#laurie tries new stuff

[vonnebenan]

oh to be sitting in a sunny meadow, thinking about Watson a case ...

watercolours + coloured pencils, ~ A5

[darksigns-exe]

clearest blue - noah sebastian x laurie (ofc)

Pairing: Noah Sebastian x Laurie (ofc) Word Count: 4.6k Warnings: swearing, light angst Note: This is a little thought experiment related to to know you're mine. In this version of the story, some things are a little different.

Masterlist

A second hand music store feels like a redundant thing to Noah. Who, in their right mind, is still buying physical music? Nick, apparently, and he’s willing to entertain his interest in this new shop. If anything, it’s a good way to pass a little time, and maybe he’ll be able to sell some of the things he doesn’t need any more here.

He trots a few paces behind Nick as they enter the store. This is so not his crowd, Noah thinks. Pretentious indie people who think that vinyl is the superior way to listen to music. The music that filters from the speakers feels like something from a free to use audio library and god he hates it.

Nick is telling him something about a really good deal on this original pressing when he sees her sorting the used CDs. She’s standing on a little step stool so that she can reach the top shelf, and even then she’s still precariously balanced on the tips of her toes.

Noah wanders closer, he has to see what she looks like, has to know if she’ll be as pretty as he thinks she is. She hops off the stool and, god, she’s tiny. He thinks that she’d barely reach his shoulder, if even that. Noah doesn’t think that he’s ever seen a prettier girl — or person for that matter. Miles out of his league with her pretty eyes and kissable lips. If he’d have an ounce of bravery in him right now, he’d —

“Hey, do you have —” Nick’s words fade out as he watches her eyes light up.

There goes his chance.

He watches as she leads his friend away from the CDs and towards a different corner of the place. There’s a dull feeling in his chest, a strange kind of pressure that grasps at his lungs. The way she smiles up at Nick is enough for him. And Nick seems to be just as dazzled by her.

Noah stops by on his own a couple of days later, a stack of CDs in the bag slung over his shoulder. Sure, he’s here to see if they’ll sell his stuff, but a part of him wants to see her again, even if Nick seems to have stolen her heart already.

She’s behind the counter when he pushes the door open. The bell above the door dings and her head snaps over to him.

That pretty bright smile reruns to her face, and she gives him a little wave. He feels like a teenager experiencing his first crush again. His heart thumps with it, and he can feel his cheeks heat.

It takes him a second too long to enter the place, but she doesn’t seem to mind. Maybe she knows that she makes everyone dizzy with the way she looks.

Noah tries his best not to make a beeline for the counter. He checks out some of the displays, flips through some of the records, and overall tries not to look as out of place as he feels. He can feel her eyes burning into his back. Noah wonders if she watches everyone like that. 

Eventually, he decides that he’s spent enough time pretending to look for something and finds his way to the counter. There’s another person in front of him, and suddenly he feels terribly nervous. They take forever to wrap up their purchase, and he starts to get the feeling that she’s just that friendly with everyone. Her giggle fills his ears, and he wants to hear that all the time. 

Finally, it’s his turn to step up to the counter. 

“Hi!” she smiles at him, and again his heart makes a little thump. 

Noah feels like an idiot, a fool. 

“Found something?” 

He shakes himself out of his little trance, “Uh– no, actually I was wondering if you could have a look at these. I need to make space and – these I can part ways with.” 

Noah digs around his bag and places the stack on top of the corner. 

He watches as she flicks through the covers, checks some of the actual CDs. She pulls a calculator out from somewhere under the counter. She taps a couple of numbers into it before regards him with a curious look. She cocks her head to the side before she adds more to her calculation. 

“Do you want cash or store credit?” she asks finally. 

“Cash.” he says quietly, hoping that she won’t think that he will never come back. 

She nods and taps around on the register for another moment, before she finally hands him forty-five dollars. 

“Is that alright?” she asks then. 

Noah hadn’t thought about how much he’d even want for the CDs. He’d only thought about getting rid of them. He nods, taking the bills from her. 

Her fingers brush against his. And Noah makes a conscious effort to keep his eyes on hers, because he knows that if he looks down and sees how small her hands look next to his, his brain will misfire and everything will go bad. It’s bad enough that he’s thinking about it now. 

“Your friend said you’re a musician?” asks then, reaching for something else under her counter. 

Noah nods, of course Nick has already gone around telling everyone about what he does. He’s been actively working on material for maybe a month, half of it is not even worth presenting to anyone. 

He nods regardless. 

“We’re doing a showcase evening every last Saturday of the month. I thought maybe you’d want to come around, play a couple of things?” she pushes a flyer across the counter, “Have a think about it. If you want to come, my number is on the flyer. No pressure though.” 

“I’ll think about it.” 

In a way, he’s already made up his mind.

“Great. I’m Laurie, by the way. I didn’t catch either of your names.” 

Laurie. 

Of course, she has a pretty name. 

“Noah. And the other guy –” he vaguely gestures up the road towards the tattoo shop, “that’s Nick.” 

“Well, I hope I’ll see you on Saturday then, Noah.” 

How can he say no? 

To his surprise, he sees her again before Saturday. Noah’s picking up sandwiches for Nick and the rest when Laurie taps him on the shoulder. 

He learns that she lives above the record store and that she’ll usually come here for her morning coffee. Noah tells her that he helps out Nick on occasion, but that other than that things are a little slow at the moment. Before he knows it, Laurie has badgered him into helping out with the online shop orders — off the record, of course so that he’ll get the most out of it. 

Nick naturally gives him shit when he comes back almost forty minutes after he’d left.

He’s barely distributed the sandwiches when his phone dings with a notification. 

Laurie. 

She’d sent him a picture of the back room, stuffed full of orders that needed to be packaged and posted. 

The texting doesn’t slow down after that. Every time he thinks that the conversation will fall asleep, one of them finds a new thing to talk about.

And soon enough, Noah finds himself getting up a little earlier so that he can sit in the coffee shop with her for a few minutes. Some days he goes with her to help with the orders, on others Nick drags him back to the studio by his ear, claiming that he barely gets to see him any more. 

When Saturday rolls around, Noah finds himself filled with nerves. He’s promised Nick that he’d help him today, and in a way he’s glad. It takes his mind off the fact that he’s about to sing something he wrote in front of however many people will show up. It makes him a little more nervous than he’d like to admit, and maybe that’s because Laurie will be there. He tries to tell himself that it’s a dumb little crush, something that will go away once he’s seen more of her. She’s miles out of his league and even if he’d have a chance with her, he doesn’t even know if she’s looking for someone like him. Who’s to say that she even wants a slightly washed up loner who cycles between three friends' couches because he can’t afford his own place. He’s already covered in tattoos and while he knows that he’s not as rough around the edges as he looks, Noah knows that he comes with more baggage than most people are comfortable with. And then there’s Laurie, who just this morning texted him how excited she was for tonight, how much she’s looking forward to hearing what he and the others will perform. He’s known her for exactly ten days, and it already feels as if he’s known her for a lifetime. There’s an unbridled sense of optimism about her, the “everything will work out�� kind, and he’s inclined to believe her. 

When they lock up the shop for the day, Noah feels shakier than ever. His time slot is somewhere around the middle of the evening, and a part of him wishes that it was already over. He feels nauseous and dizzy and about ready to pass out. The walk down the road feels longer than normal. Nick keeps telling him to suck it up, that he’s played bigger places than a tiny record store in their hometown. But then it wasn’t just him and that was before. One blunder and feels as if he’s lost all cool he’s ever had. This will be the first time he’ll step foot on anything akin to a stage since, and it’s terrifying. He hopes that none of the people in attendance have heard of it or worse saw the video.

The store is already packed when they get there. There’s music, drinks, people are talking, and it seems to be an all around familiar and comfortable occasion. Most of the people seem to be regulars, and Noah doesn’t know if that makes it better or worse. He spots Laurie in the middle of a conversation with other people, she’s laughing and smiling, and his chest feels so awfully tight again. 

There are a couple of people he knows around, friends of Nick, who are quite alright. They’re mingling for a while, catching up with people neither of them have seen for a while, when he feels a tap on his shoulder. 

“Look what the cat dragged in.” She gives him a little shove when he turns around. 

“Said I’d come, didn’t I?” He forces himself to smile, despite the nerves bubbling in his belly.

“Well, yes, but I also know that it’s nervy. Wouldn’t have blamed you if you hadn't come. Happens more often than you’d expect.” 

There’s a warmth about her that makes him shiver. It’s comforting and unnerving in a weird way. 

“I try to keep all the promises I make.” He replies, and he doesn’t miss the little smile that plays on her lips. 

“That so?”

She fixes him with an intensity that should make him nervous. Instead of that anxious bubbling in his belly, he gets a different feeling. He doesn’t want to think too much into it, but Noah also isn’t as slow as Nick likes to joke sometimes. He knows when a girl is flirting with him, and Laurie is not exactly trying to hide it. It does feel a little silly, though. Surely, she’s just doing it to entertain him. He doesn’t know what Laurie would want with a washed up guy like him. 

He learns that Laurie isn’t the one hosting the thing. Noah spots her by the back of the crowd next to Nick. He tries not to let their proximity get to him. There’s nothing between them, if Nick ends up with her that’ll be fine. He’d be happy for them. He can’t deny that it would sting just a little bit, though. 

Noah lets that feeling flood into the first sound he’d picked. A cover he only partially decided on because he thought that it might impress Laurie. He’s been trying to pick up on what she listens to whenever he came around the shop, all in the hopes that one of the names would ring a bell. 

He only looks up once during the first song, just to find Laurie intently focused on him. The look on her face is so soft. He doesn’t have a different word for it. He catches Nick looking over at her, but Laurie doesn’t seem to notice. Instead, she flashes him a little encouraging smile. 

Noah nods to himself before announcing the name of his second song. 

Another cover. She smiles a little wider when he says the title. 

This time, he doesn’t look down at his fretboard. No matter how hard he has to fight with his instincts, he keeps his eyes on her. Laurie is mouthing along to the words he sings, her body softly swaying with the beat. He’s never seen a prettier sight. And maybe that gives him the final push to play one of the songs he’s been working on to wrap things up. She perks up when he says that it’s an original. 

He can’t describe what it feels like to have her look at him like this. Hell, he doesn’t even know how to describe the look on her face. From this distance, her eyes shimmer, and he’s not sure if it’s the lights or if it’s something else. A very small part of him wants to believe that she’s looking at him with some kind of admiration. 

She hugs him so tightly afterwards. It all feels so very cliché. He feels a little lighter when she lets him go again. It’s strange, but it all feels different now. 

Laurie becomes a fixture in his life after that. Noah finds himself stopping by the record store more and more often. He drops in when he knows that she’s about to get lunch, and sometimes they sit in the park opposite the store with their sandwiches and drinks. On some days Nick will come with them and that’s just as nice. Somehow, he’s never felt more at home. 

The early days of spring quickly fade into summer, and Noah wonders if it’ll always be like this. If she’ll always drag him outside by the back of his shirt so that they can sit by the lake for hours, if she’ll always have a new thing to show him. He can’t imagine not having her in his life any more. That bubbling little crush still sits in his chest, and it doesn’t seem to want to go away. He likes to imagine that she feels the same. Sometimes he catches her already looking at him when he turns to her. She’s the first person he texts in the morning, unless he’s crashing on her sofa, of course. It doesn’t happen often – he doesn’t want to abuse her patience and generosity too much – but when it does, it’s the best sleep he gets. The soft orange sofa in her living room feels a little like a cloud. It’s large enough for him to lie comfortably, instead of having to cram himself onto Nick’s little two-seater. And if he’s honest, he likes waking up to her rummaging around the place. When he shuffles into the kitchen, a steaming cup of coffee is shoved into his hands, before he hops up on the counter to watch quietly and while Laurie makes breakfast for them. 

He’s tried to help once but burned the eggs so horribly that she’d banned him from helping. 

He’ll get good enough to do it for her one day. 

He tries to listen to her account of the drama that occurred between some distant friends, but gets lost in how easily she moves around the place. How she stops her vegetable cutting to look at him for emphasis. 

This morning, she’s cubing up mango for them to share. The sweet scent makes him want to steal a few pieces from her cutting board, but he knows better. He’d tried it before and immediately got scolded for getting his fingers too close to the knife. And so Noah waits patiently until she inevitably has an odd piece left over. 

Laurie holds the leftover piece out to him and unlike the previous times she’s done if it’s practically at his lips already. The whole moment feels like a dream. Her fingers brush against his lips just barely. Noah has to force himself to chew and swallow when he watches the fingers dip between her own lips. 

The bubble pops a second later when the timer above the oven tears through the tense silence. 

Noah finds himself dazed and blinded by it all, and it takes him a good moment to collect himself again. He gives a vague excuse before disappearing into her bathroom for a good ten minutes. When he comes back, he swears that her cheeks are still tinged pink. 

Nick has waited up for him when he unlocks the door that evening. He looks like a mother expecting some kind of explanation for his absence during the week, and Noah doesn’t really know what he’s supposed to say except that he’s been at Laurie’s the entire time. 

“You like her?” He can’t place the tone in Nick’s voice at all. 

Noah thinks that there’s a hint of hurt in his voice. 

He slumps down next to Nick, “I think I do.”

“You think?” Nick almost laughs in his face. 

“I don’t even know if she likes me back.”

Nick shakes his head so incredulously, “You wouldn’t see it if it’s spelled out to you, huh?”

He can’t stop thinking about how she’d looked at him earlier. How she’d blinked up at him from where she’d been kneeling in front of her record player. 

“Do you really think that she —”

Nick swats the back of his head firmly instead of answering that unasked question. 

“Don’t let this go to waste, Noah. You deserve a nice thing.” He eventually says, “And if that means that I’ll have my bed to myself again at some point, I’m all for it.”

He can’t stop himself from talking after that. The words practically blubber forth from his lips. Nick seems to be genuinely happy for him, and that makes him feel a little bit more secure about it. Maybe he hadn’t read too much into the lingering touches after all. 

A week later, Noah stands in front of the record store, goal clear in mind. He thought about texting her, but ultimately he wants to ask this question face to face. Noah is sure that he looks like an absolute idiot pacing in front of this obviously open store. Laurie doesn’t work on Sunday’s and still he’s here. Maybe he’ll text first. That seems more reasonable. 

He doesn’t get that far, though. 

“Noah!” Laurie calls, still in approach from what he knows to be the coffee shop. She has a paper bag and her little to-go cup with her, so she’s just on her way back home for breakfast and that reality TV show she likes so much. He can never remember the name of it, but he likes watching her rage over the dumb decisions the people on it make. 

“What’re you doing here?” She asks, as she comes to stop in front of him, “Nicky making you run errands for him again?”

And then he loses his bravery. 

Instead of the question he came here to ask, he gives some white lie excuse of not wanting to hang around Nick all day. 

He spends the morning with his head in her lap, while she watches the episodes of her show that she’d missed over the week. If Noah’s honest with himself, he’s starting to get a little invested in it himself. He’s content here, safe, when she smiles down at him for a moment too long. And Noah allows himself to believe that maybe this is not a one-sided crush. Because sure, sometimes she looks at Nick like that too, but Nick doesn’t get to rest in the quiet comfort of her presence like this. Noah thinks that it might fix the grim edge Nick carries with him sometimes, but right now he feels selfish. Right now he wants it — her — all to himself. 

It’s almost September, and he still hasn’t found the guts to ask her out. By now, he feels foolish. But this is comfortable. He’s safe in the knowledge that Laurie’s door is always open for him — regardless of the key that has joined Nicks on his little key ring. If he shakes it up, there’s a chance that this door will lock forever, and he can’t have that. 

They’re spread out on her bed when he realises that he doesn’t want to be with anyone else. Laurie’s head rests comfortably on his tummy, headphones connecting them by a thin wire. 

They’re onto a few songs into the album, but the moment is so awfully serene.

Her hand wraps around his, and Noah swears that his heart beats a little bit faster. He can’t possibly tear his eyes away from her. Her hair is spread out against his shirt, eyes gently closed. She’s never been prettier. 

His chest aches with it. 

He has to tell her. 

He can’t sit with that unspoken confession for much longer. 

He’ll tell her. 

He will. 

He doesn’t tell her that night. The tender mood of that scene had forced him to stay silent for a little while longer. 

When they’re at a shared friend's birthday party some days later and Laurie still has her arm wrapped around his when they walk in, Noah briefly lets himself believe that he’s already said it. 

Nick had stayed home with the excuse that he didn’t feel like stuffing himself into a tiny apartment with people he barely knows. And Noah would have agreed if Laurie hadn’t asked him if he was going. 

It’s warm and sticky, and the air smells overwhelmingly like beer and weed and sweat. The music’s shit, and suddenly Noah thinks that they should have done something else instead. 

Laurie’s talking to people he’s seen around the record store a few times. He thinks one of them is Celia, one of Laurie’s co-workers, and one of the others is her partner, May. The rest he can barely recognise as familiar. 

He hands one of the bottles — cider, not beer — to Laurie before he finds a spot between her and one of the men he doesn’t know. The guy grimaces a little when Noah inserts himself between them. Laurie doesn’t seem too bothered and instead reruns her hand to the crook of his arm. 

When she’s not the focus of the conversation for a moment, she gives his arms a squeeze and Noah leans down so that she won’t have to yell. 

“You wanna get out of here? This guy is getting too touchy for my taste.”

Naturally, they’re out of the door a few minutes later. Laurie’s giggle rings clearly in the still night. It’s adorable. No one would notice the bottle of wine and the crackers that had mysteriously disappeared, but from the way she’s dragging him down the street one could think that she was feeling the scene of an actual crime. 

He has an arm thrown around her shoulder by the time they walk past the park with the lake they’ve spent most of their summer at. Laurie steers them towards the gravel paths. 

“I don’t want to go home yet.” She proclaims as they turn down the path that’ll lead them to the water. 

“We still have to finish this.” Noah offers, holding up the bottle. 

Also I really want to kiss you. 

Noah finds them a comfortable spot on the little pier. He places his jacket down first so that they won’t have to sit in the damp grass. 

It really is a beautiful night. Clear skies, a barely there breeze that cools the late summer air down to a comfortable level. Laurie’s head is heavy against his shoulder. 

They’re silent for a long while, but he’s never been more comfortable. 

The unspoken confession burns on his tongue. He has to say it. It has to be tonight. 

“Do you think that some people are just kinda meant to be together?” 

He’s so lost in thought that he almost misses the question. 

“Like fate?”

Laurie nods, before she sits up. 

He thinks for a long moment. 

“I don’t know if I believe in fate and all that. I don’t know if I want everything that happens to be predetermined, but I guess sometimes you just find people who are exactly right for you.” 

“That’s a good way to put it.” 

She’s so close that their knees are touching, so close that all he’d have to do is lean forward. 

“I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Sometimes it just feels so right that you think that it’s too good to be true, you know?” Her eyes flit from where her fingers fiddle with one of the buttons of his jacket back up to his face, “But what if it’s not that? What if it’s not too good to be true? Sometimes it’s just that good — that right.”

“Laurie.”

His hand shakes like a leaf when he places it on top of hers. 

“God, this shouldn’t be so difficult.” She mumbles.

“It doesn’t have to be difficult, though.” He doesn’t know where the bravery suddenly comes from, “It can just be right and easy. I — I think I’ve liked you from the moment I walked into that store with Nick. I just —I’ve never felt this way for someone.”

Her whole body sags with relief, and the smile that’s plastered across her face makes his heart soar. 

“I don’t know why I’ve been so afraid to say it — I mean, I know why, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense. This — feels so right.” Noah continues, “I think I’ve just been so afraid of what could happen if you wouldn’t feel the same. God, imagine if I’d just said all of that, and you were about to tell me that you’re in love with Nick. That would be —”

He’s cut off when her lips meet his. 

And it all stops for a moment. 

The doubt in his head is silent, and the nervous tingle in his fingers subsides. 

When she pulls away from him, the quiet doesn’t stay, but at least the worry doesn’t overwhelm him any more. 

His forehead presses against hers, unable and unwilling to put more distance between them. 

“I thought I as so obvious with it.” Laurie says softly, “I’ve been trying so hard to show you.”

“I know, and I’m sorry that it didn’t reach my head earlier.” Noah removes himself just enough so that he can look at her, “Like you said. Felt like it was too good to be true.”

Her free hand finds the side of his face, “I’ll keep saying it. However, you need to hear it.”

Noah can’t stop himself from leaning forward again. She giggles so sweetly when he kisses her. The sudden impact sends her sailing backwards into the grass. 

They’re a giggle mess when they fall into the door of her apartment. Noah can’t stop himself from touching her, can’t stop himself from leaning down to steal kiss after kiss. Now that he has her, he doesn’t ever want to let her go again. 

That night, he falls into bed with her, all tangled up and so very comfortable. 

And for the first time in weeks, Noah sleeps through the night. 

taglist:@deathblacksmoke @circle-with-me @sitkowski @ladyveronikawrites @baddestomens

[ordinaryschmuck]

Full Family AU Part 22

During arts and crafts time, Luz sat at a table with two other girls, all of them finger painting their own little masterpieces. For Luz, hers was just her and Vee "recalibarating" like they did last night.

"Looking nice," her teacher said as she passed by Luz. "Who's that?"

"A surprise!" Luz told her.

"Well, as long as it's not a surprise like--TONY! NO!" She ran off in the direction of Tony. "We talked about this, that is not how we make art!"

Luz just shrugged off her teacher's distress and went back to finger painting, getting lost in her art once more.

"You lost Mr. Flopkins?!" A girl shouted across from her. Luz looked up and saw the other two girls she sat with, Becky and Laurie, were talking to each other as they paint.

"I didn't lose him," Becky said. "Mommy took him from me."

"Why?!" Laurie asked."

"To give him to my stupid little sister! She said he needed him more!"

"But he was yours first!"

"I know! Sisters are evil!"

"They're not evil," Luz chimed in, getting her table partners attention. "They're fun! Like a new friend you can live with and share things with and maybe have cool sibling adventures with--"

"How would you know?" Becky asked in a challenging tone. "You don't have a sister."

"Um..." Luz put her hands over her finger painting. "I'm assuming that's what it's like. From TV. Like those two step-sisters who build crazy things together and have fun."

"I wish it was like TV," Becky groaned. "But it's not. When you have a little sister, it's the worst! She takes all of your things! Your old toys, your clothes, and your room! I have to share my bedroom because our house is too small! And she cries all the time!"

Luz's mind went to Vee. The fact that Vee had to wear some of Luz's clothes, the coloring stuff she had to share, and how they share a room together.

'But that's different,' she told herself. 'We're trying to make Vee feel nice and safe.'

"And parents love you less, too!" Laurie added. "When my mommy and daddy brought home my little sister, everything is about her now. We got to do this. We got to do that. We got to make sure she's happy. Well, what about me?! It's like they care more about her than they do me."

Luz now thought back to last night, when her father tried to force Luz into bed, even threatened to keep Sr. Oso, all while being super nice to Vee. And then there was this morning, where Vee gets to have a fun day at the vet while Luz still has to go to school instead of petting the puppies.

"...That...can't be true..." Luz muttered.

"It is," Laurie told her.

"You better hope you don't get a little sister," Becky warned. "Because it'll ruin your life."

Luz sank a little in her seat and looked at her painting. It looked like they had fun together, and they did...On a night when her mom told Luz to make Vee feel better.

'It's different than their sisters...Right?' She thought as a frown started to cement itself on her face.

[maxybabyy]

They came down from the mountain yesterday.

Max leaves tomorrow, would’ve left this morning if Christian hadn’t convinced him to wait for the car that comes in the morning with a new round of supplies.

“I can of course walk to the town myself, always it will be not a problem,” he had said as they came down, the horses close behind them. Their rucksacks light on their backs, weary and tired with the signs of a hard summer.

“Nonsense, kid. Seb won’t mind giving you a ride,” Christian said with his arm around Max’s shoulders. “And I mean, with everything you’ve done for us, we best send you off right. Don’t we, Daniel?”

Daniel had barely look at Max as he laughed, agreed with whatever Christian was telling him.

His heart had felt heavy as he walked towards the chicken pen, but it was better like this. One day and Max would be gone, would be a year before he came back, if even that. Maybe he would find a real job in town, something more than the silly convenience store his dad had him working in.

“But what do you wanna do, Maxy?” Daniel had asked, the rain coming down hard around them.

A rare rainpour had taken them by surprise, and by the time Daniel had come into the tent, he had been soaked to the bone. His spare set of clothing had helped little, and it wasn’t until Max had scooted forward, movements slow but confident as he invited him into his space, into his warmth and heat, that Daniel could breathe again.

“I want, I think, to work with horses,” Max had told him, lips pressed against Daniel’s chest. They hadn’t been naked then, but they would be. Soon. “Always, I have liked the farm. But my father, it did not make enough money, and he would rather sell than make it work.”

Daniel has known nothing but farm work.

He used to dream of the big city, of the stories Scotty would tell when he came to visit, of the freedom and lack of responsibility. But he’s in his thirties now.

Christian may have kids, but none that could take over the farm, or at least not now. Not like Daniel could.

“Did something happen between you and Max?” Christian asks when he doesn’t come in for lunch. “I was going to ask him to come back next year but –“

Daniel shakes his head, “Nah, he was fine. Just, a hard run, you know? Lost a few sheep, long nights, that kind of stuff.”

“Because if something did,” Christian continues, hard set in his ways. “You can tell me.”

Daniel licks his lips, looks up from Laurie the cow, tries to look less miserable than he feels. “He can come back. Good effort for the pay, I’d say. A shame we can’t hire him full-time, he would do well around here.”

It’s Max’s second year on the mountain. He hadn’t come last year, but the year before that he did.

A lanky lad with softened hands but a better attitude than most Daniel has worked with. He spoke still with an accent, the lisp even more pronounced than it is now. Daniel hadn’t known what to do with him then; doesn’t know what to do now that he has to leave.

“He came with good recommendations,” Christian says, nods along as they walk through the pasture. “Too bad about last year, yeah? Would have saved us a lot of trouble, I reckon.”

Sergio had been alright. Fine on a horse, experienced, but in a way that hadn’t come to fruition on the mountain. Max had been the better choice, even back before they had started to –

Daniel shrugs, turns to look at the sun. It’s going to be cold soon, the wind will pick up and the leaves will fall, autumn nothing but a wink before winter will be here.

“It’s hard to know what will happen up there, can’t really prepare yourself before you’re in it,” he says. Every year is different, he knows that now.

He’s done eight summers now, and only once has he dreaded the descent.

“If you say so,” Christian says, claps him on the back and leaves. He had been with Daniel for his first two years, just enough time to show him the rope and make sure he wouldn’t have to do it again.            

The sun has gone down before he comes inside. Food waits for him in the oven, but Daniel isn’t hungry. The house is quiet as he sneaks upstairs for a shower. It’s his second of the day, but it’s fine, Christian would understand.

He scrubs himself raw, a never-ending itching underneath skin that doesn’t stop; worsens when he thinks of tomorrow – of Max. He misses the cold water of the creek, the two of them drying on the shore, Max’s eyes heavy on his body.

Max had made the move then, knee-deep in water and still only a few feet apart.

Daniel had watched him move with his breath caught in his throat, Max’s hand on his arm, on his waist, his hip and then finally, on his dick. He hadn’t stopped looking at him, eyes steady even as Daniel had started to shake, closer than he’d been before with only a few strokes.

“Will you come?” Max had asked, hoarse but confident. Daniel had known then that he wasn’t Max’s first. Not in this, at least. “For me, Daniel?”

Daniel had, but so would everyone, he thinks. If they had been where Daniel had been.

Max waits for him when he comes back to his room. He hasn’t been there before, not before they left for the mountain, but he looks at home in the bed. 

Max reaches for him, and Daniel goes, crawls between his legs, and kisses him like he did the first time: desperate and frantic, unsure if it will happen again.

Sex, he finds, is easier if you aren’t stuck on a mountain, but it isn’t necessarily better.

Max is still just as sweet for him as he opens him up, quicker like this, with something other than repurposed lubricants taken from other scarce supplies. His sounds are the same, quieter now that they share a house with their boss, but still Max falls into the same ecstatic state when he’s close to coming. Begs Daniel for more until he does with a hoarse shout.

Daniel follows quick, a quiet prayer that this won’t be the last time.

“Will you be here next year?” Daniel asks, watches Max as he readies himself to leave. Seb will come by in only a handful of hours, and Max must be back in his room by then. “Will you come back to me?” He doesn’t say.

Max breathes softly as he pulls on his sweater. It isn’t the one he came with, but the one Daniel had worn on the mountain. Soft and knitted by his mother, loose enough in the shoulders that it fits him well.

“I will of course try, but always I have to make sure it is right for me also, for my family.”

Daniel nods sharply, bites his tongue so he doesn’t ask what he shouldn’t.

“Will you go back to the Netherlands this time?”

“I will see after the winter. If I can find good work, maybe. It would be lovely, I think,” Max says, smiles when he meets his stare.

Max had told him about how his sister had given birth to a new son this spring, that he hasn’t been home since he was seventeen when his father brought him overseas to find new work. He knows Max sends part of his salary back home to them, to his mother, knows there’s more to it than just what Max wants. That if Max could, he would of course come back to him.

But life doesn’t always work out like that. Not for guys like them anyway.

“If you do, or like, even if you don’t. You could give me a call sometime,” Daniel says and gets up to follow him to the door. “Let me know how you’re doing, if the tulips are still there.”

“The tulips are there of course every year, Daniel.” Max says, but even he sounds sad, voice soft. “Always they come in spring.”

Daniel laughs, but it comes out hollow. He squeezes Max’s hands that hang between them. “Yeah, well. You go off see the tulips, see your family, Maxy. And when summer comes, then – then you come back to me, yeah? Back to the mountain with me.”

Max kisses him.

It isn’t a yes, but it isn’t a no, and Daniel knows it’s all he can give.

“Goodbye, Daniel.”

[lola-andheruniverse]

Anon who asked me about "sides" in the caryl fandom and which one I place myself on because you believe I "switched sides"/changed my opinions:

I'm not posting your ask because you named people and that's not something I do on my blog or generally agree with. The only instance you'll find me naming or tagging people is in fic recs posts, so that caryl authors who are on Tumblr can read them and be found by readers who'd like to reach out.

If you have a problem with the opinions, feelings and/or behaviors of a particular individual/blog, I ask you to 1) please reach out to them directly so you can express your disagreement or 2) use your block button, so you no longer see content you don't like. I believe that our fandom is big enough to hold every single caryler out there who wants to join in, regardless of their opinions, posts or feelings. People should feel free and safe to post whatever they want, either 'positive' or 'negative'. I have no problem with anyone in the fandom and I respect everyone's opinions, even when I disagree with some stuff I read.

Please, I ask you to not use my ask box to indirectly badmouth, bully or attack any caryler.

That said, the answer to your question is after the cut.

I'm not on either "side" and never have been. I'm just another enthusiastic fan that loves Carol and Daryl. Since joining the Tumblr fandom just before the pandemic (I was a lurker for many years), I've been using my own critical thinking skills and knowledge of AMC's shenanigans to form my own opinions.

I'm confident in TBOC because I believe there are concrete reasons that support how I'm feeling, from Melissa's return, to filming spoilers and rumors, to Tribeca and SDCC. You're free to agree or disagree with my interpretation of these facts, and to feel positive or negative about it.

I also continue to believe that AMC/Gimple hijacked the original caryl spinoff to highlight the richonne spinoff because it follows similar decisions made before to give Rick more screen time at the expense of all the other TWD characters. I believe Melissa had no choice but to opt out of the original spin-off and negotiate new terms to ensure that Carol's (and therefore Caryl's) story was respected and told with integrity. To me, that's why there were things to be sorted out, as she said, and why she lengthily discussed Carol with Zabel and co. even before scripts for the France spinoff were written. She was involved since the beginning, yes, but she only signed on when she got what she wanted. There is no greater supporter of Carol than Melissa and we have known this for years. I'm glad she's back in her own terms. I believe it was a pretty difficult time for her, as she expressed it by basically refusing to promote 11C or the series finale, and by not saying anything about the whole mess on SM, while other cast members/friends such as Laurie Holden and Khary Payton spoke out in her behalf.

I believe AMC tried to make money off just Daryl because he's their original character and it backfired in their faces. They also made a mistake using Norman to save face as he should have been protected from the SM backlash. Norman has never been a reliable narrator and I always take every thing he says with a grain of salt, but I don't think he's intentionally malicious. I appreciate how much he loves Daryl and is considerate of his fans, even when I don't approve of his behavior. I just wish he would keep his frustrating mouth shut. I believe Norman had lots of input in S1 and that he initially thought he could pull it off without Melissa. But there's no Daryl without Carol and no Carol without Daryl. It's crystal clear how much Norman's happy for having Melissa by his side, and how much they love each other and are excited for S2. I'm glad they are reunited, both for them and for us, but I believe everything worked out in the end because Melissa didn't give up on getting what she wanted. I believe she had lots of inputs in S2 and is satisfied and happy with the final result.

So, that's how I believe things have gone these last two years. Again, feel free to agree or disagree with my interpretation of facts. None of us will ever know exactly what happened, but each of us can decide what to believe based on our own judgment of the facts. That's what I do and will continue to do.

In the end, for me, the important thing is that Melissa and Norman are happy and that Carol and Daryl get their hard-earned happy ending. It's everything I ever wanted and I'm going to enjoy it. I hope you enjoy it too.

That's it. Caryl on!

[tunastime]

tuna my betuna how about 12 or 79?

hi laurie belaure!! i chose 79 for this one, but i wanna come back to 12 also! so this song was on xisuma's SEN playlist so it got a few plays! and I wrote something about him. obviously. um. ahaha! anyway if I come back to this for SEN it'll be a lot more detailed--this is just really condensed!

(457 words)

The world in the week after the Moonrise returns is in constant motion.

Someone pins a medal to Xisuma’s collar. Someone hands him a stripe to add to his uniform, cold and metal. They shake his hand. He hears them congratulate him—something about how there couldn’t have been a better option. They’re sorry about what happened to him. To Tango. To Doc. There are more metals—for Doc and for Cleo. Cleo smiles at him, part sympathy and part concern when she passes him at the post-ceremony celebration. It feels genuine, much more than it could have been. Cleo could be angry at him. So could Doc. But Doc’s unchanging face softens around his eyes and mouth when he shakes Xisuma’s hand, when he squeezes it just once before he lets go. 

Everything is good now. Everything is fine.

There’s a box on Xisuma’s personal desk of Tango’s belongings. Inside that box are several important things. One is a plant—it’s a spider plant, already overflowing its pot. One is a small glass case with a medallion inside of it, with a badge pinned to the back. A small star shaped pin for his uniform. The last is his uniform—different than his jumpsuit with his name digitally displayed. Formal, with the new Lieutenant Commander color emblazoned up the side.

Xisuma has not opened this box. Because everything is still just fine.

Xisuma returns to his room as shift change begins. Doc had relieved him, the edges of his smile coming back as he’d passed Xisuma in the hall. He was carrying a rather large looking box on his hip. Work for his office, he’d said. Right. Xisuma was glad that he was back to work. It meant things were normal, for him.

His quarters are dark when he returns, shuffling tiredly into the room. He works his way out of his overcoat, shrugging it off his shoulders as he enters, leaving only the HASA emblazoned black shirt still tight to him. There’s a faint glow as the light beside the bed hums to life, scattering orange-yellow light across the room. For a moment, the light brings a warmth to the room that Xisuma lingers in, stepping his way over to the bedside. There, he sinks to the ground, stretching his legs out in front of him.

He rests his head back, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, looking for the stars behind them. He hurts. There’s a space in his chest that won’t fill or heal no matter how much he tries to stuff it with something. The box sits on his table. He doesn’t sit at the table. He sleeps. He works. He wanders the halls like he’s some fucking ghost of his own space station. Tango is gone. Doc is different. Cleo’s changed. Slip left. So did Biffa. He doesn’t even recognize his own face in the mirror.

Xisuma sighs, hard, through his nose, and picks himself off the floor.

Everything’s good now. Everything's just. Fine.

(spotify wrapped ask meme)

[littlewomenpodcast]

Little Women Inspirations: Friedrich Schiller (With Hejar Sinem) Part 2

Niina: Exactly, the proposal scene, it is often romanticized, you don't really see how uncomfortable Jo feels that in the book, the way he's treating her, that's a problem. His apology in the book makes a lot of sense, because Laurie himself realized that it wasn't a right thing to do.

Sinem: I also think it's important that Louisa May Alcott did have Laurie apologize, it is also an ideal way of showing that men can change and better, and that they have to acknowledge it. I think any other author would just gloss over it, but I think it is very important that Louisa May Alcott didn't gloss over it, and I think it's also important that Louisa May Alcott did have Jo uncomfortable with Laurie being so possessive of her, because I mean, who wouldn't feel uncomfortable when their friend would force them to do something they didn't want?

Niina: Yes, it's interesting, because in later chapter, I think it's Under the umbrella, Friedrich says that he thinks he knows Jo very well, and that's why he does not force himself to her. Then we have Laurie, who has known Jo since he was 15, and then he tries to force himself on Jo, and you would think that it would be the opposite.

Sinem: Yes, that is very much true, and I often have to say, I really love how Friedrich was introduced in New York, and I love how great his character was in this chapter, because when he comes to Orchard House to visit Jo, he at first doesn't want to go inside, because she's busy and all that stuff, but then he stays, because Jo looks at him in such a way, and because she just throws him into the house, he doesn't change for Jo, he doesn't pretend he is somebody else when he talks to Jo's parents, he is still himself, and I also love that in this chapter, he looks at Laurie a great deal, and he also looks at Jo a great deal, and the fact that Jo is like, she has to keep her eyes focused, because her eyes wonder towards him, her eyes work constantly, which is very funny.

Niina: There's something about him that speaks right to her soul, it reminds me of that part in New York, when he's speaking about religion, and then in that chapter, he really becomes Jo's hero, so there's something similar that happens here.

Sinem: Yes, like I said, I really love Friedrich as a character, and I also love the fact that Louisa May Alcott didn't just like gloss over the fact that Friedrich was visiting. It was a very important chapter, and it also let the audience know Friedrich even better, because he was there for Jo, but he wasn't only nice to Jo, he was nice to everybody around her, because that is who he is.

Niina: You are pretty well educated when it comes to Louisa May Alcott. Would you like to tell a little bit, how you got introduced to Little Women and her writings?

Sinem: It happened like this. I wanted to read something in English, and I was like, why not try some classic out. It was the first time I kind of discovered it, but there were a few bad reviews, so I wasn't sure, and I couldn't get a reading extract of it, so I thought to myself, let's wait a bit, but then when I got to the shop to look for some English book, there it was again, and it was like the whole version of it, several hundred pages, and I read a bit into it, and I was like, okay, this is the novel I really want to read, so I started reading and I fell in love with the writing, and then I read her other novels as well, and the one that also had a real big impact on me, besides Little Women was also ”Work”, because it is such an incredible novel. About Little women, the funny thing with it is, Meg is character similar to my aunt. Meg is really how I always imagined my own aunt to be, I have two of them, the older one especially, reminded me of her, and I have to say, I also love the fact that Louisa May Alcott included Henry David Thoreau to all of ther novels. I think that is where they start off. He is in every novel of hers, and then there are people who claim that she didn't love him, but the fact is like, okay, if she only included Henry David Thoreau kind of character, for example, into Little Women, then maybe we could say, okay, she didn't love him, but it is clear that she was very much in love with him, or had a crush on him, because that kind of character is in all of her novels, Mac. David, I wouldn't say Tom in An Old-Fashioned Girl is completely like him, but when he matured, he also kind of becomes that kind of archetype, and I think it is really important.

Niina: I think Adam in Moods is also based on Henry David Thoreau.

Sinem: Yeah, right, I really forgot him.

Niina: Then there's the German man in the Queen of Hearts, he's based on Henry David Thoreau, so the list goes on and on. At some point maybe in this podcast, I will go through all of these Henry David Thoreau archetypes. Yes, you are correct, he appears in literal disguises in pretty much every single Louisa May Alcott novel or short story.

Sinem: Yes, and also in I believe in Long Fatal Love Chase, I think that's what it's called. In that one, Henry David Thoreau kind of archetype character is, I think, Father Ignatius. I can't remember his name, but I think that was it, and he really reminded me of Friedrich, but I have to say, I still love Friedrich more, because I think to me, out of all the Henry David Thoreau archetypes, I think Friedrich is the one who speaks mostly to my heart, probably because he's German and because he can talk German.

I always found it nice when she speaks German words. His language has English phrases and German sentences, I'm like, I can understand everything he says, and it is so cute.

Niina: Yes, and it's adorable, because in Little Women he is still trying to study English, and he speaks the broken English, and then he throws these German words here and there. Then in Little Men, the narrator says that he has improved his English a lot, but he still uses some of his favorite German phrases, like Schatz and Mein Sohn.

Sinem: Yes, that is true, and I also have to say, I think it is also very important for him to actually use this kind of language. He has a very open vocabulary, I'd say, and I think it is also very important to note that he didn't come to New York for himself. The reason why he came there was to provide for his nephews, and I think it also shows his very caring nature. It kind of a parallel to Louisa May Alcott, when she wanted to provide for her own nephews, and I think that was the reason why she started writing Little Men, she knew she wanted to write another book to the series, but she was like, okay, I have to provide for my nephews, because their father just died, and then she wrote Little Men, and that is just so sweet, and it's also a wonderful parallel to how Friedrich came to New York to provide for his nephews, and when he looks for work, so he can provide a home for Jo.

Niina: That is true, I hadn't thought about that before. That is a parallel between Louisa May Alcott and Friedrich's character. Her brother-in-law, John Pratt, had died before she started to write Little Men.

Sinem: Whenever I read Little Men, I always cry at the passage where John Brooke dies.

[cdragons]

"Strawberry Cream Frosting" - Next Gen Eternals AU

Summary: Ikaris and Sephia's son fell in love with Thena and Gilgamesh's daughter. Chaos ensues.

Warning(s): Fluff, accidental love-bombing, Thena and Gil being the best adoptive parents EVER, Mara can't process emotions for shit

Author's Note: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ONE AND ALL! I hope everyone had a wonderful day reading a bunch of fics and looking at fan edits!

When Mara opened the front door, she had her baseball bat ready and was prepared to give whatever fucking dumb solicitor was on the doorstep, ringing the doorbell for the tenth time on a Saturday morning.

She wasn’t expecting…whatever the hell this was.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!”

It was a giant box that looked about four cubic feet big and was wrapped in shiny red wrapping paper, pink ribbons, and glitter. On the top was a little sign stating, ‘Bee my Valentine?’ with a little crochet bee keychain attached.

Mara just stood under Gil- her parents’ doorway for thirty seconds. She didn’t say anything. She just blinked at the giant package- until she blurted out the first coherent enough thought in her mind.

“What the fuck?”

A head popped from behind the…thing, and suddenly, it all made sense.

Laurie. And from how insane his hair looked, he decided it was a good idea to fly from Scotland to Ka’ena Point, Oahu.  

“Happy First Valentine’s Day!” he exclaimed before shaking the box for emphasis. As if she couldn’t notice how fucking gargantuan it was from just staring at it.

“…Laurie, what the hell am I looking at?” Mara asked. She pointed at it. “Is Arthur in there with a confetti cannon?”

Laurie furrowed his brow in confusion. “What? Oh! No, I know it’s a little big. But it’s your first Valentine’s Day, and I wanted to do something nice be–”

“What the hell is ‘Valentine’s Day’?” Mara interrupted. “Is it like a food day or something?”

“You don’t know what Valentine’s Day is?” he gaped.

She shook her head. “No…what’s the big deal? Is it like that Christmas thing I went to with the small boxes under the tree?”

The mega-watt smile Laurie flashed to her made Mara slightly worried. Despite how predictable he was, Mara could never get a good read on the guy. He wasn’t dangerous- that much was obvious. But whenever he and Mara were in the same room, he would act like he was glued to her hip. It didn’t help that Uri and Arthur immediately clicked on their first meeting.

And it really didn’t help when she shoved a shotgun in his face before his dad with the pew-pew eyes slammed her against the ground by her neck.

“Don’t make that face,” she ordered. “I don’t like that face.”

But Laurie wasn’t listening. He was jumping on the balls of his feet in excitement. “I have to teach you about it! It’ll be lots of fun, I promise! We can do a bunch of stuff! Wait, just let me–”

Mara moved to the side to let him in. “Oh, yeah. Just–”

He set the heavily decorated box on the ground before asking if he could use the bathroom. She pointed it down the hall. When he was out of sight, Mara tried to lift the box to see how heavy it was, and- holy shit, it must have been over thirty pounds.

How the fuck did that tall-ass twig carry this?

She felt a different heat presence behind her- whipping her head, she calmed down when she realized it was only Gil.

“My dad, everyone,” Mara thought wryly while wearing. “The powerhouse of strength in the Eternals, wearing a ‘Kiss the Chef’ apron.”

“Why was Laurie at the door? And what’s in that box?” he asked while holding his famous quiche in a hot cast-iron pan without gloves.

Mara just shrugged. “Hell, if I know. He said it was for Valentine’s Day or something like that.”

“Ohhhh,” Gil smiled. “For Valentine’s Day? And that big box is all for you? That’s Sephie’s kid for you all right.”

“What’s Sephie’s kid?” came a new voice.

Turning her head, Mara watched Thena walk down the stairs carrying Uri on her hip. It still baffled her to witness how the ancient goddess never had a bad case of bedhead the entire time she and her brother lived with her and Gil.

Gil answered. “Laurie came to visit, giving a certain someone a gift for Valentine’s Day.”

Mara’s dad wiggled his eyebrows at his daughter before setting the quiche down on the table while she rolled her eyes at what he was implying.

Uri looked at his sister and then Thena before tugging on his mom's sleeve.

“What’s Valentine’s Day?” he signed.

Smiling at her sunshine son, Thena explained. “It’s a day humans made to celebrate love. You spend it with friends and the people you love. When you love someone very much, you ask them to be your ‘Valentine.’”

She bopped his nose with a finger and softly laughed from hearing his contagious giggles. Mara smiled, too. Uri’s happiness was infectious. His smile alone was her reason for fighting and running as long as she had. She’d do anything to ensure he was safe, which made her happy to know it paid off.

He signed another question. “If my Valentine has to be someone I love lots, does that mean you, Mara, and Daddy will be my Valentine? Or can I only pick one?”

Mara replied as she reached out to hold him. “You can have as many valentines as you want, Uri. No need to ration out the love.”

She pressed a kiss on his chubby cheek. Peace washed over her when he pressed a loud kiss on hers before wrapping his arms around her neck to hug his sister. Uri was the sunniest sunshine summer child to be born. He radiated comfort with his entire being. There was more love and warmth in his toothy grin than…anything. He was her whole world, and she was his. That was enough.

Laurie walked back into view. “Hey, Uri! How’ve you been?”

Uri smiled wide before wildly clapping. He loved Laurie and his family. He mostly loves Ari, Laurie’s baby brother, who became Uri’s best friend after two minutes of meeting him.

She still remembers how Thena decked their dad after he asked if Uri gave his son any drugs after seeing them spin in circles in the dirt. Mara laughed so hard that tears came pouring out of her eyes.

Laurie put his hand to cover his mouth and loudly whispered in Uri’s ear. “Do you think I can take your sister out today? I want to teach her about Valentine’s Day.”

This distressed Uri as he scrunched his face while clinging tighter to Mara. He adapted wonderfully when Thena and Gil took them in, but he hated being separated from his sister for any period. The first day of her new school was a complete shit show because he cried while she was gone.

“But, I promise that I will bring her back shortly. We’ll even bring you souvenirs!”

Uri looked at her in confusion.

“Presents,” she clarified. “I’ll still be your Valentine, and we can go out and look for some pretty shells tomorrow, okay? You can show them to all your fishy friends.”

Although he liked the idea of presents and spending all of tomorrow with his favorite person in the whole world, Uri still didn’t want Mara to go- at least not without him.

“Why don’t we eat breakfast first? Laurie, can you help Uri get ready? I need to make sure Gil doesn’t dose his coffee with any booze.” She handed her brother to her…friend before going to the kitchen.

Gil had a big fucking smirk on his face when she walked in.

Mara snarled as she grabbed the apron he and Thena made for her as a new home present. “Not a fucking word. I don’t want to hear it. By the way, do we have any cinnamon rolls left in the freezer?”

He only smiled wider. “I wasn’t going to say anything. And we do. Why do you ask?”

Taking the leftover rolls, she preheated the oven. She then grabbed some oranges from the basket on the floor. Slicing them in half before setting the sieve over the plastic pitcher, and taking one half of an orange over the sieve. Taking a deep breath, Mara centered herself.

“Karla,” the name echoed in her mind as the soul covered her hand, and Mara squeezed the orange until the pulp was dry.

She took the rinds and absorbed the remaining qi inside it as a tribute of thanks for her friend’s help. Karla was the youngest and wasn’t called on as much as her other sisters, so Mara wanted to include her in something. The warmth on her skin when she returned to her ink-painted nest was a sign she appreciated the gesture.

Thena walked in and stood behind you. “You should go with Laurie.”

“Why?” she groaned out. “I don’t feel like it.”

The oven dinged once adequately preheated, and Mara plopped the rolls on the rack. She grabbed a metal mixing bowl and all the ingredients to make the cream cheese frosting- including some crushed-up freeze-dried strawberry slices. After measuring them and placing them in the bowl, she started to stir.

“You need more friends,” the two ancient beings spoke in unison.

Thena pressed a kiss on her daughter's head. “You don’t talk to anyone at school. And you can’t spend all your free time surfing, at the shop, playing with Uri, and studying.”

Gil pulled in for a giant bear hug. “Hey, no pressure. But you have to admit, it’ll be a nice change to have someone spoil you for once. And with a tall, pretty boy, too.”

Mara glared at her adoptive dad as he moved past her to get to the bathroom. She tried to fight down the red blush blooming on her cheeks. But she only continued to stir the bowl until it became thick and made the color she wanted.

“I get spoiled enough by the two of you as is,” she grumbled. “And also–”

Laurie and Uri, coming into the kitchen, cut Mara off. “We’re here! And I made sure Uri brushed his teeth and flossed. And – woah, Mara! Why is your face so red? Are you sick?”

He put down Uri and raced to her side. He put his hand on her forehead to take her temperature and used his other one to touch his for comparison. He was so close that she could smell the wind on his skin and the mint toothpaste on his breath. Mara stared at his face- how were his eyelashes so long? And why were his eyes so blue? She felt her face heat up even more and cleared her throat before turning her head.

“It’s nothing,” she croaked. “Can you…can you help Thena set the table? The plates and cups are in the overhead cabinets, and the utensils are in the drawers.”

Laurie moved to grab everything to help set up the table on the outside deck. Mara watched as Thena cupped his face with a warm smile and told him how tall and strong he was becoming. Gil returned and ruffled his air before asking if he was still set on becoming a doctor with how much his muscles had grown. Uri tugged on his sleeve to ask if Ari had missed him as much as he missed him.

This was the part of Laurie that Mara could never figure out how he fit in perfectly and seamlessly without issue or error in any situation. She could analyze and pinpoint a person’s position and physical weaknesses with her abilities without blinking. Every living thing had a heat signature that she could exploit.

But with Laurie…she didn’t want to do that to him. It was like his weaknesses only made him more appealing to others. Ever since the girl first met him, he would follow her around like a puppy desperate for attention from its owner. It bugged her for months. And if she were being honest, it still did after a year of knowing him.

Mara couldn’t really explain it. But it was like...his warmth was inherent- it came from a softer place where only goodness existed. It was less of a raging inferno like her own and more like a gentle campfire. If Mara was a snake, then Laurie was a bunny. A bunny nearly six-foot-tall with clear blue eyes and light freckles–

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

The oven’s timer went off- breaking her out of the analogy and into reality. She took the rolls out using an oven glove and placed them on a cooling stone.

“Are those cinnamon rolls?”

Mara looked over her shoulder, and Laurie was crouching right behind her. His chin was practically on her shoulder.

She nodded. “You like them, right? You said your mom made them for you for breakfast on your…um…what’d you call it?”

He was giddy with glee. “My birthday! I told you that at Christmas! We were all at Brympton d'Evercy to celebrate Sersi’s and Dane’s engagement! I can’t believe you remembered that!”

Mara supposed the way he smiled was…sort of cute… nowhere near as blindly adorable as Uri’s, but attractive enough.

“Yeah…well, you did fly to give me that…thing. And you're even teaching me about this Valentine’s Day stuff. So, I thought…this could be my present to you.”

If Mara was facing Laurie, she would have seen the softest look of love and adoration grace an adolescent boy’s face in the history of humanity. Laurie loved Mara Drake so much. His dad said he was too young for dating- let alone love, but he knew they were destined for forever.

He wanted to kiss her so badly. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be pinned down like how he was when they first met.

Mara scraped the little dried spot on the kitchen island. She so did not like feeling as stupid as she did right now. But…she had a gut feeling Laurie was worth it.

“Um…I crushed some dry strawberry things and added them to the frosting. It turned pink, and I thought that was okay since I saw pink on the box and thought–”

“Cinnamon rolls are my favorite, and I love strawberries,” he whispered. “And pink…pink’s my favorite color after blue. It reminds me of my mom.”

“And if you have time, we can…go find some good spots for sea-shell hunting. Uri can take forever, and it’ll save me some time. I know it’s kind of shitty- especially because you’re doing this whole thing.”

“I love you.”

Mara choked on her own spit and turned her head in shock. Her eyes were bulging out of your head.

What- what did he say?

“What?” her voice cracked.

Now, it was Laurie’s time to turn red. Did he really just say that? And with Gil and Thena literally less than twenty feet away? Was he trying to get the love of his life to hate him forever? Oh fuck, he needed to backtrack.

“IT! I meant to say, ‘I love IT!’ I’d love to help you find seashells! I could even bring some for Ari and Aggie! Actually – they made some Valentine's gifts for you and your brother, too! Ari made this really cool card for Uri. He summoned a bunch of turquoise and made this cool heart! So, um…thanks.”

His voice cracked as he stammered to save himself before awkwardly pausing to express gratitude.

An awkward silence echoed as the awkward future couple mutually decided that their feet were the room's most exciting part.

And the dads decided to make it even worse.

“MARA! IKARIS TOLD ME TO TELL YOU TO MAKE SURE THAT LAURIE’S VIRGINITY BETTER BE INTACT WHEN HE COMES HOME!”

Mara was caught so off-guard that she dropped the spatula in her hand. The pink frosting splattered all over the floor and would be a bitch to clean up.

Fucking-

“TELL HIM TO EAT A DICK AND FUCK OFF!” she yelled back as Laurie buried his face in his hands.

He really hoped Aggie had more luck not humiliating herself with Hamish the way he had with Mara.

Somewhere in Scotland, a little Ari sat on the couch with his mommy as she stroked his daddy’s hair. His daddy was lying in his mommy’s lap.

“Mama? Why is Da crying?” he innocently asked.

You only smiled. “Karma.”

At the same time, in the Amazon, a young girl was planning her and her forever love’s future wedding when she suddenly stood up and looked in the distance. Her future husband asked whatever was bothering his little lady love.

The young girl only sighed while shaking her head. “The idiot fucked up.”

Tagging: @ethereal-athalia, @valeskafics, @asa-do-your-thing, @arcielee, @jolixtreesunn, @beananacake, @redheadspark, @vikingqueen28, @lexyysworld, @lilacliquors, @tesha-i-guess, @tess-love, @inejismywife, @bumblebeesuniverse, @aphroditesmoon

Click on this link if you want to read more about this universe!

[gyllenhaalstories]

Laurie!! 💛 (sorry, I just live in your inbox now 💖)

I'm back on duty and I'm here to tickle the collective fandom brain.

With Presumed Innocent coming out soon (aaaah), I would just like to hear all your thoughts on Rusty. 

Is he guilty? If so, would we still do unholy things with him (duh, obviously)? Or is he just an innocent little guy and only guilty of cheating and murdering pussy? He obviously likes being choked and I'm not complaining. What else might he like? Is he a pancakes or bacon/scrambled egg breakfast kinda guy? He does need his protein tho, for several reasons... 👀

Please let me/us know all your thoughts and hopes for the new show and the character we're blessed with this summer, thank youuuu.

Paying my Rusty tax for inspiration ✨ (again)

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! 💖 it's so good to see you in my asks again, daphne! thank you for the rusty tax (and the painful reminder that i wish this was ME) and the great questions! i've thought about that man A LOT but the majority of those thoughts are just about how badly i need him so... they're not too constructive... let's see what my -1 brain cell comes up with pretty much on the spot! 🤭

i don't think he's guilty. since the first teaser, i just had the feeling that he's innocent and his wife killed carolyn. clearly he has a talent for lying and manipulating facts (isn't it essentially his job?), he even lied to his therapist in one of the recent clips i saw! trying to lie to the human equivalent of a lie detector is both bold and dumb. he's clearly not completely innocent. cheating on your wife is bad but when your wife is ruth negga it's DOUBLE bad! i watched a quick interview of the woman who plays carolyn and oof. renate has something special. so i kind of get it <3 but i am better than a man and i would not ruin my marriage! the text messages and calls he's sending her are also very bold and dumb. he should know better than anyone how to avoid looking guilty. the dna, the messages, the stalking, the affair that was not so hidden since they were going out together and everything, this is just so stupid! he'd probably be so mad if he defended a client who basically did everything he shouldn't do and now tries to plead for innocence. i'm interested to see if we get an insight on how an attorney of his prestige and of his rank can turn into the most stupid person you've ever met. i mean, we know how, he's desperate to get his dick wet. but still, maybe there's more to it. maybe carolyn isn't that sweet, smart, picture perfect girl either. i'm giving her the side eye too.

i'm soooo excited for the show!!! my only point of reference is defending jacob so i like to compare both series. defending jacob had some really good twists so i expect the same from presumed innocent. in my opinion, one of the most powerful plot twists in defending jacob included the mother, laurie (i can still hear chris evans saying i love you laurie it was an amazing moment <3). so maybe that's why i focused on barbara sabich right away. i don't know, i'm so curious to see. i want to watch the original movie after the series, just to compare as well. i might never do it but at least i'm planning on it! anyway. can we just take a moment to appreciate how crazy it is to have this kind of show as your first television project? jake really popped off with this and his acting is absolutely insane in what we've seen so far! everyone in the cast seems solid. i'm guessing they showed most of the freaky sexy scenes in the trailers already to tease the audience, but i'm curious to know if there is more of that good stuff that they're hiding! i'm also looking forward to watch jake and peter saarsgard on screen again! and the glasses. i can't word vomit all of this and not bring up the glasses. now that we know jake is practically legally blind, i proclaim myself the protector of his corneas and i demand that he wears glasses more often. my motivation is purely selfless and it's not because i fold like a folding chair at the sight of jake with glasses (vision pun intended).

i saved the best stuff for last apparently! but mmm. what is that man into? i can't cook to save my life so he's eating cereals for breakfast. i'm kidding! (well not really but still). we know he's into choking, finger sucking, doggy style, public sex/sneaking away in a public setting, he loves the thrill of forbidden things and we see how touchy he is with carolyn so i'm guessing he's into marking because it's like a proof of something that is happening in secret of others? idk, just thinking. i don't know if his stalking habits fall into kinky or just regular obsession over the one thing he can't have under his total control, but i'd lowkey like it if he extended his stalking with some spicy elements. the way he holds on to carolyn, touches her everywhere, it's giving possessive and i love it. the ring though. oh the ring. why doesn't he take it off? does carolyn like it, does she get off knowing she has a taken man under her spell, that this greek god of a man prefers her to his wife? does rusty like the reminder of his cheating? does he like the self-inflicted guilt and pain of being reminded of his horrible and immoral actions? i think there's definitely some masochist tendencies in him. he's so quick to apologize for everything like oh no i might have killed a woman but i'm sorry tho </3 he might loooove the fake pity and fake apologies. whether he uses this tactic or if it's used on him does not really matter. to put it briefly: rusty is a FREAK and i want to be the somebody who matches his freak!

thank you for doing this, daphne! it was so fun to ramble pure nonsense fuelled by the sad 2 hours of sleep i've gotten last night 😭 i can't wait to read this tomorrow and be weirded out by how little sense it makes. i especially can't wait to read this after watching the entire series and seeing how wrongggg i was. it will be just as much fun as writing all of this! mwah mwah ily! 💖💖💖

[byneddiedingo]

Laura Harris, Shawn Hatosy, Josh Hartnett, Clea DuVall, Elijah Wood, and Jordana Brewster in The Faculty (Robert Rodriguez, 1998)

Cast: Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Elijah Wood, Salma Hayek, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Christopher McDonald, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, Usher, Jon Stewart, Daniel von Bargen. Screenplay: Kevin Williamson, David Wechter, Bruce Kimmel. Cinematography: Enrique Chediak. Production design: Cary White. Film editing: Robert Rodriguez. Music: Marco Beltrami.

Two premises are key to The Faculty: that adolescents see adults in authority as alien figures, and that high school is an instrument for instilling social conformity. The former has been the stuff of movies since Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955). The latter is in evidence today in the efforts of states like Florida and Texas to remake education along conservative ideological lines. Unfortunately, Kevin Williamson's screenplay and Robert Rodriguez's direction don't take either premise seriously enough to make more than a raucous but routine sci-fi/horror movie out of the material. The result is exactly as the Criterion Channel describes it: "The Breakfast Club meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers." John Hughes's 1985 movie put a Jock, a Brain, a Criminal, a Princess, and a Basket Case together in detention and explored the interaction of disparate high school stereotypes. The Faculty's misfit crew is a little more complex: Stan (Shawn Hatosy), the Jock, wants to quit the team, and Zeke (Josh Hartnett) is both Brain and Criminal: He concocts his own drug (unfortunately called "scat") in his lab, selling it out of the trunk of his car, and he has an off-the-charts IQ. Elijah Wood's Casey is bullied the way Brains typically are in teen movies, and Clea DuVall's Stokely is more of a goth-punk rebel than a Basket Case. Jordana Brewster's Delilah is an overachieving Princess, both editor of the school newspaper and captain of the cheerleading squad. They are joined by a New Girl, Marybeth Louise Hutchinson (Laura Harris), a transfer from Atlanta to their Ohio high school who comes complete with a somewhat cloying Southern accent. If The Faculty had kept its focus steadily on this group as they uncover the fact that their teachers have been taken over by an extraterrestrial organism, the movie would have had more coherence and suspense. Instead, it opens with the revelation that something is clearly causing the teachers and the principal to go mad and murderous. The principal (Bebe Neuwirth) is attacked in her office by the coach (Robert Patrick), and when she tries to escape, her way is blocked by a teacher, Mrs. Olson (Piper Laurie), who suddenly turns from meek to menacing. After missing work for a day or so, the principal returns as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, other teachers have been showing personality changes that begin to spread into the student body. It's not long before the movie begins to invoke the other half of its inspiration, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956; Philip Kaufman, 1978). Williamson, whose screenplay for Scream (1996) was full of allusions to other horror films, can't resist making the source for The Faculty explicit, so when his teenagers cite the movie themselves and use it as a guide to fighting the alien, The Faculty becomes too meta for its own good. There's enough to enjoy in the movie, including good performances by most of the cast. Hartnett is particularly good in the role of a guy who's embarrassed by his own intelligence. It's fun to see Jon Stewart, who plays a science teacher, in one of the acting performances he likes to make fun of. But when it comes to making good on its key premises and developing a real satiric edge, The Faculty has to be called a missed opportunity. 

[drpeppertummy]

this ones underwhelming but What Ever sunny big giant dinner moments as always

[stuffing, tummyache]

Sunny's belly rumbled impatiently as he marveled at the dinner steaming before him. A nice big baked potato dripping with butter and sour cream, a pile of hot, crispy steak fries, garlicky grilled asparagus, and the main attraction: steak. It was something Sunny rarely indulged in; he was a simple man, and a proper steak was a little out of his league. Beef in general, in fact, was rarely found on his plate, apart from the occasional burger. Tonight, however, was a special occasion. It was his birthday, and he and his friends had decided to go out for dinner together to celebrate.

"You better get moving," teased Laurie, reaching out from the seat beside him and patting his hungry tummy. "It's gonna take you 'til next year to finish all that."

"It is not," he retorted, picking up his knife and fork, though he wasn't entirely sure she was wrong. It was a big steak--Laurie had joked when he ordered that it weighed more than he did--and with all the sides, it was almost certainly too much for him to eat in one sitting. Still, it was his birthday, he was ravenous, and the food looked incredible. He found himself nearly drooling as he cut a hunk off of his steak.

Sunny tried to eat slowly and savor his meal, but it was hard. He had a tendency to wolf his food down like his life depended on it. The fact that he was starving didn't help. It wasn't long before he was nearly halfway through his dinner and his belly was pleasantly stuffed. He paused for a moment, setting his fork down to take a sip of water, and rested one hand on his tummy. It was slightly rounded, and beginning to poke out over the waist of his jeans. He looked at the rest of his dinner. It would've been a perfect amount to take home, and he was undoubtedly full. He wasn't too full to continue, though, and it was just too good to resist. Having let his stomach settle for just a moment, Sunny picked up his cutlery once more. Laurie looked at him, amused.

"Aren't you full?"

"No," he lied.

He'd been comfortably full when he started eating again, but it didn't take long for the pleasant weight in his belly to begin to ache. His stomach felt very tight, and he became aware as he ate that each bite seemed to stretch it a little bit tighter. Still, the taste outweighed the ache, at least for now, and he kept eating, although much more slowly than before.

"Y'know, you still have enough to save," said Laurie, watching her skinny little friend struggle to put away the large meal. He looked up at her with a bit of asparagus poking out of his mouth, and she laughed.

"Classy," she said, and he sucked it up. "You look stuffed. Why don't you take the rest home?" Sunny looked down at his belly to see that it was bulging out noticeably, his shirt pulled tight over the round curve. He tried to suck it in, with minimal success.

"We'll see," he said, looking back to his dinner. Laurie was right; he was absolutely stuffed. He could feel his stomach pushing out hard, crammed full of heavy, bulky meat and potatoes. Additionally, the snug waist of his pants and his tight belt were growing uncomfortable against his expanding middle. Still, incredibly, he didn't want to quit. His belly was uncomfortably full now, but the food was too good to stop eating. He scooped up another forkful of potato.

He was eating very slowly now, his overstuffed stomach barely able to accommodate each new bite. His belly felt unbelievably tight, and his belt buckle pressed uncomfortably into it. He paused for a moment and leaned back in his seat to take some of the pressure off his bloated tummy. Laurie looked down, surprised to see how much he'd eaten, and placed a hand on his distended stomach. It bulged tight and hard against her hand.

"Jeez, Sunny," she said, astonished that he'd managed to stuff so much into his small stomach. "Your belly feels like it's about to burst." He agreed, although he wouldn't admit it. There was only a small portion of his dinner left, no longer enough to make another meal and barely enough for a snack, and at this point, he intended to finish it. He left out a soft sigh and picked up his fork.

"Come on, Sunny! You can't finish that."

"Sure I can," he said, cutting off another bite of steak. There were only a few bites of it left, along with a small hunk of baked potato and a handful of fries. He'd already finished off the asparagus.

"You're gonna pop!"

"I am not." He stuck the bite in his mouth, and Laurie rolled her eyes. Sunny was stubborn as a mule, and it was no surprise that he'd rather make himself sick than agree with her. Considering how little beef he ate in his day-to-day life, she supposed that stuffed feeling would stick with him for some time, though she doubted he'd learn his lesson.

Sunny had finally lost his enthusiasm for the food, but he was determined to finish. He alternated between the steak and the potato, leaving the fries for last. His stomach, long since out of room, couldn't stretch much further, and each bite pushed him deeper into discomfort. Still, he managed to get through it, and all that remained were a few fries. Fries were easy to eat even on a full belly, but these big thick-cut ones proved difficult. He paused again to take a breath, resting a hand on his distended belly.

"Sunny?"

"Huh?" He looked up at Laurie, trying not to look as winded as he felt.

"Can I eat your fries?" He looked at her for a moment, then nodded. Mercifully, Laurie relieved him of his fries, and he sat there, trying to fight off the food coma that would undoubtedly overtake him the moment he was finally able to lay down. He felt heavy, sluggish, and stuffed absolutely to bursting. His stomach let out a miserable little gurgle, straining against the enormous onslaught of meat and potatoes he'd crammed into it. Smiling sympathetically at him, Laurie gave his tummy a gentle pat.

"You better be ready for cake by the time we get home," she teased. He looked incredulously at her, and she laughed.

[vonnebenan]

"My father says you have been my friend. You came back for me." "You would have done the same for me."

oils on paper, A4

[ccaptain]

🌿 Author Portrait .

get to know the author behind the blog! repost, do not reblog.

.Basics

name/nickname: sam/zack c: age: 29! pronouns: she/her/them years of writing: oh man, a LOT. i'm pretty sure that it's around 13-14 years of experience between Facebook para rp (dont ask) and Pokèmon forum chatrooms... good times. 

.Reflection

Why did you pick up writing? i was always an huge fan of reading and still am, and it came to me very naturally to the point where I had some notebook that I used to write scripts of roleplays between my OCs... it only escalated when I found out that people roleplayed with eachother. BOOM. opened an entire world to little mini me who was basically the weird kid with no friends. 

Do you have any writing routines? i settle down after lunch and dinner to start replying to stuff! i'll reblog a meme i really want my partners to send to me a couple of times to make sure that they see it (timezones SUCK), wait a bit to see who sends and then i'll get down to those first, and drafts come after i've done all memes if i still have energy c:

What's your favorite part about writing? THE CLAY-MOLDING YOU CAN DO TO A MUSE and the studying you do about them by researching stuff for their story, putting them in situations, letting yourself think about how they may react to love, affection, a possible betrayal... and its all on the tips of your fingers to write. i LOVE studying things!!!!!! i rotate them in my mind like a funky gyroscope!

.Three things you like about your writing:

i. while I don't particulary like angst, once I get in a mood or my muse is put into a particular situation, I'm gonna make it heart wrenching. i'm gonna make whoever is reading this break down on the floor crying. and i'm also gonna cry myself. i love that little stomach pain when you synchronize so much with your muse's pain that you're able to feel it. because others will be hit with a mallet with that too c: heheheheohee

ii. how my muse quite literally never goes away, and the patience that i have developed when dealing with my partners. we could literally not interact for months, and then when you come to me with ideas we're just going to pick up where we left, like, i'll open a box and take everything out. i was told often that this allows people to stress a little less about getting back to me fast so i'm happy about that! no stress while writing with me. i'm never out of muse anyway!

iii. the amount of EFFORT that i put into characterizing a muse......... a lot of research and plotting and thinking goes into that and i never run out of headcanons, as silly as those may be. i personalize them like a teenager would do with their cellphone by applying stickers to it and the stickers reflect their personality. 

.A question for the next person

write a question for the next person to answer. once you've answered it, leave a new question for someone else to answer.

new question: what do you find the most difficult to write (eg dialogue)? ( lauri )

i'm gonna have to go with dialogue, yeah,,,,,, i can be very wordy when describing paras and paras around a situation. then i get to the dialogue and there's a few lines of stuff that look kind of out of place to me. FORTUNATELY im working on it-

NEW QUESTION: Do you have a certain type of muse you enjoy writing? ( robin )

TECHNICALLY....... yes. i enjoy muses with deep inner turmoils that look a little mysterious, that have a lot of internal difficult decisions to make, that are a little complex and once somebody tries to figure them outand they get it completely wrong. part of why i'm currently so unashamedly hyperfocused on H:SR Kaeya is that i made him into a very complex concept and i rotate him in my mind like a sausage. 

NEW QUESTION: what kind of threads do you enjoy the most?

tagged by: @daybreakrising @duelmarks MY POOKIES tagging: @predvestnik @snowtombedstar @visionkept @chasersglow @dupliciti

[renaultphile]

Hey!!! Going to throw a couple questions at you as I’m curious to get your take:

1) what’s in the Ralph Special (maybe rum? Or was that rationed)?

2) do you think Ralph and Bim hooked up at one point? (I feel like it would have to be something cringey like at a Christmas party or New Year’s Eve 😆)

3) have you or anyone done Myers-Briggs test for these characters? I feel like Alec and Sandy would be all about it and Ralph would push it off as nonsense but curiosity would get him in the end.

☺️

Thank you so much @jackie-the-obscure for these asks!!

1)  So  Ralph’s special is …….smooth on the palate with (supposedly) a ferocious kick.  Oh rather a good description of him too!  I’m feeling rum is a very strong candidate.  There is that very strong rum he has in his room.  And it’s so strong that when he tries to offer it to Laurie for his knee, and Laurie says not to be silly, he even he pours it back in the bottle.  I love that bit so much!!  So I would agree, and then maybe honey for the palate smoother.

2)  Bim.  I’m now thinking, how could they not have!   And why is everyone so weird about the two of them.  Yes, something embarrassing, like something out of context, or an anonymous encounter and then they met properly and it was like ‘Oh, you!’ or something.  Also this ‘only Ralph can handle him’ is weird.  In my hc, I have Bim as Ralph’s supplier of benzadrene so that would also explain why he’s so helpful all the time, like, must protect the supply…..

3) Myers-Briggs!  OMG!  I am a bit rusty but I remember doing that many many years ago.  I totally agree Alec/Sandy would be loving it, and Ralph……well, there’s that incredible bit in the middle of the ‘two years of women’ when he says “I can't remember who those cranks are who say you mustn't think negatively; but they've got something, you know.” Which I just love.   So I feel Ralph’s got that kind of magpie mind that he would be desperate to know but would brush it off, like, yes I’ll take the test just so I can prove you wrong…..He’s always trying to ‘settle’ things so must be a J over a P though?

Are there any free questionnaire’s online for this?  @carrotcakecrumble do you know anything about this stuff?

But also, I am very interested in Dorothy Rowe’s personal construct theory and her introvert/extravert thing, and I feel Ralph is a strong extravert, in the sense that the outer world is more real to him than his inner world.  The exploration and mapping clinched it for me.  And Laurie seems an extreme introvert, needing his alone time, needing to ‘get his head straight’ and having imaginary conversations.  It’s meant to make them compatible though.

And finally, favourite Alec-isms.  It has to be when he’s not picked up Laurie’s surname and he says

"Oh, by the way, I don't know whether you get a kind of functional deafness during introductions, like me? I never got your name properly; was it -- er -- Hazell, or--?"

And then later, "And what is your name, if you'll forgive my unmannerly persistence?"

Love it, every time.  I get the feeling he is quite socially awkward, but has applied a veneer of polish for his job, and maybe that’s why Laurie is so drawn to him at the party, maybe a kindred spirit?

[abandoned-mars]

happy 4/20 here are some thoughts on my humanstuck au

kankri (marcus) + mituna (tatum) live together. damara (ana) has been crashing there for a few weeks/months after she found out her bf had been cheating on her

when marcus moved in with tatum he only had one stool and one couch that he would sprawl all over and tate told him to buy his own furniture. so he did, he bought an old love seat from the thrift store and would not let tatum get close to it. a couple days into ana crashing there, marcus told her that tatum will make her do that. the guys helped her get some of her old furniture from her exes and now all of their stuff is mix matched

latula (presley) + roxy (macy) live together and they have a chalkboard wall in their apartment

john (ivan), dave (dominic), + karkat (donnie) also live together

dominic had always been halfway interested in photography but never had the means to fully pursue it. so when ivan starts studying film and bringing home cameras, dominic started talking to him about it and looking over his notes and getting really into the science behind photography yk

this is like. a halfway college au. marcus studies law, tatum studies computer programming, porrim (elle) studies fashion marketing, meulin (laurie) studies art, macy studies bioengineering, and ivan studies film

marcus and donnie are half brothers, their dad married laurie’s mom when she + marcus were in highschool

pretty much everyone is 20-23ish, the oldest being kurloz (jesse) at 25 and the youngest is donnie at 20

jesse and laurie are dating + have been for 3~ years, which would’ve been right after laurie graduated (jesse is a bit of a creep in this but tbh in canon he ain’t much better)

i have a lot. a lot of ideas as far as backstories/how everyone met and im not really sure which one i want to stick with but here are some of those

marcus, tatum, and elle grew up together. marcus and tatum were really good friends (bcus of their dads) throughout elementary/early middle school, but then tatum started hanging out with the people that marcus had told him to stay away from. they drifted apart quickly and by high school tatum had become one of those. popular asshole stoner funny guys. and although he had tried to stop his new friends from making comments and jokes towards marcus, he ultimately realized he didn’t care too much. marcus and elle had stayed friends, but she too had made better friends that she had more in common with. honestly not quite sure what id do with ana in this idea, i bounced either having her move to town when she was like in 4/5th grade her and marcus become friends then, or having her be like elle or macy’s frjend first, or have everyone meet her later. idrk. basically this is just the “tatum/marcus friends to enemies to roommates tension” au (it is heavily inspired by this fic). as far as the other characters, i think tate would’ve met jesse in highschool and gone crazy w him, also met presley in highschool? maybe that whole situation could happen then? idrk. don’t love this idea there’s too much lore id have to detail

ana and marcus were friends all throughout middle school, but grew apart when she moved in highschool. at her new school she met tatum, presley, + macy and became quick friends. after graduation, tatum had moved in with jesse for a bit but got kicked out, and crashed at ana’s very tiny very shitty apartment for a couple days. by the end of day 2, they were already drunkenly formulating a plan of moving in together which became a real plan + they ended up renting a three bed one bath apartment ! they live together for like 2/3 years until ana moved out to live with her boyfriend at his very nice house (yes this is rufioh, his name is richie). tatum posts an ad for a new roommate, and eventually marcus responds. he moves in, and a few days later ana comes to visit and the two reconnect. anyway, after a bit of ‘tate/marcus roommate tension’, ana finds out abt her bf cheating, and crashes at their apartment. she relaxes the atmosphere greatly. i like this one in theory but i feel like it needs more marcus/tatum tension other than just. oh he’s messy and he’s bossy and they don’t like living together yada yada yk

okay so this one i haven’t really. written down the plots? of the backstory i just started writing a story and wanted to change the relationships so it’s kinda random. actually it’s just kind of a mix of the other ones. anyway, the whole marcus + tatum friends to enemies to roommates thing is still happening, but ana went to a different school. there she became besties with macy, and later presley when she moved there in 8/9th grade. macy + presley live together across town, and ana used to live near them w her boyfriend until they broke up and she wanted a change of scenery. not quite sure of how or when ana + presley met tatum and the rest but yea they all became good friends and ana started crashing there + ofc presley + tatum got together.

idk i have a lot more but also like not really .. i just need to get an actual story down

anyway. as far as romantic relationship goes the only ones i am for sure doing are presley + tatum, laurie + jesse, and eventually ana + marcus . also jumping between dominic + donnie or dominic + ivan but also like they’re more of background characters

tatum, presley, jesse, and laurie 100% go to raves together

elle is intersex and does drag

presley and macy are roommates + coworkers + besties (it sounds like it would be hell after a while but they make it work)

tatum, marcus, + anas apartment does allow animals, tate has two cats named j.peg + kitkat

presley + macy’s apartment only allows two pets but they secretly have four cats, vodka mewtini, geegee, citrine, + tulip (all of them besides tulip are macy’s, tatum gave presley tulip as a gift)

lauren + jesse aren’t supposed to have pets but jesse does keep a snake

ivan, dominic, + donnie’s aren’t allowed to have animals but dominic has been trying to test that theory with some of the crows that come to his window

elle can have pets, she has a big german shepard type guard dog named fangs and a soft calico named felicity

one of ana’s top teeth is chipped from a soccer accident

presley is from new jersey

tbh this has been the only thing i’ve been thinking about for like. months so i also have a bit of art of what i hc that they look like, so i might post some of that. it’s not very good but i also made them all in the sims like multiple times LMAO . i also have some stories that are mainly about ana + marcus but according to chatgpt they are not good so. maybe eventually … idk i just hope all of this makes sense to anyone else but me

[reservoirreputation]

Some thoughts on House S1

House was one of the first shows I really got into. Even from a young age, I had a soft spot for the comedic relief character that has a tragic backstory and doesn't want to let people get close for fear of being hurt again. Always a banger, rarely misses.

I was also waaaaaay too young to be watching, but watch it, I did. It was probably in its fourth season when I got into it? So, about 2009? Maybe 2008. So, I would've been around 10. That's some formative entertainment, right there.

I don't recall watching the show after it ended, so, this recent rewatch for the past week is the first time I've touched it since 2012. Really, I gave into temptation after seeing for the dozenth time tumblr's continued enthusiasm for it.

So, Season One.

I could recall the general plots of most of the episodes, sometimes could remember how some ended, sometimes just vaguely familiar. Considering how long it's been, it's still impressive how much has stuck with me.

God, I remember when I used to think Hugh Laurie was American. It's so funny growing up with Britcoms, not realizing that's him in stuff like Blackadder. I've always found Foreman's name funny because it's literally the same as Eric Foreman from That 70s Show.

I've always enjoyed the original team's dynamic: Foreman butting heads with House constantly, but only because they're so alike. Cameron wearing her heart on her sleeve, but also not afraid to try new things (the episode where she tries to persuade her coworkers by using their first names, and the way it works). Chase being so laid back, but he can get really opinionated at times, though, and adds nice conflict and contrast with the other two.

Cuddy and Wilson help balance out House's personality and antics so well. It's also interesting watching Wilson's more passive development, where we only get occasional updates. Like how he's at first happily, though strained, married, and then he's having casual lunch with one of the nurses, insisting that's all it is, and then spending time with House instead of his wife because his buddy needs the company and she's used to him being away. Then by the end of the season, his relationship is in the toilet.

With Cuddy, it's so hard to concentrate, because she's so damn pretty. The costuming department, wherever you are now, THANK YOU. Her attire is so on point, speaks volumes about her character, and is so aesthetically pleasing, and her office?? Is so gorgeous?? And is peak academia?? How are there not tumblr blogs solely dedicated to her outfits??

Truly, Cuddy's wardrobe for me is "God, I wish I had these clothes, these accessories!" But in reality, I dress like House. Well, I wear more plaid, but you get the picture.

A couple of highlights from this season; so, I only cried twice. Once during 1X10 and then 1X21. The former, with some of the best character development for Foreman, and how he goes from dismissing this poor woman to holding her hand as she dies of rabies, god DAMN was that a gut punch. Just, exquisitely done. And Three Stories, just as the audience puts it together that these are all very similar to what happened to House, BOOM, they reveal just exactly that: he's expressing his past trauma the only way he knows how, as a teaching moment. Just, I needed a moment after the episode ended, because it just makes you feel like shit. If you or someone you love has ever been misdiagnosed, or doctors have ignored your symptoms, or inadvertently made your condition worse, you know exactly how this feels. It's just so heartbreaking.

That bookending moment, with the season opening and closing with You Can't Always Get What You Want, is so good. The way it, again, socks you in the stomach by reframing the context of the song, showing how House and Stacy were it for each other, and still want one another, but they're bad together. House may be the One, but Stacy's husband is what she needs. Jesus fucking christ, this first season is so good.

Is it perfect? No. The writers are still getting to know these characters, and that's expected. But it's a really strong start, and is really great at looking at the many different facets of these characters very early on.

Fun little side note, despite having health related anxiety, this show doesn't freak me out. Maybe it's because it can be funny, maybe it's reassuring in how, no matter what's wrong with you, there's likely someone out there that can help. They may violate your privacy while they're at it, but they'll help you. It's oddly reassuring.