#shout out to my friends who enabled me to make this you know who you all are

[rooftopwreck]

Ferdinand Kingsley as Gale Dekarios, Wizard of Waterdeep, anyone?

Appreance-wise, he's got it all:

Big Brown Eyes like a baby cow's

Strong Nose

Rocks a beard and long hair well

Greying Hair

Lovely Smile

Looks good in "period" clothing

The list can go on! I know him best in his role as Hob Gadling in The Sandman, where he plays a charming and funny, somewhat arrogant yet self-deprecating (immortal) Englishman who deals with finding the will to live, humanity and finding the little joys in life. Sounds vaguely familiar.

His little face Scrunch

Professor Energy (his character Hob becomes a professor)

The Very Important Nose Boop 🙏

Do check out Ferdie's filmography ✨️ (or watch his scenes in The Sandman it'll take you 30 minutes and you'll Understand)

[captainsophiestark]

Not A Relationship Guy

Tristan Flynn x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Requeted by Anon! This is the Tristan Flynn part of "Az or Flynn" lol. Thanks again for enabling me to write about my faves! Hope you like it! Also, Happy Valentine's Day everybody!

Fandom: Crescent City

Summary: Bryce's good friend from Nidaros has moved to Crescent City with her, and quickly made an impression on a certain fae lord. But she's not interested in a one-night stand, and Flynn has made it clear before that he's not really a relationship guy.

Word Count: 5,252

Category: Angst, Fluff, Humor

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

When I'd first come to Crescent City, I hadn't known anyone other than Bryce. We'd grown up together in Nidaros, and now as adults, we'd maintained our close friendship even after she moved away. About a month ago, I'd joined her, following her move to the big city. I'd been terrified and out of my depth, with Bryce as my only connection in the massive metropolis. Now, I stood shoulder to shoulder with the top ranking members of the Fae Aux, screaming as we spectated the end of a beer pong game in the middle of a massive house party.

Things had certainly changed.

Declan and his boyfriend Marc stood on one side of the table, competing against a few people I didn't know. I was still relatively new, although my circle had expanded thanks to Bryce. Dec and Marc only had one cup left on their opponent's side, and then the game would be theirs.

The whole room screamed, a mix of heckling and encouragement, as Dec lined up his shot. Bryce hung off my neck, stone cold sober but shouting like the drunkest one in the crowd, which made me smile. Finally, after an extra moment's pause, Dec let the ball fly.

A moment later, it splashed into the cup, making Marc and Dec the winners.

The room erupted into cheers, no matter if people were rooting for or against Dec. A shot like that had to be appreciated.

The other team got a chance at redemption, but couldn't manage to get all of Marc and Dec's cups without missing. The game officially ended, with Marc and Dec's ten game win streak remaining unbroken.

"Boo!" came a loud voice, stepping through the crowd to the side of the table the losers had just vacated. Tristan Flynn stood tall, heckling his best friend across the table. "Somebody needs to take you two down!"

"Somebody just tried, Flynn!" Dec called back. "And you tried a few rounds ago, too. We're untouchable."

He and Marc did a little celebration, and Flynn rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that was with Ruhn as my partner. I just need a better partner, and then you two are done." His eyes turned to scan the crowd, landing immediately on Brcye.

"Quinlan-"

"Nope. No interest in being your teammate, Flynn."

He put a hand to his chest, mock hurt. "You wound me, Quinlan."

Bryce rolled her eyes. "You'll live. Besides, you're in luck. I happen to have the perfect partner for you."

Flynn raised an eyebrow in question at the same time Bryce gave me a hard shove forward. I turned to glare at her, but she just grinned back and gave me a little 'shoo' gesture. I narrowed my eyes at her even further, but turned back to Flynn anyway.

He watched me with a skeptical gaze. We'd gotten to know each other a little since I'd come to Lunathion, and we generally got along. That didn't make him trust me as a beer pong partner, though.

"Are you any good at pong, sweetheart?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I guess you're gonna find out."

With that, I turned from Flynn to quickly rerack the cups before picking up one of the balls on the table. I turned to Dec and Marc, waiting for one of them to do the same so we could shoot for who went first. They shared a look, then Dec stepped up, grinning at me as he prepared. I could feel Flynn hovering over my shoulder, but I ignored him as Dec and I locked eyes.

"Eye... to... eye," we said in sync, not looking away from each others' eyes as we let our first shots fly. I sank mine, but unfortunately, so did Dec.

I turned to Flynn. He didn't look impressed, exactly, but the wary skepticism had been replaced by a small, crooked smile.

"You're up," I said simply. Flynn didn't hesitate before stepping up to the table and going through the same procedure Dec and I had just done, but with Marc shooting opposite him. Like me, Flynn splashed his into a cup, but Marc's shot narrowly missed and bounced off into the crowd.

I let up a whooping cheer and high-fived Flynn, who was full-on grinning now. Marc and Dec just shook their heads.

"That means nothing," Dec called across the table. "You're both still toast."

"Yeah yeah, talk is cheap," I shot back. "Toss the other ball over here and let's get this upset on the road."

The game was truly a battle for the ages. The majority of the crowd had quickly rallied behind Flynn and I, since Dec and Marc had been dominating for far too long. They continued to sink shot after shot, but so did we. We held our own, using trash talk and head games and anything else we could think of to our advantage as the game went on.

I wasn't normally a super quiet person or anything, but since I'd been new to town and not in any party scenarios with Bryce's friends before this, I hadn't been ridiculously loud either. Now, however, I screamed, cheered, and jeered at the top of my lungs. With every celebration of success and mocking of the other team's misfortune, I caught Flynn staring at me more and more, an appraising look in his eye. I mostly ignored him, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a warm feeling in my chest when he grinned at me.

We both stayed focused and at the top of our games until, finally, each team only had one cup left. Marc and Dec had briefly pulled ahead, but Flynn had knocked out one of their cups to tie it. Now, the game rested on me.

"C'mon, you can do this!" shouted Flynn, putting his hands on my shoulders and jumping around a little to hype me up. I nodded, then turned to line up my shot as Flynn stepped back.

Marc and Dec were screaming, waving their hands everywhere to try and throw me off. The crowd screamed and the music blared, but I blocked it all out. I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, my eyes laser-focused on the cup ahead.

Without giving myself time to second guess, I brought my arm forward and let the ball fly. A second later, it landed with a splash in the final cup of Marc and Dec.

"YES!" roared Flynn, and a moment later my feet had left the ground. He'd wrapped his arms around my waist and picked me up in celebration. I laughed, absolutely beaming as Flynn set me down again.

"Alright, alright, it's not over yet!" Marc reminded us, bringing us out of the moment. "We get redemption shots."

"Even if you drag us into overtime, we're untouchable now," Flynn called. Our opponents ignored him, even as I joined Flynn's heckling and the two of us did everything we could think of to distract or psych out our opponents.

Marc shot first, and he missed. Me, Flynn, and apparently everyone else in the room held our breaths as Dec shook out his arm, then lined up his shot. Flynn and I waved our hands around, jumped up and down, and shouted things we thought might distract Dec, moving perfectly in sync like we'd been a team our whole life. Finally, Dec let the ball fly.

Flynn and I ripped our hands back to avoid any accidental interference that would cost us the game, and a split second later, Dec's ball bounced off the rim of our last cup. I reacted like lightning. According to the rules, once it hit the cup, it was fair game. I smacked it out of the way, off the table and into the crowd, before it could fall one way or the other.

"NO!" wailed Dec, sinking to his knees dramatically across the table.

"YES!" Flynn and I screamed in sync, and he picked me up again and spun me around. He put me down a moment later, still beaming, hands still around my waist. Our eyes locked, both caught up in the moment of euphoria, and he leaned towards me just a bit. I smiled, squeezing his arm but turning away to where Marc and Dec were still going through the stages of grief across the table.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to kiss Flynn. But I also knew he wasn't a relationship kind of guy. The three different females I'd seen him make out with throughout the party tonight were testament to that. I didn't want to just kiss him and then try to pretend to go back to normal as friends the next day, so instead, I focused on the euphoria of our win.

Flynn let the moment pass, too, as we gloated over Marc and Dec's defeat. Finally, after significant whining and complaining, they wandered off and another pair stepped up to challenge me and Flynn. We ran the table for the better part of an hour before stepping away to do other things, our win streak still intact.

I stayed at the party with Bryce for a little while longer, dancing and laughing the night away. Flynn joined us for basically all of it, making a point of paying attention to me, talking and laughing with me. He toed the line of flirting more often than not, and never wandered to other parts of the party even though Bryce spent significant time roasting him every chance she got. When she and I finally left the party just after two in the morning, we only got a few steps from the frat house before she turned to me.

"Alright, spill. What's going on with you and Flynn?"

I laughed, gently bumping my shoulder into hers as we walked. "Nothing's going on, Bryce. He's a friend, that's it."

"I've seen how he acts around his friends, and that's not it. I know you're new, but you must've noticed the difference too."

I sighed. "Yeah, I have. And I won't lie, Bryce, he's great. He's funny, I like talking to him and spending time with him. Obviously he's gorgeous. But based on everything I've seen from him, he's not interested in an actual relationship with somebody. Likewise, I'm not interested in making out with somebody at a party and having that be the end of it. So I think it's best if we just stay friends."

Bryce nodded thoughtfully, letting a comfortable silence rest over us for a few blocks as we walked side by side. I thought that was the end of it, but then she chimed in again.

"I've never seen him keep flirting with somebody as long as he did with you tonight. Normally if he hasn't gotten what he wanted in about twenty minutes, he moves on."

I didn't respond. I mean, what was I supposed to say? I wasn't sure Bryce really knew what she was trying to say either, and a second later, she moved on with a curse. I looked at her in question, and she sighed.

"I just got a text from Jesiba. I have to go into work in the morning."

I winced in sympathy, then let Bryce complain to me the rest of the way home. I fell into bed after promising her some kind of baked good when she got home tomorrow to help her get through the work day, and figured that would be the last of the discussion on things with Flynn.

I was very, very wrong.

For the next few weeks, whenever I did any activity that included Flynn, he took every opportunity he got to flirt with me. I never reciprocated, but I didn't totally shut him down either. More than a few of my friends other than Bryce had mentioned it, but I usually brushed their questions off. Flynn and I got on like a wild fire, there was no denying it. But just staying friends, hopefully good friends, still seemed like the best choice to me.

Around a month after Flynn had first started flirting, our whole extended group had decided to go out to the White Raven together to dance the night away and do whatever the hell we wanted to do. Bryce shot me a look on our way out the door, and I raised an eyebrow after locking the door behind us.

"You look good. Are you going to keep ignoring Flynn, or are you finally planning to do something about him tonight?"

I waved her off. "I already told you, Bryce, I'm not-"

"Interested in a one-time thing, yeah, I know. And that's fine. But he's been chasing you for a month. I think you should talk to him, let him know you're not interested."

"I'm sure he'll lose interest soon enough, B. Probably tonight, when he finally gets a break from work to the point that he notices some pretty thing dancing next to him and forgets he ever had a thing for me."

She gave me a skeptical look, but I ignored it. Flynn had become my best friend other than Bryce over the last month, but I wasn't about to start kidding myself that I might be the exception to his lack of interest in relationships.

Bryce and I were the last to arrive, and we found the rest of the group already posted up at a table, the first round of drinks ready to go. Flynn was already out on the dancefloor, and after saying a quick hello to the rest of our friends, I decided to go join him.

"Bryce? You in?"

She grinned and shook her head at me. "Nope. Have fun."

I narrowed my eyes at her, making sure she knew she wasn't being slick and that her implication wasn't appreciated. She blew me a kiss, and I rolled my eyes before turning from the table to go find Flynn on the dancefloor.

"Hey!" he cried, lighting up as soon as he saw me. "Finally!"

He grabbed my hands without hesitation, twirling me around him in the middle of the dancefloor. I smiled and laughed, then fell forward as he pulled me to his chest. I rested my hands on his shoulders, swaying to the beat with him, his beautiful eyes and devilish smile making my heart race. His hands drifted down my waist to rest low on my hips, and it was enough to shake me out of the moment.

I smiled, but put a little more space between us, and Flynn took the hint. He twirled me out and away from him again, and when he pulled me back this time, he dropped my hands. The two of us danced our hearts out, leaving a bit of space between us, letting the music completely take us over. Flynn's eyes still raked over me, but I just grinned back at him as I moved to the beat.

We spent a long, long time out there, dancing our hearts out without caring if we were good, making absolute fools of ourselves. Flynn's eyes stayed locked on me the whole time, that stupid grin never leaving his face. I tried my best to ignore it and just enjoy the moment with the frat boy I'd somehow become best friends with.

Finally, after the song switched again and Flynn showed no signs of slowing down, I had to take a break. I stopped dancing and stepped forward into his space, and Flynn mirrored the move, even leaning down a little so it'd be easier for me to shout into his ear.

"I'm gonna run to the restroom!" I called, still barely able to be heard over the noise. I leaned back and Flynn nodded at me, shooting me one more grin before I turned and headed off through the crowd.

I ducked past all the drunk patrons, and luckily for me, found no line at the bathroom. I paused at the sinks before heading back into the fray to splash some cold water under my eyes, waking me up a little and removing any misbehaving mascara. Then I sighed, gave myself a giant smile in the mirror, and headed for the door back to the rest of the club.

When I stepped into the hallway, to my surprise, I found Flynn standing a few feet from me. He smiled when he caught sight of me, and I came to a stop just in front of him, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the wall.

"What are you doing?" I called over the pounding music still coming from the dancefloor. Flynn's grin just widened and he pushed off the wall, moving to stand in front of me. He braced one arm on the wall over my head and leaned in, crowding me and bringing his face down to within inches of mine.

"What I've been wanting to do since we kicked Dec's ass at pool," he responded, his voice low and throaty, just loud enough to be heard over the music. His eyes darted to my lips, and then he was leaning in, intention clear.

My mind went blank as I stared back at him. He was one of the most handsome males I'd ever met, and I really did love talking to him and spending time with him. My heart raced at his proximity, and I'd never admit it to Bryce, but I wanted to kiss him, bad-

But then I thought better of it, as a group of female shifters passed us, staring and giggling into their hands. How many others had Flynn cornered in the hallway like this, for a physical release before he never called them again? How many females in this club had stood in the same place I did now, with the same male?

I pulled away at the last second, ducking under Flynn's arm to get some space from him. He whirled around to look at me with a frown, arms held out at his sides, clearly wondering what the hell I was doing. He took a step towards me and I took one back, which made him freeze on the spot.

"Sweetheart... what's wrong?" he asked, voice laced with confusion and concern. I wrapped my arms around myself and shook my head.

"I don't... I don't want this, Flynn. I don't want to make out with you in a dark club or hookup at the frat house. I don't care that you like to do that, it's your choice and you clearly enjoy it, but I don't. I don't want to be another fling or hookup or whatever before you move onto the next pretty thing that moves."

Flynn scowled. "What? That's not-"

"You've said yourself that you're not a relationship guy, Flynn. I've heard it a dozen times hanging out at the frat house. And that's okay. But I am a relationship person, and I care about you, a lot. Staying friends with you is more important to me than making out with you one time in a club hallway, only for you to turn around and grind with one of the shifters staring you down half an hour later."

Flynn's whole posture deflated, his expression dropping as he looked at me. I pursed my lips together and tried to give him a sympathetic look.

"Sorry, Flynn. I just... I really think this is for the best."

I didn't wait for a response before turning on my heel and heading back out to the dancefloor. I hadn't expected to care so much, but I could feel my heart threatening to shatter in my chest, and I wanted to get out of here before its resolve totally crumpled.

I reached our table to find my friends laughing and talking, Bryce mercifully on one end of the booth. I leaned in when I reached her, and her demeanor immediately became serious when she heard the tone of my voice.

"Hey, I think I'm gonna head home."

She pulled back and whirled around to look at me.

"What? Why?" Her eyes narrowed. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened. I just... I'm ready to go. You don't have to come, I just thought I should let you know."

She scoffed at me, turning away just long enough to scoop up her purse before standing with me.

"Let's go."

I shot her a grateful look, and she linked arms with me without a second look over her shoulder to the males at our table as we headed for the door. I didn't follow her lead, and when I looked back, I saw Flynn up against the wall again, some gorgeous female in front of him and leaning in with obvious intent in her eyes. That little piece of my heart I'd been trying to hold together finally splintered and broke away.

I hadn't wanted to talk about it, but Bryce managed to get the full story out of me before I went to bed. She looked thoughtful, and clearly had some opinions she wanted to share, but I was exhausted and hurting and didn't want to talk about it. Thankfully, that must've shown clearly enough on my face that she let it go.

At least, until I wandered into the kitchen the next morning.

"You look like shit," Bryce said in lieu of good morning, sliding a cup of coffee across the counter towards me. I narrowed my eyes at her, but took the coffee anyway.

"Thanks. That's about how I feel."

"So... do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay, then I will. Why are you pretending you don't have a thing for him?"

"Who said I was, Bryce? He's absolutely gorgeous and I love spending time with him. He's funny, and chaotic in a good way, and I love talking to him. He's become my best friend here, other than you. But I want to date him, not hookup with him. So there's no point talking about it."

"Are you sure he doesn't want to date you, though?"

I fixed her with a look that communicated clearly how stupid I thought that question was. She shot right back with a fierce look of her own.

"I'm just saying, I haven't seen him with anyone else since you two started hanging out. And he hasn't talked about the single lifestyle since then, either, or even joke-flirted with me."

I sighed and shook my head. "I saw him with somebody as we were leaving the club last night, after I officially shut him down."

Bryce just hummed, eyes narrowed in thought as she sipped her own mug of coffee. I didn't like one thing about that look, so I quickly picked up my mug and headed back to my bedroom.

"I'm getting dressed, and then I'm probably gonna head to the gym. I'll see you tonight!"

I shut the bedroom door behind me before Bryce had a chance to say anything, heaving a sigh of relief the minute it was closed.

I changed quickly, but waited to leave my room until I heard Bryce go into her own. I didn't want to be ambushed and forced into another talk, hence why I was going to the gym in the first place. It would be a good way to lose myself in my music, and to be distracted from feelings by the pain in the rest of my body.

I stayed at the gym for an hour, then took my time showering and getting dressed in the locker room. I stayed under the hot water for a lot longer than usual, trying to wash away the hurt feeling still curled in the center of my chest. It was my own fault, catching feelings for somebody who I knew didn't want a relationship. But that didn't make it any less terrible to try and recover.

When I finally left the gym, the sun was high in the sky, which gave me hope that Bryce might be at work when I got home. I knew I'd have to face her and that thoughtful look she'd had sooner or later, but my preference was later, and I wanted to do everything I could to push that conversation off.

Luckily, our apartment was empty when I pushed back through the door. I sighed, throwing on the first thing that looked good on the tv and heading to the kitchen to make myself some lunch. I'd just settled into the couch and taken the first bite of my sandwich when a knock on the door disturbed me.

Not many people could make it up to our apartment from the lobby, so I knew I couldn't ignore the knock. I set my sandwich down with a huff and crossed the room, not bothering to check the peephole before flinging the door open.

I immediately regretted my decision when I found Tristan Flynn standing before me, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. I frowned, glancing over his shoulder for any sign of the rest of the frat pack, but he was the only one in the hallway.

"Flynn, what- ACHOO!"

My head flung forward violently at the smell of the flowers in Flynn's hands, and I groaned as I straightened up on the other side of the sneezing fit. I looked up at him again, this time through slightly bleary eyes. He looked a little panicked.

"Fuck. Are you allergic to flowers? I told Ruhn it was a stupid idea-"

"Wait, did you bring those for me? Did Ruhn tell you to bring those for me?"

Flynn grimaced. "Yeah. It's a long- hold on."

He cut himself off when he noticed me scrunching my nose, trying to fend off another sneezing fit. He took a few steps back to a pot down the hallway, then with a wave of his hand and a little of his magic, he buried the bouquet in the dirt of the fern.

"Fertilizer," he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he returned to stand before me. "Sorry about that."

"That's okay..." I still sounded a little stuffy, but hopefully that would stop soon now that the flowers were out of nose-range. "What... what are you doing here?"

He sighed, staring at the ground for a few beats before abruptly looking up at me. His warm eyes met my own, and that little shard that had broken off last night dug itself in a little harder, almost making me wince in pain.

"I needed to talk to you. I... came to ask you out."

I laughed. When Flynn's face stayed just as grave and serious as it had been, more serious than I'd ever seen him look, I stopped laughing.

"Wait... are you serious?"

"Yeah, I am. Thanks for laughing, by the way."

"I'm sorry, I just, I don't know. Bringing flowers to my door to ask me on a date doesn't really seem like your thing."

"No shit. I almost killed you with those stupid flowers a minute ago." I cracked a smile again, and finally, a smile made its way onto Flynn's face too. He blew out a long breath, then shook his head. "Look, I know I'm not good at this. I've had a lot of practice and time to get good at other things, but... not this. But I don't want you to be a hookup. I've never had more fun in my life than whenever I spend time with you. You're funny and smart and gorgeous, and I haven't given a shit about other females since you sank that first shot in eye-to-eye. So I'm here to ask you on a real date. For... a real relationship."

His face scrunched up a little at the word, and my eyebrows shot into my hairline.

"You know people are usually excited when they talk about a relationship, right?"

"I am," he said, pinning me with the intense stare he normally reserved for Aux business. "This is just... new to me. I'm figuring it out. But I know that I want you, and no one else. I made fun of Quinlan and Athalar for being so sappy about all that 'dating your best friend' shit, but... having met you, it actually sounds kind of nice."

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, especially as Flynn fidgeted in front of me. I'd never seen him nervous like this, probably because he didn't usually fear rejection for meaningless make outs. But that thought brought another image to my mind.

"What about the female in the club last night?" I asked, trying to keep my tone neutral. I failed, emotion breaking through, but at least I'd tried.

Flynn raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"The one you were getting hot and heavy with when Bryce and I left," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. Flynn just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Please. She was drunk as hell and throwing herself at the first male she found attractive. Not that I would've minded before, but..." He rested one arm on the doorway above me, leaning into my space with a confident smirk that made my heart race. "Last night I had other things on my mind."

I fought and failed to keep a smile off my face, my gaze dropping from Flynn's. My heart raced at his words and his proximity, and I knew he could hear it. I expected him to rub it in, but instead, he let out a long breath.

"Look, you shot me down last night, and I don't want to put pressure on you and ruin our friendship or whatever. So it's not an issue if you say no, alright? But if you give me a chance..." I looked up, just in time to see that insufferable smirk on his face. "I plan to make the most of it."

This time, I didn't bother fighting the smile as it spread across my face. I rested a hand on Flynn's shoulder and leaned in closer, until I could place a soft kiss on his cheek. His hand immediately dropped from the doorframe to my waist, pulling me tight against him, but I just smirked and leaned back.

"I'm up for a date, Flynn. What did you have in mind?"

He practically growled as his eyes roved my face, down the rest of me, and back up to meet my eyes. More than a small part of my brain wanted to take advantage of the empty apartment behind me, but the rest of me won out. I wasn't about to make it that easy on him.

"I was thinking dinner. Drinks. And then... whatever else we feel like doing, after that."

Everything about Flynn's tone and body language made it clear exactly what he had in mind for "after that". I smiled, leaning into him a little further, bringing one hand up to run it through his hair. Flynn's eyelids fluttered.

"That sounds like a great plan, Flynn. What time do you want to pick me up?"

"Seven?"

"Perfect. I'll see you then."

With that, I slipped out of Flynn's grip, shooting him a wicked smirk and wave before shutting the door on him.

"What the fuck?" I heard him yell from outside. I just laughed.

"I've got things to do before our date tonight, Flynn!" I called back, knowing he could hear me just fine through the door with his fae hearing. "If you seriously waited a month, I think you can handle a couple more hours."

I could hear him grumbling on the other side of the door, but I just returned to the couch and my waiting sandwich. After a moment, he called out again, loud enough to still be heard.

"Fine! I'll see you tonight then, sweetheart. Get ready for the night of your life."

I didn't respond, not least of all because I didn't trust myself to. If Flynn was all in, then so was I. And I absolutely couldn't wait for our date tonight, from the dinner to the drinks to whatever might come after.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

[boochanz]

this is a bit late, about 9 months and 300 more followers late to be exact, but i didn't feel right ignoring the milestone and not extending my thank yous to every last person who helped me reach it ♡ i have been creating on tumblr since september 2022, and in that time i've taken 2 hiatuses that were about 5-7 months long each... and you guys stuck around in spite of that. i've always been shocked by the idea that my little part of tumblr was important enough for anyone to wait around for. for that, i thank you <3

how are we celebrating? my ask box is open: you have three options!

you can send me a make me choose prompt and i will create a gifset based on my choice (for example: black hair joshua or red hair joshua)?

you can send me an idol + era request (any idol except for the ones mentioned on my pin).

you can send a 'favorite' prompt (for example: my favorite bg music video?) and i will create a gifset based on it.

you are more than welcome to send the ask on anonymous; just keep an eye out for my answer! there is no limit on the amount of asks you can send, i only ask that you be patient with me! i have other things to do including a crazy baby to tend to ♡

now for me to get sappy: shout out to my beloved follow forever.

thank you to my longtime mutuals, including but not limited to: zaynab @hansjisung my very first mutual. @bandzboy my second mutual and the sweetest soul. @soonhoonsol who i love to see on the dash. @aceofvernons who is soooo normal. @seokmins who i miss dearly and was so kind to me when i first got here. and @wnjunhui , fellow huihui and occasional enabler of my delusions <3

and my lovely friends who i met last year. the jeongjan from twice loveclub, @ajusnice @kiimtaehyung @scouped @twiceland (and zay and mery again LOL) | i had the most fun with you guys last year when life was pretty tough. we shared the greatest laughs and the most ridiculous moments (sos is an english song?) and i am forever appreciative. my kpopcc family, too, including @lesseraive @pantropikos @taetheists @woozification and many, many more.

my newest mutuals, @taeraenomuyeppeo, @chwedout @minkwan @wonboos @bellamyblakru @jnwonwoos @fairyhaos and probably a shit ton more that i can't currently remember.

the people whose presence on this stupid site makes me so happy, @ashmp3 @taeiltual @seungkwan-s @leetaehwan @facethesuns @vcrnons @jeonsupershy @jeonwon-wonwoo @eoieopda @jeongtokkie @97-liners @dinotual @junmail @kimsmingyu and about a dozen others who i'll kick myself for forgetting later.

thank you for sticking around despite my inconsistency. you guys mean so much to me. even if we never talk, or talk very little, know and trust that i appreciate you and that you are so special to me.

[izpira-se-zlato]

Bootleg Hojan Merch

I know Nace shared part of the story in an interview a couple days ago, but I was planning on doing a write-up before I knew that, so here you go 😂 Also contains the continuation of the saga in Finland :D

Putting this under a cut because it's gonna be a bit of a read (plus a few more pictures). Yeah, I hope no one here is surprised that I suck at keeping things short 😂

So I have done a fair bit of clownery this year, and the most recent bit (before the shirt project) was attending two of the Polish gigs, Wrocław and Poznań.

I was wearing my Cha Cha Cha shirt to the Poznań gig, and when taking pictures with Bojan and Nace after the show, I opened my jacket so the shirt was visible. When stepping back after the pic, Nace spied the shirt and was kinda excited about seeing Käärijä merch – though he prefers the Häärijä merch, as he told us, because he's a "big fan" (his words, not mine).

So back at the hotel, I told @braveheart1418, "God, I'm so tempted to try to procure an actual Häärijä shirt. Tell me that's a stupid idea." Of course she did no such thing and so we looked into how much it would cost (too much) and how long it would take (too long), and so I was like, "bummer. And I'm not comfortable making bootleg official merch. Although, omg – it would be hilarious of we did Hojan merch!"

And the longer I thought about it, the more I fell in love with the idea. Again, I told friends, "tell me that would be a stupid idea," and again, they were filthy enablers, and so I started looking into the matter semi-seriously once I was back home (that was Wednesday the 22nd, so almost exactly a week before I left on a business trip leading into a stay at my parents' place leading into the gig).

The first thought was to get a big HOJAN in the Häärijä lettering on foil to iron onto a black shirt, though @braveheart1418 had commented that the design with a picture Häärijä on is much more memorable. That was a very valid point, except that there were no Hojan pics in suitable resolution that were in the right pose.

Thus, things I needed to solve:

get a plotter to cut out "Hojan" for the chest -> my mom said my cousin had a friend with a plotter. Contact was established

get a picture similar to the official merch of Hojan -> I reached out to Dean, who was absolutely lovely and set me up with a picture I could use

clip Hojan from the picture -> I had @submariini as well as another dear friend help me there because they are both much better at photoshop than me and were kind enough to offer their help, and decided to add the yellow border because the best picture Dean had sent me was black & white

get transfer paper -> easy: amazon (loathe as I am to use it)

find a copy shop to print Hojan for me -> tricky bc I got Inkjet-Printer transfer paper and most copy shops have laserjets, if they allow using your own paper at all -> I got laserjet transfer paper and once again had my cousin come to the rescue and helped me print it :D

find t-shirts in the right sizes -> I solved this by eyeballing and taking pics of my dad in the various sizes to check with @submariini. While nerve-wrecking, I am astonished just how well the sizing worked out in the end!

Despite the limited time (limited further by me getting sick Monday/Tuesday before my business trip), it all came together beautifully: I did a test-print Friday evening and picked up the foil cuts, went shirt shopping with my parents on Saturday (shout out to them for letting their adult kid drag them through three different clothes stores and especially to my dad for gamely trying on half a dozen shirts and waiting while I yelled at ed about which to take 😂), finished the test shirt (mine) that evening and adjusted the colours on the outline to be closer to the foil, printed three more copies of Hojan Sunday morning, and got them ready just in time for leaving for the gig!

Which was yet again nerve-wrecking because of the unprecedented amounts of snow happening in Bavaria, but it stood no chance against our determination!

Unfortunately, the snow situation meant that JO couldn't come out after the show, so I passed the shirt to Nace during it and received a pick in return, which made me bluescreen as I hadn't expected an exchange 😂 He put the shirt down without having looked at it, which was a bit unfortunate because I would have loved to have seen his reaction, but it was still a pretty cool moment.

They did get a lot of gifts this close to St. Nikolaus (which is also celebrated in Germany, or at least was in my youth), most of which they left on the stage for the crew to gather up, so I bluescreened even worse when Nace bee-lined over to me as they came back on stage for the SSOL-encore to thank me again for the shirt – others told me later he'd taken it backstage after Carpe Diem with him, which I'd missed 😅

After the show, I met @mogoce-nocoj and ended up talking to her for quite a while outside the venue because neither of us wanted to split off into different directions, and so it wasn't until we were on our way back to @braveheart1418's hotel room (finally accepting that we wouldn't manage to say goodbye quite so soon and might as well talk somewhere warm 😅) that I saw that Bojan had posted the story to his Instagram 😂. Let me just say that it was very fortunate we were still out-doors and not near normal flats, because I don't think I was quiet when I saw 😂

I actually ended up making four shirts including my trial one – one for Nace, one for Häärijä himself because it felt fitting, and one for @submariini because he's such a Häärijä fan :D

The latter two, I took with me to Rovaniemi (which was ed's fault, because (and I quote), "come to Rollo! It'll be fun!"), where a bunch of friends and I met up for a birthday party slash Käärijä gig (over 20 clowns in one place, it was amazing, 10/10 would do again (genuinely)). The weather and means of transport tried to keep us apart (train strikes and ice rains on my end, though I still had better luck than Joker Out), but we actually all made it and by now all made it back again, too :D

As I mentioned in a different post, I actually managed to hand over the shirt to Häärijä before the gig, and he told me he would wear it on stage, which he did! I also got a picture with him, ed, and me all in our shirts, which was also pretty great :D

So, yeah! The Process™ of project 1.

Thank you so so much to everyone who helped and encouraged me along the way -- my parents and my cousin, the gift to our fandom that is Dean Grainger (none of whom will hopefully ever read this specific post), @braveheart1418, @submariini, @alephai, my dearest friend K who's been an enabler for so so many shenanigans, and xia!bf for bearing with my insanity (both where the shirts are concerned and the general Käärijä/JO brainrot) and helping me make this project a reality 💛

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for repeatedly losing my temper at my kinda-friend? I (17F) have anger issues and I'm working on mitigating it, however, losing my temper always involves yelling and insulting people. Usually I think this is bad and apologize profusely when I lose control.

However, this kinda-friend (16F) who I'll call E, has absolutely no respect for other people's personal belongings, space, or time. She always grabs and plays with my things during class, or our mutual friend's items (16F), and as all three of us are artists, we carry around pretty expensive equipment. (Think Micron ink pens, Winsor & Newton paint, Derwent pencils, etc., just as reference. Thankfully no Copics lmao.)

The mutual friend will be referred to as J.

So, E has been told by both of us to stop taking our art supplies and playing with it, to the point where I'll yell sometimes, and she absolutely refuses to listen to us. She'll claim that she's forgotten what we've told her and put down the item just for her to pick it up again five seconds later. The problem is that she sometimes breaks these items or injures us - she'll play with my x-acto blade and cut me, or break J's graphite pencils, or push my watercolor palette off the desk. I've really tried to be patient about it, but it's proving to be difficult.

J is quite soft spoken, so I end up doing most of the reprimanding. E also brings up inappropriate topics that make J and I uncomfortable, as well as disturbing us when we're busy and then sulking when she doesn't get our immediate attention - once I told her three times to let me do my classwork before snapping, and E cried. She never does anything in school and hates all of our teachers, so she's pretty rude to them. All my work gets copied by her. She really annoys me, but I do feel terrible that I seem to lose control so often around E, since no one deserves to be yelled at.

However, this all came to a peak today when R (16M) and I won prizes for winning a mini-game and asking an interesting question during a seminar at school respectively; the gift was a black notebook that I didn't even like, which is an important tidbit to keep in mind. R left his gift still wrapped in his bag when he left the classroom for break time, so it was just J, E, and myself in there. Upon seeing what I had unwrapped, E went to R's bag and opened it - since all four of us are friends, we thought E was just being "jokingly" invasive as usual and were on alert, but didn't stop her.

J asked what she was doing and E said she was grabbing the gift out of R's bag. This caught my attention, so I asked why she was doing that. E told us that she wanted the book, and when J reminded her that the gift was, in fact, not hers, E said (and I wish I was kidding because this is replaying in my head in 4K HD right now like oh my god pls) "I know. It should be mine." Had she asked for my notebook, I would've given it up happily. I've got too many empty sketchbooks and notebooks at home.

I immediately stood up, but allowed J to handle the situation because I didn't trust myself not to react violently. J eventually lost her temper too and that's when I jumped in and started my yelling routine. I always feel bad whenever I do this, because it's not something I enjoy, but in this particular situation I just can't muster up the guilt? E is extremely irritating, but she tells us she has a horrible home life, so I try to be understanding. Except this was just completely intolerable. R even said that he'd predicted this would happen and to just give her the damn notebook - I vetoed that so we wouldn't enable E.

I really don't know if my reaction was overblown because I shouted a lot and said things like "you were given a brain - use it" and "you're a terrible person with no morals". It's ridiculous to say all that because it's (at the end of the day) high school drama, but I really can't understand why she acted that way. I don't know if I'm in the wrong in this situation. I wish she would listen when we tell her nicely not to do something, but even when I was blowing up at her, she was just smiling as if it was a joke. Should I apologize? I've apologized before when I lost my temper, but I have completely lost all will to be civil with her after this. The teachers are tired too - when she disappears from class or talks back, they just let her be. We can't really go to them because she'll feel betrayed and then get mad at us, which is a whole ordeal, because she's known to destroy and sabotage other people's items because of a grudge.

This is really lengthy. I apologize. I just feel terrible about the situation because I don't feel any guilt for my anger like I probably should. So, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[crumbazaar]

Mouthwashing (spoilers)

I've watched a few people play Mouthwashing, it's a really fun watch as the way the story unfolds you get to see all the different reactions to the characters. Shout out to FroggyLoch and AtlasAnarchy's playthroughs, Atlas especially nails the VA of the characters so well.

CW for sexual assault, self-harm, gore, drugging w/o consent, violence and lots of eye stuff.

I'm gonna just fire some shots at Curly in this post. I love the man, I think he has his heart in the right place, but goddamn does he have the worst taste in friends and he enables way too much. The game really benefits from a second playthrough or watch as you know what's going to happen. But seeing Anya pour her heart out to him only to have Curly respond that he can talk to Jimmy and fix things is gut wrenching.

Dragonbreath X kills 99.9% of germs, but what about that final 0.1%? When it's left to fester and do what it wants? I think that's in part what the game is about. Weirdly enough, none of the people who knew Jimmy was bad try to stop him but Anya. She tells their superior who she has the utmost belief in (Anya and Curly's interactions over the game are really sweet, he's the only character who treats her well, and she gets to express her joy and humour and inner self with him that you DO NOT get to see as Jimmy.) From her perspective, he lets her down and then crashes the ship. Maybe because he didn't want to deal with the consequences? Anya is very smart so I hope she figured out that Curly didn't do it, but it's very sad to think that she died thinking her revelation to Curly lead to him to take the actions that lead to the crew's demise. Instead of just reprimanding and confining Jimmy.

Swansea immediately dives back into alcoholism, his admitted most enjoyable time of his life, all while genuinely trying to stay safe, keep their wages and the remaining crew safe. I think he knew that things were fishy and did not believe that Curly did it. He never takes any action towards him. He even refers to Curly's orders as still being the prevailing ones over Jimmy, although he doesn't fight him much. When Anya tells him that she was abused by Jimmy, he doesn't take any action. Doesn't even tell Daisuke. It's only after Daisuke and Anya die due to Jimmy's behaviour that he finally attempts to kill him. Although with the way the narrative flows, it's not even clear that he did try to kill Jimmy. We "see" Swansea ends up attacking Jimmy in the cockpit where he seems to have the gun, and in the medical room, but in his final moments he's tied to a chair, says his last words and Jimmy executes him. It's possible Jim got the gun in medical, ran to the cockpit, sealed himself in and then shot Swansea when he breaks through the door. Either way it's too little too late.

The actual way to get the Tulpar crew out of this situation seems like it would've been LISTENING to Anya and then as a team restraining Jimmy, or locking him in a room, or in cryo until they got back from the job. Screw Curly's legacy as a perfect captain (not that Jimmy's actions really would've marred that as much as Jimmy says), screw Curly's friendship with the creep and screw trying to keep decorum or keep Daisuke innocent.

At least that's my takeaway, it's definitely an amazing story on its own. It does an incredible job of evoking an array of emotions and for me that makes it Art. But for me it's also a good moral for anyone with power and how it's important to be fair and just with it.

[gaystan]

PRESENTING ME AND @11x13kyle's FIRESIDE CHATS WITH KYLE AND ERIC AKA NICHE INTERNET MICROCELEBRITY AU:

cartman and kyle host a podcast called fireside chats with kyle and eric that’s basically just red scare, cartman is dasha and kyle is anna

they're constantly beefing with each other on twitter and some people are convinced it's staged to promote the show but kyle just hates cartman That Much

a majority of their listeners are just there for the occasional mention of their batshit childhood experiences amongst all the terrible political takes

like "umm i don't wanna hear this insane opinion on al gore i want to know more about how you guys swear that he tried to get you to help him kill manbearpig when you were 8"

fans wonder if these events are true or if they're enabling each other's schizophrenia

cartman is always saying the worst reactionary things while kyle's takes are deceptively normal until he hits them with one that makes listeners go hey WHAT?

kyle resents being called a reactionary but cartman LOVES it, wears the label like a badge of pride

there is CONSTANT discourse about whether or not cartman's antisemitism is ironic or not, with the reasoning "why would kyle be friends with him if it was genuine," and kyle regularly takes to twitter to say "IT IS NOT IRONIC."

kyle peaks the mic multiple times an ep yelling at cartman, says they'll edit it out in post, never gets cut because neither of them can edit

reddit posts go up are after every episode giving timestamp warnings for when kyle gets super loud

cartman has a christian music era, gets tradcath allegations and does little to discourage them

there are people who rpf ship kyman. cartman knows about this and tweets at fans asking them to send him fic recs

secretly jacks off to them

has a bit where he gives a shout out to his favorite kyman fic of the week and kyle breaks the mic every single time screaming at him

he posts unbelievably cringy "ironic" thirst traps to his instagram story at night and "ironic" drag pictures but the outfits and makeup are too good to be a joke

he also posts pictures of butters in bed with like bites on his neck to brag about getting hot tail but it's also just as unsexy

this is how he accidentally comes out, he was so distracted by the need to flex that he forgot he's still trying to beat the gay allegations

the "ironic" kyman fic jokes stop being funny

butters is adam friedland and kenny is the girl he cheated with

the butters show is cohosted with dougie and part of the alt right pipeline

stan is kyle's offline boyfriend in a B list rock band and wears fireside merch on stage sometimes

this includes the isis shirts which he swears up and down he didn't know were isis shirts

deeply apolitical by choice so whenever kyle talks to him about podcast stuff he nods along like whatever you say honey

he still listens to it he just tunes out of the political talk

the day his fans find out he's gay is the biggest day for them since his 2021 single hit the hot 100

everyone analyzing his old lyrics like oh my god. this was about a MAN. it all makes sense.

kenny is a twitter microceleb and socialite, much like with cartman controversy is part of the brand

gained thousands of followers over the butters cheating discourse

thirst tweets about kyle and they're secretly unironic

comes on fireside and rates youtubers he's slept with, kyle is disgusted and cartman is delighted

chapo trap house is craig and those guys

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

drabble list #12 w sungchan 😁😁

(you dont have to write the same plot its the hidden writer in me speaking but omg miscommunication trope angst to fluff where yn has an obvious crazy crush w sungchan like candace from phiness and ferb and everyone is like ooh youre crazy maybe stop sungchan wont like you or be like stacey and enable her behavior but gets jealous cause sungchan is being close w the next pretty girl in the neighborhood and have a breakdown cause hes [bye im gay so im used to writing mlm] insecure)

"No its okay you could continue hanging out with Winter (my bias sorry to my sister for using her name)" Yn sighs before saying under his breath "Silly me to assume you would care"

"Wait, Y/n" Sungchan shouted in disbelief "Who said I dont care about you?" Y/n just continued walking away until he felt two arms holding his waist tightly

"Y/n" Sungchan whispered centimeters away from his ear "When did I made you feel that I don't care about you?"

The miscommunication trope oh mannnnn such a good trope when done right so let's hope I do this justice! I'm always down to build on and collaborate with fellow fanfic writers any day!

12. "Silly of me to assume you would care"

[Choose a drabble and send me someone to write it on]

~

You never chalked yourself up to be the jealous kind. You'd been so nonchalant when past partners of yours would get close to others, but... no, nope, you're jealous now. You weren't exactly quiet about your crush on Sungchan, around him your lips were sealed shut but to everyone else? Insanity. It got to a point where your friends have basically divided into two factions, one telling you "for the love of god, ask him out!" and the other telling you "it's a bit much, (Y/N), do you really like him or do you like the idea of him?"

Obviously, you didn't know the answer.

It's just that you'd known Sungchan for so long. At one point, you made the mistake of calling him your best friend, and in that endeavor you drove that wedge between you both and you set yourself ten steps back because you didn't understand what love was. All those nights you'd stay at each other's house, those days you'd spend hours in each other's company, and those evenings where silence was just right between you both. And all of it came shattering down when she arrived.

The pretty girl from down the street, he called her. And, you had to admit, he was right. She was pretty. Too pretty. So pretty that Sungchan seemed to forget all about you when he said he'd be helping her adjust to the new neighborhood. And, sure, the first few days you didn't mind, that's just who he was, a kind person who wants to help out the new girl.

But, right now, every time she touched his arm and every time he'd laugh in her direction, for some reason, made your heart grow heavy. What was it that she said to you that one time you were together? It's nice that Sungchan has a friend like you? It almost made you laugh. You'd been pining for years, and Winter got his attention in seconds.

So, when you heard that laugh of hers again, you left. Quietly, of course, you didn't want to spoil the mood.

"(Y/N)!" You were already across the street when you heard Sungchan behind you. "Hey, come on, the party's still going!" He catches up to you easily.

"You go ahead and go back, I'm tired," you were on your front porch already when he stopped.

"You sure? I could stay with you," Sungchan offers. You look at him, then you shake your head.

"No, it's okay, you could continue hanging out with Winter," you sighed before saying under your breath, "silly me to assume you would care." You walked into your house now, but before you could shut the door, Sungchan walked in.

"Wait, (Y/N)!" Sungchan shouted in disbelief, "who said I don't care about you?" You just continued walking away until you felt two arms holding your waist tightly.

"(Y/N)," Sungchan whispered centimeters away from your ear, "when did I make you feel that I don't care about you?" You turned in his hold.

"Let go, Sung, I don't want to deal with this right now," you pushed away, and Sungchan closed the door behind him.

"(Y/N), let's talk about it, you've been off for a while now, and I'm worried about you, I care about you, you're the closest person to me!" Sungchan says.

"I... no, it's stupid," you shook your head.

"Don't say that! Everything you say matters to me!" Sungchan insists. "(Y/N), we've known each other this long, you really think I can't tell when you're upset? What's wrong?" He asks. You stood in silence. "I can't fix it, if I don't know what there is to fix."

"There's nothing to fix!" You shouted, your hands balling up into fists. You hit them lightly against the table. "It's fine, it's nothing."

"It doesn't sound like 'nothing,' (Y/N)," Sungchan takes a step toward you.

"It's fine! Just go to Winter already, she's waiting for you," you pointed toward the door and Sungchan's shoulders slumped.

"Winter... oh god, thank god, it's just Winter," he rests his hands on his knees and lets out a sigh of relief. And you felt your blood burn.

"What do you mean 'it's just Winter'?!" You shout.

"(Y/N)! Winter's a lesbian!" He shouts. You blinked, and he blinked too. And your hand rose to cover your mouth. You'd been jealous... of a lesbian. "She has a girlfriend!"

"Oh... my god... she's a lesbian," you shifted your weight onto one leg. "Now I feel stupid."

"Don't say that, (Y/N), you couldn't have known," Sungchan shakes his head. "Now, come on, let's head back, they're waiting for us," he opens his arms up and you sighed, walking into them just like you'd always had and holding him close. "Also... I know you have a crush on me."

"What?! Who told you?" Your voice fell into a whisper.

"Well, (Y/N), you're not exactly quiet about it," he says, "I was just waiting for you to tell me first, but... well, now seemed like a good time," he chuckles. "How about it then?"

"Why don't we ditch the party and go to lunch instead?"

"I can do that too," Sungchan grins. "But, let's agree to talk about things from now on instead of holding it inside, okay?"

"Okay!"

~

General Tag List: @stopeatread @bat-shark-repellant @raeincitizen @umbralhelwolf @yangsrose @kazooms @sadcoffeecritic 

NCT Tag List: @cherrylovr @minjiville

If you want to be added to either tag list or removed just send me a reply to this post, and ask, or a DM and I’ll add you as soon as possible!

[yaachtynoboat711]

Can We Talk?

A/N: Hey y’all! If I didn’t know any better, I’d suspect y’all really like Karis and Kevin, probably because we’re deprived of Kevin being happy on the show. School has been beating my ASS and had taken all bits of skill (writing included) from me. Hopefully, I can create more this summer! Anyways, I hope you all enjoy Karis and Kevin’s first date!!! Once again, shout out to @awerkofart for enabling this series! Love you 🥹.

Warning(s): Language, Drinking

Word Count: 2814

Like many other Milennials, one of the staples of Karis Brown’s social life was weekend brunch. Sunday Brunch, specifically, was for recapping the times of fun from the night before. However, this Sunday Brunch was no usual outing. It was a date with Coffee Bae, Kevin. He’d called her 20 minutes before to set it up and it was up to her to solidify an unforgettable second impression.

*buzz* *buzz* Incoming Group FaceTime Call from Sisterhood of the Traveling Scrubs

Loren and Jada were waiting on Karis to answer. “Heyy—oop! Hold on…,” Jada watched Karis as she propped her phone on a shelf, “…girl, what you got goin’?!” Loren brought her attention to the screen. Essence, Rose, and Rochelle all staggered into the group call, all shocked to see their friend searching for an outfit.

“Who you gettin’ cute for, bitch?,” Rose demanded. Everyone seconded her question.

Karis laughed to herself, “I never got a chance to bring it up, but I met a guy at Jahva on Friday. He asked me out for brunch, so I’m taking him up on his offer.”

“WHAAAAAT?!?!? Karis Zhanai Brown…going on a DATE?! He better be the finest man in the city,” Essence added, the girls agreed, “Does he have a name?”

“Kevin,” Karis replied fighting a cheesy grin. The girls had been Karis’s girls since med school orientation, but they still knew how to grind her gears. It didn’t make it any better that they were neighbors with key access to each other’s houses. They were going to be over there when Karis and Kevin returned from brunch. She was certain.

Karis paid her friends no mind as she changed into her sweatsuit. The girls threw out hypotheses and theories about this mythical Kevin. Little did they know, they were on mute as Karis tamed her coily hair into a half-up half-down style.

Karis finally unmuted herself as she laid her edges, “Y’all done?” Her friends looked to each other in silence, shocked that she’d just spoken after 5 minutes of unbridled chaos. “I just want to have a good time…for once. Let me just go to brunch and enjoy Kevin’s company. I appreciate the uproar around him, but let’s take this one moment at a time, aight?” Karis got up to pick out some shoes, “Sacai’s or Yeezy’s?”

Karis couldn’t remember the last time she’d been on a date. She couldn’t even remember going to a pleasurable business dinner. Studying and practicing medicine drained her of a social life and the opportunity to go on dates. Her family worked tirelessly for her to be the first doctor in the family, not be another wife. But this brunch date was different.

Karis sat in the car 10 minutes ahead of schedule, chest tight, and palms sweaty. Every social skill she possessed suddenly ceased to exist in this moment. She couldn’t even read the menu she’d just Googled. How amazing was the sight of the incomparable Dr. Karis Z. Brown herself—the surgeon that could do CABGs with one arm tied and repair carotids for breakfast—nearly hyperventilating at the thought of going to brunch with someone she met in her godparents’ coffee shop earlier in the week. “Get it together, mane,” she encouraged herself as she opened the car door to the slap of the sharp October Chicago wind at your face.

“What if she ghosts and makes me look like a fool?,” Kevin asked Kim as his leg bopped to the beat of the overhead music.

“Based on what you’ve told me about her, she doesn’t sound like the ghosting type. Besides, she’s 5 minutes early. Just breathe, Kev,” Adam instructed him over the phone. “Hey…,”he caught his attention, “…she might be as nervous as you are, if not more. The way you talked about her yesterday, it sounds impossible that she’d flake. Go enjoy yourself.”

Just as the call disconnected, the elevator door opened, revealing a nervous Karis looking down at her phone. Kevin’s face lit up as he saw her walk towards him in her khaki sweatsuit, brown fleece coat, matching chocolate Telfar, and Yeezy Foam Runners. She noticed his jeans, grey hoodie,navy flannel shirt, and wolf grey retro Jordan 12s.

The two embraced for the first time ever. She wasn’t certain of the cologne he wore, something with tobacco…maybe musk and leather… but whatever it was made her melt into his embrace. Lord, he smelled like a grown ass man.

After reluctantly pulling from his embrace, he offered Karis the seat in the booth. “A gentleman,” she complimented. The smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth spread to a full smile.

Karis got a corner glance at his shoes before he sat down, impressed at his shoe choice, “It could be my exhaustion, but are those the wolf grey 12’s?! They’ve been sold out here since I’ve moved here.”

His jaw dropped, “Girl, what you know ‘bout that?! Lemme find out you a sneaker head and a surgeon?!,” he remarked.

She threw her hands up, “Guilty as charged. It’s like the one thing that keeps me sane.” Karis felt her gapped smile betray her once again as she nervously fiddled with the gold necklaces around her neck. Kevin took notice; he was already entranced by her smile. He bit his lip, thinking of what to say next. The waiter coming to send the mimosa and water carafes gave him enough time to conjure something.

He looked at the caduceus and anatomical heart necklaces, “You always knew you wanted to be a heart surgeon?”

Karis glanced down at her heart necklace, shaking her head, “Nope. Wasn’t even in the cards until my med school rotations.”

Kevin’s eyes bucked open, “For real?!”

“I initially wanted to be a trauma surgeon or in sports med,” she admitted, filling both stemless flutes with passion fruit mimosas.

Kevin took a sip, noticing the potency of the drink, “So…shit that’s strong…what was that ‘a-ha’ moment?”

“My mom. She’d gotten sick from past trauma and I almost lost her. She had a cardiac tamponade—fluid from a sac in the heart fills the veins and blood and decreases oxygen flow, amongst other things. I wanted to help find a cause and solutions for her, so I went deep in my cardio books and found something. It saved her life.”

“I take it you and ya moms close?”

She pondered, “I’m her only child and there was a point that we were all we had. With everything we went through, we became trauma bonded.”

Kevin didn’t think he and Karis would have somewhat similar upbringings. His raising himself and later his siblings in Chicago and her being basically raised in Memphis by her mom before she met Karis’s stepdad. He had her figured out until they conversed.

It was easy to talk to each other. The conversations with one another felt familiar, as though they’d been friends for ages. With the aged feel of those conversations came the novelty of learning about one another. Karis quickly learned that Jordan and Vinessa—Kevin’s siblings—were the center of his universe. He showed her pictures of them, the smile on his face getting brighter the more he talked about them. In the same vain, Karis’s nieces and nephews (her step-sister Mary Margaret’s kids) were the lights of her life. Karis showed him the picture of her, Mary Evelyn, Luke, and Jacob at Jacob’s baptism. They were her “loaner kids” whenever she was back in Memphis.

Kevin’s gears began turning. He noticed how much Karis was active in church, based on the baptism picture and the mention of receiving Eucharist earlier this morning. He had to ask, “You Catholic?”

She huffed, “Close. Episcopalian. My mother is married to the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee. Charleta Duncan, the blackest of women, married the whitest man in all of Memphis, Patrick O’Doughtery Brown. Yet it somehow works,” she caught herself holding back a loud laugh. Kevin laughed with her.

Karis finally checked her phone, which revealed that an hour and a half had passed. Where did the time go? Karis also saw the group chat was abuzz for updates and her whereabouts. Loren and Essence were asking for Kevin’s Social Security number, while Jada asked for his dental records (ironic since she was a DDS) and most recent background check. Karis prayed an “I’m fine. Lemme have fun” reply would suffice.

The DJ had been playing 90s R&B all day. Banger after banger after banger, people found themselves dancing in between tables and singing their hearts out.

Then it happened. She heard the three piano chords and 808 beat of her favorite song, Can We Talk, and that was all she needed to hear. Karis dramatically dropped her phone on the table, hands high in the air as to submit to the beat of the song.

“Girl whatchu know bout this,” Kevin joked as he watched her dance in her seat.

She didn’t respond. Karis waited for the lyrics to start. As Tevin Campbell began to talk his shit, so, too, she began lip-syncing to the words. Kevin, also singing, scooted out of the booth. He reached out for her hand saying, “Let’s talk then, mamas.” Karis accepted his offer, sliding out of the booth.

“Lemme show you how to step,” he offered. He took her free hand into his. He began twirling heg around, while moving his feet front, back, front, side, side, left, and right. She did her own combination, surprising Kevin.

He twirled her away from him, “I thought surgeons couldn’t dance,” he pulled her back in close.

“You ain’t met one from Nawf Memphis with an uncle and aunt in Chicago, mane,” she retorted. The pair continued stepping, working in tandem with the rhythm. He maneuvered her away and close to him while still singing with her.

They sang the final bridge at the top of their lungs. Everyone else in the restaurant became a choir as they all sang aloud. As the song ended, Kevin escorted Karis back to the booth. Luckily for them, the waitress had finally appeared with their entrees. Kevin remarked about the fun he had and how ready he was to eat. Karis seconded.

As Kevin ate the sample of salmon and eggs she offered, she found the right moment to ask, “Y’know, you’ve asked a lot about me. I wanna know about you. If you don’t mind me asking, what do you do for a living?”

He choked on a piece of egg, “I’m a uh…business consultant,” he replied after gathering himself.

Her gut turned as he replied, “Is that your final answer?” He knew she knew something. Not quite that he was an undercover cop, but something.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“What’s your life goal?,” she asked without skipping a beat.

Kevin pondered, “Being a househusband.”

“You’re joking,” he wasn’t. There was a smirk held back, but he was about 45% serious.

“I mean, you’re a surgeon. Jackpot, right?,” he winked and licked his lips.

Karis re-adjusted herself, tilting her head before she spoke.

“To call yourself a househusband implies that we got married; to be married implies that we were betrothed; to be betrothed implies that were courted; to have courted implies that we went on other dates besides this one. Correct me if I’m wrong, Mr. Atwater, but it appears that you’re enjoying yourself and want to go on a another date?,” she observed as she downed her final mimosa, proud of her Sherlock-level deduction skills.

“Somethin’ like that. I do like being around you and I’d love to see you again,” Kevin offered her another bite of his chicken and red velvet waffles as he looked at her, clearly flustered at his charm and suave nature.

“I’d love a second date.”

He insisted on following her back home. He was concerned for her safety and wanted to see his date get in the house. He jogged to her door from his Hellcat, being sure she didn’t touch the handle. After the fight over the check (which she won), the least he could do was open Karis’s door. Karis usually went through the garage into the house; but since she had an audience in the foyer, it was her obligation to give them a show.

Karis led Kevin through the pathway in her front yard to the door. The rustled curtains confirmed Karis’s suspicion of nosy ass friends awaiting her arrival.

Kevin looked behind his date to see curtains rustling, “You must have someone over expecting you.”

Karis kicked the front door and adjacent wood panel, an attempt to shoo the girls away, “Oh, Kev, don’t pay they nosy asses no mind,” she said loud enough for them to hear inside. The two of you guffawed. The fact there were doctors listening to their friend’s conversation behind the door and foyer wall was so childish, yet comical. In the midst of the laughter, Kevin found her hands and held them between the two of them. Smooth fucker.

Once more, their eyes connected and simultaneously bit their lips, smitten with each other in the moment.

There was an obvious connection between the two love birds. For once, they mutually felt a sense of relief to be themselves. How is it that two strangers that met in a coffee shop by happenstance, were already so close after one brunch date? The romantic tension around them was nearly physical. It seemed as though they couldn’t be too far away from each other. Every once in a while, two people meet and in that initial meeting, it’s apparent to the Universe that they are meant for each other. They weren’t able to put their finger on it immediately, but this was Kevin & Karis. For once, they were able to enjoy someone’s company and immediately want to go somewhere else before their first date ended. They were destined.

“Karis, I really enjoyed you today. Seriously,” Kevin flashed a smile that made Karis’s feel an unfamiliar warm sensation radiate through her body.

“Same here, Kev. This was a breath of fresh air. We should do this again. Hopefully soon?”

He gently placed his large hand over her chin, peppering her lips with a meaningful, yet brief kiss, “Yeah. Real soon. I’ll holla atcha when I get to the crib?”

The sensation of his kiss, though temporary, weighed on her lips. She’d gone a hot minute without a kiss on the lips, yet his satisfied the long-ignored absence.

“Yeah,” was all Karis could muster.

He flashed one last wink before ducking into his Hellcat and driving off.

Karis couldn’t focus on getting your key into the door. Between the kiss, the cold, and the mimosas, she was literally stuck. After struggling to turn the key into the ever-moving lock, her friends were pushed out of the way by the 70+ year-old wooden door. Karis silently made her way to her usual spot on the L-shaped sofa. The girls filed into their usual seats in the den, all grinning with anticipation to ask about the date, parts seen and unseen. The minute Karis looked up, they all shrieked, startling her. “Don’t start allat bullshit, now,” Karis warned as she took her bra off, sighing in relief.

The warning went unanswered; the girls attacked their slightly buzzed friend with a group hug, to which she immediately swatted away.

“GIRL!,” Essence began, “He is FOINE AS HELL! Look at you!”

Loren added, “I gotta say, Kare, you did good. The fact I’ve never seen him before shows me that you’re real good. You gotta tell everything! I mean…ev-ver-ree-thang!”

Karis recalled what she could, from the call to the kiss. The whole time, she grinned, showing how smitten she was with Kevin. Seeing her elated made them happy. They knew the insecurity she had about being alone.

A few hours passed and everyone had returned home to get ready for work. Karis showered, did her nightly skincare routine, and prepped her work bag. Finally in bed, she turned to cut her bedside lamp off.

As if on cue, her phone buzzed. Kevin was trying to FaceTime.

“You must’ve seen me get in bed,” she jokingly answered.

Kevin chuckled, “Nah, just calling to let you know I got home 40 minutes ago. I had to help Vinessa with somethin’ and forgot to call you.”

“Oh really?,” she yawned, “Welp, I gotta be at Med at 4:45 a.m. for a surgery. Talk to you afterwards?”

“Sounds good, mamas, sounds good. Night.”

“Night, househusband-in-training,” she concluded, both laughing at her recall of their new inside joke.

Karis chuckled to herself as the sounds of crashing waves lulled her to sleep.

Kevin is going to be here a while.

DAAAAAAMNNNNNNNN! TAGLIST GOT ME PARKED IN DOWNTOWN AT-LANNUH 😭

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[peterpparkrr]

Hurry down the chimney tonight

peterpparkrr’s 12 days of holiday drabbles

6. Christmas party + Roy Kent

Summary: You’re the 2 sober people at the work Christmas party.

“You’re not drinking,” You comment as you wander over to where Roy Kent is leaning against the bar, his standard beer bottle noticeably absent from his hand, instead replaced by a water.

He grunts in response.

“Don’t tell me you’re pregnant,” You tease.

“You’re not drinking either,” Roy comments as he gestures down at the Ginger Ale in your own hand. “Something you want to tell me?”

You shrug as you smirk back at him.

“My niece tricked me into doing a dry December,” He tells you with a sigh.

“Isn’t it supposed to be dry January?” You ask as your brow furrows.

“Ask Pheobe,” Roy grumbles.

“I’ll have to.”

“You’re not actually pregnant are you?” Roy suddenly asks. 

“No,” You reply with a giggle. “I’m babysitting Keely and Rebecca. They just enable each other when they drink together so I'm trying to rein them in.”

“The owner and social media manager of the club being flight risks does not fill me with confidence about the organization,” Roy comment as he sees Rebecca and Keely shouting the words to “Santa Baby” at each other while laughing uncontrollably.

“But a coach who’s in the palm of his eight-year-old niece is normal?” You tease as you raise an eyebrow at him. While he just glares back at you you shake your head. “I’m kidding, I happen to think it’s adorable.”

“Team solicitor’s gotta watch out for liability,” You add. “And if I’m going to get messy I’ll do it when I’m not on the clock.”

“Good to know,” Roy replies.

“You know what?” You say. “I think Ted’s more than capable of making sure Rebecca and Keely get home safe, what do you say we go get a drink not in the same room as our bosses? I’ll even order you a Shirley Temple and pretend it’s for me.”

Roy glances at you but nods. “Sure.” 

“Can you get our coats? I’ll say our goodbyes and meet you at the door in 10,” You tell him as you glance around. “Ehh, fifteen since Ted’s had a few.”

Roy nodded again as you set off to say goodnight to your coworkers.

“Finally asked out the lovely lawyer did ya?” An unmistakable southern twang asks as Roy turns around to see Ted grinning at him.

“Ted,” Roy greets him.

“Beard’s gonna owe me five pounds, he didn’t think you’d do it before the holidays. Oh boy! I feel like the cat that’s caught the canary!” Ted hoots. 

“You bet a fiver on me asking her out?” Roy asks in disbelief.

“Hey! Don’t bite my head off. We’ve gotta do something to keep up staff morale,” Ted replies. “Will actually bet that she’d be the one to ask you out, feminism and all that,” He adds.

“She was the one who asked me,” Roy replies.

“Oh, rats!” 

“I don’t know that it’s a date, we’re just…”

“Two people, who are mutually attracted to each other, going to get a late night drink at a second, more private and romantic location even though neither of them are drinking tonight, right, right,” Ted rambles off.

“Ted,” Roy sighs.

“A lady asking you to get a drink is an invitation on a date,” Ted reiterates.

“Ted! Roy and I are about to head out, can you make sure Rebecca and Keely get home alright?”

“Of course! You two lovebirds have fun!” Ted replies before shooting off to find Coach Beard, leaving you and Roy standing there.

“Wow,” You mutter.

“Ted doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Roy grounds out as he turns to look at you.

“He doesn’t?” You ask in surprise. “Are we not… Isn’t getting a drink…?”

“Is it a date?” Roy asks.

“I was hoping it could be,” You admit with a half shrug of your shoulder. “Unless you’re not interested, then it can just be two friends. Or colleagues-”

“It’s a date,” Roy states as he places a hand on your back to lead you toward the door. “It’s definitely a date.”

[smilingformoney]

For the Love of Books, Chapter I. Hurricane Sinclair

Summary: Despite her indiscretion, Sinclair Bryant is trying to make it work with his wife Natalie, but things aren’t quite the way they were. Matters aren’t made any easier when Sinclair meets a pretty young bookseller, Betty Bennett, who has a way of making Sinclair look at his marriage in a whole new light.

AN: I now have three multi-chaps on the go and I can’t stop myself. However, this one is - gasp - not Snape although it is still an Alan character so we’re not too far out of character 😀 shout out to @snowblossomtumbles for always enabling my parasocial relationship with this old man ❤️

Warnings/content: spoilers for Close My Eyes (duh). The story takes place among the rich upper class of early 90s Britain and Betty is a black girl with a working-class background, so expect racism and classism later down the line. I am white, so if any black people want to correct me on anything, please do!

Read on Ao3 or below the cut:

Today was a good day.

Sinclair had eaten his favourite breakfast that morning, which always set him in a good mood - pancakes with a generous helping of syrup. His wife Natalie always said that much syrup would rot his teeth, but his teeth were in excellent condition, and besides, Natalie had left last night to go on a girls’ weekend with her friends, so Sinclair could have whatever he wanted for breakfast.

He got into the office with a sense of foreboding, knowing he had a difficult client meeting taking up his whole afternoon. But his mood was soon cheered when he discovered a memo from the receptionist that the meeting had been cancelled.

So Sinclair suddenly found his entire afternoon free. He had a lot of other projects to work on, of course, but he decided to celebrate his free afternoon by taking a longer lunch break.

The sun was shining outside, so he decided to go on a walk around town before stopping somewhere to eat. He turned into Cornelia Street, where some of his favourite shops and cafes were, and paused in surprise when he saw something new.

One of the units had been empty for the past three years, but there were definitely lights on inside and, as he approached the building, he saw the shadow of movement through a doorway. Someone new was moving in!

Curious, he tried the door, and to his joy, it was unlocked.

A bell dinged above the door as Sinclair entered the shop. It felt wrong of him to bypass the ‘closed’ sign, but it would feel more wrong if he didn’t poke his nose in and find out what kind of shop was to open here.

“We’re not open yet! There’s nowt on the shelf!” An irritated voice called from the back room. Just as the voice had said, the lines of shelves were set up across the little shop, but they were completely barren.

“Sorry, couldn’t help myself! I saw the place was opening again and had to look in,” Sinclair replied. “This unit’s been closed for three years. The last owner was a lovely guy called Samuel, he sold vinyl records, but nobody really buys them anymore, you see. I told him he should stock cassettes but he was a stubborn old thing, never really saw the appeal of them and when it came to closing up or moving forward, he decided to retire down to Cornwall. Or was it Devon? Anyway, I’m Sinclair, what’s your name?”

He said this entirely without seeing the new shopowner, who now appeared carrying a heavy-looking box and a frown.

“Elizabeth Bennett,” she replied without looking at him.

Sinclair’s eyes lit up. “Pride and Prejudice!” he announced excitedly.

“That’s the one.” With a grunt, she deposited the box by a shelf and turned towards him, finally giving him a chance to look at her.

She was young, maybe in her 20s, with dark skin and a mess of black hair. She was dressed rather casually in jeans and a white t-shirt, which hugged her figure nicely, and Sinclair quickly glanced back up to her face, not wanting to appear as a leering old man.

“Who are you when you’re at home, then, Sinclair?” she asked. “You from the local rag or something?”

“Oh, nobody, just a local!” he replied cheerily. “But I saw you were setting up and the old curiosity was piqued. What are you selling?”

“Books. Excuse me.”

She turned to go back into the storeroom, and Sinclair followed, excited. He loved books, they always had the most interesting facts and stories.

“What kind of books? Or is it all sorts? I love books, I have hundreds at home - I’ll bet you anything, you open any of those boxes, I’ve got something in there.”

“Won’t be needing my services then, will you?” Elizabeth replied as she bent down to pick up another box.

“Stop!” Sinclair exclaimed with some urgency. Elizabeth paused, then straightened and turned back to him with a frown as he crossed the space between them.

“What?”

“Don’t bend like that, you’ll hurt your back! You have to bend with your knees - here, let me show you.” He demonstrated by squatting, securing the box in his arms, then straightening up again. “See? Lift with your knees. It’s much better for your back. Here, I’ll help you!”

Before she could protest, Sinclair carried the box into the shop, set it down next to the other box, then returned to the back with a grin.

“See? Easy! With two of us, it’ll be done in no time and then you can tell me all about yourself and your new shop!”

“…Alright,” Elizabeth conceded.

True to Sinclair’s word, the boxes were indeed much easier to pick up with his method, and so the two of them set to work, carrying boxes back and forth while Sinclair told her why lifting with your knees was better for your body. Then, once he’d told her all he knew about that, he went into the history of the building and told her all sorts of stories about Samuel, the set-in-his-ways previous owner.

“Oh, look at that! We’re all done!”

Sinclair put his hands on his hips and looked around the empty storeroom proudly.

“Yeah, now I gotta put the books on the shelves, though.” Elizabeth sounded out of breath, and Sinclair looked around to see her leaning against the wall, wiping the sweat from her brow. He hardly felt like he’d exercised at all, but then again he did go for a run every morning, so he was quite fit.

“You know what you need after that? Lunch. Do you know the area? There’s a lovely little cafe across the street, they do the best sandwiches you can buy. David, the owner, is a friend of mine. His pork is absolutely to die for, you’ve got to try it. Come on!”

Without giving her much of a choice, Sinclair began to move towards the door.

“Oh - hang on, I’ve gotta lock up,” Elizabeth said. As she locked the back door, Sinclair rocked on his feet, looking around at the empty space, wondering how she was going to decorate it. He grinned when she returned from the back with key in hand and a purse over her shoulder.

“Madame,” he said formally, offering his hand to her with a flourish of a bow. Elizabeth just rolled her eyes and walked past him.

“Come on, Lord Sinclair, I’m hungry. You showing me this place or not?”

“Right!” Sinclair tried not to feel affronted that she hadn’t appreciated his little joke, but he followed her out and, once she’d locked the front door, led her across the street to the unassuming little eatery.

“It doesn’t look like much, but often the best places to eat are hidden gems. Watch out!”

She paused just in time to avoid stepping in dog poo. Sinclair turned his nose up at the sight.

“Disgusting. People who can’t clean up after their dogs shouldn’t be allowed them. Here we are!” He announced proudly as they arrived at the cafe. Elizabeth followed him in, and despite the slightly grubby exterior, the inside was pristine. Sinclair slid into a booth, Elizabeth sitting opposite him, and picked up the menu.

“I don’t know why I look at this thing, I always get the same,” Sinclair said. “I suppose it’s the illusion of choice. Now, I recommend the pork, like I said, but he does some great beef burgers too -“

“I’m vegetarian,” Elizabeth interrupted.

Sinclair frowned, then his face brightened. “That’s alright! Here, he does chicken burgers too - oh, no, wait, that’s meat. Er - what about the BLT? No, B stands for Bacon. Erm -“

He frowned, clearly confused.

“If you’re just gonna get the same thing as always, can I have the menu? I’ll find something myself,” Elizabeth said.

“Right! Good idea!” Sinclair agreed and passed her the menu. “Here you go. He does salads, of course, but I bet you always have to have the salad. There is meat in a lot of things, aren’t there? I never really thought about it, but I suppose it must be hard to eat out if you’re a vegetarian. I couldn’t do it myself, I love chicken too much, but I think it’s great if you can do it. Oh, there’s David! Hello, David!”

Sinclair waved at the man who had just emerged from the kitchen and was talking to the waitress. David nodded to Sinclair, then resumed his conversation.

“You know a lot of people around here,” Elizabeth noted. “Did you barge in here a week before it opened too?”

Sinclair laughed, clearly not having noticed the sly remark. “Oh, no, this place has been here forever! It first opened in 1976 when David came over from Poland. He couldn’t speak a word of English then, you know, and now he’s hardly got an accent at all!”

The waiter appeared at their side.

“Hello, Mike!” Sinclair greeted him cheerily. “Usual for me, pork and mustard sandwich and a Diet Coke. What’ll you have, Elizabeth?”

“Halloumi burger, please, and a Coke.”

“Oh, no, you shouldn’t drink regular Coke! It’s full of sugar. Diet Coke is much better for you.”

“It’s all rubbish, isn’t it?” Elizabeth retorted. “Regular Coke for me.”

“No problem, love,” said Mike the waiter, leaving Sinclair and Elizabeth alone.

“I prefer Betty, by the way,” she said quickly, before Sinclair could start talking again. “Elizabeth is what my parents would call me when I was in trouble. Plus it makes the whole Pride and Prejudice thing less obvious.”

“Betty Bennett! I love that!” Sinclair grinned. “Alright, I’ll call you Betty. So do you live around here, Betty? I’ve not seen you before.”

“Do you expect to know the face of everyone in town?”

“Well, no, but I think I would have noticed someone like you.”

Betty raised an eyebrow. “Someone like me?”

Sinclair’s eyes widened with alarm. “Oh, not because you’re black!” he insisted genuinely. “I just meant - well, you’re very… um… pretty. I was - ah, I was trying to compliment you. Sorry. That came out wrong.” He winced, cringing at himself. “Sorry. My wife says I don’t think before I speak. Suppose she’s right.”

Betty felt her heart skip a beat at pretty, then drop at wife.

What the hell?

“Right. Well… thanks, I guess. I did kind of jump to a conclusion there.”

The waiter arrived with their cokes, diffusing the tension slightly as they both sipped on their drinks.

“Yes, I live around here,” Betty said, choosing to act as if nothing had happened since he’d asked the question. “Though I just moved in so you wouldn’t have seen me before. The previous owner you mentioned, Samuel - he was my grandfather. He passed recently and left the shop and the flat above it to me, so I decided to use it. And yes, you’re right, he was very stuck in his ways. Loved his vinyl to the end - Mum’s still clearing them all out.”

Sinclair listened, nodding, with rapt attention as if even the smallest snippet of Betty’s life was the most interesting thing in the world to him.

“What about you?” she asked. “You’re clearly familiar with the area, do you live here?”

“Not in town itself, I live a bit further out into the country, but this is where my office is so I’m here a lot. Do you like cars? I adore vintage cars, they’re very interesting, but obviously I can’t drive one every day so I just drive an Accord for commuting, then on the weekends I’ll take one of my others out for a drive. What car do you drive?”

“I don’t.”

Sinclair frowned, as if she had just spoken French.

“What do you mean, you don’t?”

“I mean I don’t drive. I never learned.”

Sinclair gasped.

“How come?!”

“Never needed to,” Betty said with a shrug, not realising she’d basically just told him she lived a life of sin. “I’ve always lived in towns and cities, I just get the bus or a train. Plus driving lessons can be expensive…”

“Not when they’re free!”

Betty frowned, not quite understanding what he was saying. “Well, of course they wouldn’t be expensive if they were free. But who gives out free driving lessons?”

“Me!” Sinclair said proudly, pointing at himself for emphasis.

“That’s a terrible business model. What do you get in return?”

“Hmm, alright. How about I teach you to drive and you… let me cook you dinner after!”

“That’s - that’s still you giving me two things.”

“Not when I enjoy both of them!”

Betty smiled and shook her head. “Tell you what. I’ll give you a free book every week if you teach me to drive.”

Sinclair’s eyes lit up at the prospect. Not only more books, but free! And all in exchange for spending time with Betty, whose company he was enjoying very much, and whose eyes he was very glad were pretty, because they distracted him from looking down at her flattering top.

“It’s a deal!” he announced. “Pleasure doing business with you, Miss Bennett.”

“And with you, Mister…”

“Bryant.”

“Mr Bryant.”

Betty stuck her hand out across the table and he took it with a laugh, giving her a firm handshake.

“The deal is struck! Driving lessons for books. And dinner. Speaking of which, here’s lunch!”

Their food had arrived, and for once Sinclair stopped talking as he savoured the delicious sandwich, and the silence gave Betty space to think for once. What on earth had happened? How was she sitting here in a cafe eating lunch with a complete stranger? She’d just been unloading her stock when he literally barged in like a hurricane, moved her boxes for her, then whisked her off for lunch. And now he wanted to teach her to drive, and cook her dinner, all before telling her his last name.

Betty wasn’t used to this. She was the very epitome of the nerdy, bookish girl. She didn’t particularly look the part, because she didn’t wear big round glasses and baggy jumpers with her hair in a messy bun. She wasn’t a plain brunette white girl who turned suddenly hot when she took her hair down and removed her glasses. No, she was a black girl with wild, bushy hair that stuck out at all angles and refused to co-operate. Putting her hair down took a lot of time and effort with the straighteners. And she’d never needed glasses, which was surprising considering how much eye strain she must have suffered from all the books she read.

But looks aside, she certainly acted the part. She was shy, quiet, reserved. Very bad at making friends. She just didn’t know how to talk to people; they always thought she was rude, although she didn’t mean to be. But this Sinclair guy - he didn’t seem to know how to shut up, so she didn’t need to talk much anyway. And he spoke with such excitement about everything, she felt herself getting excited about it too. It was infectious.

She knew what her Mum would say. Don’t talk to strange white men, Elizabeth. Don’t let them know where you live. Don’t spend time alone with them. Don’t live, more like. How on earth was she supposed to build any kind of life for herself in Oxford, the whitest of white cities, without talking to any white men?

Sinclair finished his sandwich with a satisfied moan, then licked his fingers clean of mustard before wiping his hands.

“Delicious as always. My compliments to the chef!” he called over to David. He turned his attention back to Betty and said, “So when would you like your first lesson? I’m free all day.”

“Oh - today?” Betty repeated, surprised that he was offering so soon.

“Are you busy?” Sinclair asked with disappointment, looking a little like a downtrodden puppy.

“No. Well, I have to unpack the books, but I can do that any time. I just…” She twisted the napkin between her fingers. “I wasn’t expecting to take a driving lesson today.”

“I bet you weren’t expecting to have the most delicious halloumi burger of your life today either!”

“Can we do tomorrow? I’d really like to unpack the books.”

Sinclair nodded, understanding. He loved last-minute surprises, but not everybody did. If Natalie were home and he came back from anything other than work on a day he said he’d be coming straight home from work, he’d get the cold shoulder the rest of the night.

“Okay, but you’re not getting out of it!” Sinclair warned teasingly, wagging a finger. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out two business cards and a pen, then handed them all to Betty.

“One to keep, one to write your number on,” he explained.

Betty looked down at the two identical business cards, which looked very posh with his name embossed: Sinclair Bryant, Associate Executive.

It made him seem very important, although Betty wasn’t sure exactly what an Associate Executive was supposed to be, but it must be something important for him to carry around business cards.

She wrote her number on the back of one of the cards and handed it back to Sinclair. He looked at it, grinned, and tucked it back into his pocket.

“Well, I’d better get back to the office, I’ve already taken a two-hour lunch! I’ll call you when I finish and we can arrange your first lesson.”

He stood up, and Betty realised they were leaving. She reached for her purse, but Sinclair was already on his way to the bar to pass a bank note to Mike the waiter.

Betty glanced back down at the menu. No way was their total anywhere near £20! It was closer to ten, but when Sinclair passed a twenty to Mike, he waved his hand to reject the change.

“Thanks, guys. See you soon!”

He waved goodbye, then Betty quickly followed him outside. She thought they’d part ways there, but he insisted on walking her over the road, and she wasn’t sure if she felt affronted or flattered.

“Well, this is me,” she said as they arrived at the shop door. “Thanks for lunch. How much do I owe you?”

Sinclair shook his head. “Don’t be silly, it’s my treat. Tomorrow, yes?”

“Yes. Tomorrow.”

Then Sinclair did something very strange. He took her hand in his, lifted it to his lips, and kissed it. He smiled at her, then turned to walk back to his office, leaving a very stunned Betty behind.

What the hell had just happened?

[qapsiel]

Positivity anon here! Could I ask you to shout out to your five fave blogs? Just to make someone smile today and let them know you love their blog! Maybe even say a little about why!

I'm more than happy to spread positivity and love, and I'll totally ignore the audacity to only give me 5 blogs and just do more hehe

I'm gonna start with @ruinedmyself because Kas was one of the first people to talk to me when I ventured into the spn fandom, and they've done nothing but make me feel incredibly welcomed <3 I love our silly little chats and also the pain we inflict on each other regularly. We really do share one (1) braincell, and I wouldn't want it any other way. You've got such a fantastic grip on Sam, on his badass-ery but also his softer and goofier side, and I scream excitedly whenever I see I got a reply from you!

No Sam without Dean, obviously, so I gotta yell about @bloodsalted a bit. Dixon is an extremely friendly person, and I'm still glad I managed to sweet-talk force you into joining me in hell. Or heaven, I suppose, is the better word, because our interactions are truly GREAT. Whether it's sexy times or angsty shit, every reply is magnificent and makes me giggle. You write Dean in all facets that make his character so lovable: his fears and passions and his silly times and also his anger. I love him to pieces!

Who doesn't love the king of hell? Cas, probably, but I adore every interaction with @murderdeals because it enables me to use all the pissed-off Cas icons. When you write Crowley, I can hear Mark yell into my ear. And honestly, I would have never guessed that Cas and Cain could become such good buddies, and yet they somehow ended up being the bestest bee bros, and that's largely due to your fantastic writing and your excellent grip on a character that can easily be branded the villain without second-guessing.

@singersalvaged should always be included in my rant about lovable people because she's just so chill to talk to! A truly great person who has an amazing view of Bobby Singer and writes him in a way that makes me believe the guy is standing behind me muttering idjit whenever I read a reply. And Allie! Let me gush about Allie, who's Cas' weed friend and brothel companion, and every single interaction just makes me howl with laughter. They're absolutely unhinged and dumb, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

While Crowley makes Cas want to eat glass, @eyeless-smiles makes him want to tear his own ears off because Corinth is such a fucking asshole (affectionate), a True Nightmare, and I love seeing him annoy Cas in every single paragraph. It's just hilarious, and they never hold their muse back, which is refreshing these days!

Cas loves to steal kids (just look at Jack), so it didn't take long for him to steal @innerwar 's Homelander when he was still a child with Vought. And honestly, I just adore this verse and you, friend? It's so funny and yet also sad, and I'm just so unbelievably happy that Homie gets a better life with this and that Cas gets to be a Dad again, and your writing is just SO FANTASTIC and catches Homelander's young voice brilliantly. 

I gotta yell about @nightmdic really loudly for a second because she is a FREAKING MAGNIFICENT OC and both Cas and I love her to pieces. She's kind and nice and helps Cas through his forced humanity without finding him (too) weird, and Paige just casually managed to write one of my favorite OCs here on Tumblr with her eye for detail and well-chosen words 

And last but not least, a big shoutout to @bleakfated who writes a lot of different spn muses (among others) and yet manages to hit that nail (= the voice of every single muse) square on the head every time! I hear Balthazar's funny-ironic voice when I write with him, I see Jody being Mom when I interact with her, I get the British Mick Vibes when it's his time to shine. I'm in awe of how someone manages to juggle so many muses and give everyone their own little voice. Kudos!

[vodika-vibes]

Fives makes a Friend

That's a horrible title, but I'll work on it.

Star Wars AU - Fives discovers secrets about the Chancillor, and learns about a conspiracy involving the clones, and is on the run on Coruscant. He makes a friend, and things take a step to the side.

This is going to be kind of short. My brain is on vacation mode.

Tagging: @starrrgazingbunny since you enabled me

"Come on, Cal!" Spark flung his arm over Cal's shoulder and allowed his artfully tousled purple hair to fall into her face, "You have to admit, it's kinda hilarious."

"Sure," She rolled her eyes and shoved him away from her, "Until my dads find out that I've gone completely off the rails and they sent me to a convent."

Spark waved his hand, "You're 20, Cal. They can't force you to do anything." He grinned at her, "What would they be angrier about? Dropping out, dying your hair? The face tattoo? Or the fact that you share a house with 9 other people?"

"Uh, all of it." Cal joked.

His grin widened, "At least you're finally going to school for something you like. Though, it's ironic that you're paying for school with your piano lessons."

"It's great, isn't it?" Cal asked as she turned a corner, only for her to let out a pained gasp as someone tall slammed into her and knocked her against the wall.

"Hey, watch it Jedi!" Spark shouted at the retreating back, before he made sure Cal was alright, "ugh, jackass. Does he think he's the only person walking out here? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, my bag bore the brunt of that." She admitted, "wonder what has his panties all twisted."

Spark wasn't looking at her anymore, he pointed across the street, at a warehouse, where a man wearing prisoner garb was skulking around.

Cal and Spark shared a look, and they had a whole conversation without saying a single word.

She darted scross the street and slipped through the main door, and she knew that Spark was going to go around back to keep anyone from sneaking up on this.

This was a terrible idea. It was a great idea.

A small grin crossed her face as she approached the man sitting on the ground. She would have to be careful, to not spook him.

"You know, you'd have an easier time ditching the cops without the prison gear." She teased lightly.

*********

Fives was in deep shit. He knew it. His brothers probably knew it. Hells, Jango Fett, himself, probably knew it.

He hadn't meant to stumble on this powder keg. A powder keg that would see him and his brothers turned into weapons. A powder keg that was puppeteered by the Chancellor of the Fucking Republic himself.

Right. Calm thoughts.

He hadn't been captured. Yet.

He just needed to think of someone, anyone, who would help him get to the Jedi. The Jedi would help. They had to.

He jerked when he heard the unexpected voice, he thought that he was alone. "You know, you'd have an easier time ditching the cops without the prison gear." Her voice was light and teasing, but Fives just felt sick.

He lifted his head.

Legs, long tanned legs, clad in knee-high leather boots. A mini skirt. A tight leather jacket. Bubble gum pink hair framing a face with deep purple eyes and bright red lips.

Fives mind went blank.

"Holy shit, you're gorgeous." He breathed out.

She blinked at him, startled, and then she laughed. "Well, thank you." She sank to her knees, and regarded him, amusedly, "So, why are you hiding from the cops?"

"I've been accused of trying to assassinate the chancellor."

"Did you?" She sounded remarkable unbothered by that confession.

"No! I just..." Fives trailed off, and he stared at her. Beggers couldn't be choosers. Not in this situation. "I discovered something. Palpatine is behind the whole war, he's behind everything."

Her back straightened, "Can you prove it?"

Fives reached up and tapped his temple, "I, we, my brothers and I, have the proof in our heads. Chips. Designed to make us do what he wants."

It sounded crazy. It was crazy. But every word was the truth. He just hoped she believed him.

She stared at him, and then she slowly nodded, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay." She agreed, and then she turned her head, "Oi, Spark!"

"I'm here. I heard him, Cal," Spark was a young man, older than Cal, with long vibrant purple hair and piercings all over his face. He had a wide grin on his face, "What's your name, mate?"

"Fives."

"Alright Fives," Spark grinned, "I need to make some phone calls." He tossed his bag to Cal, "He should fit into some of my clothes. Get him settled, Cal." He then walked away, pulling his comm out as he did so.

Cal grinned at him, and lightly tugged him to his feet, "Spark always keeps spare clothes on him, just incase he gets paint on his normal clothes," She explained as she tugged him behind several crates that would allow him to have some privacy.

She handed him a tank top and some torn jeans, as well as a paint of heavily paint stained boots, "Is Spark a painter?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you've seen his work around Coruscant." Cal moved to give him some privacy, and Fives was grateful for it as he pulled off the scratchy red prison uniform, and pulled on the, slightly too tight, clothes that Spark was letting him borrow.

"I don't generally get to go to art galleries," Fives said drily, grateful for the banter.

"Sure, neither do we." Cal said with a laugh, "Spark does graffiti."

"...So he's a criminal."

"Hm. Says the man currently being hunting for attempted assassination?" Cal countered.

"Point taken." Fives pulled the boots on, and stepped out from behind the crates, "So, how do I look?"

Cal dragged her gaze down Fives slowly enough that he felt a surge of pleasure. He would definitely be taking advantage of her obvious approval of his appearance if he got out of this situation alive, "Hm. You look great." She finally said, "I definitely approve."

Fives grinned, "I can tell," He flirted lightly, and he was delighted to see her grin at him.

"Come on, handsome. I think the others are here."

Others? Just how many people did Spark call?

Fives followed Cal back towards the front of the warehouse, and his steps faltered. Men and women of all ages and races, hair colors and skin tones of all sorts. He was pretty he caught a glimpse of a twi'lek with rainbow painted skin-

"Who are all of these people?" Fives asked, turning his attention to Cal, who was waving at another person with hair the same shade of pink as hers.

"They're friends, Fives." She promised.

Fives stared at her, and then at the crowd, who was listening to Spark speak about his situation, and he felt a surge of hope.

*******

Mace Windu had been nursing a migraine for the majority of the day. And that was before word got out that a clone had tried to assassinate the Chancellor.

Like, he didn't blame him for it. If he did it. Palpatine deserved a little assassination attempt every now and then. Wait. No. He wasn't supposed to think stuff like that.

Calm thoughts, Mace. Calm.

He exhaled slowly, and focused his thoughts. Right. Migraine. He knew that it was caused by a massive shatterpoint that had been building earlier, and then just vanished.

But now he was willing to blame Palpatine for his migraine. Fucking old man.

So he was already in a sour mood when he decided to go for a walk to get some fresh air.

And then the news came in about a riot several streets over from the Jedi temple. Speeders getting flipped over. Arson. Windows being broken.

Surely the Guard would handle it. Surely it wouldn't become his problem.

Famous last words.

He stared. And stared a little more at the array of young adults, wearing leather and ripped clothing. With tattoos and loud make-up and even louder hair (if they had it). And there, in the middle, was a single clone.

A single clone holding the hand of a young woman with bubblegum pink hair and with skulls on her shirt.

A young woman who lifted her chin and looked him in the eye, and said, "You're going to listen to us."

She was ballsy. He liked her.

And then the Clone, Fives, stepped forward and told his story. He was worried, and was tightly gripping the sassy young woman's hand, as thought for support.

But Mace listened. And he asked questions.

And, as his blood ran cold, he called an emergency council meeting.

And then he looked at the colorful young adults, who were looking at him as though he were a threat to Fives, as though he were an enemy, and he smiled. He walked over to the pink girl, and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I am personally going to keep Fives safe," He promised. And then he looked around the group, and his grin became sharp, "Three floors down, there is a room filled to the brim with various weapons that a Jedi has no need for. The passcode to the room is 56729." He said calmly, "I need you to make as much trouble for the Chancellor as possible."

There was silence for a moment, and then the young adults grinned.

"We can do that." The pink girl said, her smile sharp enough to cut metal, "I'll be back later Fives."

Fives just grinned at her, "Be careful for civilians, Cal."

"No shit, handsome."

Mace watched as the hoard of chaotic young adults clamored to the lift. And he watched them vanish from sight.

Mace Windu had a migraine. His migraine was all Palpatine's fault.

He was going to enjoy this.

[sanguinesorcery]

@}~ Shout-Outs ~{@ and such

An expansion to this post from earlier, since I was at work when I reblogged it and I loathe writing on mobile Tumblr, app or not. So! Because I reblogged that from the source, I chose a small handful of partners I've kept in relative contact with or who have influenced me greatly while being here thus far to absolutely annoy gush over. So here we go!

@uramii || @red-man-of-mustache

Pasta! You're one of my favorite people here! Not only were you instrumental in my developing this whole lore for Tumblr consumption years ago, you've done nothing but show me kindness and indulged my dumbest ideas. It means a lot to me we've been friends all these years, even with that one period of absence, and it means more that after that you'd still welcome me back and continue to enable me in the best ways of course. I probably would not have found the drive to come back if it wasn't for your influences. I'm forever obsessed with our story together and I can't wait for it to develop more. We've always meshed super well, I think, and our writing styles have always bounced off one another incredibly easily. I continue to look forward to our future roleplay partnership and friendship together!

@dragmirc

Bunyip! Fifteen years is a long time, buddy. How have you put up with me this long! Most people would have ducked out by now but you've not only stuck around, but kept the most upbeat attitude I've met in a person. I probably wouldn't be here on this blog if it wasn't for you to begin with. You held my hand and told me to keep going when everything crashed and I felt like it was all for naught, and this whole thing was going to never see the light of day again. Thank you for pushing, and thank you for being supportive in all the other ways I needed. I'm super happy to have been the enabler for once, and it's been an absolute joy to watch you finally feel like you can stretch and work out your own ideas and interpretations without restraint. I'm always looking forward to our interactions, even with your weird schedules, and our bantering shortforms have me in absolute fits, no matter how long or short they are. It's also really nice to have another geologist nerd I can scream at, I hope your current dirt analysis is going well. 'lil golden shit' still lives rent free in my head, thanks for that.

@obraveyouth

Rinni! I have known you for about as long as it takes me to finish a bag of chips. Which is actually about a month. It's a really big bag of chips, okay. But, I feel like we've already been friends for so much longer than that! To find out we have a lot of the same tastes in a lot of things makes everything super fun, and I love that you are always asking me things to vomit details on you like the doofus I actually am. It really helps me keep my lore-weaving up to date and I'm always happy to see your interest in it and its deeper dealings. I know we've only just started interacting, but it's always such a delight to see what you have developed, and I love your personal interpretations! They add a flavor that makes your Link truly unique and super fun to read and write against. I can't wait to keep writing with you!

@askganondorftobadragmire

Lightning! We always said worldbuilders just find each other. And that is super true in our case, isn't it! I absolutely love what you've done with the world of your AU, it's been a delight to learn and understand all the neat little details you toil over. The fact that you were super nice right out of the gate sold me to wanting to keep talking to you, and I'm happy I did! I know we don't talk a whole lot outside of casually projectiling details back and forth, but I'm always happy with our pokings regardless, it makes me happy to see you around. I'm having an absolute blast mashing our worlds together. They fit in so nicely, it's like puzzle pieces falling into place. It's super fun bouncing ideas around and what little is actually planned, I'm excited for! It's great fun to tell a story with you, and I'm looking forward to our future shenanigans for sure.

[pure-garbage]

Baffling Directions! Escalating Search For The Lost Lockbreaker

Chapter Warnings: Violence, Language

"It just doesn't make any sense," Zoro grumbled. He glowered down at the weakly fluttering scrap of paper in his palm as it changed direction yet again, this time more drastically than ever.

"... and clutch!"

Cracks and pops filled the hall as Robin dealt decisively with a group of centaur patrolmen, enabling Zoro to focus the entirety of his attention on Lana's vivre card.

"She stole the rokushiki shave technique, didn't she?" Robin pondered aloud. "Maybe she's just moving very quickly trying to find the rest of the crew."

"That's what I thought at first too, but this latest change in direction is too extreme," Zoro scowled. He glared at the purple card like he could intimidate it into providing him the answers he sought. All it could do was continue to flee from his intense gaze pathetically, one dragging centimeter at a time.

"Well if she was injured, wouldn't the card reflect that state?" Robin reasoned.

"It would."

"So at least we know she's not hurt."

"I don't like this. We need to move faster," Zoro declared. "Here. You take a turn holding the card."

Robin frowned a little as she accepted the paper. She could tell by the look in Zoro's eye that he was about to resort to violent measures. Sure enough, the swordsman drew two blades and faced down the wall in the direction indicated by Lana's card.

"Subtlety has served us well thus far," she reminded him, knowing she wouldn't be able to talk him down. Still, she felt obligated to try.

"Subtlety hasn't gotten me any closer to finding Lana," Zoro retorted. "And I'm tired of running in circles. Now stand back!"

Robin accommodated her friend, putting a few paces between them and closing her fingers around the card to ensure its safety. Zoro took one step back from the wall and poised his swords over his back, drawing one deep breath and exhaling purposefully.

"720 Caliber Phoenix!"

The force of his attack cleaved through not only the wall immediately before them, but the four behind it as well. Robin sighed, the sound lost under the thunder of crashing stone and rending steel as dust filled the hallway in the wake of the destruction.

"Is the card still pointing this way?" Zoro asked when the air settled enough for her to hear him. He wasn't even winded.

"It is."

"Well come on then!"

"Not subtle by any means, but I can't deny, your methods are effective," Robin admitted. "I just hope we don't attract more attention than we can handle."

"Psh. There's no amount of attention on this island I can't handle," Zoro scoffed cockily. "Just keep an eye on that card and make sure we're still heading the right way."

"By all means."

Likely by virtue of the speed at which they were moving and the fact that they were leaving totally impassable hallways in their wake, no opposition ever managed to catch up to them. Robin would have been shocked if the entire compound hadn't been alerted to their presence, but then again, she supposed that their crew was already hunted before Zoro decided to start wrecking the place.

It wasn't long at all before they wound up exactly back where they'd started, drawing stares and alarmed shouts from the rest of their crew as they stepped through the crumbling remains of the wall with understated drama that belied the intensity of the of the havoc they'd been wreaking throughout the lab.

"Robin! Usopp said you were going to stop him from obliterating things!" Sanji wept. Or was it Chopper in the cook's body? Zoro had lost track again, preoccupied with finding Lana. "What happened to keeping a low profile?! We're supposed to be hiding out!"

"Remind me who you are again," Robin prompted, just as confused as Zoro.

"I'm Nami. The warlord swapped us all back, but I got the short end of the stick because Sanji took my body along with Brook and Usopp to go looking for that damned samurai's torso," she explained wistfully.

"Robin! Don't get caught up!" Zoro called back scoldingly. He marched past everyone in the cavern without sparing them a second glance. "We need to keep moving! Where's the paper pointing?"

"Hmm..."

Robin consulted the vivre card just as she strolled past Luffy and Law in her attempt to keep pace with Zoro.

"It changed again!" she informed him. "It's heading back the way we just came!"

"Grrr! Damn it! What the hell is going on with this damn card anyway?!" Zoro raged. "Gimme that!"

He took the paper from Robin, scrutinizing it closely as he stomped back in the direction they'd come, kicking up snow with his infuriated strides.

"What's the matter, Zoro?" Luffy asked, taking a break from his discussion with Law to question his first mate. "Did you guys find her yet?"

"No, I think this damn paper is broken!" Zoro seethed.

As soon as he passed Luffy, the card started creeping back in the other direction. Zoro rounded once more and headed back the other way, only for the paper to reverse yet again. This time, Zoro paused long enough to notice that it was also pulling to the side a little. He lifted his gaze, eye narrowing as he fixed the warlord with a suspicious glare. Law returned the glower in kind, stolid expression betraying nothing even as Zoro's haki informed him that the man reeked of Lana's aura.

"That's crazy, I didn't know you could break a vivre card," Luffy commented, arms crossed over his chest against the cold. "I wouldn't be too worried if I were you, Zoro. Lana's good at taking care of herself. Worst case, I'm sure she'll just meet us back at the ship."

"This warlord friend of yours knows something," Zoro scowled, shoving the vivre card back into his pocket.

"Traffy? You know anything about where Lana is?" Luffy asked directly.

"Lana? That the locksmith with the purple hair?"

Law had become the singular focus of Zoro's attention. He couldn't stop his eye from narrowing even as he carefully metered his reactions.

"Not a locksmith," he corrected the so-called surgeon of death. "Do you know where she is?"

"Should still be right where I left her," Law said. His tone was casual, but Zoro's quiet, carefully concealed rage wasn't lost on the captain of the heart pirates. His hand shifted minutely toward his sword.

'He's ready to fight. That means he did something he thinks would warrant a fight.'

"Where you 'left' her? What did you do?" Zoro demanded. "You have her vivre card, don't you? Why?"

"I didn't hurt her. I only subdued her," Law assured him. "I used my power to take her weapons with me because she was giving me a hell of a time. I didn't realize I'd also taken her cards until after I was already gone."

The tension between the two swordsmen spiked palpably. Zoro was doing his best to keep a level head, but protectiveness for his friends was the one thing that could reliably shatter his composure. That fact applied to Lana above anyone else he cared about. As much as he was aware that the way he felt about her created an exploitable pressure point, that knowledge could only help him mediate his reactions up to a certain point.

It also didn't help that Zoro hadn't forgotten their crew's first brief encounter with the heart pirates on Sabaody. The way Law had fixed his attention so studiously to Lana was odd enough that even after two years, it was still cemented in Zoro's memory.

"Take me to her. Now," Zoro ordered flatly. If he let any emotion creep into his tone he was afraid he would start roaring at Law. 'Control. Stay in control.'

"We don't have time for that right now," Law said, annoyance tinging the words. "I've already been trying to tell your captain, it's imperative that we stop-"

"We're allies now!" Luffy announced enthusiastically, hands on his hips and a grin on his face. "Traffy says there's some gassy guy we need to take down together, and I'm all for it!"

Zoro was quickly developing a headache. He didn't care about Law's objectives in the slightest, but the fact that Luffy cared meant he was obligated to help if asked.

"Fine, but can't you guys handle that without me?" he demanded of his captain.

"Don't see why not!" Luffy replied easily.

"Caesar Clown isn't a figure to be taken lightly," Law scowled severely. "It'll take all of us working together to-"

"Stop talking, Trafalgar!" Zoro snapped. "I'm not doing anything until I know Lana's safe!"

Law's irritation showed on his face.

"Luffy, call your dog off or I'll bring him to heel myself," he threatened. His hand moved fully to the hilt of his sword. Zoro moved in response, freeing Kietetsu from his sheath by an inch. If Law wanted to make it a fight, he was more than ready.

"Hey, don't talk about Zoro that way," Luffy frowned. The standoff between the two swordsmen had finally managed to hit one of the few nerves that could cause Luffy any notable agitation. "Zoro, don't fight with Traffy."

Zoro clenched his teeth, but let his steel slide back into its casing. He relaxed his stance and crossed his arms over his chest to signal that he would honor Luffy's wishes.

"Traffy, I don't see what the big deal is," Luffy went on. "Just take him to Lana, then we'll kick this Clown guy's gassy ass together."

"I can take you to the room where I left her," Law allowed, crossing his arms over his chest unhappily as a vein started to pulse in his forehead. "But I'm telling you right now, she didn't seem inclined to stay put like I told her to. I don't blame her for not trusting me, we didn't exactly get off on the best foot with our first meeting... or our second."

Law's words did nothing to soothe Zoro's ever growing ire. He clenched his jaw and held his emotions firmly in check.

"Take me," Zoro growled. "If she's not there... we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"I'll take you there, but if she left, the rest of the search is up to you," Law informed him. "I'm heading straight back here so we can get started on the plan to take out Caesar."

"Fine by me. One more thing," Zoro persisted. He held out his hand demandingly. "Give me her things. Everything you took from her."

Law complied without complaint, handing over Lana's knives and vivre cards. Zoro shoved the cards in his pockets and stowed the knives in the sash at his waist.

"I'll get us there and back fast if you don't mind me using my powers," Law offered.

'His powers allow him to move around quickly? That explains the way the card kept changing direction. What a pain.'

"Whatever, let's just get a move on," Zoro grumbled. "This has dragged on long enough."

______________________________________________

<== Previous Chapter

Next Chapter ==>

== First Chapter ==

[the-travelling-witch]

Hello! I'm sending this to my favorite writers to enable you to brag about your own writings! (But don't feel pressured to reply and take your time!) :D

Pick one fic you wrote and would recommend to us readers for each of these genres:

Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/No Comfort, AU (any AUs!), Selfship (If you selfship!), [Insert a genre you've written but is not in the list].

Have fun, and just a reminder to always be proud of what you created!! You're amazing!! We love you!!! 💗

Extra // Feel free to ramble on why the fic is your favorite, whatever thinking process you have when you wrote it, which part(s) are your favorite, etc!!

ahhhh this is such a cool ask to get, thank you so much!! also your favourite writers? and that includes me of all people??? don’t mind me, someone might be cutting onions in here 🥺🩵

i hope you don’t mind me rambling, i might have gotten a little carried away ^^; (i’ve also not really heeded the one per genre rule, i’m just bad at picking one or the other hshsh)

Fluff

one of each huh? i think we’re already running into a problem on the fluff genre, i don’t really have anything to recommend, i’m afraid; none of them really stand out to me personally (that aren’t aus or so), so i’d much rather talk more about my other works

Hurt / Angst

now to hop into the categories i really like talking about, hurt and angst!! :D out of anything comfort related, i think i like my period comfort scenarios for both obey me and twst. i wrote them to alleviate my own pains in a way, but it’s great to see other people getting comfort from them as well (also to all my folks who told me you felt included by the gn reader instead of a fem reader, i see you and i love you)

with the mushy gushy stuff out of the way, let’s dive into my absolute favourite genre to write ever, angst (no comfort hehe ^^); here’s the problem to not list too many fics but i’ll use my spare from not naming a fluff fic :]

long-time ramble and tag readers will know what to expect; what could’ve been is the first angst fic i really got into and could’ve easily been a series if i had thought about it at the time. while looking back on it, sure there are things i could’ve done better, but it still has a soft spot in my heart and despite the low notes, it’s the fic i got the best feedback on ever (those asks, comments and reblogs are so precious to me, you have no idea)

similarly a million miles away and the loneliest (same premise, different characters) are some of my favourites too. overall, in its entirety, i prefer the former, i think most parts in there came out very well. however, if i had to pick one part out of all eight that i would recommend, it’s xiao’s part from the loneliest, it didn’t gather as much attention as part 1 but my friends left so many amazing comments in my document and i myself love how it came out, which makes it so special to me

Selfships + OCs

while i do selfship, i hardly ever write about it on here (or much in general outside some hcs i pester some moots with); for one, i find it hard to write about, my thoughts seem to leave me the second i try to type them out. i also don’t think many people are interested in the topic anyway and i hate feeling like i’m shouting into a void (i’m trying to keep a lid on how much i babble on dash anyhow, with varying amounts of success ^^;)

i thought i read ocs on the list, so i’ll include them, as well, especially since i have a little more to say than about selfships, considering i post about some of them every now and then. dantalion and his story part have a special place in my heart, not only because he was the first oc i introduced, but also bc his part resonates with me most, i think. while not seen much of yet, i also took a liking to my twst oc cheron, i think he’s fun!! (ofc i like my other obey me ocs too but these two are ranked a little higher hshshs)

AUs

this one… might be obvious. i think we can all see the modern au coming from a mile away (perhaps even from a million miles away haha). it’s kind of the only au i have really going on but, even so, there’s a reason my inbox fills up the second i mention it. though, when i wrote that piercer! xiao fic all that time ago, the au wasn’t even a thing in my mind yet, funny how that works. it’s currently on a bit of a hiatus but it’s certainly not dead ^^;

more excitingly however, and as a treat for the people who’ve read this far into me rambling about my own writing, the aus in my drafts!! i want to work on all of them (and then work on none of them)

the oldest of the three i’m thinking about is my haikyuu isekai au. i’m 10k into the draft (plus like 2k notes) and i still think the premise and plot is super fun (i was thinking/hoping it would end up somewhere between 20k and 25k) buuut the problem is i’m currently stuck on one scene that’s just not turning out fun at all, so i’ve been neglecting it ever since ^^;

second on the list of aus that occupy my mind is my twst pokemon au!! this one is more recent but i’ve been enjoying doing world building for it + the people i’ve let read over my first draft of a intro seem to have liked it too!! i’ll have to give more intense and focused thought to brainstorming the story we’d be follow, but i get excited every time i think about it hehe

and lastly, the most recent thing i worked on, an au for barbarian bakugo and… well i won’t say anything on the identity of the reader yet. it is a little enemies to lovers and i have already planned out part 2 in my head despite not even remotely finishing part 1. it doesn’t help that the book i’m reading rn evolves the same themes and makes me think about it every time i look at it or pick it back up :]

(there’s also an au i might want to write for mermay but idk if i can finish it in time + the bakugo au weighs heavy on my mind rn hshsh)

as a last point, i’m also keeping in mind that i had an event planned!! i haven’t finalised it yet and haven’t given much thought to my own entries but maybe i can get there some day (perhaps towards the end of the year?) ^^

anyway, thank you so much for indulging me and prompting me to talk about my writing, as you can probably tell, i love doing that haha and thank you again for the kind words, it really means the world to me <3

if you have any questions or thoughts on any of these, feel free to ask me!! i’d be happy to talk about any of this :> (though i can’t promise fast replies…)