#layer wat

[eli-workshop]

A little break from Helg and Heimdall, to bring you the next sets of layer icons

[shibbledibble22]

I know I have a problem when I watch a show over and over and over

I think im at 7 or 8 rewatches lmfao

[youngestdaughtersyndrome]

everytime one of my mutuals rbs that 'wheres my 70s rockstar who writes songs about my sad eyes etc' post cellophane starts playing in my head .... didnt i Do it for you ....

[gurorori]

nawt the first aid uni classes payin off.

[tie-toss]

[mrchiipchrome]

Thunder Only Happens When It's Raining

A/n: It's giving 'here damn', sorry for it taking so long icl I was struggling with this one. Say if you can tell whether I was hungry or no making this😭

W.C. - 7.7 k

-------------------------------------

The first thing you can feel as you start to gain consciousness is a weight against your arm, pressing on your bicep and cutting off the blood flow to the rest of your arm. The tingle in the tips of your fingers feels almost like TV static would, pricking and prodding at the insides of your digits almost harshly.

The second thing you feel is something, someone, pressed against your front, the warmth radiating from her disappearing between the two of you and turning into a tingle at the top of your stomach. Her body fits perfectly against your own, curves fitting in the spaces of your body like that what it was made for, maybe it was, you’d never know.

The third thing you feel is fabric against the back of your hand and soft skin beneath the fingertips of your right hand. The softness of the skin doesn’t fool you for a second though, a layer of firm muscle built up over multiple years just beneath it, an impressive feat really.

Still, you don’t open your eyes, much rather wanting to savor the slow morning moments of the Sunday, the last calm one for a while, with pre-season training starting during the new week and school picking up the pace.

The quiet, serene moment is only interrupted by the sound of something crashing to the ground not too far away from where you’re laying in your bed with the unnamed girl, your brain not even registering the familiarity of her scent and body.

Opening your eyes ever so slightly, a quiet groan leaving your mouth as your back meets the soft mattress, you see the dark brown hair splayed all over the pillow and arm, dark brown hair you recognized, dark hair that belongs to the only person that you definitely shouldn’t have been in the same bed as.

How in the actual fuck do you get yourself into these predicaments?

There’s honestly no use in pondering, the events from the previous night flooding in almost immediately, nearly like an old movie from when they still used physical rolls of film. Rubbing your eyes, a yawn escapes from between your lips, the relatively early morning combined with the late night culminating in the exhaustion you’re feeling.

It’s difficult to choose whether to stay in bed with the Croatian beauty or get up and check out what the noise had been caused by, in the end the curiosity won out over the comfort of your own bed and the warmth of the basketball player.

Carefully pulling your arm out from under the brunette’s head, you clench and unclench your hand more than a few times to get the blood flow going again, pins and needles returning as you start gaining feeling back in your forearm.

You pause as you hear a small groan coming from Nika, body still as if you were a statue in order to not wake her any further, a small sigh escaping you when she stills completely, seemingly back in the deep sleep she previously had been in.

Tiptoeing to the door, you very carefully push down on the door handle so as to not wake everyone in the building by simply opening your door, opening it a fraction and slipping your body in the space between the door and the frame.  

It’s like she doesn’t hear your heavy footsteps against the floor, because when you round the corner of the living room she’s sitting on your couch, watching some trashy reality tv show and eating sugary cereal you got especially for her. Cereal she wasn’t supposed to eat anywhere else than the kitchen because it would be a pain in the arse to clean up if it got on the cushions or literally anywhere else.

Leaning up against the wall, your arms cross over your chest just like a disappointed parent, looking at the older girl tiredly. Still, her eyes are glued on the tv and the drama being displayed on the screen, barely even blinking in order to not miss anything.

“What are you watching?” Em’s eyes snap to you, a scared look on her face, like she knows that she’s been caught doing something she knows she’s not supposed to do. Her almost pathetic attempt at redemption comes from the small smile she’s sending you, trying to convince you not to scold her.

“Hey Y/n, what’chu doing up already?” She asks despite it being almost lunch time, eyes shifting anywhere but to where you’re standing, and you roll your eyes at her antics. Pushing off the wall, you walk in her direction with decisive steps, flopping down on the couch beside her and sprawling out your limbs, looking like a starfish with your butt hanging half over the edge. 

Em looks at you all weird, not really understanding why you’re not cussing her out for disrespecting your rules, yet she doesn’t say anything, it would be foolish to incite that kind of reaction. Her eyes stay on you for a few more seconds before she turns back to Love Island on the TV, leading her to just feel you get up from the couch again and not see it.

“So what is this show you’re watching?” You ask her all the way from the kitchen, getting your own bowl out of the middle drawer of the cabinet, closing the drawer with your hip and moving towards the refrigerator, pulling on the handle and plucking the carton of milk out of the small bottom compartment of the door. 

Moving back to where your bowl is sitting on the counter, you wait for your best friend to answer the question you posed to her. In the meantime you search for the chocolate cereal you knew you had hidden somewhere in one of the three cupboards in the kitchen. 

“It’s called Love Island, they basically fly out a bunch of boys and girls to a tropical island to humiliate them in front of hundreds of thousands of people.” She pauses for a moment in her explanation, seemingly taking another bite of her cereal. “Boys and girls couple up during the first day there then bombshells come in and they can steal girls or boys that are already coupled up, then there’s the recoupling ceremony where people can choose to couple up with someone else. You’ll get it soon enough.

Pouring your cereal in the bowl, you barely look up from your hands as you multitask, listening to Em explain and fixing your own breakfast. Flooding the cereal with a lake of milk, your fingers wrap around the handle of the top drawer, getting a spoon and putting it in the bowl. 

Carefully walking back towards the sofa where Em is sitting, you make sure to not spill a single drop on your hardwood floors, not wanting another disaster to clean up. In her short time as your best friend, Em had spilled more than you had in your entire life, thankfully she knew to stay away from anything exceptionally expensive.

“So they like, do this willingly?” You ask her, still confused about why people would do that out of their own free will.

“Yeah, you get famous off it sometimes and you win a shitton of money.” She responds through a mouthful of milk and cereal, looking at you through the corner of her eye as you sit down beside her once again, putting your feet up on the coffee table.

The two of you sit in silence after that, the uncharacteristic silence confusing the brunette laying in your bed. In all the time she had spent with the two of you, there had probably been a collective 5 minutes of silence, not counting when either one of you were unconscious.

When Nika wakes up, she’s all alone in the comfortable, but slightly too big bed. Her pounding head reminds her of the night she barely remembers and her aching limbs feel too heavy to move, half lidded eyes peeking around at the sparse decorations around the room, trying to recognise where exactly she was.

The muffled sounds coming from the other side of the door are enough to pique her curiosity, so with quite a bit of effort, she gets out of the bed she’s almost sinking into, swaying on her feet as she moves towards the door.

Using the wall as support, she quietly makes her way towards the living room, the source of the quiet noise. As the light from the open room hits her eyes, she lets out a groan, the headache doubling in painfulness, her now closed eyes failing to pick up the looks she’s getting from the two of you.

A look of pure adoration flashes across your face as Nika practically stumbles into the room, one hand covering her eyes and the other up against the wall, practically holding her up. In your 18 years on earth, you’re more than sure that you’ve never seen something as gorgeous as the girl standing only steps away from you, a realization that was becoming far too normal in your unusually interested mind.

On the other side of the couch, a mischievous look in her eyes that tells you everything you need to know, not that you see it, too focused on Nika to even pay your best friend any mind.

Nika herself doesn’t see either of the looks, too preoccupied with the pounding in her head, simply moving closer to the couch with almost stumbling steps, like a little lamb trying to make its way to the shade.

In the end she has to catch herself more than once before she finally throws herself into the space between you and Em, practically sinking into the couch and disappearing between the cushions.

Emma smirks down at her playfully, pondering on whether to tease her or leave her alone, on very pointed look from you though makes her decision very clear. No teasing allowed apparently, wheat has the world come to.   

There’s a strange type of silence between the three of you, not uncomfortable by any means but still, it was strange.

Nika’s almost asleep again, her head resting comfortably against your arm after she shifted a bit, just enough for her head to come into contact with the muscle of your upper arm.

By the time Nika looks up at you through her lashes, the cereal in your brightly coloured bowl has turned soggy and lost its matte brown color, now an almost pale brownish beige. Disgusting look really, but still kind of tasty.

“Can I have some?” Her puppy dog eyes are very convincing in their own right, that much you’ll admit, but you’re not sure that the unappetising cereal would be any good in terms of nutrition, not even mentioning the cross contamination happening if you were to share the same spoon as well as the milk in the bowl already.

“Really? It’s all soggy.” You look down at her questionably, not even noticing the dramatic eye roll Emma sends you both at the oblivious nature the both of you possessed. In what universe would you and Nika not end up together? Probably in one where her brother actually cared for his girlfriends.

At that moment, Em realizes that she probably would tell this story at your wedding one day in the future, most likely laughing and halfway to being drunk.

“Hey Em, gimmie some of your fruity pebbles.” Clearly, she’s been caught up in her own thoughts for far too long, lifting herself up on the heels of her hands, Em peeks over the edge over your bowl only to see it void of anything that’s not slightly diluted chocolate milk.

Throwing herself back against the cushions with a groan, both you and Nika look at her amused, the shared twinkle in your eyes telling more of a story than Em could ever realize.

“Ugh, I don’t want to get up, you go get it yourself” She rolls her eyes again, completely oblivious to your knowledge of the fact that she had brought her cereal box with her from the kitchen and that it was next to the couch’s armrest.

“Come on Em, you think I don’t know about your little stash? Come on, sharing is caring as Americans would say.” Your playful smile reaches all the way up to the corners of your eyes, and though she would never admit it, Nika’s sure she feels something other than hunger in her stomach after it. 

As Em begrudgingly hands the box over, she doesn’t fail to notice the way your arm slips away from beneath Nika’s head, pouring the sugary cereal into your now shared bowl before handing it back to the shortest of you three, the smooth maneuver you probably didn’t even realize you’d completed results in Nika’s head resting against your chest and your arm slithered around your shoulder.

Even with your seemingly cool, calm and collected demeanor, you’re screaming on the inside, sharing a bowl of fruity pebbles with a gorgeous girl apparently sets every single nerve in your body alight. 

And the worst (best) thing about it is how right it feels, despite it all being so incredibly wrong, her boyfriend (who definitely doesn’t care about her like you do) was probably worried sick about her, you would be.

It’s not right, but damn does it feel good to have her close to you.

Not in a gay way or anything, you try to convince yourself, completely platonic, yep, yep, yep, just purely platonic.

Either way, when the world turns upside down, it’s probably smart to contact the nearest Aussie, after making a mental note to call Cailtin later, you settle into the cushions more, eating a spoonful of sharp and colorful flakes, deciding to simply not care about right and wrong for now and instead just… enjoy yourself.

A comfortable silence takes over the room for the next hour or so, the three of you simply sitting quietly, watching the show and enjoying each other’s company.

Through the screaming and arguing of the contestants on the screen, the loud rumbling of your stomach can be heard. It almost echoes throughout the room.

Both of the older girls turn toward you, almost in unison, at the sound your stomach produces, eyes wide and faces filled with pure and unbridled amusement. You’re filled with embarrassment though, a deep, dark blush covering your cheeks, especially so as Nika reaches up to pinch one of them, like a grandmother would.

“Aw, are you hungry? Let’s go fix you something to eat.” Surprisingly enough, it’s not Em that teases you, but instead Nika, who teasingly pats your stomach before slipping out of your grip and standing up in front of you, holding her hand out for you to take, her silken palm meeting yours in a soft embrace.

With unsurprising strength, Nika pulls you up off the couch and almost drags you with her into the kitchen.

Tucked away in the corner, just beside the fridge, there’s a portable speaker that Nika takes with her unoccupied hand, bringing her other hand away from yours to turn it on, then connecting her phone not long after. Within the span of a couple moments, music starts playing in the kitchen, all types of music flowing out in waves.

Looking on cluelessly as she starts swaying her body along to the beat, Nika almost raids your fridge, seemingly disappointed with what she finds as she frowns and pouts adorably. Looking through your cabinets too, she’s even more disappointed with what she finds, brows now fully furrowed.

She picks up her phone from the counter where she had placed it down only moments before, humming along to the chorus, pressing and swiping and messing around on her phone before she looks up and over the top of it.

“Your address?” She asks, trying not to laugh at the dumbfounded look on your face, your mind clearly not comprehending a single thing she had said.

“What?” She smiles all cutely at you, and you have to try your absolute hardest not to replicate her expression, but in the end it’s simply impossible. Her smile is just so contagious that you can’t help it.

“I need your address, I’m ordering the ingredients.” Telling her you address quickly, you also thank her profusely for the thoughtful act, offering to send her the money for the groceries, to which she simply just waves you off, telling you that it wasn’t necessary.

“So… what do we do now?” You ask her, not noticing the way she’s moving closer to you until her hands grip onto yours, stringing you along as she starts dancing to the r&b song. The beat of the song grips ahold of you just enough to the point where Nika doesn’t have to push and pull on you tp make you dance, your body on autopilot.

“You know I really don’t like to dance.” You tell her, fully confused as she smirks at you, well up until you follow her line of sight down to your lower half, moving like a master, like you’d done it a million times before. “Shut up.” Is the only thing that comes out of your mouth, whispered through playfully pursed lips.

“I did not say anything.” She exclaims, still smiling at you teasingly, and you roll your eyes for what seems to be the millionth time since arriving in America, by now not even caring about the playful teasing.

Nika’s phone buzzes after a few more songs, the text message telling her that the ingredients were at the door.

“Come on, let’s go.” She walks to the hallway with you in tow, seeing her open the door to find a short and stout man on the other side, a thick, white mustache covering his upper lip. You both thank him and he gets a hefty tip before you close the door and basically skip your way into the kitchen, ready for some food.

“What are we making?” You ask her excitedly, almost buzzing with pure anticipation.

“We are making štrukli, it’s from Croatia.” Nodding along to her words, you walk towards the sink to start washing your hands, all whilst Nika starts to unpack all the ingredients and placing them on the counter. Shaking the water off your hands, you soon make your way to the drawer where all your aprons and towels were stored, pulling out the first one you could see and putting it on, absentmindedly tying the strings behind your back.

Looking back up from the floor, you soon see the look Nika’s giving you, half teasing and half plotting. Her eyes trail up and down your body, staying a moment or two extra on your torso before flicking back up to your eyes and then back down again.

Looking down at yourself, you see exactly what’s caught her attention, and the embarrassing print covering the front of the apron spells out a big “Kiss The Cook”, a gift from Lucy who thought she was oh so hilarious, in her mind it was an appropriate gift for a college student.

Your cheeks darken once more, your hand coming up to rub at the back of your neck before you speak.

“Uh yeah, um it was a gift from my older sister, well not my actual older sister, I don’t have one of those, but from my uh, my pseudo-” In your stupor, you had once again not noticed the way Nika was moving closer to you until her unbelievably soft lips were pressed to your cheek, her hands pressing down against your hip bones to push herself up slightly. Heaven was gifted to you in the form of a single moment, a single kiss pressed fleetingly to your cheek by a divine woman with a boyfriend. 

A boyfriend. Fuck.

“So, a kiss for the cook, now we can start.” Just as quick as it happened, Nika moves away from you and towards the sink behind you to wash her hands, leaving you completely dumbfounded, almost convinced that the whole thing had been a dream. She’s a whole dream, nothing that perfect could be attainable in real life.

But as she pats you on your back, you get thrown back into reality, with Nika standing beside you at the counter there’s virtually no chance of a possible escape, not that you’d ever want that either way. She grabs the ingredients, carefully pushing them in front of you both before ordering you to get a bowl. 

The plastic clanks against the counter as you put it down, Nika now ordering you to start making the filling made up of cheese, a pinch of salt, eggs and sour cream, whilst she makes the dough herself.

“This look good enough, boss?” Holding up the mixing bowl in order for her to check the contents, she nods quickly after looking at the mixture for a moment or two, beckoning you over at the same time.

“Alright, you put it on there.” She points to the dough rolled thin on the counter, and you move over as quick as your legs allowed you to, handing her the bowl so that you couldn’t mess everything up. “Like this.” She says, spreading the cheese mixture along the bottom quarter of the dough. Standing right behind her to get a closer look at the process, you peek over her shoulder as she works diligently, strong arms flexing with every single move she makes.

“Usually there would be a… how do you say? Stolnjak… like a cloth.” She rubs her thumb against her pointer and middle finger - almost like she’s asking for you to pay up - before she moves her hand back down towards the counter.

She takes the edge of the dough and starts to push it towards the other edge, making a roll that, at last, ends up in the middle of the counter.

“Plate, please.” She holds her hand up, ready for a plate to be placed between her waiting fingers. You move away from her, and for just a millisecond, Nika misses the warmth your body provided her, being just close enough for your bodies to exchange heat. After finding a plate that you felt was sturdy enough, you place it in between her fingers and wait for what she’s going to use it for.

She turns around briefly to flash her winning smile at you as an inaudible thank you, but then she turns back around and starts to press the plate’s edge against the soft dough, cutting it whilst at the same time sealing the edges off.

“Next steps are secret, go sit with Em.” She looks over her shoulder at you, a mischievous glint in her eye, all before she starts to physically shoo you away and out of the kitchen, even going as far as to start pushing against your chest to get you to go back to the living room.

Feet shuffling against the floor, you look back towards the kitchen sneakily, trying to get a sneak peek of the so-called secret step, only to be met with a middle finger and a playful smile paired with a knowing look.

Jumping over the back of the couch, you settle down into the couch with your back resting against the arm rest and your feet resting in Em’s lap. She looks at them disgusted, like she hadn’t done the exact same thing a hundred different times before.

“First you steal my cereal, then you put your disgusting feet in my lap, where are your manners?” She asks, playful annoyance coating every word coming out of her mouth, shaking her head almost like she’s disappointed in you. 

“First of all, I paid for that cereal, so it’s mine, secondly I have socks on, no cross contamination.” You smile cheekily at her, shrieking when she pokes the underside of your foot, extremely ticklish. Something Em really wasn’t supposed to know.

“Ticklish huh, now we’ll see who really owns that cereal.” Her statement makes no sense at all, but you don’t have any time to ponder over it as she throws herself onto you, starting to tickle your sides before you start to gain control, flipping her over and letting the wrestling commence.

Knocking over the empty bowls standing on the coffee table, it seems like Nika finally notices the childish nature of playing happening in the living room, her accented voice being heard all across the apartment.

“Children, stop it before you break something.” The both of you stand up almost immediately, going into the military salute position, throwing yourselves back onto the couch when she giggles at the pure silliness of the apparent adults standing only a couple meters away from her. Well you were barely even legal, but that’s a problem for another day.

Em’s eyes widen once more when she sees the print on the apron you’re still wearing, going back into mischievous mode in less than a second. 

“Ooooh, did the chef get the kiss?” She teases simply, and you try your hardest to keep the poker face, even going as far as to start coughing to have a reason for the blush that’s surely covering your cheeks by now, but of course that only makes you more suspicious. “Wait, actually?” She leans over towards you, shock displayed all over her face.

“No, she kissed me on the cheek, you know, like friends do?” Pushing her face away from yours with your hand, Em starts making kissy faces from the other side of the couch, by now neither of you are paying attention to the program on the tv, just focussed on annoying the other as much as possible.

“How come I don’t get any of that honey?” She teases, leaning closer again this time to pretend to kiss you on the cheek, before you once again push her away.

“Shut up” Crossing your arms across your chest, you signal that you’re done with the conversation, Em like always, continues on with her antics, but you don’t pay her any mind, the older girl finally shutting up like you asked her after a while.

With the both of you slowly being pulled back into the show that is love island, there’s no way that you notice Nika’s nearing figure until she’s standing right in front of the tv, somehow holding three plates of steaming food.

“Lunch is served.” Her proud smile is adorable and you actually have to prevent yourself from aww-ing at it, which is harder than it may seem. As she hands you your plate, your stomach rumbles loudly again which lets you know that it’s time to eat.

The first bite tastes like pure love, and you can’t help the loud groan from escaping through your lips, a pure home cooked meal differing from the plain rice and chicken that you’d had for lunch practically since you arrived in America. 

“This is so good, you did such a good job.” Looking at Nika sincerely, it’s difficult not to notice the growing smile on her face after your words, even as she moves closer to sit down between you and Em, the smile stays on her beautiful face. She smiles a lot. That’s a good thing, you decide, a person with a smile as gorgeous as that shouldn’t hide it.

“We.” She reminds you, after a second or two, a fond look in her eye that you hadn’t seen before, it’s kind of like the way parents looked at their kids in the movies when they got good grades or something. Yeah, no, probably not that. “We both made it, and you’re right, we did a hell of a good job.”

Em nods in agreement at the statement, not as thrilled to be, what she deems as third wheeling as someone might think, if only she had stayed home last night. Last night, the party, getting drunk beyond belief, bumping into Nika and one of her basketball buddies, Party P, getting pulled into more than one beer pong game, nearly passing out and then waking up to Nika using her phone, to then falling asleep just before getting woken up, insulting your pjs and then getting driven home. Wait.

“Oh shit.” Em says just before springing up off the couch in a panic, both you and Nika’s eyes following the cartoonish action, Nika far more concerned than you, simply based on the fact that she 

isn’t practically living with the… enthusiastic girl. Em exclaims shit like that once every half an hour normally.

“Oh shit what?” The brunette asks, hoping to get a ‘I forgot my homework’ oh shit rather than a “I dropped my phone in the toilet” oh shit. 

“I fucking forgot that I left my car back at the school. We have to go get it.” She exclaims, almost running for the door as Nika stands up slowly, looking at you unimpressed as you lean back into the cushions. 

“What?” You ask innocently, like you can’t figure out why she’s looking at you in the way she is on your own. Taking another bite, Nika sighs and rolls her eyes before she once again sticks her hand out for you to pull yourself up with.

“You know I have to get home too, I can’t stay here forever.” She says, raising her eyebrows when you practically ignore her in favor of watching the show on the tv. Stepping so that she’s blocking your line of sight, her eyes staying on you until you actually get up. “Come on.”

“But the drive-” You start off, almost whining to the obviously amused girl, who just starts to beckon you over to where she’s now standing halfway across the apartment in the hall.

“But the drive nothing, if you don’t want Em to drive your precious baby.” She teases, getting startled when you zoom past her, just barely remembering to grab your keys off the hook before absolutely legging it down to the bottom floor. Unbeknownst to you, Nika takes her time and puts the dishes in the sink just to make it a little easier for you before she carefully slips her shoes on. 

Looking around the hall, she soon sees the spare house keys hanging off a hook not far from the hook your car keys hung on just a moment before. Just as the tall brunette exits out the front door, the door just beside yours also opens and an adorable dog jumps onto her, all excited and puppylike despite clearly not being a puppy.

“Who are you? Oh you’re so cute.” Nika coos at the slobbering dog, getting up from the ambush to kneel in front of him, scratching just behind his fluffy ear. He lays down on the ground, showing his stomach for loads of belly scratches.

“That’s Bubba, he’s just a little eccentric.” The old woman standing in front of her reaches out for her hand, bringing Nika up from the floor and leaving her own dog whining for more bellyrubs. “He’s a big baby. You’re one of Y/n’s friends? I haven’t seen you ‘round before.”

Nika nods her head quickly, introducing herself to the lady with the cutest dog ever.

“Yeah I’m dating Emma’s brother, but yeah we’re friends. I’m Nika.” She smiles, and the old woman replicates her actions. There’s an almost standstill for a moment before the gray haired woman sighs, looking at her amused.

“Alright now, if you’re ever having any problems with them knuckleheads, don’t be ‘fraid to knock and I’ll fix it right up for ya. And I just want to tell you how gorgeous you are, my god you are something else.” With that, the old woman leaves with her fluffy dog and her tiny red pure that Nika hadn’t noticed before.

Shrugging, Nika turns around and locks the door before making her way down to the lobby, walking out the door only to see you and Em basically wrestling on the ground in front of your garage. She rolls her eyes goodnaturedly, walking over with sure steps to deliver steady slaps to the backs of both your heads.

“Ouch.” Rubbing the backs of your heads, both you and Em follow after Nika as she makes her way to sit in the passenger seat, Emma groaning at the action like she even had a chance at shotgun in the first place.

“Y’all are idiots sometimes, you know that?” She says, waiting for the key to be inserted into the ignition so that the car can be started, and her words make you roll your eyes sassily. There’s always a bit of sass in you.

“Come on, bro let’s just go.” Em sits in the middle seat, poking her head forth between the front seats, using her elbow to nudge Nika in the ribs. Not that it would make any difference, since you were the one driving and not her.

Driving out of the garage, your precious baby of a car rumbles in that familiar way, the pebbles on the ground crackling under the weight of the car.

“Let’s get some life up in here.” Em exclaims after a few minutes of quiet driving, the sound of the engine mixed with the air coming from the vents clearly not satisfying the older girl. Unbuckling her seatbelt, Em leans forward and turns the radio on, the volume high like it’s supposed to be.

“Sit down Emma, are you trying to get us killed?” You ask, half joking and half serious, the surprising action from the girl in the backseat having startled you only moments before. The click of the seatbelt sounds behind the loud music, a reassurance that she indeed did not aim to be killed.

“Shush, enjoy my company kiddo instead of complaining.” Em smiles mischievously at you through the rearview mirror, leaning back into the seat and putting her hands together over her stomach.

“Oh so I’m kiddo now?” You look back at her briefly with the trademark ‘really?’ look, turning your eyes back to the road so as to not put everyone in danger. Nika giggles beside you, and it catches your attention quicker than you’d ever admit, not that you’d ever admit to most things, especially those involving Nika. Not that there was anything about her to admit in the first place, you tell yourself in your head, right.

“Would you rather be grumpy?” You hear Em’s accusing tone shining through the loud music in the background, and you can imagine the expression on her stupid face, with raised brows and an idiotic look.

Deciding to stay quiet in order to not give her any more ammunition, it seemingly gives her a lot more than you would have thought.

“Thought so.” She sticks her tongue out at you through the rearview mirror and you can’t help but shake your head in amusement, deciding to just let her be.

During the next hour, your car turns into a concert hall as Nika and Em sing along to the songs on the radio, and you catch yourself smiling at their silliness more than once, especially as they start singing to each other like they were in a band.

And to everyone’s surprise, you had even joined in a few times.

Luckily enough for Em, nothing had happened to her old ass car by the time you had dropped her off, except for the fact that it was 23 years old and that the paint was chipping in various places, the car seemed fine enough. 

Driving off in the direction Nika had pointed in, you flip Em the bird just for fun as you pass her by and she sends you one right back, all before Nika slaps the back of your head, calling you a child lovingly.

“Okay, right here and then you can park there.” Nika points to a spot right outside of the dorm building as you pull up in front of it, looking around you carefully as you park, there’s no way you would ever risk damaging your car.

Pulling the keys out of the ignition, you get out of the car at the same time as Nika does, locking up and checking it once, then twice and then thrice, just to be sure. Looking up, you see the unimpressed look the girl at the other side of the car is giving you, and you send her a sheepish smile in return.

“You care more about that car than you do your apartment.” Nika says just as you round the corner of the car, sidling up beside her as you two walk shoulder to shoulder towards the entrance of the building, the code to the door being put in before either of you can make your way into the building.

Looking around the entrance, there’s really not a lot to comment on, a couple of security cameras and some sort of guard sitting by the door. Well protected at least. 

“Come, we need to get upstairs.” The Croatian beauty takes your hand and pulls you in the direction of a set of stairs leading up to, what you presumed to be floors and floors of rooms. 

Following her up the stairs, it doesn’t take long for Nika to stop in front of a door, presumably the door to her dorm. She leans down and fiddles with something, somehow managing to produce a keychain from the small space, leaving you completely perplexed.

“How did you just-” She shakes her head amusedly, almost telling you to not even ask just with a simple look. “You’re magic, you know?”

“Thank you, but I’m really not, at most I can hocus pocus my way into some free drinks.” Nika says as she winks playfully at you, pushing her key into the lock without hearing the thumping footsteps coming from the inside of the dorm, too distracted by the dark red blush suddenly covering your cheeks.

As she tugs on the handle and opens the door, Nika’s tackled to the ground by a mystery girl, someone who’s clearly quite excited.

“NIKAAAAA, twin where have you been? I was literally posted up in here last night waiting for you.” The mystery girl gets up off the brunette, pulling her up and off the floor just a moment later, not even noticing you standing just a few decimeters away.

“You know how it is Paige, making the most out of the last of the off-season.” Nika responds to the blonde you now know to be Paige. Rocking back and forth on the balls of your feet, you almost leave without saying goodbye, seeing as your job was done, you had walked her home.

“Whose clothes are these? I know they ain’t yours.” You can hear the blonde, Paige, speak up again, and you see her tug at the corner of the t-shirt that clearly wasn’t Nika’s, seeing as it was a t-shirt you’d gotten for winning some tournament for England’s U21 team not too long ago.

Nika looks back at you for just a second or two, before she’s waving you over to where the two of them were standing not too far away. Walking closer cautiously, you look at Nika, almost asking her “what should I do?” through your gaze.

“Who’s this?” The blonde asks Nika, looking at you skeptically, not judging you but instead wondering who you were.

“You know Cal has a little sister, right? This is her best friend,” Nika starts off looking at Paige before she turns towards you, looking at you intensely as she speaks. “I mean we’re pretty good friends too, right kid?” She teases, and you groan loudly at the nickname, not wanting it to spread further than it already had. You’re not a kid, but to others you might as well be an infant.

“I’m not a child.” The playfully groaned words seem to take the blonde by surprise, for some reason you can’t fathom.

“Whoa, I was not expecting that accent.” She exclaims, looking at you with a huge smile on her face and a glint in her eye that you know you had seen before.

“Most people don’t, it’s quite weird actually.” You look at her as you speak, a small smile appearing across your lips. Shrugging, there’s really no telling why people didn’t expect that accent, but it happened often enough for you to probably need a shirt announcing the fact that you were not American. As if. 

“I’m Y/n Y/l/n, a friend of Nika’s and her boyfriend’s little sister.” Sticking your hand out for her to shake, Paige does so with the confidence you’d seen shine through in her interactions with Nika. 

“I’m Paige, Nika’s best friend.” Letting go of your hand, the blonde smiles mischievously, in a fashion that suggests that she does it all the time, and based purely on the way Nika rolls her eyes playfully, you’re sure she does.

“Nice to meet you, I should be going though, can’t have Em getting home before me.” Shrugging softly, you turn around to walk away from the two, but the brunette doesn’t let you get too far away before she takes hold of your hand once again, pulling you around to face her.

“I think I forgot my clothes at your place.” She tells you, an adorable frown on her cute face.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll just bring them ‘round next time.” You wave her concerns off with the simple promise, keeping eye contact all throughout the interaction, not daring to look away from her captivating gaze.

“Next time?” She looks at you almost confused, but not really at the same time, there’s something about her that’s just so difficult to read. Maybe you’ll learn sometime, maybe.

“Yeah, next time.” You respond determinedly, of course you wanted to see her again, as soon as possible, you’re friends and you want to see your friends. As much as you want to see Nika again, the call of home is getting louder second by second and you know you can’t leave Em alone outside your door, waiting to get in as if she hasn’t gotten her own key to your place.

“You wanna see me again?” Nika smiles all mysteriously, raising her eyebrows slightly as if she was surprised before she moves her hand, that you just now realize is still connected to your own, uup to tuck the strand of hair falling down into her line of sight. Before either of you realize what’s happened, you’ve reached up and tucked it behind her ear, not even thinking twice about the usually intimate gesture. 

Not even seeing the light blush dusting the brunette’s cheekbones, you continue on with your conversation as if nothing happened, which in your mind was true, there was nothing there at all, right?

“Of course I want to see you again, we’re friends dummy.” The american lingo has clearly started to catch on as you start sounding like some idiot in those cliche american rom-coms that Leah always made you watch with her.

“Okay then, next time.” With that, the girl turns back around to face Paige, who looks at her in a way that you can’t decipher, the both of them disappearing back into the apartment. Shrugging, you start on your walk down the stairs, trudging down the steps until you come down to the first floor, walking out the front door after giving a polite nod to the guard thingy sitting there.

“Y/N!” You can hear your name shouted as you walk towards your car and you turn around, looking up to see Nika waving at you through the open window.

Turning your whole body around to face the building, you wave back at the woman enthusiastically before you turn back around to walk to your car.

Sitting down in the driver's seat, you inhale a deep breath before exhaling smoothly, emptying your lungs of as much air as possible. The headlights light up as you turn the car on, pulling out from in front of the building and onto the small slithering roads leading to the motorway.

The calm drive home isn’t interrupted by anything thankfully, the music from the radio playing softly in the background providing a nice backtrack as the repetitive motions of driving continue all the way until you’re parked back in your garage just outside your apartment building.

Going through everything that you have to do when you get back inside in your mind, you’re almost on autopilot, locking up outside before putting in the code at the door and then taking the elevator up.

The doors slide open, only for Em to be nowhere to be found, seemingly having disappeared into thin air. Eh maybe she’s finally at her own place, you think as you go to open the door of your apartment, suspiciously finding it unlocked.

That is until you remember that you’d run out before without locking so that would make a lot of sense.

Kicking off your shoes just as you come in, there’s a murmur coming from your kitchen, people seemingly speaking in hushed tones. Em was clearly not at home at all, maybe Mrs Peters had invited herself over again. 

Walking further into the apartment, you take out your phone just to check to see if you have any new texts, unconsciously walking towards the kitchen and the low voiced chitchat. Opening up the Instagram app, you scroll through your feed for a few seconds before Em’s voice cuts through the now silent air.

“What took you so long?” She asks jokingly, but there was a sort of seriousness underlying in her tone, the thing that makes you grimace, Emma is never serious. Standing just in the doorway of the kitchen, you lean onto the pillar-like structure casually, not noticing anything being out of the ordinary.

“Oh you know how it is, Nika wanted me to-” Looking up in the middle of your sentence, your jaw drops open in shock, eyebrows shooting to your hairline and phone crashing to the ground. “No way.”

“Hey kiddo.”

[zucchiyeni]

..i did it...@dreemurr-skelememer...your shading tutorial...

I definitely overdid it :))) Nervous Ink because im nervous af-

Hell does it take long to try to shade like you😭✨✨ i literally have 20 layers for this-

bro it turned majestic as heck did you spring fairy magic into your artstyle caz its so good wat-

[dcxdpdabbles]

(Cardcaptor Robin AU. An AU where Damian is now taken Sakura's job as a Cardcaptor and Danny is basically Tomoyo. Setting many years after the event of Clear Card arc)

Damian, the strange book and a weird creature called Kero...

"This book is kinda weird..." Danny said. Damian agreed as he caress the book. When his hand touch the simple wing decoration at side, though...

CLACK!

Both boys startled when the clasp undone by itself. Staring at each other, the nodded and Damian open the book.

What greeted them was no page. It was just unintelligent gibberish at inside front cover and a compartment filled with... cards? Yes. Cards, 54 of them at least.

It was pretty card, too. Clear background with pink trimm. It has similar picture to the circle at the back cover, except there's no layered circle and inside the seven pointed star is another star in the center.

Damian flip the card and he find that, oh this was the front side.

The card has picture of an angry looking mermaid, her blue hair with parted in the middle with several strands emanating from the top, she has webbed elven ears, and two wing-like fins, much like a flying fish. Her eyes is closed. She has a scaly circlet  on her forehead and a blue crystal on her chest. There's word above her and below her. Presumebly same word.

For some reason, Damian can understand the word bellow pretty easily, and he just reading it.

"Water..." He bit his tongue. "It's... Wat.. Watery...?"

Suddenly a bright light lit up beneath them, "exploding" and enveloping both in warm and comfortable light for brief minute before dissappears, and strong stream of waters comes out from the card.

"What the hell was that?!" Both boys screamed to each other, trying to not drown away by the water. Damian dropped the book and to their horror, they saw the cards slowly washed away. At beginning it was only one by one, before it picked up pace and going out in stream.

Danny didn't even think. His free hand snatch two nearby cards from the water as he can get and hold it close.

When the water dies out, as do the light beneath Damian. The compartment was empty. All of those cards, save for three namely Watery (in Damian's hand), Fly and Flight (in Danny's hand) were gone.

This is a fantastic concept, but I don't know what Cardcaptor Robin is. I'm sure someone else would love to try it, though, so it's free for anyone.

[hotluncheddie]

Wiggly-Worm Wednesday!!! 🧠🪱

share a recent brainworm and tag your friends to do the same!

ty @scoops-aboy86 @marvel-ous-m @devondespresso & @runninriot for the tag :3

gonna share my most recent brainworm bc my actual WIP's are hidden away atm, not ready to be written yet

₊✩‧₊

Thinking about Steve washing Eddie's hair, because he can't do it on his own, and because Steve wats to. Wants to do this, for Eddie.

Steve tries to set it up as much like a real salon as he can, Macgyvering a chair with pillows so Eddie can rest his head comfortably over the wide kitchen sink. Steve goes all out, double shampoos and leaves the conditioner to sit while he massages Eddie's head a jaw; watching the guy go boneless and sleepy, the pinched scar tissue across his neck and cheek relaxing for the first time since Steve watched Eddie's eyes flutter open in the hospital months ago.

And maybe after, maybe during, Eddie asks Steve how he ever knows what he's doing. 'You're good at this man.' And Steve confesses that after graduating, after losing Nancy and Tommy and Carol. His parents moving more permanently to work on the side of the business located out of state: Steve was lonely.

Working at scoops and only really having to cover the cost of his car; his parents still fine with him using the credit card for groceries and bills (or not fine, but, they never said anything otherwise) and Steve didn't exactly have a lot of social activities he needed to splurge on anymore. Meaning while he saved a bulk in the lockbox in his closet, there was a decent amount that just seemed to be burning a hold in his pocket.

Steve was lonely. Steve wanted to feel good. So Steve started going to a salon two towns over.

He'd go once a month maybe, get a trim and his hair washed. Ask the hairdresser about haircare and oils and moose, not really sure what else to ask about, sometimes getting into shop gossip once they knew him as a regular. Started getting highlights and more layers and sometimes the nail lady would massage his hands while they washed his hair just because, 'You just look so tense honey.'

A little bit of care for a lonely Indiana boy, a little bit of touch, and kindness, and community.

So Steve wanted to wash Eddie's hair, give him a little bit of the same.

₊✩‧₊

(not sure how to make this into a scene that isn't just steve monologuing but, anyway, here is my worm)

no pressure tagging: @scoops-aboy86 @marvel-ous-m @devondespresso @runninriot hehehe

also: @pearynice @steviewashere @someforeignband and anyone else who wants to show me their worms 🪱

[otterloreart]

When i tell you ive been doing SO MUCH sanding

Carving away really rough bits with Xacto -> covering rough parts with apoxie (and the nose, because it was a simple shape and i had extra apoxie tbh) -> layer thickly with primer -> sand -> layer thinly with watery primer -> sand again

I genuinely dont know the most efficient wat to do this but im trying my best lol.

[sloanesallow]

ocean wave blues

Sloane has never seen the ocean. Sebastian helps to rectify that. (art by puri.dew) 1k words (originally posted Dec. 2023)

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” 

Sebastian glances over his shoulder at Sloane to see if she is still following him. He understands her trepidation—the last time she visited Feldcroft, she didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome, not from Solomon or Rookwood’s goons. This time, Sebastian is determined to make her experience memorable, in a far more positive way. 

It’s November, and while it hasn’t snowed in the hamlet yet, the weather is decidedly cold. Sloane is bundled up, layers upon layers wrapped around her lithe frame in an almost comical way. She stumbles on the steep, uneven path and he’s quick to catch her, keeping a firm grasp on her arms until she finds her balance again. 

They continue on, Sebastian slipping his hand down to hold hers for perhaps a little longer than necessary. He decides it’s only to ensure she doesn’t trip again, and not because he likes the feel of her palm against his. 

“Will you please tell me where we’re going?” she asks again, looking around at the sparse surroundings in an attempt to determine their precise location. 

He smirks, shaking his head. “Not a fan of surprises?” 

“Not particularly.” 

“You’ll be able to hear it soon,” he replies, somewhat cryptically. 

Sloane’s perplexed expression lingers for another few paces before she stops to listen, a smile gradually pulling at her lips. “Is that…?” 

“The ocean?” Sebastian nods, watching as she listens to the not so distant rush of water. “When you mentioned having never seen the shore up close, I knew we had to rectify that immediately.” 

Her smile stretches into a full blown grin and he ignores the way his heart flutters at the sight. Her fingers flex around his hand and he quickly but carefully ushers them down the rest of the overgrown path until it turns into sand. Sebastian keeps his focus on Sloane as she takes in the view, ocean waves gently crashing against the shore. Her eyes widen in awe, almost sparkling as she takes in a deep breath, the salt air flowing through her hair. 

It’s a dazzling sight—not just the sunset on the horizon painting the sky with hues of orange and gold—but Sloane’s wonder-filled reaction too. Sebastian can’t help but feel a little prideful for being part of the reason for her happiness. She lets go of his hand and takes a tentative step forward, her boots sinking slightly into the wet sand.  

At first she bends down, brushing her fingers against the cool ground before picking up a handful and letting the grains sift back to the ground. A quiet laugh escapes her lips, a sound so pure and filled with delight, causing warmth to spread through Sebastian’s chest. He watches her, completely captivated by her childlike amazement. He’s seen this view countless times before, but it’s as if he’s seeing it for the first time, the atmosphere amplified by her presence. 

Sloane stands up again, turning to look at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears of joy. “This is the nicest thing anyone has done for me,” she says and he hopes it is hyperbolic, wanting to tell her that she deserves the world. “Thank you, Sebastian.” 

He shrugs, but his attempt to play coy is overshadowed by his pleased expression. “Anything to see you smile.”

A blush turns her already flushed cheeks a darker shade of pink as she bashfully glances away. Before he can tease her any further, she’s reaching down again, this time to yank off her boots, almost toppling over again as she tugs her stockings down. It’s his turn to blush and he averts his gaze before he sees more skin than what is considered proper. 

The next thing Sebastian hears is her giggling, prompting him to snap his gaze back to her, watching as she rushes towards the ocean with her skirt gathered up above her knees. He reaches out to stop her but she’s too quick. 

“Sloane, wait!” he yells after her. “It’s freezing!” 

As soon as she meets the water she shrieks, the sound dissolving into more laughter as the waves crash around her bare skin. There’s a bright smile on her face as she looks back at him, “come on!” 

Damn. Sebastian curses, momentarily breathless. She’s a vision, something he’ll never forget as long as he lives. Her smile is so alluring that she could ask him to jump off the seaside cliff and he’d be diving into the ocean without a second thought. He quickly shucks his own boots, tossing them into the sand with his socks before securing the hem of his trousers above his knees. 

Sloane’s laughter continues as he runs after her, his own surprised yelp echoing across the beach as the chilly water rushes over his bare feet. It’s a kind of happiness Sebastian hasn’t afforded himself in quite some time, the realization nearly sends him reeling. He’s only known Sloane for a few months and yet she’s managed to turn his world on its axis, not that he’d have it any other way. 

Eventually, they stand still in the surf, ankle-deep in the freezing water and grinning at each other like the foolish teenagers they are as the sun sets beyond the horizon. But Sebastian keeps his gaze fixed on her, even as she becomes distracted by plucking seashells from the sand to place in her pocket. Sloane is beautiful—breathtaking—stormy eyes reflecting the rising moon, hair dancing in the cool breeze.    

“I’ve never felt so alive,” she says, her voice barely a whisper that is carried away by the wind. 

Sebastian doesn’t trust himself to speak, too afraid he’ll say something stupid and ruin the moment. He’s never felt this way before, this intense connection, this overwhelming attraction. Sloane is more than a pretty face, more than a passing fancy he can blame on boyish hormones. No, whatever he is feeling is more tangible, more…real. 

Terrifying, but thrilling at the same time. 

He finally finds his voice, wondering if there’s a way they could stay here forever. “Me too.” 

[ohtobeleah]

Bloody Mary // Natasha Trace

Summary: Phoenix can’t remember why she has a headache, or why she’s covered in blood.

Warnings: Mentions of death/suicide. Blood. Mentions of relationship stress. Mentions of assault/manslaughter. Platonic!Phoenix x Jake Seresin. Jake Seresin x F!reader

Word Count: 2.2k

Author Note: This Drabble is associated to the Series Bruises & is apart of its spin-off series Life After Death.

Main Masterlist | Bruises Masterlist | Life After Desth Masterlist

The luscious fields that expanded far beyond the horizon were, as you laid with your head resting in the nook of your husband's shoulder, just beginning to feel the light layer of morning dew. 

The sun was barely rising above the horizon that forever seemed to expand with its growing light. It was truly the picture perfect world of which you never thought could exist. Even after life had all but ceased to exist.

“This all feels too perfect—“ Jake sighed as he laid on his back looking up at the ceiling fan that twirled around on a low speed above your bed. Round and round the blades turned as his eyes struggled to focus. “Being here, with you, sometimes I feel like I’ll wake up and it’ll all be a dream.” Jake knew how odd that sounded given the circumstances. “That I’ll wake up and I’ll be back at the Hard Deck, and you’ll be looking right through me like you don’t even know my name.” Jake continued on as his fingers danced along your scalp and through your hair. He could feel the rise and fall of your naked chest against his side. “Or worse, I’ll wake up and we’ll be back in that prison, in the dirt, listening to each other's pain.” 

“Jake—“ You mumbled softly against your husband’s shoulder. Your cheek was squished right up next to him. 

“Yeah?” Jake questioned softly, he knew what was coming his way. This wasn’t the first time Jake had mentioned how he worried that even in death he’d lose you forever. 

“If you weren’t already dead I’d kill you.” Jake had to smile and a low rumble erupted in his stomach. The two of you had just finished up an early morning sexcapade. The post coitus realisation that this was in fact Jake’s version of a forever home with his forever girl didn’t exactly come out the way he’d intended it to. 

“All I’m saying, Hotshot, is that I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else on earth or in the afterlife, than right here, with you.” Jake was quick to roll over, suddenly the comfort of Jake's broad shoulder was nowhere to be found until you opened your eyes to see your husband hovering about you. A forearm on either side of your face. “Let’s go for round three?” 

“You are a menace, even dead Jake Seresin.” You teased through a coy smile but ultimately pulled the love of your life down by his neck to press your supply lips against his. 

“But you love me all the same.” Jake mumbled into your mouth as he deepened the kiss, his tongue searched for yours desperately as his hips shifted against yours. “Heaven or high wat—“ 

“AHHHHHHH!!” Within a millisecond, or what felt like it anyway, Jake was shooting up out of bed with panic and shock laced between the lines etched on his face. 

“What the hell was that?” He asked as he turned back to you to see you were still lying completely exposed on your bed looking just as confused as he was. Sounds like that weren’t often heard around the farm. 

“AHHHHHHH!!” “AAAARRRGGGHHH!!” 

When you saw a figure ghost past your bedroom window your heart sank. No. No it couldn’t be. It felt like a few years had gone past since Bob had first stopped by, he’d been the first to go. But as you sat up to see if you could see the figure outside once more? Your suspicions were confirmed when none other than Natasha Phoenix Trace turned around and screamed at the top of her lungs. Right in the very direction on your bedroom window.

“AHHHHHHH”

“It’s Nat Jake.” You sighed as you got out of bed to cover yourself up. “I’m gonna go check on Ellie, you should probably go see if she’s alright.” Jake wasn’t placing bets on who’d come through and when, but he thought Phoenix would surely outlast Fanboy. 

As Jake made his way outside in the early hours of the morning, it was only then when the sun just started to creep over the hills did he notice the blood that stained the back of Natasha's head. How her hair was a knotted and bloody mess. The dress she wore was stained with deep crimson red. 

Oh. This wasn’t good: This wasn’t good at all. When Bob came through he was still in one piece. For Phoenix to show up like this meant her death must have been—

“AHHHHHHH!”

“Nat!” Jake shouted as he raced down the small set of porch steps in just his boxers. “Phoenix, hey—what’s all the screaming about?” 

Not a lot shocked Natasha Trace these days, she’d seen enough and lived through enough to say she was comfortably desensitised. But when Phoenix turned on her heels to see a man she hadn't seen in years standing before her not a day older than the last time she saw him, she froze. 

“You alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Jake teased as he took a few tentative steps toward the wingwoman Jake claimed to love like his own sister. “Nat?” Okay maybe the ghost joke was a little too soon. 

“You aren’t real.” Jake could see the tears welling in Natasha’s eyes as he crept closer and closer, the only sound he could hear in the deafening silence was the crunch of the gravel beneath his slippers. “No—no you aren’t real, you’re dead, I’m dreaming—“ Jake had seen this play out before, from what he could tell of time these days it wasn’t too long ago either when the WSO had come through. “You’re dead, you died in—“ 

“Hey—“ Jake cooed as he reached out to touch Natasha’s shoulder. The second Jake’s fingertips grazed Phoenixes skin? Her knees crumbled. 

“No no no!!! You aren’t real!!!” 

“Woah! Easy easy Nix, I got you—“ Jake fell with the woman he admired and wished he could have been even half as good as in the sky. “I’m sorry, I'm so sorry.” 

“You can’t be real, you're dead! You died!” Natasha whaled as her knees dug into the gravel. Jake tried his best to control one of the best aviators he’d ever had the pleasure of knowing. 

“I know, I know I did, I think you did too—“ It was a harsh reality but the only way Phoenix could be here right now was because she wasn’t living. The afterlife was pretty strict on its terms of entry. “Nix—what happened huh? Hey, it’s alright I’ve got you.” 

The only thing Jake’s question was met with was more inconsolable tears. He’d never seen Phoenix in such a state before, hell Jake wasn’t even sure Natasha was capable of working herself up to such an extent. 

When Jake looked at the palm of his hand that had been rubbing small consoling circles against, he saw what appeared to be the crimson hume of his friend's blood staining the entirety of his hand. 

What on earth had happened to Phoenix? 

“You’re covered in blood Nix, we should get you inside—“ Jake tried to get through to the woman who was clearly distraught, he knew this was a lot. Even if he was just a dream it was clear he’d done irreparable damage with his untimely departure from reality that he had to accept the consequences of those decisions. 

“I helped Rooster clean your bathroom after he found your body—“ Phoenix sobbed as she finally looked at Jake. Still crying, Phoenix shook her head in disbelief. “I flew with your body back to Texas, I consoled your family.” Jake never thought about that before, who did what after he died. “I slept on your lounge for two weeks while we all did our best to pack everything up.” 

“Nix—I don’t even know what to say.” Jake tried his best to interject, but Natasha kept going as the two sat kneeling in the gravel of the main road that led around the property. 

“And the worst part is I can’t be mad at you because I know why you did it.” Phoenix sighed heavily through a sob. 

“He’s never claimed to be a good decision maker has he Trace?” You smiled softly from the front porch as Phoenix looked up at you. “For the record I never wanted Jake to follow me, not until his time was up.” 

“Hollywood?” Phoenix sobbed again as she let Jake help her up. “You’re here too?” 

“We live here, or reside here, I think being alive is an important element of living somewhere.” You shrugged as you walked down the stairs. “What happened to you? You're covered in blood Phoenix?” 

“I uh—“ Phoenix wasn’t sure what had truly happened as she reached up and around to touch the back of her head. When she pulled her hand back to see the fresh blood on her fingertips, the sensation came flooding back. “I was arguing with my boyfriend Ryan.” 

Jake looked at you with fire in his eyes. Fuck. 

“We were supposed to be heading out for dinner, I even took the next day off so we could relax and enjoy the night.” Natasha explained as her head began to throb. “I remember being mad that he was running late, something about work and by the time he got home we’d missed our reservation.” 

“Tash—“ You cooed softly, it was a harsh topic to discuss. “Did Ryan hurt you?” As you asked, the back of Phoenix’s head began to throb, the memory was on the tip of her tongue. 

“I—I can’t remember, no—no he wouldn’t, he loved me.” The tears began to flow once more as you looked at Jake and he looked at you. Bob fell out of the sky and still made it to the ranch in one piece. Why had phoenix showed up covered in her own blood and with the back of her head cracked open like a hard boiled egg. “My head hurt so bad, the memories all fuzzy.”

“That’s alright, here—why don’t we get you inside, have a shower, take some time and hopefully it’ll start to clear up?” Jake nodded as you offered Natasha a place to stay for however long she needed. “I’ll make you some coffee.” 

“You two.” Phoenix asked as she linked her arm with Jake’s, he’d offered her a hand up the stairs knowing her legs were still properly shaking. “You changed everyone’s lives, you know that right?” It was a harsh reality to have to live with, but both you and Jake knew that your deaths affected your closest friends in ways you’d never fully understand. “Rooster, oh god Rooster—“ Phoenix sighed. “He’s just gonna be a mess, I was on the phone with him when Ryan came home.” 

“Would that have been an issue?” You asked cautiously as you opened the front door for Jake to lead Phoenix in. 

“No—no but I think he wanted to stay on the line, we’d been having some issues and you know what Bradshaw’s like, overprotective.” 

Jake couldn’t imagine what trauma Bradley would be carrying on his shoulders right now. He knew his wingman had been the one would found him in the Bathroom: 

So as Jake watched you lead Phoenix down the hall towards the bathroom, Jake couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain in Roosters chest when he ultimately found Phoenix too. 

***~***~***~***~***~***~***

“AHHHHHHH!”

The sound of Phoenix screaming at the top of her lungs echoed out throughout the house. Beside you, Jake groaned into his pillow. 

“She’s going to destroy her vocal cords—“ He mumbled as you leaned over to turn his bedside table light on. “Every single time.”

“She’s lost Jake, you can’t hold it against her.” It had been a week, or at least that's what it felt like time wise, since Phoenix had shown up on the ranch. 

“AHHHHHHH!”

Everyday it began the same. Phoenix would up the driveway screw out in pain as she tried to figure out where she was and why her head hurt. You and Jake had been having the same conversation over and over with the aviator. 

“She needs to remember.” Jake nearly growled. 

“She needs empathy and emotional support, Jake I’m sure when the times right she’ll remember.” Hopefully that would be sooner rather than later. 

“Yeah, and until then we get to wake up every morning to a bloodied and screamed Phoenix.” It was now your turn to groan in slight annoyance for the early wake up call. “I’ll go get coffee started, you go collect Bloody Mary.” Jake sighed as he sat up in bed. 

“Thanks, two sugars please.” You smiled back at your husband as he padded out of the bedroom and down the hall. Jake was all but awake when a knocking at the door into his new found routine. 

“Phoenix?” Jake cautiously greeted the bloodied woman at his doorstep. “You alright?” Jake knew that Natasha wouldn’t remember him from the countless conversations they’d had over the past week. It was like her mind reset whenever she fell asleep. But this time? Phoenix remembered—

She remembered everything:

“Ryan shoved me.” She cried with painful heartbroken tears in her eyes as you came up slowly behind Jake. He felt your hand on his hip as you stilled yourself behind him. “I fell back and hit my head on the edge of the kitchen bench—“ The realisation was as heavy as her heart felt. 

“The love of my life accidentally killed me.” 

***~***~***~***~***~***~**

Tags 🏷️ @americaarse @blindedbythelightt @tayl0rhuynh @athenabarnes @imaginecrushes @whyareallnamesgone @mjmaximoffbarnes @amiets2 @mads-weasley @gabbyella @ephemeralninon @xoxabs88xox @pedrohoe04 @starkleila @je-suis-prest-rachel @clancycucumber230 @maisie-rebloging-blog @callsign-barbell @obiwankenobis-lap @some-lovely-day @paperbag333 @callsign-magnolia @jhiddles03 @hardballoonlove @shanimallina87 @seitmai i @abaker74 @missemrose @starset21 @kmc1989 @phoenix1388 @emma8895eb @tsofo26 @itsmytimetoodream

[yuk-tepat]

Diachronic change in Yuk Tepat

Yuk Tepat is often presented here as a fixed entity - “Classical Yuk Tepat” - but beneath that has undergone evolution like all languages. The following sentences both mean “A man I didn’t know came in.” The first represents the most archaic layer of old Tepat, and the second is a relatively modern colloquial version from the late Conciliarity period.

Ci niw yan-uk syow mi-yat ku hyew.

*[tsi niw ja nuk sju me jat ku hjew]

PAST enter person 1P REL NEG know to room

(Alternately: Ci niw yan syuk mi-yat ku hyew. (syuk = syu + =uk)

Hûq-khal yan i-wat ôl-yat mul nt’ôl-nyul hyew-iw.

[hɯʔ kʰal ja ni wɒ ɾl̩ jat mu ln̩ tl̩ nyɬ çø wiw]

one CLASS person of 1P PAST know NEG 3P PAST enter room CIS

Let’s unpack this. First, a couple of very notable things:

The modern sentence is much longer.

Only three words are the same in both sentences: yan, yat, hyew.

Digging deeper….

Ci was the normal particle expressing past tense in Old Yuktepat, but it has been replaced by ôl in the second sentence.

The second sentence begins with a subject noun phrase Hûq-khal yan i-wat ôl-yat mul, which is normal SVO word order. The equivalent subject noun phrase in the first sentence comes AFTER the verb. In archaic language, this is an acceptable ordering for INDEFINITE subject nouns (but actually, it would still have been unusual for a complex noun phrase like this).

The subject noun yan in the second sentence is modified by a numeral-classifier phrase hûq-khal ‘one.’ This kind of specification of number - such as ‘one’ for any old indefinite noun phrase - is more common in later Yuk Tepat.

The first person pronoun. In the first sentence, there is a clitic form -uk. In later Yuk Tepat, everything has been leveled to the invariable pronoun wat.

The subject contains a relative clause. In the first sentence, it is relativized by syow, in the second sentence it is relativized by i. I also means ‘of’ and has been generalized to all kinds of situations, while specific subordinating particles like syow - which is only used to relativize objects - have fallen out of use.

(Additionally, syow and -uk might occur together as a fused form syuk.)

The negative. The first sentence uses mi before the verb, the second sentence uses mul after the verb.

The second sentence contains a pronoun nat (contracted to nt) which follows the subject noun phrase, before the verb. Kind of like ‘The man I didn’t know, he entered the room.’

Niw and nyul ‘enter.’ Niw and nyul are the same verb basically. Niw is an older intransitive form. Most verb pairs of this sort have been leveled to only one form. In Yuk Tepat, the originally transitive form nyul has taken over everything.

The first sentence has a preposition ku ‘in, at, to.’ This is missing in the second sentence. ‘To’ is considered implicit in the verb nyul. Ku is no longer used except in fixed expressions.

The second sentence ends in a clitic -iw indicating motion toward the speaker. This is derived from the verb khiw ‘come.’

These examples are very different, but the reality may not be that extreme. Although only 3 words are identical, most words in either sentence are found in all stages of the language, although their usage may have shifted. For example past tense ci is still used, but it has a very archaic sound. It is used for DISTANT past, or in say, historical textbooks, but ôl is now the neutral past tense marker. Hence, either (written) sentence should be interpretable to someone from the other time period. Through this we also see one trend of the language’s evolution, that of reducing morphological variants to a single uninflected form.

[imaginalstudio]

The Hidden Treasure:

In the 13th or 14th century, a massive statue of the Buddha was cast from solid gold by artisans of the Sukhothai Kingdom. This golden Buddha stood about 10 feet tall and weighed over 5 tons. It was a symbol of peace, wisdom, and the richness of Buddhist tradition. However, during the 18th century, as the Burmese army was preparing to invade Thailand, the monks feared the priceless statue would be looted. To protect it, they covered the Golden Buddha with a thick layer of plaster and clay, hiding its true value.

For generations, the true nature of the statue was forgotten. It was treated as just another large but unremarkable Buddha image, revered for its spiritual significance but not for its hidden treasure. Eventually, the statue was moved to a small, modest temple in Bangkok, where it sat for over 200 years, unnoticed for its extraordinary worth.

The Remarkable Discovery:

In 1955, plans were made to move the statue to a new temple, Wat Traimit, but the statue was so heavy that a crane couldn’t lift it properly. As it was being moved, the ropes holding it broke, and the statue fell hard onto the ground. To make matters worse, it began to rain. The monks quickly covered the statue with tarps and left it for the night.

The next morning, as one of the monks went to check the damage, he noticed something strange. A small crack had formed in the plaster, and beneath it, he saw something shiny. As the monks chipped away at the plaster, they were stunned to discover that underneath the ordinary-looking exterior was the solid gold Buddha, resplendent and gleaming.

The Significance:

The rediscovery of the Golden Buddha was not just a remarkable archaeological find; it carried deep symbolic meaning. For many, it represented the idea that all beings have a hidden “golden” nature or inner greatness, often concealed by the layers of conditioning, fear, or external pressures we carry throughout life. Just as the Golden Buddha’s true form had been hidden for centuries, people too might need moments of breakthrough or “falling” to realize their true potential.

Today:

The Golden Buddha, now restored to its full glory, sits in Wat Traimit, attracting visitors from around the world. Its story of concealment, rediscovery, and transformation continues to inspire people, symbolizing both physical and spiritual treasures that might be hidden, awaiting discovery.

[ddarker-dreams]

Hellooooo I have been DYING to know this from you 👉👈. You know how there's a lot of tips for writing stuff? Well do you happen to have any tips for reading stuff? I want to read the books you recommend but I fear I'm just too dumb 😭 and won't understand what is going on let alone the themes and philosophies discussed. I feel like I would be insulting Dostoevsky by reading his work looool. We were never taught this stuff in schools ;O

I'm talking about critical thinking and analysis skills, media literacy, being able to picture and visualise sceneries; characters' voices/appearances etc., and just overall being able to comprehend one sentence that doesn't use the most basic active voice structure 😭 thank you if you choose to answer!!!!

SWEET ANON !!!! YOU ARE NOT DUMB !!!!

this is coming from a survivor of the american education system, so it might not be universal, but my experiences in middle/high school made me dislike reading books. no joke. i didn't see the point and thought reading the classics was a waste of time. i'm sure that's partially teenager arrogance, but from the conversations i've had with others, reading was rarely framed in a way that stoked intrigue. we're not given the tools to engage with the text so i'm rarely surprised when i see the worst takes imaginable on a piece of media i enjoy from a 14 year old.

i'm still learning myself when it comes to media literacy, it's an ongoing journey. when i read notes from underground for the first time last year i was literally so confused. i can normally read anywhere from 80k-100k words in one day if i'm motivated enough, but NFU, a novella at around 43k words, took me over a week.

i say all this to reassure you that you're not alone!

some advice that comes to mind when reading a dense work:

do some background research on the author. i know teachers hiss at wikipedia for some reason but reading a few paragraphs about the person's life, beliefs, politics, etc really helps put their writing into perspective.

look into the time period it was written. what were the pressing social issues at the time? who was in charge? what conflicts were ongoing/just ended? what was the predominant religion? books don't exist in a vacuum, a lot of the classics are filled with jabs at ideologies the author doesn't like (i'm looking at you, dante).

if the author's from a different country than you, getting a basic grasp on the culture helps a lot. with reading dostoevsky specifically, historical events like the emancipation of the serfs was an entirely new concept to my american brain.

not everything is going to make sense. sometimes the cultural/historical layers go so deep you'd need to have been alive at the time to immediately get it. fortunately, there are nerds with degrees in book who do extensive research and can give insight. i'll think i maybe understand a book okay, go to read a journal article on it, and go ??????? wat???? page 632 paragraph 3 references euclid's optics?? how was i supposed to know that.

finally, you're not going to like every book you read, even if it's well written. there's a difference between persevering and actively torturing yourself with words. if you dread picking it up again, there are other books to check out instead. there are some classics that i don't care for much (some of edgar allen poe's short stories, the fall by albert camus, no longer human by dazai osamu, to name a few).

ask yourself questions while reading. why did this character do that? is there a reoccurring motif throughout the work, and if so, why might the author be trying to highlight that? what perspective is the work from? is the protagonist lucid, are they an unreliable narrator? what themes are being explored here?

i hope some of this helps dsfhgkdjshgks there's a lot to be said on the subject but i didn't want this post to be miles long.

[wordy-little-witch]

Hellooo how are you? i just wanna ask wat r ur nsfw headcanons abt crossguild polycule😳

Also i love ur posts❤️

Hiya, honey bee! I'm doing alright, all things considered, thanks for asking, lovely ♡ just sleepy lmaooo

Cross guild my beloved aaaa okay so I'm gonna put the NSFW ones under a cut bc of the content warnings~

Thanks for the ask, I appreciate you!!!!! And thanks for reading, hun ♡ drink water, have a snack if you can, take any medicine you have prescribed and stay safe ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

18+ BELOW vvv

Okay NSFW stuff lezzgo. I am. Genuinely debating doing the consent charts here for each of them, then a layered one with them compared to each other.

Keep in mind, these are my head canons, and I adore when they're different takes and opinions, I think variety is awesome ♡♡♡♡

So let's start with the biggest of our guild boys!!

Crocodile:

FTM, Top surgery done in his early adult years through a series of oddly aligning events, bottom surgery looked into but rendered unneeded via Ivankov's hormones

Likes/Preferences

This man is a SWITCH, he usually Doms and prefers topping, coming from some older dysphoria issues, but honestly? Is open to submitting and bottoming to others when the need arises on a case by case basis.

Not exactly vanilla, but sometimes the intimacy there is nice.

Is fairly ace-spec, all things considered, sees sex as not a need but something enjoyable. Doesn't always even get off during sex, just enjoys the power and rush he gets from his partners. Took a very long time to realize that for himself. Sex positive!

Sadomasochist. Prefers causing the pain, but scratching and biting are HELLA approved for him

Marks marks marks

Idk if there's and actual word for it, but Crocodile LOVES dressing his partner up in finery just to ruin them. Also discovered an additional kink there which will be talked about later on. (See mixed)

He has wild stamina and ca go maybe three rounds before he needs to stop or pause.

Objectively the best at eating out, can and will make one partner moan out loud and the other outright cry.

Mihawk

Cis (?) insofar as he's a man by technicality. He is a SWORDSMAN by choice. He identifies as a threat, and that is not for ironic jokes. Honestly, to Mihawk gender feels complicated and stupid. 0/5 stars, hates it. He could not be paid to give a fuck about that sort of thing beyond his immediate people's happiness.

On that note, also doesn't care what parts someone has or what they identify as. If he likes you, he likes you, that's all there is. Doesn't use labels. Does admit to being more oredominantly attracted to masculine individuals. It is simply Mihawk and The Vibe.

Onwards to the thoughts!!!!

True Switch. Doesn't care. Enjoys dominating, enjoys submitting, likes topping, likes bottoming, but it's a case by case and person by person basis.

Choking. Idk, but something about holding someone by the throat and feeling their skin and muscles and heartbeat under his fingers gives him a rush, I bet.

Not particularly into sadism or masochism specifically, but does enjoy some of the semi-connected things. Knife play is a given, as well as blood play, and ironically hot wax

Trust is big to him.

Sensory play.

Has a personal rule that his partner has to cum at least once before he even thinks about his own pleasure unless that's the pre-established play they're doing that scene.

On that front - service top/service bottom.

Praise and degradation kink, surprisingly enough

Breeding kink

He Will Bite. With consent of course.

Really enjoys edging and teasing his partners. Doesn't like it as much for himself but doesn't DISlike it either.

Disinterest kink, he likes to make his lovers beg for attention and feigning disinterest.

Cockwarming.

Something about making a mess in the bedroom is simply PERFECT for him.

Honestly, Mihawk is down to try anything at least once and isn't too surprised to find new things that he enjoys.

Stamina is INSANE, but goes about one round, maybe 2, before needing to step back. Dw though, he's not leaving. He can ruin someone with more than just that option.

Buggy

AFAB masc nonbinary, no surgeries, Iva's hormones do not work on him, and he makes his own. Had a partial hysterectomy as a child before his Devil Fruit due to a... bad situation. Has numerous scars as well from before then and even a few after when he was learning the limits of his Fruit and the partial immunity to Haki.

Could top, hypothetically, but really does enjoy bottoming more. Will try topping if a partner really wants it, but feels weird and awkward the whole time - only realized that doing it despite his discomfort was not only not healthy but the partners who pushed and pushed for it from him were pushing the boundaries of consent at best. ((Had to talk Mihawk out of hunting the people down for a Talk, had to convince Crocodile and surprisingly Daz out of adding some extra bounties for it ((they still did))))

Will dom!! Enjoys being a power bottom honestly. Subbing is a guilty pleasure he rarely got to indulge in due to his absolutely insane trust issues, but once Mihawk and Crocodile earned that trust from him, he'll be the sweetest or brattiest sub on this planet, just for them

Really good with his mouth.

He's a screamer. Tries to stay quiet but never can on his own.

He falls apart sometimes during intense sex.

He's mortified by it, but he has a daddy kink and the first time he called one of his partners daddy he didn't even realize until Mihawk grabbed him by the neck just so, squeezed, forcing his head to tilt back and see blazing gold and molten violet just for someone to growl "cum for daddy, baby" and his vision went white. He was flustered for DAYS after that. ((Their light hearted teasing did not help, nor did their exploitation of the newly found On Button))

Exhibition kink but not publicly

Breeding kink

Size queen

Likes being manhandling

BIG on being marked up and claimed. ((11/10, would wear a collar if it could stay on permanently))

Together

Neither Crocodile or Mihawk had any opinion on makeup until Buggy - when they get to a certain point with his mascara and eyeliner running, lipstick smudged, eyeshadow casting his face in technicolor bruises, they are besotted and burning in equal measure.

Crocodile finds he apparently has a THING for his lovers in lace, something found purely by circumstance and he felt foolish for not ever noticing before. Is equally flustered when they both use it against him.

After Buggy's moment with calling them Daddy, something Awakened in Croc and Hawk. Words like Sir and Master were familiar but this? Ohhhh it hits Different.

They're all pretty partial to BDSM but they also can be really vanilla too. It's cute and sweet.

Buggy's thigh thighs get their own section ♡

Alright that's all I have rn but I hope you enjoyed!!!!