#had a lotta fun drawing dis

[marysoulpainter]

get licked by a frogge

template by @enbyhyena! thank u <з

also a base i drew

[lyn-js]

One Step at a Time | Prologue

Calvin Evans x OC Reader

Summary: Everything in Ava Mason's life was what you call normal. She has a steady job as a lab tech at Hastings, has a beautiful bungalow in Sugar Hill, and sometimes babysits her friend Harriet's kids. But that all changes when social services show up at her doorstep with, her 2-year-old niece Delilah. Ever since then, it has been keeping you from your job, going to work late, and leaving when everyone else has gone home. But a certain chemist wants to know why a lab tech is staying late.

Warning: Angst, swearing, mentions of drug & alcohol abuse, dysfunctional family, mentions of adoptions & being put into foster care, and a whole lotta fluff.

(This story is kind of based on what actually happened in Lessons in Chemistry. But no dying. We need to keep one of Lewis's characters alive.)

I also do not own any characters in Lessons in Chemistry except for my character Ava Mason.

Walking up to the sounds of little feet padding into your room, you couldn’t ever want to trade that sound in for the world. Fluttering your eyes open, you can see the little girl waddling her way to your bead, for how far her feet can take her. You can also see her hair sprawled out in different directions, and a dopy smile on her face, happy to see you. You focus your attention on your niece your big golden doodle Poppy to come to trodding next to Delilah to help her stand. 

“Mornin’ Aunty Ava,” she says with a cheeky grin on her face, while also trying to hide it from you. “Good morning Bunny,” you say to her. Then, the next second you lift her onto the bed, smothering her face in little kisses while she erupts into a fit of giggle. You had to stop your kisses when Poppy jumped onto the bed and sandwiches between you and Delilah. “Poppy missin’ the kisses too Aunty,” she says while still giggling. After the laughter died down, you over at the clock that was on your nightstand. Having to move some homemade drawings that Delilah made you the other day. You read that it’s 9:30. You’re Late.

Oh Shit.

You pick up Delilah and rush out of the bed, try and get her and yourself dressed, teeth brushed, and out the door. You are getting her buckled in the car and on your way to Harriet's house. When you both arrive, you see a man across the street stretching, maybe he was getting ready for a run. But after he’s done stretching you both stare at one another. It felt like you both were stuck in time like the whole world stopped spinning, and the attention was just on you and him. “Hey Ava!” you snap out of your daze and hear Harriet walking down her porch to greet you and Delilah. You wanted to see if the mysterious tall man was still there, but when you turned back around. He was gone. “Hey… Har’. I was wondering if it’s no trouble if you can watch Del again tonight. The amino’s lab is busting my butt. I need to get some more work finished-” “Hey, It’s okay. I’m happy to watch the little bun again. Plus, we're gonna have so much fun, whaddya think Del?” Hariient asks. Delilah just jumps up and down, “YAY! Hab so much fun Aunty!” you both laugh at her squealing excitement. You kneel down to Delilah’s height and kiss her cheek. “I’ll see you later Bunny. Be good for Harriet okay?” “Otay, Bye, Bye Aunty Ava!” She says waving while being carried up the porch. You give her one more wave until she and Harriet disappear into the house. You let out an exhale, start up your car again, and put it in drive.

Off to Hastings, it is.

Most of your day was spent in the lab cleaning up beakers that were once of a failed experiment, secretly correcting the mistakes some newbies made while writing their problems, and making them coffee. They can go down to the cafeteria and grab a cup, but all of the chemists butter you up with compliments “They don’t make it as you do,” or “At least you know how to make a good cup of joe than the other ladies on the staff.” You wanted to feel insulted, you wanted to speak up and say something. But you knew they would run off to Donatti and there was a high chance, you could get fired. So just keep your head down, mouth shut and be the disty lab tech. Who apparently makes good coffee?

When walking back from lunch you were walking past the secretaries room. Suddenly you hear your name being called. “Miss. Mason…Ava?” you turn around and see the head of the secretaries department, Fran Frask. “Good morning Miss. Frask,” you say to her with a tight-lipped smile and continue walking down to the lab. You knew she was going to bug you again about the pageant. But time and time again you tell her you can’t participate because you have plans that night, meaning you are having a movie night with your niece. That was the only night you could get off on time, and have some time with Deliaha. 

“I hope you can still sign up for the Little Miss Hastings pageant, you know your lab is in between secretaries and you fella could use a boost for the event.” She asks “I’m sorry, but I'm not a secretary,” I say to her being a little offended because she knew for a fact that I was a lab tech. A very good one to be at that. “Well… Ya know lab techs can participate too, it’s any female support staff.” “Thank you, Fran but pageants aren’t my idea of fun,” I say to her while grabbing lab coats and passing them out on each table. “Well, what do you consider fun Ava?” she says with a little enthusiasm in her voice. “I-I like to cook and bake.” “Well ya know, let me know if you change your mind.” “I won't but thank you. Now if you don’t mind I have a lot to clean up before the chemists arrive.” You give her a small wave and a smile so she can hopefully get the hint to leave.

She gives me another little cheeky grin and points her red-colored nails at me. “I’ll put you down as a maybe.” then walking away. Why can’t your life get any easier?

Walking around the lab once again you hear men wanting more coffee, and helping out some others who need help with their equations for the expedients. When coming around to the station where you set up your coffee, you see someone who was a part of the lab walk in with a magazine, and on the front was a man holding up test tubes and seeing what was inside. He looks so familiar, but I don’t know where I have seen him before. You think to yourself, but you snap out of your thoughts and finish making the coffee. But you keep getting distracted when all of the men keep talking about the infamous Calvin Evans. “What does he have that we don’t,” one of them said out loud. Also saying he was up for a Nobel prize, “Doesn’t give him the right to take all of our supplies. I mean how much ribose does one guy need?” 

Maybe this could work, maybe if you can get back some of that ribose you can finally be seen by the lab. Not seen as some female ditsy lab tech. You can finally matter in the world.

It was now after hours and you were over at the sink cleaning up some test tubes and beakers when you heard your name being called out. It was the head of the Aminos lab, Dr. Price. Just telling me to not stay later because he would get in trouble with Donatti. You just nod your head and oblige to his rules, but not listening. After everyone leaves you sneak your way out of the lab to avoid being seen by the janitorial staff and make your way over to Mr. Evans's lab.

When you reach his lab you see on his door there are cardboard signs saying “Keep out” and “Do Not Linger” but I know for a fact that I’m not keeping out, and I’m lingering. So screw your signs. You go back to sneaking in, so you take one of your bobby pins from your hair and unlock the door. Once open you can get a full view of what the infamous chemist does in here. You see records scattered all over the tables, so many loose-leaf pieces of paper with different equations and answers on them. And his lab coat hanging over a lounge chair in the corner. But you start to look around for the back room so you can find what you're looking for.

You pick another lock to the other door, you scan the shelves to find the little tiny bottles. When you finally come across the ribose, the shelves were covered from front to back with so many bottles. How many bottles does this guy need? You think to yourself. You grab a couple of bottles, lock up the doors, and seak your way back over to your lab, finish up your work, and finally head home to see your baby bunny and finally get some sleep. But what you didn’t know was when you were “sneaking” back to the lab, the best of the best secretaries Fran Frask watched you go back into the lab while she was locking up her room for the night.

Once again you wake up late, and trying fast as possible to get ready. You arrived super late around 9:00 but of course, there was traffic, and show up at almost 11. You rush up to the lab so you can get started on handing out the rest of the equipment. But you were stopped by Fran again to tell you Donatti needed you in his office. He sums up the meeting by saying that you weren’t supposed to be staying late, and if it happened again you would be let go from Amino’s lab and Hasingscompletely. Not only that but he was forcing you to compete in the pageant. You try your best to argue why you can’t participate, but of course, he threatens to fire you.  That sets you back a little bit more when Fran confers you to take a picture and be put it on the bulletin board for the pageant. Can this day get any worse than it already is?

You finally make it up to the lab. But, you stop suddenly when you see a man sitting on the table holding a miniature bottle of what you assumed was ribose.

 Oh No.

“Ah, there she is. The thief,” the man says in a mocking tone. I just looked at him like I didn’t know anything. “I beg your pardon?” you ask back. He hops down from the table and starts pacing back and forth. It looked like his head was about to explode. “I have been through every department, and interrogated multiple chemists. Including ones from this very lab,” he twirls his pointer finger around and then points to me. “Who say that you,  Miss. Mason have a history of ruffling feathers. And also have an arrogant attitude of self-importance.” “Have you heard yourself speak Mr. Evans?” I say with raised eyebrows. “Oh, s-so you don’t deny it? I-I mean what would a secretary have anything to do with ribose, aside from selling it on the black market.” 

I just look at him dumbfounded, almost looking like this crazy man has 3 heads. “I am a chemist Mr. Evans, not a secretary!” I said back to him but he was almost out the front door. “Oh, and a fibber, now aren’t we?” I drop my jaw when he walks out the door. “Oh, yes. Because there is such a high demand on the black market for monosaccharide!” “This is very disappointing! Very–- I’m disappointed Miss. Mason.” he turned the corner, and then he disappeared.

(Calvins’s POV)

You were pacing back and forth in front of Fran Frask’s desk, deciding what I should do about this unbelievable situation. 

“One: My lab was unlocked last night, so I want someone to speak to janitorial and have new locks placed on the door.” I see Fran write down on her paper and nodding her head. “Two: I have calculated the cost of the missing ribose, and I want to make it clear, that will not be coming out of my budget. Three: I want the floors sterilized. At least one person entered without my authorization. And with my allergies, I cannot risk any contaminants. You understand?” You look back at her to make sure she has every little detail down to a tea. She just nods “ Yes. I’ll take care of it, Dr. Evans.” Writing the rest down.

“And lastly, I would like the secretary held accountable.” You look up to see Fran have a little smile on her lips. “Don’t worry. I’ll have her fired.”

I furrow my eyebrows a little bit, “Well… just a formal reprimand will suffice.” I see her giving the same look back at me. “I’m shocked that it was on my face. “Dr. Evans I’m shocked that it was one of my secretaries, honestly. Um, you said it was in the Aminos lab? Because that’s Mary Ann Rogers.” She tells me the woman’s name. It’s not her. “No, no, no. Her name is Ava Mason.” She looks back up at me. “Oh, she not a secretary. She’s a lab tech. Puls she should know better, she has her masters.” she looks back down scrambling around, looking for some important papers. “Her masters? In what?” “Chemistry.” Now I look a little dumbfounded at what Fran just told me. Then she asks about the “Little Miss Hastings�� pageant, asking if I will be attending. I just simply ignored her and just walk out the door back up to my lab. But, I stop in my tracks to look at the bulletin board to see the contestant for the pageant. As I look in the lower corner I see the picture of the one and only Ava Mason. For some reason, she looks so frightened. Not wanting her picture to be taken, but giving a half-smile just trying to look nice.

You just simply walk away from the board and continue your journey back to your lab. Why would she want to steal some stupid ribose, and why would she be staying late? You need to get to the bottom of this, and fast.

To all of you reading this, I hope you enjoy this story. I've said this many times with other stories, but I do have big plans for these 2 characters. So, stay tuned for what's about to happen.

Reblogs are always welcome. Unless you're under 18. I will block you. and comment if you want to be added to the taglist. If I forgot anybody message me and let me know. You will be added.

Also, If I forgot anyone on the taglist message me. I will add you.

Taglist: @petersunderoos96 @mrspedropascal5683 @callsign-magnolia

dividers are by @saradika

[squidsqwag]

yknow what since im too tired 2 DRAW them but too hyped up 2 NOT do smth involving it heres a buncha random tidbits abt my ( very work in progress … ) tmnt iteration , tmnt : inheritance !! :3

the main premise is this : splinter dies , and with leo being the oldest of the turtles ( 14 y/o at the time ), he leaves her with the responsibility of taking care of her siblings on her own and becoming their sensei instead of him. i heart making characters suffer at a young age <3 ( im evilll )

it takes place currently in the dreadful year of 2020 , but i might change that later. either way , the ages would still b the same ! leo is 19, mikey & donnie r 16 ( twinsies ), and raph is 14 ( the idea of this typically big grumpy hotheaded dude being the youngest has always been a funny idea 2 me lol ), casey is 16 and april is 18

heres sum lgbt stuff 4 ya — leo ( aka lea ): she/her , transgirl , lesbian. donnie : they/them , intersex bigender ( demiboy/demigirl ), omnisexual ace. mikey : literally just read my bio lol. raph : he/it/fang/rawr , feralgender boy , aro. casey : he/they , transmasc , queer. april : it/its/april/aprils , astrogender , unlabeled. karai : she/they , butchgender , lesbian. both splinter ( male ) and shredder ( female ) r cis and bisexual. phew ! dats a lotta queers

casey gets introduced b4 april here. im still tryna figure out exactly how he finds these weirdos .. hes always gunna b a loser vigilante in my eyes

april’s role is EXTREMELY different from normal. i stole the awsom idea 2012 had with april being half kraang and it spiraled from there .. april’s been living with the kraang its entire life. i havent decided on if the turtles meet april in the obligatory space arc OR right after the kraang show up on earth , but either way they talk sum sense into it , leading 2 april abandoning the kraang n living with the turtles

donnie n april r bffs 4eva !!! shortly after it befriended the turtles , april took a great interest in learning abt earth n stuff so donnie immediately jumped on the opportunity 2 info dump 2 sumbody thats actually interested in what they have 2 say. april writes down everything donnie says during info dumps. it also does this with pretyy much evry1 else bc april wants 2 get along with them better by learning things they like !!! <3

yea shredder’s a girl , I LOVE WOMEN 💥💥💥💥 ( explosion sfx )

( TW TRANSPHOBIA ) fun fact while splinter was alive he nevr once called lea by her preferred name , prns , etc. it’s complicated bc splinter and lea had a rlly good relationship otherwise , but the constant misgendering always left a bad taste in her mouth. splinter’s death meant she would nevr see her father change his mind 2 accept her as his daughter , evr. all those years of hoping and waiting were 4 nothing ! yippee !!!!

dw im working in jonatello sumwhere cmon yknow me i would nevr miss out on an opportunity 2 shove them into evrything

same thing with aprileo i need more of them pretyy please

[koreposion]

Also I customized my character and they're the edgy adult I always wish I shipped with Zane from Minecraft Diaries

:[

I will probably draw them later because I had some really funny moments. Like at the start I thought I could kill two skeletons and ended up getting clapped twice. And then I managed to jump away from a creeper before it blew me up. Then there was Rain Maina where me and my sibling fought a bunch of mobs.

And my favorite, Morning Horrors, in which I fuckin picked a fight with an enderman and died. Then my sibling picked a fight with it and died. And then a creeper blew up outside of our house with a skeleton who was just shooting at us.

I will never claim to be good at video games but I sure did have a lotta fun.

[thetantiger]

doing this 'cause I'm already experiencing art withdrawal from my hiatus I've forced onto myself with light encouragement from my friends so here we go

also I realize "game" likely implies some schmo is supposed to be like "please answer #69!" but fuck you I go by my own rules and have fun with it too

LMAO so this computer is only about a year old, a while ago my other computer literally shit itself and died so I used to have paint tool SAI on there but now on this one I legit only have the one I actually use which is FireAlpaca

Forward, but left is easier than right

I used to have this warriors self-insert OC when I was REAL YOUNG named Moonfeather that I still hold near and dear to my heart but haven't made art of in literal years and don't have a concrete design for. yes she was special, yes she could turn into a dragon (???) But if you mean ideas I currently use, Ray's been around since I was 10 so

EDITH LOL drawing little kid her is easy as fuck 'cause she looks almost exactly like kid-Gray but current/teen her is so aids 'cause she has all that dragon shit going on + her hair is complicated

literally I post everything online (that I can ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)) because I need validation there is not a single piece of digital art that I've made that hasn't been posted on the internet (for the most part ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))

my own goddamn trauma. literally half the time I look at an arc a character just had and went "yo the way snarky like came back in a new form with blue reminds me of how my current cat acts exactly like the one I lost" and then I mental boom

gouache (spelling?), that shit's so pretty

literally just made a video about this lmao, the Animals PMV. RIP

if it's a finished piece in the form of a png I name it the piece's title, if it's a WIP art program file I name the file something like "ass" and move on

hoodies.. or scarves. belts are fun too

music or podcasts. sometimes vcs

face/expressions, I fucking LOVE drawing expressions SO MUCH

lotta them undertale/deltarune fanartists are fucking amazing but I've never been into that fandom. Also my husband is super into FNF mods and those are neat too

the little fucking ocean wiggles on fantasy maps y'know the ones

my house/desk lol

fuck idk. the shit I've trained myself to get good at is the shit I've really cared about, however my least favorite part of a piece is lineart

dear god no I HAVE to separate food from that shit, I have enough food anxiety as it is. I watch videos while I eat

not a whole lot actually, I don't distinctly remember doing so pretty much ever

literally fucking none actually. like I legit scoured my art and animation for this shit and couldn't find ANYTTHING. I adore drawing characters so much and anytime I have to draw something inanimate that's not directly clothing -on- the character or weapons it makes me want to kick a baby. broken glass is fun tho I guess???

hands. not that it's easier for me but I like how expressive I can be with em

tybaxel is so fucking amazing but that's like my only answer, not that I don't like other people's art that doesn't look like mine either but that's literally the only example I could think of because I don't keep track of this sorta thing, if it looks pretty I follow. that's my philosophy

lol

not sure what this means actually so no

only rarely for like purposes of poses or perspective. almost all the time my reference window is just a wow screenshot

nothing is coming to me off the top of my head but I have noticed characters or concepts I thought of before I found certain media crops up in said media anyway. like Detective looks very Lackadaisy and I'm not tryna say I'm salty about it I think it's neat actually

any piece with amab characters whose design includes being shirtless. like bro, tree is just chillin'

sometimes I scribble cool/dramatic expressions before drawing but only occasionally

i helped paint a mural in my hometown :D

vivzie's creations, a lot of the character designs are too spiky/thin for me but I understand the stylistic choice

LITERALLY the one I JUST posted based off the song Mama by My Chemical Romance I'm literally in love with it and I don't think anybody saw it fucking rip

anyway yeah fuck it I just felt like doing that lmfao

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game

Didn't see a lot of artist ask games, wanted to make a silly one.

(I wrote this while sick out of my mind last year and it's been collecting dust in my drafts, I might as well let it run free) 1. Art programs you have but don't use

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

3. What ideas come from when you were little

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

9. What are your file name conventions

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

12. Easiest part of body to draw

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

14. Any favorite motifs

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

23. Do you use different layer modes

24. Do your references include stock images

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

[scientested]

music commentary #2: kitty dreams of dying cell

aka i don't think i've ever made a song that makes me feel this many emotions

my motivation to start this song mostly came from my frustration at Another song (super bomb death) that i'm working on not shaping up. so basically I started it because i wanted to work on something new that wouldn't melt my brain like super bomb death is for some reason. so now we're here

hmm... i guess the next thing i want to talk about is the instrument choice in this song. i tried to pick instruments that sounded very dream-like or muffled, because this song is about a dream, so there's a lotta echo and reverb here!! the first instrument that plays especially carries that "unsettling dream" vibe i think... the instrument choice in this song was probably also pretty heavily influenced by these two songs that i've been listening to recently (this and this), i've been listening to them and thinking that i want to make something that sounds like that another fun fact about the instruments: the section at the end that uses the original instruments from the two songs this is a mashup of... i had to remake those instruments by hand. because beepbox instruments don't copy over to ultrabox. it was a little bit of a struggle

i'll talk about the story i intended for this next! it's a mashup of "somnolent apoptosis" and "greetings from kitty city" so it involves two characters from those songs. basically the kitty character is having a dream about the cell character, and everything is fine and good until it turns into a nightmare when the cell dies. (somnolent apoptosis, the song the cell character originates from, means "sleepy cell death" in simpler terms. the song is about the cell feeling indifferent towards their own death, so i figured it would be fitting for them to die in this song as dark as that is) the vhs filter part afterwards represents the kitty reminiscing about the better part of the dream where the cell was alive... then the visuals go black to represent the kitty transitioning from being asleep to Awake, and when it wakes up, it kind of sleepily realizes it had been crying

needless to say, this song makes me feel a lot of things. it makes me very Sad. it makes me feel unsettled and afraid and paranoid. it makes me feel pretty emotional. more than my other songs? i'm glad i did more work on the visuals besides one drawing... i think even the tiny amount of work i put into them does a lot to tell the story i didn't really intend for this song to Scare me as much as it does, i only wanted it to be unsettling and not scary... but it does scare me... i kind of wish i had worked on this song during the day and not in the middle of the night because the vibes and darkness of nighttime tend to amplify any fear i'm feeling... i'm glad my own music can make me feel something this strongly though because i think that means it's good. still, this song instills a sense of fear in me that none of my other music has

erm... what else to say... Visuals of the song... the background of the main drawing of the song has the art of somnolent apoptosis and greetings from kitty city overlayed and distorted and stuff... the "doodle" type things floating around the characters are meant to represent the things in the kitty's life that are typically apart of its dreams

these are other kitties/members of its species

this is a yarn ball

this is a bag of food

these are fish/fish toys

and here is an example of how all of them look normally. they look distorted and messed up because that's what happens to stuff in dreams, their structure is mostly right but things are definitely off

also this is MEANT to look like a nonsense inscription but it actually says something. I'm not sure how obvious it is that it isn't nonsense... but it actually says "no my friend"

What I don't like: I don't like that this song makes me feel as scared as it does... that wasn't the intention. i think it's a little TOO unsettling and scary, especially the second drawing. i genuinely don't like looking at that picture, like i would prefer to listen to the song in the background instead of looking at that. i didn't even know i was capable of scaring myself like this LOL

What I like: uhhh besides the actual paranoia this song has instilled in me tonight it's pretty good! I like this song. I think the story comes across pretty clear. i like the vhs filter i applied as well, i think i should use the effects my video editor has more often. somehow the timing isn't horribly off like it was in nightmare in dreamland so that's good

[deagle]

Show the last piece you've drawn. No cheating!

Thx so much for the ask anon!!💓 :3

Saw this handsome creature and got motivated! (during math class. i do have regrets)

[bortmcjorts]

I don't know too much about Inscryption but I too am thinking of your wondeful crossover designs and just. Going nuts over the idea of Magnificus being too busy trying to keep the game going to shake your hand at the end + Bubby's line "This isn't how I'm going to die" during the final battle. I am here for funny video game guys having even more existential problems

[ID: a gif drawing of four inscryption bone cards shaped like the gravestone cards from grimora's part of the finale. three of the cards have scrybe of the dead themed versions of tommy, coomer, and bubby, and one card is a regular skeleton card.

tommy's card is named "bloodlatta," with a cost of 3 bones, power of 1, health hidden under coomer's card, and a blood guzzling sigil. the image is a silhouette of tommy but showing his eyes and mouth with fangs.

coomer's card is named "obsolescence," with a cost of 2, power of 2, health of 1, and the unkillable sigil. his image is of the p03 monitor with a skull on the screen.

bubby's card cycles through the text, "no... i don't accept this death. i have a plan," where his name would be. he has a cost of 2, power and health of 1, and the exploding corpse sigil. his image is of him as a skeleton with swirly glasses and a wizard had that has a fuse at the tip.

end ID]

bubby taking magnificus's role as Plan Haver while everyone is trapped as cards... i gave him a wizard hat bc ppl keep making fun of magnificus for being a naked/hatless wizard which is Very funny to me

some explanation stuff under the cut!

the sigils i used for tommy and bubby are ones in grimora's rulebook that aren't on any of the cards she plays.

blood guzzler sigil - when a creature bearing this sigil deals damage, it gains 1 health for each damage dealt - used for tommy to go with his drinking soda to see faster and bc when i draw him not in this au i still give him little fangs lol. i think at some point in the game he'd get a multi-strike sigil stamped on his card and be fucking crazyyy (to go with him apparently having the most kills in HLVRAI and also i think he doesn't die in VRAI? at least not as much as anyone else besides gordon

exploding corpse sigil - when a creature bearing this sigil dies, all empty spaces on the board are filled with a guts card - i didn't actually read this sigil's effect until now thats kinda gross lmao but just based on bubby talking about how he's gonna explode all the time. the bomb fuse on his hat is supposed to go with the sigil

unkillable sigil - the card copies are like the coomer clones =P i could have used fecundity but i just wanted to use ones from grimora's (i guess benry's now) rulebook

[ID: the same drawing as above, except bubby's card is titled "skelexplode" with no cycling text. end ID]

bloodlatta - play on coolatta to go with blood of course, also insert some kind of joke about a lotta blood or bloodletting

obsolescence - a joke about computers and stuff having planned obsolescence so that you have to replace them with a newer version to go with the unkillable sigil / clones and him being scrybe of tech

skelexplode - ok i thought the least about this one lol he is a skeleton and he explodes that is all

[blackmissfrizzle]

Angel’s Girl

Characters: Angel Reyes x black!reader

Summary: Angel wants everyone to know you’re his girl. Also, part of a request from @brownsugarcoffy​/  Hi! I don't know if your taking any request, but I saw this picture of this necklace with Angel on it. I was wondering if you would write a imagine of Angel Reyes giving the reader a necklace with his name to claiming her as his old lady and now Angel now wants to only see her wearing his name as they make love. I really adore your writing and know you will do it justice. ❤

Warnings: A lil angst, a lil smut, a whole lotta fluff and cheesiness. 

Here’s more of my work or if you would like to be notified here’s my taglist

At some point, you and Angel knew you had a forever kind of love. The kind of love where you get tattoos expressing that love. When it was your two-year anniversary, he propositioned the idea.

He showed you the sketches he drew of your name. He was so excited, that it physically hurt you to burst his bubble. “Angel, I love you, but there’s no way I’m getting your name tattooed on me.” Angel grabbed you by the back of your neck and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “I know, mi dulce. You’re too practical for that, so that’s why I drew you these.”

Moving his page of his drawing of your name Angel revealed a sheet of paper full of angel wings drawings. The one in the center, immediately caught your attention. “That one! That’s the one!”

“Yeah? You like it?” He asked nervously. Angel had only shown his drawings to you and EZ. He was too insecure to share them with to anyone else.

“Duh! And I’ll get ‘em on my fingers and go like this,” you flicked your wrist. “And tell them my super amazingly talented boyfriend drew them.”

“Handsome. Your super amazingly talented handsome boyfriend.”

“Oh, how could I forget!?” You smacked your forehead. “It’s okay, I forgive you.” He kissed your temple and listened to you plan when you and he would get the tattoos while he rubbed the ring finger you flicked at him earlier, thinking how well it would look with an engagement ring.

--

Angel just loved how you showed off your tattoos. Or better yet how you explained the meaning behind them. Club hang arounds? You flaunted that shit and in the next breath you threatened to punch them dead in the face if they ever disrespect you by flirting with Angel. Dudes hitting on you at the bar? You shot them down with the quickness and told them you only belonged to one person and fluttered your fingers like you were already married.

But one day the tattoos weren’t enough. Angel didn’t know what it was, but he knew he needed something else to say you’re his. An engagement ring was out of the question because he had yet to find the perfect one. Luckily, one day he stumbled onto a heart locket that had his name engraved in it and he knew that was it. That would show everyone you were his old lady.

When he brought the necklace to you, you were automatically in love, but you also had to tease him. He was practically going all caveman on you when he requested you always wear it. “Damn Angel, I might as well get your name tattooed on my forehead.”

“Angel!” You hit him as he was seriously mulling over the idea. “I’m just kidding, querdia. We want to take attention away from your big ole forehead not bring more to it.”

--

With your forgetful self, one day you forgot to put your necklace back on after the gym. That didn’t sit well with Angel, especially since you and him weren’t on the best of terms.

“Where the fuck is your necklace, Y/N?”

“In the car. I forgot to put it back on.” You set down your gym bag, went into the kitchen and got you a bottle of water.

“You forgot? Didn’t I tell you to keep it on at all times?” His insecurities were flaring up, driving him to be crazily possessive.

“Angel, I’m not your damn property! When you get that through your thick ass skull give me a call!” And with that you ran out the door with him calling after you was cut off by you slamming the door and running into your car.

That’s how you ended up at the bar, listening to some lame pickup lines.

“Angel, that’s a pretty name.”  The guy pointed to your necklace.

Soon as you decided you were going to the bar you put the necklace back on. “It is.” You replied in a monotone voice, keeping your eyes straight ahead. He didn’t take the hint that you were not interested and continued to talk to you.

When you raised your glass to take a sip, he noticed your tattoos and made some corny joke. Somehow, he kept going even though that was like the fifth joke you didn’t laugh at.

From afar Angel was watching the interaction partly amused and partly jealous. He wanted you to tell the guy get lost, but he could clearly see your annoyance and it was funny to him. He decided he’ll let it go on for a little while longer to let you suffer some more unless it got out of hand.

“So, Angel what’s a beautiful girl like you doing here alone?” The stranger was about to put his hand on your thigh, but he finally picked up on some social cues and stopped himself. “I was enjoying my drink and my name’s not Angel.”

“What? It says it right there.” He pointed to your locket. Oh, this man was dumber than you thought. “Doesn’t mean it’s my name.”

“Then whose name is it?” He got defensive, he didn’t appreciate being made a fool of.

“Her boyfriend’s.” Angel finally decided to intervene when he saw the guy become agitated.

The sleazebag was about to be Billy badass, but then he saw Angel’s kutte and became a stuttering mess. “Sor-so-so-sor-sorry man, I didn’t know she was your girl. My bad.” He didn’t even give Angel time to threaten him. He ran off afraid of what could happen.

“Took you long enough off.” Halfway through your one-sided conversation with your unwanted suitor you saw Angel’s reflection through the bar’s mirror. “You knew I was here? Why didn’t you stop him?”

“I thought you would.”

Angel took your glass and drunk the rest of your drink. “Nah, it was too much fun seeing you suffer.”

“Asshole!” You playfully shoved Angel.

He started to laugh but it eventually died down. “I’m sorry, querida.”

“For being an asshole at home or being one here?”

“At home. That shit here was too funny.” He backed away before you could hit him again. “Seriously though, I’m sorry. I don’t think of you as my property. Yeah this,” Angel moved in closer to grab your necklace, “it means you’re my girl, but the deeper meaner is that you own my heart.”

“So that means I’m not your whore you can fuck however and whenever you want?” You asked with a smirk.

“Check, please!”

—

Angel had you twisted up like some damn pretzel, but you loved it. As soon as you got home, he got on his knees and made you cum three times with his mouth and he would’ve gone for the fourth if you didn’t beg him to fuck you.

“Shit! Who’s pussy is this?” Angel was pounding into you, his eyes were focused on your locket swinging against your neck. “It’s yours Daddy!”

“Damn right it is.” He took your left hand and sucked your ring finger. With his hand he took a hold of your neck. “And next time some little bitch tried talking to you, you shit that shit down. You understand me?”

“Yes, daddy,” you whimpered with tears streaming down your face. Angel was too good at this. You could feel another orgasm mounting up and it felt like it would be the most powerful of all.

Angel noticed you trying to hold back your orgasm because he didn’t give you the permission to cum. “Good girl.” He praised you, leaning forward until your foreheads met. “Daddy’s making you feel good?”

“Yes,” you nodded your head, “You’re so big, I can feel you deep in my tummy.”

He pressed a hand to your stomach. “You’re right, princesa. I’m deep in them guts. But can you do me a favor baby girl?”

“Anything for you.” Angel smiled against your neck. “Cum all over daddy’s cock.” And just like that you did. You screamed Angel’s name at the top of your lungs almost drowning out his own shouts of pleasure.

After that thorough round you wanted to bundle up and go to sleep but Angel made you get up. “Hygiene over comfortability,” he said.

As you went to use the restroom, he changed the sheets and started the bath. Just before you joined him in the tub, he handed you your shower cap. It was blissful silence as you two cleaned up.

Again, Angel was rubbing in your left ring finger. Ever since you got the tattoo there, he’s been obsessed, but he never gave the same attention to your middle finger with the other angel wing.

“Angel?”

“Yes, querida?”

“Why do you keep a hand on my ring finger?”

“Man, I thought you were the smart one of us two.” You splashed some water his way and he quickly apologized knowing you could start a splash war like nothing.

He brought up said finger to his lips and kissed it. “Because I can’t stop imagining how good it’ll look with a ring on it.”

His answer appeased you which led you to your conditions of your proposal. Angel listened eagerly and ingrained each requirement in his head. There was no way he was gonna mess this up.

--

He hadn’t been shopping for it, he just accidentally stumbled on it while at the mall. Weeks later, Angel finally found the perfect engagement ring for you. He was so excited that he planned to propose that night, but your nails weren’t done and one of your requirements were to make sure your nails weren’t ‘raggedy’ as you would put it.

Then another couple of weeks later the opportunity presented itself. You were on your lunch break and you came to the clubhouse to spend it with him and the guys. Your mouth was full of tacos like chipmunk cheeks while you yelled ‘No fucking way!’ at Coco and Angel thought there was no one he rather spend the rest of his days with.

He did a quick check of your nails and they still look good from the day before. Yeah there were people around, but it was people you and him consider family. Your hair was done, and you had a nice outfit on, so all the boxes were checked.

“Querida,” he called out to you to stop you from arguing with Coco.

“Yeah babe?” You turned to him and found him on one knee. “Oh my god!” You jumped up and started wiggling around doing some weird celebratory dance.

The guys turned to see what was happening and they all cracked a smile. “About damn time.” Coco slapped the back of Angel’s shoulders. The rest of the Mayans came out with their guns out when they heard your screams, but quickly put them away when they saw what was happening.

Each time Angel tried to say something you would just squeal and continue dancing, not giving him a chance to get one-word in. “Prospect, get her.” Bishop ordered, seeing how uncomfortable Angel was getting from kneeling on the gravel.

EZ wrapped one arm around your shoulders and the other over your mouth. “I know you’re excited to be my sister-in-law, but you can’t say yes if he can’t ask the question. So, can you be quiet and be still?” You nodded your head fervently and EZ released you.

“Thanks, bro.” Angel cleared his throat before looking at you. He was getting nervous again, but then he saw how you had to contain your excitement and he was overwhelmed with love again. “You know I’m not good with words and shit, but I’ll try. You’re my everything, Y/N. You’re my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. I honestly can’t think of my life without you because it would be too depressing. God, I hope this isn’t too corny, but here it goes: what’s the point of an angel if there’s no heaven? So, with that being said, Y/N, will you marry me?”

“Yes!” Angel was lucky he started to stand up because you tackled him once he slid the ring on. He was attacked with kisses all over his face and he wondered how could he had been worried about you saying no at all.

“You know you’re gonna be stuck with me forever, right?”

“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine with that. What’s the point of heaven if I don’t have my Angel with me?” Forever with Angel sounded like paradise and you couldn’t wait.

Tagging: @tomhardydallasstarsgirl​ @sadeyesgf​ @woahitslucyylu​ @starrynite7114​ @angelreyesgirl​ @blessedboo​ @ourlittlesecretsoveragain​ @sambucky8​ @mygirlrenee​ @ljstraightnochaser​ @my-rosegold-soul​ @angrythingstarlight​ @richonne4life​ @brattyfics​ @lovebennycolon​ @langiinspirations​ @chibsytelford​ @trulysuccubus​ @spookys-girl​ @brownsugarcoffy​ @thesandbeneathmytoes​ @fvckthisbxtchup​ @theartisticqueen​

[impulstor]

explanations behind my song choice for my 3lsmp playlist under the read more! keep in mind, some of these songs don't really have a reason beyond just... vibes. and that some ideas have changed over time. anyway!

playlist here

anti-hero — originally added as an etho song, and still applies. with him being prepared to fight & kill for ren + the rest of the red army. also, he tends to be a bit unpredictable and has a very different moral standing from someone like, say, martyn.

kill the sun — fits with the series as a whole, with shifting alliances and friendships, and with people killing and being killed by one another.

special — this ones for all the mfs who didn't pick a side until really late, or were bouncing between factions for a while 💪. especially for tango, as an example, making friends with someone who he can also consider his enemy, and being completely unsure where he stands in any group, though he wants to have their faith.

villain — this song is just really good for making a mental amv for lmao. it's good for demonstrating differing alliances n sides, n of course that applies here.

oh, death — not a lot of specific thoughts for this, just. yknow, death, vibes, dying for someone, watching your friend die, etc.

6up 5oh cop-out — first of all, I'm just a slut for will wood sometimes. second, a lot of the lyrics on their own could 100% be applied to events in the series (I mean I did use some from it for my etho n tango drawing for funsies) so. it's a strange song but the vibes fit well, in my opinion :]

kill of the night — a bit self explanatory, I think. in a series about trying to outlive, and to eventually kill your friends? no doubt you're going to end up hunting certain people down, hmmm? revenge, n all that. works well for multiple characters, really.

you're gonna go far, kid — impulse. just like. tango, or maybe etho, at impulse. "with a thousand lies and a good disguise, hit em right between the eyes" I meaaan 🤔 how is it NOT impulse lmao

kill the lights — once again, killing, death, murder, yknow. good vibes. also people lying and betraying one another, and watching as their friends and enemies die in front of them, people being changed by the events that transpire.. also technically they ARE actors sooo. kill the actor, yknow

mad IQs — mostly this song just slaps (thank you eexer 🙏) but also the lyrics fit well with the events! death, murder, killing your friends, burning. there is a lot of fire.

go get your gun — works very well for the whole war goin on. one side vs another, fighting and losing allies, fighting to win for their fallen allies, cheating fate if they DO win. also the line "when this is over, we'll raise a glass straight up to the sun" could be seen as like. everyone coming together to be friends once it's all over bc they are!

c'est la vie — it fits well. bad things happen, you lose people, you hurt, karma kicks your ass, but that's just life, and that's the game. c'est la vie.

i'm gonna win — fits for how they're all fighting to be the last one standing. and also with having to work through literally dying and to not give up, if you want to win.

mr capgras... — once again, I just like will wood. also fits well with people fighting each other, mostly with the chorus. "you'll never take me alive" / "you better pray that I die" likjkeeeee 👀 you could make art fitting those lyrics tbh

curses — red & green duos (at least. when they were intact :/) sticking together, taking care of one another when everything is going to hell, people are dying, and it's getting intense. they trust each other, at least.

under the pressure — don't really have something specific, it just fits well, with the lyrics. honestly this one fits well as a skizz song, now that I'm thinking about it. he went from trying to be friends with a lotta people to taking two out for good and went out in a blaze of glory. yea. that's what I got lol

everybody wants to rule the world — I dont think I really need an explanation for this one. it just fits well with everyone trying to win the whole game, and with everything slowly ramping up in intensity

rebels — for scar and grian being crime bros for the first while :] everything IS burning, good for them!

outrunning karma — impulse once again. playing everyone, playing to everyones good sides as much as he could, until the act didnt matter anymore. but karma might really kick him in the ass, if he ends up as one of the last survivors, and others turn on him for betraying everyone earlier on.

you're nobody til somebody wants you dead — shrug emoji. just fits well mostly. friends fighting eachother, betrayal, yadda yadda.

thanks i hate it — mmm,, tango? idk, im just a tango enjoyer, and he has spent quite a bit of effort trying to please certain groups to like. no avail. especially team crastle. like tbh he was solidly on board with em for a while, and mightve gone back to them on his own. but cleo blackmailed him anyway. rip tango.

the riddle — ALL OF IT. the whole series. it fits

crazy = genius — i dont rly like brendan urie like at all. so i might remove it from the playlist at some point. but it does fit with scar and grian being villains.

icarus — mmm fits well with grian. with the wing imagery, and with the fact that he made SO many enemies by working with scar. and he never reaallllyyyyy apologized, did he? he's walking a dangerous line, with few allies,

cradles — idk lmao. vibes only.

wolf in sheeps clothing — impulse again mostly lol. sung by skizz or etho probably. betrayal <3

how villains are made — again, for those neutral parties that had to choose a side. its about being torn between two sides & having to choose. honestly, I could see it fitting bigb, if he does some funky villain stuff next session. he deserves it I think <3

killing butterflies — trauma, ouchie, angst, murder your friends. everything hurts.

king — ren!! that's it.

little lion man — bruh if ren dies and leaves martyn alone.... ghost ren to martyn.... ouch.

gives you hell — red army @ sand people. specifically etho and ren get to be petty at scar i think

wine red — [gestures vaguely] all of it

i bet my life — red and green duos again. though it could be after some of them permadie.

miss missing you — (thanks again eexer this one also slaps <3) ouch impulse and tango angst. or impulse and etho angst. OR etho and tango angst. THEM. :(

youth — all of it but like. after it's over. just like going back and looking at how it all went down.

a gorey demise — i just think it would be fun to animate everyone's different deaths to this song tbh

another one bites the dust — they are once again Dying. but it's not angsty and dramatic this time.

god rest ye merry gentlemen — 😔 the whole thing again. pain

[thedisney1901]

Heya, Tumblr! It’s been a while. XD 

I do think Casper ‘95 is the best film based on the Harvey characters. Sure, the screenplay has some flaws and the jokes don't always work, but it does have an engaging overall story, top-notch voice acting, excellent production design, and a great score to boot. Plus, I think this was J.J. Abrams' first big success given that Spielberg brought him onboard to rewrite it. True, he was uncredited, but given the screenplay he was handed, he gave the film the dramatic boost it needed. 

Figures that I think it deserves a continuation. I've had this in the back of my head for a while (As is the case a lot. XD), but I really wanted to get all of these out. 

The basic story I have in mind is that Whipstaff has been abandoned again for some 50 years since the Harveys left and Kat pursued a career to take up her dad's mantle. 50 years after the 1995 film, Little Dot, Little Audrey and Little Lotta stumble across Casper and his uncles Stretch, Stinkie and Fatso around Christmastime, and they befriend them. Dr. Kathleen Harvey also returns to Friendship as one of Dot's dads has called her over to investigate. Casper and his uncles have a small grudge over Kat for leaving Whipstaff, but overtime, Kat regains Casper's trust and he eventually gets his uncles to do the same. Obviously, they don't love each other anymore because... well, that's just ewwy. No. Just no. 

During a Fair scene, Casper stumbles across another ghost on a Fairground built where the local insane asylum used to be - the ghost of his father J.T. McFadden. Overtime, Casper tries to get his dad to remember who he was, with some help from Kat. 

But there's another reason why Dot, Audrey and Lotta are drawn to Whipstaff. In this universe, Audrey and her sister Zoe have a familial connection to Carrigan Crittenden (Great-nieces.), and thusly are entitled to Whipstaff. What's more is that the Crittenden lines has ties to the McFadden line, and Audrey, Zoe and their mother are some of the last surviving people related in some sense to Casper as a result. What I think will happen is that a direct relative (A grandfather?) will want Whipstaff and the Lazarus for themselves and will try to kill Audrey and Zoe to get it, so they kidnap Zoe to get her to reveal where the Lazarus is and what it does. This will result in Casper, Kat and the 3 gals going to save Zoe and her and Audrey confronting their relative. He dies and becomes a ghost, but instead of having him cross over to the Afterworlds, he is exorcised there. 

In the end, Audrey, Zoe and their mom move in to Whipstaff to live with Casper and his uncles, his dad regains his memory, he and Kat rekindle their friendship, and all of them, including Dot and Lotta, become a sort of group of friends. On Christmas Eve, Casper says it'll be fun while it lasts, and even when the next family comes around, he'll still have his own to keep him company. Just then, Casper's dad finds the Primordial soup formula for the Lazarus and gives it to him. He gets excited and goes to tell everyone about it, ending the film. 

The idea for the Harvey Girls for Casper Returns is that they will be based upon their Harvey Girls Forever counterparts, henceforth why I drew them here. I know Harvey Girls Forever already has their own Casper, and I do think they did a great job with that version! This one here will exist as an separate world, so you won't see any statue of Harvey E. Harveson since he won't exist in this world. 

I think Audrey and Lotta will act as sort of big-sister figures to Casper, Audrey especially since she'll discover her relations to the McFadden line. Dot and Casper might have some affection for each other and date for a small while. Yeah, screw it. I like it, it's a fun crack ship and it'll still be a little bit before Wendy comes into play, though not too long. 

For this drawing, I wanted to visualize how Kat and Casper's uncles would look with him and the 3 gals. I drew Stretch too small, so I had to resize him. XD Still, I think I did a'ight. I think adult Kat looks cool in Katie Rice's style too. 

As far as writing goes, I want J.J. to come back to produce and help with the main story, but I want Phillip LaZebnik to do the actual screenplay. The Prince of Egypt was really good, and I want to see more stuff from him. I could probably bring in Guillermo del Toro in to co-write/produce too since he did Trollhunters and is doing a film of it soon. I'd also bring in the Brendan Hay to co-write since he helped develop the versions of Dot, Audrey and Lotta I want to integrate.

As you expected, I want Burton to produce as will everything I want to make, but I especially want the Spielberg family on board. Steven will probably have a good excuse not to, because he'll be dead by the time I get to produce this, in which case may he rest well. 

As far as directing goes, I think Peter Ramsey. He directed Rise of the Guardians, but he also has some experience in live-action doing some second-unit work for John Singleton. Plus, he was an artist on Casper '95. 

That's pretty much all I've got for now. I'll try to add more as time goes onward, but if you like what I've got so far, feel free to give some feedback if you want. 

-S.

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Thoughts on Un ballo in maschera (San Francisco, 2014)

As promised for the ever-lovely @monotonous-minutia.

Ballo is a weird opera for me: I love it (it's definitely in my top 3 or 4 favorite Verdis), and it was my absolute favorite opera for...actually about a year or so, and while it's no longer my absolute favorite, it's still very high up on the list. However, I have found that it is almost impossible to find a production (or for that matter a recording) that gets the opera completely right for me or is in any way definitive—but then again, this is an opera that is also pretty hard to badly screw up. In fact, I think I've only seen one production that's managed to badly screw it up, which was from Leipzig and which has possibly the single ugliest production aesthetic I have ever seen in an opera. But I digress.

This production isn't perfect or definitive, but it is a damn good show.

Before you ask: yes, this is set in Sweden (good) and yes, Anckarström does shoot Gustavo (even better) as Verdi, history, and the universe intended. None of this stabby-stabby kitchen knife nonsense.

My biggest complaint is honestly that I hope the San Francisco Opera has changed their prompter in the past six years because whoever was prompting apparently decided that it was necessary and good to practically yell a lot of the lines, most noticeably in Act III, Scene 1. It got really annoying really quickly.

Also I wasn't a huge fan of some of the sets, in particular the set that seemed to (with slightly different pieces) be both the first and the last set. The gallows set looked really cool but was not very well-lit, causing a whole lotta darkness instead of what it was supposed to look like:

which would've been way cooler. The study set was pretty nice, though.

This production was veritable costume porn and I loved it. I want Amelia's Act II outfit immediately. Also that ensemble Oscar wears to the ball.

The conducting by Nicola Luisotti was excellent overall; I loved how fast-moving it felt (because this is a fast-paced opera!) and how each scene felt like it went by in the blink of an eye. My only no is that I feel like the strings were slightly underbalanced overall (particularly in the last act), although I may be biased as a longtime string player.

The chorus and orchestra were both excellent. The smaller roles were all well-taken; Scott Conner (whom you, @monotonous-minutia, may recognize as Bernandino in the Amsterdam 2015 Benvenuto Cellini) and Christian van Horn were luxury casting as Those Two Counts Where No One Can Tell Which One Is Which. Great singing-acting duo.

Dolora Zajick absolutely BROUGHT IT as Ulrica, with all the ghostly creepiness, charismatic flair, and powerhouse singing one would expect of her in this role. I always love seeing her in Verdi. And her costume made her look freakin' cool.

As I posted earlier, OH MY GOD HEIDI STOBER IS CUTEST OSCAR. This Oscar is ALWAYS sassing people around and being funny and really running the behind-the-scenes; everyone both loves and fears him. He's always making mischief (in particular wreaking havoc upon the Chief Justice) and trying to have a little fun and hating it when people take his fancy hat and start throwing it around (as happened multiple times). And he's also so concerned about his King 24/7, even though he can get annoyed with him. (Gustavo pretends to have a heart attack when Ulrica gives the prophecy, and while he thinks it's funny, Oscar very much does not.) And at the ball, all the attenion ends up on him and the commedia dell'arte dancers. It's amazing. And don't even get me started on how talented of a singer Heidi Stober is.

You want photos? HERE IMMA SPAM WITH PHOTOS:

Thomas Hampson isn't my favorite singer in the role of Count Anckarström—his voice often comes across as a little dry for my taste here—but he does very well nonetheless, with a fantastic "Eri tu". Where he really shines, however, is in his acting and use of the text. You can hear the feeling behind every individual word and thought he sings, which I think is incredibly hard to do. He makes so much out of it all and milks every moment for its dramatic potential, which helps create this wonderful sense of character—you can really believe in him from start to finish, through all his moods and his descent into murderous jealousy and hatred, and his remorse at the end. And those costumes, and how stylish he looks in them? Perfection.

And I'm just gonna leave this photo here:

(his FACE. it's PRICELESS.)

Julianna di Giacomo is just *heart eyes*. She can sing and those high notes are going to be ringing in my ears for a while. Amelia is not an easy role in any way, shape, or form, but she made it sound so easy, especially those two (very difficult!) arias. I think she also did a great job at finding her personality and capturing not only her inner conflict but also her innate strength beneath any fears she may have; a moment that particularly stood out is that in the Lot-Drawing Scene, she stood her ground even after Anckarström told her to draw a name, and in fact, he eventually had to physically force her to draw by grabbing her arm and putting it in the urn because he could not otherwise force her to take part. Also, may I say she is very pretty.

Ramón Vargas is not a popular quantity on here, and sure, it's not a perfect voice, but I do hear plenty of real Italian sound in his voice, which more than compensates for the fact that's it's inherently somewhat too light for the part. Nevertheless, he acquits himself very well in this long and demanding role, and I particularly enjoyed listening to his take on the I Am Totally A Fisherman Song. Also, he's just such a naturally cheerful and sunny personality, which melds really well with the character; he is also very convincing in the more serious parts, especially because it feels that the whole time, he is acting out of love and a zest for life, which fits pretty much all the problems Gustavo has really well.

In short, a really wonderful take on a really wonderful opera.

[badwolf-in-the-impala]

~Whiskey Lullaby~

~Chapter 11~

Image credit: Myself @badwolf-in-the-impala​. None of the images are mine, only the editing.

Previous Chapters:  ((Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10))

Rating: Mature/18+

Warnings: Alcohol and drug use/abuse, violence, suggested physical/sexual abuse, kidnapping, sexual content, angst...So much angst.

Chapter warnings: Language, smoking, someone gets punched in the face and a whole lotta feels.

Word count: 4,264

A/N: I’m a shitty person when it comes to posting, I’m sorry...I also forget this chapter even existed. Oops. x_x Also huge shoutout to @jacksonroseroth​ who helped in the making of this chapter and always comes to my recue when I get stuck writing! ^-^

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

Once they were sure Tawni had left the room, Tig gave Teagan one last hug before jetting off, having gotten a text to meet the guys in the chapel. Teagan bit back her tears, having enough with crying for the day as she sat down in the chair beside Chibs’ bed. The steady beeping of the EKG machine drummed in her head as she sat there in silence. He wasn’t out of the woods, but he wasn’t dead. Her only regret was he hadn’t woken up yet so he could talk to her. Teagan just wanted to hear his voice right now, more than anything.

“God...I’ve really fucked it up this time.” She gave a bitter laugh as she shook her head, leaning her elbows forward onto the edge of the bed as she cradled her head in her hands. “I feel like this is all my fault, and the two people I trust and care about most? Well, Tawni hates me; And you?” 

Teagan let out a long sigh as she ran a hand through her dark hair, looking up to study a very unconscious Chibs. His head bandaged and face scraped in places from where he hit the ground during the explosion. He looked so broken and helpless lying in a hospital bed compared to his usual tough exterior that everyone saw. 

“Well -- You almost died.” She finally whispered, catching a stray tear with the back of her sleeve. “Shit, you still could. Please don’t.” Teagan choked out a sob as she took his hand gently, her voice going soft as she spoke to him. The fact that he likely couldn’t hear her briefly crossed her mind as she chewed her lower lip anxiously, but she continued anyway. 

 “There’s so much I need to tell you still...Things I should’ve told you already, probably, if I wasn’t so shit at talking about my feelings.” Teagan admitted guiltily. “Things I’m scared to admit because I’ve been here before, and I fucking swore to myself; I fucking swore! That I wouldn’t go down this road again. But alas, here I am. God I’m an idiot.” 

Things fell silent again for a little while, the steady beeping of the EKG machine being the only noise to fill the room once more. Teagan not knowing how to continue on, not that it mattered anyway. Chibs was unconscious and he would likely remain that way for quite a while. But the bigger question that had been weighing heavily on her mind -- Especially following her blow up with Tawni -- was not so much her own feelings, but his. It wasn’t something she had really even considered bringing up yet, what with everything that had been going on. But now? Now she wondered.

Just what exactly was it that he saw he saw in her? I mean sure, it wasn’t like things were really that serious between them, but they were serious enough that he cared for her well being. Her safety even. He cared enough to help her put herself back together every time she fell apart, even though he barely knew anything about her. Save for the story that had been pieced together all those years ago when she left Charming. The story that everyone knew so well. The story, that was only half truth.

Teagan could feel the tears beginning to prick behind her eyes again, forcing herself to draw in a few deep breaths as she tightened her grip on Chibs’ hand, trying her best to ground her emotions again. But her voice still faltered as she spoke aloud the question she wasn’t certain would ever be answered.

“What is it exactly that you see in me?” Tegan whispered. Her brows pulled tightly together in confusion as she ran a thumb carefully across his scared cheek and down his jawline before allowing her hand to fall away. Before Teagan could say anything else, the door swung open, making her jump. She quickly pulled her hand away and wiped her face as she stood. “Sorry, Doc. I just wanted to-”

As Teagan turned, expecting Tara to be standing in the doorway, she, instead, came face to face with an older, darker skinned woman with black hair that had begun to salt and pepper, holding onto the bag slung over her shoulder with a hip popped, hand propped on it, with a posh and annoyed look on her face.

“Oh. Um, sorry. I thought you were--Who are you?” Teagan asked, slightly confused. She’d never seen this woman around the clubhouse before and Chibs never mentioned any woman that even came close to what she looked like.

“I think the question here would be who the hell are you?” She asked, a thick Irish accent coming through. Teagan’s eyes shrunk back.

Oh, God, not another one. Teagan thought. She’d never met Tawni’s mother and she hoped to God this wasn’t her. Granted Tawni was as pale as the day was long, but stranger things have happened. Taken aback by the woman, Teagan blinked and cleared her throat before she said, “Um, I’m-I’m Teagan?”

The woman pursed her lips and gave a soft ‘Mhm’ as she rounded the bed and set her bag down. Tossing her dark mane over her shoulder, she turned back to Teagan and said, “And would ye mind tellin’ me why yeh’re so broken and upset over m’husband’s accident? And why you were touchin’ him like that?”

It took everything Teagan had to not let her mouth drop open in shock and start yelling. Chibs never once mentioned he had a wife. Not when he held her that first night, not when she spent multiple nights in his bed. He didn't even bother to tell her when they were mere articles of clothing away from doing the do.

‘Alright…That puts a new spin on shit.’ Teagan thought, not trusting herself enough to say anything out loud just yet. Teagan opened her mouth to explain, but the woman cut her off with a wave of her hand and said, “No. Don’t tell me. I don’ need ta’hear any lies out’o a Crow Eaters mouth.”

“Excuse me?!” Teagan shrieked. That one label sent her over the edge. She did her share of whoring around when she was younger, but goddamnit! She was the sister of one of the members! She was as far from a Crow Eater as you could get without being an Old Lady! “Listen, who the hell do you think you are?! You don’t know me!”

“Oh, sure, please!” The woman shouted back. “I know Filip has his fun wit’ you American girls. But never once has one o’them shown their face when I’m around!”

Teagan was about to channel Tawni and reach across Chibs’ bed for a right hook to her face, when a nurse hurried in through the open door.

“What is going on? ICU is for immediate family only!” She said. Teagan opened her mouth to lie and say she was family, but the Irish woman beat her to it with, “I’m his wife.”

The nurse gave her a sweet smile and nodded before turning to Teagan and saying, “Miss Trager, you need to leave. Dr. Knowles is looking for you anyway.”

Teagan huffed at the nurse, shooting daggers at the woman before turning on her heel and marching out of the room.

~

Gemma had lost track of Teagan after reprimanding Jax and just prayed that Teagan didn't end up running back into Tawni. She really didn't need to deal with an angry Irish girl and a Trager, at least not at the same time. The last thing they needed was an all out brawl between a couple of hot headed biker chicks on hospital grounds. But after checking around with a few of the guys, she confirmed that Tawni had indeed gone back to the Clubhouse. And judging from the commotion coming from down the hall nearest Chibs’ room, Gemma could only guess that’s where Teagan had ended up.

“Shit.” Gemma muttered under her breath as she quickened her pace as she moved towards whatever in the hell was going on; Stepping back just in time as Teagan blew around the corner and passed her, Tara hot on her heels trying her best to stop her.

“I’m serious, Teagan, you really need to stay overnight for observation! You have a concussion for Christ sake, just let me help!” Tara tried to reason.

“I don’t fucking need anymore help!” Teagan stopped so suddenly that Tara almost smacked right into her. Taking a quick step back with a wide eyed expression as Teagan rounded on her like a viper about to strike its prey. 

“Hey! Knock it the hell off!” Gemma managed to butt in between the two, putting a hand to Teagan’s chest as she pushed her back. “This isn’t the goddamn WWE. Now why don’t you calm down and tell me what the hell is going on?” 

“He has a fuckin’ wife!” Teagan all but screeched before storming off down the hall towards the exit to the stairs. ‘Explains a lot.’ Gemma thought to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose as she turned to face Tara. “I got it from here, Doc.”

“Good luck.” Tara called after her as Gemma took off after Teagan, catching her on the stairs.

“Wanna slow down before I have a fucking heart attack?” Gemma shouted as she struggled to catch up in hopes of talking Teagan out of whatever in the hell she was about to do.

“Fuck off, Gem!” Teagan shouted back as she hit the last flight of stairs and made her break for the door. Gemma caught her by the arm just as she was stepping outside. “Seriously, Gem, I don’t want to fucking hear it.”

“And what is it exactly you think I’m gonna say?” Gemma shot back, hands flying to her hips as she gave Teagan an irritated and disapproving look. 

“I don’t fucking know!?” Teagan yelled as she fished around in her pockets angrily for her pack of smokes, struggling to light one as her hands trembled from all the emotions coursing through her. So angry at this point she could hardly see straight. “I told you so? You’re a fucking idiot? Stay away and stop getting involved with the fucking Club members?!” 

Teagan gave a brief pause as she took a long drag off of her cigarette, running a hand aggressively through her dark hair as she exhaled. “Jesus, fuck; Why didn’t you tell me he had a fucking wife?!” She rounded on Gemma, who stood still as a statue, waiting for her moment to interject. 

“Maybe ‘cause it ain’t my place, for starters.” Gemma snapped. “And before you go jumping on that fuckin’ high horse of yours, maybe take a step back and think? It’s not like he fuckin’ knows shit about your own past, aside from the bullshit story everyone else knows. So why would he feel obligated to tell you anything about his? Especially when you two aren’t even exclusive. I mean Jesus, Teag, have you two even talked about your feelings?”

“No…” Teagan admitted reluctantly, taking another drag off the cigarette burning between her fingers as she turned her back. Gemma had a point, even if Teagan didn’t want to admit it. But that didn’t change the fact she felt lied to. Betrayed even. Even if Chibs was never hers to begin with, it didn’t change the fact that he had kept this very important bit of information from her. 

“Then why should it matter?” Gemma stated. “His business is his business, nobody else’s!”

“He’s fuckin’ married, Gem!” Teagan shouted as she whirled around, seething again. “I don’t give two fucking shits why, or what his reasonings for not telling me are, that’s not something you just keep from the person you’re getting involved with!”

 “Jesus Christ…” Gemma gave a frustrated sigh as she closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Teage--”

“NO, Gemma, I’m done. I’m.Fucking.Done.” Teagan cut her off before taking one last drag, flicking the cigarette butt to the sidewalk as she began looking around for a way back to the Clubhouse. Panic setting in as she realized everyone had gone home except for Gemma. 

“Look, Sweetheart, I know you’re upset, and don’t get me wrong, you have every right to be--But this ain’t the time.”

“Seriously, just save it! OK?” Teagan snapped, closing her eyes as she rubbed at her temples. A sudden wave of dizziness hitting her out of nowhere.

“You need to calm down…Let’s just go back inside for a bit till you cool off.” Gemma stated firmly as she moved to take Teagan by the arm and lead her back inside. Gritting her teeth as Teagan pushed her way.

“I’m fine...Gem…” Teagan shot back as she pulled away, reaching a hand out to steady herself against the pillar in front of her as the edges of her vision started to blur. But by then, it was already too late. Her hand missed the pillar entirely and her vision quickly went black as she fell to the ground, Gemma managing to grab her before her head hit the concrete.

“Shit…” Gemma muttered as she laid Teagan carefully on the sidewalk before rushing back inside the hospital to grab a nurse.

~

The slow and steady beeping filled her ears as Teagan came to, finally hooked up to monitors and IVs. She let out a soft groan as the EKG beeps began to pound against her skull. Before she could have any other reaction, from the corner, almost making her jump and fall out of bed, she heard Gemma say, “Oh, good. You’re not dead.”

“Jesus Fuck, Gemma!” Teagan shouted, the EKG beeping wildly for a moment or two before the steady pace continued. Teagan sighed and tried to move but found it rather painful with needles sticking out of her arms. She sighed and shifted, trying to get a better look at her surroundings. “Why am I still here?”

Gemma slapped down the magazine in her hand and crossed her legs. “Because you almost took a fuckin’ cement nap if I hadn’t caught you, Teagan Marie.” She said. Teagan let out another groan.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Gemma! Not the middle name shit! I got that enough growing up!” She said. Gemma uncrossed her legs and stood, stalking over to her bed.

“I don’t give a shit what you got growing up, missy.” Gemma said. “You’ve done enough damage, you don’t need any more in your life. You don’t want me to treat you like you did growing up? Then fuckin’ grow up!”

Gemma walked away from the bed and grabbed her purse from the table next to her chair and made for the door. With her emotions running high, probably from the drugs Tara put her on, Teagan fought her tears, though they came through as she said, “Wait...Gem. Please don’t leave me alone…”

Gemma stopped and turned to her. Teagan couldn’t stop the tears seeping from the corners of her eyes as she struggled not to completely break down and sob. Gemma sighed and set her bag back down, going back over to her and taking her hand.

“Teagan...This is serious shit we’re in right now. And if you’re gonna stick around, you’ll be involved. Do you really think it’s a good idea to get involved with Chibs? Let alone any member right now?” Gemma asked, lowering her voice to a softer tone. Teagan sighed, looking away from Gemma, angry with herself for crying again.

“I don’t know, Gem. It-It’s different this time. With Chibs.” She said. “He doesn’t treat me like I’m a no good degenerate like everyone else does.”

“Oh, baby.” Gemma said with a soft chuckle. “That’s not true; Jax doesn’t. Tawni never did. Clay doesn’t. I don't.”

Teagan gave her a look that made Gemma smirk and add, “Alright...Not all the time. But still, Teagan, I mean…”

“Gemma.” Teagan took a breath and said, “I think I might be in love with him.”

Gemma blinked, shocked, and said, “Are-Are you serious? Jesus, Teage, you’ve known him for like, a month.”

Teagan rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fuck. Gemma. I’m trying to be fucking happy for once in my life! Genuinely happy! And he’s fucking married!” Teagan said.

“Honey. That’s never stopped him before. Jimmy O’Phelan stole Fiona from Chibs before he exiled him from Ireland. Sure he still loves her, but...Well, he has needs too. He’s had relationships in the past. It doesn’t bother him. Why should it bother you?” Gemma asked.

“Maybe because I don’t want to be called a fucking Crow Eater by that bitch again?” Teagan hissed, her anger getting the better of her and making the EKG go off again. Gemma sighed and said, “Alright, honey, you need to calm down. If you want the Doc to clear you to leave, you’ve gotta get that anger under control.”

Teagan sighed and nodded, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Good God, did she want to get out of this fucking hospital. She cleared her throat and said, “Um, is-is he awake?”

“Teagan…” Gemma sighed.

“Gem, I just want to make sure he’s okay. Tell him I’m sorry.” She said.

“For what?” Gemma asked. Teagan opened her mouth to respond, but stopped when she realized she wasn’t quite sure.

“I-I-” Gemma stopped her and said, “Look. Before you do anything, I want you cleared by the doc. Make sure everything is working right up there. You’ve taken a few punches already and we don’t need you passing out on us again.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Alright. But can we make it quick? I want to fucking shower too.” Teagan said. Gemma chuckled and gave Teagan a kiss on her cheek before she left the room to flag down Tara.

~

After a lengthy talk about making sure she was monitored for the next few days, Tara finally cleared her to leave. Teagan couldn’t change fast enough. Gemma had run back to the clubhouse and packed her a small bag of new clothes. Once she changed and the papers were signed, Gemma walked Teagan up to Chibs’ floor and stopped her.

“Just give me a minute, Teagan, okay?” Gemma said, sitting the girl down in a nearby chair before sidestepping to the door. With her hand on the door knob, she stopped when she saw Fiona sitting in the chair, reading a magazine.

‘Oh, shit.’ She thought as she slowly opened the door and walked in. Fiona glanced up as the door opened as surprised to see Gemma as Gemma was to see her. With a sigh and uncrossing her legs, Fiona put down her magazine and stood. Gemma went to the counter to set down her bag as she said, “You’re a long way from home, sweetheart.”

“Yes. I am.” Fiona said, rather matter of factly. Gemma braced a hand on the counter, the other on her hip and asked, plainly, “Why?”

“I was worried about him.” Fiona said, almost a hint of offence in her voice. Gemma looked unconvinced as she said, “Could’ve sent flowers.”

Fiona’s face was full of annoyance at this point, uphased at how much Gemma hadn’t changed over the years. With an equal annoyance in her voice, she said, “Just needed to see him, Gemma.”

Gemma glanced at Chibs, making sure he wasn’t awake and listening as she crossed in front of Fiona and said, “We are in a shit storm here. The last thing we need is you turning him inside out.”

Teagan stayed out of view from the window on the door, ear pressed to it, listening. She didn't know what Gemma meant by ‘turning him inside out’, but she didn't need an interpreter for it, and booked it, swiping her bag from the chair and beelining for the elevator. Clearly, this Fiona woman had an effect on Chibs and, after all, she was his fucking wife. She didn't want to ruin Chibs’ relationship with her and had her mind made up, even before she hijacked Tig’s bike, parked with the others. She hotwired the Harley, strapped on Tig’s helmet and took off as the club came running back outside, ready to deal a beat down, but they were all caught off guard to see Teagan as the thief.

“Hey! Teagan-!” Tig called in disbelief. He sighed and turned to his crew, staring at them for a moment before he said, “Unbelievable.”

~

Teagan lit into the Clubhouse like the place was on fire. Ignoring Piney’s attempts to slow her down and tell him what the hell was going on as she passed by the bar and made her way down the hall to the dorms; Throwing the door to her room open. The sound of it slamming against the wall sending an echo loud enough down the hallway that it could’ve woke people up in the next County over. 

Grabbing her pack from the closet she quickly began to stuff in the essentials. Making sure to do so quickly as she knew at least a few of the guys would be on their way back and pulling in soon. Tig being among them, given she had just stolen his pride and joy. So the sooner she got out of there, the better. Besides, the last thing she wanted was anyone trying to stop her…

Her mind was made up...She was done. Charming had been her last chance at a safe haven, but now that had been shattered into a million pieces and all because she let her feelings get in the way. Just like she always did. Funny she had actually believed that things had actually turned in her favor for once, and that maybe she finally had a shot at real happiness despite the shitstorm that had been chasing her all her life. But she couldn’t have been more wrong.

“What in the fuck are you doing?” Tawni grumbled crankily from the doorway of Teagan’s room, still half asleep; Teagan turning and narrowing her gaze. 

“Leaving.” Teagan snapped as she tugged the zipper on her pack shut and threw it over her shoulder before stalking out of the room. Shoulder checking Tawni on the way out when she didn’t move.

“Seriously?!” Tawni huffed as she turned and started after Teagan. “You’re gonna be a bitch this fucking early?!”

“I’m done. Gone. Not fucking coming back. You should be fucking happy!” Teagan rounded on Tawni, causing her to take a step back as she stared at Teagan a little shocked as those few that remained in the Clubhouse fell silent. “Can’t fuck your Uncle if I’m not around anymore, right? Because as if things weren’t shitty enough -- To add insult to injury, my best fucking friend--Sorry ex best friend, just assumes, that I would go behind her back in such a way--”

“Teagan--”

“Fuckin’ save it Tawn, ‘cause I don’t give a shit anymore.” Teagan cut her off before she could even start. “And to think, I actually fucking cared...I mean genuinely fucking cared, for the first time in a long time...But he’s married, so crisis averted. ” She laughed bitterly, turning on her heel as she started for the door again.

“And you’re answer to it all is to run like a fucking coward? Just like you’ve always done?!” Tawni started after Teagan again, not ready to let her go so easily. But she stopped when Teagan dropped her bag abruptly, her fist suddenly connecting with Tawni’s jaw, sending her to the floor.  

“I thought you were my fucking friend.” Teagan’s voice was calm, showing in it the level of hurt she was feeling right now as she shook her head.

“C’mon, Kid, don’t do this.” Piney butted in as he got to his feet, holding his hands out as if he was trying to calm a wild animal as he approached her. Stopping when Teagan held out a hand to stop him, and picked up her bag.

“Save it.”

“What the fucking Christ, Teagan?!” Tig hollered as he came bursting through the doors of the Clubhouse, Jax and Opie close behind. 

“Don’t.” Teagan snapped coldly as she pushed past her brother and out the door; yanking her arm from Opie’s grasp when he tried to grab her.

“Come on, Rave...Don’t do it like this.” Opie pleaded with a sympathetic expression as he stared down at her as she pushed past him out the door. “At least tell us what’s going on?”

“She’s fuckin’ my Goddamn Uncle, is wha’s goin’ on!” Tawni shouted as she came flying out the door in the midst of all the chaos, hellbent on finishing what had just been started.

“You know…” Teagan gave another hollow sounding laugh, turning with tears in her eyes to face Tawni who stopped when she saw her twisted expression. “I actually wish I had gotten the chance.”

Without another word she turned, crossing the lot the rest of the way to her bike, securing her pack to the sissy bar before she climbed on and pulled on her helmet. The sound of the engine roaring to life drowning out Tig’s shouts as he came running across the Teller-Morrow lot after her; Falling just short  of reaching her as she pulled out of her space and hit the throttle. Leaving behind a sea of shocked and confused faces in her wake as she left it all behind.

Hellbent on never looking back.

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

Lemme know what you guys think! I promise things pick up soon and get more interesting lol And if you want to be added the taglist, or removed ((it’s been a long time, I’d understand if anyone's lost interest)) just let me know. I’m actually getting ahead on chapters, so hopefully I’ll be able to start posting a little more often.

TAGLIST: @jacksonroseroth​ @cole-winchester​ @stacie-marie-bloom​ @journeyrose​ @penny4yourthot​ @xbreezymeadowsx​ @miss-nori85​

[neighborhoodmoonchild]

Music To My Ears (Jin x Siren!Reader)

Genre: Supernatural Au, College Au, Fluff, Angst

Warnings: Explicit language (just a bit), whole lotta angst, brief mentions of suicide, story also goes back and forth from Jin’s to Y/N’s POV, Fluuuufffff

Word Count: 9K, lets goooo

“What about Jiwoo?”

“No way.”

“There’s that girl from my psych class, Dae?” Jin scoffed and shook his head furiously.

“Anyone that shares a class with you Joon is a no-go. I want simple and easy, not a therapy session on why I’m ‘afraid’ of commitment.”

Joon shakes his head with a light chuckle, “Maybe you should be asking yourself that question.”

Jin laughs at his friend like he’s the funniest thing in the world, when Joon knows very well he’s not.

“Easy, I’m not afraid, I just don’t need a girlfriend right now. Monogamy is boring.”

Yoongi pulls his headphones off completely this time and turns to the two idiots taking up all the space on his bed, “Then why even bother with girls at all. Try flying solo for a while.”

That earns him a long, exaggerated eye roll.

“Because Yoongles, a man has needs.” If there was one quality Jin didn’t have, it was subtlety.

Being the most popular, handsome, and eligible guy on campus (self-coined, in case you couldn’t tell) was both a blessing and a curse. The pressure to pursue and please was insurmountable, and while Jin enjoyed a good challenge, he just wanted to relax and have some harmless fun while he could.

College wouldn’t last forever, and the endless pool of easy, available, no-strings-attached hook-ups died along with it, so Jin made it his mission to make the best of his last year here.

Only rule: girls in his dorm? OFF LIMITS. He made that mistake first year, and he still gets the stink eye from Yeri every time he goes to wash his clothes, and don’t even get him started on the various times the lights just “happened” to go out while he was taking a shower.

Everyone else is fair game and no repeats allowed. Some would call him a player, but he prefers opportunistic. I mean, campus is just serving him all of these gorgeous women on a silver platter, so what’s he supposed to do?

A painful groan breaks Jin from his thoughts, his attention flicking to the dark haired man now leaning so far back in his chair, it might just snap in half.

“Look, all I’m saying is that nothing good can come from your little ‘quest,’ ok?”

A snort from the eldest causes Yoongi to spin around and chuck his notebook at him, exasperation clear on his face.

“Except everything about it. No feelings, no mess, just fun.”

“Just because you don’t acknowledge the mess, doesn’t mean it’s not still there,” Yoongi counters, earning silence from his friends.

Jin ponders for a moment. Sure, sometimes he picked the wrong target and things got a little weird, but it couldn’t be that bad, right? It’s not like they didn’t know what they were getting into with him, he’s a pretty open book, ask anyone.

Then again, it’s not like he stuck around long enough to really gauge the outcomes, and to be honest, he doesn’t think he will be for a while. It may seem selfish, but come on, it’s not like any of these girls aren’t getting anything out of it, and he sees how some of them walk around all high and mighty afterwards. If anything, they’re using him just as much as he’s using them. Why not play the game if it’s a win-win?

The conversation on that dies out as quickly as it came, and after laughing about Joon’s mishap with his zipper in Physics for a solid 30 minutes, Yoongi gets fed up and kicks them out so he can finally study.

The walk back to his room is uneventful. His dorm is rather quiet at night, all the partying and adult shenanigans happens in Seo Hall or down the street at Phi Beta Nu. Jin loved a good kegger as much as the next guy, but the betas are just too stuck up their own asses you have to be fully inebriated to have any fun.

As he rounds the hall, he sees a slight steam sweep through the doorway to the communal bathrooms. If he were up to it, he totally would’ve messed with whoever was in their so late at night, but after the conversation with Yoongi and Joon, he couldn’t bother.

Usually his friends would be excited or at least fake being into his dumb conquests, but he could tell they were starting to worry about him. Jin wasn’t always like this, looking for easy and replaceable love, but after his girlfriend of almost 2 years broke up with him before they both started junior year, he just didn’t see the point in the long-term when it would all just fall apart in the end.

Jin was tired of putting in so much time and effort only to get slapped in the face and his heart ripped in two. No, the easiest way to protect your heart from breaking was to pretend you didn’t really have one, or at least use a fake while the real one is hidden away.

‘Love’ everyone but truly love no one.

Suddenly, he’s stopped just beyond the bathroom doorway, a sweet and soft voice dripping from the warm and damp air like fresh honey for only him to savor. It wasn’t uncommon for people to belt it out when they were alone in the shower, but this was something so uniquely and incredibly different, it pulled him in without any resistance.

Jin was not a pervert by any means, he’s always respectful and gentlemanly when it counted, and he knows it certainly doesn’t look that way as he carefully tiptoes through the doorway to find the source of the melody turning his insides to jelly and making his heart beat a little faster than normal.

Jin knew, he KNEW, this was a bad idea, but something inside him just told him to keep going. He could pinpoint the exact stall it was coming from, could almost see her outline through the curtain, when the singing stopped.

So lost in his haze, Jin didn’t even realize he knocked over an empty caddy by one of the stalls, causing a light bang, and indicating to the mystery girl that she was no longer alone.

Before he could process what was happening, Jin was out of the bathroom as fast as lightning, the sound of her curtain ripping open spurring his feet to move faster. He was out of there and hiding behind the corner like a crazy person, praying to God he wasn’t found out.

Jin had never ever done something like this before, and he was hoping the first time he messed up would not be the time he got caught.

The water now off, he could hear her footsteps as she slowly peeked out from the doorway, searching for the suspect. Jin’s heart beat so loud he was scared she’d find him by that alone.

It was quiet for a moment, and Jin let himself sneak a peek past the edge of the hall, hoping to catch a glimpse of this mystery girl. To his surprise, all he got was a flash of hair, the red color tinting her cheeks, and the fluffy pink of her robe as she quickly made her way down the hall towards her room.

He didn’t want to keep watching, anxious she’d feel his eyes and turn back and see him, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away. Her stature, the curve of her body, the sway of her hair against her shoulders and back, it was so mesmerizing, and he could not for the life of him get her voice out of his head.

After she was locked away in her room, Jin began his retreat to his, only looking back once in the direction of her door.

‘No dorm mates, remember that,’ he repeated in his mind, over and over and over again. But no matter how hard he tried to hear that like a mantra in his mind, her voice was louder than any thought he could provide.

-

You were still a bit paranoid after last night. You lived in a dorm for heavens sake, and a coed one at that, of course other people would be in the bathroom. Usually, you waited late enough for everyone to be either gone partying, studying, or on the rare occasion, sleeping.

After all, you didn’t see anyone, it was probably just your brain making things up thanks to too many late nights binging horror flicks.

Still, you couldn’t help feeling wary. You rarely break your ‘no voice’ rule, but you just couldn’t help yourself sometimes. You missed letting the notes and melodies fall from your lips, no matter how dangerous it could be.

Late night showers with the water masking the sound became the only way you were able to take a break from playing mute. You didn’t like lying to people, but you just couldn’t risk it.

Not after what happened last time.

With your backpack strapped safely to your back and arms cradling your notebook, you cautiously made your way to class. You made it a habit of trying to avoid eye contact with everyone all together. Sometimes even a look could draw them in, so pushing everyone away was best.

Of course, this was nearly impossible to do as a student, but you learned ways to keep it at bay. Hide yourself in as many layers as you could, don’t wear anything eye-catching, keep your head down, and never stay too long.

You even requested a room to yourself, in fear a roommate would stir up unnecessary trouble, and you wanted to get through college as incident-free as possible after first year.

Of course, all of these precautions didn’t stop the trouble all together. When you first came to school, people, especially guys, were all over you. They’d cast the shy card, the innocent card, and when you wouldn’t fall into their traps, they’d casted you out all together.

The shy girl everyone wanted became the prude people avoided.

Albeit it was a bit lonely at times, you remembered that you weren’t here to make friends, you were here to get an education. On you couldn’t get where you were from, and one you had fought fiercely to obtain.

You weren’t going to let that be ripped away from you by a little bout of loneliness.

You made it to class with a few minutes to spare, your notebooks and pencils taking their places sprawled across your desk as you awaited instruction.

Class went by slower than usual, and you couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching you. You weren’t a stranger to wandering eyes, but they usually lost interest rather quickly. This time, however, you could tell every time they’d wander back to you, and you knew better than to indulge and find the culprit.

Instead you ignored it, trying hard to focus on the lesson, and then suddenly, class is over and you realized you missed the assignment.

After waiting a few minutes for people to clear out, you made your way down to the professor, one you’d met plenty of times before, and began to sign.

Learning sign language was a skill that helped tremendously. Suddenly, you went from racing to write your thoughts out on paper, to being able to have sort-of easy flowing conversations when needed. Most were more than happy to accommodate you, bringing in an interpreter and some even knew a few basic signs to talk with you. For the the less forgiving ones, you still carried around your pad and pen.

You asked him if he would repeat the assignment due for next week, hands a bit shaky. You weren’t the best, but it was understandable. He happily obliged, and you took down the information on your planner.

After thanking him, you turn to head out, when a pair of eyes meet yours.

-

Jin couldn’t even escape this girl in his dreams. Suddenly, her voice echoed through every cavity of his brain, the image of her hair flowing as she walked down the hall distracting him from his daily tasks.

Now he was on the verge of being late for class and he couldn’t help but blame the girl a bit. He knew he was just being petty, but how could someone like her have evaded him for so long? How had he not noticed her before?

He was a charmer, a magnet for girls like her, so how had she slipped right through his fingers? Jin admittedly was more interested in the mystery right now than the girl herself, but he seemed that they are one in the same. After all, he couldn’t really be interested in someone he had never met before. And he didn’t even know why he was so taken in the first place.

Jin now made it his new mission to find out who this girl was, whether she wanted to be  found or not. He needed answers; why was she up so late? Why did her voice effect him so? Why had he never seen her before now?

When he finally stumbled into Psych, he never expected he’d find his suspect so soon. Yet, there she was, a few rows ahead of him, hair pushed behind her ears, supplies all laid out before her, and he didn’t mean to, but all he can do is stare.

How fate had lined this up so perfectly for him and what he did to deserve it, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that now that he could see her properly, in the daylight and not hiding behind a corner, the beating of his heart sped up so fast he was sure he might have a heart attack right there.

After intensely staring at her for a few seconds, he could sense the change in her demeanor, knew she could tell he was staring. He tried multiple times to pay attention to the lecture, but he just couldn’t seem to hold his focus on anything accept her.

He desperately did not want to make her feel uncomfortable, yet he could tell that’s exactly what he was doing. He could slap himself for it, now she’d never give him the time of day.

Jin spent so much time going back and forth with himself over what to do, he didn’t realize class had already come to a stop and people were filing out. As he snapped himself out of it, stuffing his things back into his bag, he saw that girl get out of her seat.

The bounce of her hair when she walked towards the professor made his stomach do flips, but he pushed the feeling aside to be reasonable. Was she pretty? Yes. Was he attracted to her? As much as you can be to a stranger, he guesses.

He watched as she rose her hands, moving them quickly albeit shakily, and the professor responded to her, giving her the notes for the assignment, which she quickly jotted down.

Now, that was interesting. Why was she using her hands to communicate when she could’ve just spoken to the professor? Jin was even more intrigued than he was before.

Just as he was about to leave them to it, she turned around, instantly locking eyes with him. Jin wasn’t sure what to do. Does he say hi? Pretend it never happened and flee? But before he could choose an option, you were already on your way towards him.

-

You weren’t planning on confronting him, but he was conveniently still there, standing, staring.

You’d never seen this boy before, but then again, you never made it your mission to remember names and faces. After all, they would never be permanent.

This time, however, something stirred inside you. A feeling like fate, maybe, wanted you to take initiative just this once.

You couldn’t pinpoint what exactly in him drew you forward, to believe that this was all okay and that you weren’t making a big mistake again.

Maybe it was the way his warm brown eyes seemed to grow when you caught his gaze.

Perhaps it was his lopsided smile as he internally decided what to do.

Good looks were something that obviously came naturally to him, but it wasn’t that.

No, you could feel something different emanating from him.  

A hidden warmth so purely good you couldn’t help but let it pull you in, no matter how scarily quick it was causing all your protective walls to crumble to the ground.

Stopping just in front of him, you tilt your head a bit to the side, questioning.

He just stares for a moment, realizes what he’s doing, and quickly plays it off cool, his hand coming to scratch the back of his neck.

“Hi, um, my name’s Jin. Nice to meet you.” His hand shoots forward to grasp yours, fingers sliding against one another’s and then falls back to his side.

You take a minute to think. He probably doesn’t know sign language. Maybe I should get my pad out.

You reach in your bag for your paper, when he clears his throat.

“You can talk, right?” He asks, but his tone is edging more towards statement, like he already knows the answer.

You freeze. Lying to him felt wrong, more wrong than it did with everyone else, which was incredibly strange due to him being a complete stranger.

You retract your hands, and look back up at him, shaking your head no.

His expression turns to confusion, which you quickly mirror. It’s when he notices your face that he scrambles to explain.

“It’s just...” he takes a deep sigh, “I heard you. The other night.” He stops, looking into your eyes for understanding. You don’t get the hint, so he continues.

“I was walking back to my room last night, and I heard someone singing in the shower. Their voice was so beautiful. So I waited around a bit, and I saw you leave.”

You can feel the flush rise up through your cheeks, staining every inch of your face in utter embarrassment and fear.

How could you have been so stupid?

Shaking your head no so vigorously it might fall off, you quickly rush past him. You needed to get out of there. Create some distance; a LOT of distance. No way were you going to make the same mistake again.

Expecting him to just drop it, you’re surprised when his footsteps echo behind you.

“Wait, I didn’t mean to make you upset... I just-“ but before he could finish, you whip around, throwing your arms up, signaling him to stop.

You rip your pad and pen from your bag, and scribble out your frustration.

His eyes drop from yours to the pad in front of him.

“Just leave me alone. Please.”

You turn to leave, but he steps in front of you.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? Why can’t you just talk to me. I know you can.” He seemed almost upset with you. How could he be upset with you?!?

“None of your business. Goodbye.” You shove it in his face and once he’s flustered, you make your escape.

Making your way back to your dorm, fuming at the absolute audacity of this guy, you make a mental note to never trust yourself again when it comes to stupid feelings. I mean, how the hell you had felt any warmth in him was beyond you. How dare he act like he knows you. He doesn’t know a damn thing!

You were so caught up in mentally beating the shit out of this ‘Jin’ guy, you didn’t even notice him walk past you and go into his room just down the hallway.

-

“And then she just shoves her notebook in my face and walks off! What the hell?”

To say Jin is thoroughly aggravated would be an understatement.

He could deal with a girl just not being interested in him, whatever, but for a girl to make him feel stupid like that?

He wasn’t sure about a lot of things, but he was 100% sure that that girl was the one he heard singing in the bathroom the other night. He feels it in his bones.

“Well, you did basically accuse her of faking being mute or whatever.” Yoongi was only half painting attention to the conversation, once again mind clouded with all of the work he had to do. Jin could tell, but he was too frazzled to care.

Sure, he definitely could’ve handled the situation better, but everything about her made him nervous, and then she shuts him down, without so much as a second thought? She didn’t even know him for heavens sake, how could she treat him like he was just some douche?

“I didn’t mean to, I was trying to be nice, but she is just so frustrating. I didn’t demand she tell me her life story, I just know she can talk and I wanted to hear her voice again.” Yoongi ignored him, so Jin sighed as loud as he could and left the room.

As he was walking back to his room, he passed your door. He took a quick glance at the name sprawled across the little cut-out butterfly that the floor advisor made for all the tenants. Y/N.

Her negativity towards him should’ve deterred him, even stopped him all together. Oh, but that’s not how Jin works. Now he had even more of a reason to figure this Y/N out. He was going to get her to talk to him if it was the last thing he did.

In his room, he grabs his laptop and starts researching sign language. If she wants to play hard ball, I’ll learn the game.

Despite his love of simple and easy, Jin couldn’t resist this challenge, and he couldn’t help but feel like this was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

Forget one night stands, he wanted to, scarily enough, put in the work for this one. Something in his heart was telling him you’d be worth the effort.

He’d find a way to get to you, no matter how long or hard it’d be.

Jin understands having secrets and your right to keep them, but what could be so bad about a voice?

-

After as peaceful of a night’s sleep as you could get in a dorm, you had almost completely forgotten about the encounter with Jin yesterday. Keyword: almost.

It could’ve just been completely forgotten all together if he hadn’t been standing outside your door as soon as you walked out for class, an annoying smirk plastered to his smug little face.

You were startled, which only seemed to make his smile grow, as if annoying you made his entire day. The dynamic you two had developed over less than a full day of knowing each other was nothing short of absolutely insane. How could two complete strangers suddenly be so ‘comfortable’ around each other?

Obviously Jin was more comfortable with you than vice versa, considering he went from listening to you in the shower, to confronting you in class, to now waiting for you outside your room. Either this guy is incredibly bold or incredibly stupid.

One glance might see a friend waiting outside your dorm to walk you to class. Another might see a stalker waiting for their prey. You knew Jin was just curious, it wasn’t something you hadn’t encountered before, so you entertained the thought that he just might lie somewhere in between those two extremes just to humor yourself.

He approached you, carefully, his demeanor shifting, softening, like he didn’t want to press you. Maybe he just has one of those faces that always looks annoying for some reason.

You prepared yourself to walk away, to shake your head, give him the finger, stomp on his foot, you don’t know, just something, anything to get him off your back.

He would probably say something incredibly ignorant without meaning too and you’d have to take it in one ear and out the other without taking it to heart. After all, you didn’t want to fight with him. You didn’t really want anything to do with him considering your history and his revelation about a few nights before.

But as you lifted your hand to back him off, he started moving his hands in a fashion you had become familiar with. You watched the motion of his hands, the shapes he creates, the orientation of his palms, and realizes he’s trying to sign to me.

This kid. This fucking kid, who you just met yesterday, one you had definitely gotten off on the wrong foot with, spent his night, which could’ve been used to party, study, whatever. He spent it on learning some sign language. He spent all night practicing signs so he could talk to you.

Not sure whether you should be flattered or frustrated that he now could technically talk to you in a way you couldn’t just blatantly ignore, you stood, mouth gaped as he continued to move his hands over and over again.

It was sloppy, obviously, but the idea was there. He never took his eyes from you, waiting for you to understand and respond.

“I’m sorry,” he signs, “can we start over?” The look on his face closely resembles regret. He was actually apologizing. A college guy apologizing for acting like a jerk? Well, this was a first.

You wanted to forgive him right away. Honestly, he was just being normal. It’s not his fault you had a secret. You knew you overreacted, but you honestly wanted to throw him for a loop first. See if he could keep up with you, if it would be worthwhile to indulge in conversing and learning about one another, even though it broke all of your rules.

This was the first real contact you’d had in a long time, and you kind of missed it now that you’d had a taste.

You desperately want to break into a stupid grin, but remain stoic, which sends a rigid chill through Jin. He’s nervous you won’t accept his apology. That you’d hate him forever and he’d never get to know you, the real you.

“Why should I?” It takes him a minute and you repeating it once more for him to finally understand what you’re saying. He’s not surprised, after all, you don’t know him, he doesn’t know you, there is no basis of trust established, and all you had was his bad impression from yesterday to go on.

He thinks, mulling over in his head not only a proper response, but how to sign it well enough you’ll understand.

“I don’t know,” he thinks again, “just a feeling we could be friends.” He chuckles a bit at his awful signing, which he can tell is as bad as he thinks just by the confused way your eyes move following his hands and face.

It was honest. No bullshit. No lines. He was telling the truth, a truth you knew and felt on your own. Something drew you to him, you could feel it from the moment you locked eyes with him. After what happened the last time you let yourself get too close to someone, you were eager to push this feeling away to avoid repeating old mistakes.

Something about this one, though, felt different. It’s like he wasn’t seeing the side of you that lured people in. He was seeing the side of you that just wanted to be normal. The you that could put up a cool, collected front but easily break it down with your stubborn, childish, annoying side.

The you that was usually so well hidden from the outside world. Jin brought out the real you, the human in you.

It was too much to ask of a stranger, yet here he was, putting in the work and then some, just for the minuscule chance you might accept him, let him into your world.

He wasn’t looking for much, he just wanted to know you. You seemed like this perfect, put together girl that could have the world wrapped around your finger if you wanted. Yet you blockaded yourself from the joys and wonders of life, and he wanted desperately to understand why. Not for selfish purposes, but because he could see that you were forcing yourself to stand alone.

After all, he is the complete opposite. He has the world wrapped his finger and he knew it, exploiting it and taking all it offered him. Compliments, opportunities, lovers, they were his for the taking and he happily indulged. He couldn’t see how you could have the same opportunity and blatantly ignore it.

He could tell you weren’t happy just by looking in your eyes. The way you avoided him and others, how you went straight from class to your unshared room. How long had you cut yourself off from the rest of the world?

Jin wanted to understand the why so he could figure out if there was a way to change your mind. To show you that life had so much to offer, so many wonderful things, that you’d want to open up, experience life in a way that would leave every day feeling better than the last.

The last thing he thought you needed was a ‘knight in shining armor.’ No, you didn’t need help, he could tell you were strong, but he did think you could use a sidekick of sorts along the way. A friend, someone who indulges sometimes too much in the joys of life. Who better to show you just how fun life can be? Now all he needed was for you to be willing to let him.

Again, it was a lot for him to ask of you, a stranger, but he figured it was worth a shot. Worst case scenario, you’d tell him to bug off and never talk to him again, but you didn’t exactly talk to him much as it is, so there was nothing really to lose.

You, on the other hand, had a lot to lose.

Your first year, you had ignored the warnings of your family against going to university. You’d been homeschooled all your life to protect you, they had said. Turns out, they were actually protecting others from you.

You’d been starved of non familial human interaction, so when this kind-hearted guy paid attention to you, it made you feel special. Of course, it wasn’t as simple as you thought.

Back then you’d known little about controlling your abilities. When you spoke, it naturally affected some people more than others. This guy had been so far under your spell, it quickly edged on dangerous.

You’d tried to break things off as carefully as possible, spare him the hurt as best you could, but he wouldn’t, no, couldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

It got worse, and suddenly you found yourself sitting in a police station being questioned about his suicide and you vowed never again.

Never again would you hurt someone like that; would not only put someone else through that, but yourself as well.

Pushing people away kept them safe. You were dangerous.

And all of a sudden, this goofy, broad-shouldered idiot with a dopey smile comes crashing into your life and you can’t help but feel like you won’t be able to shake him even if you tried.

As long as you kept quiet, you figured, what was the harm in letting him hang around?

You let out an exasperated sigh, one that catches Jin’s attention as he eagerly awaits for you to sign something, anything.

“Fine. Forgiven.” Light glimmers in his eyes as he flashes you a big grin, happy with the verdict.

“Friends?” He adds, extending a hand for you to shake. You stare at his fingers, hesitant and nervous that a touch could even be a trigger. You slowly take his hand, and after finding no problem, shake.

“Do I have a choice?” You sign, and take his loud laugh and head shake as a big fat no, not that you were surprised.

He follows just behind you as you walk to class in silence, but he starts to move his hands again, and as you look over, you see, “Cool, can I copy your Psych homework?”

Instant regret.

-

Did you see that right? No way, maybe you missed something. You signal him to sign again.

“Are you Friday homework busy?” He doesn’t seem to catch on that what he said made no freaking sense whatsoever, so you sign ‘again.’

Jin rolls his eyes, repeating his hand motions for the third time, and you still can’t figure out what the hell he’s on about.

It’s been a few months since you’d started ‘hanging out,’ though 99% of the time it was Jin just following you around, watching you do homework or other mundane things, and asking you to let him copy your assignments when he couldn’t be bothered to do them himself.

It was something hard to get used to at first, but soon you found yourself falling into a rhythm with him. Suddenly he was a natural part of your every day, something you quickly looked forward too even though you you would never tell him that.

So after being around him for so long, you knew he could sign better than that. Usually he’d catch himself, laugh off the embarrassment, and let you help him get it right.

This, needless to say, was highly unusual.

Jin, on the other hand, found your confusion hilarious. He didn’t give it away that he thought as much, because he was doing it on purpose after all.

After spending a few months with you, he’d noticed how quickly you placed him into your routine. As much as he enjoyed that, he wanted to change it up. He learned a lot about you, from the way you twirl your pencil when your bored, to the way you tuck your hair behind your ears when you’re embarrassed. Even your cute ugly laugh when he does something stupid.

He loved all those things, loved that you share them with him, but you were still hiding a part of yourself, and Jin was determined to find it and uncover it. He just wants you to be completely, wholly, and unapologetically you, because to him, nothing could be better.

To say he became quite infatuated with you with every new discovery would be an understatement. He felt like a lovesick puppy sometimes, and all he wanted was to hold you in his arms and tell you dumb jokes to make you smile.

Of course, you probably only thought of him as a friend, and Jin was totally fine with that. He was just happy that you’d accepted him at all, and he wasn’t about to ruin that over what was probably just a silly crush.

So, Jin had come up with this ‘clever’ plan to get you to actually talk to him. With everything he’s learned about you, he knew how impatient you could be, especially when frustrated.

If he signs so bad you can’t understand him, you’ll quickly get fed up and open your mouth, considering you’d caught yourself almost doing so numerous times before. While Jin was also very anxious about stirring up your wrath, he thought it would most likely be worth it in the long run if he could get you to speak.

And you were quickly falling into his trap.

How in the hell was he not seeing that his structure was making zero sense? You try to sign to him, tell him to knock it off, but he just looks at you confused. He knows these signs so why is he acting like he doesn’t understand you?

You could feel a few wandering eyes, knowing fully well that they were getting a laugh out of your charades session with Jin. You could feel the heat creep up your neck, and you wanted so badly to tell him to piss off, stop messing with you, to cuss him out.

You bit your tongue for as long as you could, but the dam finally collapsed, your fist flying into his shoulder.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Quite being an asshole!” You whisper shout at him, and the cheering erupts in Jin’s mind, confetti cannons bursting, a song of victory playing on loop.

He couldn’t help the smile that quickly took over his face, no matter how intense your death glare was. He wanted to lunge forward and hug you, for you to say something again.

He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he was dying to hear his name drip from your lips, no matter the context.

“Sorry, what was that?” He prodded, softly punching your shoulder back.

Rolling your eyes, you tense at the realization you just spoke out loud. What the hell were you thinking? That was just it, you weren’t.

Your hand flies to cover your mouth, not wanting to make eye contact with Jin. You didn’t know what to expect except the absolute worse, and when he rests his hand on your knee, you look up.

His expression is sympathetic, “You know, you don’t have to be scared to talk to me.” His voice is low as to not scare you.

You search his eyes for a telltale sign that he’s affected. Usually, their eyes turn a bit hazy, but his were clear as day.

Considering you’d just cut yourself off from people as best you could, you weren’t sure if there was a possibility there were people out there that couldn’t be affected. Obviously others like you weren’t, but you could tell when you were near another sea-born, almost like a telepathic bond you had with your kind.

Jin was an enigma to say the least.

The fear that coursed through your veins subsided a bit, and it was slowly replaced with a building excitement. You might have found someone, a human none the less, that you could finally speak to. Your time of solitude might have finally been over.

Jin was scared to say anything else. He thought maybe he’d pushed you to far, been unfair, and built a new barrier between the two of you. It was when he saw the smile crawl onto your face that he realized he might have just cracked you right open.

Seeing that smile, one full of potential and excitement he didn’t quite understand, was like caffeine to the butterflies in his stomach. His heart raced a mile a minute, a warmth coursing through his veins filling him with an energy he’d never known before.

Now this was something he could get used to.

What he wasn’t expecting was for you to lunge forward and wrap your arms tightly around his neck, taking him a second to pull himself from the shock to return the hug.

“You wanna go somewhere and talk?” He asks, and your eyes light up.

You pull him up from his seat in the library, heading towards the dorms nodding your head.

“By the way,” you start, Jin following close behind you. You turn your head to look over your shoulder at him, a smirk on your face, “I know you did that on purpose, Jin.”

He knows he should’ve been worried by the tone behind your words, but once his name left your lips, that was all he could focus on the whole walk to your room.

-

“Never? Like, never ever?” Jin’s face contorts in amused surprise. He’d been questioning you for the past hour about everything under the sun, from childhood pet trauma to inappropriate crushes.

You roll your eyes, though a giggle escapes your lips, “No, I’ve never ever thought of a teacher that way.” You hold his pillow tighter to your chest as he falls over the end of his bed, clearly exasperated and not believing you for a second.

“There’s no way. There are at least, like, 3 of your professors that are, objectively, sexy as hell and you’re telling me you’ve never thought about?”

You shake your head, “Nope, not once.” The laughter easily flows from your lips as he gets frustrated.

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say.” He smirks at you, and you pretend to get defensive.

“What, and you have?” That sends him over the edge in giggles, rolling around the bed, causing the whole thing to shake, including you.

He lifts himself up and stares at you, “Of course! I’m a normal, healthy man aren’t I?” You’re not sure how to respond without laughing and making him question himself, so you just playfully smack his arm and agree.

“Fine, fine. I guess I’m just a weirdo then.”

“Amen to that!” He bounces, smirking at you, earning himself another slap. He fakes hurt and snatches the pillow from your arms, pouting.

“I may be a weirdo, but you’re just a big baby.” Your hand caresses through his brown locks, his eyes peeking from the edge of the pillow, the smile in them giving himself away.

Being able to talk to each other out loud opened many new doors for the two of you in the weeks that followed. It was exciting to get to know someone on an intimate level like this, without fear of it going south the way it had before.

It was, surprisingly, normal. The most normal you had felt in a long, long time.

Suddenly you had someone to share your thoughts and feelings with, even the most mundane of them. Friendship unlocked this whole new side of yourself you’d never experienced before.

Jin felt the same way. He didn’t realize how he was just blowing through life like it was nothing until he met you. Every minute was spent finding something new he cherished about you, instead of wasting it away with childish things like he had in the past.

He found new meaning in every day, spending more time living and having fun with you, rather than complaining about his trials and tribulations to Namjoon and Yoongi (which they were utterly grateful to you for).

You both had something to look forward to every day; each other.

In the beginning you thought you were total opposites bound for failure. Jin was this upbeat, extrovert with a wild side. You were the quiet, introvert scared of human interaction.

Turns out you both just needed a nudge to find there was more in common there than you thought.

You both could be loud, stubborn, silly, and an absolute mess.

Could be quiet, modest, and hide yourselves away.

Both could be intense and emotional, but there for the other no matter what.

Jin was the yin to your yang. You could be whatever the other needed at any specific moment in time.

You both didn’t want to admit it to each other quite yet, but he was your best friend, the only person you wanted and needed, and vice versa.

You’d never experienced love before, didn’t know what it felt like or what to expect, but you believed in your heart it had to be something like this.

As you get up off the bed to put your shoes on and head back to your room, his hand wraps gently around your wrist. It’s late, the light of the moon seeping through his blinds, and he can’t help but admire the way it lights up your face as you turn to look at him.

“Stay?” He asks, and you don’t even have to answer.

Cuddling up to each other under the multitude of blankets covering his bed, you can’t help but truly feel at peace for the first time in your life, with your head laying on his chest, the steady thrum of his heartbeat echoing through your ears as you both fall asleep.

-

You stayed in bed all day. Didn’t answer your phone when it went off, didn’t answer the door when he knocked, just stayed wrapped in your blanket, eyes focused on the clouds beyond your window.

It was the third anniversary of the incident. You didn’t know what else to call it. Black clouds hung over you, and the feeling like everything you had built with Jin would crumble the same way cast them harsher overhead.

You hadn’t even told him about it yet, amazed he had never once pushed you to do so either. Jin was curious by nature, but he knew some things about your past were off limits, and he respected that.

That didn’t stop him from worrying about the distance lately. You are his best friend, and you spent a majority of your time together. So when that came to an abrupt halt the day before, he desperately wanted to find out why so he could help pull you out it.

He missed you, and he hated knowing something was wrong that he couldn’t fix.

You were just about to pull yourself up to make a cup of tea when a loud series of knocks came from your door. You figured it was probably Jin again, but when they got harsher and faster, you decide to check just in case.

The mug you cradled in your hands fell to the floor, a light crash sounding out as it cracked into pieces.

“Shit.”

You picked them up as quickly as possible, tossing them to the trash and returning to the door.

A cold rush bled through your veins, a violent churn brewing in your stomach as you opened the door.

You didn’t even have time to prepare yourself before she was in your face, visibly distressed.

Her brown hair the same as it had been that day she locked eyes with you as you were escorted from the station, watching an officer hold her as back as she tried to go after you.

You thought she’d given up on crucifying you, or at least tried to. You never expected after three years for her to show up in person, eyes blazing in search of vengeance.

“I heard you’ve lured some new victim into your trap, where is he? Or have you already strung him up like you did Jay?” She spit, venom lacing every syllable.

You didn’t have much of a choice, so you moved away from her assault, giving her full access to search your room.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Look, Lia, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I’m sorry.” You keep your voice soft as not to stir the pot, but it doesn’t help. She’s visibly enraged and nothing was going to change that.

She pauses her search to rush you, get in your face, causing you to retreat, but she holds you in place like a rag doll.

“I won’t ever accept your apology. You killed my brother you bitch,” her grip on your arms tighten, causing you to wince.

“If you think, even for a second, that his death wasn’t all because of you, then you’re fucking thick. If it wasn’t for you, he’d still be here!” She choked, tears streaming down her face.

Paralyzed. You felt nothing, not the warm tears on your cheeks, the grip of her hand on your arm, the sharp sting as the other made contact with your face. Even as she left and a new figure entered your line of vision, you stood there; empty.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Jin wants to reach out for you, but is scared it might make things worse. It’s when you collapse in his arms he lets the breath he’d been holding in out, wrapping his arms around you, cradling you tight as you cry.

He’d never seen another person talk to you, let alone assault you like that girl just had. He was still processing everything that happened, and couldn’t help but wonder how far it would’ve gone if he hadn’t shown up.

A few minutes later, he’s holding you cuddled up in a blanket on your bed as the crying subsides.

Jin wants to ask what the hell happened, who that girl was, and why you just stood there and let her hurt you? There was no way in hell you could’ve done anything to deserve that outburst.

He peeks down at your tear stained face, red and wet snuggled into his chest. His heart felt like it was being crushed inside of him. Seeing you in such a state physically hurt him.

He hears you sniffle and looks down to see you peering up at him through wet lashes.

“I have to tell you something.”

-

Out of every possible thing you could’ve told him, this was not even in the realm of things he could’ve expected.

He was still trying to grasp the whole ‘siren’ thing, which should’ve sent him running for the hills, but the way you explained what happened with the guy first year, then the incident with his sister a few hours earlier, he didn’t think he could just walk away.

His mind and heart were in a battle, one choosing sanity and the other choosing you. The way you refused to look him in the eyes as you spilled your darkest secrets cast a heavy sadness onto him. He not only felt the pain from your words, but the pain you were feeling.

He knew he should’ve ran to comfort you, hold you, tell you it’d be alright and that it wasn’t your fault.

But a dark thought kept him rooted to his seat across the room from you.

What if it was?

He didn’t want to think this way, to believe that you could be behind something so horrible, but with the revelation of your ‘affliction’ his mind couldn’t help but wonder there.

You said it left people feeling like there was no other way. Like they were forced to pine for you, to long for you, until they couldn’t take it any more.

He’d heard stories of creatures from the sea that lured men to their deaths. Now he was face to face with one, and he was torn between the you he knew and the you he read about.

The horrid thought that everything he felt for you was all a trick made him sick to his stomach, and he couldn’t bring himself to look at you.

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt you, but once that thought took hold, he couldn’t break free from it.

He needed air, space, time to think.

All of this meant walking away from you.

A part of you knew it from the way his face dropped as you snuck a peek from the corner of your eye. It didn't stop the sinking feeling that you once again ruined everything.

You didn’t even bother looking at him as he left, missing the horrible attempt at a fake smile as he went, slightly shaking.

As Jin closed the door behind him, you both let a few tears free fall, crying for everything you had built together as it all came crashing down.

You didn’t care about Lia, the incident, anything. You just wished you’d never come here, met Jin, and hurt him. He deserved better than a monster.

And a monster is all you’d be.

-

“I’m just happy you’re finally coming home sweetheart. Your dad and I miss you.” A pathetic little smile formed on your lips, holding the phone with your shoulder as you finished packing the last things into your suitcase.

“I miss you guys too. See you in a few hours.” You set your phone down and cross the room to grab the book you’d been reading and shove it in your bag.

Christmas break finally arrived to relieve you of the dragging of classes and stuffy dorm. It’d been a while since you’d found time to go home, but you realized this was something you needed.

To get away.

It’d been over a month, and you quickly fell back into your old habits. Class, room, nothing in between. You dropped Psych, avoiding Jin at all costs, although he’d figured he’d done his best to avoid you as well.

The warmth that had taken up space in your previously empty life had fled as quickly as it came. You didn’t talk to anyone, you didn’t sign to anyone, you took on extra classes to finish early. You wanted to be done. You wanted to go home.

Luckily, you had the opportunity to take all online classes your last semester, so you would not be returning to the dorms in the spring. That chapter of your life was over, and even though you were sad to see it go, you knew there was nothing holding you here anymore.

The hassle of it all just wasn’t worth it.

Grabbing the few things you had left, the rest of which you had sold since you wouldn’t need it anymore, you made your way out of the room, locking it for the last time. Before you turned to head down the hallway, you took one last look down the hall to a familiar door.

You figured he’d probably already left for the holiday, since most of the dorms had. Not that it mattered, you wouldn’t speak to him and he wouldn’t speak to you.

Strangers once again.

The once resentment you harbored towards him for cutting you off without explanation was filled with sympathy. You couldn’t expect him to understand and accept you after everything that had happened. You wanted him to live a normal happy life, fall in love with a normal girl that would be good for him.

You couldn’t give him that and you had to accept that. In the end, you were happy with the time you did have together. He’d always be your best friend, no matter how much time and distance separated you.

You both harbored no ill feelings towards each other, it was just something that had to be done, something that was inevitable in your opinion. People like you and people like him just weren’t meant to be.

Grabbing the handle of your suitcase, you make your way down to the lobby to return your key and head to the train station before your train left.

Stepping out of the elevator, you see a familiar figure standing at the front desk, back towards you.

You could tell that brown hair from anywhere though, and you slowed your pace to give him enough time to leave.

Instead, he turns in your direction, a bag in one hand, an envelope in the other.

Your eyes meet, and you have half a mind to just keep walking, you could mail them the key once you were home.

He quickly blocks your path, however, eyes not leaving yours.

It’s awkward and intense and neither of you know what to say, or whether you should say anything at all. After a minute, Jin clears his throat, extending the envelope out to you.

You stare at it, and look back up at him as he shakes it, inviting you to take it.

“I wanted to leave you this before I went home, but since we’re here...” You take it from him, but as you are about to open it, he steps closer and lays his hand over yours.

He stares down at you, his expression soft, like it had been months before when he held you in his arms at night. You had missed that, so, so much.

“I-I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry,” he starts, a red tinge finding solace at the tips of his ears.

“I shouldn’t have left you like I did. I was just, scared. I didn’t know what to think about everything and I thought maybe I was being affected,” he cringes at that, voicing his thoughts of you possibly ‘controlling’ him made him feel like a dumbass, “I know, it was stupid and not fair at all. I just...” he pauses his rant, waiting for any hint of a reaction from you, but you stay silent, waiting for him to finish saying whatever was on his mind.

He takes in a deep breath, “I thought that everything I felt for you might not have been real. I got scared it was all in my head and I didn’t know what to do. But, I realized that everything about me and you was the only sure and real thing in my life. I missed the way you roll your eyes at me when I make dumb jokes, the way your noise crinkles up when your trying to understand something, the way you laugh obnoxiously when I do something stupid,” His hand moves forward to grasp yours as he continues his rant.

“I miss listening to you try to convince me that Spider-Man is the most earnest Avenger even though we both know he’s not,” that earns a crack of a grin despite the tears forming in your eyes. “I miss holding you close at night and hearing our heartbeats mix together in the open air as we fall asleep.”

Jin cups your cheek in his other hand, thumb sliding to wipe away a fallen tear. You lean into his hand, reminiscing in the feeling of his skin on yours.

“I miss you.” He says, his face inching closer to yours, your breaths mixing together between the two of you. You don’t know what to say, but luckily he takes initiative and slowly closes the gap between you.

A warmth envelopes both of you, spreading from your lips and seeping into every fiber of your bodies. The feeling of his lips against yours steals the air from your lungs and heightens every one of your senses. His hands find purchase on the small of your back, your arms curling around his neck to dispel any space between you.

The tension that releases from you is replaced with what you can only describe as pure love.

As you pull apart, Jin rests his forehead against yours, placing another kiss to your lips as you giggle.

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to figure out. I love you.” His smile spreads to yours and you rub the tips of your noses together.

“I love you too,” he leans in for another kiss, but you stop him, a smirk on your lips, “even though you most definitely are a dumb-ass.” He laughs, breathily and pulls you tighter to him.

“I deserve that. I’m your dumb-ass, though.”

You part ways to head home for break with the promise of seeing each other in a few days to spend Christmas together.

When you settled onto the train, you pulled the forgotten envelope from your coat pocket, taking the letter out that resided inside.

As the train began its journey, you read every word of the letter with warmth in your heart.

In detail, was every single thing about you he had fallen in love with.

He’d fallen in love with you; all of you.

And he’d never walk away again.

You’d never be alone again.

The End.

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

Hey Guys,

   First story is officially out! Hope I did you all and Mr. Worldwide Handsome justice. This ended up being longer than I originally anticipated, but I think it needed it to really set everything up. Also, if there are any typos or grammatical errors, feel free to let me know, I’m human, I make mistakes. Kicking off 7 Days of Halloween with a cute little Jin-ie love story, what could be better? I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Stay Spooky! More to come!

P.S. Sorry it’s a bit late, Tumblr is on the fritz and wouldn’t let me post it.

-Moonie🌙

[celestelavie]

Food for Thought || Celeste & Luce

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @divineluce and @celestelavie SUMMARY: Celeste gets off work early and decides to drop off some lunch for Ulfric. He’d already gone home for the day, so Luce and Celeste enjoy a nice lunch together.

While she wasn’t quite sure she’d say Ulfric liked her, Celeste could pick up on the fact he felt less tense around her. Of course, he was never anything less than courteous to her and she was doing her best to show him as much kindness as possible. After all, he’d opened up his home to them and was working diligently to insure Ariana’s safety. Since she had cut from work early for the day, she decided she could bring lunch by the shop for Ulfric on her way home. There was no doubt in her mind that he’d be a fan of red meat if Ariana’s affinity for it was any indication. She’d brought two burgers and some fries with her to the shop, hoping she would catch Ulf during a break between appointments. She didn’t love hanging around in her Al’s uniform, but a short lunch wouldn’t hurt. As she walked into the shop, she saw no sign of Ulfric. She walked up to a young woman who was sitting at the counter and asked, “Is Ulfric around?” 

Usually, Luce wasn’t in the business of covering the receptionist desk. She’d done her time doing that as an apprentice, answering phone calls and getting the calendars all set up. But, the girl who usually ran the desk today had to run because of a family emergency and Luce had time to kill. The design for her appointment later today was finalized and she was more than happy to get some work done on her own art pieces. Which is why she was sitting at the desk, sketch book in front of her. When the bell above the door jangled, Luce glanced up woman who approached. Older, probably around Bea’s age or so, but cute. The uniform helped too. “Ulf? You just missed him.” Luce said with a shake of her head, glancing at the bag of food in her hands. “Let me check his calendar though, see if he might pop back in soon.” She said, scrolling through the computer, “Damn. Sorry, he’s gone for the rest of the day.”

Damn. Celeste hadn’t taken into account he may have not had appointments for the rest of the afternoon. It was usually a little later in the afternoon that she’d see him come home. Oh well, she supposed she had entirely too much food now. She looked to the woman who had been working on a sketch. She wondered if this was the woman Ariana mentioned was helping with Ulfric’s birthday gift. If she had to guess, the woman was a few years younger than her but clearly established in her trade. Good for her. “I probably should have called first, I was bringing lunch since I got off work early today.” Looking down at the now greasy bags in her hand, she said, “Hey, you must be the artist helping Ariana with Ulf’s birthday gift. Care for a cheeseburger?” 

“Eh, shit happens.” Luce said with a shrug. She still wasn’t entirely sure why this woman was here-- she didn’t think that Al’s was doing delivery. And if they were, they needed to work on making sure to send the delivery folks to the right location. But, when the woman mentioned her project for Ariana, bringing up Ulf again, Luce raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, that’s me. She’s a good kid, I’m surprised she wanted to do something this big for him, but it’s a cool project for me to work on.” At the offer of food, she leaned back in her chair before tilting her head towards another one of the other empty stools nearby. Perhaps it was just because of the value of magic, of everything being a give and take, but she didn’t particularly like handouts. But, a trade? She could get behind that. “Tell you what. I’ll take a cheeseburger in exchange for company. It gets boring at the desk.” Figuring that wasn’t much of a trade, Luce added, “I’ll throw in a drawing for some fries, if you’ve got them.”

Celeste was glad to hear that this was in fact the woman helping out Ariana. From what she’d seen of the updates so far, it was shaping up to be an impressive piece. Though she was sure from the outside looking in, it was odd that a teenager was making such a big gift for Ulfric. If it hadn’t been for their shared nature, Celeste would have found it odd as well. She shrugged with a toothless grin on her face, “I think she’s really excited about diving into the whole carpentry thing. Plus, he’s done a lot for both of us. She tends to be very go big or go home or whatever it is the kids are saying these days,” she explained with a laugh. The prospect of company that wasn’t a teenager or a werewolf who was merely tolerating her presence actually sounded quite nice. Taking care of tables at Al’s was truly about as social as she got these dies though as much was probably wise all things considered. Lunch with Luce sounded like good fun. She smiled wide at the woman being sure to overlook the bruised nose, “Company would be delightful. I haven’t had the chance to make many friends since moving here so most of my conversations are ‘how would you like your eggs’, teenager things, or Ulf swearing in Norweigian.” She said the last bit with a laugh. It was actually quite amusing, but she was sure he didn’t think as much. At the mention of a drawing, Celeste smirked and said, “Well, I guess it’s my lucky day then since I brought fries. I suppose if we’re dining together, I should properly introduce myself.” She extended her hand, “I’m Celeste, Ariana’s older sister and waitress extraordinaire.” She motioned to the ridiculous little 50s get-up she had to wear to work every day. 

“Sounds like it’s working out really well for her. The piece of wood she gave me should make for a good table. I’m just hoping that the design turns out how she wants.” Luce said with a nod before grabbing one of the chairs from around the desk and cleared a spot for the woman to join. “Well, I’m not ordering eggs, the teenager ship set sail a long time for me, but I do know some choice Norwegian swears, courtesy of the man himself.” She said with a grin. “Turkish is my language of choice for swearing, though.” Luce said with a wink before scooting out of the way to let the woman sit beside her. “Nice to meet you, Celeste. I’m Luce, the best thing that happened to Ulf’s shop. Short of him, you know, opening up the place.” She said, before switching gears. “How’d you and Ulfric know each other?” Was she the totally not kinky lady who was looking for the rope and mayonnaise? 

While this wasn’t her original plan, Celeste was pleased with how it worked out. She had the feeling Luce would be a little more chatty than Ulfric was with her. Bless his heart, he did try and be as kind to her as possible, but the underlying tension was hard to ignore. One day, he’d be able to trust her fully and she could hardly blame him that it was something that needed to be earned. It didn’t mean lunch with a woman who was close enough in age to her wouldn’t be a welcome change of pace. “Thank god,” she said with a laugh, “If I have to hear over-easy, YEET, or faen one more time today, I might actually lose it.” She joined her for a seat and pulled out the burgers and fries, passing Luce’s lunch down to her. “Turkish, huh? You speak fluently or are the swear words your specialty?” There was a small smirk on her lips before she picked at a few of the french fries. The next question should have been expected, but she wasn’t quite sure how to answer it. It’s not like she could just say Ulfric was her sister’s wolfy mentor or protector. She couldn’t even quite define it herself and knew it wasn’t something she was meant to understand. “I guess you could say he’s a family friend. He’s helped Ariana and myself out a great deal with things as of late, I thought it’d be nice to drop by some lunch for him on my way home.” Celeste found herself curious about Luce as well. Her face was a little bruised up which was a call for question in itself, but she seemed young and established. “How long have you known Ulfric? It seems like you’ve made quite the career for yourself here.” 

“I’ll be sure to keep my extensive knowledge of memes out of lunch, then.” Luce laughed, accepting the container with the burger and fries with an appreciative nod. It beat the sandwich she’d thrown together this morning, for damn sure. She was usually pretty on top of her shit, but after the run in she and Nell had with August after the coven meeting… it had rattled her, more than she’d like to admit. Pushing the thought from her mind, she focused on the woman next to her. “Fluent, nah. Conversational enough to piss off the grandparents? Bunu kolayca yapabilirim.” She said, the language rolling off her tongue. “I can certainly teach you some swears, if you’re interested.” Luce smirked and took a bite from her burger. She hadn’t forgotten her part of the deal, but getting burger grease on her sketch pad was the last thing she wanted. So, she watched the Celeste speak instead. “He’s a good guy, he does a lotta shit like that.” She nodded, thinking back to his request for some kind of magic protection thing from her sisters. He still owed her for that. She’d have to cash it at some point. Swallowing, Luce wiped her mouth with a napkin before flipping her arm over, showing Celeste the inside of her right arm and the large lightbulb tattoo that lay there. “He did this for me when I was 18. We got to talking, about art and shit, and he told me I was wasting my time in college. Turns out, he was right. I quit school and took an apprenticeship here within a month.”

“I’m not that old, I still enjoy a good meme,” Celeste retorted with a laugh. Memes she could deal with. Her patience was running a bit thin when it came to TikToks though, especially since Ariana had discovered she could make them herself and took to pranking Celeste. It was funny how technology cycled. When she was Ariana’s age, MySpace had just been dying and was being replaced by Facebook. Now there was a whole slew of channels that she couldn’t quite be bothered with. She took a bite out of her burger and had to choke back a laugh, “Nothing quite as fun as pissing the grandparents off, or the parents too if you’re me. Do I get a translation for that bit?” She smirked as she set the burger down to trade for a few fries, “I may just have to take you up on that.” She had a mouth full of burger as she listened to Luce speak. There was no doubt in her mind that Ulfric was a good man. She knew her invite to stay in his home was primarily due to Ariana, but allowing a hunter in his home, even one that didn’t hunt wolves, was more kindness than she could have expected. She had no doubt he showed kindness to others as well. “I could see that,” she said simply, not wanting to touch too much on how Ulfric had helped her and Ariana personally. She imagined it had to be nice discovering a career and diving in at such a young age. She was happy Ariana was able to do as much as well. “That’s pretty impressive, I thought you seemed pretty young to be so established in your field. I’ve always imagined tattooing to be a pretty fun job. What’s the most fun piece you’ve ever given someone?” 

“My b,” Luce raised her hands innocently and laughed herself before grabbing a couple fries from the box. Chewing, she shrugged. “I said, I can do that easily. My sisters and I learned English and Turkish at the same time, but since we speak English all the time, it’s the one that stuck the most. That said, I can tell you all the fun swears that Ulfric doesn’t know. Like… ciğerini sikeyim.” She said with a roguish grin. “Literally, it means fuck your liver, but it basically is like… a really strong version of go fuck yourself.” She explained and took another bite from the burger before setting it back down in the tray. Dusting her hands free of crumbs, she flipped to a clean page of her sketchpad. “Thanks. It’s a good time, gives me a lot of freedom to be as creative as I want. Within the realm of what my clients are looking for.” She said with a nod. Tapping her pencil on the sheet, she began to do some rough sketches, drawing aimlessly. “Depends on what you think is fun. Visually fun, I once did a rad Neo-traditional sailing ship and mermaid scene. Fun for me personally to create, I did a great blackwork leg sleeve.” She said. “Both were great, I liked them a lot.”

“Ciğerini sikeyim,” Celeste said slowly, trying to get the pronunciation correct, “I like that one. I’m definitely using it the next time someone pisses me off.” She laughed as she picked at more of her french fries, “I get that, my parents tried to teach me French and German growing up, but really English is the only one that solidly stuck. I can order a beer in all three languages though. Clearly, I have my priorities straight.” There was a small smirk on her lips before she took another bite out of her burger. A slight pang of sadness hit her listening to Luce talk about her own career. Being on the run since the age of sixteen didn’t make for great career opportunities. Maybe one day, if things settled down and she no longer had to worry about her parents, she could actually pursue Nursing School as she had always wanted to do. “It sounds like you made a great choice hopping into the field then. I hope to get on the better late than never track with some sort of actual career. I definitely have a limited number of years of this getup still looking good on me,” she remarked with a chuckle as she gestured down towards her ridiculous 50s get-up that was customary at Al’s. She watched curiously as Luce pulled out her sketchpad. “Both sound fascinating. I’ve always toyed around with the idea of getting a tattoo, but have never actually committed to an idea. I did used to want to be a mermaid when I grew up. Given, that was six year old me’s aspiration.” 

Pleased with her quick grasp of the pronunciation, Luce nodded. “For sure, give it a shot the next time someone decides to be a dick at Al’s or something.” She said. Raising an eyebrow, Luce grinned. “I dunno, beer is very important. Alcohol’s an essential food group in my book.” She joked, amused. Though Turkish was one of the two languages she’d learned growing up, she’d been forced to take a foreign language in high school which meant she’d suffered through a couple years of Spanish. The most she could remember, beyond asking for a beer and saying that was a tiger in bed, was probably asking where the library was. “It’s never too late to start doing something new,” Luce agreed. “What are you thinking of doing, hm?” As the woman mentioned something about being a mermaid, Luce’s pencil shifted. Pulling away from the odd doodles and random assortment of shapes in uniform patterns she’d done as a warm up, she glanced up at the woman. “You like the ocean? Or just the idea of it?” She asked, beginning to scrawl some curving lines onto the page.

A proud smile appeared on Celeste’s face as she realized she had gotten the pronunciation spot on. She’d enjoyed learning new languages, but being out of practice made it easy to forget them. “You are just filled with good ideas. I can’t get written up for swearing if no one knows what I’m saying,” she mused with a small laugh. Some of the middle of the night drunk crowd deserved that level of swearing. She’d polished off her own burger and neatly crinkled up the wrapper and placed it back in the paper bag. Her eyes drifted to the sketchpad and she found herself in awe of how people could just bring things to life on paper that way. Luce’s question caught her attention and she found she felt somewhat sheepish about it. “One day, I’d like to do the whole nursing school thing. I’ve always enjoyed helping people and I’m good with first aid. Not at all squeamish, but we’ll see. Ari is starting to work now too, so it's a little less pressure on me to put in so many hours myself.” She looked down momentarily before adding, “Maybe don’t mention that to Ariana though. I wouldn’t want her to feel bad.” She smiled easily again at the talk of mermaids and the ocean. Much easier to think about than trying to tackle college after thirty. Logically, she knew college when she was taking care of a five year old werewolf wasn’t realistic, but the part of her that had been a perfectionist back in grade school still felt off about the whole thing. “What can I say? I really loved The Little Mermaid growing up. I think it was more about Ariel than it was about the ocean though,” she answered with a chuckle, “The ocean is fascinating. More of a mountain girl myself, but there’s something serene about listening to the waves.” 

“I know, right? I should start charging for all the good ideas I’ve got rattling around.” Luce replied, her easy smile still on her face. “First one’s free, next ones cost ya.” She said roguishly before returning her focus onto the image at hand. Listening came easily to Luce-- after all, it was part of her job. People liked to chatter while they were in pain. They liked to talk, to distract themselves, so she was no stranger to being able to hold a conversation while also working on a tattoo. And this wasn’t all that different. “A nurse, huh? That’s pretty cool. Helping people and doing good and stuff. And don’t worry, my lips are sealed.” She said with a shrug. Leaning back from the small ocean scene she’d drawn up, Luce scrutinized the cresting wave before taking her eraser to it. Not quite what she wanted. At the mention of the woman’s interest in the Little Mermaid, she raised an eyebrow. Oh? “That’s a big fucking mood. Ariel could get it. Then again, pretty much any of the Disney princesses can.” She said. At the mention of mountains, Luce began to draw a scene just along the shoreline of the beach. She drew in a forest scene, something similar to the way the beaches outside of White Crest looked, with tall pine trees looming just beyond the sand. “How’s this looking?” She asked, holding up the image.

“You might be onto something there. The illusive they always say if you’re good at something, don’t do it for free,” Celeste smirked and added, “Thanks for the introductory freebie.” It was nice to have someone outside of her coworkers and current roommates to talk with. She’d never really expressed her own aspirations before. With being on the run and having her parents try to track them down, it never seemed like something feasible anyhow. Ariana was dead set on staying here though so she supposed she could go ahead and enroll for classes at the community college. Luce was nice to talk to though she supposed it was part of the job. “Yes, I was thinking about enrolling in classes at the community college for the fall now that we are permanently staying somewhere and Ariana also has a job. And thanks.” Celeste had never been great at drawing or painting, so it was fascinating to see someone work at it so naturally. Luce seemed to be really in her element and there was something sort of relaxing about it. She found herself immediately laughing at the remark about Disney princesses, “I really vibed with her because of the parental defiance thing, but you’re not wrong. All the Disney princesses are pretty hot. If we’re going for hot animated chicks though, the Sailor Scouts are where it’s at. Tuxedo Mask can also get it on that note.” She looked over the drawing and grinned widely. A mountain beach scene was what she’d always hoped for in a place to build a home. She answered, “It’s looking perfect.” 

“Damn straight.” Luce said approvingly, the only time straight could be used to describe her. “You’re more than welcome. Next one though, you’ll have to pay me back. I’ll be keeping track too.” Adding a bit more detailing work onto the curl of the wave, she began to shade, adding in some of the finer lines and curves to the way it crested. It was all coming together, into one coherent piece. Her pencil flowed over the page, the image forming just as it had in her mind. “That’s a solid plan. Save money where you can and all that, nobody will knock you for community college.” She nodded. Money had never been a thing that she’d ever had to worry about-- Mom and Dad had always had that on lock. But, still. She could relate, sort of. She’d been hellbent on trying to get away from their influence on her life. Getting her cabin had been a part of that and taking her apprenticeship was an ever larger part. “Parental defiance, huh? I get that.” Luce said, gesturing to her sleeve of tattoos. Her parents had been... disappointed when they’d seen her first tattoo. But, whatever. “That’s the whole, Sailor Moon thing, right? Some of the guys at the shop have done tattoos of that show for people. I was never into it. I might have to check it out.” She said, though her eyes flicked meaningfully over Celeste. She’d much rather check her out. “Awesome. I can ink it and then we’re square for lunch.”

“What’s the running rate on your good ideas? Have to make sure I’m not taking more ideas than I can afford and all,” Celeste joked with an eyebrow raised. The normalcy of their whole conversation was a welcomed change. No talk of hunters, werewolves, or eggs and burgers. It didn’t hurt that Luce had a pretty good sense of humor and was easy to talk to. She tried to keep an eye on the page as Luce drew. There was clearly some natural talent there backed by years of practice. “Yeah, I’m pretty good about being frugal with money, given for a while it was more out of necessity.” Running off with a werewolf child aside, one of the bigger cruel shocks of the real world was how fucking expensive everything was. Growing up, she’d always had money because of her parents. It had been a rude awakening, but somehow they’d made it. She laughed a bit over their shared parental defiance. “Can’t say my defiance was quite so visual, but I’m effectively disowned,” she said with a shrug. It was a subject she tried to be casual about. The news of her parents having a bounty on her and Ariana and wanting them both dead was a little extreme by most standards. “I loved it as a kid. Then again, I tend to enjoy anything where it’s the girls saving the day. A little cheesy as an adult, but you may appreciate the outfits,” she explained catching Luce’s look over her. Color rose in her cheeks and looked down with a small smile before looking back up to Luce. She certainly wasn’t subtle, but she kind appreciated that. “Right, totally square. I still think I got the better end of this trade, but I’ll take it.” 

“Depends on what you’d be willing to pay.” Luce teased as she sifted through the cup of pens on the desk for a fine ballpoint. “Could be some good conversation or a new idea for a sketch. Or a kiss.” She flashed a cheeky grin at the other woman before setting to work with the inking. The lines were already pretty clean, but inking it in was what really brought it all together. “For sure. It’s a good way to live.” She said, though she really didn’t have much room to speak. Though she might have bought her own cabin, her parents had still done a lot for her. A lot more than she’d ever wanted. At the woman’s admission of her own familial situation, Luce said nothing. Instead, she focused on her linework. People had told her things like that before-- how they were getting a tattoo as a final ‘Fuck you’ to their parents, or as some kind of cleansing to erase the past that haunted them. And it was always better to say less, rather than more. “Makes sense why you’d relate to her then.” She replied, keeping her tone neutral. “Well, now I have to give it a watch.” Luce laughed and blew on the wet ink for a moment before taking her eraser to the picture. “Oh? You don’t think my trade was fair?”

“Hm, seems I can afford another good idea then,” Celeste retorted with a smirk. Maybe flirting with a member of Ulfric’s staff wasn’t entirely appropriate, but it was probably harmless. It was nice to get attention that wasn’t entirely inappropriate from older men during breakfast rushes. She watched Luce continue working on the finishing touches of the sketch, relieved she didn’t push further on the parent thing. Everyone had their own family issues of some sort and it was a lot more comforting to not go into the details. She rested her head on her knuckles as she observed Luce incredulously. She made the whole process look so effortless and she seemed to be really in her element. It was a nice sight to see. She imagined that applied even more when she was behind the tattoo needle. At the mention of relating to the sailor scouts, she laughed, “Thanks. And I thought that little bit of information might win you over.” Her head tilted a bit on her palm watching Luce dry the ink, there really was so much that went into drawing that was beyond her. “Oh,” she answered, “I think new art and your company is a little bit better than a not quite hot lunch, but no complaints here.”

 “How about this one-- You and me, getting drinks sometime. It sounds like a good idea in my book.” Luce asked, looking at the woman with an earnest expression. Celeste was hot, she was hot, it’d be hot. And besides, what was she gonna lose by shooting her shot? The worst that could happen was she’d get turned down. With a final look at the picture, Luce nodded to herself before putting her signature on the bottom right corner of the page. A large looping L with a slash of a V. “You thought right.” She said as she held out the completed picture for the woman to take. She could still see some places she didn’t like, some spots where the waves met that looked weird, a tree with some branches that didn’t make much sense. But, it was a quick drawing. “The way I see it, I came out with some good art practice, good conversation, and,” She picked up her half eaten burger and bit into it, “The satisfaction of eating my boss’s lunch.” 

The suggestion has caught Celeste a bit off guard, but she figured what harm could come from it? It’d been a long while since she’d actually been out… with well, anyone. She’d enjoyed hanging out with Luce and there was no denying she was a beautiful woman. What could it hurt? “I think that may be your best idea today,” she answered with a wide grin. Grabbing a pen out of the pocket in her uniform, she scribbled her number down from a paper on her order pad and handed it to Luce with a small smile still present on her face. “Text me sometime.” she advised, keeping her tone cool. As she looked over the finished product, she was somewhat in awe. Luce had finished it so quickly yet it came out lovely. A perfect little scene that she’d have to hang up in their current room. It was definitely more tasteful than that one creepy painting Ari insisted on keeping up. “I love it,” she said, “And alright, alright. We can call it even then.” She picked up her purse again and looked to Luce one last time as she left, “Hope to see you again soon.”

[pyropsychiccollector]

Natza Week, Day 4: Soul

            Sometimes… death isn’t the end.

            Blood drips from his fingers. He knows it’s all in his head, but the sensations are still so fresh. So vivid. The cloak that wraps around his form still felt so weathered and reeked of death.

            Sometimes the soul lives on.

            His eyes are lifeless as he sits in that timeless space. A mental representation of how his life ended up. A ruinous landscape, littered with the rotting corpses of allies and dark mages alike. The sky blotted out by dark clouds that absorbed the essence of death. A harsh wind howls past, his cloak flaps listlessly in it.

            Sometimes that continued life beyond death is not a blessing, but a curse.

            The clouds suddenly part, and a bright light shines down on him. Slowly, he raises his head to stare up at it, his face devoid of emotion.

            “I am ready.” He hollowly calls out in response to the summons.

            If there is even the slightest chance he can make his wish his come true… He may yet escape this cursed eternity.

            ~*~

            She had lived a life without regrets. As sad and as tragic it had gotten at times, she wouldn’t dare change a single moment of it. Not a single moment.

            Slowly and purposely, she strolled down a familiar forest path on the edge of a town she fondly remembered. It was beautiful out there – puffy white clouds partly obscuring a gorgeous blue sky, and trees and plants blooming with life.

            Her beginning, you could say, was full of hardship and pain. But she had made irreplaceable friends that she would sooner caller her family. And because of how the opening act of her life had ended, she had been driven into the warm, accepting arms of an even bigger family. Every single one of them precious to her.

            Before long, a familiar house came into view. It was… a little dilapidated. Lots of bits and pieces cobbled together, but she honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. As impressive as a house made by a professional architect could be, there was something to be said about a home that you made with your own two hands.

            She lived many happy years with that amazing guild… that family. There were good times and bad, hard times and peaceful ones. But they persevered – that was the important part. Even when death glared them in the face, they never gave up.

            Stopping just shy of the welcome sign, she took a moment to once more admire the home. It eventually became her home, too. The owner had become her most precious friend, one that she had forged a million memories with. Not a single one of them would she change.

            … She died in the midst of war, but she wouldn’t even change that. Not only because it was right to fight for the weak and defenseless… but also because she had died in his arms. Would it have been nice if her life had been longer? Perhaps. But it was still a life well-lived.

            Suddenly, the clouds above drifted and allowed a beam of light to shine down on her. She closed her eyes and smiled warmly.

            “I’m ready…” She murmured.

            She wouldn’t change a single thing about the life she lived. But if she did have a wish… it would be to live another one with him.

            ~*~

            Golden sparkles rained down around Ryuudou Temple and the surrounding forests and mountainside. A glorious sight for a bittersweet end.

            She had wasted no time in rushing to his side once she had delivered the final blow to the tainted Grail. By some miracle he had survived long enough to see how it all ended. He had taken down the other main threat that had tried to unleash the tainted Grail on all mankind… Though it had been more of a draw than a victory for him. He was on his last legs, lying defeated and bloodied on the ground.

            “So… that’s it, then.” He barked out a bitter laugh as she half-raised him up in her lap. “We stopped the tragedy from ten years ago repeating itself…”

            “We wouldn’t have done it without you…” The knight mused softly, cupping one side of his face with her bare hand, having shed her armor.

            Another bitter chuckle.

            “I think you would’ve done just fine…” His eyes glazed over slightly, a pained smile tugging at his lips. “Ten years ago, we were rivals for that stupid cup. Was given a new body after that war ended… thought it was my duty to end it all. I tried doing everything myself ‘cause I knew exactly what that cup was. Didn’t want you guys to learn the wretched truth.”

            “You did your best to minimize the amount of threats!” She argued back. “You made sure Laxus, Sorano, and Gildarts would be here – and you knew because of Kiritsugu that I would be summoned again. This war would have been just as terrible as the last one, were it not for you!”

            Natsu closed his eyes, his smile exuding some self-derision.

            “Kariya and I promised to end the Grail Wars. But I guess in the back of my mind, I knew… I knew you were gonna be the one to end it. And… I wouldn’t have had it any other way.” As Natsu’s body began to fade bit by bit and golden sparkles radiated off of him, he reopened his eyes and looked up at Erza. “Our wishes were like night and day. I wanted to give you back your old life – you wanted a new one with me. That said, in spite of it all… I hafta say it’s been a whole lotta fun!”

            Tears pricked at Erza’s eyes as she looked down into his.

            “Y-You idiot… This wasn’t the second life I wanted with you!”

            “But it’s the one you got.” He chuckled genuinely. “And you managed to save the world… one more time…”

            “We did.” She rebutted stubbornly, and he offered no witty comeback, deciding to just relax in her arms.

             She held him close as both their bodies faded away – her own body having used up all her Mana with that last attack. It was ironically like a mirror image of when she died in Natsu’s arms… Only this time, they were passing on together.

            It was an ending neither of them regretted.