#probably because i was paying more attention to the plot and because i hadn't watched atla since high school

[trekscribbles]

I'm rewatching season 2 of Almost Paradise (spoilers) and was working on something else while it was on in the background, got to the Waterboarder episode and did a spit take because why is Zuko trying to kill Alex? Dante Basco?? On my cheesy Leverage-adjacent show?? Amazing. Thank you, casting people, you're the best <3

[literaila]

stay

gojo satoru x fem!reader

summary: you're in denial (no you're not)

warnings: pining, no plot

a/n: i had to give you a little look at what they do when they're alone

last part | next part

*

year two.

“what?” satoru asks, his voice blurred in the haze you're thinking in. 

honestly, you haven't been looking at him for that long. 

you've only been watching his arms as they move across the sink, veins drenched in water, hands scrubbing at a pot that you've made his responsibility. 

you've only been thinking about him for the past five years. the way his mouth moves when he's focused, the subtle curve of his jaw from this angle. 

and you're only staring now because you don't want him to mess up the kitchen. god knows how much it's worth. 

you shake your head, subtle grin disappearing automatically. “hmm?” 

“you’re staring at me.” 

you blink. “oh. sorry.” 

you and him both know that there's no denying it. 

“and you think i’m spacey,” satoru mutters, turning to you with his arms crossed, a smirk adorning his lips. apparently, he’s perfected his dad stance. “what do you want?” 

“what?" you look away, for one moment, when your heart feels a bit warm, then back to him. "why would i want something?” 

“that’s what tsumiki does when she wants something.” 

“well, unlike tsumiki, i’m not a child, so…” 

“i beg to differ,” satoru leans towards you, raising a brow. “what are you? thirteen?” 

he's different like this--when he knows that you're paying attention. 

so ridiculously stupid that you can't look away from him. 

“you are a single year older,” you tell him, “and i had to teach you how to do the dishes. our age gap is easily filled by my years of experience—“ 

“blah blah blah,” satoru interrupts, rolling his eyes, “hard work, torture, bills to pay. we get it.” 

you shrug, lip twitching. “you started it.” 

“by being born?” satoru asks, fluttering his eyelashes, trying his hand at flirting with you. 

unfortunately, he's dreadful at it. even with his waggling eyebrows and throat when he swallows. 

“oh my god,” you put a hand to your chest, mock shocked. “did i forget to become clan head the second i was born? my bad.” 

“seriously. slacker.” 

you roll your eyes.

then you turn to the counter again, messing with a stack of bills satoru has left there. you're probably going to be the one to deal with them anyway. 

it's been twenty minutes since you put the kids to bed--frowning at satoru when he swore that they'd already brushed their teeth (they hadn't)--and you've already lost sight of getting out of his house. 

some small part of you wants to stay, just so you can sneak some more glances at satoru.

“why are you staring at me?” he asks, nudging your arm with his hand. "get lost in my eyes?" 

you scoff. “i just zoned out, satoru.” 

“looking right at my face?” 

you smile deviously, reaching a hand out to trail a finger across his cupids bow. “i was contemplating the different plastic surgeries that could improve you.” 

satoru does nothing to push away your hand, but you snap it away when you feel him shiver. 

“please," he frowns. "we both know there’s no room for improvement.” 

you raise your brows. he says it more like a question than a statement, so you keep the same teasing smile on your face. 

“don’t be mean,” he says, pouting. 

“sorry.” 

“no, you’re not.” 

your smile brightens and you walk towards the door--listening to his heavy footsteps as he follows--and reach towards the hook for your coat.

you better leave before he convinces you to touch him again with nothing but his eyes.

“where are you going?” satoru continues pouting. 

“home? the kids are asleep.” 

he huffs. “but i’m not.” 

“do you need me to tuck you in?” 

“what if i do?” 

“tough luck, satoru," you shove his hand away from where it grabs your jacket. 

“c’mon,” he says, pulling at your wrist instead. “stay a little bit longer. let’s talk.” 

“all you ever want to talk about is digimon," you answer, rolling your eyes. 

you deny the fact that you'd probably listen to him talk about anything, just to hear the slight drawl in his throat or the teasing in his voice. 

“well, duh.” 

“and i don’t understand a single thing you say.” 

satoru pulls you towards him, even when you dig your heels into the floor. “you think after five years you’d trust me enough to take one of my recommendations," he says, chiding you. like he's the most trustworthy person you've ever met. 

like you might trust him with your life (you would). 

“last time i trusted any of your recommendations i almost got kicked out of school," you finally pull away, smoothing out your sleeves to put your jacket on. 

“first of all, that was your idea—“ 

“i was kidding.” 

“and i was just trying to cheer you up," his hands gesture to you, obviously, "plus yaga didn’t even care that much. it’s not like we crashed the car. he just had to threaten us or he would’ve gotten fired.”

you roll your eyes, zipping up your jacket. 

“stay,” satoru whines. “i get lonely when you’re not here.” 

“that’s because you’re supposed to be asleep.” 

“i can't sleep without you.” 

you scoff. “we’ve slept in the same room twice.” 

neither one of you dares to mention the several nights you’ve spent together on the couch or the brief moments when you wake up in the morning and realize who you’re clinging to. those are brief lapses in judgment. nothing more. 

“third times the charm,” satoru says, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

despite his age, he is still a teenage boy. 

the same one you've liked since you were fifteen. 

“goodnight, satoru," you whisper, turning around. 

“don’t you get lonely in your apartment all alone?” he asks, almost pleading, spinning you around again from the hem of your jacket. “what if you have a nightmare?” 

because satoru has ever been concerned about a single thing that happens to you. 

you roll your eyes. “i wake up, like an adult, and remember that it’s not real.” 

satoru raises a brow. 

“seriously, it’s late. i need to go before—“ 

“stay.” 

“we’ve talked about this.”

“no. i make a suggestion, and you don’t listen.” 

“because i already know what you’re going to say.” 

“no, you don’t.” 

“‘c’mon, y/n, i have a bedroom just for you. it can even be mine if you want.’” 

“i don’t sound like that," he says frowning. though how could he deny the obvious?

“satoru, we need space--" more like you need space from him. several decades of space, just to catch your breath. "i can't spend every waking moment with you. i have a life.” 

“yeah, me.” 

you laugh, shaking your head (he's not wrong).

“just for tonight?” 

“no.” 

“just for an hour? what if one of them wakes up? you know i don’t know what to do," he says, very convincingly. his voice is quiet like he knows some sudden movements will scare you away. 

you pretend to pause, humming. “send them back to their rooms…?”

“please," he begs you, so close that his breath is almost yours. 

“no.” 

“we never get alone time anymore,” he pouts, “i miss you.” 

you know that he's using this to his advantage. like he's sure that his quiet voice and soft mouth will get you to break, will get you to stay here like you already want to. 

but you refuse. 

“stop.” 

“and it’s cold. you don’t want to go home yet," he acts like he can read your mind. 

“i promise you that i do," you reassure him, taking a step back. satoru only follows. 

“we can watch a movie or something," he answers like you've already agreed to this. "i saw a trailer for this dumb comedy and it looks—“ 

you groan. 

“what if i promise to sit on the other side of the couch?” he bargains.

“no," you frown, "you’re a liar.” 

“what if i let you pick the movie?” 

“no.” 

“what if i pay you to stay?" 

you flick his forehead. “are you kidding?” 

“please,” he repeats, softly, leaning even closer. “you don’t have to stay for long…” 

and it reminds you of every other time you've felt like your heart has disappeared. like your head has been eradicated by his low voice and his sparkling eyes. 

it feels like being the same teenager you might still be, hoping that something will come from his pleading. from yours, however unspoken. 

and you almost break, almost push him so far away--

but then there’s a tiny cough. and a sniffle. “y/n?” a voice asks, so soft you almost can't hear it over the sound of satoru’s ego. 

over the sound of your own beating heart. 

satoru smiles like he planned this all along. 

you sigh. “an hour,” you tell him, sternly. 

he only smiles, slinging an arm around your shoulder, spinning you both towards tsumiki. 

* 

you don’t say a thing when you wake up the next morning, sweat staining your neck, legs tangled in much longer ones. 

your head is pounding from a night spent on the couch. from so many hours spent laughing at satoru, at the stupid things he says. 

and he’s already looking at you like he could sense this moment coming. 

like he can see beyond you, into your soul. into the very wanting you're sure is on your face. 

you don’t say anything as you stare back into his eyes.

this is the one moment where he’s not allowed to comment on it. to make fun of you for your small smile, or laugh at your bed head. 

this moment is just for the two of you. the rest of the world can disappear, right now. every terrifying thing, every horrible mistake, completely eradicated by the sound of satoru's heart, his eyelashes as they flutter open and closed. 

you breathe in, almost about to say something. to break this thing before it can form. 

and then you hear something banging in the kitchen, and it’s time to get up. 

*

next part | series masterlist

[tacroyy]

losing my shit about the two times vimes gets slapped by a woman in the guards books (night watch and snuff; spoilers for both below). terry pratchett is completely goddamn brilliant.

both times, it's near enough to the beginning of the plot that vimes is partially convinced he doesn't know what's going on and is still information gathering (so, working a little on autopilot, although thoughts are starting to coalesce). the women he encounters show up after a watershed moment—major transformative plot points on both occasions—and both help him and help move the narrative along with the information they provide. and this is my favorite detail—he's tired both times, too, and just needs to think, because of the amount of new information he's processing.

from night watch:

"I think perhaps I lost my memory when I was attacked," he said. That sounded good, he thought. What he really needed now was somewhere quiet, to think.

"Really? Perhaps I'm the Queen of Hersheba," said Rosie [Palm]. "Just remember, kind sir. I'm not doing this because I'm interested in you, although I'd admit to a macabre fascination about how long you're going to survive. If it hadn't been a cold wet night I'd have left you in the road. I'm a working girl, and I don't need trouble. But you look like a man who can lay his hands on a few dollars, and there will be a bill."

"I'll leave the money on the dressing table," said Vimes.

The slap in the face knocked him against the wall. /end quote

and from snuff:

She [Felicity Beedle] turned to Vimes. "It would seem, commander, that providence has brought you here in time to solve the murder of the goblin girl, who was an excellent pupil. I came up here as soon as I heard, but the goblins are used to undeserved and casual death. I"ll walk with you to the entrance, and then I've got a class to teach."

Vimes tugged at Feeny to make him keep up as they followed Miss Beedle and her charge toward the surface and blessed fresh air. He wondered what had become of the corpse. What did they do with their dead? Bury them, eat them, throw them on the midden? Or was he just not thinking right, a thought which itself had been knocking at his brain for some time. Without thinking, he said, "What else do you teach them, Miss Beedle? To be better citizens?"

The slap caught him on the chin, probably because even in her anger Miss Beedle realized that he still had his steel helmet on. /end quote

vimes makes mistakes. he makes mistakes all the time, and he knows this, and pays attention to them. vimes spends a lot of time thinking about thinking (engaging in productive, internally motivated metacognition well within his zone of proximal development, my master's in teaching insists i say). he thinks about his thinking, and he thinks about other people's thinking through the lens of his own.

in both instances, vimes is coming to realizations about the true nature of things.

in night watch, this would initially seem to be more surface than deep: he's getting to physical grips with exactly when and where (and who) in the past he is; he's learning the ground, mapping, figuring things out—but vimes is also trying to settle himself back in to what he knows, and what society is in these different times, to see if that fits. plotwise, in vimes's present, the seamstresses have a guild, rights, safety, standards, rules, regulations, and even societal respect—although certainly not close to what they deserve, it's much more than what they had before vetinari made their guild a reality. but in the past, where vimes is now, the seamstresses don't have this level of security, and are subject to violence (although it is shown to be societal and legal violence [being arrested for working during their profession's peak, etc] rather than interpersonal or sexual violence [the agony aunts exist and, it is clearly stated, dispense the same justice that they do in the future, specifically to individual clients rather than to larger institutional structures]).

so, when vimes puts down rosie by making a disparaging joke about her profession—oh, you're actually not important to me or to men or to society at all; your labor is not to be respected; i got what i needed from you and will of course pay you, but in the most insulting way possible—he's not only communicating what society thinks, but a moral issue of the novel as well. night watch, after all, is about revolution: who gets to be in power, and who gets to control who gets to be in power? it's frankly revolutionary for pratchett, a mainstream english author, to treat sex workers and sex work as positively as he does (of course, his depictions are not without flaws). he makes it clear that, after all, shouldn't we view sex work as physical labor? isn't it true that anyone who is employed is engaging in physical labor? how is a seamstress really different from a "seamstress"? (it's the power dynamics and misogyny standard to western/european/american/christian society: women and sex must be controlled by the patriarchial majority, kept small and afraid and in chains.) pratchett legitimizes the seamstresses in vimes's present. in vetinari's ankh-morpork, the seamstresses have just as much power as the merchants, the armorers, the assassins—and vimes knows this, but he did grow up in the past he's in now.

in snuff, vimes's approaching anagnorisis is more obviously manifested. brilliantly, pratchett begins vimes's encounter with the goblins by talking about vimes's childhood teacher, mistress slightly, who "taught [him] how not to be afraid" and made him blackboard monitor, "the first time anyone had entrusted him with anything;" vimes thinks he'll put a bag of peppermints on her grave if he gets out of this alive. all positive, and in fact clearly transformative, praise from our hero. but vimes is in a goblin cave, and pratchett has brought up mistress slightly because vimes is remembering his first (educational, not physical) encounter with goblins. this paragraph is worth quoting in full:

"[Mistress Slightly] had one book in her tiny sitting room, and the first time she had given it to young Sam Vimes to read he had got as far as page seven when he froze. The page showed a goblin: the jolly goblin, according to the text. Was it laughing, was it scowling, was it hungry, was it about to bite your head off? Young Sam Vimes hadn't waited to find out and had spent the rest of the morning under a chair. These days he excused himself by remembering that most of the other kids felt the same way. When it came to the innocence of childhood, adults often got it wrong. In any case, she had sat him on her always slightly damp knee after class and made him really look at the goblin. It was made of lots of dots! Tiny dots, if you looked closely. The closer you looked at the goblin the more it wasn't there. Stare it down and it lost all its power to frighten. 'I hear that they are wretched, badly made mortals,' the dame had said sadly. 'Half-finished folk, or so I hear. It's only a blessing this one had something to be jolly about.'"

a near-perfect depiction, unfortunately, of the educational experience. encounter something that scares you and makes you uncomfortable, examine it with the help of a pedagogist, examine it on your own, take it apart so that you are not afraid anymore, and instead understand what it is and how it is made: that's the experience from the first word of the quote all the way until "Stare it down and lost all its power to frighten." and then, a heel-turn: your teacher shows that they completely misunderstood the lesson they were teaching—and that you, the child, understood both parts of the lesson perfectly: you absorbed the critical thinking skills and that this existing societal prejudice is, in fact, totally correct and should not be examined using the skills you just learned.

thus, pratchett has vimes, our hero, our moral center, spout the violent, ingrained, dehumanizing, incitement-to-genocide nonsense of the society in which he has been formed. vimes does this tiredly, without thinking, without making the connection between how things are and how they ought to be, missing the direct relationship of that required moral reevaluation to the case and situation at hand. and pratchett throws that directly back in vimes's face, physically. both times, pratchett says: even if you're tired, even if there's shit going down, even if your worldview is being turned upside down, even if you're in the dead middle of processing everything you've so recently learned, you cannot make the mistake of dehumanization/depersonalization. and you, of all people, have to know that, vimes. not one drop of alcohol passes your lips, not one minute after six goes by without you reading to your son, not one arrestee is subjected to even small or casual police brutality. and not one person—seamstress or goblin—is to be insulted and discriminated against and excluded from deserving to live. to do so, to make that mistake even once, is to face the immediate physical consequences of it from someone deeply and fundamentally in the know. you need the sense smacked into you.

from night watch:

"Consider that a sign of my complete lack of a sense of humor, will you?" said Rosie, shaking some life back into her hand.

"I'm... sorry," said Vimes. "I didn't mean to... I mean... look, thak you for everything. I mean it. But this is not being a good night."

"Yes, I can see that."

"It's worse than you think. Believe me."

"We all have our troubles. Believe me," said Rosie. /end quote.

from snuff:

It was a corker, nonetheless, and out of the corner of his stinging gaze he saw Feeny take a step back. At least the boy had some sense.

"You are the gods' own fool, Commander Vimes! No, I'm not teaching them to be fake humans, I'm teaching them how to be goblins, clever goblins! Do you know that they have only five names for colors? Even trolls have around sixty, and a lot more than that if they find a paint salesman! Does this mean goblins are stupid? No, they have a vast number of names for things that even poets haven't come up with, for things like the colors shift and change, the melting of one hue into another. They have single words for the most complicated of feelings; I know about two hundred of them, I think, and I'm sure there are a lot more! What you may think are grunts and growls and snarls are in fact carrying vast amounts of information! They're like an iceberg, commander: most of them is where you can't see or understand, and I'm teaching Tears of the Mushroom and some of her friends so that they may be able to speak to people like you, who think they are dumb. And do you know what, commander? There isn't much time! They're being slaughtered! It's not called that, of course, but slaughter is how it ends, because they're just dumb nuisances, you see. Why don't you ask Mr. Upshot what happened to the rest of the goblins three years ago, Commander Vimes?"

And with that, Miss Beedle turned on her heel and disappeared down into the darkness of the cave with Tears of the Mushroom bobbing along behind her, leaving Vimes to walk the last few yards out into the glorious light. /end quote.

[inolienkiki]

I'm being very vague about plot points and character names here in the faint hope that it may entice some of you to watch this show.

on my... 4th? 5th? rewatch of DARK I'm paying a lot more attention to the character arcs, to figuring out how everyone got to the point they did. For a while the extent of my Adam takes was "haha stupid idiot man point and laugh, you can't even kys correctly" but recently I saw a post that made me stop and think and actually try to empathize with this character. This was immeasurably depressing (which is probably why I hadn't been considering it before).

The material extent of my take hasn't changed- I still think Adam is a truly stoopid person and by far the dumbest out of the three main characters in this show- but the context I have for this has changed a lot. See, each one of these characters is a planner who develops strategies for years down the line and uses all the information at their disposal to make those plans- but the way they get that information, and therefore how much they're able to do with it, is VERY different.

Adam remembers information. Everything he knows he got from his younger self; he functions almost entirely on memory. When he does stuff, like sending his younger self to summer 2019, or sending his sister to the apocalypse, or even attempting to build the God Particle machine in 1888, he's doing it because he remembers how all this stuff happened, and thus needs to keep it that way. Adam never actually seeks out new information, because every time he has in the past, it's absolutely demolished his life. He was investigating at the very beginning of the show- going into the caves, talking to his family members to figure out how much they knew- but at some point, he stops. He's lost that. He no longer views the knot as something to discover or manipulate, he thinks of it as something to escape from, and often completely fails to take others' plans or ideas into account. For 33 years he was sitting on the information that alt-Martha said she knew him, and not once did it occur to him to figure out why she said that or what bearing it might have on his plan. Seriously! If he'd investigated that, he could have altered his plan so it actually worked! And I don't blame him.

Eva generates information. Everything she knows she got from her older selves. Because she has almost absolute control over her own domain, and because she's been working in harmony for almost her whole life, she essentially bootstraps the information back to herself. You could call this working on memory, too, but I think it's a clear enough distinction, since she's actually honest to her younger self once they start working together. We don't have much on Eva, unfortunately, but we do know that her son was responsible for the notebook, and somehow I doubt he went and measured the "megahertz values" of all the cave time travel when they could've just used Adam's notebook and copied them over. (I don't buy that he actually killed Eva, but that's a different story.) Eva's son also works with his younger selves just like she does. Noah and Egon seem to as well, working with her. It's smart, it's thorough, and it totally would have worked, if it hadn't completely backfired.

The White Devil researches information. Out of all the main characters, she seems to do the most research. First off, she's actually a scientist, so naturally it's in her background. Even before she finds out about time travel, she's looking into the incident at the power plant, questioning Bernd about it, and being weird with Tronte. The very first thing she does when she gets access to time travel is go 30 years forward and look herself up. When she can't find her future self again, she realizes she's going to have to do this on her own, and proceeds to do so for the rest of her life. When Eva presents her the opportunity to work with another version of herself, she decides she wants more information, shoots her in the fucking head, and thereby goes and gets it. I'm confident that out of all the characters in this entire show (apart from origin HGT) this character is the only one who has any idea how time travel works or what to do with it. I love her for it.

So, I guess... trust the numbers, not yourself?

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

I have a world just like earth where space travel is developed but there's never any real answer from alien intelligence. At least not for 30 thousand years since the first spaceship went to the moon. Then they finally do meet aliens who have already known space travel for way longer than humans and find out there's a huge intergalactic union and stuff where they monitor all space travel and everything. There are lots of laws about travelling between different places, aliens need their versions of passports to travel between places and so on and plenty of security. They realise that all this time, they had known all about human space travel in secret but never paying attention to them because they had never really interferred or discovered these alien societies or any inhabited planet. The thing is, I'm a bit divided on how humans could see this as. One, it's understandable that aliens hide away because humans hadn't come across alien societies and human tech was never advanced enough. On the other hand, finding out aliens knew all of their actions in space in secret - that sounds like a nightmare considering how humans actually respond to privacy issues. I know this might be more of a plot thing but I'm not sure what I want to go for and what things I might have to think about on considering the consequences of things like this. How could things go forward either way? What should I think about? Has these things been addressed in fiction before?

Tex: Is outer space a private or a public place? Earth, for example, does not exist in a vacuum, and people on Earth are capable of pointing telescopes toward the sky and seeing other planets. Does this mean that anyone who might, hypothetically, live on Mars or Venus experience a breach of privacy if someone on Earth can see their planet - and themselves, with a good enough telescope - from their own planet?

It’s a little bit like driving a car on a highway. You can see the other cars on the road, yes, and if you decide to focus on it, the drivers and passengers in these cars. Other drivers can also do the same to your car. Is this a breach of privacy for another driver to see you driving your car? Or is this just a consequence of existing in a public space where people exist in the same public place as you do? They don’t have to signal their capability of seeing you, just the same as you don’t have to signal your capability of seeing them in their cars.

Licorice: It seems we’re talking here about something happening on the macro-, state level, rather than on the micro-, individual level. Individual human beings do have expectations of privacy, and we have designated private spaces. Anything we do outside those designated spaces is not private and it wouldn’t be reasonable to expect it to be. 

States, societies, and worlds don’t have that same expectation of privacy. What’s illegal at the individual level (spying on your neighbour), is both accepted and routine at the state level. Russia and China are spying on the West. The Five Eyes are spying on Russia and China. Wikileaks got into trouble not for violating personal privacy laws but for violating state secret laws, which are not quite the same thing. 

You can be 110% sure that any current governments involved in alien research are operating on the understanding that if aliens actually exist and have the capacity to do so, they are monitoring us. Partly the aliens will be monitoring us out of curiosity (what will those funny little hominids do next?), but they’ll also be monitoring us to ensure we don’t become a threat. If human beings did eventually stumble across a sophisticated alien civilisation, probably the one thing that would not come as any surprise would be finding out that the aliens had been watching us all along. 

[karasbroken]

Ok, there is zero reason for this story to be 34,000 words. I need a beta! And to outline my fics so I don't wander around for three chapters trying to decide what to do. I actually wrote the ending first, and then had to throw it away because it didn't fit. Probably it would also help to write the whole thing first and then post it.

But will I do any of those sensible things? Odds are low.

Unlike last time, this fic suffers from too much plot. John and Aeryn wrangling over attraction and loneliness mostly gets overridden by asteroids strikes and commerce stations. I wrote action! And lots of unnecessary slice-of-life space stuff. I was trying to explore Aeryn feeling more able to invest in John because she starts to believe he isn't about to leave at any moment. Then half way through she decides to leave instead. I cannot control these people. Lucky Pilot and guilt get me back in the direction of canon.

I don't know, I actually like some of this. So read it if you want. It's ok.

Rating: T    |   Word Count: 34,321 | Chapters: 6/6

Tags: Post-"Rhapsody in Blue", Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Slice of Life, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Violent Thoughts, Loneliness, Angst

“It was hard, Livy, seeing her like that.”

Aeryn heard John's voice in enough time to stop before the sound of her footsteps could carry to him. The name meant he was talking to his magnetic recorder again, not any of the Moyans. O’livy’a was the name of his younger female sibling—sister— Aeryn made herself think the colonial word. There was always a warmth in how John talked about his family that felt incompatible with the precise terms of galactic Sebacean. In English, it sounded inappropriately like a hiss, sisistr. She wondered whether the word for brother was similarly sibilant. The only time they’d talked of brothers, she had been too distracted to pay attention.

”I mean, what a mind frell—” Crichton stopped himself with a bitter laugh, “They’re getting to me. A mind frell,” he emphasized the word, one of the few profanities that had a perfect translation, though his English version was harsher to her ear, more violent.

“I thought I was going crazy, I mean, of course I did! But the worst part— is that it felt so right. So good. The idea of having someone else with me, dealing with this crazed frelled-up situation together— of just… not being alone…” John’s voice dipped and fractured, and he lapsed into silence.

Aeryn heard the click of the recorder being stopped. Was he talking about her? She hadn't thought he was there for any part of her humiliating collapse. To be rendered completely ineffective by mere hallucinations was bad enough when witnessed by Pilot and D'Argo. It was somehow worse to have the habitually incompetent human see it too.

But no, his words didn't seem to match that. They had not been together facing the rogue Delvians; that had been the problem. He'd been on his own.

The button clicked again. “It took me arns to figure out that Alex wasn’t real. Actually, I never figured it out. The priestess just let me go. Until then, I believed it all. That Alex joined Ayahsa with me instead of going to stanferd. That she was on the Farscayp project with me. That she had been my copilot when I got sucked down the wormhole….”

Alex. That wasn't a name she remembered from John’s many many stories. Someone he knew from his past, but didn't talk about. Until now, when he was clearly upset. That made her eavesdropping seem uncomfortably invasive.

Crichton was probably tucked into a niche just around the bend of the corridor. This hall, like many others, had begun to narrow and curve more dramatically in the last few weekens. But it still gave access to a window sheltered by an arching column where John liked to sit and watch space. Aeryn could continue on, greet him, ask him to help with the survey she was starting again, as she’d intended when she first went looking for him. It felt as if she'd just completed a full tier review, but Moya's internal structures seemingly changed every day. The work might be a distraction for him.

Or she could go back the other way, down a tier, or up, to find a new path around the apparently growing hangar that sheltered the ship’s child. She could leave Crichton to talk to his ghosts alone....

[lulu24784]

washing machine heart | part 9

"I know who you pretend I am."

[AO3 Link]

previous chapter | next chapter

synopsis: | You're absolutely infatuated with Stan Marsh and have even started dating him! It should be a dream come true, but the truth is, he's only with you to make Wendy Testaburger jealous. To help you work through your emotions, you turn to Kenny McCormick, your best friend.

pairings: | kenny mccormick x fem! reader ; stan marsh x fem! reader ; wendy testaburger x stan marsh

cws: | angst, drug use/drug mentions, explicit language, sexual content, unrequited love, mental health themes / sh, violence

everyone is aged up to be 18+

tag list @c1rice @ayoitsmarie33

Time in class seemed to drag on forever. A feeling of restlessness pervaded your body as you sat in your seat. Perhaps it was due to the way the morning had unfolded, or maybe it was simply because the topic of the lecture was dreadfully dull. You simply wished time would just speed up. You wanted to get as far away from school as possible so you could hide under your blankets and ignore the world for a while.

As you were daydreaming, not necessarily paying much attention to class, you caught a glimpse of Wendy's watchful gaze darting towards you every now and then. You wondered if she was checking to make sure you were okay. A tiny smile adorned your lips as the idea crossed your mind. She was so genuinely kind, it was hard to believe. This entire time you thought she was a horrible monster, plotting to take your “love” from you… But she was just another ordinary girl. The fact that she and her friend group approached you to hang out with them... To be friends?! You felt ecstatic. Amidst the shitty circumstances that have been hanging over you lately, it was certainly the one silver lining that shone through. You smiled a little more to yourself and started doodling on your paper, immersing yourself in thought again.

The lunch bell finally sounded, signalling the end of what felt like an eternity. You hurriedly gathered your books and headed for your locker. Running down the crowded hallway, you felt the weight of your books as you dodged other students and bumped into a couple you chose to ignore. You raced to your locker and turned its combination lock in a matter of seconds. With a sigh of relief, you slid your textbooks into the locker and closed it. 

To say that you were overjoyed at the opportunity to sit with the girls would be an understatement... You remembered being envious of them when you were younger when you would see them all together, but you were too shy and unsure of yourself to approach them and ask to join them.

You took a deep breath to calm your nerves and then headed towards the cafeteria.

It hadn't even been a few minutes until you were almost at the cafeteria when you heard a large commotion down the hallway. As people rushed by you towards the noise, you flashed a glance in that direction. The crowd was big and you couldn’t make out what exactly was going on. You continued your trek towards the door, assuming it was probably some of the freshmen fighting.

In an instant, you saw Wendy, Bebe, Heidi, and all of Craig's crew dash out of the room and join the crowd of people. Wendy's gaze was drawn to you, and she rushed back to you, seizing your hand and tugging you along. You stumbled at the unexpected encounter.

“H-Hey!” You didn't budge an inch, staring at Wendy with an expression of concern etched over your face.

“[Name]! It’s Stan and Kenny!” Wendy spoke frantically, still pulling on you, urging you to move to the group with her.

The ever-familiar static buzzed in your ears as your feet started to move on their own, leading you to follow Wendy into the crowd. You elbowed your way to the front by pushing and barging through the other people who were chanting, “Fight fight fight!” 

Stan's fist connected with Kenny's cheek, causing one of his front teeth to fly out. You stood there frozen, watching the horrific blow. The sight of blood on the floor caused your eyes to widen. The blonde swore before lunging at the other and slamming him into the locker.

“You fuckin’ dick! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

“What the fuck is your problem, Kenny!? It’s none of your fucking business!”

“How fuckin’ could you?! You knew how much she liked you!”

Your breath seized in your throat, your heart slamming against your chest as you realized why they were arguing. You just stood there, stunned, your brain trying furiously to convince you to move. To get you to stop them.

After taking a few blows from Kenny, Stan finally decided to fight back and ultimately knocked Kenny down to the ground. Stan's face contorted in anger as he delivered a forceful stomp to Kenny's stomach. The blond recoiled in pain, curling up in defence.

“Just fucking stay out of it!” Stan shouted, kicking Kenny again.

“You drunk piece of shit.” As the tension between them escalated, Kenny made his move, swiftly grabbing Stan's leg and bringing him down to the ground. He wasted no time in delivering a series of punches to Stan. His hand gripped Stan’s shirt and he raised his fist, getting ready to beat the ever-loving shit out of him.

As soon as the shock left your body, you ran out. Your hand clasped onto Kenny's arm, halting his relentless assault on the battered and bruised boy next to him.

As you locked eyes with Kenny, his widened gaze spoke volumes, his face covered in blood and bruises. You scowled at him, tears dripping freely down your cheeks. With a swift movement, Wendy appeared by your side, yanking Stan away from Kenny as a precautionary measure. 

“Kenny… Wh...What the hell are you doing?” You sobbed, your knees collapsing next to him as you hugged him tightly and made him wince. Slowly, his limbs encircled you, embracing you tightly.

“I couldn’t help it…” He whispered, nuzzling his face into your shoulder, leaving stains of blood on your clothes.

“Stupid.” 

With a graceful motion, you rose to your feet, extending your hand to help Kenny up alongside you. As you slipped an arm around his hip, he steadied himself by draping an arm around your shoulder. As you glanced towards Stan and Wendy, a bittersweet smile tugged at the corners of your lips while she gently cleaned the blood off his face.

You caught Stan's gaze as he briefly shifted his attention towards you. His face contorted in a second of apparent guilt, and he cast his gaze downward.

“[Name]...” Stan’s voice was hoarse. “I’m really sorry. I keep fucking things up.”

“Fuck yeah, you do.” The moment Kenny piped out, you gave him a gentle elbow to the side, causing him to double over a little.

“Stan…” You started, a gentle exhale slipping from your mouth. “Just… Get some help, okay?”

You averted your gaze, unwilling to meet his eyes, and gave Kenny a light nudge, signaling him to start walking with you. You assumed Wendy and Kyle would look after Stan, so you left them to it. Whilst you, on the other hand, were faced with the task of dealing with your best friend.

You led him down the hallway, gently guiding him to the secure protection of the nurse's office. With a gentle hand, you helped him settle onto the bed, ready to receive the care he needed.

You let out a deep breath as you started tending to his wounds, carefully applying an alcohol solution to his cuts. He winced and muttered a few choice words under his breath.

“Yeah, yeah. Hold still.” Your brows furrowed as you held onto Kenny's arm, diligently wiping away the blood and grime from his face. Your gaze fixated on his lips, recalling the moment when Stan's fist smashed into his jaw, sending one of his teeth flying. “God… I don’t even know how to fix this…” You heaved a sigh and scanned the room for the school nurse, but you didn't see her. With a stern expression, you swiftly fetched a cup of water for Kenny to rinse his mouth with.

After swishing the water about, he stood up and spat it into the closest sink, sending bloody water pouring down the drain. With a quick motion, he settled himself on the bed and gazed up at you with a pair of innocent, pleading eyes, fully aware of the trouble he had landed himself in.

“I told you to leave it alone.” Your arms swung to your sides and your hands balled into fists as you shouted. “Why did you do that?!”

“I told you... I couldn’t help it.” Kenny muttered under his breath, his gaze shifting away from your enraged expression. It broke his heart to see you so upset with him. “I couldn’t just sit around, letting him treat you like shit, and just take it.”

“Kenny, it was MY relationship! I can handle this myself!”

“Clearly you can’t!” Kenny stood, towering above you. 

As your pupils widened, you took a cautious step backward.

“You’ve been a mess since you started datin’ the guy! You’re already stupidly shy and insecure about yourself, you think I’m just gonna let him fuck up the little confidence you’ve been getting lately?!” Kenny's brows knit together, his arms reaching out to grasp your shoulders firmly, compelling you to meet his gaze.

His words stung.

Your expression changed and your hands loosened as you peered up into Kenny's eyes with apprehension. His gaze softened, and he moved his palm to your cheek, tenderly stroking it with his thumb. The sudden movement elicited a delicate blush on your cheeks.

“You deserve better. You’re not as bad a person as you seem to think you are… You just gotta…  Focus on yourself a bit more. Do things that make you happy. Fuck datin’.”

You sighed and gave a small nod while dabbing the tear that was about to spill from your eye and down your cheek.  “Why is it so hard though? Sometimes it’s all I can think about. Nobody wants to date me, so I must be ugly or weird.” You spoke haphazardly, revealing your own self-doubt.

“And then, I couldn’t help but get so jealous of Wendy… But she’s actually so nice. That just makes me even uglier. Y-You know? It felt so good having Stan want me, even if it was just to make himself feel better or whatever he was doing... I don’t even know.” With a heavy heart, you let out a deep sigh and covered your face with your hands, seeking solace in their comfort. “I feel so hopeless sometimes.”

Kenny brushed your hair softly with one hand as he drew you into a warm embrace with the other. As he leaned in, his chin found a comfortable perch atop your head, and you nestled your face into the warm embrace of his chest.

“You’re not ugly, so shut up. You are kinda weird, but that’s okay. Makes you fun.” He laughed a little. “I get how you feel, about feelin’ wanted. It is nice… But you don’t need to date someone to be happy. You’ll find someone eventually that loves ya just the way you are and I bet it’ll feel even better...” Kenny's voice was but a mere whisper, his cheeks blushing a soft shade of pink and his heart racing. “Just do you and it’ll happen naturally. I promise.”

“Thanks, Kenny…”

With a bittersweet smile, you enveloped Kenny in a warm embrace, holding him tightly. As you held each other securely, time seemed to stand still, but you relished every moment of the embrace. The hug was a blissful escape from reality, a moment where nothing else mattered but the warmth of each other's touch. 

You felt so grateful to have a friend like Kenny by your side.

[almost-peterparker]

Possible

Chapter 5

    Word Count: 2389 //TW// abuse, strong language, violence, gore, etc. Also, the plot is going to be based on the manga!

A/N : I just want to point out that I love Grell, whom of which is in this chapter I WILL be referring to Grell with male pronouns strictly because the characters in the anime do the same. I apologize if this offends, I am simply trying to stick as close to the anime/manga as I can. 

    You were in a carriage on the way to Ciel's townhouse in London after receiving a letter. Ciel had wanted you to accompany him on this case due to the nature of it. You told him you would only go if Mara could come along. You refused to be in another situation where you had no idea what the fuck was going on because you were too careless to pay attention to the anime. But, in your defense, this would never happen to any other people, so you thought your neglect was fine.

        You forgot that Mara and Ciel hadn't exactly had a lot of one-on-one time. Now, the entire ride all you've heard is her questioning the young Earl about anything and everything, probably driving him mad. He wasn't showing it much, though.  After a few more minutes, the carriage came to a halt. You faintly heard Ciel mutter, "Finally," under his breath. After Sebastian opened the door, he said, "Young Master, it's been a while since you last went out, hasn't it?" After speaking, Sebastian assisted Ciel out of the carriage, Ciel began to complain. "I couldn't care less who sent that letter, I hate being in crowded places."

        "You're telling me." You mutter, hopping out of the carriage before Sebastian could even offer you his hand. "Crowded places are not it man." You watch as Mara pops her head from the carriage. As she sees the townhouse, she squeals quietly.  She takes Sebastians hand and is immediately by your side, "It looks so much better than I thought it would!" She whisper-yells. You roll your eyes lightly, "Mara you've even said that about the bathroom since we arrived." You shake your head slightly.

        Ciel had already begun to walk inside with Sebastian, not wanting to wait for the two of you. Unfortunately for her, your cell phone had died a long while ago, otherwise, you knew she'd be attempting to take pictures. The two of you began to follow the Earl. Mara had informed you before your trip to London that Grell would be here. You couldn't remember many of the characters from the show other than the main few. You knew he was a reaper though so you had already decided that you would keep your distance from him for a bit. Mara had also been stressed slightly because she knew the 'Jack the Ripper' case was quickly approaching.

          Thankfully Ciel hadn't questioned the two of you on your knowledge of this universe, only what you knew of him and his butler. As you walk inside you hear Sebastian make a comment to his master about how much more peaceful it would be without the other servants. You then see that he's spoken too soon because the place is ruined. Madam Reed and Lau had torn apart the townhouse looking for tea leaves. "Madam red?! Lau?! Why are you here?" Ciel exclaimed as you sighed. Mara nudges you, telling you to be polite. Ciel then tells Sebastian to go prepare tea.

        "Since my cute little nephew is in London, how could I not come visit while you were here?" Madam Red responds, she then glances back to see the two of you, "Oh? Ciel you never told me you hired new staff!" She says with a smile before approaching the two of you.  "Hello, I'm Madam Red!"

        Ciel sighs, "Yes, meet my...bodyguard, (Y/n), and my assistant chef, Mara."

        You were horrid at introductions, so you awkwardly greeted her, responding with your name. Mara, however, greeted the woman as enthusiastically as she could. Madam Red turned to Ciel, "I like this one!" she says with a grin. The trio then walks into the other room, leaving you Mara, and, oh lovely, Grell. Mara approaches him and begins to make small talk; he stutters out some responses.  You stand awkwardly, unsure of what to do. You jump at Sebastian's voice, "(Y/n), would you like to help me serve the master and his guests?" he offers as he proceeds to walk past you with a tea cart. You shrug, "Why not, better than making small talk here I guess." You follow him into the other room, the nobles are seated and speaking to one another. You let Sebastian do the speaking since, well, he's clearly more well-versed than you are. After a moment you see Grell and Mara following suit, Grell taking his place behind Madam Red and Mara behind Ciel.

        Sebastian proceeds to tell them what kind of tea is being served then he motions for you to serve it. You managed to successfully pour the tea without causing any casualties. Afterward, Madam Red made a comment on Sebastian's tea-making. "Grell, you should follow his example." She says whilst side-eyeing the man. You couldn't quite remember if Grell was a reaper or not, you'd have to ask Mara later, you couldn't do it here because of the supernatural creatures in the room which had amazing ears. You decide to shuffle over next to Mara so you can be out of everyone's way.

        You lean over to whisper to her, "Hey this is the Jack the Ripper shit, right?"

        Mara nods before whispering back, "Did they ever find out who it was, ya know, in our dimension?"

        You shrug, "I think it was some barber guy named Aaron Kosminski. I can't remember when they announced that, though."

        "Anyways," Madam Red starts before literally caressing Sebastian's ass, "Every time I see you, you're still so handsome! Why don't you simply quit working here and come serve me!" This causes you to almost lose composure and burst out laughing. You mask it with a cough, looking up to make eye contact with the butler who looks less than amused though, he plays it off politely and steps away from her and standing to your right.

        "I've heard about the case of prostitutes being murdered on the streets lately." Ciel starts. "This isn't an ordinary case; the deaths are very abnormal. That's why the queen is concerned." Ciel says before reaching down to take a bite of the cake Sebastian had served along with the tea.

        Sebastian took over speaking, "The murdered prostitute was named Mary Ann Nichols. The wounds looked as if they were done using a sharp tool allowing for a painful death." Ciel looks up from his cake before saying, "The police and other prostitutes call the murderer 'Jack the Ripper'."

        "There it is," you mumble. You tune out the rest of their conversation as you again speak to Mara. "Hey, does this mean we're about to meet that one funny funeral guy?" You ask, causing Mara to beam. She nods enthusiastically, "Yep!" 

        "I actually really like that guy, what was his name again?" You ask, wishing you'd paid attention the many times Mara had played the anime around you. You saw Sebastian's brow twitch out of the corner of your eye causing you to turn to him. "What?" "His name is the Undertaker; please do not tell me you are fond of him as you say." He says with an almost judgmental look on his face. This causes you to shrug, "The guy is goofy, I just think he's funny." You pause and grin, "What? Are you jealous or something?" You snicker causing the butler to roll his eyes. "I assure you that I am nowhere near jealous of that man." He shakes his head slightly as he speaks. That was when Ciel ordered Sebastian to go get the carriage. Ciel, Mara and you piled in, followed by Madam Red, Lau, and Sebastian, leaving Grell to drive. You were wedged between Mara and Sebastian throughout the ride. Mara was talking to you excitedly as your group made its way to The Undertakers shop.

        Once arriving you exit the carriage as Madam Red immediately speaks, "Why are you familiar with this kind of place?!" Sebastian takes it upon himself to respond, "Because the person the Young Master knows works as an undertaker." You realized that you'd missed the part of the conversation where Ciel was speaking about someone who could help.

        Sebastian holds open the door allowing for you all to file in. "Are you there, Undertaker?" Ciel asks into the dimly lit room. This causes laughter to immediately follow. You glance over to see Mara buzzing with excitement.

        "I knew that you'd come, welcome Earl." You hear you glance to your left as you see a coffin open, revealing none other than the silver-haired man. "Do you want to see how it feels to sleep in one of my custom-made coffins?"|He pauses before glancing over towards Mara and yourself, "How about either of you?" Ciel rolls his eyes, at least you think that's what happened. "I'm not here to play Undertaker." This causes the Undertaker to chuckle, "I know why you came. Since the earl went out of his way to visit me, I'll certainly do everything I can to help." He speaks, the smile never leaving his face. "Please, take a seat first, I'll make tea," he says as he shuffles out of the room.

        Mara is bouncing next to you, "I can't believe we just saw him in person, (Y/n)!" She says as she grabs your arm. "Yeah, he's a tad creepy, but you know what, I'll take this over some of the actual creeps I've met in my life." You say shrugging. Ciel sits on a coffin silently and waits for the Undertaker's return. He glances over to the two of you and you can see slight judgment over Mara's excitement. Undertaker returns, "Now then, you wanted to know about Jack the Ripper? Everyone has been scared because of this disturbance but this isn't the first time I've handled this kind of thing."

        You furrow your brows, "This isn't the first time? Were the last victims prostitutes as well?" Undertaker nods while eating one of his biscuits, "In fact, the way they were killed was similar too." He pauses, "The murdered prostitutes did have something in common."

        "What is it? " Ciel questions with furrowed brows. "What is it indeed." The Undertake responds with his usual grin. This causes Lau to hum to himself off to the side, "I see, that's how it is. You're very good at doing business Undertaker, how much money do you want for this information?" Almost immediately, Undertaker is in Lau's face, "Money? I don't want any of the Queen's money!" He then turns to Ciel, "Now then Earl," he approaches him, "I only require one thing. Show me a first-rate laugh! I'll tell you anything if I get it." Lau cleared his throat, "Let me handle this." You already knew the next two jokes would be horrible. That being said, while the other two were trying to make the undertaker laugh, you nudged Ciel. He looks up at you, "If you think you can succeed, be my guest." He responds, obviously not caring.

        You walk up to the undertaker and motion for him to lean down, you whisper into his ear. You back away and not even two seconds later the man is cackling. You turn around and make eye contact with Sebastian who has a questioning look on his face. You shrug and return to your place next to Mara. "Dude, what did you say to him?" She asks. You side-eye her, "I literally just told him a dick joke. Men always find those to be funny." You hear Sebastian scoff beside you causing you to glance over. "What, you're different?" You ask him. "Of course I'm different, jokes of that sort are for the dull-minded." He responds. You laugh, "I guess everyone in our period is dull-minded then, well at least you have something to look forward to." This causes the demon to shake his head. Before he can speak, the undertaker begins, "The corpses were missing organs. That prostitute isn't a whole woman anymore. Because her womb is gone." Everyone, aside from Mara, Sebastian, and yourself, of course, seemed to be disturbed.

        "Let's just say there aren't many people out on the streets at night. But, accurately cutting out specific organs couldn't be a normal person, correct?"  Sebastian asks. The undertaker then goes on to explain how the murderer is killing his victims. "It seems that the murderer is an expert. He will keep committing crimes, he definitely will. Unless someone stops him, of course. Can you stop him? Notorious Earl of Phantomhive." The undertaker finishes. "There must be an influence manipulating him from behind," Ciel mutters to himself before walking out. 

        As all of you pile back into the carriage, you glance over towards Sebastian. "So, what do you think about it? Do you have any ideas yet?" You ask. Sebastian places his hand on his chin, "The murderer would have to be an anatomical expert, but also know where the police are when they commit the crime." "Where do we start? There are so many people gathered at the capital right now. Many doctors, head physicians, and medical schools could be the culprits!" Madam Red exclaims. "Then we shall wait until 'the season' is over with to investigate. As we cannot investigate clearly during 'the season.'"

        Ciel then orders Sebastian to go compile a list of suspects. Madam Red's Jaw drops as Sebastian opens the door.  "Please excuse me if I leave now." He says just before effortlessly hopping from the carriage. You sigh, already remembering who the murderer or murderers are. "This is going to be an annoying investigation." You mutter to yourself as the carriage continues its return to the townhouse.

[away-ward]

Things that happen in the Willemmy friends-to-lovers au I now have playing on repeat in the back of my mind:

It's after Will's graduation and there is a party at the warehouse.

Emory shows up with Elle because she thinks this is the last opportunity she'll have to see Will. She doesn't usually waste her time with parties. She doesn't plan on talking to him. She just wants to watch for a while.

He clocks her the second she walks in. He's been wanting to talk to her for a long time but she always seemed to give him the cold shoulder when he tried to approach. He didn't know how to get in with her.

He circles for a while, not wanting to jump on her and scare her away. Eventually he finds his opening and they end up talking for a while.

They end up talking right into the backseat of his truck and Will can't believe this is happening.

She slows things down, somewhat unintentional, but she's also just nervous. This wasn't her plan... she does really like him... but this is stupid. Acting rashly like this is how you get pregnant or an STD.

They end up talking and making out all night. Mostly talking though. She can't stop herself from being critical of his privilege. He can't stop thinking she's beautiful. And smart. Smarter than him that's for sure. He's not sure why they're not having sex. That's what he's good at. All they're doing is talking, but she hasn't left yet...

They talk until the sun starts coming up. They get out and watch the sunrise from the bed of his truck. It's another Thunder Bay Holiday, similar to evernight, devil's night, and firenight, and Will tells her about it's history and tradition. She asks if he's not doing anything, could they spend the day together.

The tradition picks up later in the evening, so technically his morning is free. But he's never spent the day with a girl he spent the night with, even if they technically didn't sleep together.

He says yes anyway.

There's other stuff that follows the other plots of one day, but one of the things that happens is

After em graduates and goes to SF, Will texts her from wherever he's traveled to. Sometimes he's not also in the most sober condition. This time he is. He's a little lonely even though he's surrounded by people. It's early in SF (he keeps a clock on his phone that tells him the time in three place: wherever he's at, Thunder Bay, and SF), but he texts her what he's thinking anyway. She'll probably read all his nonsense when she wakes up, roll her eyes, send back an emoji and then carry on with her day. But to his surprise she's up.

He doesn't know what to say now, knowing she's paying attention. His words are so much more important now.

She tells him about thea, her roommate and all the drama surrounding her. It sounds like fun. It sounds like she enjoyed her first year away from Thunder Bay. His first year away was horrible, but he made it through. Kinda.

In fact, it's summer again. She might be home already. He asks if she'll be home for the summer. He hopes the answer is yes.

She says she and thea found an apartment to rent with some others. She'll be working in SF, but might be home sometime.

He doesn't know what to say. He wants to see her. Hates that she has to work instead of play during her time off.

She comments that she was lucky enough to get a bedroom with a good view. One of her new roommates has a view of the neighbor's brick wall.

He asks for a picture. She sends one from her bedroom window, and based on context, he can tell that the room is small. Her bed is pushed up against the window sill. He can see her knees in the picture, as if she hadn't bothered to move from where she was sitting. He now imagines her curled on her bed, sipping a cup of coffee, talking to him while watching the sunrise like she did two years ago.

He looks at that picture all the time.

Just thought you might like to know what happens when I reread the one day posts.

[sophieinwonderland]

Umineko Not-Liveblog from a tulpa who has never read a visual novel before

This was recommended A LONG TIME AGO because of a plural character, and I've finally decided to start it. All that I know is that it's over 100 hours, and I'm going to be increasing that by a lot if I insist on screenshotting everything to comment on it in these not-liveblogs.

So here are my mostly disjointed thoughts on the very beginning!

I loved the characters in the prologue. The dynamic between the man and his doctor was great. I... didn't really get their names. Oh well, I'm sure they'll be brought up again.

The prologue dealt with a man who was dying because... reasons? Alcohol? A witch's curse? If it gave a clear reason, I might have missed it. But the dialogue was engaging anyway. I especially enjoyed the man ranting about the witch taking his soul due to some sort of deal he made. I loved the passion of in it.

There are no screenshots from things before this because I hadn't thought of screenshotting yet.

Hmm... I wonder if I can find his name in the character list?

No, of course not. That would be too easy. Oh well, I'm sure it will be here later.

Speaking of names... George?

I can't say I was expecting a guy in this to be named George.

Random: I'm wondering how true this statement is in real life...

I know other places are similar, where professional meetings often involve drinking. Which really seems weird to me when you think about it.

If I was making important deals that might involve other people's money, I probably would want to be as clear-headed as possible.

More on names, let's talk Battler...

I guess, but I'm really still hung up on George seeming so out of place. 😜

There's like a whole spiel here with Battler complaining about how his name is weird and nobody reads it even close to how it's supposed to said. Which, fair.

But also, I think Battler is a cool name and would like to see more Battlers and fewer George's in the world.

As someone who watches no subbed anime and has never touched visual novels before, I had to look up what Aniki meant right before this.

And this, I'm embarrassed to admit...

There was this whole scene with a woman saying Battler was probably a heartbreaker and um... I interpreted it as flirting until it revealed the woman was his aunt just a bit later. Yeah, that was awful!

I REALLY should have paid more attention to the family name. Or names in general. Oops!

But you can't tell me that this woman looks old enough to be his aunt:

I blame the anime style of making everyone look super young and attractive! (But yes, I really need to pay attention to the family name. 🤦‍♀️)

After noticing the family name thing, I also was really confused about why she HAD the family name since they weren't related since I was under the impression that Japan was like America with family names being passed down.

But the character info explains this!

Cool. The game already thought of this.

Wait... What's a family register?

Huh. Okay... I'm never going to get through this 100+ hour game if I keep stopping to look up Japan facts.

[sometimes later...]

SHE THE OLDER SISTER!!!!????

HOW???

I screenshotted this to say comment on the fact that none of these names sound Japanese, (Eva, George, Rosa, Maria, Rudolf) but then clicked to continue and Battler beat me to it!

First Impressions

Having gotten to the plane that flew them to the island, I feel I've reached a good stopping point.

I'm going to say that while I thought the prologue was really good and I liked the characters introduced at the airport... the airport scene felt overly long.

As important as it is to introduce your cast in the beginning, it shouldn't have felt like it was taking half-an-hour to explain Maria's relation with Battler.

And when we got to the airplane, I was so hopeful we were finally going to get to the island so plot could start... and then instead of piling into the plane normal people, they had to do a role call of everyone there.

I hope that this is just because it's an introductory scene and that it won't be indicative of what's to come. Because if this just ends up filled with padding to make the reading time longer than it needs to be, I'm not sure it's for me.

But I have heard that the start is slow, and it is just an opening. So we'll see. 🤷‍♀️

Also, no hint of any characters being plural. Not surprising. I wasn't expecting that to be revealed in the opening at all.

I'm hopeful that it will be revealed in the Questions Arc. (The story is divided into a Questions arc and an Answers arc. Each is 4 chapters.)

[wjforever]

My introduction to Love Between Fairy and Devil.

I'm not sure what attracted me to this series. I saw some gifs in the tumblr and it seemed interesting to me. I was drawn to the beautiful pictures and the cold dangerous villain/protagonist. Like many of us, I believe. Dongfang Qingcang is the center of this series and many have fallen in love with this show because of him. I'm no exception. I was hooked on this character because it's just my type. And this despite the fact that I don't like Asian shows at all.

I must say right away that I didn't have too high expectations from the series. I saw and understood what I was signing up for. It was obvious to me that this was a naive colorful children's fairy tale, the quality of which leaves much to be desired, but I turned a blind eye to it. If you initially treat this as a performance in a children's theater, and not a deep, high-quality philosophical television masterpiece, then it's much easier to watch it. Yep, it's cheap, yes it's flat, but everyone is doing their best and God bless them.

What immediately caught my eye, even before the start of viewing, especially in comparison with more familiar Hollywood films, was a lot of CGI, not always of good quality, but most often frankly bad, plastic props, cheap fabrics, stereotypical characters and ideas. And most importantly - excessive cloying.

And yet I succumbed to the temptation, and turned on the series purely as a background noise while I was working. Such films are the very thing for this. You can stop watching if it starts to annoy, but most of the time you pay little attention to what's happening on the screen. For this reason, I watched with dubbing, which, by the way, was extremely crappy. Unfortunately, this happens often when it comes to such complex languages as Chinese. But I didn't care too much.

However, if the series hadn't originally been my background noise, I wouldn't have watched it, because the first episode almost immediately killed all my interest. But that would have been a mistake. Because it's really worthy. It's a shame that the pilot turned out to be essentially a failure, because I understand that many people may miss this masterpiece because of such a nuisance. I still gave the series a chance and didn't regret it at all. You need to merge into it, get used to it and fall in love with it, trying to delve into all the details and feel it in order to understand it better.

But the beginning passed me by. Bright, colorful, something is happening, but it doesn't cause much interest. A bunch of names that are hard to remember. A complex philosophy and its own cultural structure.

I wasn't familiar with this genre at all, so many things were initially incomprehensible to me. Probably, in order to better understand what's going on there in general, you need to read at least a little about this genre. To understand who the immortal celestials are, and how this whole system works. Because the series throws it all at you at once and you don't know if you should already understand everything yourself, because it's traditional for China or it should be like that and it will become clear later. I wasn't really worried about it and was more waiting for the bad guy to show up.

But still I was a little disappointed, sometimes I looked at what was happening condescendingly, and sometimes I just did facepalm. If you are also just starting out, don't give in to this false impression, give the series a chance, because the actors and the plot will save the whole story and the shortcomings can be forgiven.

As for the main heroine, I knew from the start that I would see just such a character, because it's one of the most popular type in Asian culture. I used to watch the Sailor Moon series a little bit (back then we didn't choose what to watch, but watched what was shown, haha). And Sailor Moon herself was my most disliked character, I loved those heroines who were more older. But I know that this is a very popular image of a stupid, squeaky, naive, cute, annoying, but kind, brave and fair girl. It's always annoyed me, but… it's popular. So, I was mentally ready for this and had no big complaints.

But still, even if I didn't expect too much, there is some magic in this series. Seeing all its flaws, I was still fascinated by it and at some point it was able to completely charm me. I surrendered without a fight. After a few episodes, I realized that I could no longer just watch it as a some background, that it attracted all my attention and distracted me from work. I giggled and worried along with the heroes. Although the secondary characters didn't evoke the same emotions in me as the main ones, except for the dragon, but I still enjoyed to follow the development of their stories.

I can't say which episode was the turning point, but over time I began to get distracted from the series only when secondary characters were shown, so not to often.

And this is one of the good things about the drama. It focuses on the main characters and continues like this for pretty much the entire episodes, so it was kept interesting to me. But the secondary characters are also at least not too annoying, and many of them evoke sympathy.

For the most time, when some show ends, I either quickly forget about it if it was mediocre. At most I go half a day under the impression of the final. If the series was really good, I can't recover for a long time. And it's even difficult to rewatch some moments, because there is a feeling of completion and it's kind of strange to go back to the beginning. There is something solemn about it, like saying goodbye to something close. And usually it takes me time to plunge into this story again, to start all over again.

But this show I wanted to rewatch. More and more. Because you suddenly realize that didn't understand something at the beginning, and you want to find out what you've missed. And there are quite a lot of such details in the series, as it turns out. Suddenly it's not a simple silly fairy tale, but something very complex and multidimensional.

I don't like to follow actors, their other roles and projects, and I'm not a big fan of BTS scenes. It's interesting, but it destroys some magic, because it emphasizes that all this is not real. But I didn't have enough. And I not only have rewatched the series several times, especially some moments. But I also have watched the anime episodes that have been released at the moment and have read the novella. This is completely totally different. But gosh, what's so special about these characters? I fell in love with them again like the first time and I can't get them out of my head. But I began to understand this world better. Better understood some details. And now I also want to watch the series with Chinese text in order to find out what was inaccessible to me due to translation problems.

Summarizing, this post is not really a review, but my declaration of love for this drama. Yes, it's not the most expensive and high-quality product. Yes, there are many flaws and mistakes in it. But this is very honest, sincere and thoughtful. And I love it, I love the logic in the narrative. When there is meaning from beginning to end and everything is thought out in advance, and not some ridiculous turns are invented. And I love games and TV shows with signs, hints, parallels and secret meanings that are not immediately clear. This is the beauty of Japanese games, for example. There is a lot of symbolism in them, as in Asian culture in general. And it conquers you.

Someone could consider the series superficial, and this is very in vain. This is absolutely not true. There is much more wisdom and philosophy in it than it may seem at the beginning.

If you are thinking whether this drama, which has suddenly become mainstream, worth watching, you definitely should watch this. Perhaps you won't get into this story and you won't like it. But if you like not superficial stories, then this is for you.

Somebody save me, because it seems I'm drowning in this)) This series has earned such recognition for a reason and it's a pity that fans are already switching to new projects. It's a pity that there won't be a second season and it's almost one hundred percent. And the author is unlikely to write a continuation of the novel, and even if so, this won't be something that I will like, unfortunately (judging by the epilogues). Expansion of the universe, stories about other characters are not the same for me, although I know that there are novels dedicated to other heroes and a crossover series is planned on TV. But I want to extend my time with this story and these characters. So I keep taking it apart brick by brick) Huh. The life of a fan is hard, especially for dying fandoms and when you too late for the party, lol.

My blog on Buy me a coffee

[ropebunnykant]

i watched f4, but admittedly without paying Too much attention because. ive read the entire boys over flowers manga, ive seen both the jdrama And the kdrama (formative 2000s kdrama experience that it was) so i mostly just skimmed through for first…. i do think there were plenty of changes i couldve paid more attention to though! anyway, this is an ask that says ‘go ahead and talk about f4’ :)

rowan ily. so i went into this show pretty much completely blind. like i knew it was a remake but i hadn't seen the jdrama or kdrama and i hadn't read the manga, and i hadn't even heard much about the plot before watching. all i knew was that first, tu, milk, and dew were in it and that was it and that's really all i needed skjdfhskjf

but this show like. fully grabbed me by the throat and shook me around like a rag doll. like i wasn't expecting to fall as hard for all of the characters as i did. especially thyme! like i was still team "this bitch needs to die" in like ep11 KFHDKJFH. they all just made me fall in love with them in their own way.

here's the thing though. as much as i loved it, the last like two and a half episodes really pissed me off for a number of reasons. like first of all it just felt like half of the plot happening in those eps was just to get it to sixteen eps. like seriously? thyme having memory loss in the last ep? and then his mom just SUDDENLY deciding to give it up cause of gorya's speech? bullshit honestly

the thing is though, i probably would have been fine with all of that were it not for the fact that in the second half of ep14 they completely fucking obliterated thyme's character development. like okay, i get that he was fully under the impression that gorya had been lying and was a gold digger, right? but it makes no fucking sense to me how he can just. change that quickly. how the fuck did he go from literally talking about wanting to put people first when he leads the company to leading it as ruthlessly as his mother within a DAY?? and it would have just been SO MUCH MORE IMPACTFUL if he had truly believed gorya was a gold digger but still taken the lessons he'd learned from being with her. it would have been amazing to see the time skip but instead of thyme following his mother's lead, he's still fighting her, still trying to get her to lead with kindness. and think of how that would have hit his mother!! her thinking that gorya was the only reason he was acting like that but instead he turns around and proves that he really did change. that he cares about people and doesnt want to treat them like pawns in a game anymore and her having to face that?? like it would have been so good!!!

but no thyme just fell back into old habits. and it just makes it seem like the only reason he was doing that in the first place was so he could be with gorya. like he didn't really care about being kind and treating others with respect. most disappointing thing fr.

that being said i did genuinely enjoy the show for the most part and these characters are all my new blorbos. also in terms of ships i'm team gorya and her four boyfriends <3333

[anxiousxdreamer]

The insanity around the Skyrim Sexyman is so wild as an outsider. I understand none of it. I watched like part of a playthrough ot Skyrim once aged eight cause my favorite minecraft YouTuber made it. I know none of these characters. And to top it all off I CANT EVEN SEE POLLS

Keep it coming

YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE POLLS????

good luck anon it's only gonna get wilder as more favourites probably end up losing lmao

i can give the rundown on a couple of them losing being a whole thing. you didn't ask for it but i'm gonna anyway from my perspective jfkashfgjhdaks

Ralof is simply the one running the poll's favourite, but I think a lot of people kinda forget to pay attention to him beyond choosing to follow him at the start of the game for the tutorial. ISQ has a million very good things to say about him and, while I admit I hadn't given him much thought before, I have to agree he's pretty great Brynjolf is a fan favourite usually. He's a smooth talker, in a Scottish accent, and he's a thief so he's kinda got a "dangerous sexy" thing going for him. Plus he like, so very much cares about the thieves guild and idk something about the way he addresses you gets people going i guess. It didn't hit for me but that's just me, i AM truly shocked he's lost and I do like him in general

Cicero winning in round 1 and losing in round 2 was funny as fuck. ISQ finds him SO annoying. I find him kinda annoying as well, but man I was rooting for him a little bit cause it'd be funny if THEIR disliked one (that is still a person at least) one. Oh well, we move on

Him losing to SERANA, another fan favourite, because she's a troubled pretty vampire lady voiced by Laura Bailey, was just beautiful imo. Personally I love her because I like her ice spike tendencies in combat and that she can't die. I'd say "cicero eat your heart out" but uh, pretty sure she actually ate his heart already so

Any dragon winning any poll is so funny because ISQ's protests are "Alduin is TOO POINTY" and "Durneviir is a ROTTING CORPSE DRAGON" (He's like, alive enough to consent, so he doesn't count as necrophilia, but he body is rotty because he's not really supposed to Have One i guess). Alduin is also the Big Bad of the whole main game. Durneviir is at least a, like, neutral guy. He can be your friend :). Odhaviing is another dragon. He's plot important but he's not as funny to me as the WORLD EATER or the ROTTING BODY ONE

Teldryn??? Teldryn is just a merc you can hire as a follower. I'm not even sure if he has a quest at least, but don't quote me on that because I am nowhere NEAR observant. Didn't even know he existed until the past few days lmao. And the fact that HE beat Brynjolf? Insanity.

I have a personal vendetta against J'zargo because I can't stand anyone who talks like they're the greatest fucking thing ever. It's a whole thing. I don't think he deserves to be hated for his whole exploding cape thing or anything, I just don't like him. Great voice though. If he wins I'll be sad.

There are orcs in Skyrim. There are IMPORTANT orcs in skyrim. I have SEEN people call the orc librarian at the Magic College sexy. There were no orcs in the lineup. This is a personal affront and I will never recover (I main orcs)(I am not actually mad at isq)

Sheogorath is the god of madness. He's my favourite god. I want him to win. If it's not Serana (I have a lot of loyalty to her as well because of. Life reasons. And I really really really love the ice spikes) then I want it to be him.

Hermaeus Mora is the god of forbidden knowledge. There's a lot of tentacles in his realm. He's my second favourite god.

Cicero and Sheogorath both talk in a million directions. Cicero annoys me and Sheo doesn't. This is because Cicero is basically in love with a corpse and I find his and any character's obsession with the Dark Brotherhood (assassin guild) cringe as fuck. I do not feel that way about real life people who really love the DB

Lucien Lachance is not fucking hot

[notebookmusical]

Hi! I hope you've had a good week and weekend. I am not as stressed as before like a few months ago and I think things are going to get better compared to the last month. It's mainly just been lonely I think cuz my sister hadn't been living with me. Omg that's fun..what shows are you going to see? It's so hard to choose lol. You'll have to let me know how they are.

Oh ya last year's Tony's I didn't watch either because I didn't have an antenna but I had one for this year. I still missed parts of the opening though and drank while watching. Oh no... that's an awful time to get it cuz it probably ruins the memory. I remember listening to the cast album of Pretty Woman before..maybe once but that's about it. What did you think of the show if you remember? It does not seem like a show you would want to go to based on some musicals you like lol but I hope it was okay. You can always share some more stories with me! :) I can't remember what else he's been in besides Company though.

Honestly the Cabaret performance was fine to me but you're right about it being polarizing and I'm not sure why. I honestly think that's just how the character of the Emcee is supposed to be. I really like Joel Greys and Alan Cummings versions but I like that he at least tried something a little different. I wonder how he interprets some other parts based on knowing the show. Oh I hope you are able to see The Notebook again on your trip. I heard about the Merrily proshot and am excited and think it's great. It will probably be better than the movie musical they're making at least. I don't know much about the musical but also don't know how to feel about it. I think they cast Paul Mescal and I'm not even sure he can sing lol but I don't remember too much about it. Except they are filming it over 20 years..which is something that could be cool or just off and not translate on screen so idk. What do you think about it? I can't really have an opinion cuz I'm not as familiar with the show and only know two songs I think. I don't know when I will watch the show but I would definitely wanna watch the proshot.

I am still listening to Broadway stuff for now so I am a little behind. I've listened to Outsiders, Hells Kitchen, Stereophonic and Suffs so far. I love Outsiders and Stereophonic. Stereophonic is just the kind of music I like and the Outsiders music fits the story pretty well. I am also biased because of the story haha, but idk if I would recommend it without knowing it. Like there was one part that they didn't have a song about and idk if I would've known about it without knowing it. So in that way it made me miss watching bootlegs! I wish I could watch a bootleg of this one specifically cuz it has a lot of cool effects, but I honestly don't know much about finding bootlegs anymore unless it's random. I mostly see full audio bootlegs with dialogue but eh. I think I saw a Lempicka video come up on my YouTube page so I might be able to watch it and then listen to the cast album which is what we used to do lol. Same with Hells Kitchen..I think I kinda was able to follow it but it' would be more fun to watch in my opinion..oh well. Suffs was one that I just let play and actually couldn't follow the story as much and was just paying attention to the music first so idk. I know a lot of people wanted it to win best musical over Outsiders but it didn't exactly impress me, but the plot is probably not for me either. I still have to listen to the Notebook, Water For Elephants, Illinoise, and yes, Gatsby..if only for Jeremy and Eva, so I'll let you know what I think. I've also listened to a few songs from Spring Awakening, and Sunday, and West Side Story this week. I realized how similar The Outsiders is to West Side Story mixed with like Newsies. I love the new url too haha.

I will definitely check out the updates. I always love your new recommendations. I definitely plan to listen to those albums maybe sometime this week. I have heard the song featuring Taylor and enjoyed it and they performed it live. I loved Taylor playing the mashup of the Lakes and I Hate It Here especially. I think she's just okay honestly..maybe because she's a nepo baby, but I did enjoy her last album. I heard a few of Charli's singles but it seems there's more production compared to her last album and idk what to think yet. I loved your album! What did you think of the albums? I hope you have an amazing week too and hope things are getting better in case they've been stressful or hard lately.

hi friend!!! happy july! i hope yours is off to a good start! do you have anything fun planned this month? i'm glad things are getting better or are a little more manageable!

i've currently only got tickets to see moulin rouge, but will be buying my stereophonic tickets soon hopefully! i think i'll go see the notebook if it's still open when i'm there (hopefully it is!) but am unsure if i want to also do a saturday matinee or if i'd rather just go see friends and go places! i just never have enough time in the city and i feel like there's not a whole lot on broadway that i want to see right now — if i wasn't going to see wicked on tour in november, i'd probably finally go see it on broadway! and same with back to the future; it's coming in december, i'm likely going to see it in december, i don't particularly mind waiting to see it. anddd the same with both six, and & juliet — they're both part of the upcoming season so i don't feel a huge desire to go see them!

i don't have an antenna either! i got a free showtime subscription i think? to watch it this year and in the past years i've just 🏴‍☠️d it haha. that was actually my second time seeing it! i saw it on broadway with the original cast in march 2019 — i think i liked the broadway cast more than the tour (the guy who played edward came across much older than vivian and they had very little chemistry and just felt very ... awkward and creepy haha) but i didn't love it by any means! just a fun night, which is fine!

ooh okay my favorite matt doyle story <333 he came to seattle to do an out of town tryout for a show called jasper in deadland (terrible show that i love love love dearly, saw it three times) and he was just the nicest, loveliest person at stagedoor (even though he was not having a good time here in seattle). just so so sweet. one of my friends loved the show and saw it 8 times and in jasper, his character has a little ... alter ego-y persona with a different voice and so i asked if he'd record a video in that voice saying happy birthday to her and he did and was sooo sweet about it. he was also in book of mormon and sweeney todd off-broadway for a hot minute!! and little shop! and he was in gossip girl haha.

i wonder if people would like cabaret more if they cast ... a stronger ... singer... ? it's really interesting to see how a lot of shows that do really well on the west end aren't necessarily received very well here and vice versa. like this production of cabaret is SO well-received there! and yes! they cast paul mescal, who can sing fine —here's a clip of him singing stars from les mis from back in the day! i think it's interesting they're filming over 20 years but also am worried about ... it taking 20 years? if that makes sense? like it's cool, sure, but ... will it work out? will everyone stay committed? will everyone still be available? just feels like a logistical nightmare... how is this being funded? etc.

i'm soooo excited to see stereophonic !!! ahhh !!!!! it's one of the main reasons i decided to take this trip (vs. going next season)! i'm happy to help you find bootlegs — just send me a message off anon/over dms hehe <333 i haven't listened to hells kitchen yet, but i want to soon! did you watch / do you watch the jimmys awards? i watched them the other day and was sooooo impressed by how talented everyone was! i am actually not a fan of suffs haha. my best friend loves it and keeps trying to get me to get into it but i ... do not want to! it's just not my thing! and thank you for the url compliment :") wait have you ever listened to spring awakening in full? i love it a lot but it's also quite heavy so please take care of yourself when listening!

i just watched spring awakening like two weeks ago in person and the production was .... not great !!!!!!! but i still love the show so dearly. i'm glad i went. even if that production was ... something. and yay!! i'm so glad you like my recommendations 🥺 i always love hearing yours as well and hearing from you! i really loved brat, and i do think the secret of us is growing on me but not my favorite gracie album! my favorite of hers is still minor, and then this is what it feels like and then good riddance!

hope you're doing well and staying safe my friend <3333 and staying cool!

[avoxrising]

Capital Nights

Episode 1 ~ On the Universe’s Time

Decided to post a chapter on Tumblr as the story isn’t getting as much traction on Wattpad and I have a much larger following on Tumblr. Episodes 1-5 are already on my Wattpad- link in Masterlist.

☆64 AW☆

Before leaving District 4, my boyfriend Rian comes to say goodbye. He's my only visitor, as I'm an only child and haven't spoken to my parents in years. Adrian, one of the victors who trains at the academy, found out about my situation a few years back and lets me sleep at the academy in a spare room. It's not much but it's home.

Rian and I met at the academy a few years ago. He's two grades above me and is hoping to volunteer next year. We've been officially together for just over a year now. He knows I live at the academy but I can't live with him because he "doesn't have space".

"Hey it's going to be ok," he states as he hugs me. "Either you or Crey is coming home."

Wow we love the confidence he has in me. I just give him a nod as I reply, "I'll try."

"I love you Brooke"

"Love you Rian"

We are the "it couple" at the academy. It was my plan to volunteer the year after he did so we could win back to back games like Cashmere and Gloss, brother and sister who won the two most recent games. I guess we can still win back to back games if I win this year and his plan to volunteer next year and win goes through.

"Be careful," he tells me as he exits. I need to focus on the games and not on missing him.

☆☆☆

Boarding the train, I'm taken aback by the luxury of it. Decedent plates covered mahogany tables and the walls were adorned in rare artwork. If I succeed in bringing glory to my district then I will have to get used to all of this.

"Brooke, Crey," Adrian greets us as he sits at the table. Mags follows closely behind him but she is a woman of few words.

"Good afternoon Adrian, Mags," Crey states. "I'd like to train together if that's ok with you Brooke."

"Yeah uh that's actually perfect," I respond. "I'm pretty decent with a sword but I need to brush up on my hand to hand and survival skills." Mags gives me a nod and quietly states that she can help with survival.

"I don't think my spear skills need much brushing up but survival skills would be nice," Crey states as he piles food onto his plate. "Maybe I could even pick up another weapon before we hit the arena." We all chuckle at this.

Although I wasn't a volunteer, I'm still a career through and through. I've been top of my class for 3 years straight now and have worked extra hard to perfect my skills. By allying with Crey and the other careers, I know I'll have a real shot at winning the games.

After eating our lunch, we decide to watch the reapings. I take note of our soon to be allies. Khan and Honey from District 1 seem like a strong pair. Both are probably top of their class from the academy and they have some serious muscle on them. Reece and Coco from District 2 are also volunteers from the academy. Coco is surprisingly small for a 17 year old but she seems agile. Hopefully she is good with weapons.

We don't pay too much attention to the rest of the districts. They aren't threatening and should be easy enough to defeat. I need to strategize how I'm going to gain the careers trust while also plotting their downfall. After all, there can only be one winner.

Before we arrive in the capital, we talk strategy with Adrian. Crey and I need to pick out our capital personas so we can get sponsors. Crey already has his mastered, being a suave gentleman, but I have yet to reach the level in the academy where we work on sponsors.

"Ok Brooke what are you thinking?" Adrian asks. I hadn't really thought much about sponsors. I was hoping I had a few more years to decide.

"Uh I'm not sure," I reply. "Crey what do you think?"

"Well most academy girls go for a flirty persona," he states.

"Nope," Adrian butts in. "She's underage so nothing like that." Gosh if he thinks I'm ugly he can just tell me. I'll be of age in like 4 months.

"How about a fierce persona?" Crey suggests. "People may question your age so show them how deadly you are."

"I like that idea," I state. "Do you have anything that could help me?"

"Wear something that screams power," Adrian states. "Smile and wave at the crowds but let your smile be more of a smirk. Act like you could kill any of them at any moment. You're a tall girl so make them fear you."

I like this idea, so I go off to my room on the train to pick out an outfit. We will be arriving in the capital shortly so I need to get out of my reaping outfit.

Being poor means wearing the old clothes of neighbors in District 4. Some of the older girls at the academy would give me their old clothes but they usually didn't fit right. The green dress I'm currently wearing stops at my mid calves instead of my ankles. Miriam gave it to me last month for the reaping.

I pick out a maroon crop top and some black skinny jeans for my grand capital debut. Finishing off the outfit, I thrown on a black blazer and make my way back to the lounge. The journey was just beginning.

☆☆☆

Crey grabs my hand as we arrive at the train station. The crowds are insanely loud for us and I can't help but feel nervous. What if they don't find me intimidating?

I take a deep breath as I step off the train and into the crowd. Adrian and Mags keep people away from us while Crey and I walk hand in hand to our car.

"Well they just love you!" Apple squeals. I honestly forgot she was here. She spent our 5 hour train ride changing her hair and makeup.

The car door closes and I let out a sigh of relief.

"It's stressful being so popular," Crey smiles.

"Tell me about it," I yawn. I'm already exhausted and the week has barely begun.

There's more people waiting for us as we exit the car and enter the tribute center. Districts 1 and 2 stand in the lobby sizing up their competition. The parade isn't till tomorrow as the further districts won't arrive until late tonight but for us the games have already begun.

"Let's go introduce ourselves," Crey whispers to me, nodding at the careers. I agree and we make our way over, my hand on Crey's arm as walks me to the group.

"We'll look at you two," Reece smirks. "Here to size up the competition?"

"Actually we're here to make allies," Crey responds. "I think the six of us would be a good team."

"A lethal team," I smirk. I want to be intimidating without annoying the other careers. The last thing I need is them not trusting me.

"I like the sound of that," Reece grins. "Are you two any good?"

"Crey is top of the academy," I state matter of factly. "I may have not volunteered but it was only a matter of time before I did. I'm top of my class."

"Well you can prove that to us in training," Honey smiles. God she is hot. I need to focus.

"Sounds like a deal," Crey nods as we exit the conversation. I need to lay down before I pass out. I hate dealing with people.

☆☆☆

Adrian wakes me up a few hours later for dinner. When did I fall asleep? Yawning, I make my way to the dining room.

"So what did you think of Districts 1 and 2?" Adrian asks as we eat.

"Strong contenders definitely," Crey says. "I think it would be good to ally with them."

"Brooke what about you?" Mags asks.

'Attractive,' I think but that's not an acceptable answer. Also I have a boyfriend.

"I agree with Crey," I respond. "We will be a strong alliance if we can gain each other's trust during training."

"Trust can only get you so far in the games," Adrian warns. "The deadliest killers trust no one."

"I'll keep that in mind," I swallow as I glance at Crey, who is also looking a bit stressed.

After dinner, Crey and I chat in the lounge. Adrian had business to attend to and Mags went to sleep.

"I know Adrian said not to trust people but I trust you," I tell him as we stare out the window. It's not completely a lie but it's a bit far from the truth. Crey could completely overpower me in mere seconds but I can't let him see that I know that.

"That's good," he replies. "I hope I can trust you too."

"I can't kill you," I sigh. "You're from home and my ally. I'd only fight you if it came down to the two of us."

"Same," he sighs. "Do you wish you had more time to train at the academy?"

"Yes and no," I respond. "I wish I had volunteered at 17 after completing more of my training because then it would have been on my terms. At the same time, I feel like being reaped means it's my time. It's like the universe wants me to go now." Crey hums in response.

"I wish I had more time," he states, catching me off guard. "I don't regret volunteering but my entire life has been devoted to these games. I wish I had time to experience other things like lazy days at the beach or taking hikes through the outskirts of District 4."

"Well you'll have plenty of time to do that when you get home," I smile at him as I stand up to leave.

"Goodnight Crey"

"Goodnight Brooke"

-

AN: What did you guys think of this chapter? It is technically a Finnick x OC fic but we haven’t reached the part of the story where she meets Finnick. Also I shifted Enobaria, Cashmere, and Gloss’s games up by one so Brooke’s games are the year before Finnick’s. Pls lmk what you guys think this far :)

[sweeethinny]

she was not expecting that - in a good way

So ... Yesterday @blvnk-art posted a drawing on her N$FW account, and it inspired me to write this one shot, completely dirty, no plot, just because I did not get out of my head (today I saw that she posted something about that he wasnt until the end, as I wrote in my fanfic, but I decided to post even so ahaha

AO3

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Harry and Ginny were at an event, one of those where neither of them really wanted to be but were forced to go, and now they were counting down the minutes to get home.

Ginny was concentrating on the gossip the woman at the next table was telling her friend about Robert, a guy who worked with Ginny, who was cheating on his wife with his best friend.

Harry was trying to find a way to get his hand under Ginny's dress without anyone seeing it, just to tease her, forcing her to be silent as he worked his fingers into her. She'd teased him before they'd left the house, walking in front of him in that tight blue dress, making Harry bitterly regret having promised to go to that event.

She was wearing heels, which was a weakness for him. Harry wasn't too comfortable admitting that it turned him on, because it sounded kind of weird that he wanted to fuck his wife every time she wore high heels. But it was something he liked, and Ginny had already noticed that - never talked about it, though, even if they did talk about a lot of things they liked and didn't like.

His slight exhibitionism fetish was one of the points they had already discussed.

Harry wasn't fucking Ginny in front of a crowd, or anyone else, but the heat burning in him at the thought of making her come without anyone noticing was otherworldly.

And she liked it too, it was she who had incited it in him when they were still young, early in their post-war relationship, when Ginny had dared him to make her come without anyone in the Burrow knowing - and he couldn't use magic to muffle the noises.

Adrenaline excited them both, what could they do?

When he assured that everything was safe, he moved the hand that was resting on her thigh, inside her dress, slowly and always keeping his face as calm as possible, even as his balls ached with excitement. He'd been thinking about it for over ten minutes, it was torture that he hadn't just dragged her to the bathroom.

Ginny startled, but didn't say anything, just closing her eyes as he touched her panties and slowly pushed them away, already more than used to making sneaky movements that didn't let anyone know what he was doing. When he touched her clit, Ginny let out a moan, it wasn't absurdly loud in a way that everyone would find out, but it was louder than she could possibly do in that situation, so, just pretending to talk to her like it was any other comment, Harry muttered; ''Too loud,''

She took a sip of her wine, clearly not paying attention to anything other than the bubble he'd created around them, where his fingers danced in that long-known rhythm on her clit as he felt her clench her thighs and drink her wine like water in the desert.

Harry kept quiet, concentrating only on making his wife come there, in the middle of everyone, hoping that no one would come to interrupt them, because it would be too difficult to hide the wet fingers and the red that had taken over Ginny's cheeks and neck.

"Fuck," she whispered, laying her head on his shoulder as she had done several times that night, watching Robin say something in that boring, tiresome speech of his on stage. Her hand tightened on his thigh, probably to keep from moaning when Harry managed to penetrate her with his finger.

There were many years of experience in this, of course, they didn't do that all the time, but every now and then he needed to test his mobility, moving his wrist and fingers in ways he wouldn't normally do, given their position or location.

''I've been thinking about it for so long,'' he whispered to her, kissing his wife's hair as if it were just another show of affection. ''I can't wait for us to get home to fuck you,''

Harry wasn't much of a talker, Ginny had always made it clear that it didn't bother her at all, but sometimes he tried to put into words the fantasies he had, and after twenty years of marriage, he had started to get a little more experienced in how say it without being embarrassed or thinking that she would think he was crazy.

''What did you said before we left? That you wanted to tease me until my head exploded and I fuck you against the living room window?'' Ginny clenched her thighs again, this time her inner walls trapping his finger. Harry added one more, shifting in his chair so he could still touch her clit, but when that wasn't possible, he took his fingers from inside her, listening with immense pleasure as Ginny sighed in disgust. When he touched her clit, she laid her head down again, squeezing his thigh.

''I want to fuck you there, where anyone can see it,'' It wasn't possible, their house was protected so that you could never see what was inside the rooms through the window from the outside, if anyone passed by, they would see nothing but their own reflection, no matter how much light there was. But it didn't matter, because they knew it, but the idea was exciting. ''I want to fuck you until our brains explode,''

''Ah...'' Ginny covered her groan, looking up at him with a lust-filled gaze. ''Is because what I said earlier?''

''That we used to fuck out brains out?'' Harry arched a brow, amused to see her try to hide the pleasure. ''Yea. I told you I didn't like how you said 'used to'.''

No one said anything else, not only because he was totally focused on making her come, but because there was nothing more to say, Ginny might try to tease him back, as she did at home, but Harry - and she - knew that if she opened her mouth, everyone would know what he was doing.

Ginny was noisy.

It didn't take long for the grip on his thigh to tighten, her nails digging into his flesh almost painfully, her thighs pressing his hand even closer to her clit as Ginny tried for all that was most sacred not to show that she was coming. Her body trembling slightly and her face buried in the crook of Harry's neck, as if she was just resting there.

He was proud of himself. There were few things that Harry wasn't modest he was good at, and making his wife come with his fingers and/or mouth was one of those things.

''You're such a good girl,'' He smiled, slowly pulling his fingers away, trying not to show everyone what he'd just done.

''You'd better find an excuse for us to leave,'' Her husky voice made Harry shiver and thank Merlin for the robes he wore, always glad that wizards weren't adept at muggle-style pants.

''I'm doing this in five minutes. Unfortunately, Luna has a fever and James has disappeared with his girlfriend,'' Harry shrugged. ''What can I do if don't take us back home?'' Ginny laughed, still with her head on his shoulder, her hand on his thigh came up to his cock and she gave him a light squeeze.

''Yes, do it, your wife needs to be fucked against the window until she loses her mind.''