#one of them was like ‘wow this is year 8 you again only instead of darren criss it’s the newsreader’ and yeah. yeah. not wrong i guess.

[dontwanderoff]

managed to get through three episodes with my friends before the one friend who was late to the newsreader party was like ‘i’ve watched all of season 1 today as well, i can’t do anymore’ and like i get it but im desperate to chat to them about ittttt

[cherrysdeck]

Pick a card: Prelude to love.

First meeting your future spouse. When, where, and how.

Remember: Take only what resonates, this is a general reading. Tarot readings are done with entertainment purposes only. Hope you like it!

Pile 1 -> 3

Pile 1

When: 3 of cups, 3 of swords, 8 of wands, 2 of pentacles

3, 3 months?, 3 years?, March? August, Winter, winter blues. Early morning, after lunch. 

Where: ace of pentacles, 6 of pentacles, 5 of wands, 2 of swords

Sports game, job interview? (That feels like a really weird setting), Boxing game, sports, yoga class, painting class. Decided to try a new hobby so you signed up for an activity or class. Garden. Betting (more like betting on a sport, than in a casino)

How is it going to be?: 2 of cups, ace of pentacles, king of wands, king of swords in rev, 8 of swords, the hierophant, 5 of wands rev, the fool, knight of swords

What a tension. I feel like people will look at you two thinking oh they will end up together, and you honestly would rather anything else, literally. Somewhat enemies to lovers, or more like I found them really annoying the first time we met. Makes you roll your eyes. Kind of rude to be honest. I feel like you’re both very competitive and stubborn people, we’re from different teams. It will take more for you two to actually click. It feels like being in the same group not by choice, but slowly you get used to each other, and you start to get feelings. Your fs might be to careless when they speak, and you might just end up looking at them unimpressed, like please shut up. They might like bragging off, or be a know it all, correcting others. And that gets on your nerves. Your communication styles are clearly so different and that might lead to somewhat of an argument, ends up being more like banter. This will grow into teasing with time. They don’t leave a good first impression on you, but you’ll end up meeting again and again, running in the same circles. Your fs will definitely be the topic of bathroom gossip, like can you believe them? It’s all good pile 1, they’ll redeem themselves. It what happens when you’re complete opposites, clashes might occur at the beginning, but then you realise you balance each other really well.  

Pile 2

When: death, the star, 8 of wands

During a period of transformation, unexpected moment. You will be very busy and focused on something else. It might be after a breakup too. August, February, March. 2025. Late at night. Friday. 22.

Where: 4 of swords, the devil, ace of swords, 8 of swords, 8 of cups

Graduation, work dinner, a party, a retreat, networking event. I get a very busy place full of people, but you might feel isolated here. You might have just moved to a different city, still not used to it or not knowing many people there. There’s a certain level of insecurity, like what am I doing here? I want to go home. 

How is it going to be?: Oh my god, I forgot to write the cards and I started doing another pile, I’m so sorry. Those that I can remember are: 8 of cups, 2 of cups, temperance in rev, 4 of pentacles, 9 of cups, the fool.. again I’m sorry

I just felt such great relieve. I think it’s related with the feeling isolated in the middle of a crowd. And suddenly someone appears who eases up your tension. Your fs makes you relax immediately. There’s a big feeling of familiarity with this person. Either one of those I think I know you from another life or you might know them, but so far you’ve just seen them around or on social media, and this is the first time actually talking. They might help socialise in this setting, introducing you to others. Instead of talking just the two of you, there will be someone else in the conversation all the time. One of you just wants to have alone time for 5 minutes, but someone is always interrupting. I feel like your fs knows how to navigate these social situations very easily, and you’ll look at them like wow, they are a social butterfly. They also know how to include everyone in the conversation, the kind of person that always makes you feel included. I feel like there will be some tension and chemistry right off the bat, but because you’re barely spending any time alone, you both start to get a little impatient and frustrated that you can’t actually explore it. It’s leaving you two wanting more. You two will be paying so much attention to each other, but others are completely oblivious and will not leave you alone. One of you might ask if you want to go eat something and get out of there, and it’s like yes, finally. Exchanging phone numbers by the end of the night, kind of meeting that leaves you giddy, with butterflies. Might think about each other once you’re already in bed, start texting soon too. You just want to know more about each other. Another alternative is staying up all night in a party or bar afterwards, getting McDonalds or some fast food in the early morning. SO much laughter. You just get a feeling afterwards that this is going to be a long term thing. 

Pile 3

When: the empress, 6 of wands, 4 of sword rev

Summer nights from Grease. Was it love at first sight? Summer, May too, September, the first, You really wanted to work on yourself and not look for romance, but they just showed up, what can you do? 

Where: the hermit, king of wands, 6 of sword, 9 of pentacles, knight of cups

The beach, a beach club, festival, cherry blossom festival?, Self-care activity. Lantern festival. River, during hiking. Outdoors. Swimming. Cruise ship. 

How is it going to be?: the hermit, the magician, strength, the chariot, death. The emperor, high priestess rev, 9 of wands

You know when you spend a long time manifesting something, and it’s been a long long time, and you’re just so tired you give up, and suddenly it’s knocking on your door. That’s how this meeting feels like. I keep thinking of this manifestation technique of making a list of how your ideal partner is. You were just so tired, and decided that it was time to move on and forget about it. Started focusing on yourself, doing more self-care, trying new activities, meeting new friends. You really were over it. And then boom, perfect, ideal, fs is just there. This wasn’t in your plans right now. I feel like laughing, but the kind of laughing when something doesn’t make sense or it’s just absurd. A by chance meeting, might result from something embarrassing, like spilling a drink or like in books when the mc crashes into the love interest. They’re well dressed. I think you might feel a little be contradicted, like finally I was doing so well single, and now you show up? But how can you ignore them now? Your fs is just exactly what you had wished for. There will be a lot of talking and lots of laughs, it feels like a first date already. Suddenly you get like tunnel vision and all you can see is them. I feel like you won’t want to say goodbye at the end. Let’s have lunch, and dinner, and breakfast together. 

Xo, Xo, Cherry 💋

[aliciavance4228]

The Iliad: Funny Moments

The year was 850-750 BCE. No phones or underwear in sight. Pants were for the uncivilized only. Unibrows were attractive. And then, one day, Homer decides to write the first Greek Mythology Fanfiction ever, called "Troy Story".

Here is a list of moments from the Iliad which I personally consider to be quite hilarious:

1. Early on in Book 2, before the enormous list of Greek fighters and ships:

Agamemnon tries to motivate/test the army by claiming that he's given up and they're going home. This backfires, as a stampede for the ships ensues.

In response, Athena comes down and gives Odysseus a pep talk. He promptly and unceremoniously takes Agamemnon's scepter out of his hands and runs around brow-beating and occasionally actually beating men who were turning from the fight. It all comes to a head when he takes the scepter and beats the crap out of the Argives' resident disfigured hunchback who was doing nothing but making jokes at the Argive leaders' expense. In fact, the narrative itself stops and mentions that the scene was so hilarious, the soldiers in-story were laughing raucously.

Within Agamemnon's speech, his roundabout method of explaining how badly the Greeks outnumber the Trojans: let's say they have a truce, and each side takes a census, and each group of ten Greek soldiers gets one (male) resident of Troy to pour their wine. "There would be many tens of men lacking a pourer of wine."

2. At one point early in the story Paris steps out among the Trojan soldiers, described as looking like a god, and dares any Greek soldier to come up and face him in battle. Menelaus steps forward to answer the call—and Paris promptly flees back behind his soldiers.

3.Menelaus beating Paris up with his bare hands, while the latter still has his sword. The dramatic way in which it's written makes it a tad more serious, until you remember that Menelaus is choking Paris with the strap of his own hat.

4. Throughout the book, the Greeks continuously throw spears at Hector, but Apollo just deflects them into his charioteer instead, before Hector just picks up another random guy off the battlefield. This happens numerous times throughout the book that it's almost a running gag.

5. The Greeks send an embassy to beg Achilles to come join the fighting again. At first he receives them in friendship, but when he's heard them out, he has Patroclus start passive-aggressively preparing a bed for the only member of the embassy he's invited to spend the night, to signal to the others it's time for them to leave. Thus proving that "it was so nice to see you, but wow, look at the time, we should be getting to bed!" is a tactic Older Than Dirt.

6. When Hera seduces Zeus to distract him, he describes how attractive she is by comparing her with some of the other women he's slept with. It takes about 20 lines in the original Greek.

7. During the battle between the men and gods, Artemis squares up with Hera after her brother decides against fighting Poseidon. You'd think Artemis, the epic huntress and receiver of human sacrifice she is, armed with a powerful bow and fitting the Action Girl trope to a tee would utterly wreck the seemingly frilly, stuck up, less capable Hera. Hera instead chastises Artemis for being a brat biting off way more than she can chew, gives her a verbal tongue lashing before snatching Artemis's bow away before she can get a shot off to give her a lashing with that. Artemis gets wailed on so badly she literally is sent running away crying home to her daddy Zeus.

8. One tangent mentions Hades making a grand entrance at Pylos, only to be immediately shot with one of Heracles' arrows, forcing him to abandon the fight and flee to Olympus to heal. Later, Poseidon makes an earthquake so strong Hades jumps out of his chair in fear that the Underworld will be exposed due to the quake.

9. Early on in the epic, King Priam calls to Helen to explain to him who is leading the Greek army - Agamemnon, Odysseus, Menelaus, etc - because Priam doesn't know who they are. The Greeks have been at war with his kingdom for nine years before this point. One would imagine who had such a role would be at the forefront of his thoughts or that he would at least bother to remember their names, especially since a Pre-Iliad episode had Odysseus and Menelaus before him arguing that Helen be returned.

10. After a long discussion of their ancestries, Glaucus and Diomedes shake hands and exchange armor as a pledge of Sacred Hospitality. The narrator notes that Glaucus got ripped off, because his armor was worth over ten times as much.

11. A wounded Sarpedon thinks he's about to die and begins giving Hector a Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie speech. Hector, who he'd been arguing with several verses back, runs right past him without answering.

12. The standard heroic epithets being used at incongruous times. Godlike Paris hiding from Menelaus, godlike and enduring Odysseus running away while Diomedes yells at him to come back, Menelaus being called "beloved of Ares" while Ares is trying to get him killed, glorious Ajax the Lesser taking a spill face-first into ox dung...

13. Menelaus is shot and wounded. Agamemnon immediately begins mourning his brother and gets through a whole speech before Menelaus can get a word in edgewise to explain that he's still alive.

Credits: TV Tropes

[the-fluff-piece]

Tropetember 8

Law's Amnesia

Also check out my stories and headcanon masterlists

Law gets knocked out and gets - AMNESIA! But not the boring medical kind, the fun quirky kind of tropes. He shows the crew a different side as he forgets who he is and what hardships he had to endure

"Kind of sucks when your doc is the one who would need help..." Shachi mused as he and Bepo monitored Law's condition.

He got a massive hit in the head from Luffy - by accident, the other captain swore. Now he was out and sleeping it off.

Bepo put his paw on Law's forehead, patting his captain for comfort.

You've offered to take over so the others could get some sleep. Taking a book and some tea with you, you prepared for an uneventful night.

Law had a light bruise in his head but it didn't make him any less handsome. His face looked stern, even when he was unconscious. His fine features were heartbreaking as always and you allowed yourself to let your fingers trail down his cheek - only to check his temperature and general condition of course.

When you felt his groomed goatee under your fingers, he twitched lightly, making you jump.

He grimaced in pain and groaned, opening his eyes slowly and lifting his head.

"Law, you're awake!" You stated the obvious as you tried to keep him down. Of course, your captain had to wear a half open shirt and of course, you happened to touch his bare chest.

"You need to stay in bed or you'll get dizzy!" You warned him.

"What?" He asked, his eyes looking at you with a confused expression.

With soft force, you pressed him into the bed again, while his eyes were fixed on your face.

"Who are you? Where am I?" He asked, the softness and higher pitch of his voice sounded unfamiliar to you.

"Captain that's not funny, it's me, y/n" you still had to press him down, he was surprisingly strong for just waking up.

"Captain? Who?" He pushed against you and sat up, shaking his head.

"Wow, cool stuff!" He looked around his own medical bay as of he was seeing it for the first time.

"And who are you again?" He asked you, looking you up and down with open interest.

"Are you some kind of mechanic? Is that your tech stuff?" His voice sounded excited and light, absolutely not like his usual self.

As he moved to get out of the bed you pressed him back down with all your power and only succeeded because you surprised him with a jump.

"Whoa, babe, slow down!" He chuckled as you found yourself half on top of him, both hands on his chest.

"You uhm.. you need to lie down, you took a serious blow to the head" you explained with urgency.

"So you're like...my girlfriend?" His eyes beamed like a little boy's in a candy store.

"You're cute!" He said as he grabbed your shoulders and drew you into an embrace.

"CAPTAIN" you screamed, trying to wiggle out of an iron grip.

"Where?" Law let go and looked around.

You jumped down from the bed and caught your breath - he has lost his mind!

And he was already swinging his feet out of the bed, energetically looking around like a 5 year old on sugar.

"I have to see the rest of this thing!" He ran towards the door, and you couldn't hold him back. He was far stronger and faster than you, instead he grabbed your hand and dragged you with him through the door.

"Wow, where am I?" He asked.

"The polar tang - your ship!" You said as you tried to keep up with his long strides.

"My ship? And my girlfriend! I'm so lucky! Just the name of the ship is weird" He laughed. He dragged you down the corridor and to deck, where he stopped dead in his tracks.

"A bear!?" He looked at Bepo in disbelief. The white bear sat on deck and enjoyed some cool night air. As soon as he heard Law's comment, he blushed and stammered excuses.

"Ca...captain??? You are awake?" He eventually got a hold of himself.

Law approached his first mate really carefully.

"A talking bear!" He said.

"SORRY" Bepo bowed down.

"Hey whaaa...?" Bepo blushed until he became a fleshy pink.

As he bowed down, Law grabbed his ears and was squeezing them thoroughly while making "awww" sounds and giggling.

"What's going on here?" Shachi appeared in the door, looking shocked. "He isn't supposed to be up yet!"

"He just...I think he has amnesia!" You said.

"Amnesia?" Shachi rubbed his chin.

"Could be. In any case, you need to get back to bed Captain!" He said to Law.

"Who's this captain?" Law looked around and finally stopped molesting Bepo, who sank to his as a whimpering white mess.

"You are! And we need you! So please go back to bed, you need rest!" Now Shachi helped you to push Law back in the direction of sick Bay.

"Me? Captain? Wow, my life is awesome! I have a cute girlfriend, a ship AND a crew???" He looked like he could burst from happiness and excitement.

"...girlfriend?" Shachi asked.

"He kind of decided that I am his girlfriend" you answered, blushing.

Shachi seemed like he wanted to make a sassy comment when Law suddenly dug in his heels and stared at his reflection in one of the windows.

He studied the tattoos on his chest and hands and let his hands run through his hair.

"I...I..." he seemed overwhelmed, "I look like a crook! A gangster! A...a..." he seemed at a loss for words.

"A pirate?" You helped him.

"Yes! One of those! That would be awful!" He said it with such upstanding distaste that you and Shachi just had to exchange a glance to come to the same conclusion.

"Of course your not a pirate. You're a...fashion model!" You told him.

"Woah, really?" Law seemed to relax again - and become more docile.

"Yes and I am your girlfriend! Let's go to bed, it's late!" It still felt strange to talk to him that way, but he seemed to like what he heard and followed you like a lamb back to his sick bed.

"See? That wasn't so bad. Now you just have to lay down again so you can rest." You indicated the bed with your outstretched hand.

"It seems really small" Law said.

"It's big enough for you" You said.

"And you?" Law blushed.

"What about me?" He confused you now.

"I mean...since you are my girlfriend, you sleep in my bed" He grinned.

"Uhm..." You had to swallow and looked at Shachi for help. He grinned, to. That bastard.

"You two are so in love, you squeeze into a tiny bed" He chuckled maliciously and slowly walked out of the room.

"So romantic! I love cuddling. I think" Law was absolutely on board and threw himself into the cushions, his arms open to receive you.

"Uhm...why don't you go to sleep while I work some more?" You said.

"I am hurt and need rest. You said so yourself! I need you to sleep" Law stated like a kid that just outwitted a grown up.

"Fine." You awkwardly settled on the bed, when Law shook his head.

"Your boiler suit is dirty. You don't sleep with that" He indicated some oil stains on your suit.

You never wore more than underwear and a shirt under that thing. It could get hot. But he really needed to sleep, so you pulled down the zipper under Law's lusty gaze. When you finally slipped it from your shoulders, he commented with another "wow" as he stared at you with undeniable adoration.

He opened his arms again and tucked you into his side as soon as you settled on the bed. Immediately you noticed his cold, clammy hands.

"Law, you're so cold, are you hungry? Are you dizzy?" You asked.

"So...sleepy...with...girlfriend..." he rested his head on your shoulder as he pressed against you and seemed to pass out again. You waited until he breathed deeply and evenly and slipped out of his tight grip.

He looked relaxed and content as he slept and you resumed your watch over him.

-----

Yes, I'm pretty sure that head injuries don't work like that, but this is tropetember so Law has the right kind of Amnesia and will be fine xD I hope you enjoyed it

Taglist@yeeeeezly @waitingmydemons @stariski @livwritesfics @violetmatcha

[mayiwritesomething]

Love is an Unfamiliar Name (Pt. 8)

Wordcount: 2,5 k

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x f!reader

Warnings: angst, just curse words as usual.

A/N: Our reader decides do give a payback, but things won’t go as planned and a little drama takes in, both making mistakes which is quite sad tbh.

And in this chapter, we have Colin Farrell as a reader’s friend. Why? Because i think Colin would be a great friend to have around haha. Have you ever watched his Hot Ones interview or his most recent ones from the Sugar press? If you haven't, just check it out.

> MASTERLIST

————-

The Irishman

On Friday night, you were on your way to Vivienne's penthouse for the show's after-party. Jenny was unusually excited, but you felt a sense of unease, haunted by guilt at the thought of meeting Pedro, especially since you hadn't spoken since his apologetic phone call. He had even texted you in the morning, suggesting a coffee meet-up, but you chose to ignore it, opting instead to scroll through Instagram reels while lying on your bed. As you chuckled to yourself in the car, watching the city lights pass by, you couldn't help but feel a bit childish in your avoidance.

"Why are you laughing?" Jenny inquired, focused on fixing her makeup. She looked stunning for the party, taking it quite seriously.

"Just thinking about how sometimes we just become exactly what we hate," you replied, a hint of seriousness in your tone.

"Wow, that was deep," she said, sensing your subdued mood. "You know, if things go south, at least Colin will be there to have your back," she added with a mischievous grin.

"I KNEW IT!" you exclaimed, understanding why she was giving her best this night. "There had to be a reason behind all of this," you teased, pointing at her.

"Stop being silly," she blushed, even in the dimly lit car.

"Poor Jeff," you chuckled. 

"He's now dating Annette from the makeup department," she shared, not caring much. "Great in bed, but not the sharpest tool in the shed... attractive, but better off not speaking," she lamented while fixing her hair. "How do I look?"

"Stunning as always," you complimented her. "By the way, Colin's single again," you mentioned casually.

"Oh, really?" she feigned surprise. "I could never know," she teased back.

You just laughed and continued, “Things with Jill weren’t working anymore; I still don’t understand what he saw in her; gosh, she was so boring.” You always shipped Colin and Jenny.

"Well, she must have been good at something, if you get me,” she laughed. "By the way, don't tell me you chose that backless dress just because you felt like it," she said 

"I felt like I should," you replied as the car pulled up to your destination. You could only think of how much that place should cost.

As you arrived, you caught sight of Colin engrossed in conversation with Vivienne. He exuded charm, and you felt Jenny's cold hand grasping yours at your back. You waved to Colin, who signaled for you to join them.

"Hey man," you greeted him with a hug, "it's been a while." You both had met years ago while working on an independent movie project, and you had formed a strong friendship, feeling comfortable and open around him.

"Hey mate, how are you doing?" Colin embraced you, then turned to acknowledge Jennifer. She seemed frozen. Jennifer, the queen of hookups, was caught off guard.

"Hello," she managed to say, her voice a bit shaky. You stood behind Colin, silently prompting her to ask how he was doing. "How are you?"

"Much better now," he replied, his gaze lingering on her as she blushed, causing you to stifle a laugh.

"Good to hear," she said, clumsily adjusting her hair. "Well, I'll go talk to Vivienne and get something to eat; do you guys want anything?"

"I'm good," you and Colin chimed in simultaneously.

Jenny hurriedly departed, resembling a rabbit fleeing from a wolf. You and Colin continued chatting about his breakup, and you shared details about your situation with Pedro. He chuckled at how you would blush at times. Both of you were in fits of laughter when you felt a familiar hand gently touch your back.

"Hi, Pedro," you greeted him, turning to acknowledge his presence.

"Hi," he responded, his eyes fixed on Colin. "How are you?" He then looked at you.

"Doing fine," you replied more politely than usual, noticing his troubled expression you decided to keep the diplomacy. "Let me introduce you guys." Facing Pedro, you gestured towards Colin. "Pedro, this is my friend Colin."

"Hi mate," Colin greeted him, shaking hands with a smile, and Pedro gave him the fakest smile back.

"And Colin, this is Pedro, who is also a friend." You emphasized the word 'friend' with a hint of cruelty. You poured yourself a shot of whiskey, feeling guilty about drinking alcohol around Colin but wanting Pedro to sense the same pain you were feeling.

"Cool, I didn't know you would meet another friend here." Pedro's words carried a sharp edge. 

"And I didn't know I had to tell you," you retorted almost immediately.

"Well, I'm talking to her because she is my bridge to Jennifer, man," Colin interjected, pointing at Jenny, sensing the tension rising. He could almost smell the impending confrontation between you and Pedro. Your eyes locked with Pedro's, and he turned to face Colin.

"Is there a problem?" Colin, not known for his patience, inquired.

"We're good, man," Pedro replied. "I guess I'm just interrupting your friendly gathering," his tone tinged with irony.

"Can we just talk later?" You asked, holding his hands, which were shaking, aware of the turmoil simmering within him. Part of you felt a tinge of satisfaction in it.

"Yes, as we should," he agreed.

"Pedro!" Oscar's voice called out to him from across the rooftop.

"Well, I should go," Pedro said as he left.

Turning back to Colin, who was now sipping his sparkling water, he said, "If this guy could just stab me now, he would." Colin said, looking over his shoulder. "What the hell did I miss?"

You shared with him the details of your last time with Pedro, how he had been mean to you, and how he attempted an apology.

"Kid," Colin chuckled, "the guy was just playing it cool, like 'I don't do relationships' kind of stuff."

"He said we're just friends with benefits," you stated angrily. "Friends, Colin, friends."

"Come on, dude's burning with jealousy right now,” he said, looking at Pedro talking to Oscar. “—and you, Mrs., now I understand the emphasis you placed on 'friend' when introducing him. Seriously? How old are you?" Colin's defense of Pedro caught you off guard.

"What?" you exclaimed.

"I'm not stupid; I could see that—and it is obvious you did it on purpose. I'm not a pawn, okay?" Colin said.

"Colin, imagine if Jill had just slept with you, and she tells you it's better not to act like a couple or anything because you're just friends." You vented your frustration. "And to top it off, she says the only thing she misses is your body!"

"Come on, you were both drunk," he pointed out. "Listen to me, both of you."

"Seriously? Come on! Why don't you adopt him then? Poor little Pedro, a grown ass man who can’t answer for his actions," you snapped in anger.

"I already have two children… and that doesn't change the fact that you also made a mistake," he said firmly.

"Oh great, he treats me like a whore, and you just brush it off, saying he was drunk. Now I'm the one labeled as vilain for making him taste his own venom," you said, frustration evident in your voice.

Colin chuckled, shaking his head. "Kid, both of you were drunk when that happened.” He then continued. “Dude called to apologize and asked you for a coffee today — Who the fuck does that with just a fuck buddy? Coffee? On a Friday morning? Wake the fuck up," he urged. "I've lost count of how many times I've done the same thing he did. Pretending to be just friends when I really wanted more."

You listened, feeling a mix of anger and sadness. "And why the hell do guys do this? It hurts, man," you muttered.

"Because everyone’s fucked up and scared, just like you are, just like he is.” He kept talking. “You like him; he likes you too. Why not just try to have a conversation about it with him?" Colin advised, sounding like an older brother.

“You even talk like Jen." You wiped away a tear, nodding. "You and her would make a great couple, you know?"

"Go talk to your guy; I'll find Jennifer and test my luck, deal?"

"Deal!" you chuckled, scanning the crowd for Pedro. Spotting Jenny, you pointed her out to Colin. However, Pedro was nowhere to be found. Then, you glimpsed a figure leaving the bar with two cups—it seemed to be him. Hurrying, you attempted to catch up as he disappeared into a secluded spot on the deck.

Brushing off a greeting, you dashed after him, rounding the corner and calling out, "Hey, Pedro—" only to freeze in disbelief as you saw him making out with one of the models.

Pain.

He looked terrified, clearly not expecting you to show up out of nowhere. Your hands were cold as the world seemed to be in slow motion—his touch, his gaze, his smile, just how he held you. Tears blurred your vision as you stood frozen.

"Hey girl, are you okay?" The woman in his arms asked, concerned. You were mad, but you knew it wasn't her fault. It was his; it was yours.

"Ye—yes," you choked out, struggling to form words. "I'm… I'm just…— I guess…." Tears overcame you. Pedro muttered something incomprehensible as he released the girl and approached you. Anger, guilt, and sadness flooded through you, making you feel utterly foolish.

"I got it man," you said, stepping back, your voice trembling with anger. "Let's just keep things as they are, right? Like they fucking are! It's working out great for you, fucker."

"Oh! You're the one with your Irish friend over there," he retorted, his anger matching yours.

"Because Colin is my friend, Pedro. He's just a goddamn friend," you shot back, your voice rising. "He was the one trying to convince me you were just scared of whatever shit we have going on and that I was being a bitch.” You were now shouting and walking in his direction; you were lucky the music was too loud. “Turns out, he was wrong." Pedro stood frozen, the girl by the wall looking confused.

"I didn't know you both had something," she interjected, trying to calm you down.

"I’m not talking to you!” You now faced her: “I don't give a fuck if you knew or not. HE is the problem here," you declared, pointing at him, your frustration boiling over.

“Babe…”

"Don't you dare call me that!" you shouted as he reached out to you. "You know what? Go ahead, screw whoever you want. I'm done. I'm so fucking done." Tears streamed down your face as he attempted to apologize. "Fuck you! Tonight was supposed to be a great night," you lamented, feeling foolish and angry. "This whole thing—us—it is just a waste of time." 

"I’m sorry—I want things to work," he muttered.

"Oh, I can see that," you laughed bitterly. "It works for YOU.” You were now pointing your finger at his face as you spilled all the anger. “You have me or anything whenever you want. We only meet when YOU can meet me.” The tears stopped, and you could feel your face burning. “You never care about MY schedule, NEVER! Everything is about you! You’re so fucking selfish man!”

“You agreed to the schedules! Wanna know why? Because you’re such a control freak! That’s why! —Seeing each other in the middle of the night? It was YOUR idea. Don’t play the innocent girl now,” he shot back angrily. “Who told me, ‘Let’s keep this between us’? Stop being a fuckin hypocrite and act like we were something else, and I betrayed you!” he added, his desperation evident. “You were the one who decided I was your dirty little secret! You cut the cards!”

"Secret?" you yelled back. "Have you ever put yourself in my position? I'm a woman working in a male-dominated industry. Do you know how it is to have people saying you got a job probably because you slept with someone? To have your competence questioned, despite your achievements? To have people assume there's a man pulling the strings behind the scenes? Have you ever had to deal with those things in your life Pedro? HAVE YOU? I don’t think so!"

"You love jumping to conclusions about others without even attempting to have a conversation!"

“Are you sure I’m the one who jumps to conclusions?” You laughed ironically. “Come on, don’t act like you care, man! You said it yourself! You only like the body and the sex, and honestly? You can have this with someone else.” Listening to these words come out of your mouth made you feel even worse. “I am not a sex doll... Maybe we expect different things from each other,” you said coldly as your eyes began tearing up again.

You continued, “I really wanted to be by your side tonight without feeling any guilty, but you found something better to do, and that is okay, I don’t think you betrayed me. I’m just disappointed. Part of me still had some hope that things could be more than whatever I had these last months… At least someday in a near future, you know? But as I said, we want different things, and now I can understand it.” 

"I didn’t mean like this. I really thought that you were—oh, damn.” In a moment of clarity, he realized his mistake. “Fuck! I… I… —I ‘m Sorry for messing this up. I really thought you and him... Fuck… I truly…I don't know—" he tried to say.

“I’ll tell you what to do: Have your fun, man. Enjoy your freedom, that’s all that matters to you at the end of the day,” you said, tears streaming down your face.

“Please, I’m sorry…” He tried once again, his hands reaching out to hold yours.

“Go ahead and enjoy your night with whoever this girl is, or whoever you want to be the stallion with,” you said ironically as you watched the girl disappear. You then noticed Colin and Jennifer, relieved to have found you.

“There you are!” Colin exclaimed, though his expression quickly turned sympathetic as he saw your tear-streaked face.

“I’m leaving—Jen, can you keep me company while I wait for my Uber?" Bye, Col. It was nice to see you,” you said, avoiding eye contact as you spoke.

“Of course, come here,” Jennifer replied, offering you support.

Meanwhile, Pedro attempted to follow you but was intercepted by Colin, who advised him to give you some space before trying to talk to you again.

“What happened?” Jen asked as you waited for the cab together.

“He thought I was with Colin,” you said sadly, brushing away the tears. “So he decided to be with someone else too. According to him, I kept him hidden as some sort of secret—where is this darn car?” Your voice was numb with shock, and his words still echoed in your head.

“Oh, my dear,” Jenny tried to comfort you. “He was a jerk, but from what Colin told me, things were already messed up when he arrived.”

“Things were messed up from the beginning of everything, Jen. I don’t even know if I can call that a beginning, because it was… I don’t even know what it was,” you muttered. “I just want to sleep, okay?.”

“Okay, will you text me when you arrive?” she asked.

“I will,” you promised.

 

“Keep reminding myself

That people are good

And when they do bad things

They're just hurting inside

Keep fooling myself

That everyone cares

And they're all full of love

It's just their patience gets tried”

[rocketboots564]

Here is part one of my thoughts, notes, and reactions to Red Versus Blue Season 9 as a first time watcher!

Yes, I have heard the news about Rooster Teeth. No I will not let that stop me from binging this series one way or another!

The rest of each individual season will be posted separately instead of being a reblog of the first post… mainly because I saw how egregiously long my post on season 8 was.

Season 9 Part 1:

Epsilon… what do you mean nobody’s called you “Director” in a really long time? Sir, season 8 was probably just a couple months ago… I think…

I don’t know how much time has passed from S8 to S9

FIRST OF ALL TUCKER, CHURCH IS CABOOSE’S BEST FRIEND

Wait… how can you get winded if you’re an AI. I mean I know Epsilon is in a memory unit, but does that mean he relives everything in a human body too?

It does make sense that Epsilon doesn’t really know how to use a Rifle. Sure, Church (or Alpha? Imma stick with church) didn’t know how to properly use it either, but he did know how to adjust the scope.

“Torqued in my pants” pffft…

WOAH TUCKER?! You did WHAT IN ALONE TIME? WHAT THE HELL’S “ALONE TIME”? 😦

Erm… what the Metal Gear? I unironically love this stealth mission thing. And knowing South Dakota… I wonder how long it’ll take for this to go tits up…

I’m betting five to ten minutes

also, YESS THE BIG BUCKS BUDGET OF ANIMATED CG SCENES RETURNS.

South MY GOD LISTEN UP?! HAVE YOU NEVER PLAYED ANY STEALTH GAME?! Set up the MOTION DECTETORS!!!

As someone who’s had years of experience sneaking past light sleepers in the dead of night for snacks and video games… I could do this better than you South Dakota.

SOUTH THIS IS WHY WE SET OUR SOLITON RADAR!!! I mean motion detectors… sorry I got Metal Gear Solid on the brain

MY GOD THE ANIMATION?! THE TAG TEAMING?! What happened that got South Dakota to eventually abandon North Dakota?

I too could take 50 of them South… in a fight… definitely a fight

Oop I saw that in the background! Who’s that?!

OOH THEY BAITED ME WITH THE BLACK ARMOR! They almost made me think it Tex… it’s actually well… whoever this cyan lady is

Supportive Sarge? He WANTS to hear the blue perspective? He DOESN’T want to command and yell at his subordinates?

GRIF? CLEANING? Actually I could get behind Maid Grif.

“I actually like being talked down to” woah WOAH SIMMONS?! 🤨 real, me too…

I mean… at least Donut’s still kept his accidental yet somewhat intentional innuendos. And, also his diary apparently…

Damn SHUT UP SOUTH DAKOTA! SHUT UP!! NOBODY HEAR WANTS TO HEAR YOUR SHIT!

North? WHOAH ANIMATED FACES?! NORTH DAKOTA WITH THE CLUTCH!!

Medics = bad luck. Honestly… yeah for you guys they are.

THE PHOTOSHOPPED WET FLOOR SIGN AND MOP IS KILLING ME

The ultimate OTP battle: Caboose x Sheila versus Caboose x Email

Listen… Tucker… never in a million years will I ever call you Professor Fuck

Damn the Freelancer Program only has ranked mode? No wonder they’re all assholes

CONNECTICUT? SHE’S CT? Yeah I can see why you’re so mad about your low rank… you’ll get your shit rocked by Professor Fuck of all people. Fuck it… it’s a funny name

So like… you know you’ve got absolutely dogshit rizz when Caboose has a better shot at dating someone than you.

Speaking of which… Caboose is now in my top 5 of the most dateable guys in this show. Like take this quote from him:

“I just really want to meet someone nice. Someone who appreciates me for who I am not so much because I’m pretty but because they really want to get to know me…”

HOW HAS THIS MAN NOT WOOED THE HEARTS OF THOUSANDS?

Tucker has NO rizz…

Oh wow Epsilon, just drop the existential dread on your teammates like that with no warning. It is a damn good thing your teammates either don’t understand it or don’t care.

Huh… seems even in a memory unit in which everyone is different fate still finds a way to make Grif lazy and sarcastic again.

Then again, that’s kinda happening with the rest of Red Team as well, minus Simmons and Lopez

Also, LOPEZ IS BACK! And this time is immediately beefing with Simmons… or rather the other way around.

“I’ll show you who’s likable and funny, and who people like” SIMMONS BABY ITS YOU! YOUR THE ONE I LOVE! YOUR THE ONE I NEED!

I just like Simmons… a perfectly normal amount…

Conclusion: this season already fucking ROCKS I LOVE IT! HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME!

[niuniente]

Hi Niu! I wanted to stop by and let you know that I binged all of DHD last night and this morning. It's FANTASTIC and I'm a bit mad at myself for having slept on this for so long. I've been reading the updates you post here off and on and I *finally* took the plunge and read everything. I love it I love it I love it! You are phenomenal 💖💖💖💖💖

Welcome to read DHD! I'm genuinely so glad and happy you've enjoyed it (I binged it myself recently, too - I need to reread what I have done occasionally not to miss anything).

Good thing for arriving a bit later than others to any series is that there's lot to watch/see/listen and you can indulge yourself as much as you like :D

I do have other comics which you might also enjoy.

FUZZY is completed and tells a story of a seer Irene and a solid black monster called Fuzzy. It was very liked and got on Webtoon's front page as recommended series. READ FUZZY

Demon Sanctuary has been in a hiatus for a long time but I do genuinely want to finish it - even if it took me 20 years. It tells a story of a priest Furmann, who rehabilitates demons instead of exorcising them. One of his demons is a little girl's ghost-demon Suzie, who screams at flowers. READ DEMON SANCTUARY

I'd also like to serialize these three poly-flatmate-idiots at some point with 4 panel style but I have not made any big decisions yet. I have their comics on Tumblr now, tagged as #flatmates (needs a proper name)

Ironically speaking I know how Demon Sanctuary ends and I just need to draw it but I haven't gotten to do it...

Second ironic thing is that there's also another comic which I have had in mind for 7-8 years by now. I know the characters (Poju and Siri, series has no name), I know the story, I pretty much have it all thought from beginning to its end. Again, I don't know when (or how!) this story will come out. I somehow have a hunch that some other form than a comic would fit it really well. A book, perhaps? A game?

NOT TO MENTION that there's also ANOTHER comic idea I've been thinking for a few years now and doodled the characters a bit. It would be about a demon who is VERY proud of being able to manipulate anyone - until he meets a woman who doesn't react to him in anyway. Kind of the same idea as in Lucifer series, but a comedy.

Wow, where these keep coming from?! Not that I complain but I have only two hands, 24h per day and health issues (albeit slowly getting better).

But anyway, long story short; THANK YOU FOR READING DEATH-HEAD'S DEAL! If it's up to me I'll keep drawing comics until I croak or my osteoarthritis wins.

[gachawolfiebloom]

A Grumpy Troll and A Prince

Chapter 5: Escape Artists

Tags: Comedy, action, adventure, and romance

The guards walked through the halls past the burning torches. One in particular looked quite strange. It was actually Three and Four in an adequate disguise. They used their hair to swing over to a shelf at the other side of the hall, without drawing attention of course. Four looked around and asked Three "Where do you think our friends are?" This time he didn't notice that Four had said they were his friends too because he retorted back with a sarcastic comeback.

"If I had to guess, I'd say inside a Bergen's stomach."

Four groaned and placed his hands on his hips in a sassy way. "Could you try to be more positive!? Just once. You might like it." Three swung around and shot back "Okay. I'm sure they're not only alive, but about to be delivered to us on a silver platter."

Four didn't get the memo and instead breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. That wasn't so hard was it?" Three smacked his face once again from how irritating this was getting. How was he this stupid!? The prince's hug time bracelet went off and he gasped. "Three!"

"Really!? Hug time aga-" Four immediately shushed and told him to listen. Multiple chimes with faint colored lights could be seen around a corner. "There they are!" Now who's the smart one Three? He rushed off while Three blinked for a few seconds and ran off after him.

-

The captured trolls were all huddling together in quivering fear while their bracelets went off. Many bergen guards were busy setting the tables and fixing the lights on the ceiling. "This is going to be the best Trollstice ever!" X cheered. He flattered himself with his excellent idea while his royal entertainer walked by his side and FM pushed the cart with the cage on top. Mr Puzzles instructed "Tomorrow is Trollstice everyone and it must be perfect!"

"Yes Mr Puzzles!" He smirked to himself and the commanding orders reminded him of when he was so high and mighty all those years ago...before the trolls had made their escape... "It feels great to be ordering everyone around again!"

Three and Four slipped down onto a chandelier and the prince was the first to spot their friends. "Three look!" He studied the cage and tilted his head. "They're alive?" The two ducked down before anyone heard their whispering and Four said "And on a silver platter. We were both right."

It always bugged Three to be shown up, but him being right on a sarcastic note seemed to not nag him as much. 

Mr Puzzles knew that his plan was working, but if he was really going to win the king over, he needed more convincing. With his devilish charm, Mr Puzzles pulled out a worn out piece of cloth and said "To mark the occasion your highness, I found your old Troll bib." What was the king going to do with an old bib now!?

Apparently, it somehow won X over as he took it out of the TV man's hands and stared at it in awe. "Wow! I bet it still fits-" He tried tying it around, but it was a little too tight. Within seconds, the bib had exploded into millions of little pieces and a faint sound of giggling could be heard. X angrily turned to see Mario laughing until the others shushed him. "Oh so you think that's funny do you? We'll see who will be laughing when I eat you all!"

Mario's laughter turned into sheer panic and his friends expressed the same. X then raised an eyebrow. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7....8? "Mr Puzzles, this won't be enough to feed all of Bergen Town!" Sweat drops played on Mr Puzzles screen while the king had another thought. "How do we have Trollstice if there isn't enough trolls!?"

Mr Puzzles patted his head and reassured "There's plenty more where that came from your majesty. I can just go back and grab more!" Four gasped as he realized that the TV guy was right. Because of him, Mr Puzzles knew where they lived and could capture them all. He shared a worried glance with Three, who he could tell was sharing the same thought.

"Are you sure? Because I promised everyone a troll." Mr Puzzles quickly shut that problem down by sticking his hands out, defensively. "No! No! No! It will all be taken care of!" He then eyed the cage deviously. "If I was truly worried....would I do...THIS!" He slammed open the cage and grasped tight onto Tag6.

"TAG6!"

Three quickly pulled Four down as Mr Puzzles turned towards the chandelier. He could have sworn he saw...

The suspicion was shut down when X eyed her and said "My first troll!" Mr Puzzles handed the troll to the king and said "Go on. Eat up King X. Enjoy a taste of true happiness." X started to raise Tag6 up to his mouth while the others whimpered. She was suddenly saved for a moment when X asked "Shouldn't we wait for Trollstice?" The others breathed a sigh of relief.

Mr Puzzles then tried to entice him by putting Tag6 in a taco. "Yeah, I guess." Mr Puzzles looked in excitement as once again, the king raised her up to his mouth. "But my dad said the first time should be special." Another wave of relief. Mr Puzzles was starting to lose his patience as he poured hot sauce on the poor troll. "Well you're the king now."

"Yeah, I am!" Here we go...any second now... "But I think I should share this moment with all the kingdom." That was the last straw. In irritation, Mr Puzzles shoved the taco in his mouth. "JUST EAT IT YOU BUFFOON!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

The guards started playing some really cringe Mexican music and Mr Puzzles stuck a sombrero on X's head and maracas in his hands. Twirling him around the room for a few seconds, Mr Puzzles took X into the hall, but before they left, he turned and commanded "IM! Lock these trolls in your room and guard them with your life!" He make a slit neck gesture and told him "If you lose them, YOU'RE DEAD!"

FM quickly nodded and said "Yes Mr Puzzles!" He rolled the cart toward his room while Four was standing there, horrified.

Tag6 couldn't be gone. She just couldn't. He refused to believe it. "Three! We have to save her!" He pulled the prince back and asked "Save her from what!? His stomach!?" Four pointed back at him. "We didn't see him chew or swallow!"

"Face it Four! Sometimes people go into other people's mouths and they don't come out! If we go after Tag6 now, we're going to get eaten." Four could feel tears building up in his eyes and turned back towards the door. Three's expression softened a little. "I'm sorry. It's too late for her." Four looked back and saw the Bergen, pushing the cart with the rest of their friends.

Okay, back on track. Four dove off the chandelier as Three tried to grab him and watched over the side. "Four!" The prince slid down the railing of a ladder and slid on a spoon across the table until he was hitching a ride with the servant. Three quickly followed, jumping off the caps of the guards and swinging over, right next to Four. They shared a quick smile with one another's before the cautiously observed FM going down a flight of stairs until he reached his room.

The two hopped off as FM set the cage onto a counter, when a voice rang out. "SERVANT!" What did that TV head want now? Multiple dishes came crashing down onto FM as Mr Puzzles shot back "Wash these dishes for Trollstice! The King is inviting everyone...except you." FM couldn't take the abuse. He had hoped that just for once, he could finally hang out with X, but he was mistaken.

In a fit of tears, he collapsed onto his rickety old bed with muffled cries into the pillow. Four was trying to sneak over to the cage with Three, but stopped to watch the heartbroken Bergen, feeling quite sorry for him. Three stopped in his tracks as well. "Four? The hell are you doing!?"

FM wiped the tears off his face with his sleeve and took out a picture of X from his drawer.

"I've been alone with you inside my mind."

A fantasy plays where fm is spinning around with X in his arms.

"And in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times!"

Flashbacks now from when X was walking past FM's window.

"I sometimes see you pass outside my door."

FM wishes he could just tell X how he felt, but instead watches from afar.

"Hello!"

He's been doing this ever since they were kids.

"Is it me you're looking for!"

"I can see it in your eyes."

He scrubs a plate to see a faint reflection of X laughing and smiling.

"I can see it in your smile..."

"You're all I ever wanted and my arms are open wide!"

Even when X was yelling at his guards, FM found him irresistible.

Cause you know just what to say and you know just what to do."

"And I want to tell you so much...I love you."

FM kept crying into his pillow until he eventually wore himself out and fell asleep.

Three was confused, but Four thought it was adorable. "Aww he's in love with the king." Three gave him a deer in headlights look and said "What are you talking about!? Boys don't love other boys!" Why did he blush a little when he said that?

Four rolled his eyes and shot back "Well maybe you don't know everything about the Bergens!" There was no time for bickering so the two immediately ceased their argument and snuck past FM to the cage. Three pulled back the cover and Four shouted "Guys!"

"FOUR! You came to save us!"

He nodded and cheered "Let's have a celebration!" Three ran up and went "SHHHH!" Mario went down to a whisper and said "Let's have a party right here with spaghetti." Three grabbed some kind of Usb to use as a key and said "There is no parties going on here!" He set down the huge lock and replied "The sooner we get you guys out of here-"

"The sooner we can save Tag6!"

"WHAT!?"

The noise startled FM so much as he awoke instantly. "Hello?" All of them froze, praying he wouldn't look in their direction. Thankfully, sleep got the best of FM and he dozed off again. "Is it me you're looking for...

Once it was safe again, Three opened the cage door and told Four "I know that you're looking for the fun and laughter here, but let's face it. Tag6's been eaten!" Mario walked past, whispering "They put her in a taco!" Meggy followed. "It was horrible." Luigi put a hand on the prince's shoulder and said "Sorry Smg4. Tag6 is gone."

Three sighed and said "Four? How can you possibly think that Tag6 is still alive?" He spun around and responded "I don't think she's alive, I hope she's alive and that's enough." Three really didn't get it. "How do you always look on the bright side? There is no bright side here! None!"

"There's always a bright side!"

A light then flickered on as FM was standing there with a lamp in his hand. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

Oh crap. They were spotted...

Chapter 6: Broken Hearts and Awkward Dates

[blade-that-was-broken]

Well there’s child that bites that’s Bruce jr I believe, there is the one that got stuck in the ketchup bottle that one is also real hyperactive so maybe HC those two as twins make em identical nightmare children. I saw a fanfic where one of Bruce’s kids was like super allergic and intolerant to practically everything which causes problems cause Bruce owns a restaurant. And of course there is anarchist daughter. You should definitely give Bruce and brandy at least one pair of twins or triplets to justify him eventually having like 8-9 kids by the time he’s like 40ish.

Thanks for the ideas! Since we basically know nothing about them and most of them I don't even think have names at this point (?) it can be kinda of difficult. Bruce was about 13 when their parents divorced and it has been about fifteen years so Bruce is only about 28 at this point. He's not done having kids but he's got several already.

"Those two are twins, Jr. likes to bite," Bruce grimaced a little as he showed John some pictures. Brandy insisted on driving back home, even though Bruce said he could do it. He wasn't sure what her game plan was but she wasn't taking no for an answer. John just silently looked at whatever Bruce showing him at any given time and didn't seem to mind the rant and chatter. "And his twin is really... hyperactive. I love them to death but wow, they are everywhere, you have no idea."

"I can probably fix the biting," John replied.

He'd been doing that, insisting he could help or fix things or whatever. Bruce really wasn't sure what to make of it. His first instinct had been thinking that John thought there was something wrong with his kid that needed to be fixed and that made him upset. Sure, Jr. shouldn't be biting and they would work on that but he wasn't some broken thing to be fixed.

John said everything so plainly and Bruce couldn't really determine his meaning.

But he kept telling himself that John wasn't exactly himself either. The doctors said he would probably come back to himself. He just didn't really know who his brother was anymore.

"Uh... this one is allergic to pretty much life in general, especially cats, for some reason?" he said, flipping through the photo. "Which is tough because out neighbor loves cats and well... he's been kind of taking a liking to them too."

"Feed him eggs from a farm with barn cats," John replied.

"Uh... what?"

John looked up at him and tilted his head a little. Bruce had to take a moment to take that in. Clay did the same thing. Geez, how was he going to tell everyone else? He'd figure that out later.

"Helps with allergies."

"Okay...? It can be difficult with the restaurant since there is a bunch of stuff he's allergic and intolerant of but we are working on a medication regiment. And he's not really supposed to be around the kitchen anyways," he continued, trying to keep things normal but his speech just kept getting quicker and more excited. "They are going to love you. They have always wanted an uncle living close by. I know technically you don't have to stay out here but it is the best and you have an in!"

"An... in?"

"Me!" Bruce nodded with a grin. "I can get you set up with a fantastic place when you are recovered, if you want. You can stay with us as long as you want, I just know a lot of people tend to be independent so I thought hey, maybe he'd want a little place on the beach or something instead but then again, we haven't really seen each other in..."

"Alright, honey," Brandy interrupted. "You are getting a little excited."

"Where else would he go? We are by far the most financially stable and it's Hawaii for heaven's sake. People would kill to live here. There can't possibly be anywhere better. He doesn't even have an address."

Brandy just shot him a slight glare in the rearview mirror.

"Uh, he's right... uhm about the address thing," John confessed. "If I needed to spend my leave off base, I usually just found a camping spot or stayed with one of my squad."

Brandy's face twisted into something interested and possibly mischievous. John wouldn't have been able to catch it but Bruce definitely could. "Oh! We would love to hear about them! You must be very close."

"We are," John shrugged, lightly. "Might as well be family at this point. Kinda curated an orphans, losers and runaways club. Or in my case, all three," he chuckled.

It was the first time Bruce heard any sound that could possibly be classified as vague amusement from John, although Bruce wasn't entirely sure if it was genuine. He knew one thing; he didn't really like the type of humor.

"Except for Chaz, he's just a fool," John snorted. "They wouldn't let me get rid of him."

"What about the others?"

"Dickory is one of the best. He's very cunning but you can count on him even in strange plans. Pete is retired, not that you'd ever know he was there in the first place. Barely said a word. We useta call him Growly Pete cause that's generally how he was."

Okay. Best friend. Crotchety old man. This was okay. This seemed normal.

"Tresillo... hasn't been with us long but he's shaping up to be a good kid. Needed some discipline but considering his parents weren't exactly in the picutre, I get where he's comin from. He's grown a lot in the time that he's been with us, we're really proud of him."

Brandy glanced at Bruce again. He knew what she was thinking.

He wasn't going to think about it.

"Anyone else?" she asked.

He listed off a few more. "And then... and then Delta."

"Oh! Who is Delta?" Brandy asked with a smile.

"She's mah girl."

His what?

"My partner in crime, the law, whatever you wanna call it," John replied, rubbing his arm and looking out the window. "Go-to gal, best friend, right hand man or I'm hers, whatever you got, it's us. By some miracle the military thought it best to keep us stationed together. She ain't crazy but probably a good choice on their part."

"So, I suppose we will be seeing her visit sometime?"

"I'll haveta call her sister and see what all happened after well, this," John shrugged. "But maybe. It used to be where you found one of us, you wouldn't find the other far behind. I dunno how that'll be now. Things are different, but uhm... I'm hopin' she''ll come around sometime.''

[perch-the-cat]

The Apocalypse P1

(cover art ig lol)

Pre Chapter 1:Day 23 9:26 am.

 Disclaimer: This is an entirely different universe from my regular headcanon. (All of this is based on a dream the author had). Blood, cursing, and slurs are in this.

ᗪ卂ㄚ 23 ㄖ千 爪乇 ㄥ丨ᐯ丨几Ꮆ 丨几 ㄒ卄丨丂 匚卂尺ᗪ乃ㄖ卂尺ᗪ 乃ㄖ乂 山丨ㄒ卄 爪ㄚ ㄚㄖㄩ几Ꮆ乇尺 丂丨丂ㄒ乇尺. 几ㄖ, 山乇 卂尺乇几'ㄒ 卩ㄖㄖ尺, 几ㄖ ㄖㄩ尺 卩卂尺乇几ㄒ丂 ᗪ丨ᗪ几'ㄒ Ꮆ丨ᐯ乇 ㄩ丂 ㄩ卩… 丨 爪乇卂几 ㄖㄩ尺 爪ㄖㄒ卄乇尺 丨丂 ᗪ乇卂ᗪ 乃ㄩㄒ 山卄卂ㄒ乇ᐯ乇尺. ㄒㄖ 山卄ㄖ爪乇ᐯ乇尺 爪卂ㄚ 千丨几ᗪ ㄒ卄丨丂 丨 山丨ㄥㄥ ㄒ乇ㄥㄥ ㄚㄖㄩ ㄒ卄乇 丂ㄒㄖ尺ㄚ, ㄖ千 卄ㄖ山 ㄒ卄乇 卂卩ㄖ匚卂ㄥㄚ卩丂乇 乃乇Ꮆ卂几… ㄖ几乇 ᗪ卂ㄚ… 乃ㄩㄒ 几ㄖㄒ 几ㄖ山…

丨Ꮆ几卂ㄒ丨ㄩ丂 Ҝㄖㄖ卩卂

 Iggy puts down the notebook he'd been writing in for the past 23 days. The air was deadly silent. Iggy and Wendy have been living in this giant ass cardboard box that worked like one of those little kid houses that would be placed in someone's backyard.

 The only thing keeping it from collapsing was the tape and the fact it hadn't rained since the day the apocalypse started. The cardboard box itself was in the middle of some random Darklandian's backyard. Nothing was safe. Castle Koopa, Walmart, Amazon. In every building, you could find at least one zombie.

 How this started you may ask? Well here's the story…

Concept art for Wendy and Iggy

Chapter 1: The Apocalypse: Aug 29th Day 1, 8:46 pm

 “I've been waiting all year for this I'm so fucking excited!” Bowser Jr jumps on Ludwig in excitement forgetting the fact he's not really a kid anymore, therefore making the two fall to the ground.

 Iggy chuckles at this and leans over his older brother and younger cousin. Ludwig looks up at Iggy with a somewhat spiteful look in his eyes as if trying to say, “Help me up already, idiot”

 Iggy completely ignores Ludwig's glares and taunts him, “Looks like you've been smashed!” Iggy chuckles with his smug-ass grin.

 Ludwig growls takes Iggy's glasses off his face and throws them off into the distance.

 Iggy is now unable to see anything including color so he retorts in an almost sarcastic manner, “Wow, so mature, especially coming from the eldest koopaling”

 “You know fully damn well not to taunt me, you maniatic jackass” Ludwig snarls at Iggy in a threatening tone.

 Iggy attempts to walk off but forgets he cannot see and trips onto Junior and Ludwig, “Damnit…”

 Roy walks up with Iggy's glasses in his hands, “Hey Iggy, I think you dropped this”

 “Wow, I would've never noticed, Captain Obvious” Iggy rolls his eyes, snatches the glasses out of his hands, and stands up.

 As Iggy got up, Ludwig aggressively shoved Junior off of him and tidied himself up. Junior gave Ludwig a mad look as he pushed him. Junior grabbed onto Iggy to stabilize himself. Once Junior stood up, Iggy leaned over and put his arm on Junior’s head as if he were an armrest.

 Junior convinced Bowser to take them to an art exhibit instead of an amusement park (which everyone but Junior and Ludwig didn’t want to go). But little did they know that that night was gonna be a horrible tragic night. They all got to the art exhibit, exploring and messing around. Koopas and Toads, evenly spread amongst the exhibit.

 “Ah, isn’t this relaxing?” Ludwig taunts Iggy and Wendy with a smirk.

 “You know we both didn’t want to come here, Lud,” Wendy glared over at Ludwig’s cocky face.

 “Your loss…” Ludwig shrugs off. He notices a piano in the distance and continues more excited now, “Oooo, a piano!” With that, Ludwig walks off.

 “God, this is the most boring thing I’ve been to… Funerals are more fun than this! I don’t get what Junior sees in these art exhibits!” Iggy once again uses someone's head as if it were an armrest, this time being Wendy's.

 “Please stop-”

 “Ok…” Iggy then removes his arm and puts it down to his side.

 It was peaceful, yet boring. Pieces of art that looked to be randomly spread about the room of the exhibit. Out of the blue, there was a loud screech that sounded like a tornado siren but if it was right up against their ears. The screaming came from a toad, so it was 10 times more loud and annoying. Some guards ran over to the screaming toad. There was a little ring of people around the toad when Iggy and Wendy got there. Bowser pushes people out of the way so he could see what was happening.

 “What’s happening!? Did someone get hurt?” Bowser immediately starts asking the guards questions.

 “THERE’S A SPIDER IN HERE!!!” Shouted the toad that was screaming, “IT WAS ON MY ARM! I DON’T KNOW WHERE IT WENT!!!”

 Everyone gasps in horror. There were a few confused Koopas who didn’t know why that was such a big deal and started walking off.

 Alright in case you’ve never read this before and don’t know the deal with spiders and toads in my headcanon, here’s a little summary of why. Do you know that one type of spider that can get infected by fungi and turn undeadish? Well if you didn’t know, now you know! Anyway, the toads have an irrational fear of spiders touching them and making the spiders become undead. They are scared that once the spider is undead, it will bite someone who isn’t a toad and make a zombie apocalypse. So yeah that’s why everyone is scared of toads touching a spider. Anyway, back to the story.

 Some toads and koopas start running around and panic. Screams fill the room, sculptures being knocked down and shattering once hitting the ground causing more chaos. Some Guards start shouting things like, “FIND THE SPIDER!” or “GET IT BEFORE IT BITES” making the chaos even more unstable. Iggy picks Wendy up so they can get out before any commotion happens. A few other people get the idea of exiting the building. The room suddenly goes dead silent after there was a scream from a koopa troopa. The koopa was sitting on the ground eyeballing the spider that was sitting on their hand. Some guards grab a cup and some paper.

 “Don’t-” The Koopa with the spider on its hand mutters to the guards.

 “I have to,” The Koopa guard responds in a hushed tone.

 “Please, DON’T!” the koopa quivers.

 “Sorry…” and with that, the guard throws the cup onto the koopa's hand. Right as he was about to put the paper under the cup to retrieve it the spider bites the koopa.

 The koopa who got bit, screams in fear and holds their hand in pain. The crowd backs away slightly in fear of what could happen.

 “Hey, the myths are lies! I’m not a zombie!” The Koopa jumps up triumphantly.

 Like a basketball smoothly falling through a basketball net one of their eyes falls out. The only thing keeping it from hitting the floor was the little cord thing. Everyone screams in shock including the koopa with the dangling eyeball. The chaos starts back up again everyone screaming and flailing their arms everywhere running around like chickens that just had their enclosure invaded.

 A few people had the logical idea to start running away from the chaos, while others attacked the koopa and started becoming more zombie-like by the second. The zombie koopa bites a few other koopas. And thus the apocalypse began…

Beginning/Chapter 2

[thunder-shadow]

ive got many!!! 1, 4, 5, 8, 17, 21, 27, 28, 37?!

Thank uuu <333333

Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

Oh boy, yeah I daydream a lot haha - usually I get an idea and write down the bare info for it (like the ship and maybe one or two scene ideas) and then I just let it marinate for a bit, usually listening to music or reading! Then ideas usually pop in from there XD I'm a daydreamer all the way

4. How do you choose which fics to write?

Usually it's just whichever one I feel needs attention at the moment? Or whatever my brain latches onto haha

Like yesterday I meant to edit the GHE chapter so it could be posted, but instead I wrote the Earthcury one-shot turned multi-chap (which I wanna finish b4 I post it)

It's very wishy-washy is what I'm saying LOL

5. How many wips do you have?  What fandoms/pairings are they for?

All of WIPs are for SolarBalls haha I can only write for one fandom at a time XD

Okay, so obviously I have the GHE fic, the Jupixturnus fic, the Vercury fic, and now the Earthcury fic (those are all multi-chaps); then I have my oneshots, of which I plan to write Vars, Vearth, another UraEarth, a fluffy Jupiturnus one, a Poly Rocky planets one, and I still have a Sol & Nemesis one with snippets, as well as the post-paranoia Luna fic that still needs its chapter two LOL (and then I have a titanearth smut + jupixturnus smut that i'm thinking abt but shhhhhh)

That doesn't even count the random ideas I've just jotted down in my notes app LOL

8. Post an out-of-context spoiler from a wip.

Oh gee, lemme find one I feel like posting!! I don't have any spoilers to be honest, bc i haven't written since i posted the ghe one or i would've used that 😭 so just have a snippet from my latest wip

I actually posted this the other day but deleted it like immediately LOL but here! from my earthcury college AU

‘Okay,’ Earth thought, narrowing his eyes. ‘First midterm is in 7 days. One week. You’ve got this,’ and he pumped his fist, ignoring the weird looks a couple of people threw at him. ‘Just need to study. Actually study for once.’ Then he looked down at the multitude of papers spread out in front of him, his laptop propped open to a chemistry video from a Youtuber he’d found on line, and groaned, letting his face fall onto the table. Across from him, Mars let out a laugh, flipping another page in his book. “Earth, I don’t know what your definition of studying is, but putting your head on the table and giving up is not studying as far I’m aware.” Earth looked up at him through his lashes, sending him as much of an annoyed look as he could muster before groaning again. “Organic Chemistry is going to kill me! Why did I decide to become a biology major?” “I don’t know. Why did I decide to become an Astronomy major?” “Because you’re weirdly obsessed with aliens?” “Wha-” Mars spluttered, putting his book down and looking at Earth. “No!” “Because you weirdly like math?” “No, Earth, because I enjoy astronomy! I like learning about it!” Mars rolled his eyes, taking a sip from his water bottle after a second. “And I know you’re the same way about biology because we’ve been roommates since freshman year!” “Ughh,” Earth whined in response. “Just let me melt into a puddle and evaporate away so I don’t have to take these midterms.” “You could just study for them, you know.” “That was my plan! But that involves studying…” “Oh, wow,” Mars said, throwing him a stare that just dripped with disdain. “Studying involves studying, I really didn’t know that, Earth.” “Fine!” Earth stood up, shoving his stuff haphazardly into his backpack. “I’ll go to the library! And this time, I’m going to actually study!”

17. Do you have a writing routine?

Nope! I literally just sit down and start writing oop

21. Do you prefer writing chaptered fics or one-shots?

I prefer writing one-shots just bc it feels simpler, like a one-and-done LOL but multi-chaps can be fun too!!

27. What area of writing do you feel strongest in?

Being able to write a lot 😓 and body language, I feel quite confident in body language LOL

Also my grammar and language use, despite my copious use of em-dashes, semicolons, and ellipses I otherwise really just innately understand most grammar bc of how much I read when I was younger ‼️

28. What area of writing do you want to improve in?

DIALOGUE 😭😭😭

37. What fic has been the hardest for you to write?

The GHE fic hands down, it just feels so complicated 😭😭 I'm slowly chugging a lot, we're nearing the last few chapters :D

[ruth-writes]

What's My Age Again?

Chapter 8: Alex

“You look excited,” Jamie said as we sat in the car. The fact that it was said with genuine interest, not the resentment it would have been a few weeks ago, only made me smile even more. “Are you gonna ask Aaliyah out today?”

He’d also become a little too interested in my love life since he’d decided he was okay with me having one. “I don’t know yet, okay?” I replied. “Stop badgering me.”

Jamie smirked. “I’m just wondering. Aren’t you worried she’s gonna meet someone else by the time you finally pull yourself together?”

I was a little worried about that, but I wasn’t gonna let Jamie know that. “Okay, I am not taking dating advice from a fourteen-year-old,” I said, instead of answering.

“Hey, this fourteen-year-old has been in more relationships than you,” Jamie reminded me. I really wished he hadn’t.

After a few minutes of excruciating small talk with Jamie’s new friend’s mom (I commented on how nice her house was, and she said how it was nice of me to drop Jamie off), I parked across from a two-story house with a porch covered in flower pots. Aaliyah was sitting on it with two people who I assumed were her parents, and she quickly ran over when she saw me.

“Prepare yourself for a shit ton of small talk,” she warned me. “Blink twice if you need me to save you.”

I ended up only blinking a normal amount, because all they did was ask me what I was studying and offered me some of their homemade cookies. That was apparently already too much for Aaliyah, who dragged me away from them and apologized profusely as we went down the basement stairs.

“I don’t mind,” I assured her. “They seem really nice.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, right. You can be honest, you know.”

“I am being honest!” I protested, not entirely understanding what her problem was.

“Okay, whatever.” She clearly didn’t believe me.

I didn’t dwell on it once we got to her room, which was huge. “Wow, this is all yours?” I asked, almost incredulously. It looked like she had the entire basement to herself.

“Um, yeah,” she said uncomfortably, ducking into her walk-in-closet. I immediately felt like I’d said something wrong.

“It’s nice,” I said to make up for it. “Are these pictures of you?” I gestured to a row of photos of a little girl at various dance recitals, getting older as the pictures went on.

She looked over her shoulder. “Oh, yeah. It’s all the recitals I’ve had since I started dance.”

“You’ve been there for a really long time.” She looked to be about five in the earliest pictures, taped on the wall over a small dresser in the corner.

“Yeah, I started in first grade. I only got serious about it around the time I started middle school, though.” She emerged from her closet triumphantly, holding a projector. “Can you help me stack these books? I don’t have a stand.”

We set up nine hardcovers in front of her bed and delicately placed the projector so it was facing her only bare wall.

“So when did you decide you wanted to teach?” I asked, sitting down on the corner of her bed.

“I don’t know exactly,” she admitted, expertly snaking the cord around the furniture. “Billie and I always talked about having our own studio, but it obviously wasn’t a serious plan when we were kids. Then it kind of just worked out, you know? Neither of us wanted to go to college, and then we realized how cool it would be to have a place in town that belonged to us. It’s not just about the studio, we want to have a kind of communal space. Like, the only queer spaces that exist in this town are bars, which sucked when I was underage.”

I frowned. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-one. How old are you?” She eyed me curiously.

“Nineteen,” I admitted, my cheeks heating.

Aaliyah didn’t seem to think anything of it. “Well, I was a grade above Billie and Riley in school, so I’m the oldest,” she explained.

“Did you meet through dance, then?” I asked.

“Billie, yeah. I met Riley through her.” Finished with the projector, she sat down on the bed next to me, placing her hand so that our pinkies were just barely brushing against each other. She turned to face me and I pointedly looked over her shoulder at the wall, my heart pounding.

“Shouldn’t the others be here by now?” I asked nervously, trying to keep my voice level.

“No, they’re always at least twenty minutes late,” she explained. “We still have some time to ourselves.” She adjusted her pinky so it was resting on top of mine.

Was she saying what I thought she was saying? I forced myself to look at her and jerked a little in surprise when I realized she was close enough for me to count the sparkles she’d decorated her eyelids with today. Did she want me to kiss her? How would I even do that?

“Hey, how’s Jamie been getting along in class?” I asked, effectively breaking the moment.

She blinked in surprise, then pulled away and said in a voice that was much higher than usual, “Oh, he’s great!” She leaned back awkwardly, looking slightly embarrassed. The realization that I’d just sabotaged the only chance I was probably ever gonna get with her punched me in the gut. “Yeah, he’s already found his footing perfectly. I think he hit it off with Omar, they’ve been talking about hanging out.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s who’s house he’s at right now.”

“Really? That’s great,” she said, then an awkward silence fell over us.

I studied her bookshelf, painfully aware that she was watching me. There was an impressive amount of what looked to be theoretical texts, though I only recognized the name Marx. “Can I borrow this?” I asked, reaching for the thinnest book on the shelf. “I’ve always wanted to read it.”

Unfortunately, she didn’t seem as impressed as I’d envisioned, but at least she didn’t call my bluff. “Sure. Just be careful with it, it’s kind of falling apart.”

“Sure thing.” I carefully took Animal Farm by George Orwell off the shelf and placed it in my bag. We kept up the awkward small talk until Riley poked their head through the door, Billie right behind them. They’d both brought an abysmal amount of snacks that we started munching on straight away, only kind of making sure the crumbs didn’t get all over Aaliyah’s bed. I ended up squished between Aaliyah and Riley as the movie started.

I’d never given much thought to how I would die.

“Is that Anna Kendrick?” I asked when we got to the school scene. I was the only one who’d never seen it before.

“Yeah,” Billie said. “She looks like she’s being held hostage, doesn’t she?”

I thought all of the actors looked that way, but I didn’t say anything else until the Cullens were introduced. “Is that buff guy holding a sack of hard-boiled eggs?”

“Oh, there’s a backstory to that!” Billie said again, reaching over to pause the movie excitedly. “The eggs weren’t in the script. They were the actor’s actual lunch and Catherine Hardwicke thought it was so funny she made him carry them in the scene.”

I had to assume that Catherine Hardwicke was the director.

The rest of the movie went similarly, with Billie interrupting the most. “I just think it’s so dumb that they didn’t make Bella a half-vampire or something. They set it up with the her smelling blood thing, but instead she’s just a Mary Sue who has perfect vampire powers. It would have tied the whole series in such a perfect knot.”

“You know humans can smell blood though, right?” Riley pointed out. I’d been thinking the same thing.

“That’s not the point,” Billie said. “In the Twilight universe they can’t.”

Later she gave us gems like, “Did you know that Stephanie Meyer’s mother-in-law is named Victoria, and Jacob is one of her brothers? Because Jacob was only supposed to be like a little brother figure, but her editor said a love triangle would be better.”

And, “The Cullens are such white supremacist assholes. They settle on native land and refuse to leave, not giving a fuck that they’re traumatizing literal kids my making them turn into werewolves?”

“I didn’t know you were such a Twilight fan,” I said at one point, making Riley and Aaliyah share a look and Billie gear up for another speech.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a fan, exactly,” she explained. “I think it’s garbage, but it’s garbage in such a funny way. You know there’s a specific genre of fanfic that’s Twilight written by people who hate it, and it’s some of the best stuff ever written, because all the characters and the story have so much potential, Meyer just wasn’t a good enough writer to do her ideas justice.”

“Really? You’ll have to show me sometime.” I was genuinely curious. I’d rarely seen a person speak so passionately about a subject.

Billie beamed. “I can send you my favorite, it’s called The Movement of the Earth. I got it printed and bound as an actual book.”

Now that was commitment. I made a mental note to read the apparent masterpiece as thoroughly as I could.

Aaliyah moved a pile of snacks from her lap and said, “If you’re already pausing the movie, I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”

As soon as she was gone, I noticed a shift in the atmosphere as Riley and Billie both gave me the same amount of interest Billie had been giving the movie a few moments ago. They glanced at each other, then Billie cleared her throat and said in barely more than a whisper, “You know, you and Aaliyah have been spending a lot of time together.”

Now I understood what was going on. These people were dying for some gossip.

“Yeah, I guess,” was all I said.

“Is there anything like, going on?” Billie prodded.

I felt my face flush. “Why? Did she say something?”

They both groaned. “She won’t tell us anything,” Riley complained.

“But you think she likes me?” I asked. No matter how embarrassed I was, getting confirmation on the matter from her best friends couldn’t hurt.

Billie’s eyes gleamed. “So you do like her!”

“That’s not an answer,” I pointed out.

“Neither is yours,” Riley shot back, and Billie giggled.

“I mean, yeah. Everyone in a ten-mile radius can see that you like each other,” she informed me. “You should totally shoot your shot.”

I swallowed. “I don’t know. I think I might’ve messed things up a little earlier,” I admitted.

Billie raised her eyebrows. “Well-” she started, then stopped when we heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Aaliyah took her place beside me again, throwing her legs over mine. Eventually her head ended up tucked under my chin, which meant I spent the rest of the movie focused on the nice smell of her hair. What scent was her shampoo? Peach? Roses? Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Billie and Riley grinning at us, but I realized I didn’t mind as I absentmindedly traced along her arm, making her smile and look up at me from time to time.

When the movie was over, they both left suspiciously soon. Even Aaliyah seemed confused.

“Do you guys have something to do?” she asked as she hugged them goodbye.

“Yeah, we’re planning your birthday party,” Riley told her.

She accepted the obvious lie. As soon as they were gone, I got a text from Billie.

Billie: I don’t know what happened, but TRY AGAIN

I glanced at Aaliyah, who had her back turned to me as she put the rest of the books away.

Alex: How??? I’m not good at this stuff

I watched my phone anxiously as Billie typed, hoping she’d answer before Aaliyah noticed something was up.

Billie: Just ask her if she’s free whenever you’re free

“Hey, Aaliyah?” I asked.

“Yeah?” She didn’t turn around. It occurred to me that I could be helping her with the heavy books, but that seemed awkward now.

“Are you free on Friday?”

That got her attention. She looked at me. “Yeah, why?”

My heart pounded like I’d just chugged five Red Bulls, I said, “I thought maybe we could go out and do something.”

She smiled. “You mean like a date?”

“Yeah, like a date,” I confirmed.

“Sure.”

We stood there awkwardly until I decided it was time to leave. She hugged me goodbye in the basement, I suspected because she didn’t want to do it in front of her parents.

“You look happy,” Jamie said as he got in the car.

I grinned. “Do I?”

“You did it, didn’t you?” he pressed, leaning over to look at me.

I didn’t indulge him. “Buckle your seatbelt.”

“Alex! Just tell me.” He tapped his feet like a kid waiting excitedly for Santa.

“Okay, maybe I did.” I had to give him something, otherwise we’d never get going.

He squealed, then buckled his seatbelt after a look from me. I pulled out of my parking spot.

“You look happy, too,” I noted. “How were things with Omar?”

“Good. He’s really nice. So is his mom. She said she’d help me with my Spanish if I came over more often.”

“That’s nice of her.” Spanish was one of the many subjects Jamie was failing.

“Yeah,” Jamie said, disconnecting my phone from the car and to plug his in instead.

“Hey!” I said, not taking my eyes off the road.

“I only have 5 percent,” he argued. “I’ll put on our blended playlist, okay?”

I sighed. “Fine.” Sometimes you had to pick your battles.

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

I saw Aaliyah the moment I walked in the café, but had to stop and pause for a moment. She was always pretty, but she’d clearly spent some extra time in front of the mirror preparing for our date, and the result was pretty breathtaking. Her braids were swept up in a ponytail, making her gold dangly earrings stand out. As I got closer, I realized they made the golden flecks in her eyes stand out, which were accentuated by her eyeliner.

She got up when she saw me and we greeted each other with a hug. “Hey!” I said. “You look great.” Billie had told me something about making my compliments specific, so I added, “I love your earrings.”

“Thanks!” she replied brightly. “My grandma gave them to me. You look good, too.”

I shifted uncomfortably, wondering if she was only saying that out of politeness. I was wearing a pale blue button-down that I considered to be my nicest shirt and jeans without holes in them that I’d bought specifically for the occasion.

“Thanks,” I echoed, sitting down across from her. She’d already set a pile of games on the table.

“I picked out some that I like, but you can look around too, if you want,” she told me.

My eyes flitted around the café. Every nook and cranny was filled to the brim with so many games that I wouldn’t know where to start. “I don’t really play games that often,” I explained.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”

I shook my head. “I mean, we had a few we used to play when I was little, but I never really got into it.” I hadn’t even known board game cafés were a thing until Aaliyah had suggested it. I gestured to the pile. “Do you have a favorite?”

She bit her lip, then said, “Okay, you can’t laugh, but it’s Settler’s of Catan.”

I frowned. “Why would I laugh?” I’d definitely played it before.

She looked at me sheepishly. “I don’t know, no one ever wants to play it with me. Billie and Riley say it’s a game for ten-year-olds.”

To be fair, it had been a while since I’d played, and I wasn’t sure I was remembering it correctly. Wasn’t it the game that was kind of like Monopoly but with wheat and ore instead of money? “Really? I don’t mind it, we can play if you want.”

She smiled and excitedly started unpacking the box. While we were setting up, a waitress came over and we both ordered a hot chocolate.

“Do you come her a lot?” I asked Aaliyah after the waitress had gone.

She shrugged. “From time to time. I wouldn’t say I’m a regular. I’ve definitely never had a date here before.”

My cheeks heated, the word date reminding me exactly why we were here. “Where do you usually go on dates, then?” I asked, hoping to figure out if she had any kind of active dating life.

“I don’t know, it depends. I don’t think I go on enough dates to have a ritual.” That was good to hear. She finished placing her settlements, spending much more time considering their location than I had, before throwing the question back at me. “What about you?”

There wasn’t any point in lying. “To be completely honest, I’ve never actually been on a date before,” I admitted awkwardly, praying she wouldn’t find it too weird.

She didn’t even seem surprised, just confused, which made it even more embarrassing. “Wait, really? Never? Not even like, an awkward thing when you were a teenager that never led anywhere?”

I technically still was a teenager, but I decided not to remind her of that. I shook my head. “Nope.”

To my relief, she smiled and said, “Wow, so I’m your first. I’m honored.”

I tried to look her right in the eyes as I replied, “Well, yeah. I wasn’t gonna go on my first date with just anyone.”

Her smile widened, but she didn’t answer, just looked at the board awkwardly as I rolled. Had I made her flustered? I hadn’t thought that was possible with her.

She swore when I rolled a seven and gleefully moved the robber over to her side of the board. “Damn it.” She took the dice from me before asking, “Did you think about what you wanted this to be, then?”

I blanched, my carefree mask slipping. I’d been so focused on being excited over spending more alone time with Aaliyah, I hadn’t even considered specifics. I’d fantasized about cuddling with her while we watched a movie none of us was paying attention to, talking until we fell asleep. Waking up next to her, seeing her first thing in the morning and feeling safe and content. Did that mean I wanted her to be my girlfriend?

“You don’t have to have a definitive answer or anything,” Aaliyah quickly assured me when I didn’t answer. “I was just wondering if you’d thought about it at all.”

“I haven’t really,” I admitted finally. “To be honest, I just want to spend time with you.” The admission made my anxiety spike, making me feel my thumping heart in my entire body.

Was she blushing? She definitely looked happy, so I must have said something right. “Yeah, I mean, we can just keep dating for a bit. I like spending time with you, too.”

It was my turn to blush, and I couldn’t help but think how dorky we both must look. Much too soon, it was time for her to go to work. Our knuckles brushed as I walked her to her car, and in the spur of the moment, I grabbed her hand, grinning ecstatically when she accepted it and linked our fingers together.

She stopped in front of a dark green Kia. I liked cars that had pretty colors. Nowadays, they all seemed to be exclusively in different shades of gray. “I had a really nice time. Thanks for playing Catan with me.”

I smiled down at her, still holding her hand. “I really liked it. We should go there again sometime.”

“I’d love to,” she agreed

I was just thinking that on account of our height difference, I’d probably have to make some sort of move when it came to kissing, when she surprised me by getting up on her tippy toes and pressing a kiss to my cheek. Before I’d fully registered what had happened, she was saying goodbye and walking over to the driver’s side of her car. I stared after her, and she caught my eye one last time before getting in.

“Are you okay?” she asked teasingly.

“I’m great!” I said, a bit too enthusiastically, and she laughed.

“We’ll text, okay?” And with that, she pulled out of her parking spot in one of the smoothest maneuvers I’d ever seen and was gone.

[starynightcreator]

It's Not All Bad

Chapters: 7-8

Characters included: Eddie Munson, Nancy Wheeler, and Steve Harington

Word Count: 4,887

No use of Y/N

18+! May be triggering to some!

Contains: Fluff, Angst, Kissing, Shy/ Anxious Reader, Sweet/Protective Eddie, Jealousy, Cursing, Alcohol use, Yelling, Heartbreak, Betrayal, & Friends To Lovers.

Summary: After a betrayal from your best friend and boyfriend, you find comfort in the arms of eddie.

Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. This is my first story and I'm a little nervous.

!Must give credit when re-sharing/ sharing. Don't take credit please and thank you!

PART SEVEN:

“They never deserved someone like you in their lives and karma will kick them in the ass so hard they won't be able to sit for years. I’m sorry they did this to you, they are awful people. Wait, if you hate parties then why’d you invite me to this one?”

“You’re sweet Edd’s, you always are to me. Also thank you for that, you are always being so kind to me, honest, real, and what not..Haha well they definitely deserve it. Oh Umm. Because I wanted to spend time with you.”“ Don’t thank me Star, I'd do anything for you and I mean it. Star you didn’t have to go to a party to spend time with me. I would have come over here for a movie night or done something you enjoyed too.” “Well it’s probably good we went anyways. Even if I got hurt. I needed to find out at some point right? Besides parties aren't all bad there is music, it’s dark enough people don’t pay attention to you jamming out, and it’s fun if you got someone there you know. Wait, you would have?”“I guess you are right. Yeah that’s true, well we can jam out here if you want I don’t plan on leaving. Of course I would have.” You thought for a minute and remembered you installed color changing light bulbs and you had a few funky light things. “Okay but i’ll be right back.”“Okay i’ll be here.” You then come back smiling with a small box. “I got the goods!”“Is that so?” You then start taking things out of the box and plugging them in throughout the room. “Yes. FUNKY LIGHTS!” You then dim the lights and switch the lights to where they change colors with the beat of the music. “Wow, fancy setup you got here.”“Thank you.” You then hand your phone to Edds to pick the first song. “Hmmm let see.Let’s go with this one.” He had picked the one he caught you jamming to earlier but stopped when you got caught (Talking In Your Sleep by The Romantics) “You did not just do that.” “Do what?? I just started a song.” You were gonna say more but you'd rather just jam. So you’ll just sass him later. “Fineee. Turn it up then pretty boy.” The next song was your turn to pick and you picked Just Dance by Lady GaGa, Colby O’Donis. You started to forget you weren’t alone and you just started having so much fun. At one point Eddie just stepped back and looked at you as if you were the only thing he ever wanted to look at again. You eventually turn around and notice which made you blush. You’ve never seen that look on his face before. Sure you caught him staring before but you couldn’t really pin why tho. So you went to your phone to pick another song (Song now playing was So Sweet I Could Die by Lucia & The Best Boys) as Eddie seemed to zoned out. But all of the sudden. “Star?” “Eddie?” You turn around smiling thinking he was going to point out it was his turn but instead. “Can I be honest with you?” “Always.”“I know this may not be the best time to say it but I don’t know when it will. Smack me if you must but I'm going to do it anyway.”“Ok Edds and i’ll listen.”“I like you Star yes as a friend but I also like you more than that. I want to be able to call you my girlfriend…My Star. You are my world and you deserve more than the world. You don’t deserve to be treated like trash ever.” Eddie started to walk up to you until he was just close enough where you would have to look up a bit, but he still didn't get in your face. You were looking down tho due to nerves but Eddie wasn’t going to settle for the top of your head this time. So he grabbed your chin and gently guided your face to look back at his. Which is where he saw your red cheeks. Which made him smirk almost instantly. “Star? Are you blushing at what I just told you?” You swat his hand away and look to the side doing everything to avoid eye contact. “No. It’s just the lighting.”“Oh Star, you've never been good at lying just tell me.” You thought for a moment and you thought why hide it anymore your single and have no intentions on getting back together. You had fallen for Eddie pretty much since you met him. So why keep hiding how you truly feel. So you look down but at Eddie's hands and you just go before you back out…

[captainshorter]

Instead of rating shows i watched this year like a normal person im rating on how much they made me cry !

Side note, im not rating all of the shows I've watched, there are over 50 of them so nah not doing that😂

Moonlight chicken, 10/10, made me cry lots, great vibes

Never let me go

100/10, cried especially hard at that one scene with Palm and Neung dancing in that hotelroom after Palm's mum got killed.

Between us, A solid 9/10

I watched Until we meet again after i watched this and i heard it was so so sad so i was like hell yeah go sadness you know? But it disappointed me so much, i didn't like it all:/

I told sunset about you, 10/10, made me cry

Followed by I promised you the moon 100/10, it made me cry more than itsay, i liked it more too:))

The Eighth sense

1000/10 THIS WAS LITERALLY SO BEAUTIFUL MADE ME CRY SO HARD

Love mechanics, 100/10, made me cry lots:')

Blueming, 100000/10 CRIED, CRIED AND SOBBED, THIS ONE DEFINITELY MADE ME CRY HARDWST SHARING HIS PLACE WITH THE NEXT ONE

I feel you linger in the air, 100000/10. You wanna know the funniest about this being rated so high for making me cry? When i was watching the like first six episode or something i was like, wow yeah i kinda feel it's sad but it hadn't made me cry yet. THEN SIKE THE LAST FEW EPISODE HIT LIKE A TRUCK AND I LITERALLY COULDN'T STOP CRYING FOR AN NEARLY AN HOUR AFTER FINISHING IT. Yeah anyways

Bed friend, 8/10, it was angsty which i had not expected when i started watching it when it aired but it was incredibly. I didn't cry that much though. It gets point for unexpected angst and good portrayed trauma:)

Only friends, 9/10. Ray made me cry so hard with that scene in the bathtub. But the scene in the GIF above had me crying too.

Anyways that was it because Tumblr has a limit of adding gif per post and i feel like I've noted everything worth mentioning:))

(one more scene worth noting is the one in kiseki dear to me, not sure which episode anymore, but where Ai Di is sitting in front of a birthday cake and you see the years pass, that one hurt so much and i shedded some tears:'))

Another show worth noting for cry-ability (that's a word from now on), is Pitbabe, i have not cried because of it but it's kind sad and angsty so it has potential for making me cry

[adultswim2021]

Aqua Teen Hunger Force #89: “Rabbot Redux” | February 8, 2010 - 12:00AM | S08E02

Happy Space Ghost day, everyone! 30 dang years with our great guy. Wow! Seems like as good a day as any to start this shit up again. To the small-yet-still-dwindling number of people who read my shit: Hi! Real life is having it’s way with me right now, so please know I’m instituting a hard-and-fast “will update when I feel like it” rule to this thing for the right-now. So, please don't expect this to be a nightly blog. It'll be more like a "nighty" blog, as in "nighty-night", because it will be angelically and perfectly asleep most of the time. Thank you. 

It’s Rabbot Redux: a fairly unnecessary explanation for what happened directly after the events of the live-action episode. It turns out the Aqua Teens drove their moving van two doors down, to the other house next to Carl’s. Not a lot happens; Neil unpacks while Rick and Vivian fight over which room is theirs. Shake immediately claims the bathroom, not realizing it’s a bathroom. Meatwad gets a luxurious room with a salad bar and a harem.

Eventually Rabbot (from before) shows up with a housewarming gift. He then crushes the Aqua Teens’ house, forcing them to go back to the old house. Schooly D shows up and sings a new theme song (which is also used over the opening sequence). This one calls back a lot of stuff from Rabbot, like Carl working out of the home, and “dancing is forbidden”.

This one isn’t especially groundbreaking, and it’s a little puzzling that they felt the need to write themselves out of that "hole". Normally they’d just ignore stuff like that and relish the show's lack of continuity. Not only did they air an episode between the two episodes (a Christmas special), but they also put it on DVD with multiple episodes between this and the Live-Action episode; I’m guessing in some production order or something. It's striking how little these guys care, sometimes. It's weird to see them dutifully tie up a thread.

This one is fairly funny, though. There’s nothing egregiously bad in it. The biggest smile I did was the part when Shake started berating Frylock about sucking his stuff. Shake is a nasty guy who says rude stuff :)

EPHEMERA CORNER

FOX on Adult Swim bump (January 11, 2010)

Hey, here's something fun and--what luck! I am telling you about it: At this time, Adult Swim was airing episodes of Family Guy shortly after they premiered on Fox, and they had a significant viewership on both channels. In the episode "Big Man on Hippocampus", they aired a fake Adult Swim bumper (intended to mess with Fox watchers) as they went to commercial, making a joke about confusing their viewers into which network they were watching. When the episode aired on Adult Swim, they followed it up with a Fox-style promo instead of their normal bumper. Fun fact: I once spoke to somebody who was writing on an Adult Swim show and they entertained the idea of doing a fake Adult Swim bumper, and asked me if any other shows had done that. I told them "even Family Guy has" because I happened to catch this bit. Took the wind out of those sails.

MAIL BAG

oh wow she's straight-up married to the mindless self indulgence guy. woof

LOL

Hello Mister Swim! What if I called you Mister Swim all the time, like you were Mr. Moviefone? Would that be a treat?

Yeah, it would be a nice treat. Thank you for being so nice to me.

[sariahsue]

Let Me Count the Ways

Chapter Sixteen - The Kiss

[Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Ch 5] [Ch 6] [Ch 7] [Ch 8] [Ch 9] [Ch 10] [Ch 11] [Ch 12] [Ch 13] [Ch 14] [Ch 15]

Antomologist had seen where they landed, which meant they had only a few moments to think of their next move, and all Chat Noir could do was stand frozen where he was, every thought on hold. 

Ladybug still had her arms wrapped around him. 

Even though both his feet were firmly planted, he clung to her for balance. Her breaths came quickly, matching his own. They were chest to chest and moving closer. His heartbeat drummed in his ears. 

“Why?” he rasped, then tried again. “Why did you do that?” He wasn’t going to make this weird for her, no matter what fantasies the secluded setting and their position inspired. He removed his hands from her hips and forced them to stay at his sides, imagining they were pinned there.

And Ladybug still held him. “What?”

“He was distracted. You could have snuck up behind him instead of rescuing me. You should have. Why didn’t you?”

Her hands slid away from his waist only to find his shoulders, like suddenly she was the one who needed help staying upright. “Because… because…” She looked away, biting her lip. (He tried not to stare. Stop it stop it.) “You probably want some flowery speech. You deserve one. But I–” Her hands slid up to his neck, brushing the hairs on his nape, raising goosebumps. He closed his eyes against her proximity. It didn’t help, so he pushed his palms flat against his legs to keep them from trembling. Don’t react.

She stepped forward, drawing him in until she was all he could feel. Her arms, her hands, her chest, her stomach. Her soft breath against his lips.

“But I’m so bad with words!” 

Her mouth pressed against his, hot and hard, and he squeezed his eyes shut tighter, the only movement he trusted himself to make. Don’t. Don’t react!

Because she’d said so many times that she did want him. Someone else held her heart. She must not have meant it the way he wanted her to. And because he would ruin something. 

Don’t!

One hand left his hair to cradle and stroke his cheek. Cherished. He’d never felt cherished before now. He swallowed a whimper.

DON’T!

Closed eyes blocked out her face, but they couldn’t block out her. How good she felt. How badly he wanted to kiss her back. 

He opened his eyes again, hoping sight would somehow make it easier to hold still, but all he could see was her. His hands had become unpinned and were hovering, longing to hold her, refusing the order to retreat. 

When she lightly scratched the back of his head, he thought knees would give out. Or maybe his willpower. How long had he stood frozen like this? Half a second? A whole second? 

How much longer could he last against her? 

What would happen if he sank into her, held her, kissed her back with every ounce of feeling for her he had bottled up for years?

His hands ghosted over her, so close he swore he could feel her warmth through his gloves. What if he tilted his head to match her? 

Her eyes snapped open. She jerked backward, pushing herself into the wall of their hiding spot and covering her mouth with both hands. 

They stared at each other. 

“Why?” he asked, though he wasn’t really sure if the question was why she kissed him or why she stopped. Nothing was making sense.

“I’m so sorry,” she said between her fingers. “I’m so, so sorry.” Her hands slid up her face to cover her cheeks, but not her eyes. She hadn’t blinked since she’d opened them. 

“Sorry?”

“I thought you wanted– That you were– I read all the signals wrong, didn’t I?”

A shadow passed over the opening of their tree hollow, plunging them into twilight. But his back was to it, his focus on Ladybug. He watched as her eyes followed the movement outside, and then as she put her hands on hips. When she looked back to him, she’d pasted a forced smile onto her face. “Wow, this is so embarrassing! I thought you had fallen in love with me again. Isn’t that funny?” Her smile got wider. More manic.

“That’s not–”

“I get it.” She shrugged her shoulders, and threw up her hands too, for the emphasis. Or maybe because of her nervous energy, he wasn’t sure. She wasn’t quite meeting his eyes. “I’m four years too late and making you uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that. I’m so sorry.” Her eyes flicked to his during her apology, then found the wall again. 

“Ladybug,” he said, taking a step forward. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m really sorry. That was awful of me!” She threw her arms wide. Definitely nervous energy. 

His own feelings were muted. Shocked. Or maybe they were so big he couldn’t feel the edges of them to be able to figure out what they were. It was so much easier to focus on someone else.

“I promise it won’t happen again,” she continued.

At least he could tell how he felt about that statement. He shook his head. 

But before he could verbally protest, another voice, loud and echoing, shook through their tree hollow. “There you are!” 

The shadow passed over them again, and this time Chat Noir did turn. One of Antomologist’s large arms blocked all but a small sliver of light at the bottom of the opening. A shudder knocked both of them to their knees, and then he was flung sideways against the splintering wood as the tree was uprooted and shaken. 

The giant red arm moved, and Chat Noir and Ladybug tumbled out. The ground rushed up to meet them.

---

Author's note: Let’s play a game! It’s called “Guess What The Author Titled the Next Chapter.” :D

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