that they don’t leave his side. If we assume this person to be Tae then, for whatever reason, Jk sensed that Tae was doubting Jk’s determination to keep going with their relationship, maybe due to the added difficulties that came with living in different apartments since around July 2019 and the weight of the prolonged closeting strategies. Jk may have interpreted the beginning of what seemed like a distancing as some sort of test where Tae gave him an easy way out or feared that if the situation progressed in this direction Tae would end up falling into thoughts that went something like “I should be the one to put an end to this for Jungkook’s sake” so he instead reassured him about his love through a ballad. It’s unclear whether Jk had real reasons to worry or he was just insecure about the changes in their relationship (living situation + heavier closeting = less private time together) and linking them to Tae’s past tendencies where he thought Jk would be better off without him.

Continuing with the topic, the night prior to this vlive Tae announced that he had recently written the first version of a song. It was written somewhere between the 14th & the 31st of December of 2019 and it seems like he was talking about “Sweet Night”, a song that was said to be completed by the start of March 2020 for the drama “Itaewon Class”. While we think that this song is based on Tae’s past experiences (finding common ground with the drama) from when he first realized he was deeply in love, unsure if the other still felt the same way, it was necessary for him to be able to relive the emotions he once felt, as he explained about his general creation process. The song tells that they had already crossed the line or grazed it at some points, but the sentence “are you my best friend?” & the part where he regrets realizing he’s in love only after the opportunity had passed are much more fitting to earlier in their relationship when things had never been labeled as romantic nor gotten serious, prior to an actual relationship ever ensuing which only happens at the end of the drama (not compatible with their mutual, unwavering gestures of love & compromise done throughout the previous years in addition to them “hiding” things like them sharing hotel room = having a serious relationship). The adaptation of Tae’s beloved webtoon inspired him to rediscover these emotions as it was also an opportunity to be part of an OST for a drama that his friend had a role in, but it also makes you wonder if he was truly in danger of going through the regression that Jk feared, Tae’s mind going back to the time they missed out on love. The song includes phrases such as “now my forever is falling down wondering if you’d want me now”, “I wonder if you are too good to be true” & “guess we were ships in the night” (meeting for a brief moment, or coming close to doing so, but then losing sight of each other due to the darkness). This last sentence is perhaps the most worrisome because it feels timeless, easily applicable to his musings at the time of writing, knowing they have to hold on tight to not part ways again because, as Jk reassuringly says in YET: “even this darkness we see is beautiful”.

”Sweet Night” opens with the lyrics “on my pillow/can’t get me tired/sharing my fragile truth”. On the 14th of December of 2019 Tae said he couldn't sleep well those days and that it could be due to it being the end of the year. It’s something he recouringly has trouble with so it can remind him of other occasions in which he had that problem. He usually writes down his emotions in his diary and revisits them. He also mentioned Itaewon Class.

On the 31st of December he then said he wrote a song.

The 6th of March of 2020 he talks about “Sweet Night”. He was saying it was hard to convey how he wanted the instrumental to sound to the staff (“express what’s in his mind”), but it was completed briefly before this vlive.

Regardless, “Your Eyes Tell” tries to retain someone BEFORE the end approaches, acting as a reassurance in case the other doubts (similar to “My Time”, released in February of 2020, where he promises they’ll overcome the restrictions), and we don’t think they broke up in 2019 due to many reasons, among them Tae saying in his final comments that it was a happy year with no particularly sad moments. January 25th was then the start of Tae being quite loud on Weverse throughout 2020 by mentioning Jungkook the most out of the members on free will (disregarding their iconic public exchange initiated by Jk on the 15th) and giving special attention to Jk-related questions as well as Taekook-related usernames. An indication of Jk’s efforts having an effect and Tae feeling encouraged to add subtle ways in which he could play with or challenge the exaggerated closeting limitations? An interesting set of rings also appeared within the month of January and it must’ve been Tae who gave Jk two rings out of the set of five that he initially wore himself. Jk held dearly onto them.

[ser-rex]

💤 What was your OC like as a baby, a child and as a teen? (if your OC is a teen or a child, what will they be like as an adult?). How have they changed since then? What lessons have they learned and what things about their youth do they miss the most? Do they have any general regrets?

This is... such a huge question I could spend a long time getting into and it has been in here for like years and years and every time I look at my backlog of asks I blanch at the magnitude of the question, but I'm gonna use it as a prompt and go way overboard apparently! As a cub they were practically feral. They spent as much time parkouring over the landscape on all fours, using their nose and body language to speak more than their words. They barely learned the Eorzean alphabet, and only for convenience, and they learned huntspeak first, and Eorzean a distant second. They were still quite big hearted- they yearned to be loved and acknowledged, to not be welcomed or accepted in moments of social bonding, but being raised in a tribe that didn't consider them as anything other than a rather unfortunate embarrassment on their nunh, they were bottom of the pecking order their entire life. They only began to gain attention and turn some heads when they pushed themself to get stronger, pick bigger fights, and start knocking older Tia down to size- and in the inevitable clash with the nunh, they were sent running with a broken arm and their life on a thread, out into the scrub, completely alone to live rough for a few years, until they finally managed to crawl their way into formal adventuring, then later Gladiatorial work. Their whole early arc when I first started playing them in 2016 and into 2017 was their shifting from being scrappy, half starved, hiding their mistrust in everything and everyone with a grim devil-may-care attitude, trying to be cool and tough and regularly struggling with a deep sense of displacement, of cultural homelessness. They never fit in where they were raised, and they've never truly- even to this day- found somewhere they really feel like they fit in and belong, outside of in their own home with their own mates and family, and even then- some of them are not miqo'te, and they fear what will happen if the mask comes off in front of someone who doesn't understand. They do miss I think being wild, rather than the domesticated house cat they have schooled themself into- they have had to mask a lot of their more instinctual miqo'te behaviours in public pretty much ever since they started working for a living, first in Ul'dah and then later in Ishgard- they know they can't be completely at ease, because how they look at ease looks completely insane or at least pretty rude, to even tribal miqo'te. They would rather flash their fangs than have to calmly explain that someone has crossed a boundary. They just want to curl up on a chair and nap, a lot of the time, when they are most comfortable. They would sit, walk, even get from point A to point B completely differently- but they are stuck where they are, continuing to pass themself off as normal, respectable, tolerable, or at least pleasantly neutral enough to become ignorable. Having to be upright and civilized and have full conversations in their second- and third- languages can be exhausting, because they are actively thinking about where their body is and what they are doing and saying, what noises they are making. They never had to deal with that as a cub- and some times they very much just want to run howling back into the desert or the closest patch of wilderness where no one can find them and just stop being a Spoken Person for a while. The way they handle this now, is just to allow themself time to stop masking- they spend a lot of time just laying on the floor or the couch, watching their kittens play or play-fighting with them, teaching them to hunt and use their fangs and claws, grumbling in tender huntspeak so they get to learn to be more comfortably ambidexterous in how they navigate the world outside their family home. They take time to stop being an Invested Knight of Ishgard- and when they are socializing, they are almost theatrically social and seem rather charming- because they have fully accepted and internalized it as an act. A mask, that does not need to be stapled to their face, that they can wear with enthusiasm and put

on a good show, and then take off later when they go home and truly relax. DJing helps, too, weirdly: all the gizmos and lights and buttons and knobs couldn't be more far from the wilderness, but a thumping bass line is something they grew up with as far as musical expression goes. Vibing to music is one of their greatest reliefs and self-care tools, music and dance and the sharing that experience with a throng of people is practically a magic forged from emotion itself. Being the maestro di music of Club Crescent is theatre in its own right, with the protective barrier of a persona and a mixing table, and they can lose themself in music and melt away their anxiety and fears about flunking their social skills. Rex's whole story kinda turns around them being a stranger in a familiar land, even from their first memories, and getting frustrated with that fact, and finding ways to thwart or circumvent their own roadblocks through the most batshit weird workarounds and some hair-raising social trust-fall exercises. But what they wanted most as a cub was to belong, and learning how to play by Eorzea's rules- and when to break those rules- is generally the best lessons Rex could ever teach, and will teach, to their own cubs.

[thejudgingtrash]

hello mel i Love You

HELLO DIL I LOVE YOU EVEN MORE!!!

You had me SCREAMING! Criminal genius/Detective Annabeth is my new hyper fixation, I fucking swear T_T

My brain went OVERBOARD with this! It’s super long! Please enjoy!!

(I’ve withheld this story due to the current political climate and I still feel sorta a way. But if reading about the p*lice triggers you or makes you feel uncomfortable, I wholeheartedly understand if you want to skip this one. Also... the story has some... a little bit of heat in it. Not much, it’s SFW. But it’s there <.<)

And: law enforcement, medical and science side of the pjo fandom, I doubt that this will make any sense :D

Also thanks again Torie @percyheartsannabeth for being an amazing beta!!

The Golden Age (WC: 9,5k)

i.

“Absolutely not,” Detective Annabeth Chase crossed her arms and shook violently her head. The blonde curls nearly escaped her bun. Her partner Detective Luke Castellan was surprised. He had never seen Annabeth reject a direct command.

“We need his statement, Chase,” said Sergeant Charles Beckendorf. “It’s his M.O. The drugs, the paintings. Either he’s operating from prison again or someone’s copying him. We need to put a stop to this nonsense once and for all!”

“Even so, we’re busy with the robberies in Chelsea.” Annabeth didn’t want to pick this case up again. The case that made her famous, the case that changed her life forever. For the worse.

“Stoll will take over that with his younger brother. Chase, you don’t have a choice. You will talk to Perseus Jackson. That’s an order,” Captain Dougenis commanded. He had the final say. Luke nodded, Annabeth did nothing.

“Don’t you think we haven’t tried to get him to cooperate earlier? He said he only wants to talk to you. The person that put him behind bars,” Beckendorf explained.

Fuck Annabeth thought. She did not want to face Perseus Jackson again. She wanted to forget him and move on. The looks from her two superiors said that they would deny her wish. Jackson was a cunning manipulator. She knew how he worked and what he was. A criminal. A thief. A criminal.

“When will I speak with him?” she sighed. A battle that was lost quickly.

“In two days. Should give you enough time to study the case files,” Dougenis said.

Off to a great start. The sound of footsteps echoing in the hallway muffled as the prisoner was placed into the interview room two days later. He sat down and the cuffs fell from his hands. He rubbed his wrists. A little bit of freedom regained. Orange was a hideous color, but he actually managed to make it look good on him.

He and Annabeth were separated by the thin layer of the one-way-mirror. His sea green eyes scanned the plain fake wall in front of him. They tried to find her as he knew he was being watched. The piercing stare actually caught her eye directly. Annabeth sighed. He couldn’t hear her, but a smirk found its way onto his lips regardless. He knew her.

“You’ll be fine in there?” asked Luke who would stay outside of the interview room. He had been a part in arresting that monster. The condition that Jackson gave them was that he wanted to speak with Annabeth – alone. Annabeth nodded. Then she stepped into the small room. Tension laid in the air.

Four years had passed since he had been locked up. Perseus looked good. His hair was grayer, the beard had been trimmed recently. He looked like he exercised on a regular basis. Annabeth’s eyes spent two seconds engraving the picture of his brown biceps into her memory.

“Perseus Jackson, 38, born in New York City, arrested due to art theft and extortion. Twelve years. You’ve managed roughly a third so far.” Despite her marvelous work, they never were able to charge him for drug trafficking directly. The witnesses had remained silent. Annabeth took a seat in front of him.

“Annabeth, you know me,” Perseus pouted. A contrast to his deep voice. “Call me Percy,” he winked.

Her neck felt hot. “It’s Detective Chase for you!” she hissed. Amusement sparked through his eyes.

“Okay, Detective Chase.” How was he able to make her name sound so… dirty? So profligate?

“The woman that I have to thank for my new cozy home needs my help now all of a sudden. The tables have turned. I like that.” And Annabeth did not like one bit how his mocking tone sent shivers down her spine. The way his tongue flicked. The urge of standing up and fleeing the room was prominent, but she was a professional and had a job to do:

Make Perseus Jackson sing.

“I need information.” Annabeth’s mouth was pressed to a thin line.

“Straight to the point, Detective, huh?” The attractive man leaned forward. “And what information do I supposedly have?”

“Your family never stopped your business,” Annabeth spat. Perseus shrugged and his fingers tapped on the desk. An annoying habit.

“Someone is operating with the same methods as you. Art gets stolen and drugs follow the leads. Either you’re behind it or someone else has been recruited to fill your place. We need to find that someone.” She opened the case files and showed him pictures of missing paintings and locations as well as new collecting points for drugs on a map.

“Oh?” Jackson made and tilted his head. He faked interest and glanced lazily over the pictures.

“I’m pretty sure that I don’t have the time in my precious little cell to run all of the things that you’ve been accusing me of. Everything comes at a price, Detective,” he then smiled.

Sea green met light gray. Annabeth swallowed. Memories came back.

ii.

Two years. Annabeth had spent two years on that fucking case and barely made any progress. The smuggling of paintings to cover up or be used as payment for drug operations just didn’t make any sense. Her partner Luke got undercover into the business as a small middle man, but the rules were different for women. Sexism ruled yet once again. Detective work had narrowed the window down and came to one person: Perseus Jackson. He was invisible. He was a phantom. He had been swallowed by mother earth, never to be seen again.

He was part of the Greek syndicate that ruled with an iron fist over the East Coast. Not even the Italians, Chinese, Egyptians or Russians had that much power. Chrýseon Genos. The Golden Age. A fitting name for a bunch of pieces of shit that found joy in ruining people’s lives and making New York unsafe each and every single day. Everything was coded and followed the basic principles of Greek mythology. After Konstantinos Olympianidikis, otherwise known as Kronos, died in the 1970s due to a raging war with his own brothers, his three sons split the legacy and entire empire into three sections:

Adrian Olympianidikis. Hades. Racketeering and money laundering.

Petros Olympianidikis. Poseidon. Theft and drug trafficking.

Zacharias Olympianidikis. Zeus. Prostitution and human trafficking.

All these crimes were tied to the Golden Age and the police forces couldn’t do anything. Witnesses vanished or remained silent. The little evidence they had left was either compromised or disappeared. Everyone in the Golden Age had their little specialty. Everyone passed missions and power onto the next family member in the hierarchy. So did Petros aka Poseidon do the same thing with his sons. One of those sons was Paris. His youngest. The only pieces of information that Annabeth had of him were a 17-year-old picture that showed Paris shoplifting with some of his cousins and a diploma that showed that he had studied art history. A picture of him as a boy and proof that he had a college degree. Wow. Compelling evidence.

Annabeth took one final look of the teenage boy. The picture had been taken in the year 2000 hence the quality of the security camera of Macy’s being complete shit. Despite seeing a long mop on his head and awfully baggy clothes there was next to nothing that was useful for Annabeth in the year 2017. Hell. Who knew what Jackson looked like now as a grown man? The probability of him running around like in the early 2000s was next to none.

“And?” Annabeth asked Luke as he returned from a meeting in the syndicate.

“Poseidon is willing to speak to you,” her blond colleague nodded. The scar under his eye had proved his loyalty. A near fight for life and death. The other person had remained in the hospital for a while but was fine and dandy by now according to Luke.

“Okay.”

“Only you. Not anyone else. I’ll drive you.” Annabeth nodded.

The townhouse in the Meatpacking District did not look much like most of the houses in the area. The real luxury laid within. The house was filled with two kinds of people: security guards and young models. Annabeth felt uncomfortable and underdressed as she was following a young girl’s lead. Barely a woman. Not only did Poseidon enjoy his life at the fullest, no, he was also rich as fuck. Young women served drinks and cooked in the kitchen. Bikinis, shorts and cocktail dresses so short that they nearly gave Annabeth whiplash. A young thing named Lacy brought Annabeth to the garden where a mini pool party was going on at its fullest.

Despite being in his 80s, Poseidon looked good. He looked young and was full of life. He looked like he was in his solid early 50s. The hair and the bushy beard were so white that it seemed to have been dyed. The tanned skin was healthy. A friendly face. The only indication of his age were the neck and his hands. Had Annabeth been into older men, she had to admit that she wouldn’t have said no to Poseidon from the visuals alone.

Poseidon enjoyed his book and the giggling girls in the background as Lacy caught his attention with the new arrival. “Ah!” he said, and his eyes twinkled as he put the sunglasses away. Girls were swimming in the pool or playing volleyball, music was blasting, and food was served.

“Detective Chase!” Poseidon stood up and shook her hand. A firm grip. He spoke with a soft Greek accent.

“What can I do for you?” he asked friendly.

“More like how can you help me speak to one of your sons?” Annabeth smiled.

Poseidon laughed. “Which one? I have many.”

Yes, you do you horny bastard the blonde thought. Poseidon had twelve sons in total. Or twelve sons that he publicly claimed. All by different mothers of course. All of them had joined the family business and most have paid the price with their lives.

Proteus. Triton. Khrysomallos. Pegasus. Arion. Polyphemus. Bellerophon. Theseus. Orion. Sciron. Chrysaor. Paris. More than half of them were dead, less than half of them were alive. Tryfon aka Triton, the son Poseidon had when he was 19, had been killed by his cousin Iraklis also known as Hercules in 1974. Orion had been twelve when he had been shot in the street by Antonios and Phoebe aka the twins Apollon and Artemis in 1986. Assassinated by his own cousins. The trend of getting killed by your own family members was fairly present in the Golden Age.

“The youngest,” Annabeth answered which made Poseidon laugh.

“Ah, my boy Paris. What did he do?” Curiosity swung in the words of the old man that referred to his son in his codename.

“Sorry, confidential,” Annabeth deflected and pouted.

“Of course, of course. Ah the police. Friend and helper. As you can see-” Poseidon pointed to the precious gardens. “My son isn’t here.”

Annabeth nodded. “Well, if you happen to see him, tell him to give me a call.”

She gave him her card. Poseidon studied it. “Of course, I will Miss Chase.” Another friendly smile.

The blonde nodded and then left. The smile of the old man vanished for a split second only to appear as one of his young helpers gave him one of the many burner phones of the house.

“Thank you, Drew!” he said before pressing a number into the small device.

“Yes?” asked the tired voice of a man on the other side.

“Can you explain to me why a certain Detective Chase from the NYPD came to my home to talk about you?” The old man sounded cold and amused at the same time.

“What?” Now he was wide awake.

“I thought the woman would introduce herself as your fiancé! Something that would actually make me proud,” complained the old man and nodded to another young thing that handed him a drink.

“I will take care of it.”

“Yes, you will.”

The line was dead.

And Annabeth continued to work for another two weeks without any other results. Her shift came to an end but at least the desk was clean. She didn’t drown in mountains of paperwork like Castellan did.

“See you tomorrow!” said Connor Stoll as she crossed ways with him in the hallway.

“See you!” Her mood had reached its lowest so far. It was time to visit her best friend since childhood and his bar The Grove. As soon as Annabeth stepped out of the police department, it started to rain.

“Great.” Her steps got faster.

Fortunately for her, The Grove was within walking distance. The pouring sky distracted Annabeth so much that she didn’t realize neither a black Lexus parking around the corner nor the footsteps that had been following her. The leather jacket and the blonde curls were wet but nothing that would worry bartender and owner Grover Underwood all too much. He had seen her in fairly worse states.

“What can I do for you, Annabeth? An Old Fashioned like usual?” His friend nodded.

“Have you eaten something?” The dark-skinned man knew Annabeth and her habits. Overworking herself and forgetting to eat lunch were her favorite deadly combinations.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind something to snack on,” she confessed.

Grover only shook his head but gave her a glass full of pretzel sticks. A delicious Old Fashioned stood on the counter a few moments later. The door behind her opened and closed.

“What can I do for you, sir?” asked Grover and looked to the door.

“Whiskey. Double.” A rich baritone. Pleasant to the ears.

Annabeth heard the squeaking of the barstool next to her. She turned her head to the right and nearly fell to the ground. A man sat next to her that was a younger copy of Poseidon. Paris Olympianikidis also known as Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon. The man she had been searching for since forever randomly decided to appear. Her talk with Poseidon must have sparked something and Annabeth hated the stupid rule about women not being in the family business unless they had been born into it even more. Precious time that could have been used for undercover operations had been wasted.

Perseus looked… good. Good didn’t even describe it. His salt and pepper hair had the same streaks in the beard. He had a chiseled face with a straight nose. Wrinkles around the eyes showed that he loved to laugh and smile. He seemed to enjoy his regular exercise; the way his shirt shifted whenever he moved a muscle made it seem like it was about to tear apart. His skin was of a rich brown, and his lips were curled into a devilish smirk. The sea green eyes were a direct copy of his father’s. He had won the genetic lottery. He had nothing in common with the shoplifting boy from the year 2000.

“A little bird told me you were looking for me,” he winked.

Why did her chest feel so heavy? Why weren’t her lungs functioning normally?

Percy had to admit. His father had been right. Annabeth Chase was his type. Her body had a beautiful shape from what he had observed in the past few days. A firm ass that did Pilates on a regular basis in a class not far from her shithole of an apartment. A heart shaped face and a slight tooth gap that made her look only more adorable. Blonde princess curls that seemed to be fairly taken care of with expensive products. But her eyes… an interesting gray that told him one thing: she had a flaming spirit that was blessed with intelligence. Or was it cursed by its burden?

“Your father,” she commented.

The whiskey was served, and Percy took a swig. He was pleased.

“Do you mind?” the handsome man asked as he grabbed a smoke. Annabeth turned to Grover who ignored the antics of the new customer. The bartender placed an ashtray in front of him instead. What in the fuck is going on?

“I usually don’t smoke,” he confessed and lit the cigarette regardless. Annabeth pulled a face. Where was the logic in that?

“And you do now because…?” The interest was honest.

“I only smoke when I’m having a good drink-” He raised the glass to Grover who nodded and appreciated the compliment. “And am sitting next to a beautiful woman,” Perseus winked.

Annabeth didn’t know whether she wanted to blush or strangle him. She was 29 and acted like an insecure school girl for fucks sake! She nearly laughed.

“So, I have the honor of finally meeting you, Annabeth.” The way he said her name. So smoky and dark. He belonged in prison for that.

“It’s Detective Chase for you!” she hissed. The criminal next to her only raised an eyebrow.

“Bossy. Kinky. I like it,” he smirked and enjoyed the redness of her face as he pulled from the cigarette and blew the smoke.

Grover in the corner tried to hide his laughter with a cough. Annabeth turned to her best friend with a murderous rage. “Annabeth and kinky. Yeah right.”

“Grover, shut up!” she commanded. Jackson next to her was more than just amused.

“Now I’m interested.” He tapped some of the ashes off.

“You really want to know the details of her love life?” Grover asked.

“Oh, I definitely bite,” Percy smiled. Yes please. Annabeth wanted to smack herself.

“Could we come to the more pressing matters?” the woman groaned.

“Sure,” Jackson shrugged.

He lifted his drink, she lifted hers. They met in the middle and both felt a spark immediately.

“I need information.” Chase cutting the chase.

Percy smiled. “Everything comes at a price.”

The fact that Annabeth had spent another hour next to him and had let him pay for all of her drinks made her stomach churn in hindsight. He even insisted on paying for the Uber that picked her up.

As Annabeth returned to her apartment, she started searching through it high and low in her semi drunken state. The stupid Greek syndicate had to have bugged her. Her already chaotic apartment was even more disheveled. At least she would be forced to properly clean up once the weekend hit. The worst part was that she found absolutely nothing.

What’s worse? Being wrong or being crazy?

iii.

“I’m pretty sure you got the wrong person,” Percy said and grabbed the glass of water in front of him. The interview room looked sad. “I know nothing.”

“I’m pretty sure we’ve got the right person,” Annabeth retorted and leaned forward. Her hand grabbed the edge table so tightly that the vessels nearly popped. He had to give her something.

“You’re the key. You were the blueprint and now someone’s running off with your legacy. And you’re more than okay with that?!”

“Mmhh,” Percy made. As if he had seen the most delicious thing in his life. The fact that he didn’t lick his lips was a wonder. Annabeth’s eyes followed his gaze right into her cleavage. Two buttons of her blouse that had been left open. Boys will be boys.

“Are you fucking serious, Jackson?” she spat.

The prisoner leaned backwards into his chair with a grin that quickly vanished. “It stinks in here,” he sighed.

Annabeth halted her movement. Her eyes widened in shock.

“No,” she whispered.

His beautiful sea green eyes told her one thing. Yes.

iv.

“Is this really necessary?” Annabeth questioned Beckendorf’s decision behind his back.

A visit to an art gallery. Perseus Jackson decided to become visible to the public eye all of a sudden and started to work as an art collector and conservator. He had meetings with clients, he had visitors in his studio and seemed to actually use his degree for something. Whether it was for the good or not was a matter of perspective. The criminal went to the gym daily; he even bought his own fucking groceries. Observing him had been nerve wrecking. Especially since probably he knew that he was being watched and therefore enjoyed every second of Annabeth’s annoyance. The detective felt like a true voyeur. He hadn’t done anything suspicious unless being a little piece of shit counted. Jackson didn’t separate his waste for an instance. Prick.

When Luke told her that Jackson had planned the opening of a gallery and proposed that they should go, the blonde almost laughed. A public event where no invitation was needed. A ballsy move. It seemed like Jackson really gave no fucks. Unfortunately, Beckendorf caught wind of it and now she was forced to go.

“I’m afraid so,” Luke said as he rubbed his temples. He really wasn’t in the mood for a fight with Annabeth. She was an opponent that just maimed you with arguments.

“What’s going on, Annabeth?” her colleague asked. “You wanted to find Jackson the entire time. You’ve worked for years on this and now you’re basically backpedaling. This is so not you.”

For better or for worse, Annabeth didn’t talk about Luke with her meeting with Jackson at The Grove. Something told her that she should hold onto the information.

“I don’t know. Just a bad feeling I guess,” she confessed. Annabeth didn’t know what would happen once Jackson was aware of her presence. And he would definitely see her.

“You’re not alone.” Luke patted her shoulder. “Grace, Beauregard and hell even that di Angelo informant guy said they would be present. Jackson must have pulled a big gig if even the Italians are interested in his shitty joint. Nothing will happen to you.”

I’m not so sure about that, Annabeth thought, but the only thing she did was nod.

A month had passed, and the day of the gallery opening was finally there. Annabeth stood in front of the building where soft string music could be heard from the outside and guests flooded in. Annabeth saw how undercover cop Jason Grace entered. He quickly glanced in her direction but turned around. Annabeth understood; he was a valuable asset who could not let his cover get blown over.

The blue dress that she wore hugged her curves tightly and the high heels that she chose made the detective regret every life decision that led up to that exact moment. Her soles would be burning the next day and it wasn’t like in the movies. An attempt to run in those things would be a one-way ticket to the ER. The wire in the dress didn’t make the discomfort any better.

“Chase, everything's fine?” asked Beckendorf in her ear. Of course, she had been bugged.

“Yes, everything is good. I’m moving,” she said.

Annabeth mingled with the crowd and entered. The blonde actually stood in awe and registered all the modern pieces. Pop art, minimal art, abstract expressionism, all sorts of different post-modern works that fought for space but harmonized wonderfully together in the rooms. How the fuck was that criminal scum be able to display works from Andy Warhol, Helen Frankenthaler or Jackson Pollock?

They had to be either stolen, bought for a large sum, rented, which was not the style of the Greek syndicate or, something that was Jackson’s supposed specialty, be forged. A waiter offered her champagne which she politely declined. As much as Annabeth would love to cloud her mind, she could not afford it on that evening. She had to look out for Jackson. The blonde made her first round at a slow speed.

“Can you see him yet?”

“No, not yet. Oh, there he is! With Chiara Benvenuti!” A known mafia bride. Chiara was surrounded by her bodyguards like always as she pointed towards a picture.

“Good,” Beckendorf breathed into her ear. “Perhaps we can finally raid this place.”

The painting was an abstract piece with lots of red elements. Blood that was spilled on the dance floor. Something fitting for a coldhearted villain.

“Of course, painting it was a task, but I thoroughly enjoyed it,” Annabeth heard Jackson say. The way Benvenuti laughed made her rage. Jackson joining her, didn’t make it any better. The fact that Benvenuti stared at his tanned chest as he had left some of the buttons of his shirt open, pissed the detective even more off.

Jackson’s sea green eyes shifted to the right and caught her staring at him. A pleased expression rested on his face and the smile could almost be considered to be honest. Embarrassed, Annabeth turned around and immediately left the corner. Fuck that mission. Fuck everything. Fuck that man in particular and the uneasy feeling that rested inside her heart. She saw Luke mingling with two people in black suits, they looked like they would fit the description of some of the Golden Age’s lackeys. Luke was irritated but there was no time for explanation. Annabeth needed alcohol, she needed it badly.

“Chase, what’s going on dammit?” hissed Beckendorf as he heard her frantic steps. She was glad he was unable to see her in that pathetic state.

“Nothing,” Annabeth lied. “Don’t want to blow cover.”

Fortunately, another waitress was making her rounds and Annabeth grabbed a glass which she nearly inhaled. She was wandering through the gallery and tried to figure out her next steps. Too little, too late.

“You left me waiting. Good evening, Detective.”

Annabeth almost let the glass fall as she heard his deep voice behind her and felt his large hand around her waist. A scent of musk and fresh sea breeze crawled into her nose. The grip wasn’t extremely tight, but it was clear that Perseus Jackson had no intention of letting her go.

“Fuck!” hissed Beckendorf into her ear. It was too early to storm the place. They had nothing in their hands against Jackson.

“You have quite the collection,” Annabeth complimented him.

“Thank you, love.” She punished him with a sour look that made his grin only widen.

“Interested in buying?”

“If it’s real perhaps.”

“Oh, my dear Annabeth, everything is real.” The warmth of his hand spread throughout her entire body. Her glass was empty, and he gave it to one of the lackeys.

“Mister Olympianidikis,” the boy nodded and ran off with it immediately. Oh, the power of someone in the higher hierarchical position of a crime syndicate.

Jackson accompanied her through the gallery and showed her his favorite pieces.

Annabeth could picture Beckendorf walking up and down in the small van, nearly losing his shit at the man babbling about oil colors or frameworks that he or other painters used. Jackson was hindering them on purpose. Something was going on.

“There’s something I want to show you. Follow me.” He took her hand and walked to a hidden niche. Jason Grace who stood in the corner and spoke to a woman eyed them with suspicion.

A white door was there with the words Emergency Exit engraved on it. A cold and naked hallway was in front of them. Lights were off and the moon was the only orb that illuminated the place. They were alone.

“And what are you supposed to show-” Jackson cut her off. With a brutal kiss.

A spark that set the entire place in flames. Annabeth did the one thing she was not supposed to: not use her intelligence. Her arms automatically wrapped themselves around his neck as she fiercely kissed him back. Their lips fought a battle against their lungs, and they dived into each other again and again. Taste. That was all they thought.

Percy pulled away from Annabeth. She was beautiful. Her citric smell was divine. The delicate updo was no more. The lipstick was smeared. Her lips trembled and there was something else written in her eyes. Lust. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. A wild look was on his face. He kissed her again. He held her close to his body and pressed her against the wall.

Annabeth felt how one of his hands slid underneath the dress. Did Annabeth exchange the boy shorts for a thong in the last minute? Yes, she did. Did she regret that decision? No, she did not. But his hands had a different goal in mind. The yanking made her shriek into his mouth. A solid welcome for his tongue. The wire underneath her dress was no more. Only then did he place his tight grip on her ass.

Oh, two can play this game Annabeth thought and grabbed the wire that stuck out of his collar.

“Guess that no one’s listening in on us anymore,” Percy commentated.

“It seems like it,” Annabeth agreed. A calm before the storm. A storm that broke loose as they kissed each other again. Percy’s lips wandered.

“Who told you to waltz in this place with this fucking dress?” He claimed her neck with kisses. His beard tickled her. “You look perfect!”

Annabeth wished she could retaliate the compliment. Percy looked fairly handsome in the beige suit, but her brain was short circuiting and only focused on not moaning too loudly and enjoying the feeling of being pressed against him. The probability of her colleagues rushing in that compromising situation was way too high.

Percy broke the kiss off for good. He made a move towards the staircase. A foot was set to the lower step. “Come with me!” His hands reached out for her.

Annabeth was panting. Heart or sanity who would win? Annabeth made one decision that would seal her fate forever. She took his hand and the unlikely pair fled out of the building.

As soon as they opened the backdoor, Annabeth heard a frantic scream for her name. There was no turning back now. A black car was waiting for them in the hidden alley. It looked like Castellan didn’t do his homework properly and had received the wrong plans of the building to study.

Percy held the door open for her and she slipped into the limousine. Percy followed. “Leo!” he barked. The vehicle moved with screeching tires and drove through a garage which led to a tunnel that Annabeth had never seen. She stopped paying attention to it as Percy claimed her lips yet again.

The car ride was a blurry memory. They entered another garage which was when the car stopped. “We’ve arrived,” announced the chauffeur.

Percy nodded to the front and then exited the car. He reached out for Annabeth and helped her out of the car. “Where are we?” she asked as they entered an elevator.

Percy pressed a key card against the board. “My home.”

There was no time left for sightseeing. They immediately entered the bedroom. His jacket was tossed aside, her dress slid to the floor. Both of them fell to the bed. Both of them never wanted to leave the bed.

Annabeth woke up to the wonderful smell of coffee. Her eyes fluttered and the memories hit her. The wonderful night she had shared with a wanted criminal. Her naked body was wrapped in satin sheets. The blonde sat up. Her pale body was sore and ached but in the best way. She didn’t remember the last time she had sex with anyone; work had been way too busy. She didn’t want to remember. What Perseus Jackson did to her would be fairly impossible to top.

Said Perseus Jackson entered the bedroom in nothing but sweatpants and two mugs. Oh yes, he did enjoy his daily workouts. “Morning,” he smiled.

“Morning,” she replied and thanked him for the cup. A delicious aroma took over the room. Annabeth took a sip.

“Mmhh,” she delightfully sighed. Two pumps of hazelnut and heavy cream, just the way she liked it.

“Yes, I did do my homework,” he laughed and drank his tea. “You aren’t the only people that study others. Was seeing me work out at least fun?”

“Shut up, Jackson,” Annabeth blushed. He laughed.

The cop finished her cup and Percy put it on a nightstand. “And what do you want to do now?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Something’s coming to my mind.” His light eyes darkened, and he cupped her face. Annabeth pushed the blanket aside, revealing her perfect self.

“That insatiable?” she laughed but didn’t receive an answer as she felt his lips on hers again. Her hand went on to grasp his black curls.

“Very,” he said as his hands roamed over her very naked body.

Putting the blue dress on again felt wrong. Percy wouldn’t have minded for Annabeth to stay the entire day at his apartment, but he knew she had a point when she said that her colleagues would searchthe entire city for her. Turning brick by brick if they must.

“I honestly can’t come up with a good excuse for my boss. You didn’t think this through.” Annabeth wandered through the modern apartment. It was bathed in light and had window fronts that showed her the entirety of Manhattan and the green of the Central Park. A dream apartment. The Golden Age had money, no doubt in that.

“Well… I actually have an idea,” Percy started. Annabeth turned to him with one cocked eyebrow and her hands on her hips.

“That sounds like I won’t like it,” she predicted.

He opened a cabinet and showed her the bottle.

“Are you fucking serious?!”

“Well as you’ve said. I didn’t think it through,” he shrugged with a goofy grin. It made him look adorable. Stop Annabeth. No time for that. Percy grabbed a cloth as well.

“Let’s just say that I never had the honor of being treated that way,” Annabeth muttered. But she agreed with him. It would make the lies that were about to come out of her mouth easier.

Percy kissed Annabeth one last time and brushed a lock out of her beautiful face. “Sweet dreams, Annabeth,” he wished her.

Then he pressed the drenched cloth over her nose and mouth. Her eyes rolled back, and she was embraced by darkness. Annabeth slumped down but Percy caught her.

Four hours later, Luke Castellan and Jason Grace made their way to Annabeth’s apartment, looking for possible clues. Both of them were fucking pissed. At Jackson, at Annabeth, at the entire fucking operation. The police force was frantically looking  for her. They got Paris Olympianidikis for kidnapping at least. If they would catch him.

Luke had a key to Annabeth’s apartment because they were  close friends. Annabeth had actually defied orders, nearly ruined a mission and drove him to the hospital as his wife gave birth three years ago. He had to find her. Not to make it even, but to know that his friend was safe.

“Look for anything useful,” Luke commanded. Jason nodded.

Luke entered the living room and Jason worked through the bathroom which was followed by the bedroom. He nearly slipped to the floor.

And there she was, sleeping like a princess.

“Annabeth?! Annabeth! Luke, she’s here!”

The next thing Annabeth remembered was waking up in the hospital. She knew that everyone was pissed at her. But Castellan had defended her for the stupid act of following a criminal to nowhere. Jason had seen where they left, and Annabeth thought the Sergeant could hear important information. Who would have guessed that the wiring would be cut off?

Examinations. DNA samples were taken to get a hold of Jackson. Questions. So many questions. A knock. Yet another person that wanted to annoy her. “Yes?” Annabeth sighed.

“Annabeth,” Beckendorf entered the hospital room. Annabeth felt patronized but of course her hands were tied. She refused to speak with her boss about a certain criminal. She covered up the truth and enjoyed living her life in lies. The young detective had no family who anyone could call. That made Beckendorf extremely worried about her.

The tall man took a seat next to her bed. “I’m not here to tear you apart, pretty sure Captain Dougenis had the pleasure.” Yes, he had. “I want to hear from you what happened.”

The blonde retold her vision of events. “I don’t know,” she sighed. “It was a trap. I can’t remember how I ended up in my apartment.” Annabeth spoke a little truth in her web of lies.

“The way our connection cut off as soon as you left the exhibition… I thought it was static. Then you were gone.” Oh no, he heard us making out Annabeth thought. She tried to suppress the panic that was bubbling up in her and was glad that Percy had discarded the wires. The technicians at the police department would have immediately figured out that there had been no static. She remembered almost everything. The staircases. The car. The apartment. The way he felt between her legs. The way she straddled him. The way he grabbed her throat. The pleasures and the cries.

Beckendorf looked deeply into her eyes. He knew that she had something to hide but was wise enough not to ask. The old man was one of the few people that blindly trusted her instincts in the department.

“Okay,” was all that he said. “I’m trusting your judgement.” She nodded. He was a kind soul.

“Take the next week off. You need the rest.” Beckendorf stood up.

v.

Percy saw how her delicate fingers grabbed the folder and closed it. The shiny object fell into his vision.

“I like your ring.” His sea green eyes shot up to her face. He saw a slight blush on her cheeks.

“Thank you,” she nearly whispered and played with the small white band.

“Someone very important gave it to me a long time ago. Someone dear to my heart.”

He blinked twice. She blinked twice.

A devilish smirk rested on his face.

vi.

Their affair lasted an entire year. The fact that it came to an end was saddening. But it was predictable. Star-crossed lovers from two entirely different universes that weren’t meant to be. Otherwise the balance of both of their worlds would crash, burn, and fall.

Annabeth had insight into the police work and Percy had insight into the Golden Age. That was the sole reason they barely saw each other in a work related context. They actually managed to live a fairly happy life outside of the working hours. They went on secret dates, they visited museums after they had been closed and reopened only for the powerful son of Poseidon, they watched movies together, they even flew out to visit his Hawaiian mother Sally who adored Annabeth. And the sex was amazing. A welcoming bonus. Both felt happiness for the very first time. Both felt love for the very first time.

The secret studio in his art gallery was one of the few places where they could be free.

“And here’s the Mona Lisa,” Percy grabbed the painting out of the box. He showed Annabeth some of his latest pieces that were part of his collection or creations. Real paintings and forged ones.

“Wow, that looks so real. An incredible copy.” Annabeth had visited France in her college days.

“The thing that’s hanging in the Louvre?” he winked.

“Tell me you’re joking.” The corners of his lips pointing up was all she got.

Annabeth laid next to him a week later. They were inside of her shitty apartment. Percy had surprised her because of course he could cook as well. To the question “Is there something you can’t do?” Percy only answered, “Change a tire and board planes because I hate heights.”

He might have been joking, he might have been serious. Annabeth did not care. She had returned from yet another demanding shift. This time her task force had hunted down one of Zeus’ kids. Aristidis also known as Ares. Despite being in his late 40s he was an annoying little piece of shit. The fat fuck tried to sell child slaves on the dark web and barely managed to escape them.

As Annabeth had entered her apartment, she was greeted by the delicious smell of parmesan that melted over fresh pasta. Seeing houseman Percy cook was not only a picture for the gods but something she could get used to. Annabeth placed her bag on the sofa and ran to the kitchen to greet Percy with a kiss. A passionate kiss.

“Aren’t-” kiss. “You-” kiss. “Hungry?” he asked between their kisses.

“Well, I think we can eat later.”

“Grover is right, you’re a terrible liar when it comes to food,” he joked. The Grove was another spot for them together. Once the customers left, the three would sit together and joke. Mostly at Annabeth’s expense.

Annabeth pouted and then kissed him again. The only thing that broke her silence was her stomach grumbling.

Percy broke off from her with a roaring laughter. “Eat first. Then we can come to the more fun activities.”

Annabeth pouted but Percy unfortunately had a point.

Now she was fighting against falling asleep as she laid on his chest and he played with her hair. He inhaled her smell. Raindrops were racing on the window as gravity pulled them down. The shower on the outside calmed them. “There’s a good reason why you never found me. Why no one found me,” Percy started.

Her tiredness was gone. Curiosity won. “The fact that my father uses me as his master forger is abundantly clear, right?”

Annabeth nodded. They didn’t talk much about his business ventures in the Golden Age, but she had pieced large chunks of the puzzle together.

“I want to leave my family,” he confessed.

“What?” That came as a surprise to Annabeth. Percy seemed fairly content with his life in the family business. He joked about it and enjoyed the high standards of life that came with the fruits. Then again, Annabeth had seen the dark shadows that followed the Golden Age everywhere they went. Blood, bodies, chaos, destruction.

“A rule that my father engraved into my brain was to be invisible. Live like there’s no tomorrow, but don’t forget to clean the remains of yesterday. The day me and my cousin Ethan were caught shoplifting seventeen years ago changed me. It changed us all. We were so naive, and felt so invincible. For normal parents that would have been a tirade and grounding. Our parents think differently. For Ethan, whose idea it was to begin with, it cost him his eye.”

Annabeth’s eyes widened. The cruelty of parents. The fact that the Golden Age had no problem with hunting their own down was still sickening to her.

“It didn’t matter. Four months in and he had been shot by the Russians, the Bratva. Nearly started an entire fucking war,” he sighed.

“Percy, that’s horrible.” Annabeth tried to see if there was any emotion left in his eyes. There was none. His eyes were dull from the wars he had seen. Percy was blind and used to the cruelty of the survival of the fittest.

“Annabeth, I’ve witnessed my first murder as a thirteen-year-old. At least I haven’t pulled the trigger myself yet. Not in a deadly way.” He stared at the white ceiling.

Her heart broke for the boy that lost his honest smile. “That doesn’t make it any better.”

“No, it doesn’t. It really doesn’t.” Percy hugged her tightly. “I want to be free. Die as a free man. Live in the sunlight and not in the shadows. Not in fear of getting gunned down by a crazy family member. My father spoke with my uncles. They gave me an impossible task. Once I solve it, I’m a free man.”

“Who are you? John Wick?” she joked. She wasn’t in the mood for cracking stupid jokes, but she had to uplift the situation or else the mental image of Percy losing his innocence as a child would forever haunt her.

“That guy is amazing; I’m not going to lie.” Percy managed to crack a crooked smile.

“And the task?”

Percy sighed. He wouldn’t have minded a smoke. “It stinks in here, the three of them had said. ”He turned to Annabeth. “There’s a rat.”

A rat? she thought. “Someone that betrays my family. They mix up our business and create chaos from within as if they want us to implode. I have to find and either obtain or eliminate them.”

Someone that betrayed the Golden Age? Whoever they were, they were crazy and suicidal.

“And what do you want to do once you’re free?”

“Move to Hawaii. Be reunited with my mother again. Find a woman,” he looked at her and grinned. “Marry her, pop out a kid or three. Be an artist.”

Silence. Annabeth was speechless. “I wouldn’t mind seeing that and being a part of that,” she whispered.

Percy only kissed her.

Another month later. The fact that Percy disappeared around her birthday upset her, but that was life. He had been in Los Angeles for a gig. Which gig exactly she did not ask. Was it a legal gig? Highly debatable. It had something to do with the rat. That was all that he told her.

A small package got sent to her and she was curious to see what it was. No sender. Carefully she opened it. A small ring box was in there. Tiffany’s & Co.

A card was attached to the box. Happy Birthday, Princess – P.

“Oh no…” Annabeth opened the little box. The ring had a small silver band that was covered in small diamonds. Her jaw dropped. The ring was beautiful. And it was meant to be for her?

Annabeth put it on. It sat perfectly on her ring finger. Annabeth looked at the box again. It had a code on it. The detective grabbed her phone and searched for the ring.

“WHAT THE-”

Perseus had spent fifteen thousand dollars for that little piece of jewelry.

“No…” she cried. How could he have spent so much money on her?

Annabeth ran into her bathroom and shoved a loose tile aside. She used that little space to hide something. That something was the burner phone that Percy had given her so that they could always stay in contact. Annabeth called him.

“And?” he asked.

“PERSEUS JACKSON!” she yelled.

“HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND?!”

“Why? Don’t you like the ring?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. I love it. We have to talk about the price.” Her left hand already played with the beautiful ring.

“Why? Do you want a more expensive one? Let me know which one, I’ll buy it,” he stated.

“What?! No! You’ve spent way too much on that ring! I can’t accept this!”

Percy laughed. “You can and you will. It is my gift for you. Happy birthday, Annabeth.”

Annabeth wanted to scream. Denying his gift felt so wrong, but it was the right choice she made.

“Once you’re here we’re going to have a talk. We have to return this!”

Annabeth could practically hear how he shook his head. “You’re going to like the ring and you’re going to keep it.”

“Fine,” she huffed. Annabeth accepted her fate and waited until the days of solitude would be over. Until she was reunited with her Percy again.

The year had passed. Then it happened. The day Paris Olympianidikis would fall.

vii.

“Cooperate with me, Jackson,” Annabeth sounded soft. He merely raised an eyebrow.

“Cooperate and we can make a deal. Better conditions in prison, a reduced sentence perhaps and-”

“I want out,” he boldly stated.

Annabeth stared at him blankly. “Pardon me?”

“You said cooperate and we can make a deal. That’s my end of the line.” Jackson leaned back into his chair again.

Annabeth was speechless. He had beaten her with her own game. She closed her eyes for a second before focusing on him again. Don’t let him get the best out of you.

“I’ll see what I can do.” He smirked as he loved to hear that answer. Then she remembered what he had said.

“You said it stinks in here?” she repeated. Annabeth eyed him suspiciously.

“Yes, Detective,” he truthfully answered.

“What does it smell like?”

“Colors, Detective.”

“Why?”

“You should be able to see it for yourself.” He scratched his temples.

viii.

They got him. They didn’t get him with drugs or anything else that would give him a long sentence. But they got him with one of his forges. The good old Al Capone method. If you don’t get him with the big guns, try to stick to the petty crimes. Criminals get sloppy. Especially criminals that do way too much in too many places. The meeting was over, and everyone cheered. Everyone but Annabeth.

“Shouldn’t you be happy? Hell, Annabeth. You’ve spent more than three years on this case.” asked Travis Stoll.

“It’s just…unbelievable. The fact that everything comes to an end. Goal completed and all,” she smiled sadly.

Annabeth dreaded her seeing Percy again. He was waiting in her apartment and probably preparing food for them. The sight of her apartment complex made her heart sink. Where once was joy, ruled depression.

“Annabeth, what happened?” Percy ran to the door as he saw her in her desolate state. The door closed and she told him what would happen in the next sixteen hours.

“I’m so sorry,” she cried. Percy just held her and hugged her tightly as the tears blinded her. He fought his own tears that threatened to rise. Their future, destroyed.

“It was bound to end like this,” he said. Sadness rested in his voice. But also, tranquility.

“No.” Annabeth shook her head and buried her face into his strong chest.

“Whatever happens. I’ll be fine. Most of the prisons and the judges are smeared.” He kissed her head.

“Of course, they are,” she laughed darkly. Knowing that he wouldn’t be subjected to fights in prison didn’t do much to calm her down. She’d rather have him next to her.

“Annabeth. I want you to arrest me.”

“No. Never.” She violently shook her head again and slapped his shoulder.

“I mean I’m already used to your cuffs, now’s the chance to make it official,” he grinned.

“Percy! Now is not the time to joke about our sex life.” They shared a laugh anyway.

“I have another wish. Move on, Annabeth. Live life to the fullest,” he whispered.

“Everything but that.” She refused to move on. How could she?

“Find an idiot, marry him, have kids and live happily with him. Do that for me. Please,” he continued.

“I want you to be that idiot,” she pressed and looked deep into his eyes. “I don’t care how long it’ll take. I’ll wait for you.”

He kissed her. Don’t do this Annabeth. Don’t give me hope he thought.

The unlikely couple hugged each other tightly as they went to bed. One last time. It didn’t come to Annabeth as a surprise to find his side of the bed cold and empty. His side. His side was no more, it was only her side.

Perseus spent the night and morning hours in the art gallery. He had one final piece to finish. He drank and smoked and cursed. The bottle of cheap whiskey nearly fell to the ground, but he managed to catch it.

The oil painting was a self-portrait. An anchor to the last few moments of his life as a free man that hid in the shadows.

The task force broke into his gallery. He had a cigarette in his mouth and put the paintbrush down as his lover approached him. He had a sarcastic smile on his lips which vanished as he registered the pain in her eyes.

“Perseus Jackson, you are under arrest,” spoke Annabeth with a commanding tone.

She put him into cuffs and read him his rights. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court... A glance at the painting he had been working on ever since he left the apartment.

Annabeth knew immediately that it was them. Percy in the painting hugged her but their faces had been cut off. She saw the birthmarks on her back and the accuracy of how he portrayed his hands on her hip. Percy’s final act of love to her for all of them to see. Unfortunately, all of them were blind to it. All of them but Annabeth.

The moment she was at home she ran to the bathroom and emptied her stomach. Gush after gush came out of her. Her mouth felt sour and dry, the teeth hurt and had an ugly yellow color, the tears that blinded her ran towards her nose. “What have I done?” she cried and looked at her pathetic self in the bathroom mirror.

Judgement day came eight painful months later. The judge slammed the hammer and sealed his fate.

Twelve years. Twelve years was the sentence. Perseus lost his coolness for one second. Annabeth’s heart broke in two. Poseidon who sat on the other side of the room looked like he wanted to shoot the judge right then and here and Annabeth would have gladly joined him.

They were robbed of twelve years together. Percy was put into handcuffs. His sea green eyes searched through the ranks until they found her gray ones. He blinked twice. I love you. She blinked twice. I love you too. The police officers around her almost cheered.

They complimented her for the worst decision of her life. An act that had destroyed her life. Her lover was gone. And a free rat was still out there.

The trail of memories stopped. Annabeth knew that Luke was restless behind the one-way-mirror. The talk had stretched into eternity and gave little information to the hidden detective, but so much to Annabeth. Percy had been right. He was roaming freely in prison. He was able to talk with his family day in and day out. And most importantly. He knew of operations. And he knew of his own operations the best.

Finally. There was movement in the gallery. Whoever was decided to continue the work of Percy Jackson was stupid enough to revisit the place where it all began. The rat would be caught in a trap.

“NYPD PUT YOUR - no.” Annabeth had the gun pointed at him. But she couldn’t believe it. The rat. The rat that had cost her four years of their life.

“I’m sorry, Annabeth,” he sadly smiled. Then he pointed his gun at her.

A shot.

Annabeth had closed her eyes. The bullet didn’t hit her. It had hit him as Luke Castellan had fired a warning shot into the abdomen. The detectives moved to him.

“Call an ambulance!” yelled Annabeth to the cops that flooded the place. He laughed on the floor as he bled.

Jason Grace. Secret son of Zacharias Olympianidikis also known as Zeus. He not only wanted to act in revenge as Percy’s brother Sciron had killed his older sister Thalia. He wanted to spite him and take over his businesses as well. The money and the gold. The cars and fame. In his twisted mind he was able to run the syndicate and destroy it at the same time. It was over.

Annabeth saw as the ambulance drove off. Percy scratching his temples as an indication for the glasses and his talk about colors to point to the gallery would be his ticket to freedom. Hopefully.

ix.

It was the first time that Percy had seen the sun as a free man again. He left prison with the clothes he entered. The deal with the district attorney went smoothly although the old man would have rather wrung the half-Greek’s neck.

A black car drove up to the prison. Two people exited the car.

“Mom? Dad?”

Sally and Poseidon hugged their free son tightly.

“You are stupid!” cried Sally. “Both of you!”

Father and son winced. That was Sally Jackson for them.

x.

Quitting her job had been freeing. She had made the decision about half a year ago. Annabeth wanted to see something new. Experience something new. She was on the way to the small airport. The day was sunny and warm. A new day to start a new chapter in her life.

Annabeth arrived. “You can stop hiding, we aren’t being followed,” she laughed.

Percy yawned in the backseat. “I was sleeping,” he excused himself.

“Of course, you were.” She rolled her eyes and smiled into his reflection in the rearview mirror.

Her colleagues were upset, especially Luke, but it had to be. She had to quit for her own sanity. Beckendorf would check up on her and then see who she was with and connect the dots. But he would be wise enough not to contact her, not to rat her out. He would be happy about the fact that she had found love.

They would live with Sally and her little family for a while before they would buy their own house. The private jet that Zeus had given them would bring them to Hawaii undetected. A small sorry as the son of Zeus had caused a lot of trouble in the family. At least Jason was still alive.

Annabeth stopped the car and turned to Percy.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” she grinned. A delicate kiss was shared.

A golden age was truly upon them.

The End

Ummm... I... I think this might be a poppin feature fic? I have still many ideas and many things could be fleshed out...? Help?

BUT THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE SUGGESTION DIL OMFG ILY!

All Cookout Fics

Cute/Cursed Cookout Writing Prompts

[nostalthicc]

he’s not mine | jeff wittek

dad!jeff wittek x reader

summary: helping jeff raise his son was fun until she came back

warnings: angst, fluff, many mistakes

2.5k words

oliver was born may 28th, 2017

december 8th, 2017

y/n gave jeff a small smile as she stepped into his apartment, many baby toys were scattered across the floor along with camera equipment. she admired the cozy apartment, way bigger than hers but it felt homey. “i’m really sorry about this, i was completely rushing this morning and couldn’t realize i picked up the wrong phone.” she apologized as she handing jeff his phone back, thinking about the simple mistake she made this morning.

“i’m almost there!” y/n whispered into her phone. “please, stall a little bit longer, i didn’t think smoothies took this long.” she walked up to the counter, slamming her phone down, her foot tapped at a rapid pace as she wanted for her drinks to be done. y/n was so anxious she didn’t even notice the beautiful stranger place his phone right next to her own when he started to order. 

“y/n?” her eyes lit up when the man called her name, she quickly got her drinks, phone, and a few napkins before she raced out of there. it wasn’t until after her presentation did y/n realize she had taken the wrong phone, the screensaver wasn’t hers, the text messages coming through sure weren’t hers and the phone numbers looked unfamiliar. she started going into panic mode, how was she supposed to get through the day without her phone or let alone knowing who had her phone. 

she recognized her number pop up on the screen, she rushed out of class without a word, causing all heads to turn towards her but she could care less. y/n had important information on that phone she didn’t want getting out. “hello?” she answered, her voice shaking a bit.

the stranger was quiet for a few seconds. “i didn’t think thieves answered the phone they stole or left their own behind.” the masculine voice responded causing a wave a relief to flood over y/n.

“i promise i wasn’t trying to steal your phone! i was in a rush this morning and i didn’t even notice- i really wasn’t trying to steal anything-” she stopped rambling when she heard a low chuckle come from the opposite line. “i promise i wasn’t.” 

“i figured, i’m just messing with you.” he said, still continuing to laugh. “uh, so y/n, are you free right now to switch back? i can text you the address,” he asked after gaining his composure. y/n quickly answered with a yes, climbing into her car. her anxiety grew as she got closer to the stranger’s house, y/n already knew he had seen her private messages, she didn’t have a password on her phone and was not logged out of any of her social media accounts. but she was slightly relieved for her irresponsibility because he wouldn’t have been able to call her otherwise.

“you should probably pay a little bit more attention next time.” he teased, grabbing her phone off the kitchen table, returning it to her. although he was supposed to be filming a video he did find humor behind the situation, how many times do you run into someone with an identical phone and case as you. “and you should probably put a password on your phone.”

y/n sighed, starring down at the floor. “how much did you see?” 

“enough to know you’re in deep shit.” jeff decided not to sugarcoat it for this girl. it was not looking great for her. “i mean cmon’ sleeping with your professor- and in no way am i trying to pry but it just seems a little too risky.” 

“i know, i know, i’m just right at the end and he’s threatening me. i just can’t go down this close to the end.” y/n explained and it was all true, he paid for her housing, tuition, and held her future right in the palm of his hand. she didn’t know why she was explaining this to a guy she just met but he was as of now the only person that knew. she told him about how her professor is blackmailing her, about her father’s will opening when she graduates, the perfect job waiting for her when she gets out of college and he just sat there listening like it was the most interesting thing in the world. 

for the first time in a long time, jeff realized people who came from well-supported backgrounds could have complicated lives as well. they were interrupted by the loud wails of his son in the bedroom. jeff excused him before returning with a baby in his arms. he watched as y/n’s eyes light up at the chubby baby cuddling into his father. “you like babies?”

“like would be an understatement, i love babies!” she gushed, trying to contain her excitement while starring at the child. jeff walked over to y/n, gently placing his son in her arms. she gladly took him but looked up at jeff as if asking for permission, he gave her a grin before going back to his seat across the couch. y/n placed the baby’s feet on her knees as she admired his adorable face. “you might be the cutest baby i’ve ever seen, look at your cheeks.” her baby voice surfaced when she started talking to the baby, completely ignoring his father. he let out a toothless grin, showing off his gums. “are you smiling? are you happy?” 

“his name is oliver.” 

y/n lifted oliver off of her lap, setting him back on her lap. “hello, oliver. aren’t you just the cutest?” olive squealed again, earning a giggle from y/n. “yes, yes you are.”

june 17th, 2018

“no, please, please tell me it’s not more clothes,” jeff cried, watching y/n walk into the apartment with numerous bags dangling around her arms. ever since the pair became official y/n had taken it into her own hands to spoil oliver and jeff occasionally. she had become the motherly figure in his life, curing jeff of being a single father. 

y/n dropped all her bags directly on the floor by the front door, along with her jacket and purse to see her little sunshine who was playing with a yellow school bus and firetruck on the floor next to jeff. “hi, baby!” she said lifting him off the floor. “did you eat this morning?” she scratched his belly before turning to jeff, he gave her a thumbs-up without even tearing his eyes away from the computer screen. y/n rolled her eyes returning her attention back to oliver who remained swinging his truck around in the air. “do you wanna have a fashion show for your daddy? i think he would like that, wouldn’t he? we could show off our new clothes.”

jeff’s ears perked at her words but he didn’t look at her, he would have plenty of time for that. it’s why he played extra hard with oliver and let him stay up an hour past his nap time. alone time for the couple didn’t come often with a baby, even though they always seemed to find time for it. always. 

even though jeff hated y/n buying oliver new clothes almost every week, he had to admit he always looked adorable in them. he would constantly say his son could pull off anything, which was true. the last outfit was a sleeper with bear ears on the hood, bears on the feet and a brown fluffy tail on the butt. oliver was becoming cranking and begging to be put in his crib, even he could feel the sexual tension rising from the two. 

january 10th, 2019

“okay, one last present.” jeff said, pulling out a bag from behind the counter. y/n furrowed her eyebrows together as she looked at the yellow bag, she had told jeff not to go overboard and he had already given her an abundance of gifts, she really had no idea what this could be. she plucked the variety of colored papers out of the bag before reaching her hand into the bag, her hand was met with a soft fabric. 

“a onesie, oh jee, thanks. is this your pregnancy announcement?” y/n was sarcastic because she was still beyond confused what jeff was doing.

“shut up and turn it around.” 

y/n did as she was told, turning the onesie towards her face. to say she was shocked was an understatement, many emotions ran through her brain while reading the text. 

‘yeah i’m cute, i get it from my mama’

jeff and y/n had never actually talked about what oliver was going to address her as when he started talking, so for jeff to surprise her with this made her heart spin like crazy. y/n ran from her seat to hug him, soft sobs coming from her lips, mixed with a series of thank-yous.  

november 21st, 2019

jeff walked in the kitchen with a towel around his waist, scrolling mindlessly through his phone, little droplets of water fell from his hair onto his toned chest. y/n’s mouth watered as she stared at her boyfriend, she wanted nothing more than to push him back into the shower with her but she had more pressing matters at the moment. mini jeff. she had been trying to get oliver to eat all morning but he was settled on throwing it her instead of eating. 

“ollie, baby, please eat this,” she begged, a small whine leaving her lips. he was already not eating enough, underweight, and not talking. he was just turned two. all the doctors gave the same the response:

“he’s just a little behind, wait a few weeks.”

“don’t worry he’ll be talking in no time.”

“everything will be okay, just give it time.” 

jeff and y/n were tired of giving it time, the suspense was eating away at them, they really just wanted to know how to help oliver. 

y/n gave up on trying to get the baby boy to eat and instead let him play with his toys on the floor. jeff reentered the room, with clothes on this time. “stop worrying, please.” he said, kissing her forehead a few times, y/n went to defend herself but jeff cut her off. “i can see the worry of your face. we’ll be fine, go help erin and carly, we’re having a boys weekend.” she looked up at her boyfriend, pouting. she didn’t want to leave the boys, y/n has grown very attached to both of them. “go, before they kick my ass for holding you here for so long.” 

2 days later

y/n had a lot of fun even though she was away from her boys but she was reading by the end of the weekend to go home. she missed her bed. erin and carly were horrible roommates, y/n couldn’t see how they lived together, they both snored extremely loud and kicked anyone in the bad next to them. but no amount of back pain could have prepared her for what she was about to walk into. the first thing y/n noticed when she trailed into the house was the play pin surround oliver, she thought they had agreed he didn’t need one, the second was the smell, it smelt strongly of lavender in through the apartment. y/n hated lavender with a passion, it caused a rash to form on her chest whenever she was around it.

“are you the babysitter?” a woman’s voice brought y/n out of her thoughts. “i don’t know what time you usually come but we don’t need you anymore,” she spoke dry and uninterested, the woman was cleaning out a new set of bottles, ones with strange nipples oliver didn’t like. 

y/n decided to ignore the lady, she didn’t care about her. she wanted to see her baby and jeff. she made her way over to the play pin, oliver squealed when he saw, waddling his way to edge. y/n willingly wrapped the boy in her arms, breathing in his familiar shampoo. at least that didn’t change. 

“what are you doing? i told you to leave- jeff!” the woman was beginning to grow frustrated with y/n, especially when she reached for her baby. both females watched jeff scurry into the room, looking for a problem but his eyes only met y/n’s confused stare. “she won’t leave, tell her we don’t need a nanny anymore.” 

jeff turning to the woman as she continued to bitch. “just give me one second.” that was a straight jab to the chest for y/n, he didn’t even deny this crazy lady’s allegation and was starting to piece together who she was. “can we talk so a quick moment outside?” he asked, walking over to the girl. 

“that’s-” 

jeff began but y/n cut him off quickly. “polly? yeah, i figured.” y/n clutched tighter onto oliver, she was growing more and more afraid of losing him at this moment. “why is she here, jeff?”

“she wants to be in his life again, she said she was finally ready to be a mom.” he explained, oblivious to y/n’s breaking figure. “she texted me a few days back saying she wanted to meet him so i invited her over and they really did click.” y/n sighed sadly, she knew what was going to happen.

“so what? she wanted to meet up with ollie, our ollie ironically the weekend i was gone.” her sadness was morphing with anger, this isn’t fair to her. “god, jeff! what the fuck! she broke your heart and she’ll break his too, just wait! she wants your money! people like her don’t change!” she didn’t even notice she was crying into oliver reached up to touch a stray tear, her heart was splitting in half and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. 

she watched as his soft eyes turning angry. “i changed, did i not. or do you think i’m just like her, huh.” he seethed, defending polly like she had stuck with him through everything with their son. “just like the mother of my child?” 

neither of them said anything for a long time, starring at one another wait for a counter. “i’m so stupid, so, so stupid.” she mumbled, y/n wiped the tears off her face before looking up at jeff. “what was this? was i some substitute while you waited for who you really wanted? oh my god, i gave up my whole life for you guys, i-i literally don’t have anything.” her breathing started to grow heavier and suddenly she went back right to the day she first met jeff, panicking in her class because she thought she had lost everything. y/n choked on a sob, suddenly handing oliver to jeff before sprinting down the hall.

 y/n left jeff there wondering if he had made the right decision, she left him there having to watch his son cry for his mama, she left him there with a hole in his heart polly couldn’t fill. the only thing polly could fill was her wallet.

[thekidultlife]

IT'S OUR 2ND ANNIVERSARY! 🎉🥳🥂

@Authors' Note: This is Leanne and Hyeri's story. Please bear with us as we try to reminisce over the past years and celebrate where we are now as writers, as friends, and most especially, as individuals who have grown a lot and changed a lot through the years.

Warnings: Contains a semi-reveal of what we actually look like in real life lol so if you’re interested, keep reading down lol.

We started this blog in 2017. We deactivated in 2018, just weeks before what was supposed to be our first anniversary. We stayed silent throughout the rest of 2018 and 2019, but we picked up where we left off this 2020. Despite the messy history of this blog, though, and the changes in our lives, we are extremely happy that we did come back. And the reason why we came back? Well, it’s pretty simple. 

The same love for SEVENTEEN, which made us start this blog, brought us back again.

We’re not lying when we tell you that this blog was what made us closer and what our friendship grow deeper. 

Back then, we were just classmates who found common interests in each other (history, writing novels, analyzing politics, and being one of the ‘Big 3′ in our class lol) but didn’t know how to bond over these interests. But when we both started sharing a room in a dormitory close to our university in 2017, things changed. And things changed because we both found SEVENTEEN. 

LEANNE: I wasn’t really a K-pop fan during that time. But I remember sitting beside Hyeri at our study area, watching her as she watched DWC and thinking to myself, “Maybe this could be it. Maybe this could be the ‘thing’ that we could bond over and could make our friendship grow. And so I leaned over and asked, “Oooh, which group is that?” What followed then was a night where I became a convert, and SVT became a part of me forever. 

After that night, we found ourselves always talking about them because they became the thread that made us close. And while bonding over SVT, we started to become more open about our lives and about ourselves in terms of personalities. We didn’t know why but we just clicked. Before we started becoming really close, we had different sets of friends. But then, we just knew that our friendship was different because we truly understand each other. 

HYERI: I wasn't a Kpop stan before either. Like if my high school me knew I'd become like this, she'll cringe in embarrassment. But it happened. A friend recommended me to watch React to the K because I'm a huge classical music nut, and I discovered Seventeen there. I seriously can't remember that exact moment when Leanne asked, but I do remember that one time when I showed her the dance practice for Aju Nice. It was one of the first things I showed to her, and then without knowing, we've already watched a lot of Seventeen videos. 

Whenever I look back at that time, I just remember how happy we were even though it wasn't really a good moment in our lives. There were a lot of stress and problems, and everything just seemed to spiral down from there. But I just feel a warm feeling in my chest whenever July and August comes, I smell the rain, and remember how many nights we spent binging on Seventeen, talking inside the nearby 7/11 until 1am, knowing that classes were cancelled the next day because of the weather. It was truly a magical moment for me because I never had a friend like Leanne, like sometimes we just have the same thought patterns, and we bonded over Seventeen so much. We would just talk endlessly about them, brainstorming ideas for fics and so on to the point that we only stopped because the 5AM alarm went off lmao Those times were just absolutely incredible.

LEANNE: We also have kind of the same goal back then: to have a platform where we could practice writing. Hyeri suggested that we try creating a blog for fanfiction. I agreed because I truly wanted to try and I was so obsessed with Choi Seungcheol back then. So we planned our first fics, who posts first, and we created it. Just like that. On August 12, 2017, we made our first post.

Our first name was “diabolically-diamondiferous”. We wanted something different (and we now admit that we did go overboard with the bing different thing lol) and so we agreed that this would be our URL. We chose it because of the concept that there is a duality in this blog that readers should look forward to, a dynamic that they would only see here, I guess? That was the goal. That was how it all started. 

HYERI: I was a Wonwoo stan back then. I had already written Love is A Fallacy and a bit of 30 Nights before we even created the blog, and I wanted an avenue where I can post it. I admit I myself can't think of a better url than "diabolically-diamondiferous", so I just went with it. 

Honestly, the blog has helped me a lot with writing. I used to write anime fanfictions and original stories, and I've already established my style back then. This blog has really helped me a lot with refining my writing style and experimenting with new ideas and ways to tell a story, as well as being able to write quickly. I do think I've improved with my dialogues and the way I pace my stories, and make them feel organic. And with that, I've never realized I've already written a lot, until I arranged the masterlist recently.

What began with a few stories turned into hundreds as we started pouring our hearts into this blog. And we would be lying if we told you that it was pressure-free. 

LEANNE: During this time, my responsibilities at uni, family and other personal matters made me unable to focus on the blog a lot. I really feel sorry for Hyeri during this time because she was the one who was more consistent with posting her stories. I joke every now and then these days whenever she couldn’t write that it’s okay, you once had too much weight and now I’ll carry my share and more, too, if it gets hard for you. Even though I was busy with other things, however, Hyeri really pulled through and made this blog come alive. And as a friend, she really helped me get through my darkest moments. This blog, too, became my crutch. Whenever my heart got broken, I would write here. I would try to find my voice (and at that time, I couldn’t find myself, either. Just ask Hyeri why, lol.) in writing. I was experimenting what voice I had while writing and what genre fits me. 

HYERI: Following Leanne's, I guess after our trip to Korea, things became way harder. I had a lot of low points back then as well: losing my scholarship and just so much responsibility in life and at school. I did carry much of the weight of the blog after that semester, and I'm surprised how I managed to do that. I kept on badgering Leanne to finish some requests, but she really had a lot going on as well. Not to mention our plans to join an exchange program to Korea which was another hell we signed up for. It was extra difficult because our department doesn't want us to leave, thinking we're just running away from the strict (and often unfair) professors (ironic when our major is International Relations).Seventeen and this blog was the only way we could bond together and have fun and just forget about everything. I could remember sending each other fake messages from Seventeen just to cheer the other up when things get depressing, or imagining what it would feel like to be an idol and whatnot. It sounds silly now, but that was the only way we could cope with how intense and exhausting our lives were. It was the only thing that kept the constant dread in our nerves from taking over.

What began as an experimental way to boost creativity became something like a career, and steering our motivation, was of course, the boys. Our boys. The amazing people that we write about and that we imagine about. They made us happy during the times when there was nothing to be happy about. They made us take risks that brought out the braveness we didn’t know we had in us, and they made us feel hopeful about the future. 

However, we hit a hurdle we couldn’t bring ourselves back from hurdle after hurdle during our second semester as juniors in college.  

LEANNE: Second semester of junior year in college was really hard for me. The bottom line of it all was the manipulative relationship that I was in with my s/o back then, but a lot of things piled up as well: school responsibilities (I was handling three classes at one point as a professor’s assistant and then ran for a student government position I didn’t really want but felt obliged to). All the while this was happening, I was really feeling myself slip away. I was suffering from depression but I had a lot of things going on around me that I could not just drop because people were depending on me. The only way I thought I would be able to not give up is by going somewhere else to finish my studies. Yes, the environment got that toxic. I really needed to get away. Around this time, I wasn’t active on the blog anymore. Right after elections, I lost my motivation to do anything. I would sometimes pitch in to help Hyeri with some requests, but it took way more effort than I thought it would. 

Hyeri and I decided that we needed to take the risk of applying for the South Korean exchange program, which was one of the best that our uni had to offer. We figured that since our grades were okay, it would be easy. Boy were we wrong.

HYERI: The Coldest Human, The Warmest Robot was the last fic I've posted in the blog before the hiatus. I couldn't do it anymore. There were so many problems and issues with the exchange program that I could no longer handle the blog alone. Leanne had withdrawn too, considering how she has her own things to face as well. It was a really difficult time. After being rejected a visa, I just can't think of writing, or even Seventeen anymore. Just their presence seemed to only remind me that I had been rejected after months and months of preparation. Their songs only reminded me of our disappointments. It was awful and I knew I can't face them at that time. I found myself in Taiwan. Alone. Leanne had stayed and it was depressing. I had to move on despite that, but it felt like an empty success.

We planned to become a part of an exchange program in South Korea, but it didn’t pull through at the last minute. We had staked all our bets, and we lost motivation in a lot of things. One of those things was this blog. We just knew that we had to let it go during 2018, because it was impossible to maintain it when you don’t feel inspired about life anymore. 

HYERI: The Coldest Human, The Warmest Robot was the last fic I've posted in the blog before the hiatus. I couldn't do it anymore. There were so many problems and issues with the exchange program that I could no longer handle the blog alone. Leanne had withdrawn too, considering how she has her own things to face as well. It was a really difficult time. After being rejected a visa, I just can't think of writing, or even Seventeen anymore. Just their presence seemed to only remind me that I had been rejected after months and months of preparation. Their songs only reminded me of our disappointments. It was awful and I knew I can't face them at that time. I found myself in Taiwan. Alone. Leanne had stayed and it was depressing. I had to move on despite that, but it felt like an empty success. Right after going back home for winter vacation, I remember I was angry crying because I knew Leanne can't do anything because of her circumstances, even if she wanted to go to Taiwan so much.

LEANNE: I was miserable during first semester as a senior because everything did not go as planned. I was really losing the resolve to keep going on because nothing had gone the way I had planned it to be. I think the only silver lining during 2018 was that my parents and friends finally stepped in to protect me from the person who had been harming me emotionally and therefore affecting my self-esteem and resolve. We also went to Macau, where I really healed a lot as well while teaching music with close friends from church. But beyond that, I could see no other way to get through the last semester except to follow Hyeri and go to Taiwan. It wasn’t just her friendship that I was missing; it was also about that goal I had in my mind: to find peace and quiet away from everything that had hurt me and drained me.

We didn’t have any high hopes about what lay ahead, but the biggest plot twist came.

LEANNE: By some miracle, I managed to convince my parents that I was well enough to go to Taiwan and that I would be safer there. It all happened so fast. February I was still crying, standing at the train tracks, telling our other friend that I wanted to just end it. But then March came and my visa got approved on a Friday. Three days later, just packing whatever I had with me in my apartment, I left for Taiwan.

It was a miracle Hyeri and I still talk about a lot. We started to heal from everything that we had gone through. We started to re-explore our friendship and in the end, after so much drama and after so much challenges, we finally concluded that this friendship of ours was really something that we wanted to keep forever. We grew a lot through the years.

HYERI: Who would've thought that with a lot of begging and pleading and praying, Leanne was finally able to go to Taiwan. I was so happy. It was one of the happiest memories of my life so far. Being in Taiwan, away from the world, from the responsibilities back at home, it was such a liberating time.It was also the exact period which we started to heal from past disappointments. Seventeen no longer gave me the pain I used to feel, and to this day, You Made My Day---the album which was released before everything happened, and reminded me a lot of what had transpired---is one of my favourite Seventeen albums.

But here we are now, in 2020. It was really because of Hit the Road that we decided to come back. We agreed to start writing again come June 2020. We started doing what we loved again. 

HYERI: We had fully healed from everything and we're fully ready to come back to writing about our precious boys! I am so happy to be able to finally celebrate the actual anniversary for this blog!

LEANNE: And now, here we are, celebrating our anniversary! The first one we really had! This is all impromptu editing but we really wanted to make it special. 

Highlights Throughout the Years:

💎 Love is A Fallacy (Lawyer!Wonwoo)

The first ever fic I've written for SVT. I remember I wrote this while I was at the dorm on my bed, it was a miraculously stress-free night. The song I kept on playing was "20" and I could imagine it being the OST if this was a kdrama 😂 This was at a time when Wonwoo was still my bias.

💎Adagio Cantabile (College Student!Jihoon)

A fic I first wrote after Jihoon became my bias. I could still remember, I was so inspired by a fic titled Customer Satisfaction, that I wrote this one. Plus I'm really into Classical Music, that I could just write one whole fic about it. I'm still amazed how we were able to write fanfiction even though we were swamped with school work, and I mean, SWAMPED, like a lot of exams, graded recitation, things to memorize, super long essays, but we still managed to write. 😂

💎Saffron (Victorian AU DK)

This was written shortly after Leanne and I went back from Korea. I was so blissfully happy back then. I think I've spent a night or two writing this. This was heavily inspired by the game "Chocolatier" which I was playing days before I've started writing 😂 I really love writing for DK, he's such a positively innocent character who was so endearing.

💎The Coldest Human; Warmest Robot (Android!Jihoon)

This was probably the last one shot I've posted before the hiatus in 2018. I remember finishing it in my hometown when we went there for summer vacation. It was a really bad time ngl I lost my scholarship and was supposed to go to an exchange program to South Korea with Leanne. Back I didn't know if I could support that dream financially.

💎The Most Convenient Escape (Soulmate!Jihoon)

This was the first fic I've written after the hiatus. Truthfully, over 2018-2019, I lost my love for SVT. It was painful to be reminded of the fact that we weren't able to go to Korea, so I avoided them while I was in Taiwan. But I came back around this year and started to write this one. It's heavily inspired by the book "Voices of the Past" which is a compilation of American newspaper articles over the years, and anime reviews which talked about Deconstructing a genre (i.e., Madoka Magica and Evangelion). Right now I really do want to finish this series.

Highlights Throughout the Years

💎The Return of Superman Series

My first work, TROS Seungcheol, was the first fic in the entire blog that I was truly proud of. All my other works were too rushed, too experimental for my own taste even, and just doesn’t look like what I, Leanne, if you personally know me, would write about. I strongly believe that there is a unique voice in each story, a voice that belongs only to its writer, and back then, I was still trying to find that voice. The Return of Superman was my breakthrough in writing. I suddenly found an AU that I truly loved to write about, and, most importantly, my voice in writing.

💎After-Party, Only Us, and Afterglow | Yoon Jeonghan

This is the spin-off series that came from Yoon Jeonghan’s The Return of Superman. I started to become more comfortable in my style of writing as I wrote these. You will notice a change of style after the first part, “After-Party”. My writing style has matured, and I really congratulate myself a lot for that. It took me years and tons of experiences to get that flavor I had always wanted in my works! Haha. 

💎The And Series

This is another one of those imagines that really brought out the hopeless romantic inside me, and for that, I am proud of it. It’s still mostly in the works, but I  am really happy about how it’s turning out.

💎Through the Seasons Series

Ah, this is my pet project. All my heart is poured into this one. This is the first series that I truly explored the beauty of love in realistic settings. My writing process here is done by looking at real couples LOL and also tapping into beautiful memories of mine about love and about life and all the drama that comes along. I’m really glad that a lot of our new readers liked the first one that came out!

Our story-time ends here. 

All in all, we just want to say thank you. Thank you for everything. For being with us through this crazy ride of a blog, truly, sincerely, thank you. From our followers since the beginning, to the new ones that we are finding joy in communicating with now, thank you. From the bottom of our hearts!

LET’S MAKE MORE MEMORIES TOGETHER!

- Leanne and Hyeri. 

[fmsdraws]

if i may ask, what was the planned (if it was) story for aucu story mode?

Right, I forgot to write about that. Thanks for this opportunity, though, might as well get it out of my chest. It’s been almost a year since I promised this anyway, so...

AU Crossfire Ultimate: What it could have been

(Note: Just because I’m putting this out in the open, it doesn’t mean I want people taking all of this and doing their own AU Crossfire Ultimate. Please don’t do that to yourself.)

Here’s some of the important links I had for AU Crossfire Ultimate. 

Character Ludography (the AU ludography was eventually repurposed for the AU Ludography we all know and love.)

I had also made a first draft of AU Crossfire’s first chapter, so here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DWBZDUdcUDkU12QU1ztgYR8ZLrZoi0k2g0YShQiiXzg/edit?usp=sharing

The Setting

The RestAUrant listed at the beggining was actually an idea I’d hatched long ago back in 2017. It was then picked up by Mil as a location for her self-insert-ish AU: AUversal Lockdown, which is run by Catms (great name, I know). At the time of writing this, it has not been featured in the AU itself, but I’m certain we’ll get there eventually.

The way I envisioned AU Crossfire Ultimate’s setting was a jumble of iconic locations in both Undertale and its AUs. End pretty much had merged all of the multiverse into one Mt. Ebott, so there was a lot of potential for stuff.

Areas like the Ruins were going to, for one, be considerably larger, and feature a lot of elements from AUs (think flowers from Inverted Fate Asgore’s garden, or Old CORE mechanisms from StorySwap Color in the same room). 

There were also some original locations like the circus, in which the characters would fight Rainbow Gay Jevil Sans (this is not a drill) to rescue the deltarune gang. I even wrote a scene about it in a spur of inspiration.

Oh, but the thing also was that there was no barrier; the only exit was guarded by a buttload of copies of the characters (spirits and stuff), along with some dark purple thingies- I don’t really remember what they were. So it wasn’t like they couldn’t escape, it was just a death sentence to do it on your own.

The Antagonist

So, pretty much the idea was to have AU Crossfire’s Story to take after World of Light and subspace emmisary, the main antagonist was known as “End”, a being that had a buttload of power.

I did have an origin story planned for them, but being honest, their original backstory wasn’t that interesting. A being created by the resentment and hate AU Creators have toward their own work, a being hellbent on destroying everything. They couldn’t be as easily taken out by someone the likes of hyperdeath Asriel on their own.

The idea was to have them as this eeerie being like tabuu that spoke through its actions. But then I never really went anywhere with AUCU.

I’ve since reworked them for another one of my AUs, but for which one, I’ll leave up to you.

The Story

The general idea I had for the story was, like I said, world of light with the general idea of subspace emissary. What that meant was that the cast of characters was split into “teams”. 

The team leaders (survivors of the first attack that fucked everyone up) were Paper Frisk (of course), Core Frisk, and Napstablook (who didn’t go to the tournament at all, he had just stayed home, but when he woke up, he saw the world had been torn up so he tried to help). There were other survivors, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head. 

They’d go around freeing other fighters, and they’d develop group dynamics. Eventually, after they knock some sense into the bosses, they would get some of them to team up. Some of the bosses which I had ideas for were Petey from Undertoad, Mechdyne (which was being controlled by other peeps instead of IFdyne), and some others I can’t think of.

The groups would begin to meet up and go onto becoming an “AU army” that was trying to get out of Mt. Ebott.

The reason I didn’t feature characters like Ink or Error was because I felt they couldn’t really add anything to the story back when I didn’t really know much about them. ... I still don’t really think the outcome would’ve been changed that much, but in hindsight, I’d imagine Error would’ve been a neat boss that joins the team to spite End.

The characters would get together, and do an all-out attack on End to finish the fight once and for all. Here’s a pic I had made to illustrate the scene.

With all that being said...

Why did you not want to keep working on AUCU?

So first off it was a pain to even get the roster figured out. From day one, it was always nitpicked to hell and back.

And back then I was more prone to trying to please everyone, so I’d make changes to the roster on a constant basis, not enough to let me figure out. It went from “Why so many humans” to “when are we getting deltarune reps?”, or “no one knows these AUs, why do you include them?”

It was a lot of stress to deal with, and to this day, I still get people nitpicking on it a year or so after its cancellation. It took a heavy toll on my mental health.

The roster was also unfathomably large before being cut down, but even then I couldn’t have realistically given every character enough screentime for them to matter. I think that I can understand why Sakurai went with everyone being silent in brawl; it’s hell to write that many characters, and I understand why he went with WoL in Ultimate. 

Along with the nitpicks, people asking so dang much for Ink and Error, I lost the will to keep doing it. Thus, it sat on dev hell until I decided to delete the blog.

... That being said, I cannot be thankful enough for all the creators that I reached out to that actually replied to my questions about the characters, I actually met a lot of people this way, so if anything I can thank AU Crossfire Ultimate for that.

I cannot undermine the positive side of making AUCU too, I got to have a lot of back and forth with the community in general. Along with it allowing me to learn how to do sprite posing because boy I had to that a LOT. I also learned how to do much better posing in general, so there’s that.

With all that being said, I feel as though I am finally able to move on from AUCU. It taught me a lot, and something that I don’t think I’ll forget when trying to make these ambitious AU Crossover styled things: 

Don’t go overboard from the get-go, start simple, and have a clear focus of what you want to do, and what’s your end goal.

The End

With all that being said, I don’t think I’ll ever be making another AU crossover that’s as big as AU Crossfire. 

I think that I’d rather do something a bit more simple than th-

... Ah shit, here we go again.

[your-brother-crutchie]

Artemis, Trident, Sparta

Ahhh, oh my gosh, thank you so much!

Artemis: What do you first notice about new people?

Oooh, okay. I have a little routine when meeting new people because I get really nervous so I do this to sort of ground myself.1. The first thing that I tend to notice is whether they seem friendly or not. I’m not very good at reading people and sometimes I get a really hostile vibe from the loveliest people (for example, my friend Emily), so I don’t try to go by this and try to introduce myself anyway.2. I tend to notice their style. Whether it’s something that I would wear or if it sticks out to me or if they’re wearing any kind of merchandise of things that I like or that they might like. One of my favourite things is bringing up that you know someone likes something when they haven’t mentioned it to you and you only know because you remembered that one t-shirt that they wore when you first met them. It really makes people smile to see that you actually pay attention to them, and not just in a verbal sense.3. The last thing that I notice is whether they remind me of any fictional characters that I admire or not. This is really odd but it’s just a thing that I’ve always done. For example, I met a girl the other week on my NCS Summer program who had curly blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and glasses. We were doing problem solving and we had to build a super tall tower and she just took over with the architectural assets we needed to make sure that it was structurally sound and we made the best damn tower there, height-and-design-wise. She just reminded me so strongly of Annabeth from PJO and I had to tell her and she smiled so much, it was so wonderful!

Trident: Who are your favourite people?

My favourite people? Okay. Let’s start with the people that I admire for their talent and hard work and dedication.I’m a Newsies blog so of course we’re including Jeremy Jordan, Ben Fankhauser, Kara Lindsay, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Andy Richardson, Ben Cook, Joshua Burrage, Morgan Keene, Stephen M. Langton, Corey Cott, Ginna Claire, Stephanie Styles, and about a million others (just because someone wasn’t included here doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate them any less than any of these- I tried to keep this short).Secondly, I’m a musical fan, so there’s Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit, Betsy Wolfe, Jessie Mueller, Robert Lenzi, Ben Platt, Andrew Rannells, Anthony Rosenthal, Stephanie J. Block, Alan Menken, Andy Mientus, Christy Altomare, Mary-Beth Peil, Jennifer Damiano, Rachel Tucker (who I saw live at a very intimate concert- she is so tremendously fantastic, even out of character), Carolee Carmello, and, once again, many more.There are many people in television and movies but this is already getting long.My favourite people who I actually know are some of the most wonderful people out there, I believe. Everyday, I am so happy that I know Thea and Mark and Sophie and Liam and Matthew and my wonderful teachers, Mrs MacAdam and Mrs Herbert and Mr Watkins and Miss Day and Mr Murphy and Mr Stimson and Helen- you are all so very, very wonderful and inspire me every single day to create and to work and to be the person that I want to be and to screw what others think because I can do this. I know that none of them will ever see this, heck, I pray that they don’t, but I truly don’t know if Rowan would be sitting here, at two am, writing this without them. I will never look up to any celebrity more than these fantastic people because I am tremendously lucky to have such wonderful friends and mentors.

Sparta: Do you have a bucket list? If so, what’s on it?

I don’t have a traditional bucket list. I have a few things that I know that I want to do but have never actually put down on paper.I suppose I could try it.1. I want to ride again. There is nothing I love more than riding and, although it’s only been three months since my stable closed down, there’s no hobby that I crave to reignite more. I’m not able to buy my own horse and, despite living in the countryside, there are no riding stables nearby. I may only be seventeen and there may be copious chances in the future, but this will always be at the top of my list whilst I’m not riding regularly.2. I want to travel. Not even in the traditional sense because I hate flying and I hate ‘holidaying’. I want to live places. I want to move to countries with no one that I know and I want to find friends all around the globe who I stay in contact with. I know that this is all ridiculous because of money and my introvertedness but, hey, it’s a bucket list. It doesn’t have to be realistic.3. I want to be in a show. Just one show. Just one professional show. I’m not a dancer or a singer so I don’t expect a main character in a musical, all I want is to be up there. I’d love to be in one of Frantic Assembly’s lyrical pieces because they’re the most amazing shows I’ve ever seen, they’re all visually stunning with such small and intimate casts and there’s nothing I’d love more than a relationship with my cast like Newsies.

[memcaked]

Petrify

Source: Subarashiki kono Sekai | The World Ends With You

Characters: The Reaper who missed the meeting from Week 3 Day 5, Kariya Koki, Sakuraba Neku, Kitaniji Megumi, Yashiro Uzuki, Minamimoto Sho, Bito “Beat” Daisukenojo

Additional tags: Apocalypse, Misanthropy, reaper who missed the meeting is also losing their hearing, POV Second Person, Further Warnings in Author’s Note, hivemind, Not beta read, TWEWYTOBER, TWEWYTOBER 2020

Summary: When Kitaniji called that emergency meeting of his, you were grumpy.

Beginning notes: Addendum: this was first written and uploaded on the day of October 7th, 2020. hm so this was certainly not the "wacky shaun of the dead-esque joke about the reaper who missed the meeting upset about all their friends who are ignoring them" that it was meant to be, um. ah.

warnings might be overboard but genuinely did not expect this to be this dark, do want to be better safe than sorry. this work has these very clinical discussion of death and apocalypse and i... i know twewy do be a game all about death but i really do feel some of this is toeing the line. reaper also has hearing + memory loss which might hit too close to home?

to be honest, reflecting on how swiftly a turn this took when i was writing in such a bad mood? i guess writers do fall into their same patterns very quickly.

Body:

When Kitaniji called that emergency meeting of his, you were grumpy. Emergency Calls are for when the UG’s existence is threatened, and as far as you were concerned, the stress is centred around the souls and bodies piling up while the Officers obsess themselves over some prickly kid’s Imagination. So you jigged. It’s a very simple thought process.

Three weeks is so much work; when you’re processing dead, of course, there’s a wintertime uptick, of course, there’ll be no shortage of souls during wars and bombings and accidents and floods and heatwaves and storms. UGs get put under lots of pressure. Kariya told you it’s happened before, in 2 games of the past 10 years, but it was much more common back then. You haven’t seen Kariya or his Yashiro understudy since he told you that.

(Why has it become so empty? There are two fucking players and one of them is that supposed prodigy who crashed and burnt out in his first week, how do so many… so many Reapers drop off? When was the last time you saw those towers of junk and garbage and smashed-up goods that’d kill your smell when you came up to it? There’s so much, so much of the same noise for so little Reapers, where did it all come from?)

The O-Pins the Officers must have issued at the emergency meeting was another brands stunt like the one last fortnight, you thought. Some magical placebo dud to rain hell on two players who didn’t know how to quit, and you’re not too sure if that’s really a bad thing. On the day you last saw Kariya, he danced away with Yashiro in their hushed voices that your hearing on its way out couldn’t grasp other than his skeptical “... they keep the chains on?” You used the cudgel of how you don’t need these special buffing pins to give a good fight though when you look at everyone, the stillness, the simpleness, the ceaselessness, you think you could… who the fuck are you kidding. You haven’t talked to anyone since those two players the UG is going to ruins to get their souls nearly challenged you to a fight, asked about your other friends and why you’re not repeating… whatever they were talking about. You could hear what they said in the first few hours they went like this, but it became background noise to you, your hearing numbing it further.

Something started panicking in you since those two Players talked to you. “These teenage boys are very well going to be the last people I’ll speak to,” it said, “And what will be left over when they’re gone? When they’re gone for the collateral damage of everything?” it feared, “The Officers or the Conductor might not be like this, but what are the chances a lowly wall reaper could meet them?” it screamed. You started moving across all of Shibuya, seeing the same solidified crowds and the drone of voices too quiet for you, searching for anybody in the mix that didn’t have the cursed O-Pin. A lost soul in the sea of to count the wireless Wongs of belfrey or what they’re meant to repeat, repeat, repeat.

You touch any of the actors in the tableaux vivants those stupid pins have made of every corner of Shibuya and that ugly-bright red stare flashes with the same sentences you can barely remember. Maybe hoping they’ll snap out of it, only to hear them recite with the same delivery every time. And from all of the trying with the exact same results, you’re sure you’re hallucinating all the accents. You swore you bumped into some pale pink statue that had such a euro twang you heard the what a wunderkind word sucks vood be as you abandoned it to repeat its trite words to itself, and for those same words to stumble through one ear and out the other with you.

The winds of Dogenzaka chill you to your bones. You peer through the ramen shops’ dark windows, the ones that were all the rage last week, their flashing LEDs off, dirty dishes left on the drainers for the rest of the single-digit days this place has left. You shift in and out of the UG as you stroll by, the reaper decal zoning you back and forth between the collision course that’s Kitaniji’s plans and the living humans of Shibuya. You wonder if its time to give up. You sit on the low windowsill (wow, no hostile architecture?) of some bistro, seeing flashes of your Reaper comrades you can barely name or see their faces of, and wonder what went so horribly wrong.

This morning you know you knew what the kids looked like, Freshmeat without his wings and that fiery, spiky hair screaming for attention, but everything but their biggest details are fading, muddying, merging into the frozen, reddish-grey of the pedestrians, their eyes flashing and droning their motto every, you’ve lost so much track of time you don’t even know. You don’t even know the time except for the blazing Shibuya sun and bitterly frosty nights. You don’t think you remember the date, despite living your unlife by the Timelimit within 7 days. There won’t be anyone left but you, your darkening memory and your deafening hearing and stumbling around the hivemind’s world.

You can see the sun dipping below the skyline. Not that you know when’s the end of this week, but you give Shibuya ‘till the end of that for its unthinking, monotone swan song Maybe when it’s the end and there’s nobody with their wits left, the UG can go through the dead easier. Maybe they’ll be able to write the countless longs or whatever they repeated before everything went solid. It’s a touch strange that even though you’re dead in the ground you’re the one who’s seeing the end of the world.

End notes: or, as a rewording of the final line and keeping in the style this was written in, the world ends with y

realised when i was writing the ending of this probably was thinking of Inventory by Carmen Maria Machado (very nsfw. warnings for an attempted rape in one paragraph and General Pandemic End-Times which were intriguing when this was published back in 2017 but Fucking Terrifying in this day and age!) esp with some final lines. ooo you want to read her body & other parties so bad ooo

[monotonous-minutia]

Hi! Randomly found your Marriage of Figaro critique while browsing the opera tag. Which versions have you seen that DO stay true to the Libretto?

Thanks for asking! Sorry if this post gets a bit rambly. Former literature major here. If you’re not interested in the analysis, I won’t be offended if you just skip to the list at the end.

So, in the original libretto, there aren’t a lot of specific stage directions for “Non piu andrai.” But there is some context. Right before, Figaro has an aside with Cherubino (”Io vo’ parlarti pria che tu parta”--“I need to speak with you before you leave.”) He’s going to tell Cherubino the plan that he reveals to Susanna and the Contessa in Act 2: that they’re going to dress Cherubino as a girl to trick the Count, etc., and Figaro wants to catch Cherubino before he heads to Seville. The insinuation here, though, is that Figaro wants Cherubino to stay. The Count told Cherubino that Cherubino had to leave right away, but Figaro’s plan takes place that night. In order for the plan to work Cherubino has to stay. So, whether intentionally or not, Figaro’s plan is helping Cherubino too. So that’s the setup.

The only other stage direction is “Figaro e Cherubino partono marciando come soldati” (Figaro and Cherubino exit marching like soldiers). Vague, but here’s my hot take. They’re leaving the room together doing the same thing, and given Figaro just spent the last four minutes or so describing army life to Cherubino, one might think then that Figaro is continuing his demonstration by marching and Cherubino is following along. Should be cute, right?

I won’t go into how it’s usually portrayed since that’s not part of your question and I have another post forthcoming that goes into that. So instead after a probably unnecessary amount of background here’s the answer to your question.

There’s two kinds of interpretations that I personally would see as acceptable for staging this scene. 1) Following the libretto exactly, and 2) staying true to the heart of the piece; that is, having Figaro be nice and kind of mentor-y even if he’s not following the direction exactly.

(There’s a few more here than mentioned in previous posts that I’ve seen since writing them, thankfully; I find that older productions tend to portray nicer Figaros. But this is still out of the 20+ renditions I’ve seen so it’s not a great ratio.)

Some productions I’ve seen that follow more literally:

Stagione (2006)   Figaro helps Cherubino dress up like a soldier and fixes his posture (though he could be nicer about it) and they leave marching like soldiers.

Paris (1980) Pretty much same as above but Figaro is a little nicer.

UCSB (2018) Similar to above, but Figaro’s kind of pushy and his teasing goes a little overboard physically.

Livermore Valley Opera (2017) Figaro teaches Cherubino varies soldier-type poses and helps him dress up in an officer’s uniform, and gives him a flag and he leaves the room marching with it.

Some that don’t follow as literally but stay true to the Figaro-should-be-nice-to-Cherubino vibe:

Garsington (2017) Figaro spends the entire number shaving Cherubino; we can imagine to help him feel more mature because he has absolutely no facial hair. Very teasing and Cherubino does get nervous when he shaves under his chin but it’s not mean.

Liege (2018) Figaro demonstrates how to stand, walk, and salute like a soldier, gives Cherubino a hat, and indicates that the ladies love a man in uniform. Best part: they high-five at the end.

Glyndebourne (1973)   Figaro sits Cherubino down for some real talk and gives him an officer’s hat, shakes his hand, and waves at him as he leaves.

Hope this is helpful and not too long-winded! Most of these can be found on YouTube if you’re interested in seeing them.