#i have a poster idea in mind and this will be the test run if it's a realistic goal

[suburbanbonfire]

FREE WEEKEND, NEW SKETCH BRUSH I GOTTA BREAK IN, TRYING TO NAIL DOWN QUICK STYLIZATIONS

TL;DR SEND ME SOME PEOPLE IN ASKS AND I'LL TRY TO DRAW SOME PORTRAITS

[lvverleavr]

Mutually Exclusive | Entry One

Entry One: Memories Relived

༘ Jake x f oc (Annalise)

༘2.7k words

༘warnings: language, illusions to sex

A/N: This is a first chapter to test the waters on if I should carry out a full fic of this so I'd love any feedback 🤍

Summary: In an ongoing letter to Annalise, Jake tells the perspective of his early adult life— living out his dream with his brothers and her seemingly always by his side. But when the band gets signed to a record label based out of Nashville, Anna struggles with the ability to pack up and leave. With a complicated dynamic by the day his flight leaves, Jake outlines his struggles and worries from the day he left Anna. All things that flood back the moment she shows up out of nowhere three years later.

Entry One:

I vividly remember the first time I met you, you’re barely your own person at fourteen but you were already so– you. Josh had joined the theater club and he couldn’t shut up about you. He went on and on for hours about how you jumped on stage, singing when you were told to sing and even crying with real tears on command. It didn’t take long for me to be captivated by you as well– usually I found the best reason to be out of the house when Josh had the theater group over for practices but once you began to tag along, my social life seemed to free up.

These run ins seemed to be more frequent– you quit the theater club after your first year but you never stopped coming around. Your mother rarely left her bed much past getting a glass of water and your father worked himself to death by the time you were sixteen. Our house quickly became yours too and I never minded, you stayed up even later than me and you spoke in your sleep– I could hear it through the walls when the guest bedroom slowly became entirely yours to decorate, filling it with posters of Jeff Buckley and Stevie Nicks until nearly every inch of the wallpaper had disappeared. My younger brother began to tease me for how much time I spent with you– claiming it was some hopeless crush I had, chasing after a girl who had no idea I was infatuated with her, it made me wonder at times if he saw something that even I didn’t see. Even with the comments they never seemed to phase me, never seemed to shutter the bond that you and I had created. I was really locked in on the band once we hit our senior year, convincing Josh to dedicate a few days a week to the garage and even picking Sam and his best friend Danny up early from school some Fridays for gigs without our mom knowing. You always took our pictures, claiming if we were gonna be a good band we needed some half decent shots. My father lent you his old camera and you became our very own band photographer. Still to this day we’ll all agree that you were just finding a way to feel included on nights we had gigs. By the time we graduated I couldn’t imagine having anyone else behind the stage with us.

We even went to the same school after graduation, you stayed on campus to live out some 2000’s college girl movie dream but I stayed back home and drove to campus each morning. College bars paid us $200 a night for playing from eleven until three am and we took as many as we could get. I promised my parents I’d stay in school while we played, giving me some form of plan b I never intended on using but it was either that or she’d stop letting us take Sam into bars for our shows. Small dive bars at two am quickly turned into real gigs all around town, soon we felt like a real band with a direction being paved for us. Those memories have always been accompanied by the last semester I ever enrolled in.

•••

We moved you back into your dorm, the ice still covered the walkway as we carried the rest of your boxes inside the old building– smelling of damp carpeting and old heat units. You always needed more than you packed and it drove Josh insane every year.

“You have a kitchen, why do you need a second fridge for your bedroom–” He mumbles, trudging up towards the flight of stairs.

“I don’t know my roommate, I don’t want her stealing my drinks while I’m sleeping,” You shrug, swiftly cutting past him and down a small hallway, Josh turning to look at me as I meet him with a matching shrug.

He glances down, watching you tap an elevator button with your elbow which causes him to shake his head, “could’ve told me there was a fucking elevator for our first four trips up to your room,” He mumbles under his breath, looking over his shoulder as I pass, offering a gently pat on his arm before sliding past.

“I thought you knew!” You say defensively as I watch a small smirk spread on your lips. “There’s a big sign when you first walk in that even says it.”

Josh opened his mouth for a rebuttal, quickly clamping it shut with another shake of his head and tapping the third floor button. I couldn’t help but let out a small giggle, Josh’s gaze shooting to me immediately “What are you laughing at Jake?” He snaps, “All you’re carrying is a comforter, you wanna switch?”

I shrug, dropping the comforter by his feet before holding out my arms, grabbing the small fridge from his arms. “You’re a real complainer nowadays,” I say out to him as the elevator doors open, making my way down the hall first to see your apartment door open, “I thought you said you closed this,” I call back to Josh, the two of you trailing behind me.

“I did!” He calls out, “Maybe it's the wind.”

“No wind!” A voice called from inside the door, I took the first few steps in, noticing a set of boxes sat on the couch right inside the door. A short girl rounded from the small kitchenette, she held a grocery bag in her hand and her tight brown curls were pulled back by an old faded bandana. “Are you… my roommate?” She asks skeptically, smiling as I meet her with a quick denial.

“No sorry I’m– um– just helping with the move–” I explain, watching you round the corner.

“I’m your roommate,” You smile, extending your hand out from underneath the box. “I’m Annalise but you can call me Anna.”

The girl smiles, shaking your hand before shaking mine and Josh’s, “Juliet–” She replies, “and you are?” She asks, her gaze lingering on me a beat longer than anyone else.

The eye contact caused my cheeks to heat up slightly as if on their own, “Right. I’m Jake-” I introduce myself, her fingers slowly grazing my palm as she pulls away from the shake.

“Lovely to meet you…” She smiles, turning her attention back to you, “Especially you, Anna– I took the liberty of loading my stuff into the smaller room, had a feeling you already set up in the bigger one.”

I could feel your eyes on me as her touches seemed to linger on my skin, you rolled your eyes at me slightly before finally turning your attention back to what she was saying. “I’ll just be setting up all my stuff just let me know if you need me,” You smiled to her, Josh and I following closely behind you. “Do not even think about it.” You said to me the moment the door closed. I could barely put down the things in my hand before feeling your scowl on me.

“What are you talking about-” I ask, Josh giggling as he sat up on your bed, taking the liberty to rip open a few boxes while you stayed focused on me.

“I saw her looking at you. Do not under any circumstances try to fuck my new roommate.” Your gaze narrowed, pulling a box from my hands and taking it into your own.

“Who said I wanted to!” I ask defensively. You weren't wrong, she intrigued me to say the least but was it really that bad of a thing?

“Because I know you. Don’t do it” You warn, “I have to live with her for the rest of the year. I do not need to put up with hearing about you like that for the next five months.”

“She kind of looks like you a little” Josh chimes in as he picks through the box of snacks he very thoughtfully chose to open first.

“Ew no c’mon don’t say that” I groan, shaking my head. He was right, her hair was the exact same color, her eyes shone the same shade of green and even her smile had a slight crook to it like yours did.

“No Josh you’re absolutely right and you know what Jacob I hope it ruins it for you” You bite, tossing your comforter from the floor and onto the bed beside Josh.

“Whatever okay” I roll my eyes, watching as you open up another box “I'm not that terrible to hear about, don't act like i'm horrible.”

•

Those next few weeks I crashed on your couch between classes, even spending nights there after late Sunday gigs. It was better than driving back and forth to the house and Juliet never seemed to mind. One club had a standing gig with us on the first Sunday of the month, we played the last set of the night and we even started getting a regular crowd to show up and see us. It was small but had a real backstage, it felt like the real deal to us. “I’m not even here stop looking at me,” You giggled, waving Josh off as he kept glancing into the camera lens. “Jake you're next-”

Your voice was faint, my focus on the conversation I was having with Juliet as she tagged along for the night. Her hair was down, draped over her shoulders and it framed the heart shaped neckline of her top. I wish I could say I barely noticed how low cut it was but that would be a lie and she knew it. “No, I never really get the chance to go out to shows. I'm really excited to see you out there.” She smiles, leaning against the beam running floor to ceiling beside one of the curtains.

“The real show is from the front, you should make your way out to the floor to see.” I smile, feeling her fingers brushing my arm. She didn’t even hide that she was flirting with me and at one point I stopped caring and started flirting back.

“Jake-” You repeat, pulling me from my conversation as I look over.

“My turn?” I ask, still feeling Juliet’s eyes wandering across the features of my face as you nod. “Don’t move, hm?” I smile at her, offering a small wink before walking over to you. “Alright where do you want me?”

“Just go fix your hair in the mirror, I need more candid stuff” You say, your tone flattening from what I heard you using with Josh.

“You don't have to get all weird,” I mumble, taking my fingers to gently rake them through my hair. “It's harmless flirting,” You don't reply, the click of your camera is all I can hear, so I keep talking, “Even if something happens you don't have to know about it-”

“Stop talking your messing up the shot,” You finally say, and all I can do is sigh in response. “You can do whatever you want, I just don't need to hear about you two if it happens.” You continue after a few moments of silence, “it's gross.”

I can't help but chuckle, rolling my eyes “You're so dramatic.” Finally turning to look at you, “Like I didn’t have to hear about that god awful sociology TA you had ‘sexual tension’ with all last year.”

You grab a pillow from the small chair in the room, throwing it at me as I start to laugh. “We did, he wanted me and that's why I passed with a 97 on my exam. You're just gonna take the only friend I made here and fuck her.”

I roll my eyes, “You can be friends with her and I can fuck her, they’re not mutually exclusive.”

•

I spent that night on the couch, Juliet leaving for her own bedroom not long before you went to bed as well. I shifted on the couch, finally settling in before needing to shift again. It must've been near two am by the time I felt sleep crowding my vision, jolting back awake to the quiet sound of a door knob twisting open. The soft light from Juliet’s bedroom filled the space just inside the living room, enough for my eyes to adjust to her outline, she glanced at me, offering me a small smile as she noticed I was awake. “Did I wake you up?” She whispers softly, I shake my head in response, “Oh good-” Her eyes linger on me for a moment before making her way past me to the kitchen. I couldn't help but watch as she passed, the warm light outlined her silhouette, her shorts barely covered to her thighs and her shirt lifted up her stomach slightly as she reached into the cabinet for a glass.

“It’s very rude to stare,” I hear her whisper, my cheeks warming slightly as I realize she noticed my lingering stares.

“Oh um I’m-” I start, noticing a smile on her lips as she looks at me.

“I don't mind,” She replies, filling the glass halfway with water before leaning against the counter. Her fingers gripped the edge of it as she brought the glass to her lips. I sat up further, seeing her rested against the counter as she looked at me from over the back of the couch. “Anna didn't seem too happy that you were flirting with me tonight.” She says after a few moments of silence. “You two have something going on?”

I can't help but laugh, quickly clearing my throat to cover it up “Sorry no… no nothing,” I correct her, shaking my head, “She just doesn't wanna hear if something happens… The girls she’s friends with and the girls I date aren't allowed to mix apparently.”

She nods, setting her glass on the counter before stepping towards me. “It doesn't matter though if she doesn't know they mix,” she smiles, “right?” She was standing at the arm of the couch by now and I couldn't seem to pull my eyes away from her, all I could muster up was a small nod. “I’m just saying I’m not one to kiss and tell…”

I sat up the rest of the way, allowing her to sit in front of me on the couch. “You're not one to be subtle are you?” I finally ask, watching as she rests her elbow on the back of the couch, shaking her head as she rests it on her palm.

“I’m not… But then again you're not very subtle yourself” She smiles, watching my eyes trail to your bedroom door. “She's not gonna wake up… We both know that.” She says softly, my attention turning back to her as I feel her fingers graze my knee. Everything in those next moments felt like a blur, a sped up memory and before I could think her lips were on mine. My hand cupped her jaw as her lips pressed to mine, parting slightly as her tongue slid past my lips and dipped into my mouth. My thumb circled her jaw softly as my other hand dropped to her hip, my teeth gently tugging at her bottom lip which pulled a quiet moan from her. My mind swirled as I continued to kiss her, my lips were sore but I craved to taste her even more.

“We should stop” She whispers against my lips, I nod and kiss her harder and she gently tugs at my hair. “Or you can come in my bedroom-” Her words fell from her lips in nearly a whimper, I nodded eagerly, barely able to stand and follow her to her room before I kissed her again.

The night with her came in flashes, the sheer impulsivity of the decision stayed in my mind in bits and pieces but the most I could remember was waking up the next morning. She laid beside me, the blanket covering her bare chest as the sun just barely lit up parts of the room. I knew I wasn't supposed to be in there but I barely remembered even falling asleep beside her. I slid on my shorts quietly, slipping out of her room in an attempt to make my way back to the couch before you left your room, but stopping dead in my tracks as you stood in the kitchen.

“Anna-” I whisper. I don't know why the sight of you had me frozen in place, like I was caught in some terrible act. You glanced up at me, looking me over for only a moment before picking up your mug and walking into your bedroom without another word.

[thetravelingtyper]

On the same page... Pt 11 (Simon 'Ghost' Riley x reader Bookshop! AU)

As Saturday morning dawns all the truths come spilling out...

Part 10, Part 12, Masterlist

Warnings! Typical Ghost violence in a dream

AN: Working full-time in the library now :D I will be writing still and trying to post once or twice weekly for this, Our shattered heart and comfort character.

The next 30 minutes find you pulling a freshly showered and changed Simon to your room. You wrestle with your phone, pulling up your music app and getting some music going. You flip through a few songs until lyrics tumble softly out. The choice satisfies something in you and Simon grins in amusement.

In a few weeks I will get time

To realize it's right before my eyes

And I can take it if it's what I want to do

You rifle through the drawer next to your bed and pull out a few bottles of nail polish, glancing at Simon as he sits down on your bed. The dark green of his shirt mixes well with his tattoos and skin. You pull out black, of course, a classic, but a few darker shades of grey as well. You pass a handful to Simon and then turn back for a few shades of purple for yourself.

And I am leaving and this is starting to feel like

It's right before my eyes

And I can taste it

It's my sweet beginning

He ponders for a moment, not used to a choice like this but it humors him. He was by no means against the idea just not used to the prim and proper care of his nails and hands. Kyle had told him one time over drinks that having a good skin care routine could make or break someone. He runs a hand through his hair, he at least took care of that after not worrying about it due to the balaclava. He used decent shampoo and conditioner routinely. Looking back to the nail polish, Simon hovers between a dark green and dark grey. He voices this and you think. 

And I can tell just what you want

You don't want to be alone

You don't want to be alone

And I can't say it's what you know

But you've known it the whole time

Yeah, you've known it the whole time

“The green would look with your skin tone but the grey is a neutral.”

He just nods passing you the other colors to return to the drawer while you keep a dark purple and the grey. You grab a new set of tools alongside your own and close the drawer. You then sit next to him, thighs about touching, and take his right hand. They are rough from service, a few scars littering his knuckles and as you flip them you trace your left thumb over his palm. His fingers curl in at the tenderness and you can see you don't need to do much other than just painting his nails. You hum, setting the kits aside. You set Simon's hand down in your lap and take the bottle of grey nail polish to shake it.

Maybe next year I'll have no time

To think about the questions to address

Am I the one to try to stop the fire?

When you're satisfied you unscrew the bottle and begin to paint. You swipe the brush over each nail in short but wide strokes. Once you finish his right hand you grin, the color looks good on him and you pat your thigh. Simon flexes his hand, careful of the polish, and moves his left hand to your knee where you finish that one too. You close the bottle and set the bottle on the table. He looks at you before examining his nails. Simon doesn't seem put off by it and you giggle when he admires them in the light. 

I wouldn't test you 

I'm not the best you could have attained

Why try anything?

I will get there

Just remember I know

You mention to your headboard, a dark wood piece with intricate trim that suggested it, like most of the furniture you had was thrifted. Simon nods and, minding his hands, stands. He moves around the foot of your bed and gets on to lean against the headrest, his long legs able to stretch out. While you do your nails he takes the moment to observe your room. Across from your bed is a TV with a switch docked and ready. He is amused however to see a VHS player, with a scattered collection of tapes around your room. Posters of 90s advertisements and franchises litter the room walls along with your records. He looks to the booked corner of your room where there is a plush lavender reading chair with 3 legs and one attached block to make up the 4th. In the chair sits a frog teddy bear.

You notice him looking,

“That's William, the love of my life.”

Simon nods a hello,

“Good to meet the competition.”

You laugh, setting the purple aside as you finish and moving to sit neck to Simon, both of you leaning against pillows. Your heart warms at the image and hazel eyes regard you.

And I can tell just what you want

You don't want to be alone

You don't want to be alone

And I can't say it's what you know

But you've known it the whole time

Yeah, you've known it the whole time

You hum along to the song as you lean back against the pillows, happy to just let the music finish. You yawn before shuffling carefully closer to Simon and tucking your head into his shoulder. 

“Give it 15 or so minutes and we should be good, it is quick to dry.”

“Right.”

Simon's voice rumbles through you his heart swelling with you tucked against him. Mindful of the polish his hand moves, and he lays it over your knee, thumbing circles into it. It's a little ticklish and you giggle quietly before nudging him. His lips quirk up but he stops, fingers pausing and his hand just resting on you. 

And I can tell just what you want

You don't want to be alone

You don't want to be alone

And I can't say it's what you know

But you've known it the whole time

Yeah, you've known it the whole time

As the song finishes you call for your phone to pause the music. 15 minutes pass in a blur of light conversation as Simon talks about his brother and mom. While his mom lived back in Manchester his brother traveled a lot. During tales of his childhood and early recruit days Simon doesn’t mention his father, but the clenching of his hand speaks volumes. Once you are sure the nail polish is fine your hand moves to Simons and the contact breaks his train of thought as he turns to you. The soft lamp light is warm and it lights up the gold in his eyes. 

You cross your legs and Simon turns himself easily to face you as you tug a stuffed dragon, one from your original book tour with James to your chest. Its jeweled eyes glimmer a deep ruby and you just think. Flashes of stormy eyes, soft and tender moments against James as you both talk into the night. Your chest feels tight then as you tug your keens to your chest, hugging the dragon closer you reach for your phone and hit play. 

The tinkling of music cuts into memory as you and James dance in your childhood home's kitchen.

I've got miles of regrets and confusing friends

But perhaps it's just my stupid head in the end

Thinking should I wait here or make my way home?

You said, "Go" (you said, "Go")

You had been finally able to go home after all those years and James came with you to meet your parents. It went swimmingly but as the days drifted on you found yourself missing Sam and your true home. On the last night, you found yourself ambling in the kitchen digging through ingredients for baking.  

Cavetown spins away as you sweep back and forth in the dim light. There is a noise and you jump before a set of strong and familiar arms come around you and spin you. You smile when James presses a kiss to your jaw. 

Making up problems that don't exist

Why do I let myself dream like this?

We're floating away, my body's in space

We are going home

A smooth voice joins in as James moves you skillfully in the wide space of the kitchen. You had learned early on dancing was a love of the man. He kept rhythm naturally and would often pull you into his arms.

Missing pieces of my skull

I'll sew on patches of my own soul

There's nothing you or I can do so let the stars fall

'Cause from up here the sky's my thoughts and we're all so small

The song was special for you both as it inspired parts of your first book. You would hum it before James would pick it up on acoustic or the keyboard tucked into his apartment. You had even considered the song for one of your wedding dances. 

Meteor shower, quick take cover

But the hues in our hair compliment one another

I'd sell my own bones for sapphire stones

'Cause blue's your favorite color

Back in your bedroom, your mind tucks away into itself for a moment. When you first moved here the cold hit deeper. You tried to throw yourself into writing, but the escape never got far. And at night your dreams would dance, swirling out the part of your wounded heart left behind. 

Missing pieces of my skull

I'll sew on patches of my own soul

There's nothing you or I can do so let the stars fall

'Cause from up here the sky's my thoughts and we're all so small

Simons watches you quietly before a shaky inhale from you sends a quiver in his chest. The song is not lost on him and he moves.

We're all so

My heart and the earth share the same rule

It starts with love and it ends with you

But don't go outside, it's dangerous tonight

Without me right here by your side

“Stretch out love.” 

You just nod into the dragon, unwinding your legs as you clutch the dragon with fresh tears welling. Simon's hands clutch your sides gently before he lays out, laying his head on the pillow before offering an arm out. Your eyes widen before you tuck yourself into his chest, his arms wrapping around you on the soft comforter of your bed. As you cry you hug the dragon to your chest. Simon just hums to the song quietly, it rumbling through his chest. The lyric hit you in the chest,

Take it slow, you'll know

Which way to go

Sew up your skull

Take your time

And we'll be just fine

Everything had been right for so long, then the world was torn out from under-

There is a quiet hushing from Simon and he presses a kiss to your head as the song finishes

Missing pieces of my skull

I'll sew on patches of my own soul

The following silence rings out before Simon continues to hum, his voice taking on a musical tint as you calm in his arms. Hearing you quiet down he slows to a stop, he goes to move back but you wind your arms around him.

“Stay”

His eyes widen but you feel him nod,

“Always.” 

He reaches for a spare blanket sitting on the floor before spreading it over the two of you. He clicks off the lamp, engulfing you in a warm darkness and you snuggle into his chest as Simon exhales softly.

“Si.”

He hums, a hand returning to your hair,

“Thank you.”

-

Simon awakens in Ghost, trudging through snow, dull pain thudding in his chest. He is alone, on some god-awful mission in the middle of fuck all nowhere. Static crackles as snow drifts down in the fading light. 

He tries to move his arms but Ghost just gnashes his teeth, jaw tight as the machine moves on into the light. 

Death, the reek of blood, and the stench of iron splatters barren grey walls.

Skulls knock against the concrete as he drops from above. Simon paces in his mind as Ghost eliminates soul after soul in a white wasteland as the snow stains. Hours pass in a trickle as the thudding in his chest thickens sickenly, a languid pull through him before hands reach his throat and he is there again. Buried. Ghost is marching as Simon thrashes, hands splayed across his neck as Ghost returns to the chocking white. 

But before Simon can black out there is a flash, Ghost stops, rifle dropping into the snow as Simon cries out in frustration, the rush of memories snapping as he spasms and drops into the snow writhing in pain. The weight of the gear is too much. The cold is too much. The weight of lives and steel is too much, its-

The sound of pads in the snow- Simon's eyes shoot open and he tears the balaclava off, flinging it into the forest as he takes in a panicked breath. His eyes dart around before a flash of orange is in front of him. He exhales shakily, control seeping into his skin as heat curls around him, a hand to his face and a pair of lips to his.

As his breathing calms the fox pads towards him and tucks against his chest.

-

SImon breathing calms in his sleep as your hand leaves his face and you press a kiss to his cheek before gently rolling out of bed in the early morning. It was barely 6 and the man seemed in a deep sleep. His movements in his sleep had woken you a little earlier as he was having a nightmare. You soothed him gently before deciding to just get up. 

You pass into the kitchen, Sam probably won't be up until 8 and you didn't want to wake Simon. You wanted to bake but a cup of tea and a book downstairs sounded like a good thing to pass the few hours until Sam could open shop. You would be closing earlier in the afternoon to go meet the boys. Simon would probably need to leave soon you think with a frown as you make a cup of Earl Grey and head downstairs, cracking the top door so Sam and Simon could tell you were in the store. 

The steps creak and you smile as the door opens into the early morning dimness. The store's windows allow in enough light to see your steps. It used to frighten you coming in alone but after a few weeks, it became home. You turn on the lamps, voting to keep the overhead lights off. There are a few commuters on the streets but your little corner of London is snug and quiet this time in the morning. 

You tuck into the stool behind the counter and begin to read. But as the time passes towards 6:30, your mind swirling with the fish of the Nautilus and the adventures of Captain Nemo a tapping sound pulls your mind from the book. You turn your ear up towards the back door, but no one is stirring and your phone has no messages. Your eyes shoot to the front door and there is a person there. You shoot up curious and a little apprehensive. It is a little dark to tell but there is a figure holding something and you debate what to do. 

The tapper seems to acknowledge your attention as they knock, a polite three taps against the door that has your heart freezing. That it couldn’t - Your heart is in your throat, tea forgotten, and book slumping before falling to the floor with a thunk. 

- 

Upstairs Simon jolts awake, perhaps some strange sense of fate as he rolls out of bed in search of you.

-

With a quivering breath you creep around the counter on autopilot before reaching the halfway point to the door you freeze, turning back to the stairs and thinking about running to get Sam, or Simon your mind supplies. But the low temperature and another set of knocks shock your heart.

You clench your teeth, your compassion winning out as you turn the final steps to the door and pull it open. 

-

Simon comes out into the main area and notices light through the crack of the door leading to the store, he nods to himself, opens the door, and passes quietly down the stairs.

-

In shock of the man in front of you back wordlessly into the safety of the bookstore as James fucking Marin stands in the doorway. In his hands are two cups from the cafe nearby and a bouquet is tucked into his arm. But it's the look on his face that has you retreating, a look of surprise, yes, that you even opened the door, but a wretched look of love and melting eyes as a storm curls its way around his heart. He stands at the door, the cold blowing in as he is unsure, the look of hurt on your face digs into him like a knife. 

He, this, everything feels wrong, it all felt fucking wrong, since that day. What once was love, a treasured closeness devolved into you retreating from him. Blue eyes look between you and the store and his brows draw close in a deep concern. He sets the drinks down on a little hat table first, before pulling the door close as you stand frozen.

He clenches the bouquet tighter as a potent anxiety bites him, somethin in his gut stirs and he looks to you as you are going through your processing points. He knew you too well, but this fear was a potent unknowable.

There is a sound then, and James's eyes dart to the back of the counter and he feels himself stand taller.

Having appeared silently was a panther of a man, he had only an inch on him but despite the causal clothes, there was a way the man carried himself, dark eyes first shooting at you then meeting his. James feels his muscles tense when the panther finally speaks.

“Dove?” 

You about jump head and body shooting around your eyes are watery, Simon can see them glisten in the low light, and something dark spikes in his chest, his eyes sharpen and muscles tense as he pulls himself and he feels Ghost settle.

“Si?” Your voice is small in the morning quiet.

You step back towards him, stopping with a look towards James unsure, but it's all that Simon needs. He rounds the counter before coming to stand behind you, a hand moving to brush over your shoulder and around your middle, his muscles firm as your hands shoot to his tattooed arm for support. 

James takes it in with shock before he straightens, eyes on Simon’s arm and his jaw clenching. Sharp eyes track his every breath with the precision of a trained killer, but a possessive anger burns in James and he moves to take a step forward when you finally speak.

“Why are you here James?”

Your voice is shaky and you dig yourself further into the man behind you, eyes tracing firm muscles and scars. It's the gleam of silver around his neck James sees and his eyes widen,

A soldier? 

His voice is firm as he replies, accent thickening with tension,

“I came to talk.”

You balk at that,

“Is it about work?”

James lets out a breath but his heart pounds,

“It is about us.”

This gets Simon's arm pulling you tighter to him and there's a low rumble from his chest. Your head whips up at the reply and a spark of anger ignites,

“Us, US? The first thing out of your mouth is to talk about US?” Shock, as your teeth grit, James takes a step forward before Simon finally speaks.

“Watch yourself.” His accent is thicker and his voice deep, it sends a tingle down your spine. 

James tenses eyes shooting up to Simon before he addresses him,

“And you are?”

Simon internally smirks, he dips and presses a kiss to your head before gently releasing you. He is pleased, however, when you tuck into his side, a hand seeking his.

“Lieutenant Simon Riley.” 

James's eyes widen at the rank and it fits he thinks, He is a tank. Seeing you tucked into the side of another man grinds against his heart, sparks of pain lighting up the darkness that has been in his mind for the past months. But rage and pain were not what he was, not anymore.

James relinquishes, careful to make slow movements and you watch as the man resets. He is coiled, a tenseness not usually for the easygoing man. Stress has tainted him, his hair is longer, the length of it curving past his ears and he has let his beard grow in. Your heart hurts because he is handsome, and he looks back at you with a lost expression before you can see his heart on his sleeve. 

There is a stare-off for a moment before James deflates and looks at you, his voice is smaller then,

“Can you trust me my heart?” 

You physically wince into Simon at the word, tears watering at your eyes again and James steps forward without thinking. Simon stiffens when you move forward, there are tears in your voice, you are smaller than he’s ever heard,

“Why?”

James clenches his jaw, pained as he wants to say everything, he heard Sabrina’s claims that night it broke everything. There was one thing he couldn't say, forced into silence by work, it succeeded, didn't it? She won in the end, but he ran, stupid at first not to chase after you. But, never again.

You see it in James, a quiet resolution as he readies himself.

“I never slept with her. It, all of this, was to protect your career.”

You blank, your brain short-circuiting. You stand frozen, not hearing him. Your mind jumped to Sarah, eyes flickering to his left hand, the rings?

“But Sarah said-”

“Sabrina was drunk, that event was for show, it was either that or you got thrown to the curb.” 

James grits his teeth at the memory of that board office meeting. Sabrina sitting at her dad's side, a smile on her face as she named her demands.

“What?”

“You were never pulled under a contract, Ms. Williams found out a few days ago and it blew up in the children's department, there was a full-on revolt.” There was a smile on his face at that. 

“But you said tha-”

“Don’t you dare fucking believe that,” He clenches his fist around the bouquet, Irises, red carnations, and honeysuckle. He holds out the bouquet and your heart picks up a beat at the meaning of the flowers, A message, heartache, and devotion. What he says next his voice breaks,

“Have the flowers ever lied?”

You can’t help the sob that follows, as you tenderly take the bouquet from him. He has never lied to you, not in this sense. 

“What is all of this James? Why now, why not text, fucking write a letter?” Anger sparks but the tired look on his face quells it. He takes another baby step forward but you shield yourself with the bouquet, not trusting. Simon doesn't move.

“I couldn't, not while you were still connected or within the power of those bastards. But” his lips quirked up as he looked past you and Simon.

“You have a lot of fucking nerve to show your face here.”

Your head darts to Sam, his shirt is off, evidence of sleep and you can see the dragon tattoos dancing across his chest, coiling around his heart. Sam steps around the counter, fists clenched in rage, reading Simon’s tense form, but you hold up a hand and he pauses at the flowers. James smiles at the sight of Sam, it lights up his face like a lifeline.

“Sam here I owe everything to, well White Owl Publishing as well.”

Seeing the confusion on your face he opens his arms.

“You left sweetheart. There was nothing to protect, especially once White Owl took your books over. Why do you think Sofia had such an easy time getting your publishing rights?”

Your eyes widen, everything falling together in your mind, and your eyes shoot to a gleam of silver on his left hand, it was a simple band but you recognize the engraving, and you gape at it. James's eyes shoot to it, it was the ring you gifted to him when your second book made it.

“Youve-?”

“Worn it ever since sweetheart, it's always, always been you. Once the publication rights were confirmed I broke everything I was contracted to help, they pulled the power on me. I swear it on my life nothing ever happened. Ms. Williams can confirm everything when she comes.”

You just gape up at him as Sam blanks, 

“So all of this was a fucking show?” Sam seeths, stepping past Simon but you pull on his arm, James steps forward, a fire picking in his eyes at that,

“To protect what she loved most, writing, her books, and her career? Yes.” He looks past Sam, blue eyes looking into your soul.

You step back as if shot, you wanted to be angry, to cry and bang your fist and scream. But James wasn’t lying, the look in his eyes told you that much. 

“Sofia will find out this morning I guarantee it, this tour business is all Ms. Williams, and” James takes the final step towards you, Sam tenses, 

“She broke my contract.”

You blink up at him in shock as a hand raises to your face, and you breathe shakily as a familiar hand cups your cheek, His eyes take you in, the light of a twinking star caught in them and he smiles

“I am free.” 

You clutch the bouquet to your chest as you lean into the touch for a moment but you come to yourself. The words that follow have James freezing when an arm comes around you. Blue eyes flicker up to burning umber, pools of melted iron as Simon steps in,

“I can’t, not that James, not anymore.”

James freezes pulling his hand back as if he was burned. His chest clenches as he remembers the firm voice over the phone. It starts to make a bit more sense when Sam crosses his arms.

“Right-” The syllables tumble out “-after everything I wouldn't expect that, not -” James cuts himself off. He wants to cry, he realizes then, but under Simon’s sharp eyes and you tucked against him. He looks to Sam finding a protective glare, but it is you that turns all the men's heads. 

You are already crying, the pain of the months burning your heart, but there is a sliver that tries to understand. The fact a man you loved and trusted would pull a stunt like this, bruises your heart. But there are the memories of dances and writing, it would never be the same, but-

But your stories were your life and if your relationship was meant to die to protect them.

James and Sam can see the debate, but it's Simon murmuring your name. Your head turns up against his chest and you look up to him and drown in his eyes. It was compassion that shaped you, you pat his arm and he loosens his arm with a quiet exhale. 

James’s eyes widen when you pull apart from Simon and you pad towards him cautiously. 

“It will never be the same.” 

He feels his heart pick up and James tilts his head down to you, eyes wide as you come to stand in front of him, a tender hand reaching out to his chest. You feel his heart stuttering,

“You broke everything,” your eyes flicker up to his clutching the flowers as a tangible reminder of who he was,

“You shattered my heart, broke my trust, and threw our relationship away, for which I won’t forget.”

His hand shakily covers yours and you cherish it for a quiet moment as a fresh set of tears rolls down your cheeks and this causes James to break, a tear rolling down his cheek. His voice is shaky,

“I did what I thought was best for you, I see now that may have been a mistake. I wanted to protect you but I hurt you, I will never forgive myself for that, and I haven't stopped loving you.”

Your hand shakes under his but you continue,

“I don't know where we go from here, I will need time.” Your eyes turn down but you slowly but surely touch your forehead to his chest in a final act of grace. It is not a promise of continuation but one of the possibilities of forgiveness and a new beginning and it only causes James’s heart to hurt more as he resists engulfing you in a hug.

“Always, I will always be here. I just hope maybe even to be- I don’t know anymore. But I will wait for you, always” 

His voice falters out as you lift your head from his chest and just look at him, but you nod and in a painful sweep pull your hand away to clutch the bouquet to your chest. 

James looks anxious, hand flexing to his chest in an echo of where you were and is about to speak when Simon steps forward and you finally curl into his chest. He is angry but the rage is quelled with you against his chest, but the fire does not leave his eyes as he looks into and even through James.

“You’ve said enough for now.”

James fist clenches but he steps back with a curt nod.

“Right, I will see you tomorrow.” And with a final glance back at you in Simon's arms, he leaves.

Taglist:

@ghostlythots, @tapioca-milktea1978, @cmbghost, @nexthyperfix, @feedthefandoms995

@blubearxy

[ncisfranchise-source]

With cameras soon to roll on their buzzy NCIS spin-off, Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo have gotten into the weeds on NCIS: Tony & Ziva. The pair were part of a large NCIS contingent here at the Monte Carlo TV Festival to celebrate the juggernaut franchise hitting the 1,000-episode mark. It included the mothership series’ Brian Dietzen and Wilmer Valderrama who also talked about the expansion of what posters up for the Festival are referring to as the ‘NCISverse���.

What is known so far about the NCIS: Tony & Ziva spin-off is that it will follow Tony (Weatherly) and Ziva (de Pablo) and their daughter Tali, in Europe, and that they are forced to go on the run while trying to work out who is after them.

Weatherly and de Pablo were careful not to give away plot points, but did talk about how and why the series came about. “We wanted to take these two characters away from the Agency and put them in a world, and the world that was attractive to us was international,” de Pablo said.

She added that wherever her and Weatherly went they were being bombarded with the same fan questions: “It was always like, ‘whatever happened to Tony and Ziva, do you think they’ll ever get back together, where are they?’ And all of a sudden, we had the opportunity to put it together into a show.

“We’re trying to address all of these questions, and the idea of trust, and how they move forward… they’re trying to make things work while also parenting and having a lot of challenges thrown at them.”

Weatherly said the show should really be called Tony, Ziva & Tali because the couple’s daughter will play such an important role, shaping the story and introducing “a new element of trouble.”

“Every choice that Tony and Ziva have to make in their adventure, their child is first and foremost in the front of their mind,” Weatherly said. “When we were on the NCIS the mothership, we didn’t have children.

“When you have a child, you have to navigate what is best for them. And then maybe you have a co-parent that you have a tumultuous relationship with… and oh, wait, we also have to save the world.”

In the core NCIS show, Weatherly’s character had left after Ziva’s presumed death to look after their daughter. When Ziva was discovered alive, the pair were ultimately reunited in Paris. Weatherly said the first choice was to shoot in Paris, but that was derailed by the Summer Olympics in the city: “Budapest will stand in for parts of Europe and the cameras will move some very exciting other places.”

Weatherly and de Pablo are exec producers – as is series writer and showrunner John McNamara. Filming is set to begin in four weeks. The lead actors both talked about the fact their show switches up the tried and tested NCIS format with a showrunner who has not worked on another series in the franchise: “It’s not an evergreen, procedural, it’s not structured the same way,” Weatherly said.

He admitted the change had the team asking themselves some serious questions: “Will the audience show up for that? Are we shooting out of our weight-class here with a different kind of story? John [McNamara] is not from the NCIS universe, so we’re introducing a new voice. I think those things that might a few years ago have been to our detriment became assets when people started really understanding streaming.”

Brian Dietzen and Wilmer Valderrama Want In

Could other NCIS stars make an appearance in Tony and Ziva’s spinoff? Dietzen, who plays Dr. Jimmy Palmer on the mothership, is game. In a lighthearted moment during a press event, he was asked about the spin-off: “I’m so happy for Michael and Cote and think John McNamara is going to do a fantastic job for them,” he said. “It sounds very atypical for NCIS as far as the storytelling because it won’t be a case-of-the week type of show. That said, if they say: ‘Hey we need Jimmy Palmer on a plasma screen’ at any point, I’d say hell yes, that’d be fun, I’d do that in a heartbeat.”

Fellow NCIS-er Valderrama said he would also like to some European action for his character in the mothership series.

“I’ve explored so much, I have got to do a lot of good things… but I’d like to maybe have my character be undercover somewhere in Europe, to leave Washington DC and have my character embedded in Italy, France or London,” he said.

[7ndipity]

Arcade Date

Jimin X Reader

Summary: When you worry that you've screwed up on an important exam, Jimin decides to try and cheer you up with a cute date at the arcade.

Warnings: Swearing, lil suggestive,

A/N: Thanks to @minnie1013 for this request! Sorry it took me a lil while to get to it, I hope you like it!

Masterlist

Requests are open

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

You're expression was noticeably deflated as Jimin picked you up for date night following your last class of the day.

“Hey, how’d the exam go?” He asked sweetly, pressing a kiss to your temple as you climbed into the passenger seat.

“Don’t ask.” You groaned, burying your face in his shoulder.

“Was it bad?” He asked, frowning.

“It felt like my brain went through one of those rug cleaning machines. I bombed, I’m sure of it.” you groaned, leaning back in your seat and closing your eyes.

You don’t know that, I’m sure you did your best.” He said reassuringly. He felt so bad for you, he’d seen how hard you’d been studying lately in preparation for this test. You’d been running yourself ragged, staying up till all hours of the night to cram whenever you could. “When do the results come out?”

“Next week.” You mumbled. “Ugh, I don’t know, can we just talk about something else, please?”

“Sure,” He agreed easily, eager to distract you. “How ‘bout we talk about the fact that you haven’t kissed me in almost six hours and I’m about to die from withdrawals?”

You let out a tired huff of laughter at that. “Alright, you big baby.” You said, finally giving him a smile, albeit a tiny one, before leaning over and connecting your lips to his, instantly feeling your body start to relax at the familiar feel of him against you.

You pulled back suddenly, looking up at him curiously as you licked your lips. “Are you wearing my chapstick?”

“Um, Maybe.” He admitted, avoiding your eyes.

“Would you stop stealing my shit?!” You shoved him lightly, laughing in disbelief.

“It’s not my fault you pick better flavors than me!” He tried to defend with a pout. “And I didn’t steal it, you left it at my place the other day.”

“Whatever.” You rolled your eyes. “Let’s go, I’m hungry.”

The rest of the drive to his place was somewhat quiet, it was clear you were still feeling down, staring silently out the window, lost in thought, while Jimin tried to wrack his brain for a way to cheer you up. Struck by a sudden idea, he made a quick left turn, drawing a curious look from you as he changed routes.

“I thought we were going to your place for dinner?” You asked.

“Change of plans, I’m taking you out.” He said simply.

“Where?”

“It’s a surprise.” He said, giving you a mischievous look before turning his attention back to the road, biting back a grin.

Several minutes later, you pulled up outside a familiar building with various game posters plastered on the windows.

“The arcade?” You looked at him in surprise. “We haven’t been here in ages.”

“I know, but I figured you deserve some fun, so here we are.” He said.

“Chim, I don’t know…” You said.

“C’mon, it’ll be good to take your mind off things. Or are you afraid of me beating you at DDR?” He smirked, raising a brow at you in challenge.

“Oh, you’re so on.” You replied.

The two of you spent the next couple hours squaring off against each other in various games, starting out light-heartedly enough, until you started to get overly competitive and started to attach increasingly ridiculous bets to each game, from having to pay for the all snacks to Jimin having to give you a lap dance for beating him at DDR.

“That one was a joke though, right Y/n?” He asked out of breath, growing nervous at your silence. “Y/n?!”

Before you could leave though, Jimin made it his mission to win you a plushie from the claw machine, spending easily twice the amount of money that the toy was actually worth in his attempt to succeed.

“Jimin, it’s okay, you really don’t have to-”

“Aha!” He yelled victoriously, holding the plush animal up in the air as a trophy before presenting it to you. “For you, my love.”

“Aww, it’s so cute!” You cooed, accepting the toy and petting its head. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.” He asked, examining the toy closer. “Is it a bear or a dog?”

“It doesn’t matter, he’s our child and I love him!” You said, making his heart melt as he watched you hug the toy to your chest.

“What?” You asked, catching his expression.

“Nothing, it’s just nice to see you happy like this.” He said with a small smile.

“I’m always happy when I’m with you.” You said softly, feeling shy for some reason at that admission. “Anyway, what should we name our child?”

“Greg.” He replied without hesitation.

“GREG?!”

“What?!”

“Does he honestly look like a Greg to you?” You asked incredulously.

“You try coming up with something better, then!” He said defensively.

You thought for a moment. “B-Bartholomew.” You said slowly.

“Absolutely not.” He rejected. “That sounds like a 17th century tailor.”

“That was my grandfather's name.” You retorted.

“It was not!”

You continued to argue all the way back to the car, before you paused to look up at him, admiring the way he managed to look gorgeous even under the artificial glow of the streetlights.

“Jimin?”

“Yeah?” He replied, turning to look at you.

“Thank you for tonight.” You said, smiling softly. “You were right, I needed this.”

“Of course." He said, gently grabbing hold of your hand. “You know anytime you need a pick-me-up, I'll be there for you."

“I know.” You said, pushing up on your tip-toes to press a quick kiss to his lips.

You don’t know what you did to deserve Jimin in your life, but you would be forever grateful to

have him.

[orecana]

Sing my crush

Lee jeno x male reader

hello everyone i'm back with another fic! just as my followers have requested (idrei and an anonymous) i have written an omegaverse jeno x male reader. thank you to everyone who has support and like my fics so far. i really appreciate it.

(even though i said that i had an exam, but i just had the idea already, so i decided to write it before i forget.)

' ' means thoughts

" " means talking.

(Credits to the original posters of the videos and gifs i have put in this fic.)

"SHIT!"

those were the words that y/n spoke when he woke up late this morning. He hurriedly took a shower and get dressed. He goes down to see his mom looking at him, amusement written on her face.

"i told you to keep it down yesterday cause today is an important day"

"i know mom but can you blame me?"

his mom chuckled in amusement as she hands him a bag of sandwiches.

"eat this while you're there."

"thank you mom! i love you"

he goes out of the house and runs to his school. his mother watch as her son slowly disappears from view. y/n mother smiles warmly thinking of her omega son.

as omegas, they were considered very inferior in the world. y/n's mom had a very hard time trying to look for jobs to help raise her child. when she learned that she had an omega son, she was undeniably stressed out because she doesn't want her son to face the cruel world.

however when y/n was a toddler, he seems to never get in trouble at all. in fact, most alphas always get in trouble for him whether it was to protect him from a bully or help him. for some reason y/n was always able to get the best things at school even though all of the school he enrolled into were biased towards alphas. he scored the highest in class and even got a scholarship.

while y/n's mother doesn't what her son did to achieve such goals, as a mother she feels very proud to have y/n as a son.

y/n is running to school energetically because today is a very important day for him. he had to be very early so he could get a front row seat.

why was today so important to him you may ask? well today is the day his school band will perform on stage for the school and y/n seriously love them. they were the best group of friends(from y/n's observation) and their songs were also very good.

his eyes shine brightly when he is in front of his school gates. he runs up the steps, feeling so giddy and excited that he didn't see the person in front of him and bumped into them.

the person steadied themselves as they hold y/n before he could fall. y/n squeaked when he felt muscular hands on his waist. he looks up with a slight flush to whoever he bumped into while muttering a small "sorry".

his eyes widened when he see who he had bumped into.

LEE FUCKING JENO

said person only smirks at him while his eyes roam around the omega he's holding. jeno doesn't really interact with omegas a lot because most of them just want him for lust. but for some reason, he feels like this omega....might be okay. meanwhile y/n was blushing a lot because of the handsome alpha.

'i could feel his abs!'

"Are you okay?"

y/n noticed that they were still in the same position and quickly got out of jeno's hold.

"I'm so sorry that i bumped into you senior!"

truth is... one of y/n's main reasons to see the school band was because jeno's was among the members. he slowly likes the other members and their music afterwards but seeing jeno was his first reason. y/n had a bit of a crush towards the senior when y/n saw him while he was studying for a test one day.

the senior was playing soccer with his fellow friends. y/n remembered that how he peeked to see jeno smiling as he runs across the field to his team because they scored. he smiled with a slight flush on his face.

'he's so handsome....'

y/n snapped out of his trance, scowling at himself before continuing with his studies but even then the senior never left his mind.

back to the present tho

jeno is smirking as he see how flustered y/n was, he really wanted to tease the omega but decided to hold back.

"it's fine. i don't really mind. what's your name?"

"my name is y/n"

y/n smiled. jeno wasn't mad at him!

'thank god'

he lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

jeno watch in amusement as y/n face slowly morphs from one of relief to a face of terror when he checked his phone. although he can probably guess that the omega is a big fan of his group because of the many times he noticed him among the crowd, but he definitely didn't expect him to scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH"

jeno covered his ears at y/n's scream.

"oh noooo, its already so late. how can i get a front row now?"

y/n sulks as he now have to deal with watching them from a far.

jeno smiles at how much of a fan y/n is.

"if you want, i can get you a backstage lounge"

y/n head turns around so fast that jeno thought the omega broke his neck for a second before turning all of his body around.

a backstage lounge is a VIP thing. if you have the cash to afford it, not only can you watch the performance very well but you can also interact with the people performing.

"are you serious hyung? those are pretty expensive."

"of course, i mean.... we all are pretty rich."

oh right. y/n forgot that all of them came from wealthy families, they are loaded especially the second youngest chenle.

"t-thank you hyung. i really appreciate it."

y/n flushed because of how embarassed he is but smiles because of how happy he is as well.

jeno just wants to squish those cheeks and coo at how cute y/n was being but again decides to hold himself back.

"well shall we go?"

jeno outstretched his hand towards y/n which the omega takes. the alpha takes y/n to where he and his group were preparing themselves. y/n was shocked at the outfits they were wearing. (the outfits in the studio choom ISTJ.)

jeno tells the members that y/n will have one of the backstage lounge and takes his clothes before going into the changing room to change.

despite them being a school band, they were recognized and appeal to the outside audiences as well. which means albums and photocards.

y/n bites his nails, thinking.... (a habit i do)

'which album was this.....?'

little did y/n know while he was thinking, he looks absolutely adorable which made the other members coo at y/n. then y/n finally knows which one it was and stood wide eyed at the members, who also stared at y/n a bit confused as to why he's acting like that.

"you guys are performing ISTJ?"

the members smile, also knowing that the omega in front of them was one of their biggest fan. jaemin, an alpha answers

"yeah, we wanted to promote our latest album.

y/n keeps stumbling over his words, his face flushed to the extreme..

'b-but t-then.."

the changing room door opens revealing jeno in his outfit. he was raising his arm stretch before the performance, causing the shirt to raise up, revealing abs and his physique.

y/n feels something drop out of his nose and knows what it is. he doesn't want to get teased more, but he has no escape.

jeno wide eyed stares at y/n. while he does know that y/n's nose bleeding is caused by him, he also doesn't like the sight of blood on the omega. he quickly grabbed a napkin and hands it over to y/n, who takes it and wipes his nose.

after he wipes his nose, he holds the bloody napkin in his hands before looking up at the group. the 7 members don't know why, but there was something sinister in those eyes.

"good luck you guys, i'll watch you guys from here. fighting!"

they decided to ignore it and smile at y/n.

"fighting!"

they all go on stage as the crowd of students roar at their arrival and the cameramen gets in position. y/n enters one of the backstage lounges and sits in front of the big television in front of him. he opens his phone to see his wallpaper and only smiles.

let the show begin.

after the performance, they go backstage to find y/n there. once he sees them here, he clap his hands to congratulate them.

"you guys did very well, a very nice performance."

they smile at y/n, feeling reassured. Jeno approach the omega.

"hey, do you wanna have my and the other members' contacts?"

y/n sits wide eyed at the question, not only can he interact his idols schoolmates but they want to stay in contact with him?

"of course, you guys are my favorite."

they all exchanged contacts with y/n and decides to call it a day. they all said their goodbyes as everyone went their separate ways home.

jeno offered y/n a ride which the latter tried to refuse at first, until mark commented that

"nobody can get a ride in jeno's car at all. unless he's interested in you"

it was a joke of course, but it causes y/n to flush very bad as he enters the car.

they made casual talks while y/n was in the car. Jeno was a genuinely funny guy and when he smiles, it's bright and his eyes turns into crescent shaped moon.

eventually they reached y/n's house. y/n thanks jeno for the ride and unbuckled his seatbelt and attempted to leave when a hand slams the side of the car, trapping him.

jeno leans in closer to the omega, subconsciously spreading his alpha scent of mint. y/n feeling this also subconsciously spread his sweet omega scent as well that jeno inhaled deeply.

jeno leans in even deeper, close to y/n's ears as he whispers sultry.

"do you smell your scent, my sweet delectable omega? it makes me want to devour you."

y/n blushes extremely hard as his hands begins to unlock the car door he's leaning against. jeno leans into him, his nose touching the other and those red lips were inching closer and closer until.....

the door opens and y/n does a backflip out of the car. jeno smirks at the little escape that the omega did.

'this makes him even hotter'

y/n was extremely flustered at the alpha constantly having his eyes all over him. huffing. y/n goes inside his house gate and look behind him to see jeno still looking at him with that handsome smirk.

in retaliation, he lifts his shirt and do the body roll part of istj, showing his hourglass figure while smiling wickedly before entering his house entirely. Jeno was stunned, but chuckled at the actions that y/n did.

he closes his car door and drives home, ignoring the millions of messages from his friends trying to tease about being alone with y/n. he only smiles when he thinks of y/n.

"you only make me want you more, my sweet omega."

tomorrow at school, He was told that his classes were cancelled for some odd reason. but with the information that his classes were cancelled made him smile. he goes into the school, searching for a specific room. he smiles when he sees the room he was looking for, the music room.

he opens it and quickly searches for the microphone. once he finds it, he takes out his papers which were lyrics papers. he turns on the systems next to him to ready it for recording his song.

yes, he keeps a secret from people at school but whenever the drama club needs a song to be sang in their drama, y/n was the man for the job.

today, it was a special one because it's not only an ost but it was a confession to the alpha of his dreams. he blushes and feels giddy at the thought. slowly he gathers his courage and turns on the music next to him, preparing to sing.

little did he know, nct dream was also going to the music room to record some of their songs when they heard music coming from there. they checked the room only to find their little fanboy y/n, with headphones and a microphone. they smile, excited for what's about to come.

'He's going to sing!'

ijeseoya jom al geotgatji ijeongwaneun jom dareum ganggi uri sale geueojin seongwa gwaenhi aswiwojigan haessdeon mam nae ireumeuro sseuin manheun gomindeudo geu iyureul ai geot gateun geol ireohge gidarineun iri baraboneun iri eoneu ttaeboda tteollyeo aneun geol ne ireumeuro gadeuk chaeun nae haruga ije seonmyeonghage dareun ireumeuro dagaoneun sungan seotulleodo neoege dagagalge sonjaba jullae tteollimi meojge seodulleoseo neoegero ttwieogalge neowa naneun ije Are you ready? come and tell me now Ohh~ Are you ready? come and tell me now

Jeno heart's felt like it was about to burst from hearing y/n sing, it was sickly sweet, something he shouldn't enjoy this much. he always has a wide smile. the others look at jeno with knowing looks, happy that the alpha was able to hear that the love he was pining after for so long is finally reciprocated.

eojjeomyeon neon imi eojjeomyeon deo gipi aju deodin naui maeun wiro majocha moreuge gadeuk jarana neoui gobaek ape seolledeon naoui ireum ape gwaenhi dwicheok georideon na honja doenoedeon sumanheun maldeuldo modu jeonhago sipeun geol neol geurineun mami neol baraneun mami eoneu ttaeboda neukkyeojineun geol neoreul ttara nae gamjeongdeuri nae uijin ijeun chae eojewaneun dareun ireumeuro sijak doeneun sungan seotulleodeo neoege dagagalge sonjaba jullae tteollimi meojge seodulleoseo neoegero ttwieogalge neowa naneun ije Are you ready? come and tell me now

Jeno opens the door as y/n was singing his heart out, making y/n look at the door. he sees jeno and almost stop singing. but he already gathered his courage to do this, it's too late to back out. jeno looks at y/n who is singing his heart out with such a sweet voice. he felt like the happiest person in the world.

neowa daheun siseondo neoui jageun byeonhwado geu anesseo bamsae uimireul chajdeon iyudo ijekkeot neoreul hyanghaesseo oraedo hemaeeo wassdeon i gamjeongui dabeul ijeya chajasseo jigeum idaero neoege galge tteollim geudaero jeonhal su issge seodulleoseo neoegero ttwieogalge neowa naneun ije Are you ready? come and tell me now Ohh~ Are you ready? neowa na ijen Ohh~ hangeoreum deo neoege Are you ready? come and tell me now.

when y/n finishes his song, he takes off his headphones and walks towards jeno. The aloha could only look at the omega in adoration as he leans in closer. he looks in the other's eyes, signaling if he have his consent or not. y/n nods as he holds the alpha's shoulders.

jeno leans in to connect his lips with y/n. The kiss was like a drug they could savor for eternity, but it also made them feel connected.....forever.

they pull away and look at each other with love. then they hear a camera shutter. they look behind them to see chenle snapping a photo of them. Y/n embarassed, tries to run and take the camera from chenle but jeno lifted him up and pecks him on the lips.

the group laughs as chenle snaps a photo of the peck and shows it to y/n. at this point, y/n could only sighs and hug jeno while resting his head on jeno's shoulders. jeno looks at y/n lovingly and pecks him again causing the other members to laugh and urges them for more. Y/n smiles. he was able to get the man of his dreams, and will also have the comforts of friends as well.

"i was happy that he was able to....."

SING MY CRUSH

[the-lark-ascending69]

I just got an idea for whump Ronance.

What if Robin and Nancy gets captured by Brenner?

Like, they end up becoming his new lab rats. Thry get tortured and abused just like El was.

What do you think?

(Also, what kind of powers do you think they would have respectively?)

Anon I am so sorry i wrote a long asf response to this and then it got deleted and I was so mad I didn't want to do it again but now I feel inspired and motivated to give it another try.

SO. Wonderful concept! I love it! Let me share my thoughts!!

So what I came up with is:

At age 15, they both get lost in the Upside Down. They only vaguely knew about the other's existance from school but when they found each other down there, they became inseparable. This is an AU in which Will never went missing. Anyway they're terrified and starving and exhausted but at least they have each other, and they hold hands almost the entire time because they both desperately need the comfort.

Eventually, they make it out on their own after finding a gate... and it's in the Hawkins Lab. They come out on the other end before the unbelieving eyes of dozens of scientists, who were convinced no one would survive a minute in there without the proper equipment. Yet these trembling, starving young girls covered in grit survived with only the clothes on their back for a week.

Brenner recognizes them immediately - Nancy and Robin, the two girls from the missing person posters circulating through town. Everyone already thinks they're dead. They made fake bodies of them, for Christ' sake, he's not letting this opportunity go, especially after the disappearance of his only remaining test subject, 011.

This will be a new experiment. A different one. They are given different numbers for ir - A01 for Nancy and A02 for Robin. They get that tattooed in their arms. The purpose of the experiment is to study the effects of short-term exposure to the Upside Down on humans of their height, s.ex, age, health status and weight. They call themselves doctors. They give them separate rooms and run a series of tests daily on them. They try to be subtle at first as to not scare them too much - they don't want another 011 - so they call them by their real names for a while. They ask questions about their lives before the Upside Down and reassure them this is meant to test radiation levels - a standard procedure, before they can return them to their parents.

They immediatelly call bullshit. Why can't they talk to their parents now? Why can't they see them through a glass, at least, or a camera, if radiation is what they're worried about? Why won't they tell them what that place was or why it led back to the Lab? Do their families know they're safe? What is going on? They ask so many questions about every procedure ran on them, resisting in more and more extreme ways until the scientists need to tie them down and drug them whenever they want to do anything.

Brenner notices similar brain activity in them to that of his old test subjects, and he suspects the Upside Down might have given them some kind of ability. He keeps them in the rainbow room, hoping each other's company will help them develop their powers, yet for a long time nothing comes. They can't move objects with their mind, or astral project, or open gates. Even despite everything they do to them. Despite every horrible procedure they perform on them. Drugs of all kinds, leaving them delirious and weak for days. Electrocompulsive therapy. Hypnosis. Pain tests. Sensory deprivation. Solitary confinement. Brenner wants to activate their powers in one way or another, desperate after losing subject 011.

(It's terrifying each time. Nancy is invaded by pure rage while Robin is paralyzed by fear. Whenever they take one for a procedure, the other waits impatiently for her return, fully concious of what they're doing to her - or so it seems. Nancy, at least, thinks she knows what they're doing to Robin. She thinks they do the same things they do to her - tie her to a chair, put an IV in her, maybe, or stick a needle into her neck. Brenner will do this while casually telling her she'll only feel a small pinch, before doing such a monstruosity to her that she'll be woken up by seizures at night. It takes Robin some time to tell Nancy the truth).

They seem completely useless for a long time, but that changes the moment they capture a russian agent.

He was a scientist, working from an unknown location beneath Hawkins, trying to get intel from the Lab when he was caught and tortured to extract information from him. Robin wasn't usually allowed to wander the halls alone, but someone left the door unlocked and she was curious, and soon she found herself in front of a closed door, hearing panting and ragged breathing after this man received the beating of his life. He was talking to himself - curses and meanderings about death and whether or not he'd see his family again. Robin, despite having never learned Russian, understood everything, and in a perfect accent she began to talk to him. She didn't know why - she didn't even realize they weren't speaking English. For a moment he thought he was being rescued, and he shared with her a lot of information.

Brenner caught her in the act and severaly punished her. Solitary confinement for one week. She would only see other people when they ran tests on her, and even then they wouldn't speak to her at all. He ended up not living up to his threat when, not two days after the event, he noticed her brain activity going wild. He has fascinated, and he asked her what had happened, if that russian spy gave her something like a drug. "Russian?" she asks, only then understanding what had happened.

They believe her powers are related to xenoglossy, the supernatural ability to know a language without having ever learned it. Something extremely useful in that specific historical context. She'd be an incredible spy, and oh, Brenner can't wait to experiment with this. They kill the spy after she tells them everything he told her.

They begin to give her a special treatment over Nancy - not exactly for the better. Brenner wants to understand this new ability, developed not in the womb like in other subjects but when subject A02 is a teenager, possibly caused by exposure to Upside Down radiation, though that's not confirmed. Maybe it had more to do with their experiments. He thinks he hit a dead end when it's revealed Robin already knew intermediate-to-advanced French, Spanish and Italian from before being captured - she'd be just a regular poltglot in that case, a prodigious one, right, but with nothing of interest for Brenner. But he quickly realizes this is not the case. Robin didn't know a word of Russian before, and he develops a hipothesis he'll spend the following year testing. He tries her ability with different languages, escaling on rarity, complexity and distance from English. From reading a single short text, Robin becomes profient in Finnish - a non-indoeuropean language Brenner doubts she's ever had any contact with. Proficient, but not fluent. It seems like she can very easily extract a language's grammar from a short sample text, applying it to terms she's familiar with, but she can't magically "guess" vocabulary of grammatical rules not present in the material she was given. For example, by reading a text in which all 15-16 grammatical cases of Finnish are present, she will be able to apply them to any noun in nominative case she knows, but she can't do it with nouns she doesn't know, and she can't use grammatical cases not present in the sample text given to her. She also can't guess spelling or pronunciation without both text and audio samples, and she can't speak in accents she hasn't heard (though she can easily switch accents in a way native speakers of the language can't, a skill that is curiously not translated (lol) into her native English). She learns faster with audio than with text, but even faster with a real-time conversation. Brenner brings a colleague who is fluent in Japanese to test her and he's amazed by how quick her progress is. His hipothesis, seemingly now proven, was that hers was an entirely mental skill, not a supernatural one, since she doesn't magically have access to languages she never had any contact with. This would make her ability not real xenoglossy.

A few more fun facts about her "power":

Her pre-existing skill with Spanish, French and Italian didn't improve until she was exposed to these languages again after being captured. She becomes incredibly skilled at solving puzzles and cracking codes. Brenner believes her power developed thanks to her intensive studies in languages through her childhood. Her brain activity is similar to that of non-native speakers of a language during the few first minutes of having contact with a new language, but in less than an hour, it will be the same as with native speakers. She's confused by some reconstructed languages, but not others (Proto-Indoeuropean was easy for her to learn, Proto-Uralic took her some time before learning more finno-ugric languages than just Finnish. If this were happening in the 2000s, when the Dené-Caucasian theory was already formalized, then Proto-Dené-Caucasian would have sounded like absolute gibberish to her).Some of Brenner's colleages hipothesize that her knowledge of living languages help inform her of the grammar and syntax of proto-languages in an extremely accurate way, to the point she subconciously knows when a reconstruction is wrong. This would make her an amazing paleolinguist. Brenner is less interested in the reconstruction of ancient turkic languages in Siberia and more interested her use as a spy and code-breaker - though it wouldn't have hurt him to take a second look at the idea of turkic languages, because that Russian agent, he was from a region of Russia called Tartary, and he spoke another language aside from Russian, the Tartar language, though he never got to speak it in Robin's presence. Brenner and his colleagues, not familiar with the vast diversity of languages on Earth, spend a long time working with an incorrect hypothesis because they couldn't notice Robin speaking Tartar to herself as a distinct language from all the others they were teaching her. A year and a a half passes before someone spent enough time listening to her to notice the difference. It's a discovery that shatters completely Brenner's first hypothesis on the absence of a supernatural element in Robin's ablity, and he's once again fascinated when he discovers it. His new hypothesis: Robin's power grants her access to a person's mind through speaking to them in a strange, confusing way, and he can't wait to destroy her, pick her brain apart and figure out how it works even if he kills her in the process.

In fact, he does. Literally. He does it over and over and over again, and Nancy has to watch it happen time and time again.

Because here's the thing: Robin wasn't the only one to develop powers, and in fact, she wasn't even the first one.

If you've heard of the videogame Life is Strange, anon, then you'll understand Nancy's power here: she can rewind time. Her power is pretty much the same as Max's in LiS - she can rewind time up to a certain point, though it causes a great mental strain, and eventually, she will discover she can time travel to specific points in time through photographs she's present in, as her younger self.

She discovers her powers the first time Robin is killed.

Misbehavior got her punished - solitary confinement after a long testing session. She had an overdose in her cell, and no one noticed in time. Nancy barely remembers what happened then, other than the horror she felt, before the events of the day flashed backwards before her eyes and she was brought back to Robin - warm, alive, breathing - in the rainbow room.

She begged her to do as they said, to behave, to not fight back. Robin is confused but Nancy is in tears and she agrees to do as she says.

This time, when she has an overdose, they treat her on time. She was in a comma for a week, but soon she was back on her feet and back in Nancy's arms.

It keeps happening - over and over again. The time she swallowed her own tongue during a seizure because Nancy didn't hold her right, and she had to try over four times (and watch her choke and die four times) before she got it right. The time she didn't die - but she lost her ability to speak after hours of electroculpulsive therapy, and she had her fake an illness so they would submit her to less aggressive procedures. It happened again when, after a similar trial, she forgot her own parents and thought the scientists were her parents. But she mostly just died. Over, and over, and over again. Mostly from overdose or brain damage during seizures, but one time, she was purposely asphixiated during a test. To this point Nancy still isn't sure what was it that they wanted to test with that. She suspects it was just torture for the sake of torture. To break her, somehow.

Nancy is terrified of long-term effects of all of this on Robin's health. She's scared the damage will cross the point of no return too early, to a point she can't go back to, a point in which she can't stop it. She can hold Robin's head during a seizure but she can't stop the seizures, and the lasting damage they leave.

Robin is aware of Nancy's powers. Nancy didn't even have to prove them to her - she believed her immediately whe she told her, and she trusts her judgment completely. If Nancy tells her it's better to do X, you can bet Robin will be doing X. Robin doesn't tell Nancy about her newfound ability immediately - she doesn't want her to worry about something she can do nothing about. But she does share it with her, after some time. She felt the need to explain to Nancy why the sudden interest on her. Nancy worries about her Robin so much, so so much, because she's just become Brenner's favorite new toy, and he'll do anything and everything to exploit her. She's in much more danger than Nancy is, and Nancy wishes she could take her place, make herself into Brenner's toy, draw attention away from Robin, but they both know the best they can do for their safety is to keep Nancy's invisible power secret. Nancy hates herself for not being able to take Robin's pain for her.

They escape one day. It's a complicated plan including short-distance time travel, manipulating russian spies through a stolen radio, several forms of treason and going out the same way they came in - through the portal. Nancy does her best to keep them safe with her power as they search for the other gate, the one they first crossed three years ago. And then, they're out. They're found unconcious on the side of the road.

They wake up a few days later in the hospital, surrounded by their families. Nancy's brother, Mike, has a new friend - a quiet girl with long brown hair and a 011 tattoed on her wrist, and she knows she needs to speak to her desperately, but she's exhausted, so for the time being, she'll sleep for some time, feeling almost at peace now, knowing Robin is safe and in the good hands of doctors.

[aspaceformbf]

Magus Thoughtdump - Dancing / Witchcraft / Clothes

I like it when my man has hobbies. Like dancing.. and witchcraft.

---

Dance

I occasionally save videos of guys dancing on tiktok, thinking that it would be neat if Magus could dance like that too.

A lot of the videos involve some dudes with big ass muscles and when I save them I think

"His body doesn't look like that.. but the moves are cool. I'm saving this for him."

"Inaccurate body but nice moves"

---

I like to think of them as additions to his personal bucket list of things to learn when I'm not around. He can practice while staring at me too. Yeah, I see him multi-tasking in that sense.

The Tumblr did mention he is a fast learner, so I see him picking up new moves pretty quick. I mean, those tiktok dancers dish out videos everyday.. that's insane. They make it look easy.

I imagine it's the same way with him, somewhat.

---

I do headcanon that my Magus already has some experience with dancing before I met him.

The YB Tumblr began on 2019 so I do headcanon that Magus met me around that time. I only met him around 2021 so he had two years to watch me in a one-sided fashion.

Back in 2019 I did enjoy cosplay and dance videos so I imagine that he took the effort to try to learn how to do those things in his free time.

---

Question : What if he downloads the dance in his brain?

I do like to think of Magus having a learning curve, like he has to try it before he gets the hang of it. I like the idea of him taking the effort to experiment and feel it out instead of just automatically uploading and knowing how to do it.

To be fair, he is adaptable and fast learner and dedicated so his learning curve is faster than normal.

I see the process going like-

He sees the video and tries to copy it. The first few attempts would be messy, clunky.. and probably really cringe. But with practice, his moves gets better and he eventually pulls it off.

Something like this would be like a first draft.. probably a second and third too. It could also just be a form of interpretative dance he does for fun without practice.

---

Witchcraft

This ramble was inspired by this Tiktok video.

Peter canonically does have a shrine of us so witchcraft is something I could feasibly see a Boyfriend doing. I headcanon that my Magus does that too.

---

Before meeting me, I headcanon that he has tried ALL KINDS of stuff to get us together. Look.. when your lover lives in a whole other realm, you gotta try things that are straight up otherworldly to keep them. Listen, it makes sense.

Also he is canonically a product tester so I do see him testing all kinds of spells and rituals and shit before I met him.

I see him having an extra laptop that runs a whole playlist of witchy videos 24/7. Probably includes stuff like prayers for health, peace of mind, manifestations, affirmations, love spells, protections and stuff to ward of evil and all that.

---

On the more extreme end, game YB can't actually truly die even if you kill him. Tumblr YB self harms and offers to hurt himself terribly for you without any hesitation. And there's his fixation on blood.

I think the witchcraft he did before we officially met is probably pretty grimdark. If it's not straight up killing stuff on the altar, with his tendency to self harm I wouldn't be surprised if he did some extreme ritual like

"Dig out your own organs, put it on an altar and write chants in your blood 100 times"

Which he could pull off since he technically cant die.

He is more focused on spending time with me nowadays though and I would rather he treated his body like it won't just respawn forever.

---

When I first started hyperfixating on him back in 2021, Magus gave me a lot of deity worship vibes. 

He gave the impression that he had shrines and prayers and offerings and whole ass rituals dedicated to me. That includes body pillows, love dolls, posters, mannequins, all of that.

I wouldn't be surprised if he decorated his whole house based on his love for me.

---

He started giving more witchy vibes instead of deity worship vibes as I spent more time in the fandom.

We have been together for a while now, so the nature of his spells and rituals are kinda different than before we met or compared to our first few months together.

I like to think he is less reckless with the more violent or self destructive practices. He probably still does some dark arts but not to the extent he used to before we got more steady with each other.

I think a lot of it is because I'm more actively involved with him now, like making art and writing and being active in the fandom. So I see him paying more attention to me and the people I'm interacting with and less time allocated to witchy stuff.

---

Old witchy headcanons of Magus on Twitter

Sorcerer AU - #sorcerer au

There's between 5-10 fic posts in this tag so yeah.. the lore/character building is there.

---

Clothes

I will admit, I have put him in A LOT of outfits over time. His closet must be pretty big. Oh, my metrosexual husband~

---

He definitely has the Tumblr YB trait where he will cherish every gift you give him so.. unfortunately I do see Magus having a big ass closet with all the outfits I have edited him in.

If we do get together I personally prefer him in simple clothes unless we are going out somewhere fancy like his Sunday best or whatever. A lot of his clothes will just be there gathering dust for the most part.

He would spend time to dust them off and maintain them the way he polishes his bottle caps, However he would spend most of his time on me generally so I do see his clothes getting neglected.

I have thought about clothes rental as a side income but .. nah he's not sharing.

---

Question : Would he ask you which outfit you would like to see him in?

Listen.. I'm terrible at making decisions. Having to choose between A and B would stress me out. 

I see him picking an outfit on his own. Or if I tell him I'm in the mood for a specific look, he will just wear that. I headcanon he wearing simple clothes for the most part. Tshirt and shorts, the usual.

If we don't go out, he's just in his underwear.. or naked. His birthday suit is the best suit :))

..Hygiene may be a factor though, so maybe underpants.. or booty shorts.

---

Skin Colour

Most of the videos on my Magus-tok show him.. being white. And it's like.. I kinda wish my feed showed more videos of people doing stuff like this but like.. with melanin? He's grey, not white.

I see his skin colour being closer to this tbh.

(Get your shit together, algorithm)

[feathersandfarmers]

Also, What is Kipper Tweedy’s relationship with her aunt is like in between the first Chicken Run and it’s sequel Dawn Of The Nugget?

hmm...I haven't given it too much thought since it's a bit hard for me to see how Kip could fit into the sequel with it making sense. So for now I have limited ideas! but I can jot down a few loose ideas I have in mind:

I feel Kip would love her aunt no matter what....but things would have gotten a little more complicated between the two since life had changed so much. Since Kip would be roughly about 16 in the events of the second movie, I feel she'd be able to stand up to Mrs Tweedy a lot better and defend herself (meaning she'd talk back if she felt her aunt crossed a boundary.).

Perhaps, since Kip has always been "different", we'd see Mrs. Tweedy make occasion snide remarks about how her niece has never grown out of her weirdness....maybe even some passive-aggressive comments whenever Kip mentions her Uncle Willard.

This one's pretty tragic, but since Kip's aunt and uncle are no longer together (and probably divorced after the events of the first film)Kip, who'd have been around 10, would have been devastated about this news. She felt the three of them wouldn't be a family anymore, and it caused her to be quite depressed for a while to deal with all the changes. (I'm actually thinking about making a drawing or short comic about Ginger comforting Kip about this) Maybe it would still make her sad no matter how old she got, but she'd just learn to live with the pain as she grows. (this one pains me because I went through this, and I don't want to hurt Kipper so badly)

Another idea is that Willard Tweedy would turn the farm into an apple orchard! He'd grow apple trees all across his land, and have people come and pick apples in the fall. Kip would help her uncle run the business: she'd give rides on the haywagon to children, make posters to advertise their business (Kip is a great artist), take care of the trees, greet guests, and hand out buckets for them to put their apples in, etc. So when she's not at Chikin Island, or with her aunt, she'll be helping out at the apple orchid.

I have a rough idea that Mrs.Tweedy would try and get Kip to help out with the new nuggets business in some ways, and Kip, wanting to save the chickens, would act as a double agent. (I'm just not sure how). I'd certainly want Kip to do something heroic in the sequel..maybe an arc where she's too scared to drive at the beginning of the movie, and she tells the chickens how she failed her driving test again,...then maybe she's the one to bravely drive the truck out of the factory, off the draw-bridge and back to safety? not sure

anyway, these are all very rough ideas that I'm not even sure i want to commit to. The Chicken Run movies are already so good that i don't want to change them with my character, so this is just for fun! (lemme be cringe in peace) If i ever get more ideas, i'd like to write them on this here blog!

[four-white-trees]

Early Sunday Six since I'll be pretty busy today. More Sugi! I'm finding progress slow but very rewarding on this fic. Spoilers for Judgment in this one.

Tagging: @overdevelopedglasses @jichanxo @passthroughtime @fragilitease @danketsuround and also @mike----wazowski and @skysquid22 for posterity's sake but i know they may not read this :P

Looking at the two of us, the average person would be quick to label Tsukumo as an idle layabout. Even I thought as much when I first met him. If Yagami hadn’t impressed on me how crucial Tsukumo was to his work, I’d have assumed the guy spent his days watching cartoons and stalking auction sites for figurines all day. And while that was a good portion of Tsukumo’s leisure time, he was also a skilled programmer, and he made a good living.

Meanwhile, I’m a criminal. I haven’t even had a steady job since, well…I’ve never had a steady job. Not one that could make a living, anyway. I subsided off stealing and couch surfing for years. Of the two of us, I’m the real loser.

Which was why I had thought up the idea to start a detective agency. A crazy idea for someone like me. I’d seen just the lengths Yagami’s work had taken him, and any sane person would have decided that sort of thing isn’t for them. But in all fairness, it wasn’t like private detectives usually got caught up in conspiracies with the Health Ministry. From what I’d seen, most of Yagami’s work involved boots-on-the-ground hard work helping the people of Kamurocho.

If I could do something like that, if I could be just a little bit like Yagami, then maybe I could make something of my life. Be a bit less of a loser. And maybe I could become someone Emi would be proud of.

My foot catches on the corrugation of an aluminum roof I land on, and my ankle rolls. I follow the momentum, relaxing my body so I don’t sprain my ankle, but I land hard and noisily on the roof. With a groan, I roll onto my back and test my ankle. No pain, no soreness. At least not there. I’ll have a bruise develop on my hip, I think, but then that’s nothing new for me.

Catching my breath, I pull myself into a sitting position. The roof sits low between two taller buildings on my right and left. The street is not far below, maybe twenty feet. I’m sitting on a single unit built over a small parking garage. Hopefully, if the unit is occupied, its owner is not home.

Usually I don’t fall like that, but any time I think of Emi while running I tend to get distracted. Still, it’s hard not to think of her. She’s been my constant companion in my mind since her death. It’s a little easier to bear her loss now, having shared it with others. I want to make her proud. I want to do right by her and Okubo.

That’s why I’m here, in Yokohama

[be-side-my-self]

First watch of Season 4 of Only Murders In The Building. (E5)

Rewatch of ONLY Murders In The Building to prepare for season 4:

<Part I> // <Part II> // <Part III> // <Part IIII> // <Part V> // <Part VI> // <Part VII> // <Part VIII>

<S4 E1> // <S4 E2> // <S4 E3> // S4 E4

This is no rewatch but my new posts can also easily be blocked because I'll continue to use #OMITBRewatch as a tag. I'll also tag #OMITBS4. While quoting, I use M, O, C for the main characters.

S4 E5

... the script writer for the movie - Marshall P. Pope - is probably such a fanboy... I wonder if he wrote/read fanfiction...

Oh lol! I was not aware that he narrates the beginning. I just wanted to mention him when I saw the "what happened in the last episodes" or what you call it.

Fake beard.

Quoting Ace Ventura is always good. I have no idea who David Foster Wallace is... but I looked him up. Yeah idk.

-> Intro to Joel & Clementine -> The relationship -> The procedure -> Discovering the Truth -> escaping the procedure -> resolution I never saw "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" but that is the second Jim Carrey movie within one or two minutes.

I assume the movie poster in the background is for Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blowup", though I could not find that movie poster but we can read the name and "first english film" (what a weird plot in that movie).

No, the voice in your mind that calls you a fraud will never go away.

Lmao Oliver had that speech prepared.

OKAY, BEV.

Why would someone on the movie kill Sazz?

Bev: "Well, here's me that night, in LA, at Variety's Power Women Party for the 100 Most Powerful Women Under 100. It was of course, at the Power Room."

Lmao... not everyone is you, Charles.

Bev is a freak.

"Jack Jonk" I'm surprised he was an olympic swimmer with that name and not a wrestler or a porn star.

... Detective Williams is into big guys and pretty women?

Mabel is a podcast producer!

.... the twins are so weird.

"The Jonk jonked my jonk till I jonked."

lmao Charles.

Marshall is just a nerd, not a killer.

Pretty sure that neither of the main trio read teh script.

Bev: "Come sit down with me. Let's see if we can pass the Bechdel test."

The podcasts are about... peoples and buttons. She could have gone with the "working animals" idea because that is actually good.

Glen: "Ah, when'd you grow the beard, lassie?" C: "That's not Mabel."

Marshall did a great job with the script.

... lmao Charles put himself in a suit and the story he tells is hilarious.

... Oliver trying to reenact Charle's theory and failing amazingly and running into John McEnroe? Hilarious xD

... guys it's been more than one! It's been a team of murderers. Or a stunt person? Or multiple stunt persons?

Holy shit.

... creepy.

Jack Jonk jonked all seven dwarfs on the gender-bend version from Snow White. ... I'm... what.

What

.... WAHT

... two people.

Yes.

The twins

HOLY SHIT?!

Now to wait until tuesday...

[themculibrary]

Nakia/T’Challa Masterlist

and this love came back to me (ao3) - thekiwi_isin G, 1k

Summary: After the events of Endgame, T'Challa reunites with Nakia, and meets his son for the very first time.

Black Panther and Silver Lion (ao3) - The_Unlimited T, 58k

Summary: During a trip to Wakanda, Roxas and Bucky learned from Leon and T'Challa about how Leon had been there before. It turns out, he crash landed on Earth some time back and ended up involved in their attempt to apprehend a vibranium thief, followed by a plot done by T'Challa's murderous cousin invading and briefly taking control of the throne for himself. It's official: their lives will never be normal again...

Countdown (ao3) - nanasekei N/R, 1k

Summary: During his life, T’Challa falls in love three times.

Kandake (ao3) - HerenorThereNearnorFar G, 11k

Summary: Ramonda helps Nakia prepare for queendom, in a very Wakandan way. There are traditions for Black Panthers, and there are traditions for those who marry them, and they both get pretty wild.

Alternate Title: Bachlorette Party In A Graveyard, Talking About Your Dead Ancestors, Getting Wild, and Fighting Your Goddess.

Like an Antelope in Headlights (ao3) - mrs_d G, 2k

Summary: T'Challa has a habit of freezing when he sees Nakia.

moonlight walks / t'chakia (ao3) - valmadeamistake G, 1k

Summary: Sometimes, T'Challa wants to kiss her so badly he doesn't even ask.

Musings of the White Wolf (ao3) - SeleneJessabelle12626 G, 65k

Summary: Wakanda was fascinating place for any outsider, but its people were what interested Bucky the most.

A series of semi-interconnected one shots about Bucky's life in Wakanda.

rhythms of unseen drums (ao3) - lissomelle T, 3k

Summary: King or country, which do you serve?

Nakia passed every test to join the Dora Milaje but one.

Styrofoam (ao3) - Shaylinne nakia/t'challa, okoye/natasha T, 10k

Summary: Okoye is the General of the Dora Milaje, she’s the picture of strength and stoicism; she’s weathered storms greater than her heritage and she’s slayed beasts that the greatest storytellers couldn’t dare conjure up. She’s an instrument of grace and a hand of justice, but she’s also just a woman with a beating heart and she used to be a little girl who ran away from things that scared her.

In the wake of news that sliced Wakanda to the bone, she’s going to need to come to terms with every side of her to continue standing strong by her King’s side in his hour of need. And sometimes, that means a slightly improvised murder road-trip with someone you barely know (Everett Ross) that’s actually not about murder at all, but what you’d order at Subway.

Okoye on T'Challa's death, cancer and staying strong for others.

take my hand (take my whole life too) (ao3) - dreamweavernyx G, 7k

Summary: T’Challa is pinning his campaign poster onto the board outside the music room when someone clears their throat behind him. He startles, and turns around to see an impeccably-dressed girl standing peering at him from behind pink-rimmed glasses.

“Hi,” she says, not even waiting for him to remove the two pins he’s holding in his mouth. “Nakia. Guess we’re enemies?”

T’Challa blinks at her for a moment, and she raises an eyebrow, glancing pointedly behind him at his campaign poster. He turns to look too, noticing how it’s sagged on its side due to only having one corner pinned before the interruption.

“Ah,” he says, turning back to her and nodding. “T’Challa. That’s me.”

Or, T'Challa and Nakia, through the years.

T'Challa's Nightly Patrol (ao3) - LeeMorrigan G, 3k

Summary: Every night, T'Challa takes a walk to calm his racing mind and to check in on his loved ones.

The Long Path (ao3) - NyxEtoile, OlivesAwl M, 43k

Summary: Okoye turned the page of her magazine. "Any closer to figuring out what is your kind of job?”

Glancing over, Nakia said, “You once put the idea of being a spy in my head, and I still can’t shake it.”

"When you tell T'Challa about how you're running off to be a spy, do not blame it on me.”

To Be A King (ao3) - ShootWithIntentToKill G, 2k

Summary: Moments in the life of T'Challa.

To Hold the Oceans in Her Hands (ao3) - YourPalYourBuddy T, 2k

Summary: Now, she pulls T’Challa to his feet and smiles and tugs him after her as she runs to the water. He stumbles and she laughs and he sticks his tongue out and as the water splashes cold to her thighs, Nakia is, quite simply, happy.

The bay water streams off T’Challa’s forehead when he kisses her. Nakia frames his face with her hands, and his lips tastes like the ocean. ______________

Nakia x T'Challa, post Black Panther. Nakia's POV.

wakandan sunrise (ao3) - captainafroelf G, 1k

Summary: a wittle scene of my babies

with all that i am (ao3) - Anonymous T, 1k

Summary: Nakia offered him a smile in the here and now. “You’re up late,” she observed quietly.

[alltimefail-sims]

OKAY SO LITTLE UPDATE AND SCATTERED THOUGHTS ON THE NEW EP

It turns out that removing 95% of your mods will improve the game's overall ability to run. Not shocking, but it's definitely a thing lol. I've also learned that some mods, while amazing conceptually, will probably not be added back into my game. This isn't on the modders: some mods are just so complex that I honestly can't keep up with them and therefore can't enjoy their features to the full extent. I do miss my custom recipes, wonderful whims, and a few lumpinou mods though (but that's really it so far).

I also removed all my custom sliders because I have no idea what is broken and what isn't at this point. Shocked to say I don't miss most of them, so I think it might be time I clean that folder out. I did, however, miss my presets!!! Especially body and mouth presets! Likely gonna tidy up those folders and then add those back in.

Kijiko eyelash remover seems to be working perfectly fine in my game, so if you use that one you are probably good to go.

The new pack's CAS items are good! I don't think I'm going to use a lot of it outside of sims in Tomarang, but that's okay. As of right now I am not planning to do an in-depth review of the CAS items because I pretty much just feel "fine" about all of it across the board: I don't hate anything but I'm not absolutely in love with anything either. Idk if I'm just feeling this way or if others are as well, but it seems like a lot of the items (especially the hairs) aren't really new and they're just modifications of things we already have... but that could be just me. I will say the cute dress with the slit up the side... chef's kiss. Needed more swatches though!

One unexpected item that I did love was the tea kettle!! I'm never buying a tea magic brewer or tea pot ever again. I never realized how badly I needed the ability to only make one cup of a tea/hot chocolate/coffee at time but it has been a game changer. I don't have much to say about the build/buy... it's all really nice. 🤷‍♀️ Wish there were more items that really stood out, but for the most part it's all just good, simple pieces with a few beautiful wall hangings (nice posters, a few good plants, love the baskets, standing toilet is a nice addition, adore the plastic garden chairs, etc.). Functional radiators, water tanks, etc. were fantastic additions with this pack and I would have been happy if they were just decor tbh (and was expecting them to be) but the fact that they aren't makes me very happy. Compatibility across packs is done far too rarely, so I'll let the sims team have this one crumb of a win.

I'm still testing this pack out so gameplay features are being dicovered bit by bit. Haven't ran into some of the big bugs people have been having, but I'm still early in the save and playing as a tenant (I stand by the fact that I have 0 interest being a property owner). The tester sim I made (Riley, she/they) vibed so hard with Vanesha Cahyaputri. Like the two of them have "amazing compatibility" and had full bar friendship almost instantly and I did not make Riley with any partner in mind... I didn't even know Vanesha was a canon lesbian! But they haven't had a single negative interaction soooo brb I'm on my way to make her over ASAP because I loooooovee a good sapphic friends to lovers arc. 😂

Lastly: I have some asks in my inbox. I swear I'm not ignoring you if you've messaged me, it's just been a chaotic few days as December is always so busy. I will answer them as soon as I can! Until the holidays are over I'll probably be posting sporadically! I'm still going to be here, but I'm enjoying just playing the game without any pressure to post about it.

Also, with updates breaking cc and sliders like crazy, it's unlikely I'll be sharing any sims outside of sim requests for a while. I'll still crank out builds, happily chat about my OCs, and reblog other people's content on here. For now I plan to just enjoy my time with my family and play the game stress free! ❤

Okay bye now!

[teegeeteegee]

Super Mario Bros Wonder Review

Well, I went ahead and wrote a review about this wonder of a game (pun intended). It's a long one, so be prepared! 😂

Super Mario Bros Wonder is the latest 2D platform from Nintendo starring the company’s beloved mascot: everyone’s favorite heroic plumber Mario. I recently finished the game and thought to do a review of it. If anyone is interested in my thoughts, keep reading.

Before I begin, I will issue a warning. There will be spoilers posted in this review, so for anyone who hasn’t seen or played the game yet and doesn’t wish to be spoiled, I suggest you stop reading right now. Also, everything said here is purely my own opinion. If there are any insults or flames because of disagreement of my opinions, they will be deleted, and the posters will be blocked. With that said, on to the review!

Plot:

The plot of SMBW is Mario and company are visiting the Flower Kingdom via invitation of its ruler, a caterpillar-like creature named Prince Florian. Florian shows off a Wonder Flower, which is a prized possession of the Flower Kingdom. The gang is in awe of it; however, this would be short lived. Bowser, Bowser Jr., and Kamek arrive much to everyone’s displeasure. Bowser takes the Wonder Flower and uses it to merge with the Flower Kingdom’s central palace. Furthermore, he uses his newfound power to wreak havoc over the remainder of the Flower Kingdom, much to the distress of Florian. Mario and company leap into action to stop Bowser and restore peace to the Flower Kingdom, with Florian joining them in their endeavor.

The plot isn’t anything special, but this is typical for a Mario platform game where gameplay takes precedence. It’s one of the rare times in which the plot isn’t Bowser kidnapping Peach with Mario setting out to rescue her, so that should be a positive for those who are tired of that plot. For the record, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I don’t mind that plot and hope Nintendo doesn’t completely do away with it, but I digress.

Now I’ll split this review into things I found positive, negative, and neutral about this game.

Negatives (although it’s not so much negatives as it is not really caring for them):

Lack of Unique Abilities for Characters. I mentioned this earlier after watching the SMBW Direct, but one thing I was disappointed about was everyone playing the same outside of the Yoshis and Nabbit. I would’ve liked to see everyone have their own unique abilities such as Luigi’s higher jump with less traction, Peach’s floating, Daisy’s double jump from Super Mario Run, the Toads faster running, etc. The badges supposedly were to make up for the lack of individual abilities. An idea that comes to mind is having the characters keep their abilities; however, they cannot equip the badge that would give them an ability they already have. Speaking of badges…

Badges. Yeah, the badges were a bit of a letdown. While the customization idea is nice, they could’ve been implemented better. I only used a few in my playthrough (Parachute Cap, Floating High Jump, and Safety Jump for certain levels). The most disappointing badge was the Invisibility one. The ability to disappear sounds cool in theory; however, it was executed poorly. Not being able to see your character at all, not even an outline or something, was a problem. This was especially true in the Badge Challenge levels, including the Final-Final Test Badge Marathon where Nintendo evilly made it the final stage (no, I am not bitter about it, why do you ask? 🤣).

Boss Fights. The boss fights were completely underwhelming. It was disappointing that Jr. was the only boss you fought in the palace levels at the end of some sections. Furthermore, there wasn’t much variety in said fights. It was practically Jr. retreating into his shell trying to steamroll you along with some Wonder effects after every successful attack on him. Also, the airship levels were disappointing. I would’ve liked to see a boss fight at the end of the stage instead of going across a conveyor belt and pressing a conspicuous button that shuts down the airship. Seeing that Kamek was the one to summon them, they could’ve had him be the boss (as an aside, Kamek was seriously underutilized in this game). If not him, at least use Boom-Boom and/or Pom-Pom. The last criticism I have is they could’ve at least had the player battle Jr. and Kamek one more time in the final stage before taking on Bowser himself. The gag with Jr. appearing at the beginning of the final stage fell short.

Positives:

Variety of Characters. Although I lamented their lack of inherent abilities, I love how there is such a wide variety to pick from. Anyone can play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Blue Toad, Yellow Toad, and Toadette for regular characters as well as four Yoshis (Green, Red, Blue, Yellow) and Nabbit for beginners. Speaking of the Yoshis and Nabbit, I don’t mind that they’re beginner characters although I never used them (though I was tempted to a few times). If anything, it encourages more players of different skills to enjoy the game. Going back to Daisy, her appearance as a playable character in a mainline game has to be great for her longtime fans.

Visuals/Designs. The game is absolutely gorgeous. The colors pop out vividly, and the Flower Kingdom itself is well designed. The level designs fit the mood of the stages well, and I liked how they added the playable background a la TTYD. The character designs were great as well, although it was kind of jarring to see Peach and Daisy the same height as Mario and Luigi since both princesses are taller than the brothers. However, that’s a minor nitpick. The Poplins were also nicely designed, and the buds opening on their heads when happy is a cute touch. Finally, Florian himself was adorable. I still remember there was wild speculation that he was Prince Haru. 😂 Fortunately, that's not the case here.

Powerups. The new powerups are Elephant, Bubble, and Drill. I enjoyed using all three of them and found them useful at times; however, if I have to pick a favorite, it would be Drill. For starters, the colors are the best, IMO. Also, the ability to KO almost every enemy from above makes jumping a lot less stressful to worry about. Finally, there’s the drilling ability itself. Being able to burrow in the ceiling or underground is something I certainly took advantage of. As for the other two, Bubble was the least useful for me, but it still has its merits. I had fun trapping enemies in bubbles and using them to reach items and enemies trapped in walls. Last but certainly not least, Elephant was great (I particularly found the tails wiggling as they enter doors hilariously adorable). Everyone saying ‘Wowee Zowee’ when transforming was really cute. In addition, whacking everything away with the trunk and squirting water was addicting, especially the former. It’s too bad the water couldn’t be used to attack enemies, oh well.

Talking Flowers.To be honest, I thought these guys would be fun to listen to at first then become more annoying as the game went on. However, I found myself smiling at them throughout the entire game. They weren’t there just to talk; they had some encouraging words for the players as well as hinting at things such as hidden objects or where to go. The only time I found them somewhat irritating was when I kept failing some of the Badge Challenges, but that was more of a lack of skill on my behalf than them.

Wonder Flower Effects. This was hands down my favorite aspect of the game. From changing the level dynamics to turning the player into something weird such as a rolling spike ball or even a goomba (which honestly was my least favorite effect), nearly every single Wonder Flower effect was a treat to experience. Some were more difficult to go through than others: the main one I struggled with was the Secret of Shova Mansion level. I thought the Bowser statue had to be pushed back towards the Shova; it wasn’t until I accidentally pushed the wall on the right when I learned what I had to do.🤣 One of the best and most popular effects came from Piranha Plants on Parade, in which the Piranha Plants sang and walked.

To be honest, I’m more partial to The Semifinal Test Piranha Plant Reprise, but both are great to listen to.

Speaking of listening…

Soundtrack. The soundtracks from Mario games are typically very good, and this was no different. Each song fits their atmosphere nicely. There was not one point in which I wanted to turn the volume down, and that’s pretty much all I can ask for. My favorite tunes came from the Fungi Mines and Deep Magma Bog worlds. While it’s not my favorite overall soundtrack from a Mario game, it’s still a pleasure to listen to, and there will be some songs I’m sure will be some songs that will assault my mind for a little while.

Level Design. The level designs were great, even without the Wonder Flower effects. Besides the regular levels, the additions of the KO Arena and Search Party levels were a blast to play through. The Special World levels each provided a unique set of challenges. Then of course, there is the Final-Final Test Badge Marathon level. That was the most frustrating level I have played since Crown Champion’s Road in Super Mario 3D World. However, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment when I finally completed it (it only cost me 40 lives and 80% of my sanity). As I mentioned earlier, however, having the Invisibility Badge section last is pure evil. Fortunately, I was able to get the gold flag post on the first try; otherwise, I may have destroyed my controller because I had no intention of going through that again just to get it. The last badge was funny to use (the one thing I won’t spoil); however, it was underwhelming as a final reward. Besides that, the levels get an A+ in my book.

Neutral:

Voices. As we all know, Charles Martinet stepped away from his role as the voices of Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi a couple months back. However, it was also revealed that Deanna Mustard no longer voices Daisy, which is sad to see. I’m happy Samantha Kelly is still around, and I hope she gets to voice Peach in Princess Peach Showtime because it would be a shame for her to not voice Peach in her first solo game in almost two decades. Back to Wonder, Kevin Afghani is the new voice for Mario and Luigi, and this is the game in which he makes his debut. He has some big shoes to fill seeing how beloved Martinet is in the Mario community. I used Mario during my playthrough, and I have to say he did a very credible job voicing the heroic plumber. He kept the cheerful energy Mario is known for, and that’s the main thing I hoped to hear. I’ve only heard a few clips of Luigi via online play when other players used him, however, so the jury is still out on that. The same can be said for Giselle Fernandez, who is the new voice for Daisy. Those are the only reasons I have them here in the neutral section.

The Final Boss Battle. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, the aesthetics, music, and concept were interesting. It was a fun experience. On the other, the battle itself was one of the easier ones. It was over when I felt it was only getting started. At the end of day, if there’s a word on how I felt about the Final Boss Fight, it would be ambivalent.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, Super Mario Bros Wonder was a great experience like I mentioned previously. While there were some things I didn’t care for too much, the positives far outweigh the negatives. As a longtime Mario fan going back to the original Super Mario Brothers, the main thing I wanted was great gameplay and to have fun, which is a staple in the Mario series. SMBW gave me all of that and then some. 😁Although I’m going to take a break from it now thanks to the Final-Final Test Badge Marathon level draining me, I can safely say I will pick this up and play it again some time in the future. Maybe it will be after I play the Super Mario RPG remake (which I preordered and hope to play on the day it arrives). It is one of the better platformers and a step up from the New Super Mario Bros games (for the record, I’m probably in the minority when I say I enjoyed the NSMB series considering how maligned the games are. Having said that, I will not tolerate any shade towards it. 😤). I probably missed a few things in this review, but I’d like to think I hit the majority of the topics I wanted to talk about. 😂

Score:

8.8/10

[statusquoergo]

“Come on.”

“Uh?”

Diane looks up as Naomi stands and holds out her hand as if this isn't a ridiculously careless thing she's asking her to do, as if neither of them has the good sense to mention that neither one of them has any idea what they're getting themselves into. As if neither of them might be walking straight into a trap of their own making, or nothing much will change at all and they'll forget about each other in a month, or a few days. As if it's a risk worth taking to find out which.

As if there's anything else to do today.

“I'm not going to the hospital.”

“I know.” Naomi reaches a little closer. “I have a first aid kit at home.”

Enough to get them through, that's all. Enough for now.

“You know how to wrap it?” Diane asks as she takes Naomi's hand to pull herself up, as though the answer might change her mind somehow. Naomi smiles a little, as though she knows it just as well that it won't.

“Yeah.” She sets Diane's hand down on her shoulder. “It's not far, come on. I'll carry you down the stairs.”

“You'll drop me.”

“I will not.” Naomi urges her forward, along the concrete path out of the park. “I mean I'm just offering, I don't have to.”

It's a nice gesture, though, isn't it? It was a nice thought.

They walk slowly down the street, stepping more or less in sync past the general store with the baking supplies just past the doorway, turning at the corner to walk toward the coin laundry that's open even at three in the morning and also on holidays. A hand-drawn poster in the window of the discount shoe store across the street loudly advertises VACUUMS REFURBISHED while a Times New Roman printout on the telephone cubicle in the middle of the block offers “suitable compensation” in exchange for willing test subjects, No Questions Please; a few steps farther along stands an apartment building that somehow looks like it's missing a couple of stories, and Diane shifts her weight to her good leg as Naomi steps away to fumble with the lock on the front door.

“It's the door on the left,” Naomi says, the door sticking only slightly as she shoves it open. “When you get to the basement.”

She opens the first door on the right, a stairwell that only leads down.

“Upstairs is that door over there, but I don't know any of the neighbors, so. I'm not gonna introduce you to anyone.”

That's fine. Diane doesn't want to know any of them, either.

Naomi walks down the stairs first and doesn't try to carry her.

“Bathroom's at the end of the hall,” she says. “The taps aren't broken, the water's just cold when it's cold outside and warm when it isn't, but if you let it run for a little while, it'll...fix itself. And make sure you don't touch the water heater, it's metal and it gets really hot sometimes.”

Diane clutches the wooden banister nailed to the wall as she limps her way down and wonders how much of all this she's supposed to remember. All of it, probably. It isn't very complicated.

Naomi unlocks the door on the left and holds it open.

“You can sit on the bed.”

It's good of her to offer. It isn't much of a bed, really, more of a mattress pushed into the corner, but that isn't exactly a surprise, and it's good of her to offer all the same.

“Thanks,” Diane says, a little too late to seem quite natural. Naomi hums a disinterested acknowledgment and doesn't seem to mind.

“Take off your shoes.”

Diane promptly unties her sneakers, placing them on the floor beside the bed as Naomi kneels in front of her with a roll of ACE bandage in her hand and her eyes focused on Diane's ankle like she's the only attending physician in the entire complex who doesn't have better things to do with her time than tend to something as trivial as all this. Diane should count herself lucky the timing worked out the way that it did.

Lucky, was it? It's about time.

The single bulb in the overhead light flickers a little as if a public execution has just disrupted the power grid, or someone's turned on too many air conditioners at once and blown a fuse a few floors up.

“Don't worry about it,” Naomi says. Diane doesn't bother to assure her that she wasn't.

[blondebeardtheparent]

Captain’s Log

Stardate 20240520

No school today

It’s been a weekend. We got the results of the spinal tap—no trace of leukemia in the marrow—so that’s good. We ended up skipping the MRI and getting a CT instead. This morning Simon had the tumor extracted. If it’s benign, no harm done. If it’s not, it needs to come out anyway. They will be testing it for the next five days or so. Once that is done, we will have a better idea what we are dealing with.

My health has failed. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. I’ve got a sore throat and I’ve been sleeping pretty much since I walked in the door at 10:30—it’s 3:30. I’m feverish and have a headache. I probably shouldn’t go to the hospital tonight. Not sure if I will anyway, but my status is pretty bad.

Not sure what Simon’s status is.

I figure I should end on a high note, so I’m going to update my reading list from our Philippines trip. The best vacation is one where you can snorkel, surf, AND read.

Updated Reading list

Finished reading

Photo Portfolio Success

Teach Yourself Tumblr

Studio Anywhere

Combatting Cult Mind Control

Forgiveness Made Easy

How Do I Do that in Photoshop?

Start With No

The Blog Artist’s Handbook

Needless Casualties of War

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Entreleadership

The Elijah Task

The Photographer’s Eye

The Speedlight Studio

22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

The 1921 Annual of Advertising Art

Vintage Advertising and Art Designs

Vintage Movie Posters

Vintage Advertising Posters

The Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting and Running a Business

The Golden Age of Advertising—the 70’s

Renewal For the Wounded Warrior

Toxic Positivity

Highly Sensitive

Almost finished reading

Best Business Practices for Photographers

Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC for Photographers

One Million Followers

Deliverance and Inner Healing

21 Laws of Leadership