#im about to spend four days with my in laws

[boyobjectifier]

i’m so grumpy recently ugh

[ja3hwa]

♡ 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 | 𝐂.𝐒 ♡

Day Twenty Two - A/B/O

【Synopsis】 : He was your best friend. The only person would could trust. But yet you had kept a secret from you that would change your relationship in an instant. How would he react once he finds out?

『Word count』 :  3.43k

-> Genre: A/B/O. Smut. Angst. Romance.

Pairing: Alpha!San x Omega!Reader

[Warnings] : Mention of gambling. Bets. Sub-gender. Misogynism. Sexism. Protective San. Typical a/b/o hierarchy system. omegas are considered rare. scent blockers. heats and ruts. a lot of crying. mating and the idea of soulmates. listen, this one big ball of mess. Unprotected sex. Sweet love making. Crying. Use of the name omega and alpha. Ripping of clothing. Claiming. Marking. Biting. Blood.

Networks: @wonderlandnet @illusionnet @cromernet @k-vanity

Note: This is my first time writing Abo and boy was this hard. Ahha. Im so used to adding the Werewolf trope into this kinda genre, so trying to separate it was a challenge, but i hope i did well none the less. ♡♡

Masterlist | Navigation | Kinktober list | Tip Jar ♡

The town where you grew up, small and concealed between two rolling hills and dense forests, was all you knew. When you moved there when you were only four years old, your parents quickly made a name for themselves. New life, new identities. It wasn’t that your parents were criminals, on the run from the law. But it was more so for your sake. Your father was a gambler and one evening in a drunken rage and the loss of almost every penny he had to his name, a gentleman bet for another round. One simple game. And if he won, he could walk out with everything he lost, including an extra hundred thousand for his troubles… but if he lost,

You would now belong to the man.

It was simple really, you were an omega. A rare jewel in the ever-growing population of betas and alphas. So the man wanted you. To raise you for your sub-gender. Your father lost that night and shook the man's hand in defeat but when he went to leave he stole one of the priceless rubies that hung on the mantle before fleeing. The ruby bought him and your family a new life far away from the crime lord. But that day your father had decided to take matters into his own hands, using his earnings to find scent-blockers that were so potent, you would show as a beta.

Your life was luckily in a state of normalcy after that. Both your mother and father led stable jobs and happy lives as you progressed smoothly in school. But it wasn't until you hit high school that you met Choi San, your best friend. San, the confident and charismatic alpha, who had always been protective of you since the day you met. He couldn’t explain it but it was like whenever you were around, nothing else mattered. He knew you weren’t soulmates since the click never happened but maybe you were a different kind of soul mate? A bond shared between two people that was unexplainable? San would spend most nights thinking about how to describe his feelings towards you but he would always end up landing back on the same word over and over again…

Home.

Your bond had flourished over the years of teenhood and evolved stronger in your college years. It was built upon late-night conversations, shared secrets, and laughter that echoed in the empty spaces of each other's homes. And with each day somehow, you both fell more and more in love. But yet, you could never find the right moment to tell him the truth. That you weren’t a beta but in fact an omega. Your father's last wish on his deathbed was that you would never tell a single soul what you really were. Thanks, dad… And with your mother out of town for a conference with her job, you were left with fate and oh, had it played a cruel trick on you.

The scent blockers you relied on to keep your omega pheromones at bay had been discontinued without warning, leaving you vulnerable for the first time in your life since the crime lord all those years ago. You didn’t know how to react when the woman on the phone said they had been removed from stocks. Something about an illegal toxin? You weren’t paying too much attention after that. She had advised you to go to a doctor since you had never been without the blockers and it could cause your body to go into shock.

And, oh boy did your doctor nearly fall out of her chair when you told her the truth. She was luckily an omega herself so she understood why your family did it but the withdrawals and long-lasting effects the blockers had were not healthy in the slightest. She prescribed an antibiotic to help with the pain but she strongly insists you go through your first heat and let your body regulate itself before you go onto normal scent blockers for omegas.

To say your life went face up all in one afternoon was not an exaggeration. And that is how you found yourself dodging San, struggling to maintain your composure as the instinctual nature of her omega threatened to surface. The first day without your scent blocker had been manageable, but by the third day, you were acutely aware of the heat in your cheeks and the way your heart raced at the thought of San drawing near. You had to call into your college and tell them you were ill and unable to come onto campus until further notice.

Day four the symptoms grew. The heat pooling all over your body while the cramps began to brew inside your lower belly. All your senses felt like they were turned up to a thousand, the slightest wrong noise or texture would throw you off and you found yourself slowly building a nest in the centre of your lounge room. You’ve never nested before let alone experienced any of the natural omega tropes since the blockers completely had stripped that part of your identity so you felt completely out of place as you stared at the piles of pillows, plushies, blankets and of sorts.

“Why did I have to be like this?” You whispered to yourself, feeling a twinge of guilt and disgust. It wasnt that you hated omegas, it's just that you hated the world for wanting them so bad. Letting out a sigh. You could feel the growing yearn simmering beneath your skin, beginning to crave the only thing that she cared for in her life…San. But he couldn’t have him. They were friends and he needed to stay away.

San, however, was not the type to be easily deterred, nor did he want to listen to your randomly vague text about being sick. He quickly noticed your sudden withdrawal and lack of communication making him feel a gnawing worry clawing at his insides. With every unanswered text and unreturned phone call, a sense of dread embedded itself in his heart. So, on the afternoon of the fifth day, he decided he couldn’t stand it any longer. Determined to find you and get to the bottom of what was really going on, he raced over to your place, concern fueling his speed.

As he entered your home, the first thing that hit him was an overwhelming, intoxicating sweetness that engulfed his senses. It was your scent—rich, vibrant, and uniquely yours. San had always recognized the floral undertones of your pheromones, but this time it was all-consuming. The moment he inhaled deeply, something primal stirred deep within him, awakening the animalistic instincts of his wolf. You were…

“Doll!!” he called, the sound of his voice echoing against the walls as he hurried down the hall. He found you in the living room, curled up on the floor in the centre of your nest, a book lying loosely in your hands as you were using it to distract yourself. Looking up, your eyes widened with concern and panic, but as your gaze locked with his, San felt an insatiable instinct surge through him, igniting the dormant feelings he had kept buried for so long. A click that was supposed to snap a long time ago.

"San!" You exclaimed, trying to mask the flush creeping up your neck and the growing embarrassment you felt when you looked at him. Of course, he was your mate, it was obvious from the start, but your blockers had prevented the bound from snapping in place leaving you both in an abyss of strange longing and sleepless nights. “You shouldn’t be here. I—I haven’t been taking any blockers.”

The weight of your words hung in the air, shifting the atmosphere between both of you. His mind raced with thoughts he had never dared to voice, yet the raw, potent scent of your pheromones coaxed his animal side to the forefront. The thoughts of claiming you grew stronger with every breath that hitched in this throat. You looked so cute in your little sleep shorts and one of his old band shirts. You were disappointed it doesn’t smell like him anymore when you found it in your room but it was the only thing that was bringing you comfort in this situation.

“I was worried about you,” he admitted softly, stepping closer before stopping himself. “You’ve been avoiding me, and I was beginning to think…”

“San, I don’t think you understand,” You said, desperation creeping into your voice. The sense of heartbreak began to overwhelm you. The foolishness of your actions building up and the pain that the world had forcibly put you through. Hiding your sub-gender to protect yourself from those who wished to use it for their own desires, had now caused you to lose out on time with your mate. Time and moon cycles you would never get back... “I can’t control it, and you being here… it’s making it worse.”

“But why?” he pressed, his wolfish instincts battling against the tender pull of their friendship. “You think I don’t want to be near you? You think I don’t feel something for you, too? We are mates for fuck sakes!”

The confessions hung heavy in the air, laced with a tension neither had anticipated. Your heart raced at his words, a mix of fear and exhilaration swirling within your chest. But you couldn’t help but cry, “Do you even know what you’re saying?” she breathed, her pulse quickening. “You could—” 

“I could, what? Hate you for hiding that you’re an omega? Hate you for being my soulmate?” His voice was intense, eyes glinting with the raw emotion of his desire, he too was now breaking into tears. “I could never hate you. I’ve been… I’ve been waiting for so long.”

“Waiting for what?” You hiccuped, frustration mingling with longing. Your knees pressed firmly against your chest, trying to make yourself as small as possible.

“To tell you I’ve always wanted you. Even before this. When I thought you were a beta.” He took a step closer, the space between you buzzing with electricity that pulsed like a heartbeat. Just then, something in the air shifted. It was as if all the unspoken words finally collided, twisting in San’s heart until it could no longer ignore the truth standing before him. He stopped at the foot of your nest, not daring to enter unless you wanted him to. “I didn’t care about anything other than being with you…”

Your body thrummed with a mix of fear and excitement watching him step forward. You lowered your knees ignoring the way your stomach screamed and twisted in a slight burn. The longing that had been nurturing beneath your skin since you first met him. “You mean it?”

“Every fucking word,” San replied, his breath coming quick as he waited for you to grant him permission to enter. The enveloping feeling of your scent and the promise of everything he hadn’t yet explored. His fist balled slightly, trying his best not to let your heat send him into an early rut.

“Come here.” You let out a hand for him which he gladly took. Quickly lunging for you in a second. His lips found yours and his hands found your hips. He caged you onto the floor with a thump as you tipped back onto the soft plush blankets. His nose nudged yours, as he inhaled sharply, smelling the way your scent sparks with the sweetness of fruits and fresh grass, mixing into a calming nature from his scent mixing with yours. “I’m sorry.”

“D-don’t say that.” San nibbles your bottom lip before pulling away. “Don’t ever apologise for the world's mistakes. You didn’t ask to be an Omega. None of this is your fault.”

“Thank you…” You whispered, locking your lips against his once again. And finally, for the first time, it felt like you found your way to where you needed to be. At that moment, the barriers had dissolved, and all that remained was the newfound bond between you and your soulmate. A bond that had been waiting, just beneath the surface, to blossom into something beautifully and unequivocally real.

“I need you.” You beg through his desperate lips.

Your plea was music to San’s ears as he hungrily swallowed each and every noise you made. His hands roughly started to rip clothing, shredding all the fabric in his way until you were bare beneath him. Your legs opened willingly as the tingles spiked through your body, a feeling you’ve never felt before. S-San.” You managed to pull away, tugging on the end of his hair that sat on the nape of his neck. Your breath was hitched as you felt tears pool on your eyes. “I…Everything feels weird. I don’t know..wha—Shhh it's okay, I've got you.”

San laid caged gently on top of you, his voice made a sense of calmness wash over you, and little did you know he had used his alpha voice to silence the anxiety he smelt on you.

His touch became more demanding by the second, his fingers leaving a trail of fire on your skin as he growled a low rumble. "Mine," His voice deep and primal. He closed the distance between you again in an instant, his strong hands gripping your hips while his lips sealed tightly on yours.

Your breath came in short gasps as your shirt was ripped open, strips of fabric scattering across the floor. San's eyes devoured your naked body, his gaze lingering on the telltale signs of your omega nature. Your scent glands, your sweet aroma, the way you presented to him.

"San, please..." You pleaded, your voice trembling with need. You wanted this, craved San's touch, but the intensity of the moment was overwhelming.

San's lips crashed down on yours once again, silencing your further protests. His kiss was fierce and possessive, his tongue demanding entry. You moaned into his mouth, unable to resist the onslaught of pleasure. San's hands roamed freely, squeezing and kneading your sensitive nipples, drawing out little gasps and whimpers that he happily swallowed.He moved lower, inching his lips and tongue down a wet trail on your trembling body. 

He paid special attention to your neck, marking you with bites that would surely leave visible to your friends for weeks to come. But what he stopped at was your gland, inhaling sharply against your soft skin. Your hands tangled in San's hair, urging him on as he suckled and nipped at your sensitive skin. “Alpha please…”

Your confession rang in Sans ears like church bells, feeling his heart skip at the word that spilled from your delicate lips. "You're so fucking beautiful…" San growled, his voice rough with desire. He spread your legs wide, exposing your glistening pussy, already swollen with need. "And you're all mine."

You arched off the pillows as San's fingers delved into your soaked cunt, stroking and teasing your sensitive bundle of nerves. "Please, San," you begged again, their voice breathless. "I need you."

San's cock, hard and throbbing, was freed from his pants as he quickly fiddled with his belt and zipper, before he positioned himself at your entrance. "I'm gonna breed you so fucking well, my love," he promised, his eyes blazing with passion. "Gonna knot you so deep, mark you as mine."

You nodded eagerly, your body yearning for San desperately, bucking your hips against him with knitted brows. You felt San's tip slide against you, your slick coated his cock. “Hurry San, I need you so badly.”

You felt your heat surge Through you, your cramps worsening without more. But San was quick to ease your pain, sinking into your tight wet heat thrusting forward, filling you in one smooth motion. You cried out, your sensitive pussy stretching to accommodate San's thick length. San set a relentless pace, pounding into you with brute strength. His hips snapped forward, driving his cock deeper with each thrust. Your moans filled the room, your fingers digging into San's shoulders as they rode the waves of pleasure, feeling tears prick on the corners of your eyes. “Fuck San, Fuck so b-big…argh.”

"That's it, baby," San grunted, his voice strained. "Feel me, feel how deep I am inside you. my fat cock snug inside your tight little pussy."

Your body clenched around San's cock, your orgasm building rapidly. San's fingers found their sensitive bud, massaging it firmly as he continued to thrust. “You wanna cream around my dick baby? I need to feel you clench around me.”

"Oh fuck, I'm close!" You cried out, tears rolling down your face, staining your flushed cheeks, your body tensing as your heat finally started to subside.

San's own release was imminent. He withdrew almost entirely before slamming back into you, his cock swelling as he reached the point of release. "Cum for me, my love," he commanded, his voice thick with need.

Your body exploded in a cascade of pleasure, yout pussy milking San's cock as they cried out his name begging for him to claim you. “Alpha please, mark me.. please please please.”

San's growl was guttural as he snarled against your neck. His hips jerked uncontrollably, baring his teeth on your gland, sinking his fangs into you. Claiming you. He filled you with his hot load as he groaned against your flesh. San cock twitched and pulsed, knotting and swelling deep inside your willing hole. You laid entangled, breathless and satisfied, in the aftermath. He finally unlatched his teeth lapping up your wound with his tongue  Swiping away all the blood. With San's cock still twitched inside you, his knot keeping you joined you finally felt like you could breathe.

"I love you…" San whispered your name, his voice tender. "My beautiful omega."

You couldn't help but smile, feeling a sense of relief and contentment. "I love you too, San. My alpha."

[matan4il]

can we get a. like i dont even know what to call it anymore but can we mention Michel Nisenbaum, an Israeli-Jewish man who was killed on oct. 7th and had his corpse held hostage until really recently. it's ok if you're too busy to do it or if im overstepping a boundary but its just that his story has really been weighting on me recently

Hi Clawdia!

You don't even have to ask me, it's a given I would talk about them, it was just a matter of when. There's so much to say, to share, to debunk, when every aspect of our existence is misunderstood, distorted and/or lied about...

The IDF has returned the bodies of three more hostages who were murdered on Oct 7, and their corpses were kidnapped. The intel which allowed the soldiers to locate and rescue the bodies was uncovered in the last few days.

With your permission, I'll go through the above pic in the order in which we read and write Hebrew, from right to left...

42 years Chanan Yablonka was a father of two. He was last seen in security footage from the Nova music festival, walking through the parking lot, but hasn't replied to his family's calls. They knew that all of the four friends who had been with Chanan in the car in which they tried to flee the scene had been murdered on Oct 7, but no one knew what happened to him. It took 90 days to find the intel which changed his status from "missing" to "kidnapped." IDK if people understand the nightmare that not knowing is for the family. Now they do, and can bring him to his final resting place.

30 years old Mexican-French Orion Hernandes Radu was Shani Louk's boyfriend. They met abroad, and were together for almost a year. He was also the father of a little girl, and a musical producer of parties who worked all over the world. On Oct 7, his dad got a message in Arabic from Hamas, saying that Orion was alive, well, and kidnapped to use him for "political trade." He and Shani went to the Nova music festival together, and the vid of her stripped down, raped, abused body being taken to Gaza, to where people were celebrating in the streets and a boy spat on her still bleeding corpse was the first thing I saw of the massacre on the day itself. Now we know they were both murdered then, kidnapped together, and their bodies were returned to Israel one day apart.

59 years old Michel Nisenbaum was a grandfather, and on Oct 7, at his daughters' request, he went to get his 4.5 years old granddaughter from a military base in the south, where she was spending the day with her dad, an IDF officer. On the way to the base, Michel came across people fleeing the massacre, and as a volunteer paramedic, he helped several of them. When his son-in-law realized terrorists had invaded Israel, he called Michel to tell him not to come, but Hamas terrorists were the ones who answered the phone. One of his daughters said that from the moment she learned about the terrorists replying to her dad's phone, she knew life would never be the same again. At his funeral today, his former wife thanked Michel for the family that they built together, for an extraordinary friendship they had, for the way they learned to deal with everything life had in store for them, and promised him she'll keep guarding all that they had between them.

May their memories be a blessing. </3

The current number of hostages in Gaza is 125, and 39 have been determined to have been killed, which means there are 86 living hostages at most there.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[srngrque]

try me . .

you had your arms wide open, to a far away distance toward the big boy wearing a sleeveless top, and cargo pants who was speeding to you. 

mingyu took his steps, his hair flowing through the wind. your eyes went in awe as your boyfriend quite resembled a little puppy making its way to its owner. you also couldn't help but admire how similar the sequence was just like how you were about to meet him for the first time. 

you bolted as soon as you landed your feet on the ground to the address your best friend texted you a few weeks ago to meet her, her boyfriend that she has been dating for six months and all his other friends; sharing acquaintances, how fun. 

the hanok restaurant was . . close by, your best friend swore yet here you are finding the correct restaurant after rampaging the streets of seoul for maximum ten minutes. 

it concludes: you are being late for one hour and forty-five minutes. oh, you are dead. 

“please, can i know where room six is?” you asked the receptionist, putting your hand on your waist to calm your breathing softly. there were drums beating on your chest as you closed your eyes, breathing through your nose. the receptionist nodded, signing the direction that is: straight turn right. 

before entering the room, you fixed your pants that were about to slip down from your waist and the strap of your top that kept slipping. “i’m here.” you announced, slamming the door open not knowing how loud the ‘bang’ would actually sound, startling yourself. 

sitting down on the floor were four men, and your best friend. the atmosphere seemed to tighten, nobody greeted, or spoke a word. “hi, my love.” you dropped your tote bag, launching yourself on your best friend who had her eyebrows raised, with an unimpressed expression on her face. 

“you forgot about the dinner, didn’t you? i swear to god, why do i ev-” your best friend scolded, narrowing her eyebrows. 

you quickly shook your head, “the meeting with my groupmate ran late. i promise i did not forget.” you blurted out in her ears while giving her a side-hug, she did not respond back. you retreated back, pouting with a puppy expression. “i will do the laundry for one whole month.” you gave in, your best friend rolled her eyes, pushing your embrace away from her. 

just that meant; you knew you were forgiven. 

happily you sat next to her, completely forgetting the presence of four men. “sorry, can i know who the boyfriend is here?” you asked, waving among the men, the pale skinned, sharp jawline and a soft smile raised his hand. “my name is dongmin.” he forward his hand out to shake, you reciprocated, “oh, yes. im y/n.” 

it was not creepy for sure, since you trust your best friend’s choice and you will trust her boyfriend’s friend but there was a certain piercing gaze that kept itching to look at. you glanced at the end to see a dark-haired man covering his eyes partly, his little mole of the tip of his nose, and the light smile ghosting on his lips to greet you. 

you smiled back, not breaking any conversation. 

“aren’t you guys super famous?” you asked, purely out of curiosity. a few chuckles came, you twisted your neck to see your best friend shaking her head in complete disgust. it was not your fault that you were majoring in law, attending three different lectures every three days, and taking part in hearing some cases done in university while she was modeling with top actors, idols, walking on runways and spending days in paris because it is 'sponsored.'

a blonde haired man nodded, “i mean i would say i sing as my source of income.” you laughed at the humour presenting to cut the tension. “oh, i’m jaehyun. nice to meet you, i have heard quite a bit about you while waiting.” he continued, introducing himself and enlightening you with an amusing fact. 

“nothing bad.” the puppy-like-looking man added, taking your attention from jaehyun. “i’m mingyu.” he leaned forward to shake your hand. you stared, not believing much words coming from him. “i guess, i will believe you.” 

you noticed his hands were rough, calluses around his palm yet they were large enough that urged you to rest your hand for awhile but you slipped your hand away, meeting for the first time should not conclude to you becoming into a pervert in his burn book, especially since he is best friend’s with your best friend’s boyfriend. 

there was one last guy that had not introduced himself to you, his doe eyes shining brightly, you gasped, “oh, wait. i know you. you are literally everywhere in seoul.” you frantically pointed at the man, “i literally rode a bus with your face plastered on the bus.” you excitedly mentioned about the banner wishing him birthday wishes. 

“jungkook? right?” you snapped your fingers, waiting for the man to respond to you back. he giggled, his eyes shrinking, nodding his head. you had a shit-eating grin on your face, side-glancing your best friend to show how cultured you still are. 

the tension was slowly vanishing away as everyone went back to making conversation about work schedule, next meet-up and moments that were eventful. you felt out of place amid people whose job is to entertain people, and be in the limelight while you are surviving over an internship that barely pays minimum wage, and by the time you return back to your apartment today, it is time to review all the papers of cases that were given to you. you were practically envying the group sharing advice with each other, and exchanging words of comfort that are reachable, understandable to each other.

"do you not like law?"

you flinched, shaking you from the daydreaming you were doing within the loud environment. you looked at mingyu, like, looked. 

"how did you know?" you questioned, confused on how he knows as you did not mention your degree. his eyes widen, in realization. "she told all of us. sorry, i did not mean to scare you." he scratched his neck.

yet there was still that smile he gave before, but his eyes twinkled in interest toward you. the rush crawled in your body, all over and you could not help it, you cleared your throat. “yes. my older sister and my mom do law. so, i decided to follow the given footsteps.” you replied, smiling hence looking down at your feet. 

feeling small under his gaze, “i think that is pretty cool of you.” he softly said, grasping onto his beer glass. the hue on the tip of his ears bubbled a laughter out from you. “i think you are cool too.” you replied, “this job, you do, it’s not easy.” you sighed.��

he did not reply, as if he was recollecting his thoughts about you, or of you. “tough day?” he lowered his head, wanting you to look up to meet his gaze. you quickly glanced at his action before lifting your head up. 

“no, no. thank you for asking.” you smiled cheerfully, breaking the gaze away from him. “i still feel terrible for coming late, please let me treat you guys to coffee or anything.” you pleaded, you long realized all of them have eaten dinner that you were supposed to eat with the whole group together. 

“good, please feel guilty while you are reflecting too.” your best friend pitched in. dongmin waved her comment, “i would gladly accept your offer.” he smiled, his eyes disappearing. 

you simply understood your best friend there. 

with all the orders you received, as you wrote down on your note app, you wore back your shoes heading to the cafe jaehyun suggested that is a few distance away from the restaurant. you hummed onto random tunes till you heard the door sliding open to mingyu wearing his mask, and his shoes. “i will help you.” he volunteered.

you might be nonchalant about your surroundings that do not concern you. you knew what mingyu was doing; quick glances, shy smiles, starting conversation; you refused a distraction, especially a distraction that belongs to half of the world. 

mingyu, you exchanged a few words with, is a complete heartbreaker. with that sweet smile, honey dripping gaze every time he met your eyes. 

you refuse to become a victim.

“are you crazy?” you rushed toward him, poking his chest as he walked backward toward the room. “you are famous, aren’t you?” you questioned the obvious. 

he nodded. 

you gave him a forced smile, “exactly.”  

he shook his head, “i got myself covered.” he ducked down to whisper in your ears. 

you shivered, looked up to a smirk playing on his face. “then, walk five steps away from me.” 

he whined, “i can simply walk with you.” 

you sighed, giving in. “mingyu, we better not land on dispatch.” 

he giggled, with his long legs, he was already next to you. 

the breeze of autumn was chilling and that was the best part. the yellow leaves are falling down on the ground, observing people either still wearing shorts or some wearing long jackets to fight the windy weather. It kept you . . humanely sane. 

“do you struggle with studying law that much?” he asked, staring with the same pinning interest in his eyes. you gave a sad smile, still gazing at the buildings looking small from where you were walking from with mingyu. 

he hummed with no response, “what do you want to be?” he pestered further. you thought about that, kept thinking, but nothing appeared. 

“lawyer?” you answered; more like questioned. question to yourself on will you be capable enough to become a good lawyer that helps the society, and get your mother off your back.

the aroma of coffee hit your nose as you entered the cafe, immediately workers greeting you. as you lined up to order, “it’s funny how much i want to know about you yet you do not seem that curious about me.” he whispered into your ear, ducking down to match your height. 

you crossed your arm on your chest, “maybe you find my life interesting?” you clicked onto the note app on your phone to check the order just in case, you forget. 

“no, it’s just you.” he flirted. 

he was flirting, you wanted to throw yourself out from the window and let a car drive you over on how much you were begging your cheeks to not heat up. instead, you ignored the man, thanking you were next in line.

“here is the order. thank you.” you gave your phone to the worker, begging them to be quick. walking with mingyu itself was a ringing alarm in your head. 

“you can try me.” he offered. 

“try . . you for what, good god.” you covered your mouth, not wanting to laugh out loud. 

mingyu shrugged his shoulders, “ just . . i would love to know more about you.” 

siren rang in your head, everything after this would be completely dangerous. you know that you are attracted to the man in front of you. 

“do not think much, just follow what your heart desires.” he said as the order arrived. 

the silence this time was filled with the same tension that was in the restaurant when you entered breathlessly. you breathed out, a few steps ahead of him. you turned around, facing him while walking backward. he stared at you confused at your action. 

“are you trying to court me?” you asked. 

a smile broke out on his face, “if you let me.” 

one step forward, one step backward. 

“i don’t know if i should let you.” you playfully said. 

he raised his eyebrows, “you hurt me.” 

you shook your head, waving your hand. “how dare i wound you.” 

he pouted, nodding. “do not worry, princess. one date will heal the wound in no time.” 

one step forward, one step backward. 

“i don’t know, i don't know . . you at all. ” 

one step forward, you paused. 

“and you are a celebrity, i don’t know if you are a good idea for my mental health.” 

his eyes twinkled, with the same amount of interest filled, and the new hint of anticipation roaming around his eyes that danced on your skin.

“like i said, try me.” 

there were no words exchanged as he attacked you with a warm hug, causing you to take a few steps back on how forceful his hug was. 

you smiled into his hug, sighing at the embrace. he lightly patted your back in comfort; reminding you know that he is there for you, he is there. so lean on him, let him carry a few burdens of yours. 

“how was class today, my lady?” 

“i am telling you the chef hates me.” you groaned.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 4/2/2024

in which i try to clean two different boxes with varying success

new people: hello! the tuesdaypost is a weekly roundup of stuff i've been listening, reading, watching, playing, and making. it is NOT a recommendation series, although i sometimes dabble in critique. when im firing on all cylinders i ask "what is the core concept of this? does it succeed in what i think it's trying to do and what it says it's doing?is it well-made but i dislike it/beautiful but not for me? why? what parts Really Work?"

if you are into purity culture, yelling at other people about the problematic media they consume, or are under 18 i am going to have very little patience for you.

listening

now that i live in houston i am legally obliged to loop the new beyonce album 24/7. there is absolutely truly nobody fucking doing it like her. every song is a multimedia art piece. goddamn do i miss the album as a tool to convey a specific concept/listening order/flow. sometimes (chappell roan most recently comes to mind, although it does feel unfair to compare anyone to beyonce) every individual song is pretty good but the listening experience if you sit down and listen all the way through the album is unpleasant and choppy. not so here. NEVER here.

my favorite like Dance Number is YA YA (it samples nancy sinatra's boots! and the beach boys' good vibrations! wildly different tones despite coming out a year apart!)

the one that goes on four different character/tone playlists is BODYGUARD.

great early roundup of influences, samples, and collaborators. delighted to see five fingers for marseilles listed, a rocky but underrated south african neo-western free on tubi rn for americans

-

reading

also very texas-relevant with the recent pornhub lawsuits! pornhub and sex tech (among other things) have been samantha cole's beat for almost ten years. i trust her to report sensitively and not for like. shock clicks

this site has a free paywall (sign up with your email for a link to the full article) so bots have a harder time scraping articles: this is a journalist-founded site with only the four founders running it and writing articles. while annoying i do think this is a reasonable measure

The platform still has problems, but after years of critical reporting and a litany of legal and reputational consequences, Pornhub is now more heavily moderated than any other porn platform, and most major social media platforms, for that matter. A growing list of age verification laws has put Pornhub in a position where it is compelled to block access to its site in seven states and counting. In theory, these laws are designed to prevent children from being able to access pornography online. In reality, what is going to happen is that children are going to end up on pornographic sites that don’t care what the law says, and where some of the most harmful content that exists online is actively promoted to them.

she's also got a new limited series podcast with CBC about the rise and fall of pornhub, which was fascinating and kept me company during an extremely early morning drive

-

watching

i'm lukewarm about this one but i spend a lot of time getting there, much like this movie

ive been watching a lot of frankly dogshit thrillers, which has made me wonder: what's the deal with supervillans? where did they come from? and thence arrived at the prototypical film Dr Mabuse the Gambler (1922, dir. Lang). the four and a half hour cut on Kanopy is two normal-length movies superglued together, which makes sense as a streaming product but it is sort of a terrifying runtime and took me three days to get through.

sometimes, as we know, i get a real bee in my bonnet about visiting the early versions of things. dr mabuse is the blueprint for every james bond and mission impossible villain, or really any shadowy supervillain with power over [INDUSTRY] or [THE MARKET]. it is a four and a half hour long cat and mouse game through lavish, eccentric sets between mabuse and prosecutor wenk. it has some trouble sustaining itself bc it is four and a half hours long but does deliver on the cat and mouse aspects. this letterboxed review has interesting things to say about the political climate of 1922 germany and how lang subverts the formula of the pulp serial.

really the film opens with mabuse yelling at his cocaine-addicted assistant, but the film properly gets going with mabuse's henchmen stealing a trade agreement (nothing really carbon dates a movie more than a missing trade agreement. vanishingly few post-early-30s movies have missing trade agreements as plot points) and then he crashes the stock market. for fun and profit.

however. i think every time you see an evil man who is a banker or stockbroker or generally uses money as power you have to interrogate whether it's antisemitic. the answer here is "maybe" but i'm not sure if intent matters when contemporary nazi critics were eager to hold mabuse up as "this is the typical jewish criminal". (sorry about the link directly to wikipedia, it's been touch finding online sources for this section). mabuse is not specifically jewish, but there are certainly elements of stereotype. i am still not good at being presented with "this movie has a shadowy behind the scenes figure manipulating the government and all the money ever" and going "hey wait a minute".

after that tremendous glaring caveat, for which i read more contemporary reviews and reviews in general than i ever read for movies in these posts, is it good? eh. a contemporary VARIETY review remarked (and i largely agree)

The direction of Fritz Lang has moments – but Lang somewhat negates his good technical effects by twenty forty-word captions of a ludicrous unconciseness.

the night scenes are particularly well done, and imo are better than many modern night scenes--other contemporary reviews remarked

In this film the techniques of the film camera (Carl Hoffmann’s brilliant photography) are brought to perfection. The problem of how to film lit-up streets at night has been solved for the first time. It is unbelievably impressive to see the glaring lights of speeding cars flash through the night or the rapid passing of an elevated train of the initially blurred, then gradually focussed glimpse through a pair of opera glasses on to the variety stage, the nuances of light and shade—these things alone prove the value of film documentary.

look at this shit! filmed from within the cars! in 1922!!!

this film asks you to believe hypnotism is real and really effective, so i don't think it's that big of a leap when it asks you to believe in ghosts. i don't understand that quibble from contemporary viewers. there are several on screen suicides with like. specific methods. which is not currently regarded as good filmmaking practice. im curious to know what contemporary audiences thought but couldn't immediately turn anything up, and wading through masters’ theses on cinematic suicide is a little beyond my current mental health.

if i were a more content-minded woman this would turn into a clickbait video essay about the antisemitic origins of every supervillan. however i am unqualified and untalented at video editing and i'm sure there are forty theses on this already. this movie is a hard sell to anyone jewish or employed. it is also a stunning example of cutting-edge film technology and part of the genesis of the modern supervillan. Fritz Lang films tend to fall in the category of “movies i am happy to see once and feel no need to revisit”.

-

playing

playing what is effectively the same game three times back to back (breath of the wild, tears of the kingdom, genshin impact) has sort of burned me out on open world games with a focus on battle skill progression and stumbling across little puzzles in the overworld. i have to get itch.io up and running on this pc and find the most linear jankiest possible one-sitting indie thing. or several of them. i might try the solo ttrpg Gentleman Bandit i seem to have acquired in one of the giant charity bundles

brief breath of the wild update bc i don't want to pull screenshots off my switch: i have gotten to the boss fight for the gerudo and goron regions, have not completed them bc my focus in this game is NOT hearts, and am in the middle of the zora temple. despite the quality of life improvements and new regions in totk i think i prefer botw: progression is a bit easier, there are fewer mmo-style hub quests and repeatable quests. things like the stable photos are cute but very repetitive, so are the sign bracing puzzles, and the sky crystal quests for sky shrines feel VERY samey. also dislike how the CLEAR OUT: [REGION] quests with the monster suppression squads reset at the blood moon.

anyway! to genshin! there was an exceptionally fun little event with a surprisingly involved management sim tacked onto the game??? you make and sell potions fulfilling different requirements, and can eventually stock travelling merchants all over the continent. the actual act of making the potions was this block-filling 1010! style thing (screenshot from polygon)

the new region, a port town and tea-growing area called Chenyu Vale, is maybe the prettiest one in the game so far? it's the one that feels the most picturesque and Designed, like this is one huge mansion garden studded with follies. they also added background chatter and noise in the cities and towns, which really startled me and makes them feels much more lived in! this is a fun trick to avoid putting in a thousand NPCs and making everyone's framerate crash. the less stuff in your game, the less shit can go wrong.

also pulled for and got chiyori, a geo-aligned seamstress (and sometime spy???) swordswoman who has what i can only call domme voice

-

making

ok now we'll talk about boxes. i was rearranging my kitchen, as unemployed women are known to do, and noticed this recipe box i picked up back in mass was disgusting. the finish is starting to fail but it was genuinely grody and last summer i packed my kitchen in a blind panic inside an hour and did not have time to address it. i have never seen a recipe box at an estate sale before or since and it made me desperately sad.

it was full of a lot of stuff.

i went at it with a somewhat inadvisable combination of things: wood soap didn't budge it, so i dampened a paper towel in vinegar and wiped it down in the vain hope it would do something. the thing that worked, and would be inadvisable for anything veneered or less densely textured, was baking soda paste and the scrubby side of a sponge. it still smells Very musty even after 48h of loose baking soda inside with several changes, but that might be partly the recipe cards' fault. i would like to refinish this at some point but i don't have polyurethane on hand and the fun little project budget is empty until further notice/i get a job.

the hinge did rust a bit despite my best efforts but that has since been lightly steel wooled and oiled. a well loved object! it's possible the lady who died just fucking sucked and that's why literally her entire estate including many other things families usually keep was on sale, but i would like to think perhaps she simply had no other family? a well loved/used object even if all the recipes are for semi-horrifying fifties new england recipes.

the other box, pre-acids but post-washing: this topp trading card box with seven episode one packets of cards was intact with the original seal. i have verified it was not worth much more than the $5 i paid for it with the trading card obsessed man in my best friend's husband's friendgroup. i bought this three months ago but the man was unavailable to open it until uhhh last week. some sort of liquid got inside it at some point and it was super corroded. i was going to store embroidery floss in here but even with all my powers (barkeepers friend. brasso.) i cannot completely remove the corrosion. it's not corroded Through but it looks bad and feels rough. so it goes. it'll probably hold the tiedown straps in my car bc that plastic bucket is rapidly failing

[snowsays]

on my knees hands clasped together in front of me pleading for you to infodump about your fic in which vertina is jolie’s human wife

oh noo, I fear you're gonna be disappointed 😖😖 the fic is not about them 👉🏻👈🏻 im not even sure if they would have appeared

it's actually a sokeefe fic that consumed my brain for -checks notes- four whole days, in which I wrote 8.4k words. I got inspired by this AU. I have actually mentioned it a little before in this blog, I asked for headcanons on what each member of the gang would study/wear/like, because it's a human!college!au, and I actually made a pinterest board with fashion inspo for Biana, Sophie, Keefe and Fitz lmao (you can check it out here if you wanna) and a spotify playlist for Biana and Sophie like those you can make with a friend where spotify automatically fills it with music according to the tastes of each of you

so basically my general idea was that Sophie and Keefe meet at a party where they make out and then the next day they bump into each other at Everglen for spring break. I was writing it on the go bc I hadnt written fanfiction in 12 years (something got into my brain last year and I had an idea for an Eragon fanfic, wrote like a page then got busy, and now this one) so I only had a vague idea of what I wanted to happen which was: make out/have sex at party so its real awkward the next day at everglen (I basically got to this point before the brainrot stopped), couple nightly accidental meetups bc neither of them can sleep, talk about their trauma??, have sex again??, and that was it 😂

but me being me, I got really into making it make sense. So the ~Lore~ I came up with was:

The Reuwens adopted Sophie and Amy after the Fosters died in a fire (cuz we gotta keep it in theme right?)

Jolie lives, and is happily married with Vertina. Fuck Brady (didnt think too much about what happened to him, but maybe he couldve gone to jail?)

Jolie is an adult and out of the house ofc, she's still 15 years older than Sophie

The Reuwens have an animal sanctuary, I was thinking horse sanctuary also inspired by another fanfic I read (but that one was a Haikyuu one)

Sophie drives an old pick-up truck, and Biana has a Suzuki Vitara Live (which she got to spite Luzia Vacker, who is her great-aunt and very conservative. It was a compromise, Biana wanted a Ram pick-up bc Luzia was all "ladies should only drive small cars" but Della and Alden got her to accept the Suzuki) (< that was inspired by my own experience with a family friend who wanted me to sell him my Renault Sandero Stepway and he would give me a Chevrolet Spark bc it was "better for girls")

Foxfire is a college

Sophie, Biana and Stina are roommates. They rent an apartment together (they're in third year, Sophie transferred to Foxfire in second year and got placed as Biana's roommate, who wasnt happy bc she hadnt had one before, but they became friends after helping each other with classes stuff)

Likewise, Fitz, Keefe, Dex and (I was still deciding if) Tam live together in a house (it's Cassius')

Sophie and Biana dont like Stina and she doesnt like them either

Sophie ends up going with Biana to Fitz and Keefe's party bc Stina goaded her about being boring, and then also ends up in Keefe's room to spite Stina

Sophie and Stina are both studying to be veterinarians (the college situation is a mix of how I know american colleges work and how they work in my country)

Biana I was thinking fashion design and/or art. Keefe also art

Also I got an anon after I asked for hcs that mentioned poli-sci/law for Fitz but also culinary so I was thinking he started poli-sci/law at Alden's behest (like Alvar) but then changed majors to culinary. I was thinking to give him and Biana issues with parental expectations and all that (but probably not super detailed)

Dex's major was mechanical ingeneering, and also he and Biana are dating

Also the reason Sophie was spending spring break with Biana and not the Reuwens was that Jolie and Vertina were in their honeymoon, and Grady and Edaline got excited so Sophie and Amy convinced them to go on their own couples trip, and then Amy made plans with her roommate so Biana invited Sophie to Everglen

No one knew Keefe was gonna go too. I was thinking he had a fight with Cassius about the party the morning after so Fitz told him to just go to Everglen with him

and I think that was it. i'm sorry it wasnt more joliexvertina centric, I hope you enjoyed it anyway

[sarahsmi13s]

Tattoos?!

(not my gif)

pairing: jake ‘hangman’ seresin x fem!oc

characters: jake seresin, fem!oc (sarah), jack and delilah seresin, jake’s four sisters, jake’s brother-in-laws, jake’s nieces and nephews

warnings: language, tattoos, alludes to sex but no details, nudity, insecurity, talks of future (brief), im sorry if I missed any but i will go ahead and say 18+ Minors DNI!

word count: 976

a/n: this is a headcannon in which jake learns about his girlfriends tattoos

this takes place the summer after Sarah has graduated college 

this is before the events of the other parts in this series, which is inspired by @roosterscockpit​​ ‘s ( @milesdickpic​ ) story ‘His Little Girl’ and yes the oc is based on me (but is mainly fantasy me lol and the tattoos described in this story are mine)

*******

Sarah was spending her first summer after graduating with Jake and Paisley in Texas.

This was the first time she’s really been in the state, except for that one time she went to Waco with her friends the previous summer.

But now she was taking a beach trip to Galveston with Jake and his family.

“Wait, you’ve never been to the beach before? You’re 21, how have you never been to the beach?” Jake asked from his spot next to her in the car. 

She shook her head, shrugging, “Just never had the time, or really the money.”

Jack spoke up from the front seat, “Well, that settles it, you’re coming every year.” Delilah nodded from her seat and Tilly, Jake’s youngest sister, squealed from beside Sarah in excitement.

Once they got to the beach house, the boys on the trip carried in all the bags.

The family settled in and relaxed from the drive, making sure they had energy for the next day.

Once the sun rose the next morning Sarah was stretching and getting ready for the beach day that was planned.

Jake came in from his jog, sweaty and starving. 

He noticed Sarah in the kitchen, still in her pj’s, which was basically an old t-shirt and shorts. He smiled and kissed her temple, “Good morning.” “Better now that you’re here.” “That was cheesy.” “Was it wrong?” He smiled, pecking her lips, “You’re never wrong.” 

Delilah chuckled as she walked past her son, “You learn quick.”

After breakfast and wardrobe changes, the Seresins headed to the beach.

Jake wore black swim trunks, the kind that rested low on his hips, showing off that sculpted body the Navy gave him. Though it was only to show off for Sarah.

Sarah wore a brown cow print bikini, the bottoms were high waisted and her cover up was a thin, red plaid shirt and jean shorts.

The men and the kids splashed in the surf, Jake tackling his nieces and nephews into the water. The women laid out in the sun, Jake’s older sisters enjoying the break from their toddlers. 

“Have you always had that tattoo?” Delilah asked, pointing to Sarah’s right side, where the inked skin of her ribs were exposed. “Oh yeah, I got in when I turned 18.” She straightened out her arm, “And I got this a few months ago.”

Kassandra, Jake’s oldest sister, sat up, “What does the one on your ribs mean?”

“It’s a TV show that really means a lot to me. The brothers in the show have the same one,” Sarah explained. “I just thought it looked cool, and the show has this underlying theme of ‘family doesn’t end in blood’ and that’s just really stuck with me.”

Jake jogged over, casting a shadow over the group.

“What are we talking about?”

Addison sat up, “Your girlfriend's tattoos.”

He pulled a face, “She doesn’t have-” He looked down at her, “Do you?”

Sarah laughed and nodded, “I’ve got two.”

Jake held his hands out, motioning for her to grab them, which she does, and pulled her to her feet. “Lemme see.”

She straightened her arm again, brandishing the colorful ‘LAUGH’ tattooed there. “Aaand-” she turned, lifted her right arm, showing the symbol from the show ‘Supernatural’ that was inked on her ribs.

Jake leaned down to get a closer look, “That’s so hot.” 

Then he scooped her up and promptly walked toward the house.

 “AH! Jake!” She laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and he wrapped her legs around his hips. “What are you doin’?!” “I think you know exactly what I’m doin’, Sugar.” 

He carried her straight in the house and up to their room.

Jake went to lay her down on the bed. “No, you’re covered in seawater and I’m covered in sand- shower,” Sarah said, pointing over Jake’s shoulder to the bathroom.

Rolling his eyes, he changed directions.

He placed her on the counter and pulled the top of her swimsuit off, catching her arms before she could cover herself. “Don’t… You’re beautiful.” His left hand came up and rested on her ribs, his thumb rubbing over the inked skin.

“You’ve never seen me like this, so forgive me for being nervous.” Jake smiled and kissed her forehead, “I know. Being nervous is okay. We’ll only go as far as you want.”

Jake kissed her lips, pulling away only to kiss her shoulder and kiss down her arm. He got to her tattoo and planted a kiss on each letter. 

He pulled back, his hand going right back to her ribs. “Are you hiding any more of these bad boys? I need to give all of them attention.” He couldn’t keep the smile away, laughing towards the end.

She giggled and shook her head, “Just the two. I’ve got more planned though.”

He groaned, his head falling into her neck, “I never thought I’d be this attracted to tattoos.” He pecked her neck, “Maybe it’s just you.” 

After their shower, they laid on the bed, naked under the covers. 

Jake’s index finger traced the star of the tattoo on her ribs.

“Could you see me with tattoos?” He asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the moment.

Sarah nodded, “Yeah, but not huge pieces though. Probably something memorable to you, something that has meaning to you. Maybe an outline of Texas on your chest.” Both of them laughed at that.

“Maybe not that. Maybe our kids' initials, or something like that.” His eyes widened slightly at the ‘our’ he let slip. But she didn’t seem phased. “Yeah, that’s definitely your ballpark.”

He looked down at Sarah, seeing her eyes start to flutter shut. The tracing of her tattoo, and the warmth of both her sunburn and her boyfriend, had lulled her to sleep.

Jake kissed the top of her head, and they both fell asleep.

**********

thank you so much for reading!! i hope this was enjoyable!

I do have a pinterest board set up for this, just to help me get into the vibe (one is to help with future parts, one is only for the current parts)

SO

if you want to check it out and get more of a feel for the dynamic going on---- you can click right --->   here Like mentioned in the last one, feedback is greatly appreciated!

and my asks are open, feel free to request what you would like to see next while i’m working on the next part!

<3 <3 <3

[oogalaboogalabich]

Goddammit that kiss got me sick. I cant stop feekin dyin o typhus long enough to do anything productive so here.

I built the AU Astarion from my kinkfic and im runnin him as an abberant mind mage.

This backstory is entirely off the rails of canon. So effin self indulgent. I apologise for nothing.

Astarion in this AU met Cazador a few years earlier, barely weeks after the guy commited Vampire Patricide. Cazador just up and tried to go for it, nearly ripped Astarions throat out and scared him off so bad the elf skips town.

Ends up in the underdark and finds himself hanging out with a bunch of pirates for a few decades. Almost immediately after marrying this noteably redheaded crewmate ("she had a penchent for silk ropes and putting twats in their place") their crew gets fucked by a new ring of slavers. He doesnt actually know how long he was with them, but hes narrowed it down to almost two years on that ship before being sold to a house in the underdark. He escaped fairly quickly from there, helped by an unusually large druid, whod been their captive long before astarion arrived.

He gets an escort back to his family home, where he learns hes a little past overdue for his coming of age.

After all hes experienced, and a mind freshly robbed of any comfort or escape his previous lives used to bring him in reverie, he doesnt much care about picking a new name. Something he knew would come off as practically sacrelidge to certain parties.

In the end he picks "Astarius" as his adult name to avoid the trouble of getting used to something new. Its a bit ambitious in nature, and the drama behind "God of Stars" pleased his father well enough.

He spends a brief time trying to heal himself with a group of gith monks who have taken over an old lethanderan temple.

But when their methods dont quite work for him, he falls back into pirating, though he acts as more of a legal advisor and launderer these days.

He was about 200 when he simultaniously opened two practices. One in Waterdeep, the other in Immurks Hold. He found it invigorating having to juggle the Immurk Code of Conduct and the laws of Waterdeep.

He found hed gotten over most of his developed fears through the fairly prominant presence of vampire Lord Artor Morlin in his dealings. Though always under the pseudonym of different mercantile captains, which Astarius thought to be very funny.

He was on a business trip in the underdark near Waterdeep when the events of baldurs gate 3 take place.

No matter where he goes, everywhere in the underdark is suddenly swarming with illithids, and its even worse up on the surface. The world is in shambles, theres nothing left after a mere few months. The world made utterly barren, the soil salted and waters poisoned.

The animals die off, the people left behind are systematically rounded up and slaughtered or turned.

Less than a decade later the last bastion (at least in faerun) is ironically Menzoberranzan, where Astarius is forced to return. But when he arrives, people have for the most part let go of the prejeduces that ruled them. Its a fairly plesant place to live for the year or so it survived after his arrival.

He didnt stay for a fight when they heard the illithids were finally going to launch an attack on them directly. Almost nobody stayed in the end. And an attack never came.

For whatever reason. They all just...left. all the illithids gathered in their nautiloids and left the planet behind.

The few hundreds, maybe a few thousand people left on Torill spread out. Even with nothing fit to grow or drink naturally, they still get by with magic if they are lucky, summon creatures and glean vegitation from other planes etc.

Until Magic ceases to exist. After four or five years. It just...stops happening. Something or someone has killed Mystra again. And this time it doesnt come back.

Devils have stopped answering summons, or showing up at all. Warlocks are the last to lose their powers.

Astarius survives because he must. And instead of being content to live in this barren waste of a planet, he sets to work on finding a way out. Either off the planet, into a new world. To the astral plane for all he fucking cared.

Somewhere...anywhere but here.

Hes nearly 400 by the time he makes an ounce of headway.

Near the dregs of what was once reithwith town, he finds a crypt nearly untouched by the desolation of time, and even deeper still, lay the literal gauntlet of bloody shar.

Most importantly theres meat. Actual real food that isnt insects or what few digusting plants can still grow.

An entire colony of rats to live off of for as long as he can keep them breeding faster than he, or they, can eat.

He lives in what he jokingly calls "squalid luxury" for days, exploring and narrowly escaping death a few times. Shar was still ever present. Of course she would be. Torill was perfect for her now.

Theres one area he avoids simply because of the rank stench, but eventually curiosity gets the better of him.

And there...near a pile of corpses deep within the temple, he finds a polyhedron relic, covered in what was clearly tir su script...

[boxofdicks]

the only privilege i ever assume people have inherently is when i talk to other usamerican uni students when i was in undergrad in the states, cause when theyre stressed about assignments im always like why dont you just. take some adderall and pull an all nighter about this. why not just have 4 red bulls and an adderall and some cigarettes and submit the damn assignment. cause are you about to tell me you dont have access to this? seriously? you do. text your freshman year roommate and ask her. just spend your beer money for the week on this. live in the lib for a week. ive had diagnosed and prescribed adhd since i was 11 so i have to take these pills a few times a week to simply do my readings but they are so available to you people. and so i assume everyone has this privilege and if they dont then im like well i simply cannot aid you in your pursuits. not only can i conceive of an academic situation in which red bull and an adderall would not help but i dont know how youve gotten this far without at least the red bull part. i can recommend using the tool mybib for citations. google scholar and jstor and the writing center and emailing your professor asking for an extension bc ive never been turned down for one less than 48 hours. and adderall. when im a professor and i have office hours i will have to remedy this approach.

do you think people rawdog law school? med school? do you think theres a single biology or engineering or mandarin or comp sci or religious studies student who made honors without adderall. one time my buddy in seminary school got his hands on some cocaine and spent 4 days trading futures online before etrade found out he wasnt licensed to do so and he got banned. he made eight thousand dollars off of four hundred. and what did he do next? took a few days off to sleep, then passed his midterms. then he hit a deer with his truck and had to shoot it to put it out of its misery, so he took it to the local farm butcher and got years worth of venison. we make chili out of the sausage he gave my parents to thank us for hosting thanksgiving. the moral of this story? sometimes the grindset can pay off in mysterious ways. the power of stimulants is within you. you have the power to take control of this night and make it an all nighter and succeed. business majors abuse these. they use them without honor. they dont read textbooks or write essays or do math or whatever engineers do. they dont even trade rich peoples portfolios. they may network at best. at best. they party and then preach the grindset and sales. these people have rarely grinded. only when they took econ classes and had to learn stats did they grind. my friends. the grindset is within you. you can make thousands legally but not within the terms of service. you can finish the essay and pass. this isnt about adderall. its about grit. and red bull

[booksandria]

Odisseu de mil ardis - an Odyssey review

spoiler alert!

hi everyone! I'm all done with the Odyssey, finished on the last week of february! I'm all late with my last reviews, but thats life aint it. I enjoyed it very very much, which can be seen by how fast I ate it up (six days!). Its sooo much smoother than the Iliad, even if it can be a little repetitive at times as well. I have to admit, thought, that even then I still prefer Iliad, mainly because Iliad was more impactful to me personally.

Again, its funny to do a spoiler alert on a 3000+ yo book, but anyways lol

The thing with Odyssey, for me, is that I expected much more from it. Not to say its bad, because that would be a sacrilege. I just put too much expectation into it I guess, but still enjoyed. I love Odysseus, i love poor baby Telemachus, and i love, absolutely love Penelope. She is everything to me.

The coolest thing about this poem, compared to Iliad, is how we have more than one narrative going on, the first one being what we call the Telemachia, the first four books in which we see up close just how devastating Odysseus absence was to everyone in his family. The of order things is completety desmantled, especially now that the suitors are causing trouble and breaking every social rule they can. In this part of the story, we see this boy, Temelachus, who grew up without his father in this society, where gender and social roles play such a vital part of life and where these things are taught to you by the parent of the same gender. Not only he didn't have his father, he also didn't have his grandfather, who was so depressed by his only son not returning that he moved away from their house. And now, to make matters worse, he is the only man in the house trying to handle this impossible situation and failing miserably.

In this side of the narrative, we still have my darling beloved Penelope, Odysseus's wife who was left home when he went to war. It's very moving and heartbreaking that she spends 10 years of war worried about Odysseus dying, then 10 more not knowing if he would come back or not, but waiting for him nonetheless. Not only did she raise her babyboy all on her own to the best she could, now, when the story starts, she is faced with the most dreadful of the situations. The vultures are destroying her husband's house and seeking to marry her, not for who she is, but because of her social position. She has no power to stop it, so all she can do about it watch as they do and cry for Odysseus's return. The thing is, she is absolutely bright and astute and she does buy a really good time for Odysseus to get his shit together and finally come back when she tricks the suitors FOR THREE YEARS with the weaving of a funeral shroud for her old old father-in-law. Anyway, she is everything and I want to marry her too (but I would treat her right)!!!.

Anyway, the second narrative is the one we started reading for, that is Odysseus's return. Kinda funny that we only see the titular character by book five and the first scene hes in, hes weeping because of how much he wants to go back to his family and his homeland. Poor sad man. To be honest, I kinda hope Ithaca has some good therapists, because boy oh boy, isnt this man traumatized? He was:

Forced to fight a war he didn't want to (more or less lol)

Had to leave his beloved wife with their newborn son behind (like, really, Telemachus was one month old when Odysseus leaves, he missed EVERYTHING)

Spend ten years fighting in said war

On th way home, he had several of his men dying horribly (most of them being eaten by monstruous beings or drowning at the sea or suffering the wrath of gods)

he had kinda coercive sex with two goddesses (the power dynamic is truly to consider), very dubious consent (but they are goddesses, so i suppose its expected?)

Lost all geras he won in the ten years of fighting (im still wondering what happened to all the women he eslaved... All dead too, I suppose?)

Many humiliations and hard choices

This guys PTSD must be WILD.

This two narratives converge together once Odysseus finally makes it back to Ithaca and now needs to plan out his revenge on the suitors. What a sweet scene it is the one where he meets Telemachus for the first time in twenty years, I imagine how hard it was for Odysseus to hold himself back so he wouldn't reveal his identity before it was time. I wonder if he looked at his sons face and saw a younger version of himself, or if he looked for all the baby traits he remembered in a man's face. Lovely. The massacre scene was pretty satisfying, not gonna lie, even if it was kinda horrifying as well (particularly the twelve girls, like, I'm pretty sure I had read they were forced to have sex with the suitors...). Anyway, book 23 is THE BEST, i love Odysseus and Penelope's reunion, i love everything about this book, i love her testing him, i love him getting mad at the thought someone else knows about their marital bed, i love how they both cry as they kiss and hug, i love everything about it. Book 24 is also sweet, his reunion with his old old dad. And like that, after 20 years, my boy Odysseus gets back home and gets to reclaim his social position and his home.

Again, I have to say that, while this is a wonderful story, i still prefer Iliad over it (though is merely personal preference, Iliad's themes touch me more profoundly than anything). Still, I recommend this book to everyone! It's great! It has a neat balance between heartfelt moments and comical ones, and it's so cool to see so many tropes and things that are part of our imaginary in their original form, as it all began.

Anyway, that's all folks. Penelope, if you're reading this, i love u, let's get married on may <3 <3

[rainbowgothdisaster]

my grandmother owns AT LEAST FIVE BIG CARDBOARD BOXES OF GONE WITH THE WIND MERCHANDISE. when i first saw the pieces as a child i thought they were cool, i mean making a ceramic bell out of poofy dresses is neat and i am always down for more stuff to shove in the curio cabinet. as far as me for the last 18 years was concerned they were just more nicknacks that told me where my hoarding problem came from.

then one day my grandfather came into the room i had been staying in bcuz the things i had only known as "the pretty lady statues" on the piano needed to be moved and he needed help unpacking boxes and setting things up in the cabinet. that was maybe a month ago. when unpacking those boxes i saw bells, scenes, figurines, plates, decorative plates with figurines attached, Christmas ornaments, vinyl records (yes multiple), and other various decor and such. i don't argue with my grandfather bcuz of reasons so i just kinda did it and refused to spend more than 5 min on it all.

so then my grandmother came home from the hospital and tried to get me to come look at them and i immediately snapped bcuz shes been irking me something fierce for the past couple years. i said no i wasn't going to come look at the probably way too expensive dolls from a racist ass movie and she started arguing with me bcuz surprising no one my grandmother has a fragile ego that's bruised by me saying things like "don't touch me" and "stop villainizing my mother for things that arent the actual neo nazi shes engaged to"

this was a short arguement bcuz i went into it knowing that saying "slavery is bad" was going to get me a family history, which it did she started talking about how her great grandparent's slaves refused to leave after being freed. which, there's a lot of reasons that could be and i don't care for any of them. this is the woman that pulled out an old picture from highschool and had to be told "don't post the picture featuring you (not in blackface) and two men in blackface to facebook with the caption 'how times have changed'", im never convincing her of anything.

when my aunt courtney met me at the top of the stairs bcuz i scream a lot when im angry, i told her what the argument was and explained a lot and to my surprise she DIDNT take that as an opportunity to be racist as any conversation with her involving black people goes (these four ppl I've mentioned all have a black in law and now it makes sense why my uncle doesn't come visit for... any reason ever) and immediately was like "oh im surprised ppl protested it back then"

and i dont have an actual ending here bcuz when i get angry i just scream, dissociate, and cry in any order but usually that one but that day i skipped cry and just went to bed after checking out of that conversation

[prismabeth]

okay vent time apologies

this year has fuckin Sucked its honestly wild

and the bizarre thing is it probably takes the cake for best year of my life as well

brief play-by-play:

started off the year by taking leave from college, after a mental break made it to where i could not safely continue my education

move back to Tennessee and decide to use this opportunity (not having my body and schedule completely occupied by school and work) to finally access hormones

almost as soon as im back home, Tennessee legislature passes a whole new slew of anti-trans laws (alongside a wave of anti-trans violence in the state), it has suddenly gone from quite dangerous to extremely dangerous to be trans in the state

by april, i have had enough trouble even getting to a doctor that im looking into diy hormones

my (now ex) partners, concerned about my safety in Tennessee, diy hormones, and my deteriorating mental health, ask me to move in with them in Vermont

by the end of may i live in Vermont

within a couple weeks i already have hormones and pierced ears, but vermont is expensive, and while my partners came from middle class families and could live off the allowances their families provided, i had to get a full time job to afford food, meds, and rent

i ended up getting a job in phone sales because the wage was above minimum + commission, and because the district manager was another trans woman (she would be pressured into a demotion two weeks later)

i like that i am surviving in a new city and taking control of my healthcare, but my partners grow increasingly frustrated that work leaves me exhausted and in debilitating pain every day, as well that being in Vermont hasnt completely solved my depression and anxiety

as the stress and distance was growing, one of my partners goes back to their home state to deal with a cancer scare (my other partner is away with family, i have the apartment to myself for a while)

and at this point arrives a truly miserable three day period

day 1: just before he is supposed to come back, my boyfriend of one year messages me and says he thinks we need to stop dating, at least temporarily, and that hes going to stay with family for a while longer until i can find another place to live

day 2: being obviously depressed and wracked with guilt, my ex and remaining partner become concerned and order me to admit myself to the emergency room after work

no buses go that way within the next 4 hours, my phone dies shortly after looking for a route, and i end up walking over a mile to the emergency room

im kept overnight for observation, every new doctor and nurse comments about how i seem too polite, calm, and direct to be on suicide watch, and a child is screaming all night in the next room; but im thankful they let me keep my cane on me

day 3: i get back to the apartment at sunrise, tell my boss i cant come into work, and fall asleep holding my ex boyfriend's cat

after i wake up, my girlfriend of four years tells me theyre breaking up with me too, both my exes say they wish to remain friends (i take this at face value, and only realize later it was just softening the blow)

they also request i leave every online space we share, i post goodbyes and ask my friends in these spaces to stay in touch

i quickly learn how disposable i had been when only two of the dozen people i considered friends bother to keep talking to me

it doesnt feel like a coincidence that the two people who keep talking to me are the only other trans women in an explicitly trans space

after a while of not talking, i get into a fight with my ex girlfriend and they tell me to be out of the apartment by August 1st (a week and a half from then) and that they expect the apartment spotless without me in it when they arrive

i spend too much money mailing my belongings back home, and transfer my job to a phone store in Tennessee

after a month selling phones in my hometown, i end up quitting

partly because my work logins had been broken since i transferred and i made zero commission all month, partly because being a visible trans woman in my small hometown led to numerous customers being kicked out for threatening/harassing me, but mainly because the work was soul crushing

besides attending the funerals of my great grandmother and my great uncle, the rest of the year has been largely uneventful

while i feel a lot better than i did for most of this year, i dont feel ready to go back

and frankly, i dont know how to feel about this year, it has featured some of the lowest lows of my life, but its also the first time ive actually wanted to look at my face in the mirror and let other people see what i see, and i love that feeling

i also in some ways feel a lot freer now, i gave up a lot of myself to keep my partners happy, and i dont intend to do that ever again

and i while i havent felt this lonely since highschool, i am very used to feeling lonely

but i think things are only going to get better from here

i dont feel optimistic about my academic or economic future, in those regards i feel quite hopeless

but i feel confident in who i am and what i want, and ive never had that before

i think, when its not 3 am and i dont need to wake up in a few hours, im gonna do a little vent post

cause boy has it been a year

but for now, sleep

[katnissdoesnotfollowback]

I don't want to be rude, but do you think you'll update Outside Chance soon?

Nope. Sorry, Anon. I write where my brain takes me because if I try forcing it, it comes out crap and I just wind up hating it and more frustrated with myself. So in the interest of providing a quality chapter, it’s gonna have to wait awhile longer. Wish I could give you a date estimate, but I can’t.

[itsallavengers]

its just mad like im sure theres something wrong with me. the way i go about life is just not fucking good. i will never get anywhere because like i could do SO well i could be academic i could read books and if i worked hard at something, ANYTHING, i could be successful at it but i never will! i never will. because i simply would rather scroll aimlessly through the depths of tumblr and refresh every three seconds for the instant yet fleeting gratification of a new post than spend those hours doing something productive, because that’s not instant validation baby so i dont care! thats my life. like what! what.

[itssleepyrabbit]

hi! wow i super love your art and i don’t have enough dabihawks in my life 🥺 was wondering if you had any fic recs for them?? 💕💕

aah thank you so much!! 💕💕 💕💕

BOY IF I DO HAVE!! alright buckle up this might get long (most are fluff and SFW~ i’ll put a NSFW warning but be sure to look at tags in all of them!!)

Bed I made (lie in it with me) by  silverwordswrites

“Touya is in desperate need of a plus-one for his brother's wedding and Keigo is infinitely curious about the man who he was sure used to hate him in college.” 

-- the summary says everything and honestly it’s one of the most romatics dabihawks fics i’ve read.

On-going

He Doesn't Love Me by  Fatally

“Dabi doesn't love him. He's accepted that thorny truth, swallowed it down and let briars grow in his chest, drinking down his blood like water.Or: The one in which Hawks settles for pining for his entire life and doesn't realize Dabi's been staring at him the entire time, too.” 

-- I love pinning Hawks with a burning passion.

Completed

sweetheart, is that you? by  fuckendeavor666

“dabi and hawks say i love you (without actually saying i love you) in five different ways.“ 

-- This is my absolute fave dabihawks fic

Completed

Deck the Halls With Boughs of Folly by  DrAphra

“In which the League has acquired a new fancy mansion -with all the heating and food and plush beds they could possibly need - but they still prefer to spend the day out in the wilderness with just each other. Plus Hawks.“ 

-- Honestly all Aphra’s dabihawks fics are more than worth it but this one has a special place on my heart.

Completed

fuck, im so young - orphaned

“Todoroki Touya writes poems.

Words upon words of heartfelt confessions, letters of sing song fantasies, syllables of feelings he never got to say out loud.

When Todoroki Touya hits sixteen, he burns himself to death.

When Dabi hits twenty four-

He meets Hawks.” 

-- i don’t know how to explain but this fic it’s pretty

Completed

Feathers and Feelings by  Toboe1087

“Hawks keeps leaving feathers on his pillow, and Dabi's about had it.

(like hell he'd let anyone else have them, though)”

-- Dabi preening Hawks feathers is a blessing

Complete

(this is not a) swan song by  bittermoons

“"Who's your favorite, then?"

"Hawks." Touya doesn't miss a beat. "Definitely Hawks."

"What? Seriously? How come?"

"He has his flaws, but at the end of the day, he's trying to do good. It's something he always strives for. Dabi, on the other hand...if it weren't for Hawks, he wouldn't be a hero, that's for sure."

[Or: How a secret is revealed, and what comes afterwards.]”

-- Adorable no quirks AU with manga artist Touya and oblivious Keigo! Another author i adore pretty much all dabihawks works.

Completed

You can't trap the sky in a bottle by thyandra

“Letting Toga organize the accommodations for their trip might have been a mistake. This particular truth becomes obvious to Keigo as he opens the door of his hotel room for the first time. There, staring back at him mockingly, is a single, king-sized bed. It’s only by virtue of all the years spent perfecting his poker face around his adoptive parents, that he manages to keep his face straight. At his side, Touya clicks his tongue. “They must’ve given us the wrong key.””

--(no quirks AU) I really love they way Dabi and Hawks are written here i can’t express it in words and so so much pinning

Completed

A Tale as Old as Time by  EloFromMars, Gotcocomilk

“Dabi and Hawks are hit by the most improbable Quirk: both are yeeted in Fairytales land and have to rely on each other to get out of this.“

-- this was such a fun read omg

Completed

A Romance Written All Over Your Body by  minatsukinoamayo

//NSFW mind the tags!//

“Hawks is assigned to infiltrate the League of Villains in order to expose them. Hawks usually never fails a mission, but Keigo usually never falls in love, either.A story of how Hawks falls from grace to become a villain, because hero society has failed them all.

OR

5 times they're not in a relationship and 1 time they are.“

-- you know those fics you say “one more chapter” and it’s 3AM

Completed

it caught spark in your eyes by  youareoldfatherwilliam

//Mature - Implied Sexual Content//

“Keigo’s quirk is powerful, but sometimes it comes with unintended side effects.

Or: A 5 + 1 fic of five times the more…instinctively bird-like parts of Keigo’s quirk took over accidentally during his relationship with Dabi, and one time it happened entirely on purpose.“

-- I was screaming about this particular fic on twt the other day pls give it a read if you can it’s so so so good! Any fic that has Hawks with bird traits has a special place on my heart

Completed

The Others by  threesipsmore

//Mature - 2 sexual scenes, nothing too explicit but they’re there//

“"Skeptic's starting to think he’s more important than me,” Toga sneers, an acidic edge to her voice. “Making decisions on his own, sending out birdie without even talking to me first.”

She’d simply acquiesced to cooperating with Skeptic, but from day one the complaints had never stopped. In this tiny room layered with sushi and cakes, Dabi was forced to listen to her whining.”

-- You go birb, you get that man

Completed

Equivalent Exchange by  inexchangeforyoursoul

“Keigo blinks the blurry oblivion away from his eyes, although some part of it is oddly stubborn and to stay indefinitely. There's three things he's certain of: first, he’s alive. Second, just by looking at the bed and windows he can tell this is no villain hospital or torture room. Third: something feels wrong. Very wrong.

The silence… is deafening.

xxx

To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.

If so, what of a bird that has lost its wings?”

-- i had so many feelings reading i can’t physically explain them to you also PINK HAIR DABI PINK HAIR DABI

Completed

dabi's 5-step guide to being a better parent than endeavor by  twinkfrankenstein (orphan_account)

“A little voice inside his head whispered spitefully about how this was no place for a child, and how he was making a mistake and would only traumatize the kid, yada yada. He responded with an equally spiteful-

“Fuck off, its not like I planned to do arson today.”

(or: how Dabi becomes a good dad just to spite his own, realizes he kinda sorta maybe likes Hawks for realsies, begrudgingly admits the League cares and finally comes to terms with his protective side. Not in that order.)“

-- this legit made me laught out loud idk what else tell you

Completed

The Todoroki In-Laws by  aphrodaisyacs

“Over 10 years after the fight against the Paranormal Liberation Front, Rumi, aka the part-time hero Miruko and the proud wife of one Todoroki Fuyumi, decides it would be an awesome idea to create a groupchat with the significant others of the other Todoroki siblings.

Maybe things would be easier if its members weren’t two Pro Heroes, a former one and a rehabilitated villain, but…Honestly, where’s the fun in that?”

-- this is not dabihawks focused but it’s so funny pls

Completed

With Being Petty Comes Consequences by  CursedUndead

“"When we were saying fuck pro heroes, I didn't think you literally meant FUCK them," Tomura grumbles, kicking over an empty beer can.

"Pretty judgmental for someone fucking a pro twice their age," Touya says.

Tomura squints, and says, "Ten years is not twice my age."

Or, after spending Enji's money, Touya is forced to babysit for the number 2 hero to pay him back. Touya makes it his life's mission to fuck his new boss.”

-- this only has 4 chapters but i know it’s going to be one of my faves

On-going

The Truth series by  AmethystUnarmed

-- Hawks gets hit with a truth quirk and starts to be actually free by the power of love, friendship and a bit of crime <3

The last entry is on-going

and if we sit and count it up it's really not a lot by  sincerelysamedt

“Hawks finds a bento box in his messenger bag and almost cries.

"Is that a loving wife bento?"“

-- please PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ THIS ONE /sobbing noises/

Completed

steal your heart by  darlingest

//Mature//

“When infamous thief Hawks announces that he is going to steal the heart of Endeavor's son, everyone expects him to prey on Shoto Todoroki - nobody suspects Touya to be the actual target.“

-- Villain Hawks and civilian Dabi are my guilty pleasure and this one it’s so soft too i’m- djsahfdjkfhadf

Completed

darling, thank god it’s this universe we’re in (and you can annoy me as much as you please) by  juurensha

“ Todoroki Rei divorces Endeavor and moves all four of her children into a small apartment next to a boy with wings as red as the hair of her eldest son. “

-- This was one of the first dabihawks fics i ever read and, to this day, i come back to it when i feel i need the extra burst in happy feelings and check their other works too! Honestly all are such a good fucking read

Completed

[tooweirdforyou]

Platonic! Straw Hats x Teen! Reader » Continued. PT 2

Request : Can we have more teen reader with the straw hats and they protect them and teach them things

Hi, do you mind if we get more platonic teen reader with the straw hats?

Is there going to be a part 2 of the teen reader and straw hat Pirates?

-

I FINALLY FINISHED. I didn’t realize how popular this would be, holy crap. This is the first time I had someone request for a part 2 for something, let alone 3 people. It feels kinda nice 😂

I’m trying to keep reader GN, but if I end up writing female pronouns or hints of a female reader, then I’m sorry :(

this might be in parts, ( should I turn this into a multi-fic? lol )

PART ONE | PART THREE

includes interaction w/ : Nami, Sanji, Chopper & Usopp!

Summary : continuation of life with the straw hats, as a teen. This time, they will get you to open up! >:)

-

“So, treat them nicely, okay?”

Nami’s sing-song voice fills the room as boys stare in surprise at the sudden appearance of the two girls and their younger crewmate.

You felt a little uneasy in the presence of the crew, their eyes lingering on you as you shifted you weight.

“Er.. im sorry for.. staying in my room a lot.. and.. for.. making you worry..”

Even though Nami already explained the reasoning for your actions, you still felt the need to apologize. However, when it continues to be silent, you feel yourself fidgeting with the hem of your shirt.

Then your Captain spoke. Well, laughed.

“Shishishishi!~”

Everyone turns to Luffy, who is grinning widely. “Apology accepted! Who knew you were just shy the whole time? We assumed you didn’t like us! Shishishi!”

Your eyes widen at him and you felt an embarrassed blush creeping up onto your cheeks as you look down to hide it. “I-I’m sorry.”

Robin places a gentle hand on your shoulder and smiles softly to the crew. “Well, now that we know the truth, why don’t you spend the rest of the day with us? One by one.”

“I like that idea.” Nami grins before glancing down at you. “Well? Who do you want to spend time with first, [Name]?”

You blink at her before looking around to see them staring expectantly at you, offering rather kind smiles to you, patiently waiting for an answer.

“..I don’t know..”

...

The others deadpan and sweatdropped at your response before Nami sighs softly. “That makes sense, you wouldn’t know where to start.”

Nami then grins. “Then, I’ll volunteer and go first! Sound good? No complaints? Great!”

“Hey! How come you get to go first and show [Name] stuff?!” Usopp points a finger at the navigator, narrowing his eyes as he frowns.

Nami simply sticks out her tongue and gave a childish expression. “Because I volunteered! Now let’s go, [Name]!”

Dragging you away with the pull of your hand, Nami pulls you off towards the aqua lounge despite the many protests, complaints and calls after her.

“W-wait, is this a good idea?.. I don’t—“

“Of course it is. You want to spend time with us don’t you?” The navigator smiles once you two enter and shut the door.

Now it was just the two of you, in the lounge.

“Well..” you trail off, still feeling awkward and perhaps a little bit nervous about all of this.

It was pretty sudden after all, just minutes ago you were in bed reading a book and now, you’re playing play date with your crew members.

Nami softens her smile and went over to the couch and took a seat, patting the spot beside her.

“I know this is a lot. We don’t have to do much but talk, and maybe get you to open up a little more. Tell me about yourself!”

Hesitantly, you nod and walk closer towards her, before sitting down beside her, turning your body to face her.

“...what do you wanna know?..” you mumble, Nami barely catching it but still heard it anyways.

“Anything about yourself. Your family, your life before you became a pirate, your favorite foods, hobbies, any crushes you might’ve picked up along our journey~” the navigator winks at you making you blush faintly at her, turning away with a sigh.

“I don’t have any of the sort.” You scoff lightly, closing your eyes but Nami wasn’t convinced. “Oh?”

“What about that pink haired marine? Koby, wasn’t it?”

You snap your head to her quickly, brows furrowed.

“Koby? Marine Captain Koby? I’ve hardly met him. Besides, he’s a marine. Even if I did like him, it wouldn’t work out anyways.”

You turn away once more, Nami grinning at how quick you responded and how much you talked just now.

“If Koby wasn’t a marine, would you date him?” Nami hums and you kept silent, though the red hue forming on the tips of your ears were enough for her.

“..he’s attractive.” You mutter and Nami giggles.

“Okay, okay, so then, how about any of the older men we met? Traffy isn’t that much older.” She thinks for a minute, her thumb and forefinger under her chin.

You raise a brow at her question. “You mean the Captain / doctor?.. Law?.. he seems.. really annoyed easily. He’s so frowny and never sleeps.”

“Not much different from someone else..” Nami sings under her breath making you playfully roll your eyes.

“I wouldn’t go for him either. He’s attractive, I guess, but... no. I think the fact that I’m in Luffy’s crew too, he might be pretty annoyed already.”

“I think it’s just Luffy in general.” Nami sighs and you smile a bit at that.

“Okay, how about that red haired one? Eustass “Captain” Kid?”

“Too violent.”

“Ace or Sabo?”

“Luffy’s brothers.”

“Perona? The Ghost Princess?”

“I don’t like her ghosts.”

“Vivi?”

“She’s gorgeous and rich, but no.”

“Tashigi?”

“She’s into Zoro.”

“Anyone from our crew?”

“We’re family.”

“Buggy?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Any of Sanji’s brothers?”

“They have no emotions.”

“Silvers Rayleigh?”

“A silver fox, but no.”

“Anyone in Whitebeard’s crew?”

“Izo is absolutely stunning .. and Marco seems really nice, I guess.. but no.”

“That empress, Boa Hancock?”

“She’s too into Luffy..”

Nami heaves a sigh as she leans back and crosses her legs, one over the other.

“So the closest one to your attraction.. is Koby.”

You shrug and smile slightly at her defeated look. “I’m not really into anyone...”

“Perhaps you’re just young. You’ll definitely be growing in some..” The orange haired female eyes your body for a good minute, making you shift. “..areas real soon.”

“Right.. what about you?”

“Huh?”

You shift in your seat and made yourself comfortable on the cushion. “Is there someone you like?..”

Nami blinks before looking up and thinking for a moment. “..I guess there isn’t.” She answers and you raise a brow. “I thought you like Luffy..”

The navigator seems offended at the statement, recoiling at the thought. “Luffy’s a huge pain in the ass. And besides, like you said, we’re a family.”

The corner of your lips tug upwards slightly. “And Vivi?”

This shut the female quick, and you can see the pink tint of her cheeks. “Vivi’s a friend.”

“Well, that friend, most likely shares the same feelings.” You hum, looking straight at her calmly. “I mean.. you’re very beautiful. Everyone would love you.”

Nami’s eyes widens at the unexpected compliment from you, her heart feeling warm at that, but you didn’t notice.

You didn’t realize how much you ended up talking, your voice felt dry and sore in a way. Though for some reason, you didn’t mind.

You kind of enjoyed this time with Nami, despite only talking about possible crushes of yours.

Instinctively, you rub your throat and Nami notices, standing up and offering her hand. “Come on, we can talk more later. You’ve talked enough, I’ll take you to Sanji.”

“Are you sure? I figured you’d want to spend more time together..” you clear your throat and Nami just smiles gently.

“We have everyday to do so. Besides, I’m sure it’s been a while since you talked so much so I’m happy enough with what you gave me.” Nami says, helping you up and began leading you out.

“Time for you to spend time with someone else, and don’t worry, I’ll make sure the others don’t force you to talk and Sanji makes you something to help your throat.” She assures, making her way back to the kitchen, which didn’t take long.

“O-okay..” you nod, eventually making it to the door and Nami just opens it up, seeing only a few of the members, so some must’ve left.

The four in the room look up at the door and find you, instantly smiling at the sight of your form.

“Already done?” Chopper questions in confusion and Nami smiles. “I would’ve spent more time with them but there’s so many of us, so we should make it short and easy for them for today.”

Robin, Brook, Chopper and Sanji nod in agreement at their navigator and Robin smiles gently.

“So, who would you like to spend time with next?”

Nami nudges you to speak in front of them and you turn to Sanji.

“Uh..Er.. Is it okay if I spend some time with you?..”

Sanji widens his eyes, clearly a bit surprised but nonetheless, smiles in joy. “Of course, [Name]-chan!”

Nami then ushers the others out, the only one to sulk being Brook but Nami was quick to slap his skull.

The door shut closed and you awkwardly stood there, shifting your weight. You never spent much time with them, despite fighting battles alongside the crew, so you weren’t sure what to do or say.

Sanji, noticing your discomfort, smiles lightly and gestures for you to sit at the counter as he stood behind it, in the kitchen.

“So, [Name]-chan. Is there anything you want to drink?”

You look around the dining room, taking a good look since this was one of the first times actually being in here.

“..Tea?.. my throat kind of hurts...” you mumble, reaching up to rub your throat again and Sanji nods. “I know the perfect thing! Ice or hot?”

“[ Either one ].” You answer, shifting in your seat and making yourself comfortable a bit in the stool and watched as Sanji quickly went to work.

Watching him silently from the counter, you lean on your palm and thought for a minute.

What were you supposed to talk about?

You hardly knew much about them and isolating yourself from them let you absolutely awkward and unsure of what to say or do, so you hoped Sanji would do something.

But the poor blonde cook kept silent, figuring that’s what you’d prefer as he made your drink.

So you had to do it.

“Sanji?..”

The blonde hums gently, letting you know he was listening.

“Uh...so.. what’s for dinner?..”

Sanji stays silent for a moment, taking in the hesitation in your voice before turning around to face you. “.. Anything you want, [Name]-chan. What do you want to eat?”

You ponder a bit at his question before feeling your stomach growling at the thought of a particular food. “..Can you make [ Food ]? It’s from my homeland and.. it’s really good.”

Sanji’s eyes lights up and he grins widely. “I’d be honored to make a dish native to your homeland, [Name]-chan!” He deflates a little bit and leans back. “However.. I’m a little worried I won’t be able to make it as good. I know I have the proper ingredients though, I’m sure.”

Sanji’s been studying on his own time, with the small assistance of Robin, knowing she was also studying up by gathering information from your island.

You offer a small smile as Sanji turns to take the drink he made and set it in front of you. “It’s okay.. I trust that you can make it even better.”

Sanji widens his eyes at the sudden compliment and encouragement, feeling his heart warming towards his younger crew member.

You take the cup in hand and brought it up to your lips, taking a light sip of the beverage.

“I see.. in that case, we shall have [ Food ] for dinner tonight.”

Your smile widens just a little bit at his announcement and you continue drinking before seeing Sanji still staring at you. “What is it?..”

“Would you like to help me?”

You pause in your movement, eyes wide at his question. “You want me to help you? I can’t cook.” You furrow your brows at the suggestion.

I mean, sure you had some BASIC skills, but nothing as extravagant compared to Sanji.

“I’d love to show you! Besides, I’m sure you can also offer me some tips and suggestions on your home dish.” Sanji grins assuringly, bringing a small, comforted smile to your lips.

“Okay.”

And so, after handing you a spare apron and letting you prepare yourself as he got the ingredients set, the two of you got to work.

Sanji moving towards the cutting board, you point to the vegetables set out by him.

“You should start cutting these up.. they should be bite-sized.” You inform, Sanji nodding and quickly cutting up the given ingredients with ease.

While Sanji finished with that, you began to look for the pots and pans and after finding what you needed, you did what you needed, ( whether it’s boiling water, filling a skillet with oil, etc. ) and set it onto the stove to heat.

“[Name]-chan, I can handle the stove. I don’t want you to accidentally burn yourself with the fire or the oil, so I’ll leave the cutting and mixing up to you.”

Nodding your head, you move aside and let him take your place before moving towards the cutting board.

‘.. how can you cut vegetables so beautifully?..’ you sweatdrop and began preparing what you needed to do before looking around.

Your eyes widen a little in remembrance and realization and you set the items down before heading to the rice cooker. You open the lid and find the pot empty and pulled it out, looking for the rice grains.

It didn’t take long to find it, fortunately, so you began to put in a few cups, and with the amount of food you were bound to make for Luffy, more than four was needed, obviously.

You did what you needed to, plopping the pot back into the cooker to cook the rice before going to the cutting board.

“Sanji, should we.. cook the meat first or cut it first?..” You trail off, unsure yourself as you went over to the fridge to find the meat.

The blonde cook ponders for a second before speaking. “It’ll be best if we cut first, so we can cook it all a lot quicker.” You merely nod in response as you pull out the required meats and brought it over to a new cutting board set up.

“Do you know how to cut them?” Sanji inquires, turning to you, which you nod in response. “I mean.. it’s just cutting it into smaller pieces. Right?..”

Sanji chuckles. “Yeah, in a way..” He lowers the flame on the stove so the oil/water can sit before moving to your side. “Here, let me show you.”

And so, with another cutting board and knife, he teaches you the correct and efficient technique, explaining which parts to throw and which parts to save.

“And then you cut them up into this size and set it aside to use. Did that make sense?” You nod at him, making him smile as he returns back to the stove.

Prepping yourself, you began to cut the meats into bite sized pieces, getting rid of the unnecessary parts and discarding them into the trash, exactly like Sanji had explained to you.

‘This feels nice.. cooking with Sanji.. even if we aren’t talking, it’s kind of, comfortable..’

The tiny curve of your lips move upwards as you thought silently, but distracted thoughts flooded your head as you no longer became focused on cutting.

‘Maybe, I should ask to cook with him more often.. it’ll be great to learn and spend more bonding time with him.’

You were so lost in thoughts, you forgot what you were doing and suddenly hissed in pain.

The sound was loud enough to catch Sanji’s ears as he widens his eyes and turns in a panic. “[Name]-chan! Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just a cut..” you poke at the blood, watching it drip down a bit quickly. ‘Guess I cut more of my skin than I think, by the looks of it..’ you frown.

“Let’s get you to Chopper.”

“H-Huh?.. but I’m fi-“

Sanji wastes no time to pick you up, as if you broken an ankle, and began carrying you over to the medical office.

An inaudible sigh escapes you, you relaxing in defeat as you thought about the medical office.

Sure, you’ve hurt yourself plenty of times before, nothing too fatal but enough to need patching up from Chopper. You were always up and out of the office pretty quickly, so you were curious to what the room even looked like.

“Chopper.”

Sanji knocks twice before opening the door with ease and walks in, seeing the little reindeer at his desk. “Sanji, [Name]! Something wrong?” The chirpy reindeer asks, a smile wide on his face.

“[Name]-chan’s hurt.” Sanji explains briefly, setting you down gently onto the bed and you turn to the little doctor.

“It’s just a cut.” You bluntly state, showing your finger and Chopper smiles lightly. “Nothing serious, at least! We should go wash and get it bandaged before an infection comes though.”

You nod and stand back up to head to the sink in the office, Sanji offering a weak smile. “I’m sorry, [Name]-chan. You got hurt because—“

“Huh?” As you stop in your tracks and turn back to face the blonde, you peer up a bit and shake your head. “It’s not your fault... I just got lost in my thoughts.” You murmured out, turning away.

You turn back to the sink and began washing your hands. “You should keep cooking, Sanji.. I look forward to you making [ food ].” You sneak a glance back at Sanji and held a ghost of a smile to him. “Cheer up, okay?”

Sanji widens his eyes at your expression, before he lets out a relaxed smile and light chuckle. “Yeah.. I’ll get to it then.”

With that, the chef left you alone with Chopper, who returns with his supplies.

“All cleaned up? Head on over to the bed and sit again!” Chopper smiles and waddles over to the bed before hopping up onto the edge.

You follow after the tiny man and sat across from him, holding out your finger.

Chopper, who kept silent to focus, began to clean up the cut with alcohol and wrapped your finger into a bandage.

‘Guess now is a good time to spend time with him..’

“So.. you came from Drum Island.. right?..” You internally sigh for being so awkward around them. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to mind.

“Yeah! It’s where I learned to study medicines from Doctorine!” Chopper excitedly claims, looking up from his task, which he finished.

“Doctorine? Oh.. you mean like your guardian?” You prodded at your finger a few times, seeing the wrapped bandage.

“Something like that. She taught me everything I know.” You nod at him and look to him. “Guess she must be a genius, since you know a lot. Right?”

Chopper widens his eyes at the compliment before waving you off with a scoff.

“Flattery doesn’t make me happy at all, don’t think you can fool me so easily~” Chopper sings, blushing as he danced on the bed.

Your eyes held a hint of amusement at Chopper as he calms down. “But you’re right. Doctorine is the best doctor I know.”

“I bet she is.” You stand up and dust your clothes, gesturing to your finger at the doctor.

“Thanks for patching me up, Chopper..” You watch the reindeer put on a wide smile and nods eagerly. “No problem! It’s my job!”

You pat his head lightly and nod, heading to the door. “I’ll get going then, see you later..”

With that, you exited the medical bay and shut the door behind you, wondering what you should do next.

��Now what?.. Should i go back to Sanji to help?.. or should I find someone else?’

You wandered the upper deck aimlessly before making your way down to the main deck, where you found Usopp fumbling with something.

‘Hm. Usopp..’

You make you way over to the sniper, watching him suddenly jump up and cheer. “Eureka!” He hollers excitedly, startling you.

“Um.. did something.. happen?” You mumble, somewhat cautious as you step towards him.

Usopp jumps in fear when he hears you, before visibly relaxing and grinning determinedly. “Yeah, I finished my creation!”

He holds up his latest work, which seems to be an advanced archery bow.

The bow itself has an attachment that can carry arrows so you don’t require a separate bag, and it’s string seemed much more flexible to allow better accuracy and distance.

“Oh wow, that actually looks really cool..” you quietly awed, eyes widening in interest as Usopp chuckles eagerly.

“Right?! I’ve been working on it to better advance my stealth, since guns can be pretty loud, and slingshots can be tricky sometimes!”

He then smirks down at his bow and arrow in his hands and holds it up, readying an arrow upon the bow and aimed at the can that sat on the railing.

“But these bad boys are tipped with several of my ammo so I don’t need to grab the mini seeds anymore, since these arrows already have the affect!”

Usopp lets go of the arrow and it pierces the can with ease, knocking it into the ocean.

“Woohoo! Alright!” Usopp cheers, laughing hysterically. “Haha! I did it!!” He jumps around in joy, you watching with a slight smile. “Yeah.. you’re a brilliant inventor and sniper after all.”

Usopp pauses, eyes widening as he flushed a bit at the unexpected compliment, before snapping his head to you.

“You want to try, [Name]?” He smiles widely and held out the bow. “I can help you aim if you’d like!”

You thought for a bit before nodding, actually a little bit excited. “Yeah, sure. It looks really cool.”

Usopp felt his pride building up at your words and grins. “It is cool! Here, hold this and I’ll go set up the cans.”

Taking the bow, you inspect it closer with interested eyes. ‘I don’t remember the last time I touched a bow.. did I ever?’

Usopp returns quickly to your side and smiles, pointing to the cans. “Alright, [Name]. Now just hold up the bow, ready the arrow and take aim!”

You nod in understanding, steadying your arms and aimed directly at the center of the cans. Pulling back the arrow, you lined it up into position, going on Usopp’s count.

“Alright, and..... fire!”

You release your hold and watch the arrow shoot straight into the center and knocked itself into the ocean, like Usopp’s.

“I did it!” Your eyes widen and you smile to yourself. “That was awesome!” You turn to Usopp with bright eyes, but Usopp just laughs. “Nice shot!”

Usopp holds up his hands excitedly and you smile softer, hanging the bow onto your arm and high-fived him. “Yeah.”

“You sound like you’re having some SUUUPPERRR~ fun!”

The two of you turn to the source of voice and find Franky grinning at the two of you from below deck.

“Yeah, I just showed [Name] my latest creation and she just made a nice shot with my bow!” Usopp grins and Franky whistles. “Not bad, kid!”

The corner of your lips move upwards, a sheepish expression taking over your face. “Thanks..” you turn back to Franky and spoke. “What are you up to?”

“Ah, fixing something with The Sunny from down here. Almost done but it’s a little difficult, especially since I’m adding a new feature. Wanna check it out?”

You glance to Usopp, who nods that it was okay, and you return the bow, heading to Franky calmly.

“Yeah, sure.”

-

A/N : YAY, that took so long. I’m really happy with how this turned out, and I’m extremely excited to get to Zoro, Luffy and Brook’s interaction but unfortunately, I reached the limit so this is what happens, I’ll have to make a part 3. ;-;

Anyways, I’m so sorry for the long wait, I seriously hope this was worth the wait and that you look forward to the other’s interactions and then the final family interaction!! :DD have a lovely day/night, everyone ! <3