#meanwhile i can swim as these guys all day long

[aromanticasterisms]

man. i was not at all looking forward to the saurian mechanics in natlan, and i've been proved correct for the most part -- the ground saurians feel like such a downgrade from the travel mechanics we've seen in the past [we all at this point have gotten used to climbing things with character skills, also kachina is free + the sumeru and chenyu vale exploration was a lot smoother]

HOWEVER. i do love the koholasaurs way more than expected. perhaps, dare i say it, even more than the waverider. they blend fun and function way better than the other two. they are so shaped. little creatures. i can do a flip

[curvykittyyssmutfics]

Womanizer ft. Geto

womanizer!Geto is very much aware of how fine he is. Struts through the school with his head and nose way to fuckin high in the air. You think the hungry way the girls look at him might actually feed his energy, he seems to literally level up from it and its absolutely ridiculous. But don't think he doesn't notice how your burning gaze rake over him before you pretend it has no effect on you.

womanizer!Geto even though he's hella cocky, still has a soft heart; just doesn't want anyone to about it. Whether it's of monetary value or not, he'll help any way he can. Suguru might be sex on a stick and confident as fuck but he isn't heartless. Only Saturo knows this side of him.. Till one night when he tried to play match maker and end up spilling the beans to you.

womanizer!Geto isn't just a pretty face, so doesn't like his girls brainless. Unless its cause of his cock ofcourse. He doesn't keep em long but expects to get a bit familiar before he tries to hit. Doesn't think anyone not pursuing a higher knowledge is really worth his time. Interesting lil fact: of all the years Suguru's known you, he swiftly peeps how intelligent you are and always been.

womanizer!Geto obviously loves attention from the ladies. Like waaay too much. Turns you off matter fact. And he notices. Which is weird. Cause he usually only notices when women throw themselves at his feet. "Goin to Geto's party inna few weeks? Come on, hang with us? Could use another pretty face there." Suguru over hears Satoru ask you after class. "Hmmm.. Maybe. Though I think you two horny sluts have enough eye candy on the menu." You answer with a eye roll. "Me? We? Sluts?" He feigns ignorance as you shake your head laughing. Meanwhile, Suguru wonders when in the world has he ever thought bein called a slut was arousing cause.. His dicks startin to chub.

womanizer!Geto isnt really into easy women. Most of the cute lil thangs from school put out just watchin that talented tongue swipe across his bottom lip. Knows he doesn't have to do much work and sometimes that puts him off. He doesn't even like to talk with a woman if he doesn't think he's gonna hit but nothin gets his dick softer than a girl that open her legs to him before she even knows his name. Funny though.. Suguru notices you don't date. At all. Kinda wonders what it would take to get a chance with your pretty ass. So he asks you one day while you guys practice sparring. "Y/n, how long have we known each other?" Straightening from your fighting stance, absolutely befuddled as you answer. "Bout 5+ years, as you already know. Why?" Suguru steps closer, trailing his index finger down your cheek. "Cause I wanna know why in the 5 years that you've known me, you've never given me a chance." You tsk at him. Is he serious? "Boy, ya dick been in every one under the sun." You're response throws him off, makes him chuckle as he thinks about your words. You ain't lyin. He uses protection though.

womanizer!Geto has always had a high sex drive. Except lately. He just doesn't know why he can't get it up when he's not thinkin about you. Hasn't been interested in any of his usual conquests lately. To add to the madness, jerking offs become a pain in the ass if he doesnt let you swim into his thoughts. So he sulks and pouts about it in class one day- till he sees heading to your seat. Suguru's dark eyes are glued to how your tits slightly jiggle in your robe as you walk. Man, would bet every single penny he had that you're fuckin gorgeous everywhere. "Hi, y/n" "Hey, Sugu! Wassup?" Oh shit.. No, no, no, no.. Cute way you say his name, moist pretty plump lips, and that fuckin body.. His dick. His dick is definitely what's up right now.

womanizer!Geto usually has a harem of cute girls following him around like puppies. Not the night of his party, he trails after you like one instead. "Come on y/n, just gimme a chance." He a bit tipsy so you continuously evade him. You're soakin wet from dodging Suguru's advances, his nasty words and exploring fingers. So you head into the kitchen to poor yourself a drink and gets some space. Unfortunately for you he meets you there and you groan at his persistence. "Geto, quit it. You're just horny. And there's plenty of fuck toys round here for you to play with. So beat it." You grumble. Suguru whines at your rejection, cornering you as you try to side step him. "Don't like when you're mean to me. Or when you call me that." He lies through his teeth. Only one of those two sentences are true. "Fine, Sugu. Happy? Now go find one of your playthings. Fuckin manwhore." Okay now hes perplexed, your mean words having the same effect when you called him a slut. Suguru thinks you should know since it's your fault. He pins you to the counter, pressing his hard dick into you. You gasp, fingers gripping into the sides of his shirt, havin to fight not to let your eyes flutter shut at his bulge pressuring your tingly clit. "Can't, y/n. Dick never gets hard for them anymore. Have fucked in weeks. Can't even cum without you on my mind. Help me out, baby pleeaase." You've never seen him so desperate, pawing at your backside as he sticks his face in your neck. Won't stop dry humping and licking you as he inhales your scent. "Sugu-" He cuts you off, pleas wearing you down real quick. "Promise I can make you feels so good. Know how to make that lil kitty purr, baby. Lemme show you?" You're eyes trail off over his shoulder as you think about it. Fuck, why not? He's the most wanted attraction in town, how could not get a ride too? You accidently catch Saturo's gaze. Grin wide when he does a peace sign, sticking his tongue between the two fingers and wiggling it. He points at Suguru and gives you a thumbs up, signalling how good his BFF's pussy eating skills are. Shit, that seals the deal; you def need a demonstration. "Fine, Sugu." You feign irritation, pushin him back and pullin him towards his bedroom. "Better not disappoint me. Not gonna get another chance, playboy." Promises of your pleasure spill from Suguru's lips as you drag him by his t-shirt, him secretly hoping you'll continue your lil mean act while riding his cock.

[beardedjoel]

closer | part two

joel x f!reader. non-apocalypse au

series masterlist | main masterlist | ao3

chapter summary: a few flirty run-ins and near-intimate moments with joel lead you to make a decision to progress things to the next level with him. 5.6k words.

warnings: 18+ MDNI, age difference (joel is 42 and reader is 25), porn with some plot, mostly just flirtin’ together this chapter and ONE (1) KISS, reader is described as having hair that can be brushed back or wrung out, reader wears a bikini

a/n: i think i’m going to post one chapter here per day until i’m caught up with my ao3 posts so expect more on the way! <333

You head outside into the warm afternoon, taking a break from unpacking around your parents’ house to go swimming in their pool. You have just a longer t-shirt covering up your bathing suit, and you plop down on the edge of the pool, dipping your feet in and feeling the cool water lapping against your lower legs. You turn your head and casually scan Joel’s yard, not seeing him around. He’s likely at work, you decide, considering it’s a weekday. Although he’d been home yesterday during the day, so maybe he had a varied schedule? You start cursing yourself for going so deep in thought about the man’s work schedule for fuck’s sake. You have got to stop obsessing. You decide to try and think about something else, picking up your book from next to you on the ground and reading for a bit, kicking your legs absentmindedly through the water   

When it finally gets too hot to focus on the words on the page, you pull off your shirt, discarding it onto the lounge chair nearby. You slide yourself into the pool, feeling the immediate, pleasant relief of the water over your hot skin. You lazily swim a few laps, cooling off, dunking your head under the water. You push back up to the surface, smoothing your hair back and clearing the water from your eyes. When you open them and blink a few times, you see Joel outside in his backyard again. He’s got a gray shirt and basketball shorts on, and you quirk an eyebrow as you’re reminded how fucking good he looks in active wear. You immediately feel a fluttering panic in your stomach, unsure if he’s seen you or if you should address him first. After your conversation yesterday you’re not sure where you two stand, if it’s okay to chat whenever you see him. You don’t have to wait long before he looks in your direction, and you know he’s spotted you once you lock eyes from afar. He walks towards his side of the fence and gives you another one of those gorgeous, lopsided grins.

“Well hello again,” Joel calls to you. You swim up to the edge of the pool closest to him and place your arms out onto the concrete to anchor yourself up a bit out of the water.

“Hi,” you call back, nervously paddling your legs in the water. “Er, how are you?” you ask awkwardly.

“Doin just fine, darlin’, yourself?” he replies, leaning a hand on the fence now. You sort of hate how he’s just cool as can be when he speaks to you, and meanwhile you feel like your insides are churning, barely able to get a word out. 

“Um, good, I’m good.” You want to die from embarrassment - how are you so incapable of holding a conversation with this guy? You’re fun, you’re charismatic, and you’re friendly god damn it, you remind yourself silently. You also remind yourself that you’re currently in a bikini, and a rather skimpy one at that, something you could use to your advantage. You pull yourself out of the pool, sending water dripping all over the ground below you and wring some of the water from your hair. Joel’s expression changes noticeably from what you can see at this distance, his eyebrows raising as it looks like he’s fighting to keep his eyes on your face. Maybe you’re able to break his cool facade after all. 

“What’re you up to?” you ask, approaching a bit closer, then settling yourself on one of the lounge chairs nearest to his yard. You see his eyes dip down to your chest, then back up to your face. Does he think he’s being sneaky, or know you can see and just doesn’t care?

“Just lookin’ to take care of the yard, water some plants, got off work early today,” he replies, and you nod.

“What do you do… for work?” You wring your hands together a bit, a nervous habit. 

“I’m a contractor, so we take care of buildin’ what needs to get built, stuff like that,” he explains. 

“It’s all coming together - the gate latch, the cabinet, the random work hours,” you reply, giving him a small smirk. He returns it and cocks his head, seeming to realize you’ve been noticing his schedule. “Do you… want any help? With the yard?” you ask, finding it easier and easier to embolden yourself around him since the ice was finally broken yesterday.

“Nah, sweetheart, you just enjoy your time over there,” he says pragmatically. 

“I could just… keep you company then? If you don’t want me working too hard,” you smile sweetly at him. The smile undoes him and he chuckles, shaking his head a little, finally figuring out that you’re not taking no for an answer right now.

“Alright then, come on over.”

Joel knows this is a bad idea, but he finds himself saying those words anyways, inviting you to spend time with him. He groans internally seeing you stand up from the lounge chair, your body on full display in that tiny fucking bikini, simple and black with a high cut bottom, revealing more of your legs and hips than he’s sure he can handle. He steps away from the fence and awaits your arrival, seeing you put back on your long t-shirt and wishing you wouldn’t, wanting to get a closer eyeful of that swimsuit. It’s probably for the best though, if he’s going to get any work done - he can’t be distracted ogling a young girl like you anyways.

Unfortunately for him, when you walk along the side of his house and into view again, the t-shirt just skimming the very tops of your thighs, it’s almost worse - such a tease to be so close to revealing your ass to him. He sighs quietly, resigning himself since he was the one who agreed to you coming over in such an absurd outfit.  As you walk past him to grab a chair to sit on, your sweet scent drifts by, something floral with a hint of chlorine and sunscreen - you smell like summer personified. Shit, he thinks, lingering on it a little too long, wishing he could bury his face into your neck and breathe it in, the thought eliciting a twinge from inside his shorts. 

Joel continues trying to get some work done, pulling the hose from where it’s coiled near the house and watering the garden. You grab a chair from his patio set nearby and sit down, perched on the edge of it, anxiously watching for a few moments. Joel can feel your eyes on him again, and he tries to focus on the flowers he’s surely overwatering by having his mind scrambled by you, trying not to peer over at your thighs looking so inviting.

“You’ve lived in Austin long?” you suddenly blurt out, not sure where to begin the conversation now that you’re here.

“Mhm, my whole life,” Joel replies. 

“Family here?” you ask, hoping you’re not being too invasive.

“Yeah. Mostly just see my brother, Tommy, though.”

“I’m an only child… always wished I had a brother,” you muse in reply.

“Sometimes you’d wish you didn’t,” Joel chuckles, and you crack a smile. He looks over as it’s happening and he loves the sight, seeing you grin at something he said. Your heart skips a beat as his eyes lock with yours for that split second before he diverts his attention back to his garden.

“You’re the oldest then, huh?”

“You guessed it,” he says. “That obvious?”

“All my friends with younger siblings have that same tone when they talk about them,” you say with a little laugh. Now that you’re easing into conversation and it feels more natural, you feel your body loosen a bit from the stiff posture you’d been sitting in. You pull your legs up and sit cross legged on the chair now, leaning back a bit more to get comfortable. Joel feels his body have the opposite reaction, stiffening next to you. He sees you sliding your legs into this new position, the t-shirt riding up further on your hips, revealing the black bikini bottoms below it. He clutches the spray gun of the hose a little tighter to try and get out some of the building tension.

You both chat casually, keeping it strictly friendly as you learn a little bit about each other. He asks about college, seeming impressed that you have your Master’s degree and a “fancy” job offer lined up, as he put it. You find out that he loves his job, but it was more out of necessity to get into construction, as he didn’t have the funds or motivation to attend college at the time, and now he feels it’s too late to go back. He wants to know more about Chicago, since he’s never been, and you want to know all the places he’s traveled to, which are far and few between. You feel an ache inside of you to take him anywhere he wants to go, and explore those new places together. You learn he really likes football like any typical Texan man, and is surprised when you admit you don’t really understand the rules much to this day. It’s just not really your thing, you tell him, and he replies that you’ll have to watch a game with him sometime and see if you still don’t enjoy it after that. The way he so casually says it stops you for a moment, thinking about how he’s basically trying to make plans with you right now, and you feel your stomach flutter at the thought of being alone in his house with him, watching football, even if you couldn’t care less about the sport.

It’s easy and fun, talking to Joel, and you suddenly realize you don’t know what you were so afraid of before, aside from him still being the most devastatingly attractive man you’ve ever laid eyes on. Once and a while, you still find yourself getting tripped up on your words when he looks at you for a little too long, or you catch his gaze climbing up your legs once again. 

You realize you two have been talking for over an hour, and a thick layer of clouds are rolling in. You glance up at the sky, pointing it out to Joel. 

“Looks like it should blow right over,” he comments, squinting upwards, and as if the sky was listening with perfect comedic timing, you feel several raindrops start to hit your face. You arch an eyebrow at him and giggle as the sky starts to unleash on you two, rain suddenly pouring down. Joel laughs and throws his gardening tools on the ground, then quickly jogs in your direction, grabbing your hand and pulling you out of the chair. He doesn’t let go of it, dragging you along as he heads for his covered patio. You’re giggling the whole way, feeling like you’re living in some kind of dream, the touch of his warm, rough hand on yours sending a fuzzy feeling into your core. Once you two are under the awning, he drops your hand, but you can still feel your skin buzzing from his touch.

“Oh my god,” you say, trying to catch your breath as you laugh, doubled over. 

“So much for all the work I just did, huh?” Joel says, hands on his hips as he stares out at the rain soaking his already watered garden. You can’t help but linger your eyes on him a little longer than feels appropriate, seeing his t-shirt stuck close to his body from the rain, and the way he’s pushing his dark waves of wet hair off his forehead, slicking them back. You shiver at the sudden change in temperature from the rainstorm combined with your lack of clothing, and Joel notices, turning towards you.

“Hang on darlin’, let me grab you a towel,” he says, before retreating inside of his house. You hoped he might invite you in to dry off, but know that might be a stretch to think he’d offer. As he walks back over to you, despite your crossed arms trying to warm your body, he can see your nipples, hard and pushing against your white shirt, soaked and sticking to every curve of you. The outline of the black bikini underneath the wet shirt almost does him in completely, and he sucks in a breath to try and calm himself. He’s holding a striped beach towel as he walks up next to you, and to your surprise, he wraps it around your shoulders for you. You give him a wavering smile as his hands brush along your shoulders, sending what feels like an electric current down your spine. The towel smells fresh and clean, but also kind of like you’d imagine him smelling, the scent of his home lingering on the fabric. You try to breathe it in without being too obvious.

“Thanks,” you mumble as you wrap the towel around yourself a little tighter, trying not to look at the ground. Suddenly, you’re back to being terrified of speaking to him - the way he looks when he’s wet from the rain, the unreadable gaze in his brooding eyes that you don’t want to mistake for desire, the distance between the two of you being so small right now. You so desperately wish you could read his mind - if he just thinks of you as a friendly girl next door, or anything more? Could an older guy like him even find anything of merit in someone like you? Someone inexperienced and painfully shy around him? You think you just might be able to gather the courage to move a little closer, test the boundaries, when a loud boom of thunder rumbles through the sky, causing you to jump, sending your body shivering even more.

“Jesus,” you breathe, clutching your chest. Joel has instinctively put a hand on your upper arm, and he chuckles.

“Easy now,” Joel purrs, smirking down at you. “Lookin’ a little tense, there.”

“S-sorry, guess I’m feeling jumpy. Just the storm.”

“You’re shakin’ like a leaf,” Joel comments, and his hand, still on your arm, rubs it through the towel, attempting to relax you and warm you. Your eyes widen slightly, this is the most you’ve ever been touched by him, and despite the chill wracking your body, your core begins to heat up, stomach turning slightly in anticipation. That look in his eye that you’ve been trying to read is back, looking down at you, scrutinizing you, turning you on.

“I-I’m okay,” you say, teeth chattering.

“Oh, look at you, why don’t you come inside, warm up?” he offers, and while it’s music to your ears, for some reason you hesitate, the back of your mind pulling at you for some reason. Shit, you think, remembering what your brain was trying to remind you of. It’s getting close to when you’re supposed to pick your dad up from work. Your parents have been carpooling with his broken leg leaving him unable to drive, but you’d offered to help out today so your mom could run some errands. You quickly debate just throwing that out the window and going inside with Joel, knowing that’s just not the type of person you are.

“T-that’s awfully nice, I really want to, b-believe me,” you say between still chattering teeth, hoping to plant a little seed in his mind with the words, “But I’m sorry, I s-should probably head out. I have to go pick my dad up, with the broken leg and all that, he can’t drive,” you tell him reluctantly, trying to make sure he can see the disappointment on your face.

“Sure thing,” he says, getting slightly closer to you, setting your nerves even more on edge. “That’s a real shame, but thanks for comin’ by today.” 

His tone has a million suggestions behind it as he closes the gap between you, and you nod, feeling your breath coming out more nervously now. You’re close enough to breathe his scent in, full of sweat and rain and dirt, so fucking sexy, and you feel a tingling pull at your core traveling downwards. Joel can see your chest heaving slightly under your shirt, and it takes everything in him not to tear it off of you, carry you inside of his house, and unleash all the dirty thoughts he’d been having about you. Instead, he settles on a little smirk, stepping the tiniest bit closer, and when you don’t back away, but instead seem to lean into it, he lifts his hand and thumbs your chin, holding it tenderly for a few seconds with a stroke of his fingers.

“Stop by anytime, okay?” he says, and you stare wide eyed, trying to will your voice to come back to you as your lips sit parted in surprise.

“Y-yes, okay,” you finally manage to say, and Joel backs up a few steps. “Sounds good.”

You wave to Joel and then rush off, taking a deep breath to settle your sudden nerves at the encounter you just had with him. The rain has mostly let up, but you’re still soaked, so you decide to change before leaving. When you go into your apartment, you peer out the window that overlooks his backyard and see he’s still outside. There’s a small chance he’d notice, but you decide on a whim to undress in front of the window, untying your bikini top with your back turned to Joel’s view and letting it fall. You bend down to pull off your bottoms, trying to turn your head just enough to see out the window without being obvious, and sure enough you think you see him looking in your direction out of the corner of your eye. You smile deviously to yourself, giving an unnaturally long few seconds with your body on display before putting on a top, underwear, and shorts and leaving the room. The entire drive to pick up your dad, you commend yourself on your bold move, despite your cheeks burning at the thought of it.

You spend the rest of that evening in your own space, not feeling up for interacting with anyone, especially your parents. The encounter with Joel from today has you feeling wired, stressed, and most of all, exhausted. You can’t tell if he’s just playing around with you like his little toy, or maybe he just touches people’s faces to be nice? The thought sounds stupid to even you, and you half laugh to yourself before sighing, your frustration growing. You barely want to consider the other possibility, the risk of being disappointed feels too high, but maybe… just maybe he’s actually interested in you? No other reason or motivation or intention behind it, maybe he really is interested. You try not to think too hard about it, but end up lying awake in that half dozing state most of the night, your stomach in knots, wishing you had the guts to ask what he’s feeling and simply be bold for once in your life. The sun begins to come up, shining golden early morning rays of light through your window, and you groan into your pillow at the sight of it, feeling defeated.

Your brain is fried, having barely gotten a few hours of actual sleep last night, and you’ve finally decided to get up and get on with your day. Your parents left you with the task of taking Benny on his quick early morning walk so they can spend more time getting your dad ready for work, which is a bigger production than usual with his leg cast. You yawn, opening the front door, still in a pair of soft sleep shorts and a cropped t-shirt - you figure it’s just a quick jaunt around the block at an early hour, so who cares what you look like? 

Once you open the door, Benny jolts forward, something he’s never done before, and the leash slips from your hand in your sleep deprived haze. “Shit,” you mutter, starting to call after him. He’s immediately dashing over towards Joel’s house, and you chase behind him, trying to catch up. Caught up in the panic of the moment you don’t even see that Joel is outside, rolled underneath his truck doing some work on it, jeans and boots sticking out of the side. Benny is rushing over to greet his new friend, and in his over-excitement he jumps onto Joel’s leg, startling him. You’re just a few feet away when you see it all happen, and cringe when you hear Joel holler curse words after his whole body jumps underneath his car. He’s starting to push himself out from under the truck when you finish running up, breathless. You snatch Benny’s leash, finally getting a hold on him again.

“Oh, god, shit, are you okay?” you cry out, looking down at Joel, your eyes wide and scanning over him. He groans slightly, putting a hand to his head and sitting up. When he catches sight of you, standing above him, his expression changes, your favorite lopsided grin coming to his face.

“So you’re the culprit,” he says upon seeing you, and you can’t help but roll your eyes a little, despite feeling a flutter inside at hearing his gorgeous southern drawl. 

“I’m sorry,” you say sincerely, “He doesn’t usually do that, I think he just likes you,” you gesture at Benny, unable to help cracking a smile at his unbothered demeanor right now.

“S’alright, buddy, I’m happy to see you too,” Joel says, scratching Benny’s side while he pants in Joel’s face, tail wagging wildly. Joel’s other hand comes off of where it was holding his forehead, and you can see that there’s a gash actively bleeding onto his face.

“Shit, Joel. You’re really hurt, you’re bleeding,” you say, your mouth open in shock. “Let me help you.”

“Nah, that’s okay, I can take care of it,” he replies, trying to wave you off.

“No, come on, it’s my fault anyways. I know my parents have a first aid kit.” You offer him your free hand, and mutter a quick “please,” to him accompanied by pleading eyes. He caves, taking your hand and letting you help him up with a grunt. He follows you back to your parents’ place, and you’re too deep in helper mode to even really think about the fact that you’d just stayed up half the night thinking about the man you were now inviting into the empty house with you. 

You offer Joel a seat in the living room, and rush off to grab the first aid kit. He’s leaned back, legs spread wide on the couch, and for the first time today, you’re noticing him in that way again. You have a brief desire to climb onto that lap and straddle him before you force yourself to just fucking focus.

“Okay, okay, where is it,” you mutter to yourself, digging through the first aid kit while you stand in front of Joel. 

“Still in your pajamas?” he says, an eyebrow arched as he studies you closer, taking in your very tiny sleep shorts. Joel feels a satisfaction at seeing the blush color your cheeks as you see him inspecting the length of your legs stretching down from your shorts. Despite his head pounding, he finds he’s feeling a stirring in his middle, traveling downwards to his crotch at just how close your ass is to hanging out of the fabric. He fights internally to not let his thoughts begin to run away with him, but when he catches sight of the sliver of your stomach poking out from under your t-shirt as well, he knows he’s entering dangerous territory.

“I’ll have you know, it’s only seven thirty in the morning,” you quip back, before pausing. “Hey, wait, stop distracting me - this is a medical emergency,” you chide with a hint of humor in your tone, furrowing your brows, and Joel chuckles in response. You’re moving around anxiously, pulling out supplies from the first aid kit, feeling guilty that he’s hurt because of you and wanting to fix it as quickly as possible.

“Slow down, darlin’, you’re the only one havin’ an emergency,” he jokes, low and gruff, and you crack a shy grin, leaning forward to inspect the gash on his face. Now that you’re stopping to look more closely, you see the sheen of sweat still remaining on his forehead, the smudge of oil on his cheek from working on his car, how scruffy his hair looks. The sight of that alone is enough to make you slow down and soak it in, carefully pressing a piece of gauze to the wound and cleaning it.

“Is that okay?” you ask gently, catching Joel’s eyes and softening your gaze. You almost falter, being this close to his face and looking into his eyes at the same time, butterflies popping up in your stomach again. Now that the adrenaline of the incident is fading, you’re nervous as hell, and your hands are shaking a little bit. Joel’s whole body is right there, practically underneath you, looking perfectly rugged…and sexy and… manly. Fuck. Focus. 

“Just fine,” he smiles, as if he can read your exact thoughts right now.

You pull out a hydrogen peroxide wipe and begin dabbing around the cut with it. “Sorry,” you practically whisper as Joel sucks in a breath at the stinging sensation. You gently hold his head still by the jaw with one hand while placing a small butterfly bandage over the cut. The feel of his jawline and beard under your fingers is hard to ignore, and you fight the urge to sink your fingers further, cupping his whole cheek. 

“Okay, looks good,” you say quietly, moving to take your fingertips off of where they were resting. Joel’s hand reaches up, touching yours, a gentle request to leave it in place. 

“Thank you,” he says softly, his eyes now full of kindness and appreciation, studying your face.  “Such a sweet girl,” he adds, throwing a little smile your way. You feel yourself flush warmer, finding you like the pet names he gives you more and more every time, the way they make you feel weak in the knees, make your heart rate pick up a little bit. You breathe out slowly, realizing just how close your faces are now, and Joel’s hand covers yours a little more aggressively, wrapping his fingers around the back of your hand to your palm. The sensation causes your breath to hitch, and you can’t be sure, but you feel like Joel is leaning closer now. 

Your head is buzzing, you want this so badly, but you feel like your heart is going to leap out of your throat. You move without thinking, without reason, and place your lips onto Joel’s, fluttering your eyes shut. A shaky breath comes out of your nose as you kiss him, your whole body trembling. It’s a rather chaste kiss, but you try to deepen it despite your nerves and feel Joel beginning to reciprocate. His lips feel warm and inviting and perfect, just as you’d imagined dozens of times. You dare to open your mouth a little more, sliding your tongue along his. He groans a little, returning the movement with more urgency. His hand is still holding yours, but his other one reaches forward, brushing your ass. You’re so strung out, so anxious and wound up that the touch surprises you, causing you to yelp and pull back. 

“I- I’m so sorry. I’m s-sorry,” you blurt out, putting a hand over your mouth. Joel’s hand drops from yours and you step back slightly, just enough that the tension between you two evaporates quickly. “Oh my god. Sorry, Joel, I just -“ you’re full on panicking, trying to explain yourself while Joel stands up to meet you in your tizzy.

“Hey, hey, don’t worry, it’s alright,” he says soothingly, putting a hand on your shoulder. You feel tears wanting to prickle behind your eyes and quickly blink them away, cursing yourself for being so stupid. “Maybe too much, huh? Sorry if I overstepped, I wasn’t sure… maybe I read ya wrong,” he says kindly, his head cocked a little bit, and it couldn’t be the furthest thing from the truth.

“No, Joel, it was - it was fine, I just - ” You stammer and search for words, wanting him to understand that you want him so badly it hurts. You ache for him day and fucking night, and now you messed up and he’s got the wrong idea, thinking he took advantage of you or something. All those thoughts rush through your head lightning quick, but you’re unable to verbalize it to him, your mouth giving up on making complete sentences right now.

“Relax.” He looks into your eyes sincerely, trying to catch your gaze, but you’re barely able to reciprocate, feeling so embarrassed. Your cheeks must be the most red hot they’ve been since you met him, and you feel the sting of the tears threatening again. “I’m not worried about it, promise.”

“Okay,” you say, finally looking up at him, defeated.

“Listen, I gotta get to work, already a little late as it is, but don’t you dwell on this, pretty girl, okay?” Joel says, squeezing your shoulder before removing his hand from it. 

You nod and swallow the lump in your throat. “Okay, I’ll try.”

“I’ll still be ‘round, don’t worry,” he says, and you feel a glimmer of hope rush through you. Maybe all is not lost, you think as Joel shuts the door behind him.

Fuck. That’s the only word running through Joel’s head as he barrels down the road in his truck, already worked up because he’s about to be over twenty minutes late to work. 

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

He has no idea what to make of that encounter with you, his mind reeling from the roller coaster of emotions you both experienced. He knew he shouldn’t test it, test those boundaries, with someone so much younger than him. What did he expect, that you would want to be with some old guy like him? He couldn’t really even read exactly what had happened in your living room - was it just a moment of shyness, or something more? Had he really read you that wrong the last two weeks - all the staring, the looks you gave, maybe it was nothing. Maybe he’d been so desperate when he saw your pretty smile that he made it all up. 

Joel tries to shake off those thoughts, knowing they aren’t helpful right now. There was no way he’d imagined all of it, every stolen glance you’d given him, the way it felt like you’d been the one to initiate the kiss today. Maybe he would just back off, let you come to him - he certainly couldn’t be the creep who kept pursuing a relationship with a younger girl if she didn’t want it. You could be so shy that he wasn’t sure if you’d even push him away if it wasn’t what you wanted. As he pulls onto the job site, rushing to grab his things out of the car to start his day, he makes up his mind. It’ll be on you, he will give you some time to cool off, think things over, and you could both go from there. Joel swipes a hand down his face as he walks up to the half built new clothing store they’ve been working on, stepping over the frame and spotting Tommy. 

“Hey man, where the hell have you been?” Tommy rushes up to Joel, looking concerned. He knew it was very unlike Joel to be late for work, let alone without a call. 

“Sorry, got caught up,” Joel replies gruffly, pointing to the cut on his head. He’s grateful he had an actual excuse, not just that he was delayed due to pining after and kissing his neighbor’s daughter at 8:00 in the morning. 

“Sheesh, brother, that looks like something got you good. What happened there?” Tommy chuckles, peering closer at Joel’s forehead. 

Joel grunts, not willing to share every detail of the story. Maybe his brother would understand, but he didn’t feel so sure about opening up to him about it yet, the creeping fear of judgment coming in. He still hasn’t figured out your exact age yet, but he knows it isn’t anywhere close to his. 

“Just somethin’ dumb. Workin on my car. Damn neighbor dog scared me and I hit my head,” Joel says, settling on this condensed version of the story.

Tommy cracked a smile. “That all that’s got you in such a lovely mood?” he teases.

Joel frowns back at his brother, warning him. “I’m fine,” he replies curtly, brushing past Tommy, getting a raised eyebrow and shake of the head from his brother. Joel feels the much needed urge to focus on getting to work, not on the way your lips felt, or that tiny bit of your thigh he’d gotten to feel, or the memory of you changing in your window the other day, none of that. Work, Joel reminds himself, only work, trying to banish you from his mind for a while. Unsurprisingly to him, he lasts about ten minutes before all hell breaks loose in his mind again.

[fatedbutblinking]

imagine percy and a daughter of pluto being destined to fall in love - so in love that there's a prophecy about it. something that describes a love so strong that it saves the world. percy doesn't know a thing about it, but lupa told the girl about it in private when she was a kid, and that it clearly describes her in it.

so when percy gets dropped into camp jupiter, and she feels a connection with him so strong that it's almost unbearable, she is desperate not to fall in love with him.

she wants to save the world with her leadership and talent, not by falling in love with some guy. she's an esteemed praetor, the most skilled halfblood at camp jupiter, and she wants to be known for more than just falling in love. she doesn't even get how falling in love with him is supposed to change the world.

"lupa," she breaths, in a voice softer than a whisper, as she stares at percy from a distance. he is sparring someone, and winning. "tell me it's not him."

"it's your destiny," echoes in her head.

"him," she reiterates with a scoff.

"i'm just as surprised as you. but you'll do it. even if you don't want to, you will."

"i'll take that as a challenge."

so she literally doesn't want to fall in love with him because she's too prideful. and she's too much of a girlboss slay strong independent fighter shadow-sorcerer queen to back down to a prophecy.

meanwhile percy is absolutely besotted with her from the moment he steps into camp jupiter. of course he can't remember annabeth, only in snippets, but he loses those thoughts the moment he sees her.

he makes it goddamn clear how attracted he is to her. he constantly flirts with her, pesters her, challenges her to fights. she's got some pretty name like valeria and he calls her "val", which she hates. she's really hot, but in that hauntingly beautiful tim burton sort of way: big dark eyes, sharp cheeks, pouted lips and olive skin.

he doesn't understand why she hates him, considering the entire camp has already fallen under his charm. but that doesn't stop him from trying.

"let me take you out."

"you lost me on 'out.'"

"i didn't take you for an introvert. you're always shouting at people and fighting them so i thought you'd want to do something active."

"i'm not an introvert. i just don't want to go anywhere outside with you."

"how about inside?"

"absolutely not. you are not coming in my cohort."

"how about mine?"

"no."

"promise i'll make it worth your time."

"how oxymoronic. if you're involved, it can never be worth my time."

"did you just call me a moron?"

she is unable to contain her snort. "you're an idiot."

his sea-green eyes soften. "gods, val, you're so beautiful when you smile."

though she doesn't want to, she finds herself staring at him when he's not looking. she starts waiting impatiently for him to pester her, she starts looking forward to their brief chats. she feels butterflies when they graze arms. she likes the way he smirks at her at the end of a fight when she's beaten him to the floor. she likes how close their faces are. she lets him manipulate her into mini dates, like walks by the water, swimming with cute whales, cooking blue food for the campers.

she starts to fall for him and it scares her so much that she distances herself. percy finds out about the prophecy and finally understands it all.

one day they are fighting a massive monster that has somehow infiltrated the camp and he confesses her feelings to her, knowing a fighting scenario is the only place where she'd be close enough for long enough to actually listen to him.

"i know what you think of me," he starts.

"if you did you wouldn't be speaking to me right now."

"no. i know what you actually think."

"focus on the monster, seabrain."

"i know you like me."

"what?"

"well, kinda. i mean i think you hate me too. but i also don't think it's that different from liking me."

"then you have a warped perspective on relationships."

"admit it."

"percy."

"admit that you like me."

"there is a monster in front of us and you want to talk about this?"

"the whole camp wants us to talk about this. do you see anyone else fighting? no! they're too busy waiting for you to give me an answer!"

"everyone get off your asses and fight. right now."

nobody moves.

"don't be like that. just because everyone can see how good we'd be, except for you -- "

"don't."

"fuck it. i'm in love with you. i've been in love with you since the day i met you -- "

"no."

" -- uh, yes. i wanna fucking be with you. i mean, i wanna do a lot of things to you, but to be with you? i wouldn't need anything else. just you, for gods' sake."

"percy."

"gods, i wanna kiss you. i wanna kiss that look off your face. but i'm not gonna do anything until you tell me the truth."

"i don't know what to say."

"you love me."

"i don't love anything."

"i know, but you love me."

"i don't wanna prove the prophecy right."

"stop being stubborn."

"i can't just be known as the girl who fell in love with you, perce. i want more for myself."

"you'd never be known as that. you'd be known as the girl that i fell for. the shadow-slicing praetor that percy jackson begged to have."

"i guess that doesn't sound so bad."

"yeah?"

"maybe."

they kiss passionately.

from then on, they're the it-couple on campus. they're always sneaking off and kissing, and percy is constantly all over her, kissing her neck, whisking her away.

everything is perfect until annabeth comes to claim him. they end up in camp half-blood with annabeth not knowing about her and percy. she watches as annabeth whisks percy away. percy's head is confused with his head and his heart.

she tells herself that she shouldn't have let herself fall in love with him. instead of letting percy break up with her first, she breaks up with him, saying that this is now real life. she will be known for more than just love, and he can have the love of his life annabeth back.

but percy doesn't feel that way anymore about annabeth. how could he? annabeth overhears the conversation and breaks up with him, understanding that he has feelings for someone else. he apologises over and over again because this is his best friend, but she accepts that they are only each other's first loves. and not the last.

percy wants her back.

the two camps are united in their decision to get them back together. although they don't have a lot in common, both camps adore either percy or the pluto girl -- they are their leaders -- and they want them together.

so percy makes another scene.

"i challenge you to a duel," he announces loudly to her, as campers gather around.

"jackson, i'm busy."

"i know. re-training people from my camp because you romans think you know better. fair enough. but i guess you'll have to re-train me, considering i'm actually greek."

"stop trying to wind me up."

"so it's working?"

"isn't it a rule at camp half-blood that children of the big three can't duel?"

"that's never stopped us before."

"it can this time."

"are you scared of losing?"

"get over here, jackson."

"don't worry. i'll go easy on you, deathbreath."

"that doesn't mean i will."

she swipes at him with her dagger, and creates a small cut down his arm.

"fuck."

"not so cocky now. stop missing, jackson, you haven't even grazed me."

"i don't want to hurt you."

"come on. hurt me."

"no."

"it's a fight, not a dance. hurt me."

"no."

"fine, don't! gods, i'm not going to fight you if you're not going to fight back. just leave me alone. i don't wanna be near you. can't you just let me be?"

"i've hurt you enough. i know i have."

"i don't know what you're talking about."

"but i promise you. i will never hurt you ever again. i will never make you feel anything but happy. i will do everything in my fucking power to make sure of it."

she laughs shortly. "it seems like everyone in our two camps will do anything to make sure of it."

there.

there, she realises it.

she realises that them falling in love was the gods' sure way of getting the two camps to respect each other. swapping jason and percy around was only the start - to make sure the camps knew of each other. but her part? it was to make sure that both camps would love each other, would stick together no matter what, the same way her and percy would through anything.

their friends refer to her as the queen of both camps, as it is her that has truly brought them together. although it's not what she had planned to be infamous for, she accepts it, knowing that she has gained more than she sought out:

percy.

"you have completely confused my perception of reality," he continues, as if she hasn't already made her mind up. "i dream about you. all the time. every night when i go to bed i dream about you. but most of the time it's in the day, when i see you, when i smell you, when i know you're near. i knew long before that prophecy that you were meant for me."

"me too, perce. all of it. me too."

so they get together and everyone is super happy. even nico does a slow clap bcus he likes how it's the most dramatic thing he's seen. the gods are like crying up there watching them get back together like they're some kind of soap opera that they manufactured. but it doesn't matter to them bcus they're living their best life.

[sserajeans]

you are in love | 24. match made in ocean

- gyuthegoofy started a video call.

- ynthesexy, hanthebitch, and wonythemvp joined the call.

audio directory: wonyoung, leehan, gyuvin, y/n

—

"so what are we supposed to be looking at here?"

"the fundraiser proposal.... again."

"someone needs to hold me back before i commit a REAL HEINOUS CRIME against that hagrat excuse of a principal."

"i'm so glad you said that over call instead of text 'cause..."

"shut up."

"wait guys focus please..."

"right sorry."

"i'm using all the brain juice i got i swear but this is so hard."

"right? i have no idea how serenades didnt pass..."

"as much as i'd hate singing around with y/n it was a good idea as a fundraiser. low cost."

"matches the school tradition too. i don't know why so many people confess around christmas time, but it could've worked!"

"for real. hagrat lim."

"you're going down with y/n."

"absolutely not! how could the ever-so-lovely scholar kim gyuvin be disrespectful to his teachers! meanwhile school jock swim captain lee y/n..."

"I'M NOT EVEN A JOCK?"

"we're definitely getting off topic."

"oops..."

"anyways..."

"i think we should definitely stick to something on the romance side. it just sells more?"

"yeah, we can make it a little general for people who wanna do it for friends or family too."

"okay so... romance... romantics... what's something you guys would like to receive?"

"flowers without pollen."

"i laughed a bit i'm sorry."

"jellies!"

"candy could be low-cost, but won't the students feel like they could just buy them from the grocery or the cafeteria?"

"flowers could work. it's quite tiresome to pass by florist shops these days, so having them close by is convenient. sorry, y/n."

"i mean... i guess i'll be fine if i take the medicine before leaving?"

"i'm sorry y/n... we'll keep this as a backup idea so we can continue looking for something better and less... life threatening?"

"it's okay guys i don't mind it as long as principal lim gets off our back."

"we'll think of something else y/n... this'll just be the absolute last resort."

"speaking of flowers and y/n's pollen allergy though..."

"i know where this is going."

"I'M SORRY OKAY.... we just, or i, just wanna know!"

"didn't i tell you already??"

"details, y/n... details!!"

"I ALMOST DIED GYU..."

"LMAO PLEASE..."

"okay so you almost died... DETAILS!!"

"fine..."

"stay strong lee y/n..."

"we went to the cafe after practice, we talked about stuff. started with classes and how she's adjusting to the workload of juniors, then how i'm going around with colleges as an athlete. speaking of which, coach gave me a semi-scolding over text earlier today, but moving on."

"god he dumps the pressure of the swim team's success on you as if he isn't the literal COACH."

"for real like y/n is human too... hello?"

"yeah, then when we got to the cafe we had a mini argument over who was gonna pay but the cashier suggested to pay for our own, so that's what we did."

"you're so... anti-romantic."

"what? what did i do??"

"you're supposed to pay for her regardless, like never back down."

"NEVER BACK DOWN NEVER WHAT?"

"NEVER GIVE UP!!"

"but it was a date that dani asked for, so? kinda cancels out right, wony?"

"hm... i guess.. anyways, continue, y/n."

"well... yeah after i updated wony via text when i was in the toilet, we mostly talked about our interests and stuff. so me and movies, music, and mostly swim."

"90% swim. you might've bored her to death..."

"don't say that!"

"i'm being honest! she might've thought you were a fish in your past life or something..."

"she brought up swim in the conversation first actually! she said she swims a lot whenever she goes back home to australia during the summers."

"well isn't that a lovely surprise? match made in heaven!"

"match made in ocean.."

"she definitely knows how to keep y/n hooked that's for sure."

"oh yeah... great pair in that sense!"

"what were the other interests she talked about?"

"flowers, plants, nature in general! she's so outdoorsy."

"this is so ironic 'cause didn't you almost fail biology?"

"so that's where the park part came from..."

"no i did not almost fail bio... it just simply is my lowest scoring subject okay..."

"whatever you say!"

"but yeah that's when she brought up the park, and i just couldn't say no. she was talking about how this specific flower only bloomed in autumn and she wanted to see it at its first day."

"you didn't bother telling her you had an allergy?"

"she sounded so excited you guys i didn't want to ruin that... and i guess i kinda wanted to see the flowers too, they were really pretty! i'll show you pics."

"you couldn't say no to flowers... so you just put your life at risk instead?"

"i had a mask! and i didn't think it'd react that bad again."

"right."

"so yeah that's all that happened, really."

"sounds like you had a fun enough time to almost kill yourself!"

"OH MAN....."

"YES I DID! okay? i did have a fun time! she's really nice, cute, pretty, outgoing and all. we talked about going to a different nature park to rent bikes next time."

"i'm kicking my feet in the air right now you guys have no idea."

"we do actually."

"and don't bother showing us."

"yeah we can go a day without seeing your feet gyu."

"I DIDN'T EVEN OFFER?"

"you'd do it whether we liked it or not, unfortunately."

"she's right on that... AND DID YOU SAY NEXT TIME?"

"SHE DID!!"

"weren't we supposed to be finishing work so we could be free tomorrow? right we were! isn't that right, wony?"

"but... but that's... fine, yeah."

"wonderful! let's get back to work then!"

masterlist. next.

taglist: @yyeonmis @lostamoeba @jisooftme @yoontoonwhs @awkwardtoafault @kvnii @lcv3lies @limbforalimb @spritin @kaypanaq @i06kkura @manooffline @kimsgayness @justme-idle @jenaissantex @mightymyo @sewiouslyz @txtbrainrot @li0ilthecxnt @captivq @paranoxic @sofakingwoso @daniellobers @pandafuriosa60 @haerinkisser @staryujinnie @wowowowcake @lesleepyyy @haechansbbg @rosiehrs @jiwoneiric

[oscurascout]

Bad Sanses Adventures

Beach Day

Masterlist

Note - This is my first time doing something like this, like without a Y/N, though I'm thinking about it but most likely there won't be. I have so many stories planned, also they will be sort of short like maybe 500 to 800 words, and I’m also trying some new things so hope you guys enjoy it. Another thing, damb this note is long, I will add more characters from time to time, and some new characters will be also join, I bet everyone can guess who, now that's all.

The Murder Time Trio returned to the castle after a successful mission. Killer quickly went to report to Nightmare.

Killer - *barging into the office* “Boss! We finished!”

Nightmare looked up at Killer, nodded, then returned to his book. Killer smiled and walked toward the desk.

Killer - “Sooooo, can we go?” *with puppy eyes*

Nightmare sighed and nodded.

Killer - “Alright then, get ready! I'll tell the others!”

Killer exited the office, excitement bubbling within him. He hurried to the living room, where Dust and Horror were resting.

Killer - *excited* “Guys, get ready! We’re going to the beach!”

Without waiting for a response, Killer dashed to his room, where he already had his bags packed. He quickly changed into his beach attire, grabbed his bags, and rushed back to the living room.

After about 30 minutes, the others appeared, already dressed in their beach clothes. Nightmare opened a portal to a pacifist AU that had a beach.

Nightmare set everything down, put up a parasol, unfolded a beach chair, and sat down, returning to his book.

Killer - *placing his things near Nightmare* “Come on, Night! Don’t tell me you’re going to stay there reading the whole time!”

Nightmare - *sighs* “Maybe after I finish, I'll get into the water.”

Killer - *shrugging* “Good enough. See ya!”

Killer quickly ran into the water, enjoying the refreshing, clear waves. As he was enjoying the view, someone splashed him, cold water.

Killer - *shivering and turning around* “Haaa! Cold! Cold!”

Dust chuckled and splashed him again. Soon, Killer retaliated, splashing water back at Dust, who began to shiver in response. Killer teleported near Nightmare and pulled out his water gun, rushing to Horror, who was just entering the water.

Killer - *filling his water gun* “Horror, cover me!”

Horror stepped in front of Killer, shielding him from Dust, who was approaching.

Dust - *gasping* “Traitor! You’re supposed to be on my side!”

Horror merely shrugged and splashed water at Dust, causing him to turn and swim away, meanwhile Papyrus laugh at his brother. As soon as Killer finished filling his water gun, he launched an attack.

Dust - “That’s not fair! I don’t have a water gun!”

Killer - *laughing* “Ha ha, sounds like a you problem!”

Dust turned just as Killer's ammo ran out.

Papyrus - "Brother create a wave!"

Dust nodded with a smile and used his powers to create a massive wave.

Killer - “Wait! Wait! Wait! This isn’t fair!”

Dust & Papyrus - *smirking* “Sounds like a you problem.”

Dust released the wave, hitting both Killer and Horror squarely. They ended up on the shore, completely drenched.

Dust and Papyrus couldn’t stop laughing at them. He picked up the sinking water gun, filled it up, and started shooting at Killer and Horror, who both ran away.

Killer teleported to his bag, splashing a little water on Nightmare, who glared at him. Ignoring the look, Killer quickly grabbed another water gun and rushed over to Horror to save him.

Soon, it became an all-out water war, Dust and Killer fought until they were both completely worn out. Horror smiled and emerged from the water, heading to the basket where he had packed food and snacks. He laid out a picnic blanket.

Horror - *arranging the food around the blanket* “Night, .. do you want anything? I’ve got .. sandwiches, .. fruit, bread, … cheese, and some umm ham.”

Nightmare - *getting up* “I’ll take the fruit, thanks.”

Horror and Nightmare began to eat. Killer and Dust teleported near them, exhausted, they sat down on the blanket, making it a bit wet.

Horror gave them some sandwiches, and soon they all started to eat. As the sun began to set, Nightmare stood up and walked to the water, dipping his feet in.

Killer - *smiling* “Finally enjoying yourself?”

Nightmare - *smiling back* “I always was.”

Killer turned around and saw that Dust and Horror had started a bonfire. He watched as Horror took out some marshmallows.

Killer - *excited* “Night! Let’s go! Let’s roast some marshmallows!”

Killer dragged Nightmare over to the others. The moment Horror saw them, he prepared sticks for roasting marshmallows. Before long, everyone was enjoying roasted marshmallows with hot cocoa.

[rosewaterandivy]

poolside - the bewilderment of esmé and the unveiling of steve

The Carvers definitely have an in-ground lagoon style pool at the house in Hawkins. But Eddie insists on schlepping down to the local community pool for Zoë’s swim lessons.

Never mind that she is a literal baby, but whatever.

Pale as the day is long, in the most ridiculous swim trunks you’d ever had the misfortune to see, and positively slathered in SPF.

Your doing, to his dismay.

But you don’t mind, lanes to swim in and an hour free of child-rearing while Eddie and the other moms go to the morning tater tots class with their kiddos.

“Esmé?” Someone asks before you can kick-turn and begin your next set of laps.

You pry the goggles from your eyes and squint at the man standing before you.

He is wearing a speedo and has dropped his kit at the end of the lane. The end of your lane. A bright yellow flipper flops out of the bag.

“Guilty as charged.” You say, hoping the tone is enough to convey how annoyed you are.

He squats down at eye-level all loose-limbed ease. His smile is easy and genuine. You almost feel bad for acting so surly.

“Mind if I join? We can circle swim.”

And you’d been hoping to avoid this. Hoped your general off-putting demeanor would be enough to warn the residents of Hawkins off— steer clear, here there be dragons, etc.

But this guy.

Reluctantly, you shove over in the lane and say, “Might as well.”

From across the way in the kiddie pool, you can just make out Eddie with his haphazard bun pouring what appears to be a colander filled with water over Zoë’s head. They’re singing the welcome song and spelling out her name as he does so. She coos and babbles gleefully all the while.

Dean, at least you’re pretty sure that’s his name, has his goggles and swim cap on by the time you glance back.

How does he get all that hair in there? And at what cost?

Setting your watch you countdown 3-2-1 before launching down the lane in a breast stroke, Dean not long behind you.

The rest of the hour passes uneventfully, your swim partner turns out to be pretty decent in the water and keeps up without complaint.

Coming to the end of your cool down, you see another set of feet at the end of the lane, but distinctly paler than the last.

Breaching the surface, your arms come to rest at the edge of the tiled wall, legs lazily cutting through the water.

“How’d it go?”

Eddie shrugs, “Pretty well, she didn’t cry this time. Meanwhile, Harper wouldn’t stop howling for love or money.”

“Is that a fact?”

“Yep,” He says with smirk, “Tried bribing her with a crisp twenty and was met with disdain.”

“Well, the going rate is a crisp fifty now, inflation y’know.”

Seeing your raised arms, he passes Zoë off to you and sits on the damp concrete. He waves to Dean at the opposite end of the pool as you tread water with Zoë in hand.

She clings to your side, wary of her new surroundings, and takes in the sights and sounds of the competition pool. You’ve always been a strong swimmer and don’t have trouble with the new addition.

There’s a distant sound of splashing as Dean swims toward you, Zoë focused on the fast approaching man under the blue water.

Eddie says something in greeting as the other man surfaces. You’ve floated away from the wall with Zoë, softly murmuring reassurances to the babe in your arms.

A call of your name draws your attention back to the men at the wall.

“Is that okay?” Eddie asks, voice raised slightly to carry among the background splashes and whistles of the crowded pool.

“Is what okay?”

He rolls his eyes and waves for you to swim closer.

“Robin and Steve wanna stop by later, maybe a few others.” Eddie says as you plop Zoë to sit on the top of the tiled wall. “A cookout pool party thing, maybe?”

You nod along, mentally going through the schedule for the day. It should be fine, no appointments for Zoë or meetings for you. And Eddie sent off his last round of pages earlier this week for line edits.

“Sure, but who’s Steve?”

Eddie’s resounding cackle sounds like a gunshot through the space. Several people stop their conversations to gawk in annoyance.

“Me,” Dean says, a blush slowly creeping up his chest and neck. “I’m Steve.”

“You never said anything!” You sputter, realizing in horror that you’d been referring to this man by the wrong name in front of him for the better part of two months.

He shrugs, like it’s no big deal.

“S’fine,” Dean Steve says, as Zoë kicks water into his face.

He smiles and waves to her as Eddie begins packing up, chuckling to himself every so often.

“You could’ve corrected me at any time.”

Another shrug.

“You were just so confident,” He supplies.

It’s not enough.

“Yeah,” Eddie clucks, “Confident in her wrongness.”

“Shut it, Munson,” You warn lifting yourself from the pool to sit on its edge by Zoë. “You’re on my shit list.”

He rolls his eyes and shoulders the swim bags, “As if I’d be on any other.”

[haoboutyou]

idk if ur reqs are open rn but i was thinking maybe.. a titanic au with mingyu? hehe.. i love angst. honestly it's up to you to twiddle around with the plot but mingyu as jack dawson.. my mouth is watering rn BUT LIKE HE DOESN'T DIE YK AAAA what am i doing

I’m genuinely sorry this is now a headcanon fic. I cannot for the life of me string this into a coherent story. also real sorry 1) it's not angst 2) it took so long :'))

divider credit

right so

this is a strangers 2 lovers type beat

also modern-day cruise so it passes all the safety checks (no dying here)

oh gyu is on the boat with hao because they’re on a cruise with a friend group and y/n’s on the cruise with her family

gyu’s just like “Ugh why cruise? there’s no internet or whatever. with the same amount of money, I could’ve gone to Italy.”

y/n’s like “Omg cruise!!! I love young Leonardo Dicaprio!!!”

they bump into each other at like the swimming pool deck and y/n’s like “Why are you so grumpy? It’s a cruise!"

and he’s like “It’s a cruise. you’re stuck on a ship miles away from land. Have you seen the Titanic?? we can drown and die!!!!”

to which y/n’s like “Bro I fucking love the Titanic. I want to do all the Titanic things minus the r21 parts and the dying parts.”

he’s like “Recreating Titanic? I guess that’s not so bad. Do you need some help?” and y/n’s all “omg please I don’t want to recreate them with my family members”

titanic is where “you jump, I jump” came from right? cause I can totally imagine y/n and mingyu doing this at the cruise’s pool just before they dive in

“If you jump, I’m gonna have to jump in after you.”

mingyu is saying this to y/n because they’re on the diving board and y/n is too scared to jump, so he brings up that line.

y/n’s surprised he knows the exact lines “I thought you said the Titanic was stupid” “Well, Leonardo Dicaprio was hot” and with that, she manages to steel herself for the jump and goes “Well, if you jump then I’ll jump, right?” and then they jump together

(meanwhile, hao's watching on the sidelines like "... that is not how the movie goes but okay" hao is waiting for his turn to jump behind them)

They hear that there’s a caricature artist on board and mingyu’s like “I can’t draw very well, but we can pay this guy to draw us?” “neat. a souvenir!” (they go up to him and mingyu’s flabbergasted that it’s hao because remember: he doesn’t actually work there; he’s also a passenger, but he’s so bored out of his mind that he started drawing and people were noticing that he was drawing and going up to him like “omg artist?? can you draw us????” so he’s like hmm sure ig more money for me)

(i know it's dumb but hao was just this random character that keeps popping up no matter what they do. breakfast? he happens to be sitting at the table they pick. pool? he happens to be tanning there when they stroll past and she almost trips into the pool. drawing? he's the artist. photos? he might as well.)

yes so they do the whole “king of the world!!” and they’re getting another kind passenger to take a picture of them (not hao). he still has an arm around her waist when she takes back the phone from the passenger and the passenger goes “oh to be young and in love again. you guys are such a cute couple!” y/n’s cheeks are red and it’s not because she forgot to reapply sunscreen

he leans over y/n’s shoulder to peek at the phone. “can i see?” y/n is suddenly hyper aware of his close proximity and she’s gone super still as he’s scrolling through the photos.

and then he selects all the photos he likes and airdrops them to himself

mingyu: "do you know what else jack and rose did while they were at the top deck? "

y/n, whispering, well aware that jack took rose’s first kiss (idk that’s what wiki said): "i don’t remember all of a sudden" 

mingyu, leaning in: they kissed

ok so there’s a bar on the ship and hao’s asking gyu to come because “bro the cruise is gonna end (it literally just started) and you still haven’t gotten your money’s worth of booze” so gyu naturally invites y/n. she’s skeptical at first but he goes “didn’t (jack and rose) go dancing too?” she relents and so she goes with him and gyu is just STARSTRUCK at how pretty y/n is even at day ?? of being out at sea

when mingyu and y/n disembark from the ship after the week was over, and mingyu realises that for all the time they spent together they did not exchange numbers At All so he RUNS. the hug when they found each other is so cute. like, it's peak romance. 

i want that.

[gamerbearmira]

Giant siren au, where Antonio isn't part of the family he's a human orphan Pepa found on the beach after the family sunk a ruthless pirate ship that kidnapped him. Pepa was the first and only one to find him before comforting him and assuring him she would never hurt him and that when will keep him safe.

Mirabel was the second siren Antonio met. When mirabel went to check on her tia, she noticed a small little human boy in pepas hands. Mirabel spoke gently to the adorable little boy and introduced herself, Antonio did the same. Then he was introduced to the others who quickly accepted him. Julieta just wanted to cuddle the little thing, Augustine and Felix smiled at the little boy and the young adults/teens just washed him with affection, especially Dolores. Camilo did like the little guy but sometimes trys to make it like he's gonna eat Antonio. ( He would never) Antonio feared him for a while but eventually got used to him.

When Alma heard about it, she was abit concerned. But when she met Antonio, all worries left her mind as all she felt now for Antonio is care and love. Never in her life did she think she would love a human like it was her own baby. ( He is now)

The family grew to love little Antonio, Mirabel always hung out with him and played and gave him older sisterly affection when ever he wanted or when ever she wanted. At first Antonio was still afraid of her but now he sees her as his sister. He would cling on to her face and hug her, swing on her hair and hug her giant fingers. She would pin the boy down and tickle him. She loved Antonio, she didn't want anything bad to happen to him. The family new that humans are very vulnerable. So they will keep Antonio safe. He was their new baby.

Pepa always looked after Antonio like he was her own child. As her love for him grew so did Antonio's love for the family. At one point Antonio was being smothered (gently) in kisses by Pepa as he was laughing hard. As he was trying to escape her fury he accidentally says " Mama stop" as he giggled she stopped and he realized what he said, he felt embarrassed he tried to apologized only to be pressed against her soft cheek as she hugged him and said " My baby" Antonio's eyes were filled with joyfull tears as he hugged her back. Pepa herself was crying softly. Happy that Antonio was now hers. The family grew fond of Antonio that they were sad for him to go. But he didn't have a family or a place to go... until now.

Antonio was now apart of the family and he was happy. So we're the family. Other sirens got to meet the little boy and all loved him. He was proof that not all humans are bad.

One day Antonio was tired from playing Pepa was wide awake. She place him on her chest as he leaned on her and fell asleep the giant siren placed a hand over him for warmth. Antonio says " love you mama" Pepas smiles as her heart melts with love and responds " I love you, Antonio madrigal"

THIS IS SUCH A COOL. AU??? OF AN AU WHATTT <333

This could actually work. I think I mentiomed it before, but giant sirens really like human children, and will care for them, especially if they're found in wreakages or alone. (this also leads to a giant rift in the already rocky relationship between sirens and humans because...sirens have a habit of taking kids off the docks and beaches.)

The family would totally love him <333 Especially Pepa and Felíx. Antonio actually gets really attached to the family too, really fast. They’re the first time he’s felt like he’s belonged somewhere. And the Madrigals love him dearly. It wasn’t a surprise to the others when they found Pepa doting on him and. Well, crying. Meanwhile Antonio was asleep.

Antonio probably can swim underwater for a long time, not only can he hold his breath but he can see pockets of air and uses those to breath lmao

[paintedkinzy-88]

Im sorry to bother you. I just wanted to say that I love your COI AU. I love the leo angst in it and the Dragon. I have always loved dragons and this scratches a itch I didn't know I had 😆 I was reading back through the asks and saw where you weren't sure about Leos hoard, and then I saw an ask about how he used to talk with Donnie about getting wings. They would talk about shows like Rio and Gaurdians of Gahool. So maybe his hoard can be birds. Just imagine he has all these bird stuffies and figures because he loves movies with flying because he wants to fly, but his family just assumes he just likes birds. Donnie, of course, knows about the dreams, but leo just always plays it off, so it never clicks for Donnie that the bird hoard is another hint at his need to fly. When his brothers find out the birds make so much more sense to them and the obvious obsession just hits them hard because they never noticed. Just a random thought, lol. Sorry that was really long.

Never a bother to get an ask! I love reading everyone’s thoughts!! I’m glad you enjoy it! (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Ahhhh I really had to think about this for a while, feel how it would fit in the story, and the more I think about it, the more I actually really like that idea, dang it! I hadn’t actually planned on adding hoards, but you guys make it too fun XD

I’m still debating if it’s ooc at all for him... and if I care lmao. So excuse me as I go on a whole ass ramble once again, to get my new thoughts in order, and maybe see if anyone likes it lmaooo.

Everyone knows that Leo’s liked birds since he was a little dragonet, specifically because of what you mentioned: movies! Rio, The Aviators, even Angry Birds, he loved them all! But at the end of the day, Guardians of Ga’Hoole is what started everything. With scenes like this, as a kid who never really thought about what it was LIKE to fly beside Raph and Mikey? That little tot was immediately fascinated.

However, he also really liked Happy Feet before that, for the exact opposite reason: the swimming (Though the music was a bonus too). He was familiar with that, and he was good at it too, so seeing these lil penguins swimming in an ocean instead of the little pool Splinter was able to get for them was HUGE.

So when birds became such an important thing that it triggered his hoarding instincts, why would anyone assume anything was wrong? Obviously that’s where his questions about flight came from! Birds birds birds.

Bird toys, bird figurines, bird pokemon cards, pictures, movies, plushies, books, he was collecting it all!

It wasn’t until he got to see HTTYD or Avatar, (both a little after he finally accepted flying wasn’t an option for him and obsessing over it wasn’t helping), that he realized his hoard wasn’t just limited to birds. Dragons (ACTUAL dragons, not drakes or serpents…), bats, insects, frikkin flying squirrels — suddenly he was aching to get items revolving around those too.

But if he let himself hoard stuff like that all willy nilly, his family would certainly piece it together, wouldn’t they??

He’s able to let a few items fly (pun intended), like a plush dragon here and there because “it looks like Mikey,” a cool pinned butterfly because it’s “blue, like me,” a bat diagram because “there’s no medical poster for dragon wings, we need that in the medbay, obviously!” Anything he can come up with an excuse for.

But anything else? Anything that might raise too many eyebrows? Like that dragon onesie or that giant bat Halloween decor or the whole WoF comic book series??? Either resist the temptation, or shove it under his bed.

Meanwhile, he absolutely gets teased for being “SO into birds” as a dragonet, it became his hoard. But that’s fine, they tease each other a lot, it’s not as if all of his family doesn’t constantly bring him more bird stuff as gifts lmao.

[sailorsenshishitposter]

Why you should never bring twin demons to a McDonald's

Tonight was your first month anniversary with the twins and they had wanted to do something special. You were all prepared to go to a fancy restaurant for the evening but were kicked out before you could enter due to Dantes unfortunate taste in clothing. The owner took one look at him and noticed he was wearing hot pink booty shorts with a t-shirt that said "pizza slut" on it and said "I think that place over there is more suited to your needs...". The man pointed to a building with large golden arches in the shape of an M. Vergil took out Yamato and stabbed his brother in the stomach (causing all bystanders to flee in horror). He smoothed his fingers through his hair and screamed "DAMN IT BROTHER, YOU ALWAYS DO THIS!" You noticed steam starting to rise from him and you decided to descalate the situation. "Really it's okay guys, I'm fine as long as I'm with the both of you."

You were now at McDonald's with a grumpy Vergil and a smug Dante. Not wanting to deal with twin toddler tantrums, you decided you would go find seats. Dante was about to get the food but Vergil was insistent on being the one to do it. "You've already ruined this night enough, your spending privileges are revoked. Now get out of my sight." The younger twin was happy not to be paying for once and so he agreed. Dante was about to go sit down with you when he noticed the second room next door. "No way, they actually have it! Woohoo!". The man ran straight for the ball pit.

You glanced at your watch and wondered what could be taking them so long. You then remembered that Dante had the brain of a goldfish and was most likely trying to swim like one in the ball pit. "Shit!" You cursed and you went after him. Meanwhile Vergil was standing at the cash register waiting for his order to be taken. He had waited five minutes and thought "I've had enough of this" and as he was walking away he accidentally stepped into the touch screen menu. He stared and pondered. "What form of power is this. Technology in my day was no where near advanced as this. Am I to believe that humans have been replaced by machines?"

You eventually found your boyfriend and it was time to get him back to the table. "DANTE!!" you yelled, "You're too old for this! This room is meant for children!" There he was doing backstrokes while pushing his lips together so he could imitate a fish. Dante even made little "whooosh" noises as if he was actually in a body of water. Sadly it was time to pull the plug and you grabbed him by the ankle. "NOOOOOOOOOO JUST FIVE MORE MINUTES I SWEAR, PLEASE!!!!!" he cried but you just kept pulling as hard as you could. Grabbing a 250 pound demon was going to be a hassle.

You were exhausted by the time you made it to the doors but you finally managed to drag Dante out with you. Since he wanted to act like a child he was going to get the booster seat. You went to find one only to notice Vergil banging his fists and screaming. "WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING! WHY HAVE YOU FORESAKEN RONALD! ALL I WANTED WAS A CHICKEN BURGER! WHY IS V ALLOWED TO HAVE PRECIOUS MEAT BUT I CAN'T EVEN HAVE A CRUMB OF A CHICKEN TENDER!"

You ran to your other boyfriend and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Vergil what's wrong!?" you asked. He started to sob into your shoulder and mentioned something about how being gone for over twenty years has left him with no idea how modern technology works and that he lost to what was essentially a vending machine. You rubbed his back and said "Let's go home you guys. Dante I'll fill the tub with rubber balls so you can play fish. And Vergil I think some gardening will cheer you up. Just remember that it stays in the house and that you can't feed plants with blood." Vergil wiped his eyes and said "Understood"

[theknightmarket]

Okay, okay. Hear me out. Damien...during his college days. Long before the events of WKM. Maybe he didn't know what he wanted in life yet, maybe he did but was struggling to keep himself on track. That's where our dear reader/future DA comes in.

- Alexandrite

P. S. I appreciate the love! Hopefully I can start out on that project soon 💜

“What if I just sit here and die?”

In which Damien is plagued by indecision, and the only hope in sight is one confident stranger.   

[This is a two-parter, since this has been in my inbox for a while, and I really wanted to get something out. Here's the second part!]

TW: cursing, self-deprecation

Pages: 16 – Words: 6,000

[Requests: OPEN]

Mid-life crises were common in the university. So much so that you could expect every fifth lecture to be cancelled due to the professor’s collapsing mindset. Was this worth it? Would it lead to anything more? Or was the crumbling of the bridge catching up to you? These were questions that every member of staff asked themselves when they stepped foot onto the campus in the morning.

Mid-life crises were less common among the actual students. For one, most of them were not halfway through their lives, and, secondly, they had nothing to worry about. Half of them would have tracked down future employers, a quarter just waiting to get in on daddy’s company, and the final group filling out the few details on an army enrolment form. Really, crises weren’t only uncommon, they were near impossible to find, like tracking down a fish that didn’t know how to swim yet. Either they were rooted out at the very beginning of the year, or they learned to battle the tides – the only other option was drowning under assignments and expectations. 

And that was what made it so much worse for those select students. Their rarity left them completely alone in the educational world, fleeing from commitments as fast as they could make them. Another reason why they were hard to find was simply because they never left their rooms. They’d wake up, go to class, and then return to their homes while everyone else was out living life with the security of a life after this. It was horror to watch out the window, and torture to hear all of the pushing and nagging from the few friends they might have had. 

Damien was in this unusual group of students, and William was the friend. Go figure, they were in Damien’s dorm room, the man himself staring out the blue-stained glass at a distant football game, while Will tinkered with the knick-knacks on his shelf. If there was one detail that Damien did not fit into, it was that his friend was not pushing and nagging him. Instead, he seemed more interested in the random assortment of objects scattered around his room. 

Placing down a broken slingshot, Will sighed, “I don’t know why you’re so high-strung about this.” 

Damien could do nothing more than sigh; he wondered that too, more times than he could count on two hands. It was an unfortunate routine he had trapped himself in, one that left him in this very position after each and every lecture. He just… he found it hard to understand what everyone else found simple. The professor would say some mumbo-jumbo, a phrase he was sure the guy made up on the spot, and his classmates would nod along, like doing laps in a kiddy-pool. Meanwhile, he was left up a creak without a paddle. Eventually, it would get to be too much, and he’d flop down face first into his pillow and hope to wake up when he could get it. 

The only thing that he actually woke up to was William pounding on his door. He opened it, Will barged in, he asked what was wrong and, not long after, they were in this scenario. The third one this week, if Damien was counting correctly, but he couldn’t be sure that he was able to, at this point. 

“It’s only my entire future and wellbeing,” he replied, barely able to get the words out without straying into the fog of his thoughts. 

Will’s only response was a simple, “Exactly,” – and one that had him falling into the creaky chair beside him, still in view of the field but supported, as if thinking about this dilemma was taking a physical toll on him. 

“What if I just sit here and die?” he muttered. Really, it looked like a better option than worrying all the time. 

“Then you will be sorely missed.” 

William plucked a stack of cards from one of the shelves across the wall and flicked through it like a picture book. A few times they and their friends had gotten together for game nights, but Damien had only won once, and that was when half the group was drunk off their heads and the others too busy stopping them from hurting themselves to notice his crumbling poker-face. After that, he was the designated underdog in poker nights. 

So, gambling his way into fortune was out of the question. 

“It’s better than suffering here.”

The bed to his left dipped down as Will practically threw himself on top of it. The cards exploded out of his hands and across the sheets, as if he were spreading seeds throughout a garden. He was lucky that nothing fell on the floor, or Damien might have opened that window and thrown himself out of it. A bit of an overdramatic reaction, but what else was he supposed to do? There was only so much he could take, and anymore trouble was liable to push him over the edge, be it spilt cards, extra projects or students coming down the hall just slightly too loudly. 

Will didn’t seem bothered by it, though; he blew his moustache away from his mouth and started to collect the cards again. “Then you drop out,” he answered lackadaisically, “or you stay in, who cares? It’ll get you to stop worrying, at least.”

From his spot by the window, he watched as the university football team emptied onto the field. He didn’t know any of them personally, but, from where he was sitting, it looked like an easy life. Throw a ball, then get tackled for it - laugh along with your peers without a care in the world, except for who had the thing next. If only his days were that simple.

“I have to get this degree.” 

“Says who?”

“Every possible employer.”

Technically, this degree was a bit of a stretch. Most of the law offices just wanted any Bachelor’s, but Damien had already switched twice at the start of the year, experiences that had made him too scared to set foot near that block of offices again. He had landed on a Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management, which was a mouthful, for one reason and one reason only. 

It was the one that his dart hit when he chucked it at the board. 

Finally having all the suits in one hand, Will huffed, “Ah, what do they know anyway? When I was your age, you only had to walk in with a smile and can-do attitude to get a job.”

Damien blinked. “You’re younger than me.” Not to mention that the only career that was possible in was, go figure, the military. Sometimes he questioned if his friend would be able to get any other profession, but there was no other choice than being a raging, gun-wielding madman willing to die for a badge.

“What I’m saying is,” Will shifted to sit up straighter on the mattress, “this degree should not decide your future, but you’re letting it.”

“No, I’m not,” Damien sighed back.

“Are, too!”

The image of William staring at him with a pointed figure, a bloodhound that had caught his unfortunate scent, was getting on his nerves the second it appeared. He wasn’t letting the degree decide anything, because he could barely make a decision, as is. If it were to make the choice for him, the better it would be for everyone. For him. 

Damien looked back to the football game.

“Either you get a grip on the situation, or you don’t.”

They seemed to be having fun.

“There are so many other jobs out there that you’re suited to.”

Sure, some of them were hurt, but the comradery seemed worth it.

“If you want to be stuffed in an office all day, you could be an accountant- ah, no, you’re terrible at math… Damien, are you hearing me?”

Maybe he should join the football team.

“Damien?”

God, no, he’d hate that. 

“Damien!”

He whipped his head to face Will, ready to give him a piece of his mind, but stopped short of letting it all out. He was only trying to help, he reasoned to himself, even if his ‘help’ was anything but at the moment. 

So, instead, he let his shoulders drop and eyes cast to the floor. “You wouldn’t understand, Will.”

He didn’t have the same reservations about snapping. “Like hell I wouldn’t!” William yelled, “I’ve listened to you go on and on about this course, I should think I know what you’re going through by now.” 

Now, Damien’s parents were always very hesitant to visit him, or get in touch with him in any other way – ever since he had moved out for university, they had preoccupied themselves with finding Celine a husband. He was empathetic, of course, but there was a larger part of him that was relieved for their attention being off of him. In this moment, however, he realized just how relieved he should have been. The hands on his side, the near scowl, the suspenders. Will looked like the poster boy for disappointed fathers, and Damien was not a fan of this role reversal. 

He shook his head and leaned forwards, lacing his hands over his mouth, “I’m the one talking, and I barely know what I’m going through.”

“Look,” Will pat his shoulder, “the worst thing you could do it drop out entirely, so why not stick with it, eh?”

“But what if it’s all a waste of time?”

“Then it’ll be a waste of time. Hell, you could always come join me in the military.”

This forced a laugh out of Damien, something he was thankful for, but confused at his sudden joke. Hadn’t he just been chewing him out? He chocked it up to wanting to change the mood. “Very funny, Will.” 

He didn’t laugh. 

“Are you serious?”

That’s when his cold façade wilted, and he pounced forward to grip his friend’s upper arms. That old smile was back, and a large grin paraded onto his mouth. There was practically the sparkle of a thousand stars in his eyes as he spoke with such enthusiasm that Damien would have thought he was recounting a moment of heroism. 

“Oh, think about it! We’d go into battle together, whip out our gats, and get shot in the chests by the enemy—” a wistful sigh escaped him, “—can’t you just imagine it?”

With a chuckle more nervous than before, Damien removed his friend’s hands and placed them back on Will’s hips. It was a weird movement that he was surprised he let happen, but the man was more focused on Damien’s words of, “I think I would prefer something… less life-threatening?”

A pout. “You’re no fun.” After he moved to return the playing cards to the shelf, giving Damien time to breath in his personal space again, he bounced back to the bed. “And a career in law isn’t life-threatening?” he partially joked. 

“Not any more than a battlefield.”

A deadpan look overcame Will, a slow blink, and then he counted on his fingers while replying, “Political violence, riots, assassinations…” 

Damien threw his head back with a groan, some of his hair coming askew.

“Ah. Sorry, friend.”

He really knew how to cheer a guy up, huh? Why he even called on him anymore was beyond him, but who else was free to listen to his lamentations. He was becoming a broken record, though he wasn’t happy with it, and he had all but exhausted the rest of his options. Mark gave up after his first crisis, and Celine told him the cut and dry without a second opinion, leaving William the only one to actually hear him out, even if his advice was less than good. After him, the only thing left was talking to the wall. 

Not that he needed to resort to that, because, seconds later, there was a knock at the door. Damien squinted at his friend, suspicious of some ambush he’d orchestrated, but he looked just as surprised to hear the sound as he was. So, while he watched, Will moved to swing the wood open. 

“Ah, Celine!”

God, no. 

“Is Damien in there?”

Why did she decide that now was the best time to check up on him? His inner complaints didn’t matter; at Will’s chipper reply of, “Yep,” she shouldered past him and glared down at her brother, even more disappointed than Will had been. 

Celine had always been an oddball, and he could say that, because he had spent the first sixteen years of his life tied to her hip. Whenever their parents told her to do something, she would ask why, and when they answered, she would ask why again. To the point, she was curious and determined, a combination that the locals thought discouraging for a woman. Of course, she didn’t care. The snide comments rolled off her like water on a duck’s back, and she went about her days doing whatever she wanted to. Even now, she had invested her life into the dark arts, one of the hobbies that separated her from the rest of her family, but Damien never saw reason to stop her. He was worried for her, granted, but that was only because of certain… events that proved it was a dangerous practice. He was just glad to have her in his life. 

Although, at that moment, he regretted sticking so close to her. 

“What are you doing?” she demanded the second she stopped within two inches of him, a glower clear on her face. 

“Wallowing.” 

“Why?” 

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life.” 

Surmising the last half hour in two sentences put things into perspective, but that just made him fall deeper into the pit with how much time he had wasted. 

Celine, expression as blank as a mannequin’s, answered bluntly, “You’re going into the law sector.” 

Damien could do naught but sigh. That much was easy to get, it was just the next months that were going to be tough. “I know, but…” he trailed off, trying his best to avoid her scornful eyes.

“Not ‘but’. You’re going to do it, and that’s final.”

“How do I get through the year?”

Celine looked at him like he was dumb. “You do the work, take the exams, get the degree.”

“You say that like it’s simple.” 

He hadn’t realized that the ‘you really are stupid’ look on her face could intensify, but, apparently, it could. “It is.” 

Damien hated it when she looked down on him – literally and figuratively, and, this time, the combination of the two exchanged his sorrow for something else. The way she spoke boiled his blood, she hadn’t even gone to university, and there she was, talking to him with sure-fire confidence that was going to get her into trouble! Damien loved his sister, he really did, but there was only so much advice and simplification that he could handle. Will, who was standing idly in the corner with a notebook in one hand, had loaded him with the bags, while Celine added the last straw that broke his back. 

“You know what?” he huffed, shooting to stand up straight. His eyeline met Celine’s, passed by to glare at William, and then returned to his sister. If they really wanted to give out unnecessary opinions, they could commentate that football game. “Out.”

“Damien,” she spoke, simple but stern, but he wasn’t having it. 

“Not ‘Damien’—” he pushed at her shoulders and guided her towards the door again, Will standing to attention beside her, “—leave my dorm room. Go on, out you go.”

Halfway through the doorway, Celine called over her shoulder, “You’re going to have to decide sooner or later.”

“Oh, I thought you’d decided for me.”

“Dam—”

She was cut off by Damien yelling, “Goodbye!” and slamming the door behind the two of them. He felt slightly bad when one of his photos collapsed onto the floor from the shaking of the wall, but he himself was shaking too much to care. To ensure he wouldn’t be bothered again, he dragged the wooden chair away from the window and lodged it underneath the door handle, falling onto it within the next second. 

His group of friends were pushy, stressful and beyond annoying in the best of occasions – but they were his friends, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He just… wanted some time to talk through his knot of thoughts without comments or advice or anyone trying to convince him to do anything else. Yes, he realized that he had no clue what he was doing, but he didn’t need anyone coming in, uphauling his life and telling him what to do with it. He only wanted to be okay. 

That got incredibly harder to do when yet another hit against the door caught his attention. All of his thoughts of peace and calm smashed out the window like frantic doves, while Damien himself all but chucked the chair back where it came from. Not even a second into his break, and someone had to interrupt him! He swore that if it were Celine and William again, he would break something. 

“I told you—oh.”

Except it wasn’t them. In fact, it wasn’t anyone he had spoken to before in his life. 

You were practically a stranger to him. 

That was a regrettable fact, due in no small part to you having shared a class for the last year and a half. Despite Damien not speaking up in class a lot, there was the odd moment that he would hear you answering a question or posing a problem to the leading professor. They always had the ability to make him more secure in the knowledge that you asked about, but it didn’t help when you understood something completely. Hell, sometimes he’d be on the brink of walking up to you and getting the answer from you directly but chickening out at the last second was a fond habit of his. To conclude, he knew nothing of you and you nothing of him. So, that begged the question: why were you standing outside his door, fist still raised in the air and a shocked look in your eye?

“Uh, hi?”

“Hello.” 

You visibly swallowed. Had he made a bad impression already? What was he saying, of course, he had. 

“I’m, uh, I’m new- well, new to the campus, I mean,” you laughed lightly to stave off some of the awkwardness that permeated the space between you both, “I’ve been here a while, and I just wanted to introduce myself to the people around my dorm.” You sent a glance over his shoulder and, presumably, spotted the toppled chair. “Sorry if I disturbed you?”

Damien rushed to answer, “No, no, not at all. I just had some visitors.” He could feel the heat radiating off his face, no less sure that it was doused in a fire-hydrant red. 

Nodding slowly, a smile crept over your mouth. “Okay, well, I’m just down the hall in 53. I’ll be seeing you around?”

Damien, too, nodded, but with double the speed and triple the nervousness. He was terrible at socialising, and the icing on the cake was when he, barely conscious of his body, outstretched one hand. Etiquette training from his parents really paid off, huh? He’d made a fool of himself in the first minute of meeting someone, probably even less if you’d heard his yelling. Maybe this was a sign that he should switch university entirely, get away from this horrid introduction with one of the only people willing to be friendly with him. And, great, he must be flailing in the interaction because even his hand is blushing now!

Or going insane, if him forgetting that hands don’t blush was anything to go by; in reality, you were just shaking it back. 

Your hand was… warm. That was the first thing he noticed, the second being the style of your handshake – it was firm and definite, but not mean-spirited. Analysing it might have been weird, but it was the only thing he could do to stop himself from spiralling or squeezing too hard. 

The pressure left quickly, though, and while your mouth moved to say a formal goodbye, Damien didn’t hear a word of it. He was too focused on the possibility of someone to talk to who wasn’t a childhood friend. It both excited him and had him biting back panic. 

As calmly as he could, he closed the door after you’d moved down the hallway. God forbid you or anyone else see him such a mess. He made it a half-step in front of his bed before he collapsed dramatically overtop it. He would have to tread lightly in lectures now, even more than he had before, and that was not something he was looking forward to. 

That following morning, when he shuffled out of the floor of students and into the classroom, Damien was prepared. His plan was set in stone; to get to his desk, set out his books, avoid any and all eye contact with you or anyone associated with you until the class was over, and then leave, possibly to never return, but that was par for the course. He had just about completed the first part of his plan when you arrived, followed swiftly by a couple of your friends. 

Damien dared not look up from the wood as you situated yourself, in your usual seat and ready to get started. He appreciated your enthusiasm, but it didn’t stop at the requirements of electoral candidates. No, unfortunately for him and his steadily cracking stone, it extended to your social skills. 

Once your eyes caught his, you didn’t miss a beat in stalling your conversation with a friend to shoot him a smile and wave. Damien could feel his heart in his throat even after you had looked away. That spark in your eye – it was so mesmerizing, like a firefly that he wanted to put in a jar for safe-keeping. It was a weird feeling to suddenly want to learn about something, be engaged in the present, just because you were. It almost made him laugh; it took you two seconds to do what all of the guidance counsellors on the campus couldn’t do in two years. You really were something, huh? 

While Damien was busy flipping his brain on, you were barely awake. To be honest, you hadn’t slept well the night before, and a class as early as this one was bound to make you none the better. Upon stepping foot through the room’s door, you had been ready to call it quits right then and there – but who did you see but that guy, the one with the dark, combed back hair and alarmingly striking eyes, sitting on the opposite side of the room to you. Damien, if you remembered correctly from the first day on the course. Back then, you had sat at the back, and watched as everyone told the professor their name, his reactions, their reactions to those reactions, and so on, and so forth. It was an exercise in futility because you almost immediately forgot everything you had paid attention to. Or you thought you had, completely and utterly blown from your mind. 

But then there was Damien. Now, you hadn’t said a word to him in the time you’d been in a class together and you hadn’t even known he lived on campus until yesterday. It was a turn of fate that the room George Jacobs had vacated was down the hall from him, and that he was the only one still there to answer the door. 

Everyone else had been down watching that football game, cheering on their selected team. However, you had no sentimental attachments to anything yet, you didn’t care which team won or lost or got injured or called out unfairly by the referee. You were more concerned with the people who would be around you for the next couple months, though your worry went uncomforted because every door that you rapped upon was empty. Either that, or they heard you coming and vowed not to open up. 

You made your way down the hall, shined shoes reflecting the lights of torches on the wall. Even though it was only just getting into autumn, the nights were getting darker, and the days were getting shorter, and you were wondering if investing in fluffy jackets was the right thing to do. As you waltzed across the clean rug, you let your eyes wander. The decorations weren’t half bad; a bunch of old but pretty paintings spread across the walls, and plant pots lining certain doorways. A golden fire extinguisher hung worryingly used at the end, but before you could get to it, you stopped. 

From out one of the rooms, 61 or 62 from your point of view, two people exited. Exited was a general term, really, because they looked to be more shoved out than leaving on their own accord. They exchanged a few words before the darker haired one grabbed the other’s hand and dragged them down the corridor opposite you. Neither spared you a glance before they were out into the stairwell, but that was fine by you, because you were more focused on the door slamming closed after them. 

Anyone else might have been put off by such a clear sign of aggression, but you were far from anyone else. This, to you, only showed that someone was home, and that was someone you were going to introduce yourself to. Besides, you had come out here to see who you were going to live near, and a nameless student with at least two friends and anger issues was a hell of a way to start. 

So, with more of a bounce in your step than before, you jogged up to the door. It loomed in front of you, the peephole practically staring daggers into your soul, until you raised a fist and knocked a rhythm against the wood. Barely a second had gone by before a crash slipped around the hinges and the door whirled open. 

“I told you—oh.”

Your eyebrows jumped halfway up your forehead, registering a slightly familiar face and a completely unfamiliar reaction. It was unexpected and had you pressing your backfoot into the ground in surprise. You’d noticed Damien once or twice in the back of the class, the guy who was always present and presumably ready at the start of the lecture. Thinking back on it, you don’t think you’ve seen that classroom empty. He’d never taken a sick day or been late, and that left you with a somewhat skewed impression of him, not that you knew it was sorely incorrect. 

But all in all, you’d thought that the silent, collected bystander in the class would be the last one to burst out with such a tone. You were left subtly speechless while he looked on in apparent disbelief. 

“Uh, hi?”

“Hello.”

And the conversation continued – if you could call it that – in relative awkwardness. You tried to be nice, introduce yourself as your family had taught you to, but you couldn’t help but think that something was… off about the interaction. Maybe it was the timing, maybe it was you, or maybe it was just dumb luck that Damien didn’t look like he wanted to talk then. The interaction was quick and efficient, the worst combination for a good chat to be, in your opinion. It left you wondering if you should apologise and start again, maybe during work hours when you weren’t intruding on his personal time. 

While the whole moment was lacklustre, there was one take away that had you looking forward to the next day; Damien had shaken your hand, not something you had expected, but it gave you some information, all the same. A handshake was indicative of someone’s personality, and this time, you were very interested in the results. First of all, Damien had initiated it, so the leading theory was that he was confident when in his own space, when he had the most control. Second was something that contradicted it, though, since his barely-there pressure hinted that he was not sure in his social skills but that he still had them. Likely engrained in him from an early age – like singing a song, but not understanding the lyrics. Finally, and this was your thought as you began to walk back to your room, you were the one to let go. You weren’t a shrink, not by any means, however, you thought yourself good at reading people. It seemed that Damien’s impulse to shake your hand might have started from tradition but continued with the physical touch of your hand. That look in his eye was far-away, the pupils locked onto your handshake, and a faint scattering of red along his cheekbones. People in the university often desired closeness, and you had a feeling Damien was no different. You almost apologized when you let go. 

To conclude, Damien, confident in his area, well-taught but timid, impersonally romantic, and, although it was something you didn’t catch from his handshake, handsome to boot. To say you were intrigued would be an understatement. 

And that was exactly why you found yourself checking the clock and walking up to Damien’s desk. You had to manoeuvre around a lot of other tables, giving him plenty of time to notice you, but he was still staring distantly at his notebook when you came to a stop next to him. 

You cleared your throat. “Hey, there.”

The second that the first syllable made its way out of your mouth, he looked up in surprise, like you’d just told him the president had died. His expression was almost horrified, which wasn’t the way that you wanted to start this interaction, but you could adapt. 

To ground yourself, you leaned back on the desk behind you. The wooden legs creaked and bent under your weight, though they stayed upright while you collected your thoughts. You didn’t want to scare him, far from it, you just wanted to get to know him a little. You weren’t the best at making friends, most of the people you spend time with being the people from down your street when you were a child, so this was a new, but welcome, challenge. 

But first things first, you had to make sure he wasn’t going to run away at the first sign of you being anything but what was expected. 

“I’m sorry if I came off weird last night,” you started, edging your bets with a small chuckle. 

Damien’s eyes darted around your face, looking for something of which you had no clue, but it wasn’t long before they landed back on his notebook. “Yeah, no, it wasn’t… you’re fine.”

“Thanks, I’m, uh, not normally like that, I guess it was just weird being in a new place without any family.” 

“Well, that’s not always a bad thing.”

Your eyebrows furrowed with this new information. It was a comment you hadn’t expected from him, but you had a feeling that it had something to do with those people coming out of his dorm room. After all, thinking back on it, that first one had the same dark shade of hair as the man before you did. It wouldn’t hurt to take a chance.

“Were the people last night your family?”

This encounter was going swimmingly, since he, apparently, hadn’t expected that from you either. This was a lesson in not judging a book by its cover, huh? 

It took him a second to realise that he was still in a conversation, but Damien’s answer came a moment after. “One of them, yes. My sister, Celine, my twin, actually.” 

“Oh, is she at the university, too?”

“No, no, she isn’t a fan of mass educational environments. Will isn’t either, but that’s what make them a pair.”

“Will?” 

By this time, a fuzzy feeling was rising in your chest, the same kind that you’d get when you clutched a hot water bottle close to you on a cold night. This was a conversation – you were having an actual conversation with someone you’d just formally met! You would have pat yourself on the back had you not been in public, but you noted it down for future reference when you were alone again. 

“Yes, he’s my friend. I’ve known him for years, ever since he accidentally shot a slingshot through my bedroom window.”

That drew a laugh from you, one that surprised the both of you as it came out. Etiquette be damned, that was funny, so you let your true feelings show. 

Your sudden chuckling brought forth Damien’s own few mimics, only interrupted by you shifting your arm to gesture towards your own group of friends. 

“That one’s James,” you commented, ‘that one’ being a blond, more on the shorter side, guy, heavy-set with an ironed shirt that he was nearly bursting out of. You moved your hand to the left, now pointing at a laughing woman, who had an arm wrapped around another boy’s shoulders. You supplied, “Kate and Michael,” before nodding at the last person sitting around the conglomeration of desks, “and Edward.” 

“They seem, uh, nice.”

It hadn’t been a joke, and yet you laughed anyway. You stopped yourself before it attracted any more attention than you had already garnered, and muttered, “Yeah, they sure seem it.” 

“I mean it,” Damien replied, grasping for his pen in the wake of a steadily rising blush. 

“I know you do,” you replied, humour clear in your voice, “but just you wait until you meet them.” 

Meet them? Damien’s redness shot out of him like a bullet as his eyebrows furrowed. You wanted him to meet your friends, or did you mean in general? He weighed the options and found that he’d rather you introduced him, not even considering the fact that you would be introducing him. 

“Unless you don’t want to, of course,” you rushed to say when you noticed he looked almost conflicted.

“Oh, no, I do want to!” The words fled from him before he was aware that he was thinking them. It was only when he you smiled a bright, contagious smile, that he started to fiddle with the cap of his pen once more.

“Great!” You might’ve been embarrassed to admit that your heart beat slightly faster, your hands started to sweat, and the urge to scream tapped at the back of your throat. “We’ll get it set up, then, shall we? I was thinking maybe tomorrow at 12, or, if you’re busy, we—” 

“Can everyone take their seats?”

Your head snapped up on your shoulders, spine straightening, and your attention directed to the suddenly full classroom. Or, rather, not suddenly; you’d been too enthralled by getting Damien to talk to your friends that the students filing into the room flew under your radar – not even the person who normally sat in the seat you were occupying cared enough to ask you to move. They, notably, had set themself up where you normally would sit. 

The one time the class was actually full, and it was the time you were definitely going to embarrass yourself for it. 

Ignoring the brightening of your face and choking down an awkward laugh, you met the eyes of the professor at the front. He had this very specific look that you never thought you’d see directed at yourself, but there was a time for everything. It was almost smouldering to look at, and you weren’t sure if it was your face burning from your blush or from his glare.

“Oh, sir, I’m not—” you rushed to explain. 

The glare worsened. You swallowed. 

“Everyone, take your seats.”

You shuffled into the wooden chair of the desk you had been sitting on, confident in only one thing; that you’d made a fool of yourself. The impulse to slam your head through the table was strong, but you fought it if only to avoid further attention. Sheepishly, you cast a smile towards Damien, who offered back a smaller, but still genuine, grin of sympathy.

You could do this. Totally. Why wouldn’t you be able to? It was just sitting next to a potential new friend who had seen you mess up thrice now. 

What could go wrong?

 

[‘Hey, Alexandrite :D

Woah, two two-parters in a week?? Seriously though, apologies for the wait, exams have been kicking my ass. Also, this is a two-parter mainly because I think I just really like writing Damien’s dynamics with his friends. I’ll definitely be getting the second part out after exams all finish, though, so I hope it’ll be worth the wait]

[herrlindemann]

Rock Hard - September 1996

Mannheim, Capitol

Like almost all gigs of this tour, today's is sold out. No wonder, because Rammstein not only lures with a spectacular show, but also with extremely fair admission prices of around 25 marks at the box office. A number of bands, who put in much less effort but claim that it wouldn't go under 35 mice, can take an example from this!

When I enter the hall, the Farmer Boys, who are the only support act this evening, since Mink Stole also act as an opener on the partly overlapping Fu Manchu tour, have just started their gig. Despite being fairly obscure, they can excite around 50 head-bangers; the rest of the visitors give courtesy applause.

Rammstein start their gig with 'Rammstein' and the singer Till is on fire to match the lyrics. Irrespective of this almost traditional start, the guys, like on their last tour with DJ Komm, are very keen to experiment and test new songs and show gimmicks.

In addition to 'Spiel mit mir', which has been part of the set list for some time, and the rough 'Bück dich' (”...your face doesn't interest me”), there is also an audio sample of a 'man who cannot distinguish between humans and animals', which, despite the good text, still seems a bit immature. The usual fires and explosions are joined by the blowing up of a styrofoam head and Richard's hat on fire. After two blocks of encores - including the always funny Sado/Maso riding routine by keyboarder Flake and Till - the raging pack is finally satisfied. When the lights go on in the hall, not only countless "mullet superstars" ("short in front, long in back") can be seen in the audience, but also a few drunk rednecks in older Onkelz shirts.

We want to celebrate the after-show party in the outdoor pool where Break Out colleague Marco Magin works full-time as a lifeguard, but because he's so attached to his job, he doesn't want to give out the key at all. As a replacement, I'm going to Heidelberg with the two guitarists Paul and Richard and drummer Christoph to the "Swimming Pool", which isn't exactly the same, but a multi-storey club. In a good mood, various alcohols flow, so that some small technical problems of the previous show are quickly forgotten. Paul gets the new nickname Tim Thaler (Does anyone else know him?) because he no longer laughs on stage, and no longer twists his face.

On the way back to the club, I have a lengthy discussion with him about the Onkelz fans in the audience and the alleged legal bias from some quarters.

“I think it's too flat to just put a 'No Fascism' sticker on our next album, in keeping with the trend,” he sums up. “In my opinion there is no reason for that, because Till's texts are not political at all. If we caused trouble because of sexism, I would understand it, but I can't understand all this Nazi theater for the best will in the world.”

As already sufficiently explained in the interview, there are some ambivalent points on the surface, but when they are discussed in detail, they are not good enough to push the band into the right-wing camp. The experiences of this tour have emphatically proven that it doesn't belong there either. So for all notorious skeptics to write down again: Rammstein are non-political!

When we arrive at the Modernes, tour guide Tommy falls in love — with a 1950s Cadillac Fleetwood. After it turns out it belongs to a guy from local security, he won't give up until he gets the keys. He sits proudly behind the wheel and would like to buy the good piece right away. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the requested 22,000 eggs at hand right now.

Meanwhile, newly pierced F.B. guitarist Alex buys 20 red roses to send to his girlfriend; in addition to two calls a day, another token of love. Unbelievable, but true: musicians can also be on tour like this...

Mink Stole have to start their set under thankless conditions, because at 20.00 the place is still almost empty. Little by little the people pour in, but they don't seem particularly interested in the Swabians' noise rock. The introverted performance of the trio also makes it difficult for people to deal with it more intensively.

The F.B.-Lichtmann uses the possibilities of the system much better than in Mannheim and puts the farm boys in the limelight in an excellent way. They don't need to be asked twice and even animate a handful of metalheads to a small moshpit with their good performance.

Rammstein clean up completely again, but - as in the next two days - do without both the 'Mensch-Tier-Man' song and the riding performance.

Afterwards, almost the entire tour entourage ends up in a neighboring pub, where, in addition to the highly amusing courtship of two groupies, Matze's questionable alcohol level is particularly noticeable. In the end, the F.B. singer got so upset that when he got back on the bus, he missed the toilet bowl while peeing and put the whole toilet under "water". After this masterpiece, he stands helpless in front of his bunk because he has massive problems getting his duvet covered. He strenuously denies the mocking remark that his mother would otherwise have done it – but he has no proof to the contrary.

In view of the wonderful weather, Rammstein and I are drawn to the nearby outdoor pool, where singer Till, a former 1500-meter freestyle rider, shows what he's still capable of. He constantly pulls his lengths at a hellish pace, long after I ran out of breath. After this fitness training, we'll still be hanging around on the water slide before things get serious again: Till has come up with some new gimmicks for the upcoming open air events and buys big on the way back. Along with all sorts of odds and ends, he also brings two steel tubes that are supposed to make mobile rocket launchers out of his forearms.

The car park in front of the hall has meanwhile been transformed into a trend sports mecca: almost every member of the band and crew races over the generously laid-out "course" with inline skates or on a skateboard. Alex dares the most spectacular jumps, using Matze more or less voluntarily as a living obstacle. The daring, however, is the undoing of another: FB drummer Till breaks his board in the middle after a long sentence; Luckily he can clench (How nice that each of us can translate that immediately... - Red.) and avoid a serious fall.

Suddenly incredulous amazement: Rammstein guitarist Richard stands in the middle of a garbage container set up in front of the entrance and excitedly shovels around in it. What happened? The bus driver had cleaned up his vehicle and, in his overzealousness, accidentally thrown away Richard's credit card, which he had unsuspectingly left lying around among some odds and ends. To make matters worse, the rubbish was buried shortly afterwards by a few cubic meters of rubble, which made it even more difficult for you to "salvage" the valuable piece.

Luckily, after about half an hour of searching, he finds what he is looking for. Otherwise, demolition expert Till would certainly have taken action and simply blown up the contents of the container.

We spend the rest of the time until the show with Robert Rodriguez's cult flick “Desperado”; the clever tour manager Tommy got ten films from the neighboring video store for a backstage pass.

All three bands are well received in the once again very well-stocked shop, with the Depeche Mode cover version 'Never Let Me Down Again' by the Farmer Boys and all the 'Herzeleid' songs in particular being a real hit; in addition, some goths playing air guitar make for a somewhat irritating sight.

After the show, thumb scratcher Lupe stops by the FB bus and is completely enthusiastic about Rammstein, although he had considerable reservations just a short time before. In high spirits we down a few beers and witness an almost unbelievable incident: a female fan (is that the correct female form of fan, Hanno? - the author) asks the bus driver for an autograph. The latter replies that he is only the driver and not a member of the band, whereupon she throws an "it doesn't matter" at him. Needless to say, he stays with her and she never sees the band...

Because we're running out of beer, we switch to the "Kick" pub, where Rammstein also has a drink or two and visit the Dark Wave/EBM party that's taking place in the small club. Some fans have a lengthy image discussion with keyboardist Flake, whose private clothes neither match the stage outfit nor the usual fashion ideas. However, he remains defiant: "With my current appearance, I'm sure to spoil a lot in people's heads, but then maybe they'll understand that we only embody characters on stage who aren't necessarily identical to us as private people.”

In fact, this insight can't do any harm, because contrary to popular belief, the boys are anything but serious or dogged, but rather relaxed and fun-loving.

To wake up, it's back to the outdoor pool, where Paul immediately gets into a fight with the stuffy lifeguard because he's ignoring a barrier. Because the others want to eat in a restaurant, I drive back to Kufa alone with Till. We chat about the Rammstein concept, and he reveals that he intends to phase out the number with the burning arms, at least temporarily, so that it doesn't wear out too much. Too bad actually. Also, he definitely doesn't want a metal producer for the second album, so as not to be pushed too far into a corner stylistically. Let's wait and see what's in store for us...

Then the European Football Championship lures - but only Matze and me. The others are not deterred by the penetrating stench of the slaughterhouse opposite and sunbathe in the beer garden.

Tommy reports: sold out! However, the expectant good mood is suddenly clouded when the PA gives up shortly before the start of the Mink Stole show and the quickly brought in replacement system doesn't really want to harmonize with the remaining components. Despite the very modest sounds, the guys get the best reactions of the tour so far. The same applies to the Farmer Boys, who are able to inspire more and more people with increasing playing time and are even accompanied by massive calls for an encore when they leave the stage - a complete success!

Rammstein, on the other hand, have had a pitch-black day: In addition to the bad sound, they have to deal with a number of other problems such as a broken keyboard and guitars that sometimes stop playing. However, the party-loving crowd didn't let it spoil their mood and, in terms of atmosphere, gave the guys a worthy conclusion to the tour.

Accordingly, they accept the "bankruptcies, bad luck and breakdowns" performance and sit in front of the Kufa until late at night.

However, an unexpected problem arises: Till recognizes a friend of mine, who is supposed to take me to Düsseldorf with her, as an old acquaintance from Eastern times, and after more than ten years the two of course have a lot to tell each other — especially since she can hardly remember him and is completely confused... Luckily I find another ride, so that after these beautiful and eventful but exhausting days I can finally go to bed.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Ulysses is a lot of things, but the aspect that has long held me most closely is the lesson of how surrender must come before intimacy. For most of the book, which is partly an allegory of a hobbled, down-beaten artistic sentiment finding its way back to love, passion, and the source of creation, the principal protagonists – Molly and Leopold Bloom, husband and wife – are at rough ends. They’ve not made love in ten years, and through the narrative, we learn they’ve found a way to cope with their frustrated desires. Leopold is always looking out at other women, rather creepily. He’s a bit of a twerp, trying to sneak glimpses down blouses or staring unobtrusively at the round of a bottom and hoping not to be noticed. In one chapter, he publicly has at himself on the beach while watching Gerty MacDowell and her “rosebud mouth” as she stands in the water. There are fireworks. Joyce makes it entertaining. But it's still a guy jerking off while watching a teenager bathe.

Meanwhile, Molly has her lovers, and that very day meets with Blazes Boylan, a crude and foolish man who treats her like “a horse or an ass,” never really seeing her - only what she can give him, the release she provides with her body.

It’s pretty clear that Joyce intended, at least in part, for the book to be an allegory for the destruction of unity brought about by colonialism in his homeland. Blazes is positioned as a stand-in for the British Army of occupation. Molly is Ireland's fecundity and the Irish culture’s depth and sensuality. Leopold is the wandering spirit and intellect of a distraught, belittled cuckold, an artist neutered by the world and beaten down to voyeurism and self-indulgence.

But Molly and Leopold still remember one another, deep under the pain. In one telling passage, Molly – after sleeping with Blazes – reflects that for all Boylan’s performative virility, Bloom “has more spunk in him.”

They both know where they belong, in the end - with love and with one another, if only they can get out of their own damn way. But history, defeat, insecurity, anger, frustration, and disappointment keep them wandering apart – like ancient Ulysses himself – for ten long years, lost at sea.

Until the surrender.

The book ends with Molly Bloom’s famous soliloquy, in which she repeats dozens and dozens of times the word “YES.” It is a beautiful moment of self-awareness and self-assertion, but even more sensually, that self-awareness and self-assertion manifest themselves in a release of her own perpetual negation. She says YES all those times in the final chapter because she has grown so weary of saying NO. She and Leopold have been saying NO to one another for a decade. They’ve grown isolated, scornful, and cruel, striking out at one another and debasing themselves. They’ve built walls and hidden behind them, scurrying around out of fear and shame and pain and the lost battles of long ago.

Until Molly – the great, sensual spirit and passion that swims below everything – finally surrenders, lays down her arms and remembers what it is to love. She says yes.

Does Leopold?

Joyce doesn’t tell us, but I like to think that – at the end of the longest day – he’s finally wise enough to do so, too.

Yes.

Happy Bloomsday. I hope you celebrate by dropping whatever axes you hold toward those in your life with meaning and history, and that you open your arms again in love.

Yes.

[Michael J. Tallon]

[NOTE * Mary E. Donnelly]

(You’re confusing Gerty MacDowell with the bird girl at the end of A Portrait here. Both are on the beach, but Gerty is not in the water: she’s babysitting during a fireworks show. She knows Bloom is watching her: the narrative voice of Nausicaa is hers.

None of this takes away from the larger and more salient point you’re making here: Bloom comes home, and after seeing Stephen off, brushes the crumbs of infidelity out of the bed and climbs in. Molly, pretending to sleep, knows pretty much exactly what he’s been up to, but she too chooses love and peace. It’s truly transcendent.)

[alicelufenia]

Going through my notes on the translation panel yesterday at Fan Fest. This is one of the panels I was really excited for, so I paid particular attention. Gonna put everything under a cut this time to save your scrolling:

"rating boards want game script submissions early, translation is an up-to-release job, so the solution: every line is Thal's Balls and hope they don't notice"

"Urianger was introduced in 1.0 as just an 'the end is nigh' guy, surely he wouldn't be around for long, so we went all out with his dialogue. And then he became a main character, oops" lol

"Draconic language is always done by the English VAs, which is used in all region languages" < interesting! I haven't seen any cutscenes in other languages yet so I never would have noticed.

I loved the section on Thavnair. The place and people names are actually a mixture of Ottoman-Turkish names, while those of the Arkasodara are Sanskrit.

Turkish names on the left, Sanskrit on the right. They even made a stylistic difference with the Turkish names being meaningful phrases or titles, while the Sanskrit names are more simple and to the point concepts.

For Elpis, they used (mostly made up!) Greek names, giving them extremely flowery names indicative of the Ancients' propensity for over-description.

Also lots of areas are named after wind. They didn't explicitly say this, but maybe serves as a connection to Hermes and his wind powers? Did he have a say in naming these areas? A neat detail to build off of!

Old Sharlayan, meanwhile, also uses Greek names, but importantly, because it is a subject of study and not their native language, they are more utilitarian and less poetic with it.

hehe cabbage dragon

I didn't get any notes on the crowd-sourced fish they made by having the audience vote on it. All I remember is they gave it the trait "can only swim to the left" and then failed to name it "Larboard Loach".

0/10 fan fest audience an eternity of shame on you

They mentioned briefly that the English VAs for Cocytus' dual voices were Emma Ballentine (Ryne) and Nigel Betts (Vrtra). I already clocked Ryne as Mage's Lament, but couldn't place Martialist's Lament. Interesting they didn't say anything about those voices being any specific characters from the past, which leads me to believe they weren't meant to be anything but unnamed villainous souls. Especially since Mage in EN sounds like Ryne doing her best gremlin impression, while in JP they sound like a more elegant, Queen Beryl-esque type.

*SIGH*

And now last and my least favorite part of the panel, and proof positive that the team should just stop taking lore Q&A submissions full stop. When asked about the other nations and cultures outside of Amaurot in the unsundered world, they said this:

I really don't like this. In fact I hate it worse than the "fate of Venat's soul" Q&A lore bit and want to ignore it just as hard.

Like.... why bother? I'd rather they said they never detailed other nations or cultures because they wanted to leave the details of those places up to the players, in case they wanted to write about their Azem visiting them as their role as the Traveller, or if players prefer their Azem did not come from Amaurot.

But if the Convocation is already in charge of the whole star, what then is the point of Azem's seat? Why do you need a Traveler if everything is explored, someone tasked with learning about other cultures and peoples if the ways of Amaurot are the rule of the land?

At no point in the narrative did anyone imply the seat of Azem being superfluous, a relic of a past when the world was unexplored, but rather a still relevant position that kept both Venat and our Azem constantly seeing places that were not like Amaurot, which lead Venat to appreciate the diversity of the world and how unique and precious it made every person. A mindset that directly led to her decision to sunder the world rather than let it eat itself in an endless cycle of sacrifice.

Also the Final Days were literally wrecking other parts of the world like they were in Thavnair, While Amaurot was still debating whether to do anything ala Old Sharlayan. The parallels are already there that one of Amaurot's flaws was it's insular nature, and that its great experiment of a culture devoted to enrichment of the star was cut short by the Final Days, not that it was basically already done and had conquered the world.

So yeah, hate it, ignoring cause it's not gonna matter to the plot now anyway. Who knows maybe the new Encyclopedia Eorzea will elaborate a little more that doesn't make it as terrible as it sounds, but I'm not holding my breath.

[getrektfools]

vent, kind of fatshaming, super long

so there are now TWO morbidly obese members of my family I'm aware of who have prescribed wegovy or ozempic. you can ONLY be prescribed these drugs once you are clinically obese. obviously they need the help but please explain to me why my brother - unemployed, literally sits on the couch playing video games all day (10+ hours a day!!!) gets to just get a shot to melt the weight off. when i hit the overweight threshold and wanted to stop gaining/drop back into a normal weight, all i get told is to monitor my calories more closely. the weight gain already had me flirting with relapse, then i find out the heaviest in my family are getting drugs thrown at them to drop weight and I'm being told "just keep an eye on your calorie count". The guy you just prescribed weight loss drugs to? He ate an ENTIRE FAMILY SIZE BAG OF CHIPS on top of his actual meals!! Plus ice cream before bed! All in the same day!! Only got up to go from couch to bathroom or couch to kitchen. But I, 3 lbs overweight, runner, regular gym goer, recently recovered anorexic, better just work harder.

when my mom told me her doctor was starting her on ozempic I said "god i wish i could get on it just long enough to lose 8 pounds or so" and she tells me "oh there are other things you should try first" so why don't these obese fucks try those other things? like you weren't screaming yelling at me in the hospital because you were so angry at me for doing this to myself. i am extremely capable of those "other things." I am probably TOO capable of those "other things." Those "other things" are addictive to me.

during this conversation, she's eating a double serving of fruit dumplings with literally a quarter cup of sugar in her coffee. two or three cups every morning. she could just swap for diet sweetener and cut out 400-600 cals a day! a pound a week in just the sugar in her morning coffee!!! when she visits me she just sits on my couch watching movies. i'll plan activities but inevitably it's too hot out, too windy out, too far away. can't we just order in from that restaurant she likes and rent a movie? there's an awesome park with several restaurants .8 mile from my house, i like to walk there and pick up lunch from a restaurant and picnic by the pond when weather and schedule allow. can't do that with my mom, she gets completely out of breath and her knees hurt. we have to drive. not even a mile and we have to drive. shared fitbit data with my sister for a while (also fat but nowhere near mom or baby brother), and she was averaging only 800 steps a day! a day!

obviously its better for society at large to have fitter citizenry, and i want my family to be healthier, but. feels like they are being rewarded for their absolute lack of self control. Eat yourself into three of you? Here's a shot to burn fat. Can't expect you to put down the chips! Meanwhile the rest of us who have actually exercised self control (too much self control in ana/mia cases) throughout our lives get told "no shortcuts! work harder! you don't get help!"

i know it isn't rational but this is how i feel. i am glad they are getting medical support to lose weight, because i want them to be around for a long time. i want to be able to walk to the park with my family. i want them to have the energy and ability to do things beside sit on the couch. i want them to be able to play volleyball with me or actually SWIM when we go to the beach. I want them to be able to take their dogs on regular, good length walks!

also obviously i am tempted to try and steal few pens of the wegovy but i won't do that to him. i can lose weight on my own. but god is it tempting. he's almost definitely not going to follow any diet recommended or increase his activity level, so its kind of like, a waste of perfectly useful medication isn't it? maybe he'll surprise me. maybe this is the boost he needs to start taking care of himself a little better. small changes add up, after all.

in a sick way this is motivating me to push myself even harder - lose more weight , faster. prove i don't need it.