#i forgot to adjust hardings placement

[pranklinfierce]

Collected some useless information.

Timeline chart of the presidents and their wives' comparative ages:

The left chart indicates age difference between each president and his wife (duplicates if there were multiple marriages.) There is an order within the tiers, Harding having been the youngest comparatively, Jackson having the age closest to that of his wife (92 day difference), etc. The right chart states the age at which their wives were wed to them (duplicates for the same reason.) Yellow dot indicates when it was the woman's second (or in Jane Wyman's case third) marriage. There is no order within the tiers themselves.

My info sheets for perhaps less digestible but more all-encompassing information

Yellow highlights used when a member of the marriage was under the age of 18, or when the age difference was larger than one of the person's (always the woman's) age.

Green highlights used when the ages at marriage were the same.

Blue highlights used when the woman was older than the man.

[turbulentscrawl]

Protection

Yet another little blurb series that absolutely no one asked me for. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? WHATEVER GETS THE JUICES FLOWING AGAIN.

warnings for violence, angst, and comfort. Use of potentially triggering words like "psycho" and "whore."

The manor was a hard adjustment for any new face, but some handled it worse than others. This mystery man was particularly defensive, particularly paranoid of the manor’s nightmarish circumstances. He was stressed, and scared, and confused, and bleeding out in his first match was the last straw needed to tip the scales towards an outburst.

Norton

You were just trying to be friendly when you spoke to him at breakfast. Really. But looking back you could see how a terrified mind might misconstrue your small comforts and placations about death as mocking. He stormed off mid-meal, and you spent the rest of it stewing in quiet guilt. A walk in the gardens would do you some good, you decided, but Norton was still busy with his second helping of steak and eggs and told you to go on ahead.

So alone you exited the room, lost in regretful thoughts, but you didn’t make it halfway down the hall before the new guy appeared again. He stopped down ten feet from you, coiled tight like a cornered animal. He didn’t look like he had calmed down at all, but then he hadn’t seemed calm since he arrived. In any case, it seemed like the best chance you would get to give an apology.

“I’m sorry for upsetting you earlier,” you said, stepping aside to let the fearful man pass, so he could go finish his meal.

But he reacted to your words like a viper strike, flinching and then snapping forward to put his face in yours. His eyes were wild.

“Don’t play coy about it,” he hissed. His hands, at his sides, itched and twitched to grab and you were too fear frozen to move away from them. “You’re part of this hell too, I know it. All of it an act, AN ACT! But you won’t trick me. You won’t get to make it worse for me!” He raved and threatened in your face for what seemed like forever, so close he took up your entire vision and you forgot where you were. Maybe that’s what it was like for him, right now, you faintly mused, still trying to understand. You hadn’t been like this when you first arrived… you or anyone else that you could recall.

He stopped talking suddenly, eyes tracked on something behind you.

You looked over your shoulder to see what had caught his attention and spotted, back through the doorway to the dining room, Norton tipped back in his dining chair and watching. Watching you. Watching him. A steak knife was in his hand and a dare was in his eyes.

Your attention was drawn back by the sound of the new guy stomping off again, hurried, tail still between his legs. When you looked back at Norton again, he tipped his chin to beckon you. When you stepped back through the door, Norton took his foot off of the table (its placement earned a side-eye from Fiona) to lower his chair back to four legs, and kicked out the empty seat next to him for you to reclaim. You sat down meekly, shaken by guilt and fear.

“I was just trying to—”

“I know,” he interrupted, biting again into his food. “And he’ll figure it out himself too eventually. In the meantime, let him be someone else’s problem.”

In a rare show of public affection, Norton leaned over and kissed you on the temple. “And stick closer to me for a while. You’ll be fine.”

Naib

Shit had hit the fan as soon as everyone was back and healed from the match. You and the new guy had both died—you to the chair and him to bloodloss—but a tie was a tie and worth at least a small celebration. But when he joined you, Tracy, and Margey for the tea party, he completely lost it.

He leapt across the sun room table for you, tipping it and all its contents to the ground, and the girls screamed with a genuine shock and terror you hadn’t heard in a while. Your back and knees smarted, all whacked by the scattering wooden furniture. Hot tea seeped into your shirt and scalded your belly. Sharp, broken porcelain lay dangerously scattered around your head. You couldn’t tell what the girls were shouting because you were too focused on your assailant. On keeping his hands off of your throat, out of your eyes, and getting his pinning body off of you. His nails clawed at your face, you knew that much, but if the matches taught you anything it was to not give up on a struggle.

Just as you started in on some dirty fighting Naib had taught you (pulling, trying to rip his ears off), the man himself came charging in like a bull and tackled the new guy off of you. You got kicked a bit in the process—but that was a fair price to pay for being able to scramble to the other wall and watch, secured by Tracy an Margey, as Naib completely wailed on the guy.

Naib didn’t talk about his background much, but you knew he knew how to fight. This was barely a fight—a one-sided beatdown morelike—but in your bitter soreness you felt it was well deserved. Naib knew how to make every swing count, and it was only well after the new guy was limp on the ground that William showed up and hauled Naib off of him. Emily followed next, running to check on the new guy since you were already being doted on by the girls.

When William finally let Naib go, he huffed and puffed and flexed off some of his remaining aggression before spitting out a spiteful, “He ain’t dead. I ain’t that nice.”

Then he turned and shooed the girls off, scooped you up, and marched right out of the room. He held you too tight for your sore back’s liking, but you couldn’t begrudge him the positioning to keep his nose in your hair while walking to somewhere more secluded and safe. His chest was still heaving against your side, still high with adrenaline and worry. His knuckles were split and bloody. The day had only just started.

“Sorry,” you sighed into his neck. Naib scoffed, mouth still pressed to your scalp.

“What for? He’s the cunt.” He kicked open the door to your bedroom, fully pulling back enough to give you a smirk. “Don’t ever be sorry for me stepping in. I’ll take care of everything.”

Ithaqua

The manor sometimes held garden parties to welcome new inhabitants. Usually, though, it had better timing.

The poor new guy had had the awful misfortune of being a valuable player. He was good at getting in the hunter’s face, and the others did all they could to get him off his first chair safely. Because of the great team effort, he’d wound up bleeding out while the Hunter—Ithaqua, your boyfriend—dealt with the others. You knew that wasn’t Ithaqua’s modus operandi; it hadn’t been on purpose. …but he wasn’t exactly sorry about it, either.

As a result, the party was tense in some areas. Specifically, the areas where the new guy went. He walked around with a deep frown and a nervous jitter. He’d been anxious when he first arrived too, but it was understandably worse now, in witness of the two factions being chummy with one another right after one had just killed him. The hunters avoided him from the get go, and the survivors gave up on conversation with him not long after.

And you, well. You didn’t get to see Ithaqua in peaceful settings often.

That’s how you wound up here, you supposed.

“So you’re a fucking traitor whore!” the new guy snapped in your face. He wasn’t quiet, either. “What’s the matter with you! Those monsters beat and torture us and you turn around and hang all over one? You’re probably no fucking better, some kind of psycho killer! You’re the one who should die! You’re the one who should bleed!”

Not being quiet would be his downfall, though. Picking a secluded corner of the hedge maze to catch you in didn’t matter. The wind carried.

He didn’t get much farther into his rant and threats before Ithaqua came whirling around the corner with his “business” mask on. His axe was back in the manor, but the Hunter’s claws and sheer strength could do harm enough to a survivor. Ithaqua snatched the new guy up by the nape before he had a clue what was happening, and dangled him overhead. The new guy screeched in a way that made you feel sick, but you knew from experience there was no talking Ithaqua down. Shamefully, you turned your eyes away.

“You sure like to run your mouth,” Ithaqua sneered at him, tilting his head in that wicked, owlish way of his. “You know, all the other rats take death in stride around here. You clearly need some more practice with it.” Ithaqua ruffled your hair with his free hand before stalking off around the corner with the squirming offender.

When he came back a few minutes later, he was wiping his bloody claws off on his cape.

“He knows not to trouble you anymore,” he cooed. When he took off his mask, Ithaqua’s blackened eyed are far more serene than they should have been for what he’d just done. “Come, the Geisha brought out those little caked you like.”

[stardustandash]

Hi! I just saw your quilted butterflies photo, and I was wondering if you would willing to share how to make them, or link to a tutorial? They're gorgeous and I'd love to try, but i don't know the right search terms to find those, i think.

Oh absolutely! Everyone needs an easy craft to do right now. This will be a photo tutorial, so if you need a video the search terms are "origami butterfly bookmark". The instructions will be pretty similar.

*If you are using a sewing machine a single butterfly should take between 15-30mins, and if hand stitching my guess is ~1hr

Tools: -2 Scrap fabrics or 2x fat quarters, one for the main/outer fabric, one for the inner contrast -I recommend quilting cotton, though any easily ironable, non-stretch fabric will work -ruler and marking tools -scissors OR rotary cutter and mat -Pins (if desired) -Thread in a matching OR contrast colour - depending on preference -Iron and Ironing board - You can use a piece of cotton folded into a thin pad in a pinch as long as it's flat!

Step 1: Cut out two rectangles. You can make the butterflies as big or small as you'd like, as long as it's in keeping with the 2:3 ratio. For me, I like to use 4" x 6" rectangles. Use your marking tools to mark out the rectangle on the back/wrong side of the fabric, then cut them out!

Step 2: Put the rectangles on top of each other, with right/patterned sides facing each other. Make sure all your corners and edges line up. Pin in place if using pins. (in this example one of my fabrics has the pattern on both sides of the fabric)

Step 3: Sewing! Mark a 2" gap on one of the short edges. If using hand needle mark out 1/4" distance from the edges. Sew. If using a machine, line up the edge with the 1/4" inch mark and sew. (Image is completed stitching, not placement on machine)

Step 4: Trim the corners without cutting into the stitching line, then flip the fabric inside out through the 2" gap you left. Make sure to stick your finger or something blunt but pokey -like a chopstick- into the corners to make sure they are nice and crisp!

Step 5: Press all your frustrations out by pressing that fabric! Get it nice and flat and crisp! Make sure you've folded in the edges of the 2" gap to match the seam allowance of the already-sewn edges before you press. Then, if hand sewing, slipstitch the gap closed. If using a machine, set your fabric at a 1/8" distance and sew around the edges, effectively closing the gap and giving you a lovely topstitch detail.

Step 6: Let's start folding! First move we're going to make is folding it in half, bringing the short edges together. Keep in mind, whichever fabric is on the outside will be the main fabric of your butterfly, and what is on the inside will be the contrast! Press hard! Then, make sure the edges you just brought together are facing you for the next step.

Step 7: Take the top fabric of the right open edge and bring it to the left side of the open edge. It will tent up in the corner, use this and press that tent down until you have what looks like a triangle of the outside fabric on top of two rectangles of the contrast fabric. Press! (I forgot to take pics of the whole process with the first one, don't mind the fabric switch).

Step 7.5: Flip your butterfly and repeat step 7 on the other side until you have a strange looking triangle like this.

Step 8: Take the inner corners of the contrast fabric and fold it up towards the outer fabric. The bigger this fold, the more contrast fabric you will see in the final butterfly. Press.

Step 9: Take the tip of one of the corners you just pressed up and bring it back to it's original position. Do not press. Gently press down on the tip of the corner, letting the fabric unfold. The butterfly wing should unfold, with the contrast fabric showing in the centre. Adjust until you have as much contrast showing as you'd like, then press hard. Repeat on the other side.

Congratulations!! You now have a butterfly!! You can make a garland, stick them on hairclips, or simply put them on your windowsill to keep you company! If you want to ensure that your butterfly doesn't unfold, you can add a small hand stitch in the centre of the two triangles that make up the "body" of the butterfly right along where the topstitching is.

Hopefully this was clear to follow, but if you have any questions, let me know!

[saytrrose]

Can we see More about your racing AU please?

Looks so amazing and i love It so much

I do suppose I could share the character design line up!

I really just need to finish designing all the go karts, (atleast most are done!) and then I can make proper cards for them and really get into the written details.

To be honest it’s a little hard to just ramble about info and details without specific questions to go off of, so I’ll try my best hhh

for starters, the tent? Not a tent!

It’s actually a stadium, the amazing digital race!

And rooms? Sort of tweaked, they are more like each character owns a personal garage, a large open space where they store their vehicles and then have a loft above that showcases their cozy safe havens. Bed, entertainment, basically a small room in a much larger one.

I haven’t revealed Ragatha, Zooble or Gangles karts yet but I’ll go ahead and just talk about all of them!

Caine:

Caine has a motorcycle, specifically one inspired off of the motorcycle I’m saving up for this summer, a Kawasaki Eliminator. It’s a cruiser, I’m thinking he has a 600cc model but considering Bubble is his right hand man and operates as the races pit crew- he’s definitely tinkered with Caines bike, making adjustments and improving the engine. God only knows what the little psycho did, but it’s a damn good bike that’s not supposed to rev as loud as it does.

Pomni:

Her kart is inspired off a Volkswagen Beetle, seemed very VERY Pomni to me. Her car mimics her outfit design a lot, I might do some color changes to be honest but it will be super minimal, it’ll be final when the cards are done! She definitely stops at the pit the most often despite her placement in a race, are my tires okay?? Do I need my oil?? I know you just filled it but it went down- is anything damaged?? Sweetie you did one lap..

Jax:

Jesus Christ he has a giant supercharger on the hood of his car, and he is absolutely one of those annoying mfs that reva their engine OBNOXIOUSLY loud all the time like he’s super cool. If you’re wondering who most of the skid marks on the track are from, that’s also Jax. Hes the best as drifting, and he loves to show that off. His car isn’t based too much on an actual vehicle?? I stared at Mario karts and pieced it together, but also gave it a very sports car look, the wing on the back fr fr I think Jax would dig that.

Kinger:

OHHSOSK I was so creative with his little wagon,,, it’s castle shaped!! And the best part? Operates like a rocket. In the back past the battlement (the crown looking thing you see atop castle pillars) ARE GIANT exhaust pipes and yes, they do spit fire !! Operates like a rocket. It’s very cool! (Also he has a great muffler because unlike Jax he’s considerate of others hearing 💔) Oh also, he has one of those silly horns, I forgot how to describe it but you can just look at how I drew it on his kart and you’ll know heheh!

Zooble:

Our second motorcyclist, owns a trike! If you don’t know what that is, picture a bike with training wheels but super badass. 3 wheels! It’s inspired off the Harley Davidson freewheeler, I like that design a lot but it’s def not actually a Harley because istg when you buy those bikes your just paying for the fancy name brand- expect it to be in the shop all the time, smh not good- BUT ANYWAY!! The looks are inspired off it though and I can’t wait for this one because it’s just as crazy kooky as Zoobles design is.

Gangle:

Her kart is based on my favorite car, classic style but not too cool because you can bet she has anime stickers on the back and a decal that says “please let me merge before I start crying.” It’s similar to a karmann ghia convertible, 1963. Cherry red (so so pretty) She always has the top down, unless competing because damn you gotta go fast. That car itself is really slow, top speed normally is 68mph, however people have modified them enough to get up to 120mph. Thats still pretty slow compared to others, but her kart only reflects the appearance of the ghia! It’s much faster and I assume Bubble works on all their vehicles if asked to.

Lastly, Ragatha:

Our 3rd motorcyclist. 4 Karts, 3 cyclists. Her bike is a futuristic style, if you want a good idea then look up “icare bike”! Not so much a straight forward posture, she leans over ofc, you’ll likely get the idea when you see her bike. I’ll be honest, I haven’t gotten too into her design yet because I haven’t started drawing but!! Dark blue leds,, everywhere yes yes so cool ❤️

Sorry that’s so much 😭 but yeah! Just need to finish 3 kart designs for you guys and I can make official ref cards 👀

[riacte]

I think one of Aqua29's (H, Dave, False, Cub) best qualities is that they were an extremely forgiving and consistent team

(I know the MCC just happened, but my brain is going crazy right now and all the details are flying past my head but I hope you'll get the general idea.)

MCC's nature is that it is unpredictable. That's what makes it fun! The chickens, the weird lag (sometimes 💀), luck, sudden clutches, etc etc. But this unpredictability can sometimes mess up teams on a really good trajectory. One "bad" or "unwanted" game would kill a team's morale- I've seen that before.

In the midst of the MCC chaos, Aqua29 is very solid. They were steadily climbing up the ranks and kept their morale high. Even when they won one round of Dodgebolt, they convinced themselves to act like they "were losing". I forgot the English word for it but their mental states / attitudes were very consistent throughout the entire MCC. This helps them power through the unpredictability. Especially for MCC29, which is a well-balanced MCC and pretty difficult to predict (and the stats don't do False and Cub justice in this particular situation).

As I said before, Aqua29 is very forgiving. This allows them space to make mistakes and to bounce back. Dave felt pretty guilty over dying to speedbridging in Sky Battle and said he really usually doesn't do that, and while the loss of the team's best PvPer might be fatal in some other situations, Aqua honestly did fine. Their morale wasn't affected.

In Rocket Spleef Rush, sometimes a teammate would die "early", leaving two teammates behind, and it felt like they took turns dying early, which showed how balanced they were. Same with TGTTOS. Sometimes an individual teammate might get unlucky in a round of TGTTOS, but overall they all worked hard, and they could pull it back.

Battle Box would be another good example, in which they lost the first two rounds, adjusted their strategy, and then did better. Dave also apologised for missing the comms during the round against Purple, but like SkB, they progressed normally.

In Grid Runners, sometimes they placed bottom half in some rooms, but they steadily improved and cleared them faster- ending up in the last room in which H bossed everyone around and they got through it the quickest. There is a narrative: they learned from earlier "mistakes", had the room to afford making mistakes, and improved. Therefore, they rose up.

And Dodgebolt. Dodgebolt! All four of them are good at it. Of course, we have HBomb, king of Dodgebolt. Then Dave, confident PvPer. The two hermits, both great shots, have grown more confident in their skills. They all trusted themselves to the point they didn't need H to nudge the arrow in their direction- they just picked up the arrow if they felt like it. Cub did that, and he got his kills. Even if half of the team was taken out, or heck, even if it was a 1v3, they had enough skill to power through. All four of them were in good shape, felt great, and meshed well together.

In a way, Aqua29 are each other's safety nets. No one got top 10. Their placements were: 12th, 13th, 20th, 21st. Which honestly wasn't too far from each other. You won't really expect a team with those individual rankings to get second in coins, but they did. Even if False ended up losing the 1v3, her valiant efforts would motivate the team even more and I'm sure they would've won (even though a Cyan reverse sweep would be cool).

And it's this kind of stability and mutual support that powered them through MCC. They didn't get the finale they wanted (Survival Games), that was out of their control, but they squeezed themselves into Dodgebolt anyway. I won't deny that they were lucky- MCC is unpredictable, so luck is often a factor, but I feel they could weather a storm.

Aqua29 is a nice team to watch live. They always bring it back, and I'm not just talking about placements or coins, it's also their morale. This team is going up with Blue9 and Purple15 as one of the competitive hermit teams with best overall team synergy. They were very stable and encouraging of each other <3

[skylarmoon71]

Harry Wells (Flash) - Earth 2 - Chapter 9

The day goes by quite smoothly. 

You didn’t fumble through a lesson or forgot how to spell your name. Which you were very thankful for. When the class ends, you can’t help it. The first person you text is Harry. Of course with an image attached of you smiling with your presentation in the background.

His response is immediate.

“It looks like everything went well. Your face must hurt from smiling that much.”

You laugh out loud. Thankfully the room is empty. Surely your students would think you are unhinged. Cackling like a witch.

“It doesn’t hurt a bit.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Every time you read a text from him you can just picture his expression and it makes you laugh more.

“My last class ends at seven, would you like to have dinner later?”

You anxiously wait for a reply. It’s not like you both haven’t had meals before. Yet, this time, it’s different.

“Will there be big belly burger?”

“Of course! It would be criminal to invite you without your favorite food. I’m offended you would even ask. “

“You drive a hard bargain.”

You giggle, and your phone gives another soft ding.

“I’ll be there.”

Mission complete.

~~

“Harry!!”

Cisco's voice rings throughout the lab. Caitlin raises a brow at the male’s constant yelling and Barry walks in expecting a fight to ensue. Harry walks out from around the corner with a frown on his face. He’s dressed pretty casual. To their shock, he’s actually wearing an outfit of color. The maroon shirt and dark jeans have them questioning a few things.

“Who are you and what have you done to Harry!!” Cisco accuses.

“Be quiet Ramon.” He grumbles.

“Are you going out?” Caitlin inquires softly.

It’s hard to be hostile when Caitlin looks like a curious little bunny.

“I was invited for dinner.”

“I knew you had a crush on her!!”

“Goodbye.”

Harry turns and Cisco just laughs.

“Invite me to the wedding!!”

Harry knew to expect immaturity from Cisco. It’s a given. Although his teasing was irritating, there was truth to Cisco’s words. Harry cared for you. When he heard your story, a part of him was reminded of the trials he faced himself with Zoom. 

The pain he felt when he almost lost his daughter. He recognized the hurt you were going through. There was a part of him that felt obligated to help. The same way the members of Team Flash have always helped him.

It started as understanding and empathy, but now it’s different. The only thing he truly wants is your happiness. When he exits the breach, he makes a turn, heading down the street. Instinctively, he reaches for his phone, opening your earlier text. His eyes fixate on the image of you smiling.

Why does it make him feel so at ease when you wear such a precious expression?

He can’t truly comprehend it.

But it feels..nice.

The sudden ringing of his phone makes his eyes refocus and it’s you.

Harry clicks the call button.

“Harry, how close are you?”

He looks down the street.

“I’m a few blocks down. Do you need me to grab something?”

There’s a pause on the other side of the phone.

“Just..walk slowly.”

“Excuse me?”

“WALK SLOW!”

The phone hangs up and he quirks a brow, staring at the phone.

As he begins walking again, he increases his pace.

~

“Food, check. Flowers, check. Casual placement of movies to fit into the dinner, check. What else?”

You’ve been thinking about it all day. It’s not like you lit candles or anything. You know what kind of person Harry is. You treasure him and your friendship, so there’s no need to rush. You’re comfortable at this pace. You have a feeling so is Harry.

There’s a knock and you panic.

You rush to the door and when you open it, Harry is standing before you.

“I said walk slowly.” You grumble.

“Your urgency just instilled my fear to get here faster.”

Of course it did.

You just roll your eyes, stepping aside to invite him in. He walks past you, you realize his change of attire and a subtle smell of cologne. Your eyes seem to follow him as he adjusts his glasses. He turns back to you and it’s then you notice that you’re staring.

“You look good Harry. It's nice to see you wearing actual colors every once in a while.”

“Are you going to badger me like Ramon did?”

You laugh.

“I won’t put you through that. Make yourself comfortable, I’ll go get the food."

“Do you need help?”

“I’m okay, you just relax. You’re the guest. Be guestly.”

“That’s not a real word.”

“Are you questioning an actual professor?”

“I’m the one with multiple Phd’s.”

“Well, I don’t think it counts when you’re from another universe. “

“How convenient.”

There’s something enjoyable about banter with Harry. His clever retorts are sort of adorable. When you send him a little smile, he’s curious about the reason behind it.

“What..”

“Nothing.” You hum.

If only he knew how cute he was.

On second thought, maybe it’s best he didn’t know. You’re not sure him getting a bigger head would be a good thing.

You giggle to yourself as you grab plates and place them on the counter. Your hands move to grab some glasses, but you stumble and the one within your reach falls to the floor when your hand just barely misses it. You grip the edge of the counter at your sudden lightheadedness. You lift your head and Harry seems to appear out of thin air.

“(Y/N)!!”

Your brows furrow.

“Harry I..I don’t feel so good…”

Your hand slides off the side of the counter as your body staggers. Harry catches you mid fall.

(Y/N)! Answer me! Please!!”

Your eyes are closed, and he feels nothing but dread at that moment. 

[13beachesxx]

gucci bloom, one day you will be mine. flora too ofc but i've wanted that bitch bloom since she dropped. maybe a loftier dream would be becoming a gucci girl and then i'll be on the billboards next to hari nef and dakota. lol a bitch can dream

i truly do not know how to be patient with the process. in anything. give a bitch the tiniest shred of her mental health, sanity, and peace back and she's running a mile a minute. she's saying "i'm ready for my close up mr. demille" and wondering when her first official photo shoot will be. like hold the fuck up bitch.

on that note, while i'm making small movements toward my career goals, i think it's important not to do too much in that arena just yet. i'm still shifting and changing daily. focusing this year wholly on improving myself, my health, my mind, my strength will do me best. that way i can go into 2024 with thoughts of how to progress, achieve, score, win big, etc etc.

my motto for the second half of 2023 and also 2024 is "just keep on hustling." i think it was that, anyway, i had it in mind this morning but didn't write it down and now maybe i forgot. but that's close enough.

if i had a sub-normal life in 2022, i've been taking steps in 2023 to return it to normal, but i'm not content to just stop at normal, and never have been. i've always wanted the extraordinary even when it felt literally impossible. I just don't feel like it's so impossible now and the thought of the gap between me and It doesn't feel like it's completely out of reach in this lifetime. it feels quite possible now. which is another miraculous side effect of recovery i never expected.

it's so nice having friends all over the world. it's sad because you go years and years without seeing or hearing about them, but you just know there's somebody in this world whose arms you can run into and they'll hug you back so tight and it'll be like time never parted the two of you. i had this thought in the morning on the bus about amay specifically, but then i started thinking about all my friends, too many to name but just to name a few, sara, claudia, melissa, nandita, ayala, rin, and yes, even that guy.

when i thought about that guy i felt sad for 0.0025 seconds at the new developments i learned but even those were so surprisingly easy to turn into happiness, to turn into feeling happy for the happy couple. this technique has a 60-40 success rate for me currently but generally, if i try hard enough, i can focus all my feelings into happy feelings for the people i have ever felt envious towards. i just say that this is their path to walk in life, not mine, and it makes me feel better. the right frame of mind will do you wonders.

comparison kills, comparison is the thief of joy, etc etc BUT. while i will never be able to get rid of comparison, i can adjust how i feel about the thing. add a dash of insane beliefs that those things didn't come to me because something even crazier, even more amazing and better is coming to me, and somehow it works. when i truly believe it, it works wonders.

i was watching the GQ 10 things in my bag for sydney sweeney last night and one of her things was the perfume armani my way. i was like pfft this is just sly ad placement because she's currently an armani girl and of that perfume in specific. but i got a tester and sprayed it on me today and oh my it really does smell nice. my mom and sister didn't like it but i liked it a lot, i was like well damn, if she and i were up for a part at the same time, she would get it and i wouldn't because she smells like this. smelling good is so important. looking good is important too, but smelling good is ~everything.

i think i shall buy testers while i'm still a broke bitch of all the perfumes i want. honestly how genius of me.

[skeezybeatz88]

The last few days of April have been brutal. I’m excited for Spring but it’s the busiest time at work so I’m feeling burnt out. April is also the first checkpoint of the year for life in general because the first quarter of the year is over and it’s time to reflect on what New Year’s resolutions are working and which ones need adjustments for the remainder of the year. To be fair, I didn’t set true resolutions but I did set my ins and outs for 2024. Out of my fifteen “ins” I’ve only been consistent with about four of them, which isn’t great but it’s something. On the “outs” side, I’m three out of eight but those were actually challenging so I’m ok with that. Another honesty check, I had to go review my list again because I forgot what I had set for the year.

This week was draining. The mercury retrograde hit my fixed placements hard. I fell out of my routine and had to skip the gym because my body just wasn’t up for it. Glad I listened to my body though and didn’t try to push it.

Had a random visit from family today. Hadn’t seen or spoken to them in weeks so it was nice to chat. My niece got her first cell phone this week and I was her first FaceTime call. It made me emotional ngl. Maybe it’s my period que me tiene bien chillona.

The Get Up Kids announced an anniversary tour for my favorite album of theirs. Excited for that show. I haven’t seen them in a decade. Now I just need for Relient K to announce a 20th anniversary tour for “Mmhmm” and I’ll be really happy.

That’s it for now.

xf 04.26.2024

[alexsyndrome]

so admin moved me from working in the middle school over to the high school and I’m so relieved because this is a much better placement for me!!! It’s still a life skills room, so still not ideal, but the kids are far more independent, mature, and capable than the middle schoolers were 😅 it’s only been two days but they move so much quicker and my mental health has improved drastically. It’s such a nice break from the constant doom & gloom and panic I was experiencing before. I still need to get out of this district, as admin can place me elsewhere whenever they need to, so there’s still a possibility I could be sent back to the middle school (or worse the elementary school) but I’m totally content where I am right now and that’s exactly what I’m trying to focus on. This adjustment in my mental health and attitude will serve me well in future interviews too 🤞🥹 like I finally feel content (happyish?) and a bit more like myself. like I forgot that going to work doesn’t have to be filled with dread and outright misery. It can just be normal. It really can!! I guess I’m just way too hard on myself thinking there’s something wrong with me and why am I like this etc., but realistically I should never expect myself to thrive or be content in an environment that is just not aligned with who I am.

[antique-forvalaka]

The Paintings

So i think by now we’ve all noticed the Portraits of themselves that Kim and Tankhun have in their rooms (and im honestly holding out hope for a KInn portrait as well), but i havent seen as much analysis for them so far (and i’m very sorry, i’m supposed to do colour theory for ep4 right now instead).

As a small disclaimer i need to clarifiy that i tried my best to adjust the paintings for perspective, light situation etc. but the process can of course also falsifiy the result. Further i want to reiterate that my analysis is very subjective, and i have no formal education in art history/analysis, so take everything with a grain of salt.

Tankhun:

So let’s start with Tankhun’s painting.

His is quite clearly recognizable as being Pop Art, more specifically Pointillism.

Pointillism as a technique isn’t that young by itself, it describes the use of several smaller colour dots to build up a bigger whole, similar to the modern printing process which also uses incredibly small dots, usually only in 4 colours, to create the books/pictures/flyers you use daily. However Tankhun’s painting here is not only made up of several, relatively big, coloured circles, but it is also split up into only 4-5 colours. It’s a bit hard to make out, even after colour correction in post processing, if the painting is made up of Black/Red/Yellow (+White) or if it is Black/Blue/Red/Yellow (+White). The latter would harken back to current printing presses which work with Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/Black (in short: CMYK), however I actually suspect it is only made with the 3 colours Black/Red/Yellow which would be a hint to a custom, maybe even hand painted/printed piece.

Of course what is interesting about the reduced colour palette in any way is, that these colours should be enough to build up a sufficient spectrum through mixing. Instead we have very clear divisions, think Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol. It creates a similar impression to putting someone in a very overexposed spotlight, harsh contrast and, depending on how much colours are used, can give varying impressions of depth. More colours creates the feeling of looking at a clear cut and straight forward person, less can lead to deeper depths and a feeling of hidden sides. The specififc colours used for him also create a very vibrant and active look, which i think portrays Tankhun’s over active and slightly chaotic personality very well.

Here he strikes a balance, but I certainly think the painting creates the impression of a deceptively simple person, especially if you take the build up through dots into consideration. Stay too close to the picture and you will only be able to see the small points making up the whole, not the portrait itself however. For that you need distance. 

Tankhun is more complicated than he looks at first glance. Are his eccentricities just that, unique but mostly harmless quirks? Or do these quirks serve to hide a bigger personality, something we are too close to see in its entirety?

Additionally I want to take the placement in his room into consideration. The painting is hung up on a small wall right next to the entrance, mostly out of the way and not visible upon entry. It is also placed right next to the cupboard behind Tankhun’s couch, which is stock full of more eye-catching trinkets. It feels incongruous how little relevance the painting has in his rooms. At the same time I think this only further supports my reading of it being representative of Tankhun’s character. He stays mostly hidden away in his tower, and even his over the top dramatics are likely a way to obfuscate his true thoughts and feelings. You only really see him on second glance.

(EDIT: I forgot to mention: his positioning in the bounds of the portrait is interesting as well. He is turned away from the viewer, and in fact the perspective suggests us looking down at him from a slight height difference. Yet he may show us his back but he is still looking at the viewer with one eye, there is no trust here despite the implication of 'showing someone your back'. I personally also read his gaze as hostile, but i wouldn't be opposed to reading it as vulnerability instead. Tankhun is, after all, a character that seems to contain multitudes. His apparent weakness (ie. Eccentric behaviour and vulnerabilities/childlike mannerisms) seem to not undermine his authority in the eyes of his family, as seen by Vegas not even trying to verbally defend himself when Tankhun berates him and makes him leave the restaurant during ep4.)

Kim:

Now in contrast, Kim is much harder to nail down.

The only say I can say with relative certainty is that we are looking at an Impressionist portrait, but the specifics I’m less certain about. I feel like his portrait is not quite in line with classic impressionistic pieces, a bit more modern and abstracted. A good style influence could be Olga Boznańska.

Impressionism as a style, as the name implies, focuses on catching and conveying subjective impressions through paintings. They are often loose and the colours carry more significance than in more realistic portrayals. Significant about Kim's portrait is therefore that the colours are washed out, a gold orange is the most dominant colour, though we have some soft blue on the outer edges as well.

Also interesting to note is the way his face is framed. Kim is slightly turned away from the observer, and his face isn’t centered on the canvas. We almost get the impression of a candid photo taken in secret, or in an unobserved moment. However the clearly visible brush strokes (which are really very very big, considering the general size of the piece) disabuse us of that notion.

It’s a very unconventional way to structure a commissioned portrait, even though it fits well into the impressionistic style.

But despite creating this effect of intimacy the washed out colours and the formidable size of the picture bring back some distance. We haven’t yet seen much of Kim, so I can’t say too much about his character. However the portrait itself seems to suggest a division between how he is perceived in his role as WIK and how he sees himself.

WIK is bigger than life, he is to be admired, looked up to, and yet also perceived as authentic, as close to his fans. Likely there is a hint of a para-social relationship between him and his fans, as with so many modern artists or public personalities. Yet he is washed out, a mirage, a glimpse at his reflection more than a look at who Kim really is. The painting wants us to believe there is certainly mystery surrounding Kim, yet not much depth, it’s relatively flat. At the same time his edges are hard to grasp. His form fades at the edges and it’s hard to pin him down.

I’m wondering is this is also how Kim sees himself, he certainly seems to be a bit more removed from the main family than his brothers, a bit of a shade, ready to fade out of the (mafia) spot light.

Also significant, more so for Kim than for Tankhun, is the placement of his painting. It has a very visible place of honour, above a decorative cabinet. More importantly we as the viewer know it is hiding his conspiracy board.

(credit to @AMC_1903 on twitter)

Either he sees himself as eschewing his ‘true self’ in order to better investigate, his public persona just a face to put on to hide his secrets; or he thinks of himself as protecting his family and his secrets instead. He is literally in between his family’s secrets and the world, a smokescreen in front of his true motives. I suspect we will see that Kim, as most other big Players, is more complicated than we initially assume.

I may expand on these at a later date, but no promises. I’m pretty busy as of late, and I wanna wait and see if Kinn has a portrait hidden away somewhere as well. Also big thanks to Senpai @iffervescent​ for making me think about Kim’s portrait placement!

For now, this is where you can find more KP Meta:

Colour Theory:

Major Players: Porsche

Major Players: Kinn

The Intersection of Kinn and Porsche / Green

Kinn’s Colour: A revision

Episode 2; Significant Scenes

Episode 3; Significant Scenes (+Tankhun)

Extra: Hidden Messages YT Video

More from my IMM Mates:

Ep 3 Lines of Power by @luckydragon10​

Kinn, Still Gay Still Murderous and other gifs by @moerusai​

Tankhun costume analysis by @chaoselmo​

A bit on Pete by @minisculecosmos​

​ Why Kinn’s voice fucks me up: a silly little analysis by @yeetlegay​

[saintlike78]

How about a fred weasley x reader smut with cokwarming. LOVE you writting

Keep me warm [F.W]

A/N: We love a soft Freddie with some cockwarming, thank you so much for the request!

Pairings: Fred Weasley x Fem! Reader

Words: 1.8k

Warnings: NSFW 16+! Vaginal sex, unprotected sex, cockwarming, slight overstimulation, oral (male receiving), praise, mention of food, fluff. As always lmk if I missed anything.

“Come here, baby,” Fred’s soft voice accompanied by a bend of his pointer finger beckoned you towards him.

You had been standing in the doorway, watching as Fred worked away at bills and paperwork from the shop. He had been going at it for hours and to say that you missed him was an understatement. You had eaten dinner by yourself, watched some muggle television, hugging Fred’s shirt close to your body to get the smallest form of comfort without him present.

But you had decided that if you were quiet enough you could keep him company while he worked and then drag him up to the apartment to ‘keep you company.'

“I promise I’ll be quiet; I just want to be with you,” your voice was small as your feet had placed your body in front of his seated form.

He had turned his chair and spread his legs for you to get in between, his hand instantly finding placement on your hips.

“Aww did you miss me, darling?” He cooed, hands squeezing your hips slightly.

Your own hands had found a place on his face, holding his jaw and scratching subconsciously, causing Fred’s heart to flutter, leaning further into your touch.

“I just hate being up in the apartment when I know you’re here overworking yourself.”

He was almost convinced that your actions were innocent, and you really only wanted to keep him company... that was until he lifted your (his) shirt that reached your mid-thigh, only to be met by your bare cunt. His face went from soft to surprise and lastly, a sly smirk lit up his entire being.

“Is it me you miss or my cock, my needy girl, hmm?” His grin reached from ear to ear as he kept lifting the shirt.

A needy whine left your throat unintentionally causing Fred to chuckle.

“Guess that answered it,” he winked.

“I’m sorry, I know you’re busy... can I wait here with you until you’re finished?” you asked hopefully, still caressing his jaw and cheek with your thumb.

“I’ll do you one better... why don’t you sit here and keep me warm,” he patted his lap, the grin never leaving his face.

You were about to sit when your hips were held in place by Fred’s large hands.

“Since you forgot to wear panties, I don’t want that pretty little cunt of yours to freeze,” he said, reaching a hand down to free his semi-hard cock from the restraints of his trousers, your mouth watering at the sight.

“There... c’mere,” he said as he guided your hips forward.

You crawled onto his lap your thighs spread to straddle his cock. He spat into his hand and pumped himself a couple of times, but not quite satisfied by the wetness; he reached two fingers outrunning them through your soaked folds prompting a small breathy moan to leave your lips. He gathered your arousal on his fingers and spread it on his cock mixing it with his own pre-cum, pumping a few extra times before helping you sink down on him.

His cock stretched you out perfectly, your walls pulsing around him as you adjusted, prompting a small gasp to escape your lips.

Once you were fully sat on him, wiggling around a little to get the most comfortable, your arms found their way around his neck, and you leaned in to press a slow and loving kiss to his beautiful lips. He didn’t hesitate to return the kiss, a small make-out session ensuing, small breathy whimpers leaving your lips every time he moved, the tip of his cock brushing that sweet spot inside of you.

Not long after, he disconnected your lips causing you to whine and pout your lips at him, to which he chuckled.

“I know, my beautiful girl, but the sooner I’m done with work the sooner I can fuck you on this desk,” he grinned and winked, leaning in to kiss your forehead when your pout turned into a small smile, cheeks turning pink from the blush that had formed because of his lewd speech.

You leaned your body forward, chest to chest, your face was hidden in the crook of his neck, your arms holding him tightly against you as he scooted his chair back into place and the sound of the scribbling quill filled the room.

The minutes passed by slowly, much slower than usual, you had concluded. Your walls were pulsing around him, your clit aching to be touched, your body was screaming for you to move, but alas you had to wait. Yet there was something so calming, and fulfilling being connected to Fred in this way, both of you quietly listening to each other’s breathing and just enjoying being with one another in a lovingly intimate way. The quill was working double time, you could tell he was writing much faster than normal, trying to be as quick as possible for you.

He was slowly, mindlessly, stroking up and down the expanse of your back, sometimes settling his hand purposely on your ass, but playing it off as innocent by going right back to stroking your back.

An eternity passed, but your patience was rewarded by the sound of Fred’s quill dropping and the subtle movement of his chair slotting out from being placed right in front of his desk.

He guided your face out, his thumb stroking your cheek and leaning into to kiss you once more.

“You did so good, sat so still… I think you deserve a reward, don’t you, baby?”

You just whimpered and nodded a small ‘please’ leaving your lips as you looked at him with huge pleading eyes. Fred just smiled and reached a hand between the two of you, finding your clit and rubbing slow circles on it, your arousal leaking between the two of you. You moaned at the sensation, his hips still not moving, only his finger worked on your cunt, but already you could feel a small knot forming, your orgasm already approaching. Your cunt squeezing around Fred, his fingers picking up speed bringing you closer to your much-needed release.

“You gonna cum, darling?” Fred asked even though he already knew the answer, your body giving away everything.

“Mhmm… please,” was all you could muster to say between a long moan.

“Go ahead, cum all over my cock.”

With Fred’s permission and encouragement, your body complied, and your orgasm washed over you like a tidal wave, your cunt pulsing with your release. Your breath hitched, you gasped and whimpered as Fred helped you through your orgasm.

“Good girl,” he purred and retracted his fingers.

You didn’t have time to completely fathom what was going on before Fred had lifted himself from the chair and placed you on his desk, his cock never leaving your sensitive cunt. He started thrusting causing a surprised pleasurable moan to fall from your lips. His hands were holding your waist, keeping you in place as he rutted his hips into yours. Leaning forward he captured your lips in his, soaking up all of your small whimpers and whines, reveling in the fact that only he got to see you like this, only he got to experience your neediness because he was the only one, you’d ever be needy for.

You yelped and jumped a little when you felt Fred’s finger back on your clit, rubbing the sensitive nub to bring you to another release. You grabbed onto Fred’s wrist to keep you steady as you bucked your hips to meet his hard thrusts.

“Come on, I know you’ve got another in you,” Fred said, rubbing faster on your clit when he once more felt you tighten around him.

“Freddie… feels so good, gonna cum,” you babbled into his mouth, your eyes rolling to the back of your head.

“I know, my pretty baby, cum for me.”

You did as you were told, not that you could have chosen otherwise, your orgasm much more powerful than the last, your entire body shaking and hips bucking with the force of the release. Fred’s name fell from your lips accompanied by shaky, stuttering, moans.

“So pretty,” he captured your lips in an opened mouth kiss, his hips still snapping forward chasing his own release.

“Fred-die, can I-I suck yo-ur cock, ple-ase,” you pleaded between gasps.

Fred smiled a cocky smile, but nodded, “of course, my love.”

He pulled out and stepped back, stepping out of his trousers that had pooled around his ankles. You shakily got on your feet, Fred’s arms catching you when you nearly toppled over. His arms held you and helped you to your knees in front of him, his red hard cock level with your face. He grabbed a fistful of your hair, creating a make-shift ponytail as his other hand caressed your cheek slowly.

You reached a hand up to grab his cock, fisting a couple of times before letting your jaw go slack and leading his length into your warm waiting mouth. You used your tongue to add pressure as you guided his cock further down your throat, not letting your gag reflex surface as it hit the back of your throat. Using your hand to pump and twist at the base, where your mouth didn’t reach, you felt him twitch. You bobbed your head a couple of times, his moans and grunts spurring you on, loving the sounds.

You retreated your mouth a little and suckled on his tip, your tongue running over the sensitive slit causing a shiver to run through Fred and a stuttered moan to leave his lips.

“Gonna cum, gonna cum right down that beautiful throat,” he moaned, interrupted by a grunt.

Hearing this you took him as far down your throat as you could, prodding a gag to erupt.

“Oh god,” Fred moaned as he came down your throat, the salty liquid gliding into your waiting mouth. You swallowed around him the best you could with his cock still in your mouth, another gag leaving your throat.

He slowly pulled out and hooked his arms under yours as he hoisted you up to stand before him.

“My good girl,” he said as he lifted you to carry you. Your legs wrapped around his hips, holding onto him like a koala as your lips found his again.

“Thank you, Freddie,” you said between kisses, “can we take a bath together,” you asked, looking at him with the best puppy eyes you could muster.

“Of course, we can, baby, and then we can cuddle and watch that muggle movie we talked about the other day.”

You smiled with glee, hugging him close to you as he carried you up the stairs to the apartment.

“Oh, my Gods! Give a warning next time!” George yelled and covered his eyes as Fred carried you through to your room, both of you naked from the waist down.

Fred laughed loudly, you just buried your face into his neck, your face red with embarrassment. “Sorry, Georgie, we forgot.”

“You better clean the office up before I have to work in there tomorrow,” George said sternly before retreating back to his room, bumping into the doorframe because of his covered eyes.

You giggled, “you’re stupid.”

“But you love me anyway,” Fred smirked and kissed the side of your head.

“Yes, I really do.”

Tags: @teenwolfbitches28, @emma67, @autumnandwinteraesthetics,

[gaybitchfx]

Yo! May I request m!reader who attempted to build a guitar and gifting said guitar to Eddie for his birthday or somethin? I would imagine the guitar would either sound very out of tune no matter how much you try and tune it or unplayable 🧍‍♂️,, but reader worked very hard to build the guitar 😩✊

Note: Any way I look at this it’s so damn cute 😭

I TRIED AT LEAST

Character(s): Eddie Munson

Type of reader: M!Reader

Category: Fluff🥰✨

Warning(s): None

Edited: ❌

You stared at the parts that were scattered on your kitchen table with squinted eyes. "I regret buying these so much, but Eddie's birthday is in a couple days." You sighed before sitting down and used the instructions to help you out.

"Okay, so, the neck goes here....the string post go there..." You muttered to yourself as you looked back at the instructions and back at what the hell you were working with. A couple hours had passed meaning it was already daybreak. You had worked on this for hours because you kept messing up the placement. You stared at the finished guitar with a proud yet tired look.

"I've finally finished it." You sighed relieved. A couple days had passed and it was Eddie's birthday and lemme tell you somethin, you were ecstatic to give him a new guitar that you don't even know works or not.

You eventually arrived to his house with the guitar wrapped in wrapping paper before knocking on the door. A few seconds passed before the door opened revealing the birthday boy, Eddie. "Hey Eddie!" You said with a smile and handed him the guitar. "Aww thanks Y/n!" Eddie said with a smirk as he opened the door wider for you so you could come in. The two of you went over to his couch where he'd unwrap it. "Holy shit this looks sick Y/n! Thank you!" Eddie said with wide eyes as he looked at the guitar.

"No problem Eddie, I did build it myself." You said, your ego taking a big toll on you. Eddie strumbed his fingers on the strings only for it not to make any sound at all. Confused, Eddie used one of his fingers to do it again to a singular string, no sound came from that one.

"Huh? But I swore it worked before I brought it here.." You mumbled and carefully took the guitar from Eddie and tried adjusting the strings, but no matter how many times you would try it didn't make a single sound.

A long sigh came from you as you gave it back to Eddie. "Sorry it doesn't work Eddie... I worked on it for hours and probably forgot to check if it actually worked." You mumbled and rested your chin on the palm of your hand.

"It's alright dude, don't stress it out. I can leave it on display in my room so whenever I'd come in or wake up I'll see it and remember you took hours from your day to make it for me." Eddie chuckled and patted your back. You looked at him with a small smile.

"Happy Birthday, birthday boy."

[secondhand-trash]

If I Only Knew Your Name

A/N: so this was an idea I got while mindlessly picking songs to listen to on Spotify’s Indie rock playlist and came across this one song that just made me want to write something about it hehe accidentally put this aside for a whole month but I’m so glad that it’s here now lmao I had a lot of fun writing this

Pairing: Miya Atsumu x reader

Description: After a drunken night of passion, Atsumu had nothing he could find you with, not even your name. So he took the matter into his own hands and tried to search for you using the power of the internet.

Warning: drunken one night stand, suggestive descriptions, Atsumu is an embarrassment and I sure hope you cringe while you read it as much as I did when I was writing it

Word count: 9453

The song:

Young Love (feat. Laura Marling)//Mystery Jets, Laura Merling

-

One night of love

Nothing more nothing less

One night of love

Had left my heart in a mess

-

You woke up with a sharp pain spiking down your back, in a room you were sure you had never been to, on a bed that wasn’t yours.

Your head was heavy and every cell in your body screaming that you just wanted to fall asleep again when you stirred awake. You would have, had it not been the fact that you were not in your own room slowly started to settle in. There was a brief moment of blankness in your mind as you took in your surroundings. The room was still dim, the sun barely shining through the windows that were half covered by the shades. The domestic messiness crossed out the possibility that you were in a hotel room or some odd space behind the club you clearly remembered being at last night. 

You did not move as your eyes glanced around the space. Trophies and picture frames were lining up on the shelf at the corner, all of names and faces you couldn’t match up with any of the ones that you remembered. The linen covers you were sitting under was sturdy on your skin, a dark red on top of brown sheets that you would have never bought for your mattress. The scent of the fabric was foreign to you, making your morning state of mind more and more alarmed at the amount of information you were trying to take in. You had to admit that it was very soft on the skin, not the slightest bit uncomfortable as it rubbed against your bare arm when the duvet fell off of your body as you sat up.

You felt a moment of frantic terror at the registration of your own bareness, with your legs feeling terribly cramped, waking up on a bed that you did not remember getting into.

Everything clicked when you stiffly turned to your side, and found someone laying next to you.

The broad back facing your side had you clutching the sheets up to cover your torso that now felt chilly with the lack of layers. The man, whose name you did not think you know and what you had done with him last night you could not remember but was certainly able to guess, was still soundly in his sleep. Now that you were painstakingly unable to ignore his presence, you picked up on the soft snores that lingered in the air, making your legs that were rubbing against each other under what you could only assume to be his spreads tense up as the picture of what happened to get you right where you were slowly got clear. 

You would prefer not to think about it in detail, albeit the fact that it getting vivid in your mind sent a trail of heat from your core right onto your face and burning out the fuse in your head.

There was a slither of shame and guilt as you found yourself staring hazily at the man, his sculpted back spasming with each breath. Your hand gripping at the sheets in front of your chest only served to pull it further down his torso, revealing the dip at his waist and his arms that curled tighter against his body with a shiver. Blonde hair sprawled out messily on the pillow, and you felt chills creeping up your spine at the recoil of your fingers fisting those locks and brushing against the fuzzy patch of his undercut as he hovered above you.

Panting, grunting, moaning.

Your skin burnt up at the lingering feeling of a firm grip on your legs, the warm trail of his lips down your neck, and the unmistakable dullness between your thighs.

The heat settled into the pit of your stomach as a weight, twisting your guts until it resembled what felt like a bitter mix of shame and guilt.

Fuck, you slept with an absolute stranger last night.

You bite back a groan, slamming your hands against your face before letting them run down in a weak attempt to clear your head.

This was why you never go to clubs anymore.

The jolt of your body as you sat up straight pushed the sheets off of you and you winced at the soft whimper from the person next to you at the sudden movement. Your naked state was simply uncomfortable, not feeling like you were in your own skin at all as ironic as this was. You couldn’t help but hug your arms around your frame as you frantically looked around to see where your clothes and belongings were, letting out a relieved sigh when you saw the clothes you wore last night littering across the floor in all its messy glory. 

Your clothes were all wrinkled up from the careless placement, a clear display of the passion and impulse when they were being taken off. Your hands were the same kind of frantic as you rushed to put everything back on, not caring about tugging them in properly or the fact that you did not even look into a mirror at all to see if you were at least presentable. 

You did not hear the groan from the man that tossed over to his side on the bed as you slipped out of the bedroom, careful in softening your steps as you let the door clicked and darting your eyes around to see where the rest of your things were.

If you remembered correctly from the weak reconstruction of what happened last night, then your clutch should be somewhere near the door.

The giggle that slipped past your lips as he swung the door shut turned into a laugh when he latched onto you immediately. You could taste the hint of vodka lingering on his lips, bundling up your senses together with the warm breaths against your neck when he trailed down. It was like floating on a cloud, the way you latched yourself on this handsome man and he seemed to be unable to get enough of you. You barely heard the thump of what you were holding in your hand landing on the floor as your limbs went weak, swinging your arms around his broad shoulders when your mouth fell agape as he sucked down on the soft spot right on your neck.

It was right where you left it last night, the one and only clutch that you felt was suitable for you to bring to a club. There was a hint of hesitation as you rushed to pick it up, holding it in your hand when you thought of the person who you had left on the bed by himself.

What do people do after a one night stand? Talk? Have breakfast together? Or in your case, ask them for their name because you did not remember one thing that happened before you stepped into these doors?

Dear god, no.

So you did the only logical thing you could think of, and rushed out of the door without even looking back.

It wasn’t until you were far away from the apartment building you ran out of, the weight of your body shifting from leg to leg as you waited for the train to slowly drive into the station that something did not feel right to you. Your fingers fidgeted in reflex as you shoved yourself past the small gap between each person stuffed into the cart, a bad habit you had formed as a kid when you were nervous.

Your heart fell into the pit of your stomach when the lack of metal brushing against the tip of your finger finally clicked in your head.

You cussed under your breath, knowing exactly where the thin, gold band must be.

-

Miya Atsumu woke up with a pounding headache, in his own apartment that he forgot how he got back to, on his bed that somehow felt emptier than usual.

At first, all he could focus on was the clear hungover that he was suffering from. His tongue felt dry and he scrunched his face up at the bitterness as he tried to gulp. The half-drawn curtains were not doing it in shielding the sun that already came out, making him squeeze his eyes tight and blinked a few times before finally adjusting to the brightness. Stretching out on the bed, Atsumu whined at the soreness pulling at his muscles, feeling his joints pop as he arched his back and sprawled over to the other side of the bed.

He froze in place, arms still spread over his head and legs bundling up the sheets, before jolting up in one rapid movement only to wince at the horrible spinning in his head at the rush of blood up to his already heavy head.

Yet, dizziness and all that, Atsumu was sure that the feeling of someone being here with him last night definitely wasn’t just a drunkness induced illusion.

He groaned at the untimely pang of pain that pulsed at his temple, ruffling his hands through the locks of his hair that was tangled up from him tossing around the bed. The slight pull at his scalp at his impatient detangling method made him hiss, but it also served to get his wires just a little more sorted out than before. 

First things first, he was very naked and combining that with the certainty that he must have had someone over, it wasn’t very hard for him to connect the dots. He ran his palm over the ruffled sheets, smoothing out the wrinkles and searched if there was still any hint of warmth left on the fabric. He cursed under his breath when nothing else but coolness met his skin, scolding himself for acting like a fool over some one night stand that did not even wait until he woke up to leave.

There was a lump at the back of his throat as he stayed there, holding onto the hovering position he took on the bed without a single thought.

He snapped out of it when he realised that he was in his own space, just staying still and letting time passed without doing anything. Atsumu had a strong feeling that if he stayed in bed any longer then he would just be miserable for the rest of the day and he really couldn’t afford it if he couldn’t manage to get over himself soon enough. 

For all that it was, there was no bigger asset to his career than this very body that he felt like trash in right now, and god knows how much trouble he would get if people learnt that he let his performance slip because he couldn’t bounce back after a drunken hookup.

His steps were floaty as he climbed off his bed, stumbling into the bathroom and harshly gripping at the faucet. The water streamed out as a strong current and he splashed it against his face in a sadistic force. The coldness was stinging his skin, with no help from the way he rubbed his hands down his face and back up his chin.

He looked terrible, Atsumu thought to himself when he stared at the reflection in front of him. His eyelids were pulled taut with his hand, cheeks squished under his palm before he pulled away meanly. Bloodshot eyes made him wince and his face was so dropsy it looked like he had cried himself to sleep.

A loud slap echoed in the empty bathroom when he clasped his face a bit too hard in a desperate attempt to clear his head. He whined, rubbing the area that went numb and then heated up. There was a slight flush around the area he had slapped down, but he was feeling more in touch with reality afterwards.

Alright, so what happened last night?

It would be a lie if Miya Atsumu said he had never had one night stands. He would argue that he never go out with the intention for one, but sometimes one thing leads to another and it just happens. Some were good, some not really, some he hadn’t really think of until now when he was desperately thinking of what it was that led him to now. 

He hadn’t wakened up with a hungover this bad in a long while. Being in a profession that demands that much of your physiques meant that there was not much room for the more self-destructive type of letting loose. It was strange, Atsumu pinched the center of his brows as one hand on the kitchen counter held his body still, he didn’t quite remember the deeds of what was happened once the door to his room was closed last night.

Wow, he looked up with eyes widened and huffed at no one, that was such a douchebag thing to say.

He, however, remembered the person that stumbled through the door with him in shocking vividness to even his surprise.

He would have to pretend that the lack of follow up did not send a blow to his ego, reassuring himself that there was no way it was because he behaved terribly that the person had to run off before he even woke up. He was bitter about the fact that they had left without leaving even a note, something he had no idea he cared about at all until this very moment when the silence of his home became just short of irritating in his pounding head. 

Could have at least said ‘I had fun last night but I gotta go’.

Atsumu rubbed his temple, slowly rotating his arms backwards to get rid of that dull cramp.

Or maybe leave their number somewhere too.

He paused in his track, standing awkwardly in the middle of his tiny living room.

Did he want their number?

He shook his head violently to rid of the meaningless thought, an act he would immediately regret when he remembered that he was having a hungover as the dizziness made him stumble on his feet. 

A crisp clang after he took a fumbled step to steady himself quieted all of the voices in his head. That was not a sound that aligned with what his brain expected from his worn-out room slippers kicking against the wooden floor. Atsumu held his head as the rang of what sounded like something metallic registered itself in his mind, blinking at the empty space right in front of his feet.

His eyes darted around the floor, searching for whatever it was he must have stepped on to make that sound. Atsumu was ready to settle for the possibility that he was starting to hear things when a quick flash of light from the corner caught his attention. He walked towards where it was, and slowly crouched down.

It was a ring, a very tiny one. It looked rather ridiculous being held between his calloused fingers, the thin golden band arching off the afternoon light that had shined on it. A very simple design with no gems or carvings along the surface, something very much so the opposite to his taste. He knew it was not his, from the size to the tone to the lack of anything all over its rim.

And then he remembered the first time he saw the ring, on someone else’s finger, just last night.

-

Atsumu would not classify himself as a party animal, despite the common speculation shared by people who knew him but not well enough. He could deal with house parties just fine, but clubbing had never been much of his thing ever since he woke up outside the back of a night club once with the worst ring in his ear he had ever experienced. 

If it wasn’t part of his job, he would much rather be anywhere else than this overly opulent club that his team’s sponsor had booked up for their event. But business was business, and if he wanted to keep having his own room in away games then this was the price he had to pay.

Was it a nice club? He couldn’t say, but it sure was an expensive one if he was to make a guess based on the decor. So expensive that it was a bit tacky, if he dares to say. It was like the owner wanted to remind you that this was high-end and decadent. Imagine what you would see in a basic mansion on a real estate agent’s website, then dim it up and add many hi-fis, what you would result with was likely close if not identical to the space he was in. It was loud and hard to escape from, his ear pounding together with the baseline every time it blasted through He would never quite understand rich people, he thought to himself as he took a sip of his drink and scrunched his eyebrows together. He forced down the urge to poke his tongue out at the obvious taste of syrup, trying to pass it off with a cough into his fist as he plopped down on the barstool. 

“How’s your drink?”

The smooth voice reaching into his ear was mismatched to the booming club he was in. Atsumu turned his stool to the side with a push with the heel of his uncomfortable leather shoes and was met with an entertained gaze. You sat with both feet on the footrest of the stool, a posture that seemed rather childish for the night club bar you sat in front of. With your bare forearms lazily placed at the edge of the bar table, your finger tapped casually against the rim of your cocktail glass, the pink liquid inside looking like it was glowing under the neon lights. He could not map out your features too clearly but your head tilted as you looked at him through narrowed eyes, a glimmer behind your lashes from the many lights that hung above your head. 

Miya Atsumu was an adult now and in his adult mind, he knew that the proper answer he should give to a stranger asking about the sugary mixture he just poured down his throat was that it tasted decent, expensive even, like the club he was sitting in now.

“It’s kinda shit,” he felt a strange swell in his chest when you let out an unfiltered snort at his answer, leaning back with his arms folded in front of his chest as he licked his lips, “yours?”

You lifted up the glass and necked down the rest of the coloured water, smacking your lips as the sweetness spread in your mouth. “Like the type of stuff they mark up and sell to high schoolers who couldn’t buy real alcohol.”

The bartender at the side threw you two a sharp look and you two sat up straighter, before bursting into a fit of laughter. He supposed you had to be tipsy at the very least and probably so was he, what sober person giggled like a child over trash talking overpriced liquor at a bar? “Why are you here at this trashy place?” you asked, now resting your chin on your palm with your elbow propping you up.

You did not know him, Atsumu was almost delighted by the fact that you likely just struck a conversation with him because he was another bored person trying to escape to the sidelines of dancing bodies just like you with no other intentions. “Got an invite and couldn’t say no because of work reasons,” he wasn’t exactly lying, he just didn’t say that he was supposed to be one of the main guests of this function.

“Ooo...” you let out a soft whistle, tilting your upper body forward him, “are you a big shot?”

He smirked.

Yes. “Not entirely.”

“Hm...” you sat back, your smile pursed as you tapped your finger on the table, “not denying it, huh?”

The vibration of your hum sent shivers to his spine and he blamed it on the very spiked drink he just gulped down. Atsumu ran his hand through his hair, a move he discovered in his teenage years that could let him smoothly fixed his hair while also flexing his arm. “I try to stay humble,” he replied, earning him a playful eye roll from you.

The melting ice clinked in the glass when he held it up against his lips, still looking at you from the corner of his eyes as he tilted it and let the pungent liquid run down his throat. 

You nodded, returning to the laid back posture you kept before he sat down next to you at the dim corner of the bar table when you realised he wasn’t going to say more. “Fair enough,” you pretended to sound disappointed, holding your hand out in front of you to swiftly turn your attention away.

“You?”

“Got dragged here by a friend who works for the organiser,” you huffed, “don’t even know anyone here besides from them.”

Atsumu felt the warm buzz of the liquor spreading from his stomach to the rest of his body, settling onto his face as a tipsy fever. He did not look away from you and he was sure it was exactly what you wanted, mindlessly toying with your hand as you faced away from him. Your shoulders pulled back as you slid the thin ring off your index finger smoothly with your thumb, twisting it with the tips of your fingers before letting it fell down another one, all while pushing your hips back against the stool as you crossed your legs.

“Nice ring,” he tipped his chin slightly.

“Oh, this one,” you held your hand out to him, spreading your fingers apart to show him. You pulled back just slightly when he reached out, grinning teasingly at him when he quirked his brow up.

“my grandma gave it to me before she passed away,” you sighed, caressing the band that sat on your finger dreamily, “shoved it into my hand on her death bed and made me swore to never lose it, said it was given to her by her first love when she was a girl.”

“Oh,” Atsumu let out a soft gasp, “oh wow, I-”

He rolled his eyes when you broke out into laughter, the longing expression all gone from your face as you let out a hiccup through your giggling. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

He clicked his tongue, letting out a huff, “Lying isn’t good.”

“Neither is talking to a stranger at a club but I’m still here,” you wet your lips as you flashed a childish smirk, showing him your hand again. He was certain that he was drunk now, because there was no other way he could excuse the pounding in his chest when you didn’t pull away this time as he reached out to hold your hand for a better look.

“I got this as a pack of 5 for 800 yen online,” you said proudly, “quite the deal, if you ask me.”

He hummed in approval, letting out a shaky breath when you slowly pulled your hand out of his grip, the tip of your finger ticking the center of his palm before you lifted it away. It sent electricity trickling down his spine, the feeling of your touch lingering on his skin even as you were steps away from him again, once again staring at him with a smile tugging on your face like you were waiting for his move.

Was it a challenge or was it an invite? Either way, he was ready to take on whatever you were offering.

“You still owe me some sort of compensation for toying with my poor heart like that,” he mused, mimicking the way you leaned towards him from before.

You sniggered, “And what do you want from a poor stranger like me?”

The music playing through the speakers stopped temporarily and for a moment, the projected light illuminated his figure briefly before moving to another spot. You had not taken a good look at him until now, knowing full well that the attractiveness of anyone under the pink, dim glow of the bar was not to be trusted.

But he was really, really good-looking, even when you could actually see his face properly. 

The next song started playing and the party people on the dance floor cheered. The loudness that returned made your head ache and you scrunched your nose in annoyance as the dj yelled into the mic. Atsumu threw his head back as the music returned, tapping his finger against his jaw.

“How about,” he said, knowing that you and he were likely to be on the same page, “you make it up to me by letting me buy you a drink somewhere where the drinks aren’t shit?”

You chuckled at his unfiltered suggestion, your laughter slurring into a hum as you grabbed your clutch by the side of the bar. “I can make up to you,” you asked as you stood up, tilting your head to your side, “by letting you pay for me?” 

He nodded, smoothing out his shirt as he got up from his stool too. 

You shrugged, pressing your palm to your face to let the coldness of your hand calm down the heat on your face as you grinned.

“Take me somewhere nice then, big shot.”

Even through his tipsy haze, Atsumu was sure that this was the most irrational thing he had done in a while but as you took his arm while he pulled you through the crowd and out in the open after being stuck in the same space with many drunk and sweaty bodies afterwards, he was quite certain that he couldn’t care less whether this was stupid or not.

If he had any regrets about it, he would just blame it on the alcohol.

-

Now that he was staring at a fake gold ring you got as a pack of 5 for not even a thousand yen, Atsumu could only tear at his own hair in regret when he realised that he didn’t ask for your name or contact at any point during which you went from the first bar to one he actually liked, then to many other because there was no way he would get this drunk after just two drinks, and finally stumbled through the door of his own house, before you disappeared as if you had never been there at all.

It was all the alcohol’s fault, fuck alcohol.

It was not his first time taking a near-stranger home and even though he wouldn’t want to say it out loud to people, he also couldn’t guarantee that this was the last time either. He should just forget about it and move on with his day, maybe make some tea, maybe get some soup to cure this heaviness in his head so he wouldn’t make it too obvious that he hadn’t been taking care of himself the way he really should. After all, there was really nothing he could do about it since he didn’t know anything about you other than what you looked like and that you wore cheap jewelry. But it left a strange tightness in his chest when he toyed with the gold ring in his hand, knowing full well that drunk or not he did enjoy his time with you even before it really got to the fun fun part.

He really should have just asked for your name like a normal person instead of trying to look cool and mysterious the moment you talked to him at the bar.

Miya Atsumu let out a sigh no one was there to hear as he slowly accepted the fact that not only was he hungover, he was also hung up, and put the only evidence he had of you ever being there with him into the key tray by his door.

He would figure out what to do with it later but for now, he was starving. 

So Atsumu set off for the only one place he could think of that couldn’t kick him out no matter how annoying of a customer he was.

“Say, Samu...” 

Miya Osamu sighed, putting the plate he was drying at the side and let the damped towel fell from his hand onto the side of the sink. His twin had finished his food a long while ago yet he was refusing to leave, planting his face down at his counter like a pile of mush as he took up the precious space of Onigiri Miya’s bar seat. Osamu liked to think that he was a supportive brother , by all means. He fed Atsumu, listened to his childish whines and didn’t kick him out when he started getting so loud that the other patrons sent him a worried glance. Maybe he should have pretended that he was about to head out for errands when he saw his twin marching in, slumping down on the stool like he owned the place (Miya Atsumu claimed that he had unlimited access by relation, Miya Osamu denied it with his life and told all his employees to just kick his twin out if he said that bullshit to them).

He was so nice, Osamu thought to himself, he was far too nice.

“What is it?” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest when he heard Atsumu’s muffled voice.

“Do you think it’s possible to fall in love with someone without knowing their name?”

Oh god, what was he up to again?

“Depends,” Osamu snorted, picking his towel again when he realised that it was nothing too serious that he should stop his work to listen to, “if it happens to someone else, then sure, maybe, everything is possible. But if you're telling me that you think you’re in love with someone you don’t know,” he paused, before breaking into a wide grin, “I think I might laugh.”

“Hey!” Atsumu yelled, his fist slamming on the counter as he snapped his head up. The bang caught the attention of several other customers at the shop and Osamu sent them an apologetic bow before glaring at Atsumu who was rubbing his aching hand for slapping it against the wooden surface. “I’m being serious,” he muttered.

“Alright then,” Osamu nodded absent-mindedly, "so what are you going to do about it?”

Atsumu’s raised hand froze in the air before he slowly, robotically put it down, down, down until it was back on the counter together with the rest of his upper body.

Osamu’s nodding got firmer now, letting out yet another snigger, “Thought so.”

Atsumu let out a groan, deflating onto the counter more and more with each whine. He looked sad and pathetic, even more so than he usually was and even Osamu who was born immune to whatever teary rent he put on was starting to get concerned.

“Was the sex really that good?”

“it is not about the sex,” Atsumu mumbled, leaning his chin on top of his folded arms as he sighed, “I just... think we had a connection.”

Osamu laughed, the ugly kind, and earned himself a sharp glare. “A connection, huh?” he giggled, “you’re down bad.”

“It’s not funny...”

Hiccuping as he tried to calm himself down, Osamu placed a hand onto the kitchen counter to steady himself as his body vibrated. 

“I still think you’re overreacting,” Osamu took in a deep breath, catching up after finally regaining his posture, “besides, you’re technically a public figure, right? If you can’t find them, why don’t you just try and get them to find you instead?”

Atsumu’s hiss about how he wasn’t overreacting stuck at the back of his throat when paused and thought of what Osamu had suggested.

“Huh,” he sat up a little straighter, eyes rolling inside of their sockets as he pondered, “that’s actually not a bad idea.”

"Of course it’s not,” Osamu huffed, “I’m the smart twin.”

“What did you just-”

Osamu ignored Atsumu’s glare, turning around to resume his work now that he seemed to have fulfilled his responsibility as a brilliant, amazing brother. He gave it a month, no, two weeks max before his brother forgot all about this person and moved on as if Atsumu had never shown up in front of his door with puffy eyes and a love-sick expression. 

Oh, he just couldn’t wait to hear all the excuses and denial when he brought it up again the next time they get into a petty argument.

-

It was a terrible idea.

The Inarizaki volleyball alumni group chat exploded when the first post of what would be many to come was published for the world to see. Suna Rintarou, always so quick with capturing his old teammates embarrassing moments, kicked Atsumu out before he sent out links, screenshots, and pinged every single member of the group who did not read his message immediately. Miya Osamu refused to speak up about it, keep denying that he knew anything about it.

“I do not know this person,” his fingers hurt from how fast he was typing, not even bothering to correct the typos in his message before hitting send to clear his name, “I have no idea what has gotten into him but I’m not responsible for it.”

He was, in fact, telling the truth. Osamu was just as shocked and wide-eyed as everyone else was when he came across his twin’s post on Instagram as he scrolled through his feed mindlessly after work. Let us just say that all his sleepiness was gone when he saw his twin’s pretentious selfie of him standing in front of a window (shirtless), his hand holding onto the frame as he looked out into the grey sky. The posture was optimal for him to flex his back, letting the light seeping out around his frame do the trick of accentuating his muscles. Atsumu’s face was not entirely in the frame but Osamu did not need to see to know that he had his eyebrows furrowed, his gaze lowered into a look that was supposed to convey the message of “wow look at me, I’m so sad, and I’m also hot”.

Miya Osamu felt a metallic ting in his mouth when he imagined Atsumu’s face, so heart-wrenchingly similar to his own, making that look.

He got spammed by the group chat as soon as he clicked out of the app in horror, refusing to look at that monstrosity any longer. Ginjima was losing his mind, Akagi sent out strings of just him keyboard smashing, Oomimi replied with a very concerned sticker and proceed to not show up again, Kita who was not actually on Instagram at all said it wasn’t very nice of them to make fun of their friend like that but also didn’t quit the group chat himself. Ojiro was the last one to reply, seeming to be rather irritated after Suna kept tagging him and tagging him until he finally went online. Unlike the others who were still comprehending what had possibly got into their friend, he sent out a screenshot but this time with the caption of the post highlighted.

“Is he ok? Did he got dumped or something?”

Osamu did not look at the caption before it was brought to his attention, already feeling the impact sufficiently enough from the visual itself. He felt chills running through his arms and spreading to his entire body when he glanced at the string of words, his face scrunching up in disgust at how any sane person could type it out with their own hands.

“My world had not seen light since the day you left it without saying goodbye.”

He silently switched his status to “do not disturb” when the group chat exploded once again, knowing exactly what this was and that he was fully responsible for the pain he was experiencing right now.

Osamu tried to convince Atsumu that if anyone saw these, the only thing it would persuade them to do was run away instead of reaching out to him but it was to no avail. He was convinced that this was romantic and if he kept it up, it would create enough buzz that would possibly lead the stranger he was hoping to stumble across one of these painfully awful posts and recognise him. The posts kept coming and every day, Osamu felt more and more of an impulse to just block him for good so he wouldn’t have to open his feed each day with the fear of seeing things he did not want to see. 

One day, on a beautiful weekend morning, when he finally had time to sit down and have a nice breakfast without rushing, Osamu opened his feed to see a glorious picture of his twin chest down (shirtless) on the bed, with the camera panning up to close up on his face from below. The blanket covered Atsumu’s torso loosely, showing just enough of his waist but not too much that he would get flagged. He had the lower half of his face behind his forearm, staring into the camera with such a sultry stare it made Osamu’s skin crawl.

“If I can start over, I’ll give up all I have just for another night with you.”

Osamu nearly didn’t manage to hold himself back from spitting out the water in his mouth.

The word slowly spread among the community. Suna, ever the enthusiastic teammate he was, shared his recently discovered source of joy with fellow EJP Raijin member Komori Motoya, who in turn spammed the latter’s cousin who had no choice but to acknowledge his teammate’s questionable online presence. Sakusa didn’t think he could ever have such a reaction to something that was not physically there to bother him and proceed to show it to the nearest person he could grab in the locker room, but not without reporting the post for containing unsettling images. 

If he had to suffer, then he must make sure that there was someone else suffering with him too. Sakusa had no intention of being the only person who had to see Miya’s pretentious bathroom selfie where he stared into the camera all while running his fingers through dampened hair along with a caption Sakusa did not even want to read in his head. The “someone”, captain Meian Shugo who was really not paid enough for this, sighed as he wondered if this was worth reporting to management as a potential pr crisis. Tomas, somewhat curious by the look on his captain’s face, asked if this was the current social media trend in Japan to which all the players present fought to clear that misconception from his head in order to defend their nation’s honour. 

Bokuto looked it up after hearing about the whispers and chats between breaks. “Why, this isn’t that bad!” he said cheerfully, “There are people complimenting him in the comments too! Look!” 

The rest of the team spent a good chunk of time convincing him that he should think more cautiously about it when he suggested that perhaps he should try to take on this dynamic posing style for his social media accounts too.

It sure did stir up quite the storm among his fellow athletes and the many fans that were wondering what exactly, or who exactly, it was that caused this sudden shift in his behaviour online. The few people who knew the reason for Atsumu’s melancholy, namely Osamu and some others who could not escape from a venting Atsumu, were almost certain that you would have to at least see his face somehow. If he was still hearing nothing, then it was probably about time he gives up and accepts that you just didn’t want anything to do with him.

One thing that these men who put their entire lives into volleyball failed to take into account, however, was that not every person in the world was particularly interested in the sport that lived and breathed. For people who only heard about the sport if the Olympics were coming up, whatever the players were up to in their private lives was probably not something they would care too much about.

Sadly, for Miya Atsumu, the exact person he was looking for was one of those people.

“The fans are starting to go crazy, no one has any idea what is going on with him,” you pulled your phone slightly further away from your poor ears as your friend let out an exasperated yell from the other end of the call. 

They lost you when they started talking about this athlete they had a celeb crush on and how they had been acting very strange in their posts lately, realising that this would become one of their ramblings about people with names you barely remember. They bombed your phone in the middle of the day when they found out that their company would be sponsoring a sports team they were obsessed with and did not stop until you threatened to block them until they had calmed down. You still hadn’t forgiven them completely for disappearing out of nowhere after begging you to attend a company function with them all with the reasoning that if they came across one of the players that would also be invited, you could be there to stop them from embarrassing themselves. That was not entirely useful, given that they were whisked away by their colleagues not even an hour into the event and leaving you all on your own.

If it wasn’t for them, then none of the events following that night would have ever happened.

But the past was past and as they called you again to talk about how they were heartbroken because their fav might be seeing someone, you did not stop them, obviously, since you were a great friend.

A sigh called your attention back and you silently closed your dash of animal videos to focus on what they were saying. “Are you even listening?”

“Uhm...” you hummed, “emo thirst traps, you were saying?”

“We tried to dig down all the accounts he was following but no one was posting anything that might match up to his posts,” they let out a whine.

“So,” you said, “are you still going to see him this weekend even if you are heartbroken or?”

They gasped before you suggested that if they didn’t want to go anymore, then you would do something else rather than sitting through a game you were not interested in. “Of course we’re still going!” they emphasised on the ‘we’, “who knows when I’ll get front row tickets again once the sponsorship ends and they aren’t giving the company tickets anymore!”

They paused. “You’re still going with me,” it sounded more like a threat and a statement than a question, and they asked again when you didn’t reply, “you’re going with me, aren’t you?”

You sighed. They were usually pretty laid back, except when it has something to do with volleyball. What was it with volleyball? It was like... football but with hands, tennis without a rack, basketball but with no basket. Ball sports, they were all the same in your eyes. But despite your lack of interest, the truth was that you wouldn’t have anything else to do if you didn’t go with them anyways and you did promise you would go as long as you didn’t have to pay a single dollar.

So you sighed again, earning you a displeased click of the tongue from the other end of the call.

-

Your lack of interest maintained when the day came. You didn’t think you had ever been to a stadium when there was a game going on before and the arena was already filling up with people waiting to get it by the time you were there. You were delightedly surprised when you learnt that there would be vendors selling food, silently deciding that the very nice yakionigiri you got from one of the stalls might just be the highlight of your day. 

The staff at the store looked vaguely familiar, but you had no idea where you would have possibly seen him before.

When the lights of the venue switched off out of nowhere and the crowd cheered, perhaps you could finally start to understand why your friend was such a fanatic for sports. There was something exciting and grand about the bright spotlights and the announcer’s voice pounding through your ears from the speakers. You peeked at your side to see your friend’s eyes glimmering in a way you had never seen before and chuckled to yourself, leaning back with your legs crossed to watch the game in a better position as the players’ names were called one by one.

You froze in place when you saw a very familiar face on every screen around the stadium. 

“Number 13, Miya Atsumu!”

What happened to not being a big shot?

Screams filled up the stadium, especially ear grating when the loudest person seemed to be the one right next to you but your mind was an utter state of blank. You were not expecting to see him again, ever again but here you were, with the next several hours of your life stuck watching the man you ditched after a drunken one night stand in the very front row. He looked more put together than your last image of him, the tussled hair replaced by a careful side swoop and the fitted jersey giving him a fresher look compared to the suit he met you in. He seemed to enjoy the attention, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he marched out and waved languidly around the stadium. 

You thanked the genius who separated the court and the seats into two floors, hiding you away with the distance even though you were sitting at the very front.

“Oh my god, he’s looking at this direction, he’s looking at this direction!” your friend’s vigorous tug at your sleeve brought your void gaze back to the court.

You were convinced that there was no way he could spot you from that far away. Hell, it was still up to question whether he could see any of the audience with all the lights shining onto his face. But for a moment, just a brief moment, you had a gut feeling that your eyes met in that split second when you looked down and his gaze stopped at right where you were.

“What are you looking at?” Hinata asked, turning his head to the direction Atsumu kept stealing glances at as they lined up in front of the net but saw nothing.

Atsumu shook his head, giving a laugh to pass off the moment when he lost his composure when he thought he saw the face he kept thinking of since that night in the crowd. It has got to be an illusion, he must have been blinded by the lights. Stupid lights, he cursed under his breath before turning to his teammate. “It was nothing,” he smiled, his gaze shifting to the corner he thought he saw you at before quickly snapping back to the court, “just... thought I saw someone I know.”

He did not look at you again throughout the game much to your relief. But this time, you found it hard to stop your eyes from following him around. You would like to argue that it was because you didn’t know any of the other players and the way your friend kept gushing whenever he did something made it hard for you to ignore him but the way he seemed to flourish on court. Something inside of you jumped whenever he scored a point and the live cameras panned up at his face again, showing the satisfied grin and slanted eyes plastered on him. He did what he does so well and with so much confidence and for some reason, that explained to you just why you decided to leave with him that night at the club in the strangest way possible. 

He was, still, very good-looking even under the lights and under your sober judgement, perhaps even more so than your blurry memory of how he looked like with a flushed face. But the true hit to your chest was when the entire stadium was watching him as he got to the serving position, taking strides forward before raising his hand to the air.

The world stopped when the entire ground fell to silence at his command, and you took a deep, shaky inhale when you thought of how this person had kissed you again and again on a drunken night until you were both out of breath.

-

Atsumu was almost 99.9% sure he truly did see you when the match ended.

That last 0.1% was deducted because it was a really good match ending with a win for the Black Jackals and as hot-headed as he could be, he knew better than to believe everything that his adrenaline-filled brain was trying to tell him. But with the spotlights of the stadium dimmed and his full attention no longer required on the court, Atsumu looked straight at where he was sure you had sat the moment the stadium doors opened and people started leaving. It was a blurry glance, just a quick in and out of his vision but he was sure he saw you slipping out of the front row before disappearing into the stairs. 

He knew he could still be wrong, but the sudden realisation that he might be the closest to you now than he would ever be again left him frozen in the middle of the court as he stared blankly at the exit. Reporters were starting to gather around the players and his presence was expected, but his legs started moving before the call of his name by the rest of his team could land on his ear. 

Pushing through the crowd, the gasps and shocked chatters of the guests who saw the player they just watched dashing out the stadium were none of his concern. All he cared about was to run faster, faster, past the hall and past the people of the stalls that were packing up. He might have just mistaken someone else for you and if it really was you, you might have already left before he could get to the front entrance of the stadium but that did not matter. The only thing that mattered to him right now was that you had been there and if he ran fast enough, there was still a chance that his search all along would not be in vain.

Miya Atsumu was not exactly a believer of fate or a divine destiny but as he stumbled with tired legs down the steps of the grand glass door, he silently made a bet with the beings he wasn’t sure were truly there that if he missed you this time, he would take the defeat that your paths were not meant to cross again and give up.

And the beings, who Atsumu believed was actually there for the first time ever, answered his calls.

“Wait!”

Your feet planted into the concrete when you heard a yell behind you. Your jaw dropped when you hesitantly turned around to see him, whose name you now know thanks to the match, stopping just a few steps away from you with his hands on his knees, seemingly out of breath with his arm reached out. His eyes widened when he looked up and saw that you had stopped there, and you were exactly who he thought you might be. He was heaving, sweat drenching his face but he still took a few stumbled steps towards you until he was right in front of you. 

A few words fell out of his mouth but were cut short by his panting. Your head was still not reacting when he finally managed to stand back up, looking right at you even as his breathing stayed erratic.

What does one say to a one night stand that they ditched right when the morning comes?

“So,” you blurted, trying to ignore the heat on your face and the anxiousness in your chest, “not a big shot, huh?”

He let out a snort, his voice cracking as he ran his hand down his face to wipe away the sweat that was starting to get into his eyes. He could finally take the time to look at you now, after confirming that you would not disappear if he did so little as blink.

You were gorgeous, and suddenly all the things he had wanted to say to you sounded ridiculously stupid.

I tried to look for you.

“You left your ring at my place,” he said, his voice still shaking from the sprint he took, growing softer and softer with each word that came out.

“Oh,” you replied, nodding stiffly to try and brush away your nerves.

“Yeah,” he nodded too, and opened his mouth again after taking a gulp to swallow down the knot at the back of his throat, “we should arrange a time to meet so you can take it back from me.”

“Oh,” you stood just a little straighter, “but-” 

But it was just one of the five I got in a pack so it really, really didn’t matter that much.

“You said,” he looked down, holding back a smile as he thought of what you had said to him, “you said your grandma made you swore to never lose it.”

He remembered.

“Yes,” you pressed your lips together to stop the chuckle from coming out, “yes I was.”

“So you should come and get it back from me,” he suggested, the last note of his sentence going up as if he wasn’t sure of himself either.

“Yeah,” he beamed when you smiled sheepishly, “I should.”

“Ok good, good,” he murmured in joyful disbelief, grinning ear to ear. The grin faded suddenly when he thought of one very important thing he had forgotten to do last time and must not forget this time.

“Can I have your name?”

You burst out into laughter. “You can have my number too, if that’s what you want,” you mused, “Miya.”

 A rush of heat washed through his face at the sound of his name out of your mouth. He would die if you call him by his first name later on, he was sure of it.

“Yes,” he said almost embarrassingly fast, “yes I would love that. I-” he groaned when he realised that he still had his phone in his jacket that was left in the locker room.

“Wait for me here,” he had already started walking backwards, snapping towards you with his hand out as he added in panic, “don’t go anywhere!”

You still hadn’t stopped laughing when he sprinted back into the stadium again like his life depended on it.

-

Bonus

Miya Atsumu deleted all of the posts he made during his search for you the moment he added your contacts into his phone, but what he did not count was that there were other people who would preserve those precious memories for him.

It was a few weeks after he caught up to you in front of the stadium and several days after your relationship went public. Your friend had nearly torn your eardrums apart when they learnt that you were the mysterious person they had been hunting after but overall, dating Atsumu had been great, even to the point where you thought it was so stupid of you to run away from him in the first place.

You got a notification that someone direct messaged you on instagram as you were getting ready for a date night.

It was not someone you know but there was a verification mark next to his username. Clicking into his profile, you assumed that it must be one of Atsumu’s friends in the volleyball circle when you saw the line saying “EJP Raijin middle blocker”.

“Hi, I’m Suna, I was on the same high school team as your boyfriend was. I don’t think we have met but I’m sure we will be very good friends.”

Before you could manage to type out a reply, he sent you multiple pictures and you paused as they loaded, wondering what Atsumu’s old high school teammate might send you.

You blinked when the pictures finally finished loading, and silently dialed your boyfriend’s number.

“Do you have something you forgot to tell me about what you have done in order to try and find me online?”

[cogdis2-xx]

New Update!

Noticed this should be my 100th post, so screw it, putting out Prerelease 0.6 now, with an EasyRPG fork just to avoid EasyRPG janking out over not booting from a regular title screen

Unfortunately the easyrpg build lacks the attract mode, but it's better than nothing. I'd recommend just using the regular build on windows.

Pre 0.6 Standard build here - Use on windows

Pre 0.6 EasyRPG build here - Use on mobile and literally anything other than windows, though I cant provide a tutorial myself for how to get it working. EasyRPG itself can be found here

Previous builds and changelogs here

This is probably the first build I'd consider a "stable release", just meaning it should be mostly stable for a standard playthough without it being too visibly unfinished.

Changelog for 0.6 below, beware of spoilers!

==[Prerelease 0.6]==

Internal LOOKINTO.txt added for things I should look into to see about tweaking

Blue Eyes White Giegue

Niiue Mouth/Nose placement adjustments

Niiue in mirror may be Dustier than he appears

More music tweaks

7 minute long Boss medley added during a Giygas fight where Niiue has a certain status effect

Remodeled the ship in attract mode to match the current interior layout

Made a certain unused Niiue sprite actually end up being used because I feel like it's too cute in current form to not include lol

Fixed Future Niiue using the wrong sprite in one cutscene

Fixed invisible barrier in cutscene mentioned above that had no reason to be there

Added an 80s carpet (and other changes) to a cutscene map

Fixed a minor oversight where Elmadan would replace the Mr. Saturn in a few cutscenes because I forgot to account for people not letting dan on the ship (Like a meanie :<)

Niiue hair

Reflect Crash prevention implimented; Slightly janks up enemy Flash Omega, though is probably a better solution than crashing. ONLY CURRENTLY WORKS FOR FLASH OMEGA. OTHER MOVES THAT MAY HAVE ISSUES LIKE THIS ARE NOT FIXED.

undefined

Flash Omega reflect fix implimented for Doom Statue, N.K. Saturn, Flashzapbang, Influence inhibitor, surprise box, Foureyes, "Blue Mist", Hard shining jewel, hard Smilin' Sphere, Univese Saguaro, Hard Final Starman, Hard Ullrich, Gargiathan, Hard Voltzer!, Mr. Multiplicity, and Cmd. Deepsea. This should be all enemies with Flash Omega.

Changed a palette on a giegue sprite as to make the shading feel more natural

Tried fixing a bug where sometimes Giygas just doesn't fade in during phase 3, may add a bit of delay to the battle command right before fade in though.

Started working on putting people into the internal credits file

Changed the way the one room looks. the kind of out of place looking one where Niiue talks to you

Reduced scope of ship customization so it'd be a bit less overwhelming to impliment

Fixed some weird item quirks with Larice

Slightly toned down how harsh the Sataene color palette is

Changed Sataene's midi track in Chapter 1: Now split into two tracks

undefined

Elmadan now calls for Lawyer Mooks, which are functionally identical to Lesser mooks, but look like ace attorney lawyers.

Added "Filter goggles" item which can be used to turn on an anti-eyestrain screen filter.

Finished ship customization, items are spread out across planets and chapters.

Tweaked earth dumps to properly utilize some parts of the tileset that were previously unused.

Made it so Dan can talk while on earth.

[alexthefly]

So, I finally watched the 2004 Thunderbirds movie, and I have some thoughts...

First of all, this is completely, entirely, 100% @uniwolfcorn's fault.

Secondly, yes it's true. Never watched it. Not even accidentally.

Until now.

Come with me on this journey and listen to my insane ramblings...

- So this is a nice little credits sequen-

- JONATHAN FREAKIN' FRAKES?!?! You're telling me this movie was directed by Commander William Riker?!

- This teacher is giving me Colonel Casey vibes...

- How did this reporter lady get to the oil rig before the boys did?

- Okay, Fermat is adorable and I would die for him. ❤️

- So, our first look at the Thunderbirds in action...

... ::adjusts brightness settings:: ...Nope, still nothing...

- What did they do to FAB1? It's gone from classy machine with classic lines to a goddamn bubble car!

- "Try not to run over any children, Parker." Gee, thanks for that M'lady, I was just h'about to plow h'into them like they was bowling pins(!)

:SNORT:

- Wait, that's not...Fuse, is it?

- Ah, finally a decent look at the 'birds: hmmm, One looks pretty good, but Two seems a bit...Flight of the Navigator?

- Hmmm, perhaps TAG has spoiled me with all the lovely brotherly cuteness, 'cos this dinner scene is not it. Movie Jeff is a big improvement on TOS though.

- Alan, I know you're upset, but you let Fermat finish his dinner goddammit!

- Yay John! Oh, this scene is just gorgeous! John the agony aunt and voice of reason, Jeff worrying about his sons and talking to them like a dad instead of just a commander... It's just so damn wholesome. ::chef kiss::

- Thunderbird Five actually looks pretty goo- ...Aaand they blew it up. 😱 John!!!

- Five: ::floating around in bits::

- "So this is Mount Olympus, and these are the Thunderbirds..." Oof. Mixing your mythologies there, Hood.

- "Like a puppet on a string." ::Sobs in meta::

- Hood: [resumes monologuing]

- Wait, that reporter got to the scene again? In Singapore? *Checks notes* Wasn't she in Russia?

- "Don't you think Tintin is blossoming?" 😳 #cringe

- First question from Jeff is whether the kids are safe, and be still my heart!

- Hoverbikes!!!

- Alan's being a reckless idiot and OH NO YOU DID NOT JUST MOCK MY ANGEL'S STUTTER!!!

- This chase sequence is...oof. Was it always bad, or is it just the naughties CGI shining through?

- UnFuse coming in strong with the evil laugh there...

- Again, brotherly dynamics here is...off: Scott losing hope, Gordon being a condescending knob? Uh-uh. Nope.

- Jeff: "He's a Tracy." 🤍🤍🤍

- Parker is an absolute treasure and I love him.

- Penny, stop quipping and spinning like a top; just kick her in the face!

- "Don't go to sleep." 😭😭😭😭😭

- "We've got to be quick; the Hood is getting away." ...Aaaand your father and brothers? Remember them? Suffocating in space?

- ::gasp:: Two is launching! Cannot wait for this!!

- Bra jokes. 🙄😩 This whole last ten minutes has been a hard steer off the edge of a cliff, quality-wise. Not happy...

- WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND PURE HAVE THEY DONE TO HER UNDERCARRIAGE?!?!?! HOW DARE?!?!?!

- OK, Brains yelling Jeff awake makes everything better! 👓😁 Very very silly but I am here for it.

- That little nod between John and Jeff is everything. 🥰

- ...I see Lady P found time to change outfits during this very urgent and time-sensitive crisis.

- Ah, the obligatory product placement for... Wall's Ice Cream? 😶 Huh.

- The same bloody reporter's in London now!! Seriously, it's been what, a couple of hours tops! Did the studio spring for a bloody TARDIS?

- Accident Zone? Accident Zone?! Firstly, it's clearly not an accident, and secondly, 🔥😡🤬🔥

- Thunderbird Four! ... ::resumes squinting::

- That steering mechanism is going to play murder on their elbows... That said, this rescue sequence is kinda fun.

- The boys cheering and whooping for Alan and Tintin made my heart sing! Why wasn't there more of this earlier?

- Did Lady P get changed AGAIN?!

- And apparently she also forgot all the cool martial arts she knew half an hour ago...

- Aww, Jeff and Alan having a moment. ❤️🤍

- Mr Scriptwriter, if you need a character to be kept alive when by all logic the bad guys should kill her, don't bring that fact up and then leave it totally unresolved! You don't need to start pointing the movie's flaws out to us - we can see them.

- Parker and Fermat my beloveds!

- Veering between awful bits and lovely bits is starting to give me whiplash...

- 🤣😂🤣 The Hood's gone full M Bison! 🤣

- Jeff displaying genuine fear for Alan's safety is giving me life right now.

- "I don't want to save your life, but it's what we do." ::bounces excitedly:: Grandma and Scott said it better in TAG, but the sentiment is the same and I'm thrilled!

- "See you soon, Jeff." Did they...did they think there was going to be a sequel?! Bless their hearts.

- The boys are all dicking about in the pool together and everything is right with the world. ☺️🥰

- See? I knew that "blossoming" thing was creepy!!

- I'm not going to mention John's mutant healing abilities. Not at all. Nope.

- They ALL get to be Thunderbirds? Fermat my baby!!

...You and me both, Parker. 🥲

- Pink pedalo. Because reasons. Apparently.

- 🎶YOU KNOW THE LID'S ABOUT TO BLOW, WHEN THE THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO! 🎵

FINAL THOUGHTS

It absolutely had its flaws but honestly? Not even close to as bad as I thought it would be. Perhaps in 2004 I would have been mad, but today, knowing that TAG exists and fixed so much of what went wrong here, I can dig it. 👍

[literaphobe]

as fellow mcc enthusiast and dream enjoyer, i'd love to hear your thoughts on the new scoring for mcc. i think spreading the team bonuses for tgttos and adding individual bonuses addresses a lot of dream's concerns about the game. i also think that closing the gap in the differential for sg will really make a difference and could even incentivize taking out other teams earlier in pursuit of higher placements instead of leaving it for the free for all in the end -tumblr user cyancoyotes

hello!! i almost forgot to do this because ciara @dwtakgae summoned me to explain everything to her in the discord first. but i’m here now ❤️ let’s get into it:

tgttosawaf:

new map round! looks cute n seems to be mostly just about bridging still, but ig w the added risk of having to restart if u fall into the lava and fail to bridge up/not die?

i quite like the points update, it rewards individual performance n team performance but like more proportionately! top 4 individuals get a bonus every round, n top 4 teams to finish also get a bonus every round that scales down the lower u finish :) this means dream can relax knowing performing high individually Will pay off for his team (he is p consistent n i think he could get 1-4th for about 2-4 maps if everything goes okay), n they won’t get so screwed by the ‘first team to finish’ bonus, so long as their team finishes top 4 :) i think cyan coyotes has a bigger chance to farm more points this way! n im excited to see how tommy will do if he Doesn’t punch, since dream prob pointed out to him and ponk how detrimental that is, n im p sure tommy really Really wants to try hard n play sweaty this mcc

survival games:

they’re going back to forest! where dream did a lot better bc this was the mcc15 map too!

im REALLY glad kill points were nerfed, 100 points(?) was just ridiculous and scaling it down to 35 is so much better bc now dream won’t worry as much about not getting kills/other teams getting more kills

this combined w the ‘final survival position’ buff where all the teams are ranked in terms of when their last member died and given team bonus points for it (650 unmultiplied for first place!!) makes it so that SURVIVING is prioritized as the main focus of the game, and we all know how good dream is at that teehee (manhunt)

battle box:

the new map REALLY interests me. theres no water or lava to slow you down or insta kill you, and they have LEAF BLOCKS meaning AERIAL PLAYS, bridging, towering, etc. really adds a new element n changes things for battle box + the possible plays to be executed!! which is so cool!! ofc it all depends on how many leaf blocks they get, im sure dream has already started strategizing if he knows :)

ace race:

python’s crypt isn’t historically dream’s best ace race map, but the good thing about getting python’s crypt over a new map is that dream’s PLAYED it before meaning he has a vod of his own to study, he can def review n see what he has to take note of, what shortcuts to do/avoid, and tips he can give his team right before the event :)

parkour tag:

new map!! it looks cool, and imo getting a new parkour tag is a slight disadvantage, but it could wind up being an advantage for Dream specifically, since his parkour mechanics outshine that of most people—he could wind up catching people faster and surviving better! the only point of contention is how tommy n ponk adjust to it, my guess is tommy is hunting 4 times n ponk 1 time, or depending on how well ponk does, tommy 3 n ponk 2