#i really like my partner but this is where it is hard for me

[frogsandfries]

I was introduced to the concept of zines in college, because of a partnered creative project. The first zine I ever contributed to was about social media. It did cost a fortune to print because it was done at the school's favored print shop, in full color.

I don't know how prevalent small bookshops selling zines used to be before the age of the internet, but I think I've only been to one bookshop that sold zines. Which is a real loss, imo. I wish there were more small bookshops and that I had more opportunities to explore zines. I think it's kind of inevitable that the internet caused things to change. Chicken wings and ribs used to be poor people food until they got gentrified. Printing on paper used to be the only way to access and disperse information. Now that we have the internet, it's unfortunately not surprising that zine making has been gentrified.

Plus, I'm sure a lot of people who would like to make zines wouldn't know what to put in one that they'd actually like to share with people. Furthermore, it can be hard to swallow the concept of "if I spend five dollars, I can share this with (let's say three people, for example)" when I can hit reblog or forward or send or submit.......for free.

And then there is the cliche of turning your hobby into a grind. If I can spend five dollars, make three zines, sell them for three dollars apiece, etc etc, maybe I don't need enough money to sell a hundred zines, I just need money to make fifty and I can use the rest of that money for groceries or rent and still keep making fifty zines every time I want to make a new one.

Oh, let's not forget that a lot of USians don't carry cash often if ever, anymore, so now I have to factor in the cost of card transactions, into the cost of my zines. Most people aren't going to find themselves in an avant garde bookshop. Most people may not even find my zines on Etsy or Shopify. This kind of forces an (optional) evolution: if I make a fifty page basically a proper magazine, but because it's full of (idk messages about the best places for poor people to eat in LA), I 'can' call it a zine, I can sell it on like, Amazon, or use a Kickstarter and distribute it nearly infinitely.

I can't look at zines through a pre-internet perspective. I don't have that perspective. I understand that zines should be accessible to those who have very little if any money left over after Life. It can feel tempting to make the flashiest, full color zine. It can feel necessary to print your twenty page zine in full color. It can feel necessary to do the entire thing on the computer. It can feel necessary to make it as professional as possible. It can start to feel like making an "old school" black and white, no computer, xeroxed zine is going to get your zine looked over because it's not flashy enough and nobody likes plain ole boring black and white. Or if I add a cardstock cover, maybe my zine will look a little more professional.

I think a lot of us don't come into zines with any kind of mentor to guide us and regulate the culture, and us younger folks come into it with a mindset that we have to have in the rest of our lives: one upsmanship. If the last guy or the first zine we ever saw had a really professional looking cover, we need one full color page. If that guy used a black and white cardstock cover, we need a color accented cardstock cover, we need a glossy full color cover.

Anyway, all this to say, personally, I don't think zines are the right medium for my creative endeavors. I don't think I say this as like, begging for someone to prove me wrong. I say this as a person who cannot tell a short story. I don't need to rely on zines to get my fanfic (although, even if AO3 did not exist and a monthly zine was the only way to get my Spirk fix, personally, I still wouldn't know where to get some sweet sweet Spirk zines; but that's a me problem).

I feel like I'm about twenty-five years too late to the zine scene.

the whole point of a zine is that it's cheap to produce, amateur and homemade. if you're being asked to apply to participate in a print project, it is not a zine. if the final product is being printed and bound professionally, it is not a zine. if you are being asked to enter into any kind of licensing agreement more complex than "my work can be reproduced as part of this publication" it is not a zine. nine times put of ten if the final product costs more than $5 you have left zine country. im so serious about this.

[shehungers]

FATHOMLESS

eldritch detective x reader |18+| 2.1k

you'd never noticed detective arsenè in the precinct before, even after a number of years working in the office. when you start to ask around about him, they confirm that he's always been there, but you're more worried that they're not mentioning that he has no face...

story warnings; dark content, dubcon leaning sort of noncon (blackouts and spotty memory), sexual content, grotesque + horrific details, this leans more mystery and uncanny valley than anything else, mentions of mc being a drinker, smoking, roughly proofread.

reposted from my deleted blog: theoxenfree.

please share your thoughts with me + reblog!

this is possibly a concept piece to a much larger supernatural, psychological piece. if you'd like to see that, let me know!!

Everyone at the precinct called him Detective Arsené, but they never said anything about his face.

It was simply that there wasn't one there, not that you were able to discern in any instance you'd seen him wandering the floor. You had blamed the long hours, glowing blue screens, useless eye prescriptions, corporate greed, and mixing alcohol with allergy medicine before you finally accepted what you were seeing was real, yet no one else noticed it apart from you.

“What's wrong with his face?” you'd ask anyone with the time to spare to listen.

“Who? Arsené?” they'd laugh, whether in disbelief that you were speaking about Watt City’s genius detective in such a fashion, or that they thought you were the funniest person in the office. “What are you talking about? He's always looked like that! Lay off the booze, yeah?”

Those responses had never been satisfactory enough, going as far to set you ill at ease for the remainder of your shift, sufficiently distracting you from furthering your workload because your mind always came back to the detective and his non-existent face.

“He looks pretty normal to me,” said a senior member in your division. An older man you'd come to know as forthright and virtuous with a history showing that integrity. He had taken eyes off his computer screen, bifocals aside, and pinched the high-point between his brows. “What's this about, really? I've worked with Arsené for years. You know that. He's been here since before I started. Good guy. Hard worker. Drinks too much, though. Just like someone else I know.”

But, this was the first time you had heard he'd worked with Arsené, let alone acknowledged his existence at all. There was no reason for him to lie; he had spoken without inflection, warily, almost accusatory towards the end when he mentioned the alcohol.

“Detective Arsené? Well, I think he's really handsome. He just has that look about him, y'know?” The next person you questioned was a junior at the precinct. A pretty woman who was all silky black hair and long, blunt nails that never touched a surface where they'd be put in peril.

She always used her knuckles type on the clunky keyboard, and did so as she went on, “I've heard he has a really specific type, though. I've also never seen him take anyone out, or take a partner on cases, now that I think about it. Isn't he just a stand-up guy? I'd say he's the sort to bring home to mom and dad, but I hear he's got a drinking problem. Why do all the hot ones have vices like that?”

She particularly enjoyed her gossip, especially if it involved the detectives at the precinct. You were positive she'd never mentioned Arsené before now. As smart as she was, she didn't look below the surface very often when it came to men, so for her to say nothing at all of the detective’s smooth face was mystifying.

After that, you started paying attention to Arsené in a way you convinced yourself was discreet, which meant slowly peeking your eyes above your computer screen to observe his movements across the floor. Always in motion, he stalked around the place with undaunted familiarity, maneuvering the razored corners of desks and blockades from doors and walls, and languidly sidestepped the oncoming traffic of bodies in such a way that seemed premeditated.

Practiced.

Rinse and repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

This staunch dedication of yours lasted well over a week before anything came of it until one morning you found him waiting in your seat, teetering a bloated manila folder on a thigh while bouncing it impatiently. A very real sensation of unease took hold of the back of your neck, like a cold hand stroking lightly at the downy hairs there until they stood straight.

You thought about pretending you hadn't seen him, swiveling around, and leaving in a burst of urgency. It'd be easy to call in to say you had a personal emergency or became suddenly, very viscously ill and wouldn't be able to handle staring at a screen for twelve hours. No one would ask questions because you were exemplary, always on time, and seldom took time off as you couldn't afford to do so.

Arsené’s head slanting sideways and the waxy, flat face pointing directly towards you prevented you from acting on that impulse, however. He gestured you over with a lethargic wave, though the jitteriness in his leg seemed to worsen from impatience into sheer excitability.

“Clocked in early, aren't you? You have quite the habit of doing that, I've noticed.” He greeted, voice simultaneously undefinable and velvety. It wasn't so deep that you felt like it was gravelly or reverberated in the same way a baritone would, but there was a heftiness to it that weighted in your mind, as if it were possible for someone to reach through all your blood, tissue, and bone and press down directly on your brain. “I've seen you come in a few times, hours before anyone else. And you know what I think? I think, ‘That’s the kind of person who keeps a place like this running. That's the kind of person we want here in this precinct. That's the type of person who believes in the work that we do and who I’d want as my partner’.”

As much as you wanted to get away from the horrid sight before you, the no-face and potent voice wriggling around the wrinkles in your brain, you couldn't bring yourself to do so just yet. Not while you had questions you couldn't find answers to, not while you needed to sedate yourself at night because they ruthlessly endangered your dreams and were thieves of peaceful slumber.

“I've never met you before,” you said, giving a cordial handshake when he had offered it to you. The skin of his palm was warm and humanlike, though his grip was all wrong and entirely too firm. You didn't convey this dissonance to him, though. “I've seen you around, though. Were you transferred from a different department or precinct? Everyone says you've been around for a long time, but I find it hard to believe I've noticed.”

“Oh? Well, they'd be right.” Arsené said, finally releasing your hand to take up the thick folder. “I've always been here, and I'm always here. Now, that aside, I've cleared it with the Chief and I'd like you to help me on a case that I'm stuck on. If I've read right, you're the most recent person who's looked through everything to update the records, correct?”

“Probably.” You didn't move when he rolled up another chair from a desk nearby. “I'm a Recorder. It's my job to go through files and periodically update them. I'm not qualified to help detectives on their cases, though. You'd need to speak to the Chief about getting an Assistant for that.”

“Ah, didn't you hear me? That's all been handled. Sit down. Sit down.” He waved you close, then took you by the arm to sit you in the chair next to him. “We have a lot to cover. I think we should start from the beginning and work our way through the evidence list, and then the interrogation tapes. After that, it'd be a good idea to revisit the site of the crime. Don't worry about clearances, I've got everything we need.”

It wasn't often that you saw the inside of the precinct after that day as Arsené particularly enjoyed his busywork and bringing you along for it.

Most days you simply operated as a Field Recorder by transcribing statements into the handheld device provided by the precinct to maintain a digital trail. The work wasn't especially difficult, but it did take a level of skill and technological literacy to be able to do effectively, more so to be the sort allowed to tail after a detective on his cases and still maintain an overall ninety-eight percent accuracy.

Despite your job dictating it as such, Arsené never allowed you to fade into the background or stand around as a fancy accessory to go with his title. Oftentimes, he utilized you as his sole confidant as he worked through evidence and suspects, waiting in revered silence for you to offer your insight (however weak it actually was), and afterwards only let you bask in a glow of confidence through streams of unending praise.

“Egads! Eureka! Genius! How is it that it never occurred to me that way? Truly, you're spectacular! You're divine! Who knows how long I’d be running around in circles if I didn't have you as my partner.” They were all slightly variating compliments, though essentially all the same at the core and all very untrue.

You'd never forgotten about the things your colleagues had said about him, of his unrivaled prowess and veneration as the best detective Watt City had ever come to witness. He didn't need you. He had never needed you to solve a case, so you had learned to take his praise in the same vein as you did the silky-haired woman’s comments on men: uninspired and shallow.

When your disinterest became palpable, he seemed to only rely on you more as though he couldn't stand to be burdened with the idea of a rift. He had started calling you late at night about cases, going as far to come knocking at your door and walking inside reeking of stale smoke and a haze of booze, neither of which you could comprehend as possible considering he had no face.

“I just don't get it. I just don't get it! Where am I going wrong?!” He said so wretchedly, sides of his head cradled in his hands that were tucked between his legs. “This case, it’s getting to me. It's getting under my skin. I can't figure it out. Have I finally met my match? Have I finally been defeated? You! You’ve got to help me. It can't end like this.”

For all his dramatics, there was something obscenely cruel behind his words. Perhaps he thought you wouldn't have caught onto it because you simply a Field Recorder, just a person at the end of the day.

“Why haven't you mentioned anything about the victim? You're acting like they don't exist, Arsené. Is this about solving the crime so they get justice and the family gets closure, or is this for your reputation?” you asked.

He immediately stopped complaining and jolted upright, taken by surprise like he had realized this oversight and wasn't sure how to navigate around it. On that glossy slate of a face, one you knew was piercing deep into you despite a lack of hollow sockets and rolling gelatinous orbs within, you could tell he was now thinking of an answer.

“Neither,” was what he gave you. “It's neither of those. Come here. Sit down and talk to me for a while. I can't go home like this.”

The pitying part of you usually won in those moments where Arsené presented himself as his weakest. There was a part of you that believed he was taking advantage of your feeble heart, your kindness, your blind generosity because at his worst, he'd find a way to strip you down and fuck you.

At least, that's what you assumed happened. You never really could remember as the memory was pitch black, his body was unfathomable above yours, but you were sure you felt his cock penetrating you, his hands desperately fondling your flesh and fat like there was too much to touch yet too little time to feel it all. He said things to you inside your head, words that you couldn’t seem to piece together yet ignited the tension between your legs, lit your skin on fire, and delivered lewd, high-pitched sounds to his ears that he reveled in.

He never left you a mess and he never spoke about those times after they happened. Since you were never sure of them yourself, they suffered the same indifference as his praise and the days simply moved onward in a similar way.

“Another case solved!” Arsené cheered, lifting a stout mug in the air for you to reciprocate with the long stem of your wine glass. It was a fragile tinkling sound, a gentle vibration up your fingers and into your wrist as you toasted his success. “I couldn't have done it without you, my beloved partner! If it's you and I, I could do this forever.”

You swirled the liquid inside; a light and dry, raspberry and vaguely earthy smell wafted up your nostrils before you tasted it and let your cheeks pucker. As you drank, you watched as Arsené lifted the stout towards the expanse of taut, clear skin that should've been his face, and saw liquid inside empty into nowhere.

[drdemonprince]

if people are curious about hypno audios where do you recommend they get started?? for context, have never been into the idea until recently in large part due to the asks people have been sending in and your responses and now im just like 👀👀👀👀

you're gonna hate this, but I really recommend starting with an actual hypnotist. An audio file is not magic, it requires a lot of conscious intention and practice in order for it to work, and more than that a familiarity with what a trance state feels like for you, and that's hard to dive into cold without any guided experience. Some in the community might not agree with me here, and that's fine, but I honestly think it's better to find a play partner on SleepyChat or a Discord group than it is to fire up a basic file off of Youtube and wonder if it's working or not. Even better than that is locating a hypnotist in person if you have a local erotic hypnosis scene or any conventions, of course, but that's admittedly even harder to do.

Now I know realistically that a lot of people won't start that way, or that it won't be feasible, in which case I recommend you pop onto Youtube and look for real, not necessarily kinky depictions of hypnosis and what hypnotized people look like. I found it easier to get into the headspace once I understood what the commonly recognized levels of trance are and what a deep or light trance can look like. You can also find some panels and teaching resources on hypnosis on Youtube.

Mark Wiseman is a great figure to get into the work of. I also reallllly enjoy some of Mark Cunningham's stuff (note: the content of what he talks about and has subjects experience is not sfw). Sammi Hypnotized has a ton of real-life demonstrations and files to look into. Material High, FF Productions, and Hypnosis on Display also release a lot of real hypnosis videos. Most of this stuff is pretty horny even on Youtube. But there is more casual street hypnosis type stuff too.

Hell, here have my entire hypnosis playlist on youtube. It's a mix of audio files, depictions of real-world hypnosis, and just porny clips from media.

Outside of what I've already recommended, the Two Hyp Chicks podcast is really informative and looks at a pretty wide range of activities that can be incorporated into hypnosis. One of the hosts, sleepinggirl, has also written books on hypnosis that are quite excellent. Her style is Ericksonian hypnosis, which is not my personal bag, but it may be yours, and at any rate she's a real scholar of hypnotic practice and history, so it's a good place to begin. Just don't give up on hypnosis if the style doesn't suit you. There are many different ways to play with this stuff.

After you have watched hypnosis work quite a few times, you may begin to empathize with the subject's mental state, or just really really want it for your own! That's when you'll be in better shape to try a file on your own. But really, you can try just following along with the instructions of hypnotists in these videos, keying into the sensations displayed by the subjects, and see if you start to feel a little something. A hypnotic state is a lot more subtle at first that most people are able to recognize, unless you're super suggestible or dissociative or otherwise "good" at it, but it's a muscle you can strengthen.

[my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction]

You know the stereotype of “Stoner boyfriend and goth girlfriend”? Cecil is prime for that. Imagine Cecil with a goth partner. He’s so interested in your weird little interests and thinks that look is really cool.

I can just see him high as fuck looking at your collection of spooky things while he’s high.

Imagine taking him to a goth club too. He doesn’t know the songs or anything but he’s high as balls and just vibing.

Cecil would fuck so hard with an alternative partner I just know it

Oh my gossshh! I absolutely adore this! He would!!!!!!!

(Just a tiny drabble!)

Cecil Dennis x f!Reader • Rating: 18+ pals • Masterlist• ao3• want to be tagged? | request info • buy me a coffee? •

Warnings: fluff, Cecil's high, not beta read, please let me know if I have missed a warning!

Word Count: 331

“I love these.” Cecil hums as he speaks, unintentionally stretching out the words. “They’re so great.” 

You bite back the little laugh that wants to escape your lips. Cecil is adorable, but when he’s high it’s like there’s an extra level that’s released. 

“You like these?” You stand behind him, pressing your chest to his back and point at the crystals he’s admiring on the shelf. 

He nods. “Love them.” He keeps his hands at his sides, his fingers flexing. You know he wants to touch them so badly, but he’s holding back. “Where do you get them all, do you find them?” 

You chuckle, “Find them?” 

“Yeah,” he nods, looking at you with a dopey grin. “Like in the ground?” 

“I haven’t mined for any sadly.” You stroke his hair and he presses his head into your hand. 

“No, I mean, like in the dirt. The ground. You know?” 

You don’t know.

He swallows and continues, “Like dig them up, like under trees.”

“Are you thinking of truffles Cec?” 

He pauses, thinking hard. “Maybe?” 

“Okay, well, don’t eat these. You’d break your teeth.” You say soothingly. 

He shakes his head rapidly. “I would never. Never. They’re yours. If anyone’s gonna eat them, it’s you. I’d never take that away from you.” 

You press your mouth against his shoulder and chuckle. “I don’t want to eat them Cec.” 

He nods like you’ve said something very wise. 

“Here,” you take a polished piece of obsidian. “Why don’t you hold this one?” 

His eyes light up like you’ve given him the keys to the universe. “Are you sure?” 

“Of course.” You stroke the hair on the nape of his neck with your free hand as you give him the stone. 

He takes it carefully, holding it reverently. Something about it reminds you of a small child holding a very tiny kitten. 

“You like it?” You ask softly.

He nods. “It’s the best. But not as best as you.” 

You snort and he beams. 

Thank you for reading!

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[captain-poodle]

i forgot i finished my rewatch the last two significant moments for fitzlittle is carnival set up when fitzjames is conferring with little during preparations and is all smiley and teasing <3 like fitzjames is cutely pushy with his attempt to cheer up little, and encourages his participation in the festivities by asking him if he's gonna dress up. it's too bad that little is allergic to parties and costumes it would seem sense he barely dresses up and as soon as jop & crozier show up he rips his costume off like he couldnt be divested of it fast enough.

but i do genuinely think fitzjames hoped that little would be cheered by everyone else also having fun at the party. like trying to raise the collective morale might trickle slowly into little's mood since fitzjames knows that little is being run ragged with minimal support on terror.

the last moment for them to me was when little was getting scolded by crozier and fitzjames stepped in to keep crozier from going in too hard. like fitzjames calling out to francis was the much needed break in the criticism moment that crozier was beginning to build into. like especially because once again nedward was left to make a tough decision that was really only A or B. like he either allowed the marines to arm more men (and potentially win some respect for giving them the authority to do something to make themselves feel safer) or Not arm more men (and potentially losing respect by not supporting their need for agency to feel safe). i dont think there was a way to navigate the situation with the knowledge that edward had. like he Did His Best.

i believe fitzjames also recognized that while he was having his private freak out that he was authoritatively unavailable so it was partially his fault that little was left without a captain's support in his decision making amidst the situation. like if fitzjames hadnt been playing with his new-old holes he would have been able to easily squash the mutineer's siege of weaponry because fitzjames is someone who carries himself with authority earned and deserved whereas little can only bolster that confidence in the defense of his captains' decisions that he is able to strongly agree with.

like little unfortunately was too sympathetic too often to the plights of those around him and oft gave into group panic. if he had been More stubborn he'd have had his authority as 3rd more respected but it certainly would have isolated him from the crew just like crozier was since also little does not have fitzjames's finely crafted charisma.

so essentially i think fitzjames kept crozier from really dragging little across the coals because of a sense of sympathy and failed responsibility. especially fitzjames even moreso than little felt the true weight of leadership and responsibility for the crew's morale during crozier's most distant moments (post flogging & sobriety speedrun).

anyway fitzlittle where fitzjames builds little's confidence to participate in decision making by both modeling a commanding aura and being supportively reactive to moments when little decides to take charge. it's like two vers who would otherwise prefer bottoming but together the more confident partner tops from the bottom.

fitzjames would train little so well...... turn him into an exemplary service top 💋 send tweet

i started a rewatch with my bestie and i noticed a couple of small details that i feel like is very fitzlittle. people have probably already pointed these things out but shrug anyway.

i think Little is very endeared to Fitzjames from the beginning. like Fitzjames posturing while wholly obvious is also reassuring from someone in command - like Fitzjames functions outwardly as someone who feels very secure in his command and kind of reassurances the structure going down from him in turn. When Fitzy is essentially just peacocking at dinner, Little plays along with it which i think is very adorable. like im sure everyone else was hmm'ing and ahh'ing at the appropriate turns (sans crozier lol), but Little really digests the story and makes a remark that thematically bolsters Fitzy's story! like it must have felt nice to be the person making a clever comment, but it's not like he was the storyteller so there isnt an immediate social reward for making the best comment. BUT Fitzjames enjoys it! He gives Little a gay ass little poke for the comment and Little smiles to himself in a way when someone you like gives you a compliment and it kind of makes your heart soar.

And after Franklin's death when Fitzjames is like barely holding it together in the room with them all present, Little visibly reacts with pain & sympathy to Fitzjames's emotional outburst. Like everyone looks mournful, and they also seem to be quietly trying to not draw attention to the fact that Fitzjames is like on the verge of a breakdown, but when Fitzjames finally snaps Little full body flinches! He looks so sorrowful for a moment before returning to a more schooled expression, like he seems to really react specifically to Fitzjames sadness and not the group sadness in general. Idk im just yapping lmao.

anyway one-sided FitzLittle where Little kind of adores Fitzy and wants him to like him and Fitzy does but not enough because we all know Fitzjames only has eyes for old geezers. Little who watches his handsome and kind commander and likes his stories and desperately wishes to reach out and comfort him but Little is a quiet worrisome man who reminds Fitzjames too much of an insecure Crozier.

anyway mkay bye 👋🏼

[solaris-amethyst]

💫Eterna Forest💫

✨Pairing: pokemontrainer!Hongjoong x pokemontrainer!gn!reader ✨Prompt: Hongjoong and his partner pokemon Pachirisu has gotten lost while wandering around Eterna Forest and the two of them bump into you and your partner Piplup, who also, coincidentally, happens to be lost. The two of you decide to team up to try and find your way out of the big forest. ✨Genre: Pokémon au aka set in the Sinnoh region, non idol au, fluff, comedy? ✨Word count: 5.6k ☀️Authors note: As promised Mina! Here it is🥰 @hongjoongspoetry hope you enjoy it! It turned out longer than I had anticipated but it was so much fun to write this💕 I'm contemplating making stories for the rest of the members now as well😅

Hongjoong looked around the vast forest. All he could see were trees and greenery, no matter where he turned he could not for the life of him find the way out. It was as if the forest itself had a personal vendetta against him solely to make sure he couldn't get out. His partner, Pachirisu, was perched onto his shoulder also looking around with his big round eyes.

"Let's face it Pachirisu... We're lost... I got no clue where we are and my map isn't helping me at all." He sighs before wrapping up his map and putting it into his backpack.

His pocketch light up with a notification and it informed him of the time. It was 14:30. It was the time he had promised his friend Seonghwa that he would call him from the tvphones at the pokémon center so they could chat and catch up on how things were going.

Seonghwa would unfortunately have to wait until he found his way out.

"Pachiii." His partner said puffing out his cheeks when he was unhappy with the situation before Hongjoong felt the squirrel lean forward and nibble his ear harshly.

"Ow ow ow! Stop that! I'm not happy either that we are lost but that's just the way it is." He gently pries Pachirisu away from his ear and said pokemon huffs before snuggling up to him as if to apologize for what he just did.

"It's in moments like this I wish I had caught a flying pokemon then we would have someone who could guide us from the sky." He says looking around, hoping to perhaps find a starly or maybe even a hoothoot but to his luck there were no flying pokémon around. And if they were Hongjoong were certainly not spotting them.

All he could see was just a wurmple climbing up a tree and a kricketot running away once it realized he had spotted said pokemon. The two of them sighs before Hongjoong continues to walk hoping that he will somehow find his way out before the day is over at least.

Not too far away from where Hongjoong were wandering around were you and your partner Piplup walking around trying to figure out how to get out of this darn forest as well.

"Piplup I really don't think we will find our way out today..." You sigh and your partner looks up at you from your hold with concern in his eyes.

"Lup?"

"We're probably gonna miss the contest in Eterna City... I had really hoped for us to get there in time to register and compete." You say feeling down about potentially missing the contest being held there, especially since you and your team had worked so hard practicing the introduction and combinations of attacks to make them stylish and powerful.

"piplup, pip!" Your best friend and partner raises one of his little flippers towards you as if telling you that the two of you will find your way out of here and will get to the contest before it's too late.

"Yeah... you're right! There's no need for me to be so down just yet! We'll find our way out of here!" You say with raised spirits before hugging him. Piplup made happy noises as you hugged him tightly, glad to see your spirits up again.

"Hmm let's see.. I'm sure this is the way! Let's hurry!" You say as you blindly starts running in a random direction, running through the thickness of the leaves and such you did not expect to crash into someone causing you and said person to fall down.

Him on his butt and you on your stomach.

"Ow ow ow." The two of you mutter at the same time and you quickly look up, feeling mortified that you practically tackled someone.

"I'm so sorry!! I didn't mean to run into you!" You quickly bow trying to apologize to the man who was gently caressing the part on his butt where he had landed.

"No it's okay I wasn't looking where I was going either." He admits before looking at you with a chuckle.

"Sorry but you got something in your hair." He motions towards you and your hand quickly shoots up to where he was pointing to find a twig and some leafs stuck.

"Oh thank you!" You thank him as you carefully pick it out of your hair.

"Ummm... you don't happen to know the way out of here and to Eterna City do you?" He asks curiously and you look at him in surprise before shaking your head.

"No sorry... I got no clue where I am currently, I lost my map when a shellos attacked us two with a water gun farther down the river." You tell him with a sigh while pointing to where you had come from.

"So you are as lost as I am then?"

"Seems so."

"Pachi!!!" Suddenly a ball of white fur was in front of you causing you to lean back in surprise causing the man to make a face and quickly reach for his friend.

"Sorry! Hey Pachirisu! Don't do that it's not polite to barge up in strangers faces like that! I'm so sorry for my partner, he just loves to do everything I tell him not to do."

That causes you to chuckle.

"Don't worry, there's no harm done at all. He's a charming little guy, aren't you?" You say going to scratch its chin when your own partner practically shoves the new pokemon off your lap before climbing up with a jealous look.

"Piplup pip lup lup!"

"Piplup! It is not nice shoving people or Pokémon like that! I'm so sorry uhhh... I never got your name?"

"Oh! My name is Hongjoong and this is my partner Pachirisu!" He tells you with a smile and you quickly bring out your Pokédex wanting to know more about his pokémon.

The device speaks up in a robot voice as you scan the pachirisu: "Pachirisu the elesquirrel pokémon. It makes furr balls that crackle with static electricity. It store them with berries in tree holes. It makes electricity with pouches in its cheeks and shoots charges from its tail. It lives atop trees. A pair may be seen rubbing their cheek pouches together in effort to share stored electricity."

"Nice to meet you Hongjoong, Pachirisu! My name is Y/n and this is my partner Piplup!" You say motioning towards the little penguin pokemon who is still glaring daggers at the pachirisu, who uses it's little paw to drag down it's eye lid and stick out its tongue to infuriate your friend, which absolutely works as you can hear piplup getting even more worked up.

"It's nice to meet you two!" Hongjoong says as he brings out his own Pokédex. He had only ever seen a piplup on a poster but never seen one in real life.

"Piplup the penguin Pokémon. Because it’s very proud, it hates accepting food from people. Its thick down guards it from cold. It lives along shores in northern countries. A skilled swimmer, it dives for over 10 minutes to hunt. It’s a poor walker, it often falls down. However, its strong pride makes it puff up its chest without a care."

Piplup puffs up his chest hearing all the positive and impressive things Hongjoongs Pokédex says about its species and you can't help but chuckle finding him very cute every time he does it.

"Well it seems like you got a very reliable pokémon on your side." Hongjoong muses with a smile and you nod.

"Yeah, I can always count on piplup you know!" You pat your partners head gently.

"This might seem weird but were you perhaps heading to Eterna City as well?" He asks a bit slowly, hoping you will say yes and your eyes lit up at the mention of said city.

"We were until I lost my map. You were heading there as well weren't you? Perhaps we can try and find our way there together?" You ask hoping he will say yes because it had been some time since you traveled with another person and it was nice from time to time to spend time with other trainers and see what they've learnt so far on their own journey versus what you had learnt.

"I was just about to ask if you wanted to see if we could find our way together! I still got my map you know." He tells you looking relieved you said yes.

Perhaps it will be easier together he hopes.

The two of you get up off the ground, dusting yourselves off. Pachirisu makes sure to get up on Hongjoongs shoulder as Piplup awaits you to pick him up, making a pleased noise when you do.

"Do you think you could show me your map?" You ask and he nods quickly bringing it out of his backpack and holding it out for you to look over.

"Hmmm it seems we are somewhere around here." You motion to a spot on the map. "I think we should head in this direction." You point and your new friend nods since he has no clue where to go and your confidence makes him think you know where to go.

As you two walk you chat together talking about yourselves to become more acquainted.

"So what do you do? Are you a pokemon gym trainer or a pokemon coordinator?" Hongjoong asks you curiously and you beam at him.

"I'm a pokemon coordinator! I haven't been in many contests yet, I've mostly focused on journeying, finding new friends and practicing so when I do go to contests I do well." You tell him fondly and he nods, his eyes crinkling as he smiles a soft smile.

"Have you earned any ribbons yet?"

"I have!" You fetch out your ribbon case from your backpack and opens it to show him. Inside are two ribbons so far, one is purple while the other is green.

"I only got two so far but we worked hard for these two, they will always be super precious to me." You tell him and he marvels at the ribbons.

"They're so pretty! Much prettier than the gym badges if I'm honest!"

"Do you compete at gyms to later try your hand at the Sinnoh league?" You ask curiously, he didn't really strike you as the gym person type but you could be wrong.

"I started off at the gyms but I only got three badges so far. Then I realized my true passion is exploring Sinnoh and discovering beauty I've never seen before." He admits before continuing "So now I only do gyms if I happens to pass one by and feel like competing."

"That's so cool! I also understand you, it's not easy knowing what you want to do at the start of your journey. Like gyms, contests, performing, just traveling. There is so much growing and learning as you go and I think that's wonderful." You tell him with a smile and Hongjoong can't help but grow a little red in the face.

"You're like one of the first ones to think that way. Many think it's weird I'm not charging ahead with all the gyms. But I don't know. I'd rather travel with Pachirisu and find new friends and see where life takes me." He says as his partner snuggles its face to Hongjoongs cheek.

"How did you two meet?" You wonder out loud.

"Ah." He chuckles "We've known each other since I was four. He obviously didn't become my Pokémon until I was ten but I met him whilst playing outside. We'd play with a ball I had passing it back and forth and then when we got tired I'd share my snacks with him. We became inseparable very quickly and when I turned ten all I asked for was a pokeball so I could go out and ask if he wanted to join me on my journey and I am so incredibly lucky Pachirisu wanted to join me."

"Pachiii!!"

"I see he agrees." You say as the squirrel cutely asks Hongjoong for a snack.

" Mhmmm I'm very glad he does otherwise I'd be very sad." He gives his partner a poffin that he got out from his pocket.

"What about you? How did you and Piplup meet?"

"Oh we met at Professor Rowans lab when I went there to get my first pokémon! I just saw Piplup and knew, knew that that was my partner. It just felt right and I can tell you he felt the same way." "Pip! Lup!" Piplup agrees with that.

The two of you continues to wander around in the dense forest. The deeper you go in the forest you notice that fewer and fewer pokémon seems to appear the further down your path you get. Which is weird because earlier you saw bidoofs, buizels, starlys and burmys.

But now it was as if every single pokemon had disappeared.

"That's weird... Where did all the pokemon go?" You mumble looking around worriedly.

"I'm sure they're all just... sleeping?" Hongjoong says putting a hand on your shoulder to try and calm you down.

In reality he was a bit freaked out as well at the fact that everyone had just suddenly disappeared.

"You don't think we should turn back?" You ask stepping closer to him for safety.

"I think we should be good right? It can't be that bad." He says urging you two to continue to walk.

Oh how wrong he had been.

It only took you three minutes to reach a part of the forest where you could suddenly see more and more weedles. Even your pokémons started to become unnerved at the sight of so many weedles as the two of you come to a stop.

"I'm starting to think we should have turned around when you suggested it." Hongjoong whispers holding your arm to try and stop his trembling at the thought of potentially having wandered into a nest.

As you go to respond a bunch of kakunas starts to hang down in thin threads from the trees surrounding you causing you both to tense.

"This is really bad Hongjoong." You whisper hoping that what you think might happen won't actually happen but of course it's not your lucky day and what you wished not to happen happens.

A beedrill flies up from the bushes in front of you.

The giant bee is flying above it looking at the two of you intensely and the four of you freezes, all breathing stopped as if that would help.

It's just at the moment you think it might buzz away and not bother you that Hongjoongs pokédex decides to pipe up, having scanned the beedrill.

"Beedrill the poison bee pokemon. Its best attack involves flying around at high speed, striking with poison needles, then flying off. It can take down any opponent with its powerful poison stingers. It sometimes attack in swarms."

The noise from the device seems to agitate the beedrill and suddenly more and more pops up buzzing angrily.

"I think we should run Y/n." Hongjoong whispers and when he turns to look at you slowly he realizes you are no longer beside him but running away from the place causing him to start sprinting after you.

"YOU REALLY LEFT ME THERE?!"

"I'M SORRY BEEDRILLS SCARES THE SHIT OUT OF ME!!" You scream back at him as the beedrills buzzes after the four of you hot on your tails.

"AHHHH I REALLY WISH I HAD A FIRE TYPE NOW." Hongjoong yells and you can hear Pachirisu laughing loudly, finding his friends scared face hilarious.

"CAN YOU NOT LAUGH AT ME RIGHT NOW PACHIRISU?!?!?!" That causes his partner to laugh even louder in glee as you continue to run.

"P-PERHAPS AN ELECTRIC ATTACK MIGHT STUN THEM ENOUGH FOR US TO GET AWAY HONGJOONG!!" You yell before looking over your shoulder and screeching loudly when you realize how close the massive bees and their giant stingers are.

"YOU'RE RIGHT! PACHIRISU PLEASE USE DISCHARGE! Hongjoong tells his partner who lights up as he starts to charge up, lighting sparkling from its cheek pouches and Hongjoong hastily adds "NOT ON ME ON THE BEEDRILLS!"

Pachirisu jumps up from Hongjoongs shoulder and lets out its attack, discharging electricity towards the beedrills hitting them all with its powerful move. It momentarily stuns the beedrills who twitches and convulses from the electric shocks they took and you and Hongjoong takes this as the time to get out of there safely without worrying about being followed. Pachirisu runs after the two of you and climb up on Hongjoongs shoulder again once the two of you have stopped finally feeling safe enough.

“That was terrifying… and I was the one who said we should go that way after looking at the map.” You say defeated, your chest heaving from all the running, as you realize this could have been avoided had you looked a bit longer at the map.

“It’s also my fault because I said we should continue when you said we should turn around.” Hongjoong pants trying to catch his breath as his partner nuzzles him, making sure that the leftover electricity makes his hair go static, standing up in all directions.

“Well, we should look at the map once more and make sure we go the right direc-oh ummm Hongjoong.” You stifle your laughter “nice hairdo.” You point at his hair snickering and he glances up to see what you mean and let out the loudest groan which tells you this isn’t the first time this has happened.

His partner is once again laughing at him and you and Piplup can’t help but giggle but at least the two of you have the decency to try and hide it as he fixes his hair back to normal whilst scolding his friend.

“He does this every time if he got leftover electricity after an attack. I’ve even made a habit of always having a hat with me just in case I can’t get it down again.” He admits shaking his head.

“Oh wow I can’t imagine how annoying that could get sometimes but I do think it’s kinda cute, like you look cute with your hair all over the place.”

“You think I look cute?”

“Yeah.”

You smile liking the fact that you can see how the blush creeps up on his face once more. You hadn’t spent that much time with him yet you felt like this was someone you wanted to spend more time with, it was fun traveling together and you two seemed to be on the same wavelength when it came to Pokémon’s and traveling in general.

“T-thank you.” He clears his throat before clumsily bringing out his map again. “Shall we take a look once more?” He says and you nod but this time you bring out a pokéball as well.

“Yes and this time I got an idea to ensure we will be on the right path and not get too lost.” You tell him before throwing the pokéball up in the air.

“Mismagius please come out and help me!”

Your beautifully haunting Mismagius comes out from her pokeball and she floats above the ground looking at you curiously before floating up to you to greet you warmly.

“Oh wow! A Mismagius!” Hongjoong says in awe stepping closer to you, that’s when your Pokémon notices the new person. She immediately hides behind you, still shy when it comes to new people and hiding behind you was a habit she had had since she was a Misdreavus before she had evolved.

“Yes Mismagius these are my new friends Hongjoong and Pachirisu!”

“Piplup, pip, lup pip.” Your Piplup seems to be encouraging her to come forward to say hi and it works because she floats out from behind you and up to Hongjoong. She circles him a few times before she seems to introduce herself to him by holding out one of her ‘arms’ and he takes it shaking it and giving her a kind smile.

“It’s lovely meeting you Mismagius.” Your friend turns shy again quickly hiding behind you as she giggles and you can’t help but laugh.

“Yeah it’s easy falling for that charming smile isn’t it?” You say looking back at her and she nods before giggling again.

“Okay! Now let’s check the map again all five of us and when we figure out where we should go I was wondering if you could use your psychic powers to help lead us as far as possible to Eterna City Mismagius?” You can hear her agree as she floats closer to the two of you who are now huddled around the map. The two of you discuss for a while where you could have possibly ended up after the mad dash to get away from the angry squadron of beedrills.

You both eventually agrees that you’re probably very far from Eterna City and where you originally started when you bumped into each other.

"Mismagius think you can create something that would guide us?" Hongjoong asks your friend and she looks intently at the map before her eyes start glowing blue, a telltale sign that she is using her psychic powers and after a while an arrow pops up in front of you.

"Oh that's amazing!" You hug her happily and she turns shy and bashful at your praise.

"This will make our journey much easier, thank you." Hongjoong also thanks her and she hides behind you once more. It's very clear she likes Hongjoong and it does surprise you a little bit.

She had always been shy and hesitant and mistrusting of people so seeing her actually like someone that wasn't you was a big feat. Perhaps it was Hongjoongs kindness that had won her over or his very kind eyes and that pretty smile?

He ends up laughing a little at her reactions.

"Shall we continue our journey? See how far we get today? I'm not so sure we will reach Eterna City before the day is over." He admits looking up to the sky where the sun sits lower than it had done earlier in the day.

"Don't worry about that, I got a sleeping bag and some food in my bag for situations like this." You tell him motioning towards your backpack trying not to feel disappointed about how you will miss the registration for the contest.

"Great, I got a sleeping bag as well!" He tells you as the two of you start following the arrow with Mismagius floating around you two making sure the arrow will not lead your group astray.

"So where are you from Hongjoong?" You question curiously.

"I'm from Twinleaftown!" He tells you. "It's a really small town near Sandgem town where Professor Rowans lab is."

"Oh! I think I know where it is then! You'd continue down the path through a small forest right? It's close to Lake Verity right?" You ask wanting to know if your memory served you correctly.

"Yes! I can't count all the times us kids would head to Lake Verity in hopes of seeing the mythical being said to live there! None of us had any luck when we were younger. Perhaps it's just a fairytale but it was fun going there with the hopes that you would be lucky enough." He chuckles at the memories and you nod.

"That sounds like something fun! I'm from Floaroma Town and the most exciting that happened there is I guess all the flowers planted there? Or perhaps the Valley Windworks... We didn't have any mythical beings to look for." You pout thinking how it would have been fun to chase that dream of seeing a rare pokemon as a child.

"I've heard Floaroma is beautiful during summer with all the flowers coming to life and blooming at the same time. I hope I get to see it one day."

"I can take you there if you'd like? I know exactly which time of the year is the best one for the flowers to bloom! And if we're lucky we get to see the roselias dance around the flower beds happily!" You tell him, already planning on when the best time to travel back home would be.

"I'd love that! Honestly I think we would make a good team traveling throughout the region together!" He admits shyly and you nod agreeing.

"We could see the world and perhaps you could help me when I practice for my contests as well! I always find it hard to figure things out when it's just me and my Pokémons working on it together." You tell him with a sigh.

The two of you continues to chat learning more and more about each other. You learn that Hongjoong has a friend who happens to also be a coordinator named Seonghwa and that they grew up together in Twinleaftown and left on their respective journeys around the same time. At first they had traveled together until they had decided they wanted to try traveling solo for a while to see how that would work out for them.

He tells you how he was actually scheduled to have a call with Seonghwa at the pokémoncenter but that he will probably have to call tomorrow instead.

"I just hope he won't be too worried that I didn't call him you know." He tells you as his shoulders sag lightly.

"I'm sure he will understand why you couldn't call him today. Things can come up when you're traveling the world alone and as long as we get there tomorrow and you can call him, then he won't be too worried." You assure him, patting his shoulder lightly.

"Yeah you're right about that. Thank you." He says earnestly, happy he could actually tell someone other than his pokémons about his worries.

To distract him a bit from what had him worried you proceed to tell him about the time you had by accident entered a cooking competition where you and your pokémons had to work together to create a dish which would be judged by the chefs in the village. Hongjoong had laughed loudly at that and asked how it went and you told him it was a disaster, your team which consisted of Piplup, who was too proud to realize he could not do everything he wanted and refused to back down, your then Misdreavus who kept on hiding behind you because she was so painfully shy around all these people watching you with curious eyes.

Mismagius had made an embarrassed noise at that, she was probably not overly fond having to remember that day and then of course your third and currently final pokemon on your team, Leafeon.

Leafeon was probably your biggest help as she cut up the veggies using her tail somehow but she was also at first not careful enough and had burned herself when she got too close to the fire. The contest had ended with you finishing last with a burnt meal and two pokemons you needed to nurse back to health after they had hurt themselves.

"Even if it was a disaster I had lots of fun actually. It was a good team bonding experience." You admit snickering at the memory of everyones shocked faces at the burnt dish you had so proudly presented them with.

"So your final Pokémon currently is a Leafeon?" He asks curiously and you nod.

"Yeah, I will let her out once we set camp and get ready for dinner." You mused.

"So is this story your way of telling me to do the cooking?" He jokes and you laugh loudly.

"I've become much better I promise but if it makes you feel better you can totally do the cooking." You say and the two of you joke back and forth for a while.

It is when you realize that the sun has almost set beyond the horizon that you two decide to stop and set up camp. The arrow Mismagius had conjured disappears as she allows herself to float around happily as you work on setting up your portable stove to cook some dinner. Piplup runs around checking the area curiously as Pachirisu follows him, probably to see if he can annoy Piplup some more.

"Is it okay if I let my other Pokémon's out as well?" Hongjoong asks and you let him know that he absolutely should as you let Leafeon out.

As Hongjoong throws up his pokéballs three new Pokémon's appear. A Riolu, a Snorunt and a Cranidos comes out and you marvel at his pokémons all of them looking so well cared for and happy to see their trainer.

All running up to greet him warmly.

"Oh wow you got such a variety! That's so cool and I've never seen a Cranidos before! Isn't that actually a fossil pokémon?" You ask as you stir the pot containing your food.

"Yeah it is, I found a skull fossil when I went to visit the Orburgh Mines and did some digging around there for fun and then at I think it was the museum they offered to revive it for me which I thought why not?" He told you as he petted said pokémons head.

"Oh wow that's amazing!" You marvel.

"Thank you."

"Ri-olu?" You hear next to you and that's when you notice his Riolu checking out the food you were cooking.

"It's almost done so if everyone get their bowls I will be able to serve food soon." You announce and suddenly you have all seven pokémon surrounding you holding their bowls eager to get some of the delicious smelling food.

Hongjoong laughs loudly at everyone's eager displays to get some food and jokingly runs to get his own bowl and get in line. You make sure to serve everyone including Hongjoong before filling up your own bowl and getting up to sit next to Hongjoong who is sitting near the crackling fire he had made earlier when you were setting up your camp.

"This is really cozy, I'm glad I ran into you earlier today." You mumble whilst blowing on your food to make sure it's not too hot before eating it.

"Me too, it's been a wild day today but I've enjoyed it so much and traveling together will be perhaps a little chaotic but fun." He admits before eating some of his food and making a pleased noise at the taste of it.

"This is great! I was a little worried after your story about the burnt food earlier but this is amazing." He tells you and you can feel your cheeks heating up.

"Oh it's nothing." You bashfully say trying to deny his praise but he shakes his head.

"No I'm serious it is great! You did such a good job!" He wouldn’t stop until you've agreed that yes you did a good job with the food.

“Thank you, it’s very sweet of you.”

The night sky is twinkling beautifully with stars and the moon is shining brightly above the two of you. Your Mismagius is floating around happily enjoying the night a lot as your other Pokémon’s start getting drowsy, most of them finding a place to lay down to sleep. You and Hongjoong makes sure to cover them all with blankets so they won’t get cold during the night before you both climb into your sleeping bags. You’ve placed them next to each other so you can easily communicate if needed.

Your friend Piplup wiggles into the sleeping bag so he can snuggle with you during the night, preferring the heat and the coziness of it all. Pachirisu does the same making sure he's on Hongjoongs stomach curled up nicely before promptly falling asleep.

“Goodnight Hongjoong, sweet dreams.” You mumble closing your eyes.

“Goodnight Y/n, sweet dreams.” Hongjoong mumbles back before falling asleep.

-the very next day at the Pokémon center-

“Finally you call! Do you know how worried I was when I called the Eterna city pokémon center five times at different times and you still hadn’t turned up there?!” Seonghwa berated Hongjoong through the screen of the tv and Hongjoong looked everywhere but at his friend who was scolding him harshly.

“Bun! Bun-neary!” Seonghwas partner Buneary was also on screen scolding him and Pachirisu and he let out a sigh before trying to explain.

“I’m sorry Seonghwa but we got lost, I couldn’t find my way out and then I bumped into my new friend here, Y/n!” He drags you into frame so Seonghwa can see you. “And they helped me out of the forest today! We got lost at first but then their Mismagius came and rescued the day.” He says and he can see Seonghwa relaxing a little bit.

“Okay fine but don’t do that again!”

“I won’t I promise I promise!” Hongjoong holds up his hands to show how serious he is and you decide to glance towards the tv to catch a glimpse of Hongjoongs friend and when you see him you gasp dramatically.

“Hongjoong you never told me you were friends with THEE Seonghwa!! He’s super famous in the contest world!!” You say before you turn to shake Hongjoong demanding answers how he could hide this from you.

You hadn’t understood that his Seonghwa was thee Pokémon coordinator Seonghwa that you were looking up to and Hongjoong tried to get in a word but he couldn’t due to how violently you were shaking him.

Seonghwa couldn’t help but laugh at the display he was seeing.

It served Hongjoong right for scaring him so much yesterday.

[magnolia-among-the-stars]

the last bit of us (chapter six)

Plot: Tyler Owens hasn’t been home in a year. He’s survived all the storm chasing and motel living with his new partners as they try to save lives. But with all the damage they’ve taken from driving high beams first into monster storms, it’s time to pay the piper and bring the truck in for repairs. And the only person who can fix them is the best mechanical engineer he’s ever met. Eleanor Harding, his estranged wife.

Pairing: ex!Tyler Owens x estranged wife!OC, Estranged Wife! OC x Rhett Abbott

Word Count: 2.5k

Playlist Song: chasing the wind by lanie gardner

prologue / one / two / three / four / five / six

My hand is sweaty as I tug Rhett across the yard to my truck. I feel vindicated, my nerves on fire. The finality of the first steps toward freedom from a failed marriage that I didn’t walk away a weight lifted from my shoulders. When I get close enough to the truck, I turn to Rhett and release a deep breath. 

He’s staring down at me, warm and attentive. His blue eyes are so different from those of my ex. Where Tyler’s are vibrant and bright, Rhett’s are deep and soulful. He looks at me with a softness that makes me want to look away from the sincerity. He adjusts his cap, thumb fingering the worn threads on the brim. “Are you feeling okay?” 

“I think my nerves are shot,” I admit. I release his hands to wipe my palms along the denim seams of my jeans. “I never thought I’d get to serve him those papers.” 

“I’m really proud of you,” he says. His smile is genuine. “I can’t imagine how hard that must’ve been and I know how long you’ve been wanting to start to close that chapter.” 

I nod, still lost in his gaze. I get a little bashful, looking down at my boots and then look at the old truck by the barn. “Shit, I gotta get to my parents’ house and go check up on my dad.” 

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asks, leaning against the hood. 

“And let you play hookie with your dad?” I say. The door to the porch squeals open and I can see Tyler watch us. Behind him, Kate’s head pops up. I look back to Rhett and shake my head. “No, I couldn’t do that…plus, I’ve got a lot of work to do this week. Big testing left to finish for our contract.”

“Right,” he nods. “Maybe we can go out Friday after my ride? Get some beers if the contract goes through?” Rhett’s voice is thick as he rocks on his toes.  

“I’d like that,” I say. 

He breaks out in a grin, kisses my cheek and breathes out a noise similar to a laugh. We whisper soft byes and he slips past me, heading back to his truck. He climbs in and waves, engine roaring to life as he peels out of a driveway. I climb in the truck, turning the truck on as my phone starts to ring again. I tuck it under my ear as I back out the driveway. 

“Hi ma, I’m on my way,” I say, turning onto the main road. The radio roars to life, blasting way too loudly. I drop my phone in the process of trying to turn down the music. 

“El, before you head in our direction for the day…there’s a cell headed in your direction,” my mom shares. I can hear my dad in the background again. The mumbles of “big one” and “perfect data” are all I can catch. 

“Ma, I’m not about to let Dad go without his meds just so we can do a study drill,” I tell her, watching the collect of clouds move through the area. It does look like a perfect condition though. The fields are starting to breeze heavily, the tall Oklahoma grass sways in the breeze. “What’s the moisture?” 

“That’s my girl,” my dad grumbles as there’s a shuffle of them passing the phone. “Dew points sitting at a 76°F sweetheart. And don’t worry about me. The doc gave me a few days worth. This is too good of conditions for your contract. Perfect testing grounds.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, checking the time. The team was all planning to be at the warehouse anyways today…

“Sure,” he says. “Go get ‘em…and invite the team to join us tomorrow alright? Uncle Rabbit has been anxious to hear about everything,” he says. 

“I will and I’ll see you guys tonight, alright?” We say I love you and hang up. I hit Charlie’s number and tuck the phone between my ear and shoulder. I take a deep breath as the phone rings, swinging the steering wheel so that I can wipe around in the other direction. The tires squeal just as Charlie picks up. 

“I was waiting for your call…” she says with a knowing tone. 

“My parents called me. Dew point of 76?” I ask, picking up speed as I take off in the direction of the warehouse.

“Relative humidity is about 79%,” Charlie reads. “They haven’t lost their touch clearly. Are you on your way?” 

I pass by a familiar RV, huffing as I notice them turn in the same direction that I head down. “C’mon, c’mon,” I grumble, checking the rearview mirror to see if its really who I think it is. 

“El?” 

“Yes, yes. I’m on my way. Get the team ready…and,” I look again at the rearview mirror. “Get some extra gear ready…I think we’re going to end up getting some excitable parasites.” 

She groans loudly. “Seriously?” 

“Can’t shake ‘em so might as well entertain.”

“Right,” Charlie says, “because that’s what we do…entertain. CAPE is nearly hitting 3,000 J/kg…you gotta hurry up or you’re going to be in the storm…not studying it.”

“I’m nearly there, open the gate so I can pull right in when I get there” I say, watching the sky turn a little darker. I pick up speed, tossing my phone on the seat as I focus on the road and not on the storm building in the distance. I look in the rearview mirror again, too excited by the storm conditions to be frustrated with my ex and his friends. I pull up to the gate quickly, the RV rumbling behind me as we drive up to the warehouse. 

Boone pulls in to the right of me as I shut off the truck, climbing out as Birdie closes the gate behind me. Charlie tosses me a walkie and my vest, passing me my iPad as we pace down the warehouse toward the other door. “You idiots can’t just show up because you’re excited by a tornado,” I say to the group, walking backwards as my friends hand them bright orange vests - the ones we normally give to investors and clients. 

“We saw you zip past,” Javi says, smiling sheepishly. “Couldn’t help ourselves. I’ve always wanted to know how you guys do your testing. I studied your parents’ work when I was in school, inspired by the technology you’ve invented.”

“Well, stay close to one of us on the field. Y'all might be tornado wranglers but we aren’t taming tornadoes here,” I say, glancing at Tyler as I get to the others. “We’re trying to help protect and save people from losing their livelihoods.” 

Birdie runs through the safety protocol for the wranglers and I’m a little shocked at how contained they are in listening. Even Boone, normally shaking with excitement, remains still as he listens to our rules. “Your vests all have chips in them for your safety so that we can locate you in the case of…in the case of anything going wrong. Don’t take off the vest. We stay safe, we stay alert,” she finishes. She looks at me. “Good?” 

“Let’s go get this contract,” I murmur, turning to head to my building.

“Eleanor?” I turn to see Kate and Tyler catching up to me. Kate isn’t paying attention to Tyler. She looks unsure as rain starts to pour from the sky, the wind wiping around to pick up. Our phones start to ping with warning sounds. Kate’s hair wipes in her face and I clip my walkie to my belt, grabbing a hair tie from my wrist to pass to her. “Thanks…do you mind if I join you?”

I look up at Tyler behind her. She turns, following my gaze. “Tyler, go with Javi,” she says, causing him to stop in his tracks. He raises a brow, looking between the two of us as the wind picks up. 

“Go Tyler, hurry up,” I say, pointing to where Javi is heading with Carter into the Doctor’s office. He looks between the two of us, hesitating. I can see the hero complex fighting to wash over him. I guess he decides against it though, nodding and turning to run to where the other two men are. He disappears inside, giving us one last look before he goes. 

A crack of thunder rattles through the air, causing me to move. “C’mon, this way,” I tell her, tugging her into the direction of the Grille. I push the door open, ushering her inside. I flip the lock system and nod over to the monitors in the safe corner that we built into the buildings. I log into the tracking system, the camera views pulling up for me to watch the conditions outside. I tug my walkie from my belt and call “Everyone in?” 

I get an echoing of confirmations, nodding as I type a few things into the tablet for testing conditions and peer back at Kate. She’s glancing around the space, taking in the mock town set up. Her eyes are filled with wonder, curiosity stretching over her eyes. The wind starts to whip around loudly outside and something large slams against the side of the building, making her jump. “So these buildings are all made of-,” she starts to ask. 

“All different developed materials,” I say, nodding and turning back to the screen. She steps over to me, staring at each view of the buildings we are studying. I point to each, explaining further. “The warehouse was the guinea pig. She’s all tried and tested, kind of what we use as a base standard. She’s got steel-reinforced, impact-resistant roll-up doors, concrete & carbon fiber roof reinforcement, and smart glass skylights with polycarbonate coating. Though I’ve been considering building an underground storage lift for the trucks…haven’t had the time.”

“The doctor’s office and the farmhouse are nearly perfect,” I share as we watch more debris roll through the field, slamming into different buildings as the building rattles. “They’ve both got shock absorbent foundations. The doctor’s office is built with a concrete material infused with bacteria that generate limestone….it self-heals against the wind stress. We’ve also been testing some hardened rooftop turbines and solar panels for emergency energy even if the grid or generators fails for a potential contract with hospitals. The house has interlocking concrete panels and kevlar in the wall panels with kevlar so that it bends in the wind instead of tearing apart. The windows have been the hardest so we’ve been testing transparent aluminum.” 

She blinks, taking in all the information I share. “Too much?”

She shakes her head no, mouth parting. Nothing comes out. 

“Tyler and Javi are safe,” I note and she nods absentmindedly. I don’t know why I say it. 

I turn back to the screen and watch the way the foundation of the home shifts, holding against the pressure of the tornado. “Palmer, how are you guys holding up? How are those windows? Over,” I call over the radio. 

The door to the Grille starts to rattle in the distance and I let out a breath, tugging the door to our safe room closed and locking it as we wait for a reply.  There’s only a crackling silence for a few moments. 

“Holding steady over here boss,” she says. “I think we’ve done it. And uh…what’s your name…Dexter is really enthusiastic with his questions. Over.” 

I can’t help the laugh that comes out, looking up at Kate. “Happy to hear, over.” 

“We’ve figured the reinforced concrete is the way to go for most of the buildings. The gas station has a new roof design that’s more aerodynamic with the angled kevlar roofs and curved walls to deflect the wind,” I point out. “Birdie has been taking  that building because she and Sean have been testing new fuel storage to protect against-,” I’m cut off as a large shrapnel of metal flies through the air, slamming into the tank and puncturing the metal. Flames erupt in the air as the tank bursts open. “That…shit…”

“The fuel tank blew up again,” Birdie says over the walkie, Boone and Lily screaming in excitement clear in the background. She sounds like a tired mother when she says “Didn’t penetrate the station though which is progress, over.” 

“Happy to hear, over,” I call as I hear another rattling, some metal grinding and a burst of glasses from outside the safe room. The wind is loud as Kate turns to the locked door, stepping closer to me. 

“El, the refrigeration system just blew but I’m happy to report the roof is holding. This storm’s taking some of the Grille with it from the look of the monitor. You holding tight for us? Over,” Sean calls. 

He’s right. Even though it’s fairly quiet inside the safe room we're locked inside, the Grille doesn’t seem to be holding well against the strength of the tornado. The feed goes dead after another moment and I sigh. “Our feeds have gone dead but we’re safe otherwise, over,” I say, turning to Kate. 

She looks a little more shaken than when we got into the building, gripping the counter of the desk as she digs her hip against the wall tightly. 

“I know it's kind of freaky but I promise you are safe here. The grocery store and this building are newer designs so we put these safe rooms in to make sure we can safely troubleshoot from inside the storm. We’ve been working on retractable tornado shutters but the shipment prototype hasn’t come in yet. But it sounds like the new support beams are holding up the roof. That’s a big win from the last storm,” I say, pointing to the ceiling as the whistle of the wind outside becomes less harsh. 

It’s quiet for a long time as she just stares at me, blinking a few times. “Kate…are you alright?” I step toward her a little. 

“This is wild,” she breathes, trying to shake out of whatever emotions and fears are running through her. 

“No more wild than driving into an EF5,” I say with a small shrug, leaning back in my chair. It’s not meant to come off as a shot at her, really more that crazy for science and change for community respects crazy for science and change for community.

Kate’s gaze is heavy, her eyes glossy. “I didn’t know,” she just blurts out. Her voice is strong, almost loud. Her words sit in the air, her fingers find purchase on the mesh of her vest as she fiddles with it. 

I don’t know if I’m surprised or confused. She didn’t know it was an EF5? Or did she mean she didn’t know that she was driving into it? Or did she mean the building?

She clears her throat, stands up straighter. “I didn’t know he was married.”

A/N: Well, I was not expecting to research and get so sciency with this one but that's where the story took me! I am not a science/engineering type so forgive any inaccurate science information. I'm really loving exploring El as a character outside of her relationship with the men. All your comments and feedback has been incredible! please continue to send any along and click here if you want to join the taglist!

taglist:

@tw232103, @arieltwvdtohamflash, @magicalfurykoala, @janoskiansecondsofdirection, @fever-daydreamm @buckybarnes-1917 @kim-taehyung-12301995 @accordingtoawallflower-blog @axolotllover225 @tgmreader @smoothdogsgirl @paramedicnerd004 @charmyeol69-blog @tktstomydwnfall @milesdot @arieltwvdtohamflash @dream-alittlebiggerdarling @sunmoon-01 @memoriesat30 @tw232103

[rekino2114]

I've got a few Lacey requests, if you don't mind! Could you do either: 6. or 20. for Jay with a male reader 12. for Lacey with an equally insecure transfemme reader. You can do any or none of them if you like! Thank you for considering!

Jay being your secret admirer

Pairing:Jay x male reader

A/n:Sorry, I don't write for trans readers just because I'm not trans myself and don't think I could write them well. Hope you still enjoy this. Also, I did this because I wanted to start writing for Jay and Maisie too to celebrate the lacey games trailer. Also, all of my lacey posts will take place in the same au where all of the main girls are dating their own version of y/n cause they need love.

Lately, you've been receiving some weird things on your doorstep. It's nothing creepy, quite the opposite, in fact, it's very romantic things.

It's mostly love letters in which the mysterious sender writes about how much they admire you and love everything about you. They describe everything about you in details and compliments.

The letters are always signed "your secret admirer" and are often accompanied by flowers, your favorite type nonetheless.

While the content isn't creepy in on itself, the fact that your dear friend Lacey had a similar experience with a stalker, which she thankfully managed to get out of, made you uneasy to accept the letters as actual love notes so you decided to talk to your friends about it.

"You have a secret admirer? Dude That's so cool"

"Is it? It kinda makes me uncomfortable"

"O-oh does it?"

"Yeah i mean, remember what happened to Lacey?"

"......yeah"

"It's not that bad, thankfully but still"

"Don't worry if you're ever in danger just tell us, we can help you"

"Thanks girls, you're the best"

"Don't mention it, it's the least we could do"

You all fist bumped each other and then you started talking with Jay, which seemed uncharacteristically nervous

"Hey Jay, wanna go skating today I know-"

"N-no it's fine I'll just hang out with Lacey and Maisie"

You looked at her a bit suspiciously but shrugged and left, saying goodbye to everyone. Jay breathed a sigh of relief seeing you go away, since she probably couldn't have kept a straight face anymore around her crush, but quickly got worried again as she saw her friends approaching her with teasing smirks on their faces

"Soooo when are you gonna tell him?"

"Eh? W-what are you talking about dude, I don't have to tell h-him a-anything"

"..............."

".....is it that obvious?"

"I mean........."

"It's a miracle he didn't find out yet"

".....y-yeah"

"Why didn't you just confess?"

"You have any idea how hard it is? I was sweating just writing the letter"

"But why? I'm sure he loves you too, you two basically always hang out"

"I don't think so, he probably thinks of me as just a friend"

"Why do you think so?"

"I mean I'm not girly like you two I don't think he-"

"Stop it there, Jay, you're amazing in your own way, and if y/n really loved you, then he'll do it because of who you are"

"Oh.....thanks lacey...i-i didn't expect you to say that"

"O-oh thank you, m-my partner says stuff like these all the time to me so......it just stuck I guess"

"Well did you hear her? Go and get your man, it's even valentine's day so it's perfect"

"Yeah! Thanks dudes!"

Jay said goodbye to her friends and quickly skated away to pick up another bouquet of your favorite flowers and one of the letters she had already written, then rang the doorbell to your house and took a deep breath to calm herself as she saw the door opening

"Hm? Jay? What's with......the....flowers"

"Hey dude, i-i mean y/n, so yeah I'm your secret admirer, please don't think I'm weird I wasn't stalking you or anything I just really know your face, a-and was too scared to confess. I want you to know that everything I said in the letters was true, I really, really like you.....a-and so....wanna be my boyfriend?"

"......I'd love to"

".....wait seriously?"

"Of course, I love you too Jay, I never confessed cause I thought you only thought of me as a friend"

"Really dude!? Me too! I thought I was way too boyish to be your type"

"What are you saying? I love tomboys and you especially"

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're so cool, I love how boyish you are if anything, it makes you special and so I love that"

"W-wow that's great! So are we like a thing or something now?"

You smiled and hugged her, making her blush, then proceeded to kiss her on the lips. She loved your lips so much that she couldn't help but feel disappointed when you pulled back

"Does that answer your question?"

"D-definitely"

"OK so now wanna go skate? As a couple"

"Sure thing dude! I bet it feels so much better than skating as just friends"

"I'm sure it does"

[34saveme34]

I really love hcs on how characters handle flusteredness when it comes to crushing

where Mario will become The Cockroach to you and be Really annoying but also sometimes is self aware enough where he can really make himself seem endearing and that's how he gets to you, and this is all entirely natural from him, you can just stand there and he's doing it like courting bird dance

4 well, we know how he bickers with 3, the mutual "you can't fluster me if I fluster YOU" going on with them, they never get tired of the bit I swear with the bonus of 4 being able to appreciate compliments when he sees them as at least somewhat genuine while 3 is still biting your head off and fighting or tries to manipulate you into thinking that you only say things you do because he conditioned you into them, therefore adapting a new Bit to avoid Feelings. this does not work with 4 sadly rip 3

Meggy is the "I'm gonna play this cool but I'm screaming inside" as in a thing happens that flusters and then she struggles to either change the subject or somehow try to downplay things happening, she likes feeling calm and collected too hard to actually let herself just feel stuff

Tari I think, depending on how embarrassing it is for her, from a scale of 0 to oh my god I gotta get out of here the whole world is making fun of me for this, she could be at either end depending on the situation. at 0 she's like giggling, smiling, blushing, fiddling with her hands and being so coy and so cute

Saiko hmm.......... a bit harder to put into words how I exactly see her. she gets lost in people's strength I think, like whoever she turns out to love she would definitely think about perphas her beloved's strenghts and power, whether that is to be themselves, I don't mean like......... deity powers necessarily ehjnklreekl but I think she would BOTTLE it up SO HARD and then feel it in private. She will like find the space to let herself feel stuff and how much her head has been spinning over such silly little feelings and if you accidentally find her while she's going through these feels depending on how close you are she can maybe either confide in you or you're immediately getting flattened by her hammer

Puzzles is stupid and puts his feelings into metaphors several times. recontextualising his feelings in many ways until it fully comes to surface and he can't hide it anymore. He would go through all the stages of love before he could truly ever let himself admit to it. He would feel the pain the agony the happiness the distance the closeness the warmth or lackthereof the light and the dark and everything and nothing, he would lay it out several times and do a spin on it as it slowly turnes out his stories about him and whoever he loves going around each other as maybe no story of his would actually have him get the person he desires because he just couldn't see such a reality and yet he bares this part of him out again and again as it itches his brain, a virus of a muse, until he lets it all out and all that is left is for him to realise what it truly was all this time

Melony. demisexual, that's my big headcanon. maybe demidemi. Her love would spring out of deep friendship, the slow build up of seeing a friend of hers differently, but it's slow enough where it never quite flusters her that much though casual romantic things would make her smile and giggle,

NOW KAREN!!! GOD. okay. OKAY. so. yall know I really like her w Flurrie. like really really. And that woman could absolutely fluster her, but even outside of that, I don't think it's hard to fluster her. NOW keeping her is a bit of a difference. I think she would find mutual trust the most attractive thing in a partner, where she could let herself have it as well and feel a bit more comfortable in being flustered and less like she wants to shut it down regardless of how it makes her feel because it could lead down an all too well known path she wasn't happy with even before, but when she trusts you, you WILL be partners in crime and what more could you ask for

can't really think of anyone else. despite REALLY liking Kaizo and Whimpu, I'm still not sure of my interpretation of them, I think I need to make them better before I can do anything interesting with them such as this post

wish they would star in episodes more often!! (not APPEAR. star means actually meaning something to the plot besides cameo)

anyways this has been brought to you by wowww the day of love of the partnership kind, just a few days ahead wow!!

[localsharkcryptid]

OP and Void have twisted my arm, can't believe they'd do this, sooo Drittens be upon ye!!! (and behold proof that I'm a very indecisive multishipper and firmly believe cDream should kiss many men, also all these kids have some cat hybrid genes due to Dream being a chimera, hence drittens)

Keta - Drunz, aka wow neither of his parents really know how to raise a kid but Dream is marginally better when compared to Punz. Keta has the most in terms of general shenanigans when he's young, the MOMENT this little guy figures out general locomotion and how to get around the days of peace are OVER. He has a consistent habit of climbing and getting into hard to reach spaces which scares the fuck out of dream, mainly because that's a baby, his baby actually and that's far to dangerous for him at this age - Punz... Punz is indifferent and mostly just "He'll get himself down" but to be fair this whole ordeal is a learning experience for them since they did not have a childhood so yeah this is way outta their skill set. Keta becomes a problem causer as he gets older and basically takes both of his dad's skills in pvp, so more often than not he likes to pick a fight with anyone he can. This probably all stems from the fact that the greater smp still doesn't have a great opinion on Dream, so that bias stretches to the kid whose response is "If they're going to think I'm mean and scary, then I'm gonna give them a reason to! >:(" - I do have one sort of thought out au with Keta and parent shenanigans where he's a technical 'accident' that Punz deals with while Dream is in prison then shenanigans ensue post prison break (I do love trans Dream hcs for the record but my trans Punz hc is stronger - and is a little more interesting for me at least in terms of this idea!)

Lyssa - Dreamnoblade, I NEED TO WORK ON THEM AND GIVE THEM PLOT BUT THEY'RE HERE CAUSE THEY'RE IMPORTANT TO ME AND THEY'RE SILLY. Definitely takes after Techno though and that's important (Dream gets bullied by both his kid and partner and it's very funny).

Demetri - Awesamdream, the only one who actually has a design! Autism squared honestly, that's what this child is - So, so much autism in that little creeper-cat body. Well I say little but they'll probably be 7ft minimum when they're an adult-

Sam and Dream are both mother hens to this kid, Sam cause of his natural instincts (creepers are excellent parents in my headcanons) and Dream cause well, that's his kitten alright. It's just double the parental protective instincts honestly. Demetri is notably nonviolent and takes after Sam's interests with redstone and building - but, they often use said knowledge to come up with traps and they've also got a knack for coming up with neat little tricks n stuff with potions. I've gotta come up with some ideas for a potential story, but they're very very silly and there's probably half a dozen comedic ideas I can come up with after I work out more lore on how Creepers go about raising their young/their habits as babies. ALSO BOTH DREAM AND SAM CALL THEM CREEPLET AND THATS IMPORTANT TO ME-

--

These are the most finalized of the drittens, I have ideas for more but nothing final and sorry if there's not a lot of content here- I've genuinely never really thought too much about all these guys aside from the silly au me and my friends made that's basically just "everyone gets teenager aged kids now and comedy ensues :)" since I didn't think there was a market for this sorta thing (and Idk I'm weirdly anxious about talking about a lot of my ideas in solo posts but I'm really REALLY glad people are interested!!! :D)

i need someone to give cDream a baby i think he could be a good mom

[cheerforrevenge]

My partner is not the talking type. So I'm trying to talk about the book he wanted me to read (a st*rcraft book) and he just had nothing to say back

Like... this is your interest why can't you have a conversation with me about it

[inkskinned]

she says he won't let her get a dog, which is fine, because they're in an apartment, and that's the kind of thing people say about their partners. he won't let me get a dog. and you're at a dinner party and you tilt your head a little to the side just like that dog he won't let her get, because is this the thing that's going to upset you? you don't know every corner of their relationship, she could be joking, they could have had so many healthy conversations about the dog, right, and maybe she's not letting herself get the dog because of money and time and whatever. but, like, she did say let

and she wants to move away from his hometown and he wants to stay and then he tells you with a wink and a conspiratorial stage whisper don't worry i'll convince her and she laughs about it - so clearly this is something they laugh about. but you do just stand there and stare at him like what the fuck, man. you can't say what you want to say which is why do you get the final say on everything because they're both obviously aware of the other person's stance on this and have obviously had private conversations about it and what are you going to do about it except make a scene and then he'll be mad at you and call you one of those bitches behind your back and she'll cut you off, which is a loss that doesn't feel worth it just because he makes you a little skeeved out every 3rd comment

and they both agree he just isn't the type to get flowers which is fine because everyone shows love differently, and are you really gonna judge someone based on their sense of individual relationship responsibility? maybe he's constantly cleaning her car and writing her poems and making her furniture or something. maybe she doesn't even like flowers and this is perfect, actually. and no you couldn't date him, obviously, ew; but like, she tells you she's happy. you almost send her a tiktok that says don't be 25 and the cool girl that doesn't need anything, you'll hate not getting flowers at 30, but that's like, starting drama & you shouldn't start drama needlessly.

and you're a little older than her but not so much older you can pull the whole trust me on this one babe thing and besides that wouldn't have worked anyway (when does it ever) and besides you have trauma so you and your therapist both agree that you're always looking for a problem even when there isn't one. and you tell yourself that just because you see them for 15 minutes every month does not mean you can identify every single red flag based on a single shitty half-joking(?) comment

and besides, what are you going to do? she says i actually wanted another stand mixer but thankfully he stops me when i'm about to spend too much money and you're standing there like are you okay? is this normal? is this just something people say? and again - what are you going to do?

to your therapist you try to language it - it's not, like, any of my business. but sometimes, doesn't it feel like - you should do something. there's got to be something, right? you've tried dropping little hints but they sail right through and you've tried having a single serious conversation and she got upset because why does it matter to you, yes it's different but we're happy, it doesn't need to make sense to you and you're like. really unwilling to push a boundary about it anymore; because the truth is that you know logically it shouldn't matter to you, as long as both parties are happy.

and besides, you've been wrong before. it's just... like, every time you see them both, something else happens, some kind of shiver down your spine like do you even hear each other when you talk. it's their strange, bickering orbit. just the way he's on his phone through dinner or watching sports instead of helping in the kitchen or, fuck, another one of these little throwaway comments he makes about we'll see about that, babe. she laughs when he calls her passions stupid shit and meanwhile she gets him tickets to see the knicks and he tells you well at least she's smart about something and still! it's none of your business.

you say get the dog anyway and she laughs. like, this is is you being funny. and not you saying - no really. get the dog. get the dog and get out of here. pack up and start running.

[lady-harrowhark]

lol not me crying because someone from my program texted me to ask how i was doing and that they hadn't seen me around in a while

[iridescentis]

i have to try so hard not to get upset when i have conversations with my family about love and sexuality because i know they will never understand anything outside of amatonormativity but fuck it hurts

being told that i will never have a best friend who will want to be with me forever because 'everyone will eventually leave because everyone wants to fall in love and build a family' just gets to me even though i know there are people who want that but it's just so hard to remember when no one in my life does

[alchemiclee]

I think doing shipping through and aroace lens makes things complicated but also interesting. I think one reason I don't enjoy straight ships as much is because it's very rare for people write/talk about them with a queerplatonic dynamic. straight romance is so "normalized" in society, it's hard to get any other dynamic out of those ships from other people in conversation or writing. it's mostly always romantic. (especially when "guys and girls can't be *just* friends" is extremely common and has ruined mamy of my own friendships) but I enjoy a handful of a straight ship with that dynamic. it's just way more rare to see talked about than gay ones from my observation. anyway point is, more queerplatonic type ships and stuff please! those aren't explored enough!

[northwest-cryptid]

I literally feel like I'm dying and I need to see a doctor, but I can't worry about that right now because

My bank account is literally in the negatives because I'm too disabled to work and can't make money but I can't worry about that right now because

I'm months overdue on getting my car new tags, but it won't even start if I could drive it so I need to jump the battery and get gas which I don't have money for, but I can't worry about that right now because

People are still expecting me to be social across numerous friend groups and it's pulling me in so many directions that I'm stretched so thin I'm running on no social battery for the last month, but I can't worry about that right now because

I still need to actually clean the house, do the dishes, clean the cat litter boxes, vacuum, and do my laundry... but I can't worry about that right now because

I still need to actually set up my new desk so I can stream since I haven't been able to do that for weeks and streaming is unfortunately my only source of income for how little I make every month, but I can't worry about that right now because

My partner is going through a really hard time right now and I need to be there for her and do what I can to make sure she's okay.