#the i <3 mom pillow is so on brand

[inbabylontheywept]

Realizing in hindsight that the only reason I was so skeptical about your camp story is that being covered in a combination of crusty, sticky pink residue and rotten fish oil for days on end while sleeping on a wooden floor in the Arizona heat sounded like such unbearable sensory agony that I wanted to convince myself it was fake, because I didn't want to believe that anybody had genuinely been through that. I'd have walked out of that place with a rucksack of pink ooze and either find my way back to civilization or become crispy pink buzzard chow after day 2.

Like, legitimately, I think about my reaction to that post a lot. The imagery was so deeply unpleasant that I was desperately scrambling to convince myself it wasn't true like I'd just found out my spouse was a serial killer. There was no torture, no death, no hunger or disease, just a bunch of sweaty guys being covered in sticky fruit-flavored slime, subjected to unpleasant smells, and sleeping blanketless on the floor. And you can't even smell! You were spared a good third of it! Yet your experience still horrified me worse than any war story, medieval torture device or horror movie for reasons I cannot hope to fathom.

idk, I've had this ask stewing in my head for months, but I keep forgetting to actually write and send it. In my heart of hearts, I knew your story was perfectly plausible. I was just grasping at straws, praying for you to admit that no, nobody has ever showered in off-brand Gatorade and then not slept for 3 days while being expected to attend uni lectures. It's all untrue, a ruse, a trick, and such things could never happen outside of the cruelest depths of hell. Santa Claus is real, teachers live in the school, babies are delivered by storks, and the pink sauce incident never happened.

My mom pulls me into a warm hug after I scrape my knee. The plastic egg I found under the couch opens to reveal a piece of chocolate. A dollar magically appears under the pillow where I'd put my tooth. All is well. I am safe. The universe is kind, and whoever's running it loves me.

It's a sunny August day and I'm holding a popsicle on the swingset. I'm using my plastic dinosaurs to act out an improvised battle between good guys and bad guys as I sit on the carpeted floor. I'm playing Fossil Fighters on my dinged-up Nintendo DS in the plush brown armchair by the window.

I add the carrot nose to my snowman. Candy plops into my Halloween bag. The speaker on the classroom wall announces that school's out for summer, and we all bound out the door with wild glee, free at last.

Panting, wheezing, I drag my battered form back into the cobbled-together wreckage of my innocence, only one arm remaining with which to drag myself, blood and intestines trailing behind me as the storm rages overhead, washing my entrails downstream. I huddle underneath what remains of my once-pristine shelter from the cold and wet, pulling the shards back together as best I can as the wind howls angrily, hatefully. It's no use. It's broken. It's gone. It cannot be repaired. My innocence will never return to me. The rain seeps through the cracks and lands upon my face.

The rain is pink, I realize, and I cry.

First off: I haven’t actually been on the receiving end of this before and I have to say, it's an almost literally gripping experience. I felt this rat for the last three paragraphs.

Incredibly well done. Second: If you just didnt' want to believe, that's fine, I barely have room in me for medium fries - a grudge would just pour out the top, too much tea for my cup. But you don't have to like, gaslight yourself into thinking the story is totally normal and believable (I always stretch my stories out a little) or beat yourself up over it for months. I meant it when I said we're good, you and I. It still makes me happy to see a comment or a like or, rarely, a question like this from you.

If it's just something that pops into your mind every now and again, I dunno, don't sweat it. I'd hate to give you a complex. Did I mention that I loved that writing for this? Incredible experience.

[snowysosturn]

Fire & Desire - Matt Sturniolo Part 13

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13

Pairing: Y/n x Matt Sturniolo

Summary: Y/n has always clashed with Matt. Despite working for Chris’s clothing brand and being close with Nick, her relationship with Matt has always been tense at best. While being forced to be around each other more, their animosity turns into something deeper. Can they overcome their differences, or will their fiery emotions tear them apart?

Warnings: angst, tension

The morning sun spilled through the sheer curtains, my head was still heavy from last night, and my body feeling sheer exhaustion of what had happened. I had barely slept, replaying the scene at the restaurant over and over in my mind. The embarrassment, the sting of Matt’s words, the way I had to walk away while holding back tears.

A soft knock at my door made me wake that bit more. "Hey, you awake?" I hear Nick’s voice from through the door. 

I remembered I locked it once Matt left last night so I pulled myself from my bed and unlocked the door letting Nick to come in. I turned and walked back to my bed, sitting up against the headboard, pulling the covers around me. Nick closed the door behind him before standing at the end of the bed. "Alright, spill. What the hell happened last night? You left, and then Matt stormed in looking like he just saw a ghost."

I exhaled, rubbing my temples before looking at him. "Your mom asked Nate if he was seeing anyone, and he said no, which was fine, right? But Matt decided to make it seem like that was some kind of rejection for me, like I was meant to be upset about it. Then, out of nowhere, he brings up to your mom and dad that Nate and I went on a ‘date’, which you know yourself wasn’t even a date, so then Nate tried to clarify that we were just friends, but Matt just kept pushing it. Then he said that I was a quick fuck and then friend zoned. Right in front of your parents." I swallowed, feeling the embarrassment all over again. 

Nick’s eyes widened slightly, but his expression darkened. "What the fuck?"

I scoffed, shaking my head. "Yeah and I’m so embarrassed if your parents heard that last part because first of all, I had just met them, and second of all, it’s just not even true. It made me look bad, it made Nate uncomfortable, and Matt acted like he had some right to embarrass me like that."

Nick sighed, running a hand through his hair. "No I get why you’re upset like he was way out of line. But listen, when Chris and I came back in, our parents said you were lovely and that they hoped you felt better soon. I’m telling you they didn’t hear that part."

I let out a slow breath of relief. "Really?"

"Really" Nick nodded. "They just thought you weren’t feeling well and needed to leave early."

I sank back into my pillows, finally feeling like I could breathe a little easier. "Good. Because I swear, I was ready to dig a hole and disappear forever."

Nick laughed. "Nah, no disappearing allowed. But are you gonna talk to Matt about it?"

I frowned, staring at the ceiling for a moment. "We did last night kinda, but I’m still so angry. And the worst part is, I don’t even know why he acted like that. It was like he wanted to embarrass me."

Nick shrugged. "Matt’s an idiot. He says dumb shit, but he also knows when he’s messed up. I guarantee you, he feels like shit about it right now."

"Good" I muttered, still unwilling to entertain the idea of forgiving him just yet.

Nick sighed again but didn’t push it further. "Alright, well, the four of us are going out with my parents for the day. You coming?"

I shook my head. "I think I’m just gonna stay back here today, I just want things to die down."

"Thats cool." He stood up, stretching. "Try not to overthink it too much, alright?"

I gave a half smile. "Easier said than done."

As Nick left the room, I rolled onto my side, staring out the window at the pool below. I knew I wouldn’t be able to just brush this off, but at least, for now, I could breathe a little easier knowing that Nick’s parents didn’t hear Matt’s words. Still, the anger remained, simmering just beneath the surface. Eventually, I decided I needed some air, some sun, some quiet, and a break from all the tension.

I slipped out of bed and grabbed my swimsuit, opting for a tiny bikini that I knew would be perfect for lounging by the pool. The straps sat snug against my skin, the warm morning air already filtering through the open balcony doors as I pulled my hair up out of my face. After tossing on a loose cover up, I slid into my sliders and grabbed a towel before heading downstairs.

As I reached the foyer, the others were gathered, chatting and getting ready to head out for the day. The energy in the room was light, filled with laughter and the occasional clatter of sunglasses being thrown into bags. As soon as they spotted me, they greeted me, well everyone except Matt, who didn’t even glance in my direction.

Chris was the first to speak. “You coming with us?” His tone was casual, but his eyes scanned my face like he was checking in.

I shook my head, adjusting my towel over my arm. “Nah, I think I’m going to take it easy today. Just chill by the pool and relax.”

Nate nodded approvingly. “Honestly? Probably the smarter move.”

Chris shot me a small smile. “Enjoy the sun. We’ll be back later.”

I returned the smile, forcing the tension from last night out of my mind. “You guys have fun.”

With that, they all filed out the front door, their voices fading as they disappeared down the steps. The villa was suddenly silent, the only sound being the faint rustling of palm trees outside.

I exhaled slowly before grabbing an ice tea from the fridge and making my way out to the pool, letting the warm sun wrap around me as I laid my towel down on one of the lounge chairs. Finally, peace and quiet.

I stretched out on the lounge chair, letting the sun soak into my skin as I sipped on the cold drink. I had left the villa door open, wanting to hear when everyone got back, but after a while, another sound caught my attention. 

A knock.

Frowning, I sat up, adjusting my bikini top before grabbing my cover up and slipping it over my hips. I wasn’t expecting anyone, and the guys wouldn’t have knocked, they had keys.

As I rushed barefoot across the cold tile floor, I hesitated for a second before pulling the door open. 

A mailman stood there, holding a large box. He barely glanced up before handing it over. “Delivery for Fresh Love.”

I furrowed my brows but took the package, feeling the weight of it in my arms. “Oh, thanks.”

With a nod, he turned and walked back down the driveway. I shut the door with my foot and carried the box to the kitchen counter, setting it down with a small thud.  I smirked, realizing this must be the personalized samples Chris had mentioned, the ones he ordered for all of us.  I pulled out my phone and snapped a quick picture of the box before opening up my messages with Chris.

Me: Personalised samples just got delivered.

A few seconds later, the typing bubbles appeared.

Chris: Sick! You check ‘em out yet?

I glanced at the box, debating if I should wait for him or just open it now.

Me: Not yet. Was gonna let you do the honours.

Chris: Okay cool. We can do a shoot with them at sunset later.

I bring the box up to Chris’ room and set it on the bed so he can see everything when we get back in. If we’re doing a shoot I want to look extra radiant and glowy, and that won’t happen from standing inside the villa. I grabbed one of the body oils in my room before making my way back out to the pool. I poured a little into my palm, rubbing it over my legs as I stretched back out on the lounge chair.

Matt’s POV

We were halfway through the guided tour when Chris suddenly checked his phone and said, “Oh, the personalized samples came in. Y/n just texted me.”

Hearing her name wasn’t helpful. Not when I hadn’t been able to get her off my mind since last night, and god how she looked in that bikini earlier didn't help. I kept my eyes straight ahead, pretending I didn’t care, but my mom didn’t let it slide. “Oh, Y/n is such a lovely girl” she said with a warm smile, then turned to me. “Is she feeling better now, sweetheart?”

Before I could even begin to answer, Nick cut in smoothly. “Yeah, she’s fine. Just needed a bit of sleep.” His tone was light, brushing off the question like it wasn’t worth pressing. He knew me well enough to know that I didn’t want to talk about it, especially not here, not in front of everyone.

I kept my mouth shut and just nodded in agreement, though the truth was, I felt far from fine. Guilt sat heavy in my chest, chipping away at me. Last night, I had let my emotions get the best of me. I let jealousy, because let’s be honest, that’s exactly what it was, take control, and I lashed out in the worst way possible. I had said something cruel, something I couldn’t take back. And knowing Y/n, she wasn’t the type to just let it roll off her shoulders. She put up walls, and I had given her every reason to keep me on the other side of them.

The more I thought about it, the worse it got. I had no right to be mad at her, no right to act like what she did or didn’t do with Nate, or anyone else for that matter, was any of my business. But that hadn’t stopped me from taking a low blow, from making her feel small in front of people who barely even knew her. If she had done that to me, I’d be furious. So what did that say about me?

I exhaled, dragging a hand through my hair as I barely registered the tour guide’s voice. My mind was somewhere else entirely.

I had to make this right.

I knew I had a way to make it up to her, it was something I should've done ages ago. And now, I could only hope it wasn’t too late for her to forgive me.

Y/n’s POV

I was sitting outside on the patio, a plate of food in my lap as I watched the sun dip below the horizon. The sky was painted in soft shades of pink and orange, the kind of sunset that made everything feel a little quieter, a little more peaceful. It was one of those moments I wished I could freeze in time, just me, the sunset, and the distant sound of waves hitting onto the shore.

But then, the front door swung open, breaking the stillness.

The familiar sounds of shuffling feet and tired voices filled the villa as the guys returned. I set my plate aside and stood up, making my way inside to greet them.

“Hey” I said, leaning against the kitchen counter as they walked in.

They all looked exhausted, Chris, Nate, Matt, and Nick, their faces slightly sunburnt, their hair tousled from the slight breeze and even though they didn’t say much at first, their body language said it all.

Chris let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his hair as he took his cap off. “Long day,” he muttered. “We were out in the sun for way too long, and I think it’s catching up to everyone.”

Nate groaned in agreement, tossing his sunglasses onto the counter. “I need, like, ten hours of sleep.”

Matt didn’t say much, just nodded, his jaw tight. He looked at me for half a second before glancing away, like he was trying to avoid something, most likely me. I ignored the sting in my chest and forced a small smile.

“Yeah, we’re all wiped” Nick added, stretching his arms above his head. “Think we’ll just stay in tonight, order some takeout, crash early.”

“That’s fine with me” I said, realizing I was more drained than I thought. Between being in the sun all day and everything that happened last night, I could use a quiet night too. “I left that box in your room” I say turning to Chris.

“Cool I’ll have a look now, we can take pictures tomorrow evening instead, when everyones a bit more awake”

And with that, Chris, Nate, and Matt didn’t waste any time disappearing into their rooms, clearly eager to knock out for a bit.

Nick lingered behind, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m gonna shower first, but after that, I’ll come to your room? We can just chill for a bit, a movie maybe?.”

I nodded. ��Sounds good.”

I walk up to my room, kicking the door shut behind me as I switch on the TV. The smart TV mounted on the wall was a lifesaver, especially on nights like this when there wasn’t much going on. I sink onto the bed, remote in hand, sifting through Netflix, too see if theres anything both Nick and I would like. The knock on the door wasn’t enough to pull my attention from the screen since I assume it’s Nick, I don’t even think twice before calling out, “Come in.”

But it’s not Nick.

It’s Matt.

He stands there in the doorway, looking uncertain, a silver metallic gift bag dangling from his fingers. Looking like the same one I spotted in his room next to my ‘Thank You’ card. For a moment, neither of us speak. We just stare at each other, the weight of unspoken words thick in the space between us.

My tone is blunt when I finally ask, “Are you alright?”

Matt doesn’t answer. Instead, he lifts the bag slightly, as if offering it to me. His expression is unreadable, something between nervousness and determination.

“What is it?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

“Just look in it” he says quietly.

I hesitate for a second before reaching out, taking the metallic bag from his grasp. Peeling back the layers of tissue paper inside, my breath catches in my throat.

It’s my locket.

The delicate chain pools in my palm, the pendant glinting from the sunset shining in my balcony window. My fingers tighten around it as I snap my gaze back up to Matt, my heart pounding.

“Where did you get this?” I demand, my voice barely above a whisper.

a/n : most of this is a bit of a filler soz

taglist : @mattybearnard @sturn-33 @ncm9696 @yourfavsturniologirl @crazy4jewel @sodakid1234 @stupendoustreewinner @lovealwayssturniolos @matthewsturniolosss @m4ttsmunch @loveexxx @ilusa @starkeyszn @wonnieeluvvr @dylnblue @valxrieq @maggot3647 @cigarettecemetary @ribread03 @chrisstvrns @bandasaruswrx @noplaceissafeanymore @amexiass @witchofthehour @mattssgf @jetaimevous @v33angel  @ivysturnss @urmom69lol @ashlishes @watercolorskyy @sturnioloshottiekay @amelia-sturniolo3 @imjusthereforthesturniolosmut @pvssychicken @alizestvrnss @chrisstxrnsaxe @sophand4n4 @vickytaa @marrykisskilled @bxtchboy69 @yourfavsturniologirl @julisturn @sydneyylainn @sophia-77n @trevorsgodmother @sturnslutz @yourmother29 @girl24cherry @astronea @pinkdyit

[asidian]

Set breakdown time! Next up: Niko's room.

As before, I've circled the points of interest and numbered them to make them easier to talk about. Cool? Cool. Let's do this!

1: Niko's mom's name! This part is her and Niko's surname. The kanji are 佐々木.

佐 – sa, meaning help or aid

々 – an iteration mark. When you see this, basically it means "exactly what the last one said, one more time." So another sa meaning help or aid

木 – ki, meaning tree

It's really neat that they picked a last name for her that doubles down on her role in the narrative. Just like Niko is there to support and help other characters in whatever way they seem to need, her surname hammers it home by including 佐 not once but twice.

2: Riza (リザ) Niko's mother's given name. Somewhat odd here is that it's written in katakana and not kanji. Without getting sidetracked too much (you can pop over here to read more if you're interested) most Japanese people write their names in kanji.

Katakana seems like a bit of a strange choice here, unless a) Niko for some reason doesn't know the kanji for her own mother's name (weird, given that she's in high school) b) her mother is a foreigner (a possibility; foreigners usually write their names in katakana) c) the set designer/whoever prepped the letters didn't know the appropriate kanji for "Riza" (seems unlikely, given how accurate all the rest of this is) or d) some sort of personal habit. An interesting side note is that her letter to Niko also puts Niko's name in katakana.

3: Cutesy stationery, used for marking your place in a document or book

4: A cute blue purse!

5: Watermelon! Judging by the shiny material and placement near the other bag, I'm going to guess this is another purse

6: Niko's clothes :>

7: Pink luggage

8: Lots of instant noodles

9: A rice cooker

10: Rice vinegar

11: This girl LOVES her some plants

12: Probably food items…? The one on the right looks like it might be a five-pound bag of rice, but I don't recognize the brand

13: Lots of unwashed dishes

14: A toaster oven

15: Chopsticks

16: A cute octopus pillow. I think I saw someone mention that it's from Ikea :>

17: She often leaves dirty dishes sitting on the bedside table

18: A painting of what seems to be a skyscape

19: Brightly colored pillows

20: Metal art in the shape of a moon

21: A decorative window hanging

22: More plants :)

23: Candles

24: Her tv

25: Cute pens with pompoms on the end

26: Regular tape

27: A cute cat statue

28: Marble Pop Ramune, strawberry flavor. Ramune is a type of soda that's a popular festival drink in Japan. It's sealed with a  glass marble and you have to pop the marble down into the little catch basin before you can drink it.

29: Anime wall décor

30: Fruit jelly cups. In Japan, small gelatin based snacks like this are popular. They're tiny, about an inch tall, and you eat them in just one or two bites.

31: Niko's laptop. She has stickers on it

32: Washi tape! It's decorative Japanese tape, often with bright colors and patterns, used for crafting.

33: A lot of cute magnets, including the bunny one, which serves double-duty as a kitchen timer

34: Niko's grocery list. The only thing on here that's here because she wants it is strawberry ice cream. The rest of the items, licorice tea, manuka honey, and Epsom salts, are all natural remedies. She's been trouble-shooting how to get rid of the effects of the sprites. She knows she's sick, but not why

35: Cutesy craft supplies! Sequins, glitter, and pompoms

36: More washi tape!

37: Niko's manga collection. She is that particular brand of organizational mess that does not put her numbered volumes in order. She has made an exception for the series that makes a complete picture when you line them up, though

38: More plants :)

39: Manga posters! Issho is one of the series that she has on her shelf

40: A decorative jar

41: Little metal bird sculptures

42: What seems to be the only framed picture in her room. The angle is wrong to see what the photo is, but it's interesting that they added just one in here. Maybe it's her family…?

[mangoisms]

circle k (back to you)

summary: in which you're just the graveyard shift employee at circle k bombarded by vigilantes.

━ chapter five: i am found on the ground | read chapter four

━ pairing: tim drake x f!reader

━ word count: 4.5k

━ warnings: none

━ masterlist

━ a/n: if you'd like to see my notes (and my thoughts behind a certain inclusion of a character in this chapter), you can find them here <3 (also i'm on fire is playing in the last scene the formatting of the lyrics just killed me so i had to get rid of it thank you all)

“You just can’t beat it.”

“It was okay.”

You turn sharply to look at Tim, who shrugs, a small smile playing on his lips. 

In the kitchen, Steph snorts. “Here we go.”

You ignore her. “Okay? Inception was okay—”

“Uncalled for—”

“But true. This?” You gesture to his flatscreen TV, where the end credits for Interstellar are playing; you’re a little bit red-eyed from the end scenes with Cooper and Murph but no less passionate. “This is more than okay. It’s—”

“Not technically scientifically accurate.”

You grab a pillow and gently whack him with it. He tries to hide a growing smile. You don’t understand what exactly he’s smiling at but you don’t care in this moment.

“It’s not about scientific accuracy, duck boy, it’s about love.”

“Yeah!” Steph yells from the kitchen. “Go love! Woo!”

You gesture in her direction. “He literally said it in the movie, Tim. How can you miss it? And Brand, too!”

“It wasn’t enough to save who she loved, though,” he points out—ever the devil’s advoactate, honestly…

“But it was there and she knew that, too, and she was okay with it. And it was enough for Cooper and Murph, too. I mean, literally to the point that she was able to save humanity. Right? Brand said it—love is the one thing we are capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space.”

Tim looks… well, far from upset or annoyed. He seems amused, almost… almost fond, the way he looks at you, but it’s too much for you to handle, so you look away, pouting a little.

“And also, okay, I know entering the black hole wasn’t ‘scientifically accurate’ but that’s the point, that some higher being switched them out so he didn’t die. You do have to admit, however, that the depiction of the black hole, which I’ll give Nolan props for, was great.”

“Okay, true,” he concedes. “The score was pretty good, too.”

“It was excellent.”

Steph steps out from the kitchen, looking at her phone. “Give me a sec, you guys, my mom’s calling me.”

You both give her an affirmative and she steps out the front door. You and Tim quickly resume your discussion.

“Inception’s score was good, too,” he points out. 

“Bah. They both had Zimmer. Of course it’s going to be good. But Interstellar has the benefit of being enhanced by it because it’s already a good movie. I mean, it surprises even me that Nolan could manage to pull off something like this.”

“He has the range,” Tim protests. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, you Nolan stan. I’m still a bit hung-up on you saying it’s just ‘okay.’ I mean, sure, it could just be me projecting my own grief about my dead parents onto the story about a dad crossing space and time to get back to his daughter but still!”

That’s the understatement of the century. The scenes between Cooper and an old Murph never fail to make you tear up. Any of the scenes between them, really. 

The prolonged silence from Tim tips you off and it’s only when you look at him do you realize your mistake.

His eyes are wide as he looks at you, surprised, with something else. 

“Oh, it’s fine—”

“Your parents are—”

You both stop. 

You clear your throat, waving a hand. “It’s fine. I… I mean, sorry if it made you uncomfortable, I joke about it sometimes.”

“No,” he says. “It’s okay. It just surprised me. I guess… I don’t want to—I mean—I’m, uh, sorry?”

You shift on the couch, turning more toward him. “It’s okay. It was… well, not that long ago, but—”

You stop, because your instinctive response is ‘I’m over it’ but that’s not totally true, is it? You don’t think you’ll ever be over it. One part of you still feels horribly robbed of them, and some days, their deaths feel so monumental you can barely get through the day, while others, you can function normally for the most part. 

“No, I understand,” he says softly. “My parents, too. My mom when I was younger but my dad died when I was sixteen. It’s… not really something you get over, I think. No matter how much time passes.”

A quiet moment between you. It’s not like he’s tried to make you feel ostracized—if anything he’s gone out of his way to make you feel welcomed here, to make sure he and Steph don’t get too caught up on their own and they include you—but… This is a common thread between you and you know he knows and you know he knows you know. 

“Yeah… Yeah, exactly.” You pause, glancing at the TV, where the credits are rolling now. “It happened when I was fifteen. The, um, earthquake.”

“I’m sorry,” he says again and you know he means it. 

“I’m sorry about yours, too.”

Tim nods, the look on his face still soft, still gentle, then he glances back at the TV. 

“I was kidding, you know,” he says next. “It, uh, really was good. Better than I thought it would be. Scientific inaccuracy aside…”

“It’s good,” you press, ignoring the last comment. “And I don’t think it was trying to fool anyone into scientific accuracy.”

“Also true. I just…”

“Wasn’t expecting it to hit that hard?” you guess, smiling. “Yeah, I get it. Cried like a baby when I first saw it. You’re stronger than me for getting through it dry-eyed.”

“Oh, I’m just waiting for later,” he says. “Saving my sorrows for my pillow. That kind of thing.”

You laugh loudly. He smiles. 

“It does unearth all the dead parent trauma, though,” he says. 

“Oh, tell me about it. Cooper wanting to try to go back home after they find out Dr. Brand never intended to help those on earth…”

“And then having to sacrifice himself to give Brand a chance,” he finishes, shaking his head. “Only for it to turn out well in the end. If only real life was like that.”

A shade too dark for right now but you can’t say you disagree. 

The front door opens. Steph slips back inside, raising an eyebrow at you two. Though she hardly means what you think she means, you find yourself inching away from Tim, turning back forward slightly. You’d hate to give her the wrong impression.

And of course, that is not at all what she is thinking about.

“Why do you two look like someone just died?”

“Well, we were just talking about our dead parents, so,” Tim responds without missing a beat.

You burst out laughing. Steph groans. 

“I was wrong. You two shouldn’t be friends.”

“It’s too late for that, I think,” Tim says, grinning. 

You can’t help but grin, too.

She groans again.

Catwoman is your next vigilante visitor.

All skin-tight latex and a coquettish attitude that makes your face hot.

Luckily, she doesn’t appear to mind. She even pays for her stuff. 

(“I was told,” she purrs. “And I don’t much like being told what to do but… you’re cute enough to convince me to go along with it.”

You don’t think the noise you made was human but it amused her enough.)

Alongside that, you have the others who regularly drop by. Your vigilantes, but then, as you pick up a few weekend afternoon shifts (much to Steph’s disapproval), some normal faces, too.

Barbara, a red-haired woman with sharp green eyes who has a stately and intimidating aura to her but is always pleasant when you two chat. Sometimes she has another woman with her, a pretty blond Barbara calls D. Then, that one man, the stocky blonde with the tortoise-shell glasses and a quiet but kind disposition, who eventually introduces himself as Jean-Paul. 

You spot him during one of your weekend shifts, waiting his turn as you finish ringing up a harried-looking lady. Another man joins him, a little bit younger, you think, with dark hair and an odd white streak at the front; they’re both dressed in scrubs. 

“It’s been a while, Jason.”

“You know how it is, JP. Work doesn’t stop. How’s Leslie?”

“Doing everything at once and somehow managing to pull it off. I’m sure she’d like to see you, if you could find the time.”

“Sure. I’ve got a couple days off from the hospital. I could drop in. Lend a hand.”

A soft chuckle. “If she doesn’t turn you around and tell you to go rest.”

“I’ll rest when I’m dead.”

He coughs. The other man snickers.

Just as the lady leaves, Jean-Paul says, “Let me pay.”

“I won’t say no.”

They both step up to the counter. Jean-Paul gives you a small smile in greeting and seems to decide to forgo your usual small talk—probably because of his new company, which you’re a bit grateful for. The other man—Jason?—nods, eyeing you curiously. Why, you have no idea. But that’s the only thing odd about it. You ring up the coffees without issue and soon, they’re stepping out, Jean-Paul giving you another small smile in goodbye. You return it. 

Having regulars like that reminds you of the ones you had in Keystone City. Kind Mr. Garrick, who stopped by about once a month for lottery tickets, his wife typically in tow; they were always kind to you, always a little bit concerned over your wellbeing, whether you were getting enough sleep or eating well. Painfully reminiscent of grandparents you never had. 

A little more frequently, there was Linda Park-West, a face you easily recognized from WKEY-TV for the Channel 4 News. She didn’t miss much, always so perceptive, but kind to you, sometimes testing your PR skills as a reporter. She usually stopped by for coffee before work but on occasion, she brought along her kids, Jai and Iris, to let them pick out something for themselves, too. Quite literal balls of energy, they were a handful but always good-intentioned. 

You miss them all a lot. More than you thought you would. The Flash, too. Especially these days. What you’d give to talk to him about all this stuff…

But you’ve managed on your own since your parents died. You can keep doing it. 

The following week, Tuesday night, you get another new vigilante visitor.

This one?

Robin. 

He is, admittedly, a figure you are considerably more scared of. It’s a bit… silly on your part, too, because he is a kid, you think, a teen at least, but, well, teens can be scary. This one certainly is. If only because of his close proximity to the one who scares the most. The one who you are happy not to have visited you thus far and Robin’s appearance… well, you don’t entirely know if it’s a good thing. 

But it might be foolish to assume that Batman doesn’t know this is happening. 

But then thinking of him knowing you exist makes you horribly anxious, so, you shelve the thought for now and try to focus on the situation.

Which is…

The three dogs in tow collapse in front of the door, panting, tongues lolled out, appearing to enjoy the air-conditioned bliss of the inside of the store. Robin stares at you, his face a blank mask. 

“Water?”

“At the back. Far left.”

He nods and turns.

You wait there, uncertain, glancing at the dogs. They look worse for wear, fur dirty and matted, old scars healed over; the sight tugs at your heart, so you step around from the counter, heading to the coffee machine. The store doesn’t carry bowls but the extra-large soda cups are wide enough to work for now. 

Robin appears near you, several big bottles of water held in hand. He doesn’t say anything, just looks at you and the cups.

“Don’t have any bowls,” you admit. “So, I thought this might work.”

He wrinkles his nose. “Styrofoam. Wasteful. But it’ll do.”

“Yeah, Circle K isn’t breaking barriers in terms of eco-friendliness.”

He says nothing to that, just turns and heads for the dogs. You follow him, not that turned off. You’ve heard rumors about this particular Robin. He does a good job but can be… rough around the edges. Like Bat, like Robin, you guess.

Glancing at the cups, you get an idea, stopping to duck around the counter and grab a pair of scissors. You cup off the top half of each of them, Robin taking them as you go, until all three cups are cut, allowing for the dogs to have better reach. 

You join him with the last one, filling it with cold water. Most of the dogs are so heat tired, they only lift their heads to drink, seemingly unable to stand.

You and Robin stay kneeled in front of them, filling the cups when necessary. You gently stroke the head of one nearest to you, smiling as his tail thumps against the tiles. 

Robin says nothing else and neither do you. That’s how his time there goes, spent in silence, petting the dogs, letting them cool down and rest. 

Eventually, he starts to leave, and you can’t help but ask, “What’s going to happen to them?”

He regards you for a moment and you get the unnerving feeling of being picked apart and analyzed. Still, you hold steady. It’s good practice, you try to tell yourself. One day, you’ll be faced with bloodhounds for journalists and you have to keep it together. Let yourself practice with Robin because if you can pull it off with him, you can do it with anyone. 

“The shelters are closed for the night,” he eventually responds. “I will take them somewhere safe, off the streets. Then in the morning, they’ll go there.”

“That’s good. Thanks for doing that. It’s kind of you.”

He pauses, looking back at the dogs, who are rejuvenated by this point, stretching and standing up, tails wagging as they look at you two. 

“It’s the right thing to do,” he says at last. “And… thank you, for your help.”

You glance away, picking up the cups. “Sure. No problem.”

A nod and Robin is soon corralling the dogs out of the store, murmuring more gently to them than you would expect, but from this experience, you suspect he has some kind of soft spot for animals. It’s endearing, in a way. 

You hope you made a good impression on him, too. 

(And if your good impression keeps Batman out a little longer, well, that’s just a lucky coincidence.)

The start of July creeps on you. 

There is still achingly little contact between you and Tim. By this point, you haven’t seen him in person for more than a month.

You miss him, in the same way you miss a limb. Scrolling through your social media, whenever you find something funny or that he would like, your knee-jerk reaction is to send it to him. But your conversations on those respective platforms are made up of messages from you and none from him, so you have to stop yourself, because it wouldn’t be worth it. He wouldn’t see it. 

Steph tries to preoccupy your time, though her behavior regarding Tim grows increasingly skittish, to the point where you almost think she might know.

She might know that you’re in love with him, him, her ex-boyfriend and first love. The thought brings on the usual amount of soul-crushing guilt and disgust with yourself. How can you do that to her? She’s your best friend. You love her to the ends of the universe and back and… How can you do that to her?

But… something else about it all niggles at you, too. She switches between reassuring you he’ll come around, and dismissing him the other times, saying you ‘don’t need him to have a good time.’ It makes you think they may be having their own issues, too.

The thought is sobering. 

You’ve always thought of Steph and Tim as—as insane as it sounds—a pair of bonded kittens. Not exactly getting along all the time but…

You couldn’t separate them. You shouldn’t separate them. 

And it feels so wrong for it to be just you two, sometimes. Like you’re missing another piece of the puzzle and it’s noticeable. This empty space between you two that he usually filled. Your group chat, at his insistence, is called the three musketeers. Well, you’re missing your third. Desperately.

“We can rebrand,” Steph says to you one day, the two of you at the mall’s food court. Tim said he was busy. Again.

“No,” you sigh. “That’s not… no. Anyway, Big Belly?”

“I—oh, you have got to be kidding me.” She sounds annoyed, voice sharp.

“What?” you ask, your eyes still on the menu in front of you. 

She grabs your arm. “I think we should eat somewhere else.”

You frown at her. “But you said you wanted to get—”

“We can get Big Belly somewhere else. Maybe a little more quiet, you know, it’s kinda crazy in here,” she laughs, though it sounds strained as she tugs you over to the exit. 

“Crazy? It’s not that busy—Stephanie!” You yelp as she drags you forward before you can take a look around. “What is going on—”

“It’s just—I think I see Jordanna—”

“Where—”

“Let’s not look! Don’t want her to see you or me, you know how she is, so, let’s get out of here…”

“Well, I—okay—you don’t have to—”

She tugs you all the way through the exit, out into the burning mid-afternoon heat. Humidity swallows you whole, turning your skin tacky, sun bearing down on you full-force. Outside, it smells sharply of gasoline and hot blacktop.

“Honestly, Steph,” you say, shaking your head. “You didn’t need to drag me out like that.”

She gives you an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I just… didn’t want to deal with Jordanna. She’s been really annoying me recently.”

“Has she?” You can’t imagine why Jordanna would even be talking to her since it’s the summer, but to be fair, there isn’t much Jordanna wouldn’t do in the name of annoying her. 

“Yup. Just… acting way out of line. So, let’s go somewhere else.”

“Alright, that’s fine. Let’s get out of the heat before you have to scrape me off the pavement.”

“Food’s on me,” she promises, looping her fingers through the belt loops of your jeans, tugging you gently; too hot to hold hands or twine your arms together like usual. 

Though the whole thing bothers you a little bit, you are too used to Steph and Tim’s sometimes strange ways. Leaving abruptly, missing scheduled hangouts, a penchant for tardiness. The occasional bruise or cut that they both wave away. The exhaustion that wears them down sometimes.

It’s odd.

But stranger things happen in Gotham, so, you heed their wishes for that stuff to be ignored. 

Just like you let this one go, too. 

Really. The things you do for them.

Oddities aside, as Tim remains virtually radio silent, you miss him more. Think about him more. 

Dream about him more.

“Steph’s going to be late,” is what Tim says as soon as he steps inside your dorm. 

You snort. “Of course she is. You’re both terrible at being punctual.”

“I… am less bad at it than she is.”

“Right,” you say, smirking, pointing to your clock. “You’re only twenty minutes late, compared to what her forty minutes to an hour will be.”

Tim grimaces as he shuffles off his shoes by the door, then steps in further. “She said she was showering.”

“So, we have even more time. That’s fine. I wanted to paint my nails.”

In the bathroom you share with your ‘roommate,’ the shower turns on. It’s really just the bathroom you two share. Your small dorm is entirely private. The perks of being a junior. 

You go over to your dresser, where your collection of makeup and nail polish is. Above it, your window looks out to the grassy quad, the sky clear of clouds, unusually blue today without the typical smog; the sun shines in, dust motes dancing in the rays.

Tim comes over, too, but he goes for your phone instead, which is connected to your Bluetooth speaker, music playing lowly; he got that for you this past Christmas. 

“Gonna play your old people music?”

“Bruce Springsteen is a treasure to this country and, to quote my dad, one of the few good things to ever come out of the state of New Jersey.”

You laugh. The song changes. The upbeat notes of Hungry Heart start. You’ve heard this one more than a couple times since meeting him. It’s not so bad. 

You fiddle with the bottles of nail polishes. Tim sets your phone down and leans over, dropping his chin to your shoulder as he watches you, humming quietly under his breath. 

The contact makes your heart skip a beat, tendrils of his cologne wrapping around you, the heat of his body palpable through your thin t-shirt. It’s a contradicting sensation, with the AC working hard to beat the May heat that’s settled in. Maybe too hard, as your fingers are a little bit cold. You warm up quickly with Tim so close to you, your heart thudding in your ears. You desperately hope he can’t feel the heat that expands in your face.

That’s a more recent development. One you hate looking too closely at, for fear of what it means.

(You do know what it means. You’re just still in denial. Because admitting it means you have feelings for your best friend’s ex-boyfriend. For your best friend.)

You keep fiddling, not sure which color to pick. Tim huffs softly, reaching past you, picking out a bottle of wine red nail polish.

“Fine. But you have to help,” you say, taking it from him, then grabbing another bottle for the top coat. 

“Don’t I always?”

You just nudge him back, stepping away from the dresser and taking a seat on the floor. The floor is hard, polished concrete; not pleasant to sit on or walk on, so you’ve invested in several cushioned rugs to cover as much as you can. 

Tim grabs a Zesti from your mini fridge, then joins you as you set to painting the nails of your left hand. This one is easier since you’re using your dominant hand and you manage to paint your nails without catching any of the skin around them. 

The shower in your bathroom hums underneath the sound of the song as you finish your left hand. The first coat, anyway. Tim passes his Zesti to you, wipes a hand on his jeans to get rid of the condensation, then takes the bottle of nail polish. 

You sip the soda, extending your right hand to him. He carefully balances the bottle on the rug and sets to painting your nails. 

Like with most things he does, Tim dedicates himself to his task wholeheartedly, cornflower blue eyes trained on your hand, tongue poking out in concentration. The sight makes your heart skip a beat. Warmth unspools in your chest like cotton candy.

Sunlight pours in from the window above the dresser, bathing him in warm, golden rays; it makes the shade of his dark hair warmer, the blue of his t-shirt, too, softening the pale of his skin. 

“So… how was that date?”

The question jars you. You avert your eyes. 

Ah. The date you agreed to go on with a guy in your communications class in an attempt to… you don’t know. Distract yourself from Tim? Try to find someone else to latch onto? All… not so great reasons, you know, but needs must. 

Not like it worked out, anyway…

“Terrible.”

He stiffens, pausing in his work to look at you, eyes narrowing, and you send him a small smile, privately pleased—though you shouldn’t be—at seeing him get all protective. You can take care of yourself and he knows that, too, but… one can appreciate having a cute guy be like that for you. Within reason, anyway. 

“He didn’t do anything, Timmy, relax. He was just… well, seemed nice initially. But when we got to the restaurant, he was horrible to the waitress. I already wasn’t feeling it, but after that, no way. So.”

He glances away, thumb rubbing idly at the back of your hand from where he cradles it in his. “Sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t a good idea.”

“To go with him or—” he clears his throat, turning back to his work “—dating in general?”

“I don’t know. He just wasn’t what I was looking for.”

“What are you looking for?”

You, you want to say, but don’t. 

Frightening to realize, really, that the answer to that question is immediate, as sure as the day. 

It’s Tim. 

Always Tim. 

But you’ve never felt this way for someone. This strongly, like you want so much, you could never be satisfied. 

“I don’t know,” you say quietly, watching the brush of the handle glide over your nail in easy, practiced sweeps. “Does anyone?”

“I guess not,” he concedes softly. “But still. I hope you can find it.”

The song changes. Something calmer, with the strum of the guitar. Familiar croons of I'm On Fire.

I have found it, you want to say. It’s you. It’s this. Right here, right now.

But just because you found it doesn’t mean it’s yours.

“Do you?” you find yourself asking because apparently you’re feeling extra masochistic today. “Know what you’re looking for, I mean.”

Steph sometimes teases him. Tries to point out nice boys and girls he might like. You used to play along. You don’t so much these days. 

He would always wave it off, anyway. Just shake his head and change the subject. He has dated before. Obviously. Someone as gorgeous as him… all of Gotham wants a piece of him. You do, too. Well. You want all of him. Which is another thing you are just now realizing. But anyway, since you’ve known him, he hasn’t dated anyone. He used to date a boy—Bernard? Steph said he was a character—from one of his old high schools but that didn’t work out. And now he still has the occasional date, but it never pans out. He says they just aren’t compatible. 

Makes you curious.

You’d never match up to it, you know, but you want to know, anyway. 

Tim looks up, his eyes slowly scanning your face. This close, with the sunlight, you can see the shadows his lashes cast on his cheeks, the flecks of silver in his eyes, like mercury, the odd scars, too, that he excuses behind clumsiness as a child. Everything inside you squeezes.

“I guess you can say that,” he eventually says, voice soft. 

The words hurt, but distantly, like it’s all far away from you. You’re too caught up here, now, close enough to smell his cologne. 

Tension thickens the air between you. It’s unfamiliar, unknown, but not unwelcome with how your stomach swoops like you missed a step, heart pounding in your ears. 

Tim looks… contemplative. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the movement of him biting his lip, teeth sinking into plush pink, and the urge to soothe away the indents with your own lips is fearsome, monumental, like a hurricane. 

His fingers tighten on your hand. You want to get swept away in this moment, no matter the consequences. It’s a dangerous kind of feeling you aren’t used to. 

But the shower abruptly shuts off in the bathroom, plunging the room back into silence with the strum of the guitar and the croon of the song as it ends. The moment is broken. 

Tim clears his throat and returns to his work. 

Neither of you say anything. 

Too much for you to want. 

Too much you cannot have.

Too complicated.

reblogs are appreciated!

taglist: @peachesona @knoxx-seresinbradshaw @kikis-writing-service @sweetistic @soundsfunbutno @ginevraxrogers @fridaenpina @skcj24 @bath1lda @omfg-its-tay @laughydaphne @fhrjrirj @iamthesimpmother @alittlelateforstars @thaliadoesthings @scarlett13 @zelabee @coffee-love-alltheabove @benstormy @sad-girl09 @lockofspades @thereallchristine

[ask to be tagged! either here or my inbox! ^_^]

[rottenpumpkin13]

Once you get this you gotta say five things you like abt yourself and pass it on to your favorite followers :3

❤️😭❤️❤️

Now we're entering random territory. *looks around my room*

• I like my blackout curtains because I've had them since I was 11 and can still remember the day my mom yelled at the guy at the store because he was trying to scam her into paying more for them. Mom has a thick accent when speaking English and the guy thought that meant she was stupid. Ayy

• I like my 120000 pillows I'm surrounded by

• I love my broken PSP that I forgot to take to the shop for the 6th day in a row

• I like my nails that are very dark purple instead of black because the nail polish brand won't label them as "black" to trick people into buying other colors so now I have to stare at my purple nails and seethe with rage because I WANTED BLACK

• I like my hair because I've been growing it out for 5(?) years now and it's hip length. My goal is Sephiroth-length for no reason other than I want to see how he suffers.

[echoghost1]

InvisoBang 2023 - Dawn Of Influence - Chapter 1

Oh my gosh it's finally time that I can share what I've been working on for months! 🎉

Title: Dawn Of Influence Chapter 1 title: Growing Pains? Summary: Danny is in his senior year of high school. His life, even with his still secret half-ghost nonsense, has settled down to a new, but manageable normal. That is until one day he starts to notice something is off. He doesn't feel right, so he tries to find out what’s going on. His ghost form is changing but he has no idea what it’s changing into or why. Characters: Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Jazz Fenton, Clockwork, Pandora, Frostbite Total Word Count: 17,010 Trigger Warnings & relevant tags: Mystery, Horror, Body Horror, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Ghost King Danny Fenton

And of course you can see some super awesome art for this fic on AO3 or here on tumblr by Nimhrodell !!!

You can find my fic on ao3 and read chapter 1 down below the cut!

[you’re here] | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Ch 12

Danny groaned in annoyance as his alarm clock interrupted his sleep.

Why did it always seem to go off earlier than he wanted it to? Even when he went to bed on time it always went off too early. 

"Whoever decided to make school start before noon was pure evil," Danny mumbled into his pillow. 

He sighed and reached for his alarm to turn it off despite how much he didn’t want to move.

He felt a twinge in his side as he moved but he ignored it. There was always something that was sore nowadays. 

He was way too young to feel this old.

"Hey Danno, you better come down if you want any breakfast!" His dad called up the stairs. 

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, nowhere near loud enough to be heard.

He rolled over and felt a similar twinge on his opposite side.

"What gives?" He didn't remember getting shish kabob-ed recently. 

He felt the area but didn't find anything. "Whatever." 

He floated out of bed and stared at his closet. Today seemed like an oversized hoodie day. If anyone asks he can always say that it’s because he’s cold, it’s not like he was lying. 

He’s always cold. Stupid ice powers.

Once he was dressed he grabbed his backpack and made his way downstairs.

“There you are, I was just about to go get you.” his mom said with a smile, “I got some more of that green juice you like in the fridge.”

“Mmhm, juice,” he mumbled as he beelined to the fridge. Sam had introduced him and Tucker to it a few months ago. Tucker hated it because it was full of vegetables, but Danny liked it a lot.

It did taste a little different when he had it at home, but he kind of liked it more that way.

It was probably contaminated with ectoplasm, but it’s fine. 

Probably.

It hadn’t done anything to him yet.

He poured himself a glass for now and filled a thermos (not Fenton branded) for lunch later.

“Oh Sweetie, make sure you eat something before you go, I’ll pack you a lunch, okay?”

“Thanks Mom,” Danny said before he got himself some cereal.

Once he was finished with his breakfast he gathered his things and headed off to school. 

It was a bit of a bummer not to be able to get a ride with Jazz since she graduated last year, but it’s not like he had to take the bus. 

He slipped into the back alley and shifted into his ghost form.

He felt a twinge in his sides again, but after a moment it passed.

"Weird." He readjusted his backpack straps and took off for school.

He really hoped that would go away soon.

He probably just slept wrong.

The school was in sight before he knew it. 

For a second he thought about just flying right past and finding a nice place to nap. 

"If I can't sleep right in my own bed, a tree isn't going to help," Danny muttered to himself before slipping into invisibility and finding a good spot to shift back without being noticed.

He changed back with a yawn and went to his locker knowing his friends would be there waiting for him.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Tucker greeted with far more enthusiasm than Danny could return.

“Tired,” Danny said simply before twirling the lock on his locker a few times to give the illusion that he even knew his combination.

“And here I was thinking I wasn’t a morning person,” Sam teased as she leaned against the locker next to Danny’s.

Danny gave a non-committal hum in response and slipped his fingers intangibly through the locker to flip the opening from the inside, once it clicked he opened it and shoved his backpack inside.

Danny stared into his locker for a full thirty seconds before he spoke. “Do we need anything for first period?” he asked.

“Was there a problem last night that you didn’t call us for?” Sam asked. When she said problem like that, she meant something ghost-related.

“No, that’s what makes this more annoying.” Danny lamented.

“There, there,” Tucker said while patting Danny’s shoulder, “do you need a hug?”

Danny turned around and immediately took Tucker up on the offer. He didn’t care if Tucker was probably joking.

“You sure you’re just tired?” Tucker asked as he returned the hug.

“Yeah,” Danny didn’t think mentioning being sore this morning was worth it. Besides Tucker’s hug meant that he had his nice warm arms wrapped around him in just the right place. It felt so nice he wanted to melt.

“Enjoying the warmth?” Sam said. Even if he couldn’t see her smirk from his blissful position, he certainly heard it.

He smiled and hummed in agreement.

“Poor little snowman.” Tucker teased.

Danny thought about sticking his icy hands up the back of Tucker’s shirt in revenge but that would just end the hug. So he just pouted instead. “I don’t wanna be a snowman.”

“I still don’t even get why you got stuck with that anyway. I mean electricity or even metal would make more sense.” Tucker mused.

“Maybe I got it as a cruel cosmic joke. Clearly, the boy who hates winter should have power over ice.”

“Maybe it’s personality based?” Sam suggested.

Danny pointedly looked away from Sam. How dare she suggest he was a cold person.

In the non-literal sense.

Then he heard her snicker.

He just huffed in annoyance. He was not going to give her the satisfaction of a response.

“You know you’re kind of proving my point,” Sam said with a slightly repressed giggle.

Okay, that got his attention. He turned and just glared until she explained herself.

“You just gave me the cold shoulder. And now you’re giving me a pretty icy glare,” she said with a smirk.

Danny looked up at Tucker, “I can’t believe she just used puns against me like that.”

“I know. So cruel.” Tucker said, giving him a sympathetic pat on his shoulder. “But I believe in you. You can recover from this.”

Danny snuggled against him, “I knew you’d understand.”

“Would you two stop flirting already? We’re gonna be late.” Sam said as she closed Danny’s locker.

“Wait, I didn’t get my stuff,” Danny said only half leaving the hug to reach towards his now-closed locker.

“Don’t worry, I already got it,” Sam said with a quick wiggle of his notebook and textbook.

Danny finally stopped hugging Tucker to grab his stuff. “Thanks. You’re the best.”

“Well someone sure changed their opinion of me pretty quick.”

“You know I can’t stay mad at you.” 

“Shut up,” she muttered.

He may be notoriously clueless, but he didn’t miss the slight blush on her cheeks as she looked away.

It’s why he said it.

They were halfway to class when he realized he didn’t have anything to write with.

“Aw, crap. I didn’t get my pencil.”

“I got you,” Sam said before she turned on her heel and did the very precise art of moving quickly enough to be faster than walking, but not so fast that she would get in trouble for running. 

Danny knew far too well that if he tried that, he’d get in trouble. That or he’d trip.

He was kind of hoping that once he got used to his powers he’d stop being so clumsy but apparently not.

Sam made it back just as he and Tucker were crossing the threshold of the classroom. Instead of just handing him the pencil like a normal person, she slipped it into his pocket as she walked passed. It was like reverse pick-pocketing.

He gave her a questioning look when he got to his seat and she just shrugged.

He shook his head with a smile. Leave it to Sam to find the most unique way to do something just because she could.

He was glad he didn’t just skip today. Not just because of the residual warmth from Tucker’s hug earlier was still clinging to his hoodie, but just being with his friends made him feel better.

It didn’t matter if classes got boring, or if the other kids in their class thought he was a weirdo. His friends were there for him no matter what.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

happy Friday Cal! I forget if I've dropped into your asks since you added Spark to the game so I'm just gonna go for it :) I was thinking of sending smaller asks too but you know I love a pattern, it feels like it makes this even more fun

⚡

🚨

🦮🦮

🧟🧟🧟

🔮🔮🔮🔮🔮

🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠

🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸

Hey! Yay this is awesome! Love it!

Here are 3 for ⚡:

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Eddie smiles softly. “Yeah, I think he probably does.”

“When are you doing this?”

---

3 for 🚨:

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Christopher giggles. “No, Buck!”

Eddie leans back in his seat. 

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6 for 🦮:

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“But, I… I feel so much guilt and so much shame, and I thought tonight could be different.” Eddie pauses, taking a shuddering inhale. “I thought… But I’m not ready.”

Buck isn’t exactly sure what Eddie isn’t ready for. Honestly, this whole thing has him confused. But that doesn’t really matter right now.

---

9 for 🧟:

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“Check!”

“Okay, let’s go.” Buck motions towards the exit. 

“Can I carry the fish bucket?” Denny asks. 

Buck chuckles. “Yeah, kid. Of course.”

Denny takes the white plastic bucket from Buck’s hand and skips ahead.

---

15 for 🔮:

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“And take off your shoes!” His mother calls after him. 

Buck kicks off his sneakers mid stride, turns around, and hurls them down the hallway. They don’t hit anything, just clunk loudly off the floor. 

“Really, Evan?” His father shouts as he continues towards the staircase in the front entry. “Immature, selfish…”

Bobby doesn’t hear the rest of the rant. He knows he’s not here for Phillip and Margaret Buckley and their unique brand of parenting. He follows Buck up the stairs and into a blue-green painted bedroom, slipping in just before Buck slams the door so loud a football poster falls from where it’s sticky-tacked on on the back. Buck ignores the fallen decor, and throws his body down onto his unmade bed. He lays face down, head in a pillow, and starts to sob. 

Bobby’s chest aches. 

“I’m sorry, kid,” he whispers uselessly. There’s obviously no chance Buck hears him.

---

24 for 🌠:

---

“I didn’t run away. I just needed some space.”

“Well, you scared the shit out of your family. So good work.”

“Sorry,” Nico mutters. 

“You should be.” Chris presses. 

He knows he’s being a little harsh. But they baby him sometimes. Both of them. This kid has had the easiest life ever and still thinks he can just take off without a note when things get a little tough? At least when Chris had pulled that shit, he went to Buck’s. And he was younger than Nico is now. Nico should be smarter than this. Nico is smarter than this.

“Are you taking me to Grandpa’s?” Nico asks. 

“No,” Christopher replies flatly. “You’re coming back to my place.”

“What?” Nico whines. “No, Chris! I was supposed to-”

“Stay at home and wait for May to pick you up?”

---

39 for 🩸:

---

“Speaker, please,” Sophia says. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Buck agrees. Like this is an old routine between them. It probably is. 

Buck answers the phone and puts it on speaker.

“Helena,” he says by way of greeting.

Damn. Cold. It takes a lot for Buck to be that cold. 

“We have a bit of a problem that might impact tomorrow’s plans.” His mother’s voice announces.

Hearing her is strange. On the one hand, that’s his mom. And it’s been so long since he saw her or heard her voice. A small part of him does miss her. But then there’s everything she and his father have done; from taking Chris to Texas in the blink of an eye, to obviously not abiding by Eddie’s wishes to have Buck raise him in his absence. And now, this? Trying to stop him from coming home? That’s what this is, right?

“And what would that be?” Buck asks. 

Sophia sees the worry on Eddie’s face and shakes her head a little. 

“It’s always something,” she mouths, inaudible to the smartphone. 

Eddie takes a deep breath and tries not to freak out. 

“He’s not feeling well.” His mother says. “It’s his stomach. He barely touched his dinner. Now, if he has a stomach bug, I just don’t think he should get on a plane.”

Eddie wants to shout bullshit. He wants to come home. They’ve probably been begging him to reconsider. Pressuring him. Making him feel bad, the way they know best. If his stomach is off, it’s likely anxiety. Eddie’s stomach hurt lots as a kid in that house. 

“Has he been puking?” Buck asks.

[maygirlsposts]

4,14,24,37,39 and 40 for Piper and Leo!

@scarareg Thank you so much for your ask!

leo x piper is kinda my self-indulgent secret ship heh, it's nice to talk about it sometimes hgjfkl;

4. Their favorite show to watch together?

I think they would love watching stupid movies (romcoms or unnecessarily sentimental and cheesy) together not bc they like them but so that they could make fun of the lines/scenes together like best friends do (bc ofc they are best friends first, lovers later). leo mimicking them in his stupid way, and piper giggling and rofling about like a buffalo the way she can't before others. they are the kinda couple who would enjoy everything they watch together.

but their ultimate fav, repeat to 10000x movie list till they have memorized every line is HTTYD, cuz yeah, leo-hiccup, toothless-festus, and ig piper is a lot like astrid? AND DRAgons!!! so yeah their go-to, top-of-head movie when they are lazy to try something new

(the only thing they never watch is tristan mclean movies lmao)

14. Who falls asleep during a movie?

Neither, but on hectic days when they are super tired, both of them catch the sleep bug and fall asleep.

if Leo is first to wake up to find the movie is over, he'd pick up piper and carry her to their bed, taking care she doesn't wake up (watching her sleep is secretly his fav thing, yk cuz of piper's cute way of sleeping: "inhaling through the nose, exhaling with a little puff through the mouth" and "her hair looked like it had become a nest for a friendly hamster")

on the other hand, if piper is first to wake, she'd prob simply arrange some pillows for their necks and go back to sleep, snuggling into him bc no chance she is getting cold lol

which brings me to the next choice!

24. Sleeping/cuddling positions? (Big spoon, little spoon, etc.)?

ggfhjk i love this question specifically for this ship cuz Piper is 100% the little spoon!

iirc (forgive me my knowledge of HoO is getting rusty! seriously, it's time for a full reread T_T) both piper and leo are the same height, right? maybe as adults, leo gets a late growth spurt of a couple of inches over her (which is annoying cuz leo is finally taller but secretly she likes it, cuz perfect for a side snuggle)

even otherwise, piper is always, subconsciously snuggling into his side cuz he is so hot warm. even if he hasn't used his fire, there is always some residual warmth in him all the time, which she has got used to searching out for. say, if leo gets up in the middle of the night to drink some water/got a brand new design idea in his head he just has to jot down NOW,,, by the time he returns to bed, piper is completely rolled up in his side of the bed, searching for him in her sleep (he loves this habit of hers! it also probs makes him feel better about his fire too)

iirc, his mom's warehouse caught fire in the middle of winter, right?? ig he'd slowly come to like winters better, bc of piper snuggling more into him during winters agfhjk

and iirc, he likes to sleep with a hug pillow, right? his old hug pillow has been replaced by piper!

39. Do they get along with the other's family? If not, how do they deal with the other's family?

on leo's side, hephaestus will be very suspicious of the daughter of aphrodite (cuz of his own experience with her) but talking to piper, he will be slightly mollified abt her… yet, his advice for Leo always will be to trust his machines more than the human specimen of his girlfriend (ofc leo won't take it seriously)

//toa spoilers/// now josephine and hemithea are his foster mothers i am sure piper would get along with them super well as well <3

on piper's side, leo has already met Tristan in Lost Hero and knows him as piper's friend, so he'd be pretty much chill with what pipes does and who she dates,, he might try to give Leo The Talk as his duty as her father, but Piper would kick her dad out before that ever happens (Leo just being the awkward bean like during the whole helicopter ride in TLH lol)

oth, leo would be mildly (understated) scared of Aphrodite. if they ever meet her (by chance) he'd keep fidgeting and tapping 'i love you' on his jeans till piper clasps his hand and taps back 'it's okay' but i think aphrodite won't be as scary as leo imagines in his head; she'd probs find him amusing and intrigued that her daughter actually prefers leo over jason.

40. Who is the skilled shopper for holidays? Who always waits 'til the last minute to get all of their gifts? (Which one gets stressed out easily)?

piper! she won't--but she would use her charmspeak to bargain for the best prices in those overly expensive, money grabbing malls, something that leo always finds terrifyingly awesome lmao,, piper gets excited for holiday shopping and stuff whereas leo tags along obediently (and use his magic toolbelt to stove away the shopping bags lol)

leo always forgets all of the important days because of his adhd (extreme even by demigod standards) and piper, having known him for long, understands this and never gets mad or anything but he'd always feel guilty about this and makes up for it in a completely random surprise gift he handdesigns for her. Of course, piper loves his stupid (affectionately) and most times, completely non-functional (cuz Leo himself doesn't know what they do loool but they are always weirdly complicated) gifts so much! like say a music box that goes moo! but bake out fresh cookies lmao

[bunnybryson]

YOU ASKED FOR IT

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? 

is your room messy or clean?

what color are your eyes?

do you like your name? why?

what is your relationship status? 

describe your personality in 3 words or less

what color hair do you have?

what kind of car do you drive? color?

where do you shop?

how would you describe your style?

favorite social media account

what size bed do you have? 

any siblings?

if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why?

favorite snapchat filter? 

favorite makeup brand(s)

how many times a week do you shower?

favorite tv show?

shoe size?

how tall are you?

sandals or sneakers? 

do you go to the gym? 

describe your dream date

how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment?

what color socks are you wearing? 

how many pillows do you sleep with?

do you have a job? what do you do? 

how many friends do you have? 

whats the worst thing you have ever done? 

whats your favorite candle scent? 

3 favorite boy names

3 favorite girl names

favorite actor? 

favorite actress? 

who is your celebrity crush?

favorite movie? 

do you read a lot? whats your favorite book? 

money or brains? 

do you have a nickname? what is it? 

how many times have you been to the hospital?

top 10 favorite songs

do you take any medications daily? 

what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc)

what is your biggest fear? 

how many kids do you want? 

whats your go to hair style?

what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc) 

who is your role model? 

what was the last compliment you received?

what was the last text you sent?

how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real?

what is your dream car? 

opinion on smoking?

do you go to college? 

what is your dream job? 

would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? 

do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? 

do you have freckles? 

do you smile for pictures?

how many pictures do you have on your phone? 

have you ever peed in the woods? 

do you still watch cartoons? 

do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds?

Favorite dipping sauce? 

what do you wear to bed? 

have you ever won a spelling bee?

 what are your hobbies?

can you draw? 

do you play an instrument?

what was the last concert you saw? 

tea or coffee?

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?

do you want to get married?

what is your crush’s first and last initial?

are you going to change your last name when you get married? 

what color looks best on you? 

do you miss anyone right now? 

do you sleep with your door open or closed?

do you believe in ghosts?

what is your biggest pet peeve? 

last person you called`

favorite ice cream flavor? 

regular oreos or golden oreos? 

chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? 

what shirt are you wearing? 

what is your phone background?

are you outgoing or shy?

do you like it when people play with your hair?

do you like your neighbors? 

do you wash your face? at night? in the morning?

have you ever been high? 

have you ever been drunk? 

last thing you ate? 

favorite lyrics right now

summer or winter? 

day or night? 

dark, milk, or white chocolate? 

favorite month? 

what is your zodiac sign

 who was the last person you cried in front of? 

lmao this is gonna take forever so i’ll answer it in chunks

first 10

1. spotify

2. kinda in the middle

3. brown

4. yes cuz it’s my name

5. single 😔

6. hyper silly friendly

7. brown

8. HAHAHAH i can’t drive

9. mom or dad does the shopping but i help put things away when they’re back 😊

10. comfortable n cute

[bereft-of-frogs]

A collection of slightly manic craft projects I’ve completed since the you-know-what:

1) took what was supposed to be a cat bed insert for the IKEA Kallax that my cat always hated, never used even though I tried all the treats, catnip, everything he's just like nope I would prefer to just sleep on your pillows or in the sink, used a square of fabric I already had cut and a hot glue gun to cover the hole and turn it into a functional bin. I'm using it to store my currently being worked on knitting WIPS because they always ended up on the floor beside the couch and that wasn't cute

2) my mom gave me this tin with all this tea in it, tin super functional for continuing to store teabags (I know some of you might be like 'but you hate tea' I've come around but specifically on green tea, any sort of black tea is still a hard pass) but it had the branding printed right onto the metal, it wasn't a sticker I could remove. But you know what WAS a sticker I could remove? The vinyl sticker from a craft beer can (Battery Steele Brewing's Saint Stephen) that I hung onto for more than a year because the can was too pretty to let go of. Poured hot water into it and let it sit for 15 minutes, sticker came off with most of the adhesive so I didn't even have to do anything else but cut it to size, line it up, and stick it over the ugly brand part of the tin. I actually did clean it up a bit after taking this picture but that involved the x-acto knife and I thought 1AM wasn't the greatest time to be busting out the knives.

also I had already reorganized all of my kitchen cabinets by this point I was tired

3) Next day I finally put up this window film that I also got from my mom, because she bought it to put on her bathroom windows when she still had an apartment in the city but didn't end up liking the pattern. My bedroom faces a pretty busy walkway on one side and I don't terribly mind it but it's nice that people can't see in on that side (other side is covered by trees from the garden next door) and also it makes rainbows with the streetlights.

Disregard the dying spider plant in the shot I don't know why I struggle to keep it alive but I'm in the process of propagating some of its babies so maybe they'll do better.

4) Yesterday on a whim I decided to once again cannibalize a notebook I despise. Well, love the cover. HATE the 160 GSM paper. It's awful. The BuJo influencers are lying to you. Before I accepted how awful it is to actually write on I bought one from Notebook Therapy I already did this to and one from Archer & Olive. The Archer & Olive one doesn't quite fit as well as the NT one but it does provide a nice hardcover surface to use paperback notebooks in. (Paperback notebook inside is Denik, desk mat is from Simka Sol.) If anyone has any ideas what to do with the extra space caused by putting an A5 notebook in an 8x8 lmk, I'm thinking of making a pocket but idk what I'd put in the pocket. I have a functional sewing machine now I can really do anything. (Had to take off the foot and the plate and clean out all the tangled thread and lint that had somehow gotten stuck.)

5) I also fixed my sewing machine (see above) and made a pillowcase with the leftover fabric. Because while I did listen when the person at the store cutting the fabric told me how wide it was, on a much more real level I didn't listen. I think this is maybe supposed to be backing fabric for a quilt. So yeah when I got home and unfolded it I was like um whoa. Had enough leftover for an entire body pillow sized pillowcase.

So anyway, that's what I've been up to. all of these projects involved approximately 30 seconds of thought that's it, I am excited and scared to see what I come up with next. I'm really hoping it's writing because I'd like to finish the first draft of this project by the end of the year.

[oceanwithinsblog]

alright guys i can't keep my mouth shut anymore, i need to SCREAM and VENT about Glee (aka the tv show that i've been binge-watching for the past few weeks AND my new obsession) because AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

spoiler alert : i might mention important plot elements or character arcs etc. so if you've never watched it before, be alert!

k so let's start by clarifying an important point here - i have spent my whole adolescence hearing my friends talk about this show... i have no idea whatsoever how i resisted to urge to watch it till now (for the record, i'm almost 25) because THIS IS TOTALLY MY SHIT !!!!!!!

the high school setting, the fact teenagers are portrayed by a cast in their 20s, endless pointless drama, crazy plot twists, jaw dropping dance numbers, wide - though at times questionable - representation of various communities (e.g. queer ppl, black ppl, asian ppl, disabled ppl etc.), cover song performances (and at some point original ones!) that leave me speechless ... like - HOW DID I SKIP THIS SHOW FOR SO LONG ???? HOW COULD I IGNORE ITS MAGNIFICENCE FOR ALL THESE YEARS ?????

tbh maybe i should be worried about the fact it feels so close and personal since i'm a grown-ass adult ☠️ (very bad at it, too) but i find it all brilliant, ridiculous and inspiring/comforting at the same time. i think watching this show is healing (or at least rocking and hugging tightly) a lot of my inner-child-related unresolved business. especially when it comes to discussion and portrayals of queer experiences, i find Glee pretty “educating”, accurate and amusing, too.  honestly, i sort of regret not giving it a chance before ‘cause i  know my younger, high-school self would have appreciated it a whole lot. i mean, asexuality still hasn’t been mentioned so far, but the multiple queer characters (and cast!) are really great. maybe the show would have also encouraged me to follow my passion for music and dancing (and dare i say singing although i’ve never in my life taken a single singing class?) after the hurtful break-up i went through with my dancing crew before the pandemic :’(

anygays, i’m now watching the first half of season 3* and let me tell you - i’m SO HOOKED. this season has been C R A Z Y since the first episode istg i can’t tell you how many time i’ve soffocated my screams with my pillow so far JSKJSK actually, just to give you an idea, i present you with a short list of what’s been making me go bananas so far

rachel’s mom returning to mckingley high for a part-time job as the mentor of a second opposite glee club

puck following his “dad insticts” and making a move on shelby just so he can spend more time with baby beth (???) 

quinn putting on a rebellious emo act and then pretending she’s all good and clean because she wants beth back by destroying shelby’s reputation (???) (what the hell btw i’ll never get quinn and her weird unlogical reasoning)

emma and will being a couple and living together OUT OF NOWHERE ???? (they’re the cutest even though i fairly can’t put up with mr. schuester + i would have preferred to see them dating before the big getting together reveal but whatever AS LONG AS EMMA IS HAPPY)

mercedes LEAVING glee club so that she can shine (this one hurt ngl mad respect for her tho)

brittany showing what she’s made of and running for school headgirl (YAY YOU GO GIRL!!!!)

rachel and finn finally working on their relationship to be a healthier couple (i still find rachel SO DAMN ANNOYING at times but it’s getting better compared to the previous two seasons + i must admit finn is just an off-brand troy bolton to me so far #sorrynotsorry)

sue declaring war to the whole arts department AND RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT ?????? (she’s so iconic and i love jane lynch so damn much istg it was heart-wrenching to see her on-screen sister pass away but sue is such a multifaceted character you can’t make me hate her EVER)

but most importantly …

SANTANA AND BRITTANY ARE FINALLY DATING ??? OMFG YES !!!! GIVE ME SAPPHIC ROMANCE !!!! (also i think they’re the most perfect combination of self-awareness, girl power, bitchyness, dumbness, crazyness, pureness and humor ever i’m loving both their character archs through the seasons for now)

kurt and blaine’s whole storyline !?!?!?! they’re my absolutely favorite duo ???? the emblem of a strong, powerful yet cute and innocent gay love ???????? istg they emotionally evoke so much in me T______T idk how to explain it, it probably doesn’t even make sense but i love seeing them on screen and i wish the best for them T________T theyr relationship is so incredible wholesome and wonderful ISTG kurt has been the apple of my eye since the very beginning of the show (no matter what crazy or incoherent act he put up in s1) and i must admit i was a bit suspicious of blaine throughout s2 but now i just plain adore them and feel like drowning in my own emotions and tears every time they appear

*which i've read could be the last proper good season according to many online comments ☠️ (i pray the awesome combination of factors that drive me crazy about this show won’t magically disappear from season 4 onwards lol)

i don’t know how to end this rant also because this post makes no sense whatsoever but let me say that i love kurt, especially, and lately i've had multiple episodes of mirroring in santana (e.g. will i ever understand if i'm actually biromantic or sapphic? who knows). not to mention, i have huge expectations for the self-discovering journey of that karofsky kid (seeing him in that gay bar the night blaine and kurt broke the rules was such a pleasant surprise!) and idk i just look forward to every main plot and subplot of this season in particular 🥹💖

i might be aware that my life is hitting rock bottom right now, yet i’m conscious enough to acknowledge this show is slowly becoming an anchor for me… to start feeling excited about life again, to start creating new dreams for me, to try and believe a bit more in myself and to pursue my interest in music and queerness alike. in short, to start living again.

ps. expect me to post a great lot about glee from now on jksjks

[sillygonk]

Strings of Devotion [ao3]

pairing: Johnny Silverhand/V

word count: 5k

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER – since this fic revolves around music, some song lyrics will be used. I am a songwriter in the same way as wine is a fruit salad, so I decided to borrow the music of a real band. It will be presented as Banzai Riot’s original tracks, but the songs are NOT mine, they all belong to original artists, I’m bending the reality for the purposes of this fic only! The original band is Halestorm and they are fucking amazing. For anyone interested in original tracks (or any other songs mentioned) of which lyrics I will use in the fic, I will be adding a links in the bottom notes. Thank you!

<- Chapter II Chapter IV ->

Chapter III – Reasonably Confident

Days seemed to be flying by in a blur, slipping away faster than a pickpocket in a Kabuki market. Between band rehearsals, late-night gigs and the constant buzz of the city outside his window, he was living in a perpetual state of motion. A normal person would probably be tired, exhausted even, but not him. There was this restless, nervous energy gnawing at him, always lighting his veins on fire. It was as if he was constantly chasing something just out of reach, barely having time to catch a breath. He got used to it though.

That was the rule after all – this city never slept, and neither did Johnny.

The only time when he could truly find some peace was at the break of dawn, when the exhaustion was usually starting to get to him. Only then he was not bothered by anything or anyone, cause everyone knew that it was better to just leave him be. And if they didn’t, he could always blow them off.

Johnny stumbled into his apartment just before four a.m., his head spinning. He dropped his guitar on the couch and made his way to the kitchen, his worn-out boots scuffing against the floor. He poured himself a glass of water and downed it in one gulp, the coolness soothing his parched throat. As he leaned against the counter, he ran a hand through his tousled hair and let out a weary sigh, already feeling the hangover creeping in. After gaining a little more balance, he made his way towards his bedroom, shedding his clothes with each step and tossing them carelessly to the floor. He collapsed onto the mattress with a heavy thud, burying his face into the pillow with a groan of relief, hoping to shut out the world and sleep at least until noon.

But just as he was about to close his eyes, his phone erupted with a series of insistent pings, shattering the fragile silence of the night. Irritated, Johnny fumbled for the device, his fingers clumsy with fatigue.

[Kerry] ur lucky im pulling an allnighter jackass received – 3:47 am

Oh, that’s right. He slammed the doors not really giving a shit if he woke Kerry up. Again.

[Kerry] ur unbelievable man the worst fucking roommate ever i shouldve move in with denny when she offered received – 3:47 am

[Johnny] that equals livin with henry sent – 3:48 am

[Kerry] true just fucking watch it next time received – 3:49 am

[Johnny] sure mom sent – 3:49 am

[Kerry] don’t be a dick netdir://brf.web received – 3:49 am

[Johnny] tf is this sent – 3:50 am

[Kerry] banzais fanpage just popped up received – 3:50 am

Johnny narrowed his eyes, trying to gain some focus. Since when exactly did he start caring about what his competition was doing? He navigated to the fanpage and began scrolling through the posts. There wasn't much there yet, since the account was brand new, barely a few days old from what he noticed. Just a handful of photos with vague descriptions, some of them introducing each of the band members, and a smattering of comments from early followers. As he examined the meager content, Johnny's gaze lingered on the photos, but there was one specific pic that caught his eye. It was a candid shot of a chick with short white hair, probably at some gig, guitar in hand, pouring her heart out into the mic. He clicked on her private profile but found it notably sparse, signed with only her name. Or rather an initial, because who the fuck names their kid “V”? Any photos she had added were either back shots that showed off her occiput tattoo, her guitar or shitty, blurry pics that he guessed were supposed to be aesthetic.

Curiosity piqued, he checked out each band member's profile. In comparison to hers, theirs were full of photos and stupid quirky anecdotes, offering a window into their lives beyond the stage.

A cynical smirk tugged at the corners of Johnny's lips. “Typical marketing ploy,” he muttered to himself. “Leave ‘em wanting more, right?”

She was the frontwoman after all. She was supposed to attract the most attention, yet she was holding back, posing as this enigmatic and mysterious doll. It had to be just cleverly calculated marketing. It didn't make sense otherwise. Lost in thought, he found himself thinking about her again. The way she'd apologized to him when they bumped into each other couple days back, the hint of shyness in her demeanor. Then her bitchy attitude and calling him an asshole when she thought he wouldn’t hear her. And earlier, in the Afterlife? That bubbly personality? She for sure was a tough nut to crack, but he wasn’t sure if he would call her enigmatic.

Well. If it really was some kind of ploy, it was definitely working on him, since his thoughts were constantly going back to her over the past couple of days. Shit, how many times he thought about her this week?

The realization caught him off guard, and he couldn’t help but scoff at himself. Sure, she was cute, and the fact that she was a challenge was making his blood boil in the best way possible, but that wasn’t a reason for him to-

Hollup.

Cute? Where did that fucking come from?

With a frustrated grunt, Johnny tossed his phone aside and rolled over in bed, burying his face in his pillow in a futile attempt to silence his racing thoughts. He couldn't help but wonder what it was about V that had managed to get under his skin. She lingered in his mind like an irritating itch he couldn't scratch. And it was fucking infuriating.

He rubbed his face and sighed. He needed to fucking sleep it off.

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

After their rehearsal the next day, they sat down to discuss the specifics of their performances, with cigarettes and glasses in hand. Ideas flew back and forth as they debated which songs to include in their setlist for the Battle and which song should they choose for their presentation. After settling the details, they emerged from the dimly lit confines of the warehouse and onto the street, exchanging nods and handshakes. It was a surprisingly productive meeting, without the usual screaming matches and disagreements. Johnny was even able to finally get his head out of his ass and stop thinking about this white-haired chick. And his hangover was bearable. That counted as a good day in his book. But of course, just as Johnny was about to make his way to his Porsche, Henry stopped him.

“Hey, Alt is going to be there to see us, right?”

Yup. He spoke to fucking soon.

“The fuck is wrong with you?” Denny hissed, smacking the back of Henry’s head.

“Ow! What the fuck Denny? Alt’s always been a big fan of ours, right?” he rubbed his head and narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend. “I’m just checking to see if she’ll be there this time too, shit.”

“She was there to see Johnny, you gonk, not all of us,” Nancy rolled her eyes without even looking up from her phone. Henry looked at them all helplessly, as if he didn’t understand where he fucked up.

“Christ, chooms, you all know how they are,” Henry remarked pointing at Johnny. “Breaking up, making up, breaking up again and again, so I just assumed-“

“Stop assuming and just shut up Henry, just this once,” Denny glowered at him and made her way to Johnny, patting his cheek lightly. “Don’t listen to him. You made the right call, okay?”

“Yeah,” Johnny groaned and reached out for a cigarette, lighting it up, but still glared at Henry angrily. He took a long puff and then his phone started ringing. He froze after seeing the name on the screen. “You fuckin’ jinxed it, you moron,” now it was Johnny’s turn to smack Henry in the head. He didn’t wait to hear Henry’s stammered out apology, just spun on his heel and took a few steps away to answer the phone. “The fuck you want, Alt?”

“I want to talk. We-“

“We have nothing to fuckin’ talk about, thought I made myself clear.”

He had heard her excuses before, thousands of times, but this time he was sick of them. He endured a lot for her, but her working for a fucking corps was too much. That was a fucking knife in the back, honestly. She was a part of everything he stood against and she wanted to make an oopsie-daisy out of it? Fuck no.

“Johnny, if you would just listen-“

Johnny hung up before his patience wore thin. With a heavy sigh, he slumped back against his car, flicking the butt of his cig away and fishing out a fresh one. Even though he ended things with her a couple weeks ago, every attempt she made to contact him was a bitter reminder of her betrayal. She knew. She fucking knew what he thought about it and still went behind his back. He would lie if he’d say that he was the good one in their relationship. Hell no. They were both just fucking awful to each other. Their relationship consisted of a lethal brew of jealousy and possessiveness, fueled by insecurities, which resulted in constant arguing, guilt tripping and cheating, since neither Johnny nor Alt were strangers to infidelity. They were, overall, pretty toxic to each other. But associating with corps was something where he drew a line. Now he just counted his ex as another reason to hate corps.

He sighed, taking a long drag of his smoke. He just longed for a fucking closure.

“Hey, man…” Henry sheepishly approached him, and Johnny pretended that he didn't saw Denny chewing him out a minute ago. “Didn’t mean to. It’s just, you always say that it’s over and then, you know…”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed again, shaking the ash from his cigarette. “But I fucking mean it this time.”

“Uh, okay, man. Whatever you say.”

Kerry, sensing Johnny's bubbling irritation at Henry's dismissive tone, interjected.

“Why didn’t you block her, Johnny? It’s been weeks. Months at this point, really.”

“I fuckin’ did. I block her every time, but turns out there are some smarts under the pretty face. She’s a fucking netrunner, and good one at that, guess you can figure out the details,” he wiggled his phone.

Kerry just nodded, but Nancy rolled her eyes again, and tossed her phone into her back pocket.

“Christ, are we gonna just stand here, creating a pity party for this dumbass?” she pointed at Johnny, but continued before he had the opportunity to speak. “Because I think that getting fucked up would do us all some good.”

Johnny’s lips curled into smirk at her audacity, but hell, he was not going to decline. And they still had nearly 24 hours until the Battle began, so they were good to drown their sorrows away and still be fresh as daisies for tomorrow evening.

Not that Johnny would feel bad if they’d ended up showing up hungover. Or still drunk.

“I’m down actually,” Kerry smirked. “I haven’t barfed in Johnny’s car in a long fucking time.”

“Fuck you, Kerry. And stay away from my fucking car.”

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

“The Fool-“

“Oh, fuck no.”

V got up from the table, shaking her head. Nope. Not today. She was in a good mood whole morning, the stupid Fool will not ruin it now.

“V, c’mon. You asked me for a reading yourself to get some insight for the night,” Misty stated in a soothing voice. “And The Fool is not making fun of you.”

“Yeah, tell him that,” she pointed at the card with her chin, but still sat back down across from her friend.

“It’s very fitting if you ask me. Today a new adventure starts, after all,” Misty’s fingers grazed the card lightly. “The Fool symbolizes the beginning of the journey. You brim with enthusiasm, yet remain unaware of both your capabilities and the threats you face,” she pulled out another card. “Strength. Strength of will, discipline and courage will always be rewarded.”

“Now, that’s what I like to hear,” V nodded, finally a satisfied smile showing up on her face.

“But not necessarily at your destination, as the reversed Magician shows,” Misty states after pulling the third one from the deck. “Perhaps the path itself is what’s important…? And it will help you overcome your fear?”

“Well, I don’t like that anymore,” she crossed arms over her chest, pouting, making Misty laugh.

“And the last one,” her roommate pulled out the fourth card and blinked in surprise. “The Lovers. Balance, friendship, love… Though it can also mean difficult choices ahead.”

“Jeez,” V ran a hand through her hair. “You know what? I ain’t asking you ever again. Lately your readings are getting a little too real for my liking.”

“Some believe uncertainty is an evil that should be dispelled through divination,” Misty wiggled her eyebrows and shuffled her deck. “Let’s just say you belong to the second group and leave it at that for now.”

“Yeah, I think I prefer to be uncertain then uncertain and scared,” V stated and both of them giggled.

Their laughter was interrupted by the sound of a car horn blaring from the street below. V made a face at Misty, who just laughed harder, and walked to the window. She leaned forward, peering out onto the bustling street below, where she spotted Nova waving enthusiastically from the driver’s seat of her car.

“Get the fuck down, or we’ll leave you here and we’ll be famous without you!” Nova shouted, grinning from ear to ear.

“Stop yelling in my fucking neighborhood!” V yelled at her with an equally big grin and waved at Raf and Prime when they glued themselves to the window, sticking their tongues out. “What a bunch of kids…” V muttered to herself with a smirk. “We’ll be down in five!”

V turned back to Misty, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Looks like our ride’s here,” she reached out for her guitar, securely hidden in a weathered leather case, and slung it over her back, while Misty packed her violin quickly.

V took one last glance in the mirror and smoothed a little smudge of her dark lipstick with her thumb. She nodded to herself and turned around, looking Misty up and down with a smile. Then, she scanned the room, looking for a special someone who could give them an unbiased opinion.

“How do we look, Nibbles?” The cat looked up at them with a tilted head, wagged their tail twice and meowed. “That’s what I thought,” V picked up the cat and kissed his furless little head. “Be nice while mommies are gone.”

She put the cat back at its usual snoring spot on the kitchen counter and, after Misty also said her goodbyes to the cat, they made their way downstairs, just in time to hear Nova yap at the kids in the backseat how they’ll clean her damn windows. Girls packed their stuff to the trunk and sat in the car, V calling shotgun. Music blared from the speakers when they went on their way to the Afterlife and when the car finally pulled up to the bar, the whole squad got out, unloading their belongings and making their way to the entrance. The bouncer nodded at them, recognizing V and Raf from a week ago and let them in without issue. The bar was already teeming with people, a vibrant mix of patrons and potential competitors. They navigated their way through the crowd until the bartender voice cut through the din.

“Hey there, kids from Banzai!” Claire called out, waving them over. V smiled at her.

“Hey, Claire.”

“Hope you guys are ready,” she grinned at them.

“Fuck yeah we are,” Nova smiled smugly.

“Good to hear,” the bartended nodded, satisfied with their answer, and pulled out five badges from under the bar. “Those are for you, they signify that you’re performing. There is also a room set up for you in the back. Feel free to use it anytime over the course of the competition.”

“Holy shit,” V laughed, reaching out for the badges. “That was not something I expected. Thanks.”

“No problem,” Claire chuckled. “We’ll start in around half an hour, so you still have some time to get in there and unwind. Just get back here, like, five minutes before the opening and you’re good,” she looked past them and waved. “And now go away, I have another ones to deal with.”

With one more “thanks” and “good luck” in return, they went on their way to the backrooms, finding their assigned room. V tried to ignore the fact that Samurai’s room was right next to theirs. She also tried not to ponder on how her next meetup with Silverhand will go. That was certainly not time nor place for that. They got in and settled, exchanging excited chatter while tuning instruments. Prime, the lucky one, didn’t have to do shit since the organizer thoughtfully provided drums for the contest, sparing them the hassle of setting up and tearing down their own equipment between performances, but still allowing quick adjustments. They made their way back to the bar after couple of minutes, passing other contestants on their way and exchanging small smiles with the ones they recognized.

And that’s when she saw him.

He was leaning against the bar, talking to someone – probably one of his bandmates. His hair was tousled, as if he just ran his hand through it, clad in leather pants and a black t-shirt with his band’s logo. There was a weariness etched into the lines of his face, as if he hadn’t slept enough, but there was still this rugged charm exuding from him. She swallowed thickly. She did not just thought about him like that. If not, why it’s so hard for her to look away?

Then, thank God, someone called her name, and she quickly averted her eyes before he noticed her staring at him.

“V!” Jackie smiled widely. “We’re here!”

She waved at him, a bit confused. We? She was sure Jackie would be there to support them, but wasn’t expecting anyone else. She moved closer and her eyes widened.

“Vik?” V couldn’t stop the grin. “The hell you doin’ here?”

“Thought I’d miss your career breakthrough, kid?” he smirked.

“How did you-“ her laugh was cut short when she realized something. She didn’t let him know earlier. She fucking forgot to tell him. The warmth in her smile faltered, replaced by a sudden pang of shame. “Shit, Vik, I’m so sor-”

“I know you have an attention span of a carrot, V, I’m not mad,” Viktor laughed and reached out to hug her tightly. “Jackie told me even before you all signed the application.”

She nodded and looked at Jackie over Vik’s shoulder. “You’re really saving my ass here, y’know?”

“That’s what friends are for, chica,” Jackie’s grin seemed to grow even wider, if that was even possible. Viktor also smiled at him before looking at V again.

“Okay now,” he ruffled V's hair affectionately. “I’ll go quietly sit in a corner before it starts. Don’t want to embarrass you in front of cool people.”

“Yeah, I’m sooo embarrassed about sticking to the coolest fucking person here,” she scoffed and he laughed.

“Aww, papa Vik!”

Nova ran over to them, wrapping her arms around Viktor and he chuckled, returning her embrace with a gentle pat on the back. Soon enough the rest of her bandmates joined in, greeting him and Jackie. V smirked a bit when she saw both Misty and Jackie blushing and exchanging hugs, and Jackie rolled his eyes when he noticed her sly gaze.

“I think it finally starts,” Vik looked at the stage from the corner of his eye. V’s eyes followed his lead. She noticed a young guy taking the stage, a presenter probably. “Good luck y’all. We’ll see you later,” he looked at V once more, wrapping her in one last hug and kissing the top of her head. “Break a leg out there, kid,” he whispered. “I’m already proud of you.”

“Shit, you’re gonna make me cry,” she laughed and sniffled her nose. He only winked and went on his way to the back along with Jackie, who showed them both thumbs up. V then turned around, adjusted her grip on the guitar and smirked at her bandmates. “Kay. Let’s get this fucking show on the road, shall we?”

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

She was looking at him. He could swear. And he would have fucking caught her doing that if that tall guy with a bun hadn’t called her over. His jaw clenched as he shot a glare at him. Then his gaze moved to her again and lingered for a moment longer than he intended. He scanned her lazily from head to toe, taking in her dark make-up and the way her hair fell in disarray around her face. Her tight crop top paired with a leather jacket that hugged her figure. And the way her jeans clung to her legs, holy-

Denny jabbed him in the ribs, breaking through his reverie. “Pay attention, will ya?”

Johnny’s lips curled into a half-hearted smirk as he turned his attention to the stage. A presenter stood under the spotlight, microphone in hand, delivering an animated speech about the significance of the upcoming contest and how big of an opportunity it is for young talents, yada yada. But Johnny’s focus wavered, his gaze drifting back to the crowd. He noticed the rest of their opponents, most of them similarly bored and waiting for their turn to take the stage, though for a short while, since they presentation was supposed to be not longer than three and a half minutes. According to the schedule, they were fourth in line, so he still had time to finish his drink.

And maybe order another one.

As the presenter’s speech droned on, his fingers idly traced the rim of his glass. He took a long sip, the fiery burn of the tequila warming his throat. The words blurred into background noise as he tuned out the relentless chatter. With a heavy sigh, he finally tore his gaze away from his drink and refocused on the stage just as the bands began to take their places. The crowd erupted into cheers and applause, the energy in the room palpable as the first band kicked off their set. Thunderforge, if he remembered correctly. He quietly exchanged observations with his bandmates and they all agreed on one – their music fell flat, failing to capture their attention or ignite any semblance of excitement.

Now second one, The Shouty Hearts, they were better. Not his usual vibe, but there was something raw and authentic about their sound that resonated with him.

Johnny’s patience was wearing thin by the time Fivedust took the stage. He quickly took them out of the equation, focusing on his tequila again. They caught his attention for a fleeting moment before he dismissed them with a subtle eyeroll. Funk was simply not in the same league as them in his mind.

In conclusion, none of those were better than Samurai. And by the time they could finally take the stage he was ready to rub it in their fucking faces. Johnny couldn’t help but smirk at the crowd’s reaction – at least half of the audience erupted into excited yells and screams as they stepped into the spotlight. It was clear that they’ve been eagerly waiting for Samurai’s performance. The opening chords of “Chippin’ In” filled the air and Johnny’s voice cut through the noise. They were feeding off his energy and he fucking knew it, and by the time the song reached its climax, the audience was cheering and chanting along to every word. When the final notes faded away, a satisfied grin spread across Johnny’s face. Stepping down from the stage, he exchanged triumphant glances with his bandmates, each of them had a similar grin on their faces. As the presenter reclaimed the spotlight, Johnny’s attention shifted to the next act. Banzai Riot was called to the stage, and he couldn’t resist the urge to bump into V as she navigated through the crowd toward the stage. She looked up at him, surprised.

“Sorry, my bad,” he muttered with a smirk and leaned in slightly, his voice barely audible over the din of the crowd. “Good luck, princess.”

V clenched her jaw, and he was sure she was suppressing the urge to retaliate and to not make a scene. She forced a smile and looked him dead in the eyes. “Asshole,” she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

“Said I was sorry, didn’t I?” he smiled sweetly and made his way to the bar. He ordered a drink and leaned against the counter, watching with a smirk playing at his lips as V and her bandmates prepared to take the stage. He was actually not surprised at the applause they’ve got, but tried to not show it. He nodded at Kerry when he joined him at the bar and reached for his new drink.

“How you feeling?” Kerry beamed at him.

“Pretty fuckin’ good to be honest,” Johnny chuckled and sipped his tequila. The rush of adrenaline from their performance still pulsed through his veins, but he forced himself to focus on the show in front of him.

The frontwoman’s anger seemed to be gone by the time she reached the microphone, and he was honestly impressed by it. She smiled at the crowd and started their show. Johnny was initially surprised by their gentle start, which contrasted with the heavy, aggressive sound he had expected.

She seemed fully focused on the audience, but she met his gaze with a subtle hint of pity while singing “And there’s a man down below that needs my sympathy”, and he couldn’t help but smirk.

And then she unleashed the full force of her vocals, screaming the lyrics into the mic, and Johnny felt a shiver run down his spine.

Well. That was a good bait, he had to admit.

The audience seemed to realize that too, because after that stunt the crowd truly went wild, their screams echoed alongside hers.

“Shit. They’re actually good,” Kerry admitted begrudgingly.

Johnny couldn’t bring himself to fully agree so he rolled his eyes.

“They’re alright,” he retorted with a shrug. “But we’re better.”

They were. He truly believed that Samurai was better. But to be honest, he could consider Banzai Riot their only real threat in this competition.

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

Laughter echoed through the dark alley as V and her friends sat outside the bar, the dim glow of neon lights casting shadows around them. The presentation finished hours ago and since then celebratory drinks continued to flow. Viktor even had treated them to their first round before telling them how proud he is and then heading home shortly after, leaving them to celebrate their success. Every now and then, they would even engage in quick chat with members of other bands, exchanging compliments and sharing their impressions of each other’s performances. And, of course, V was avoiding Silverhand and those other fuckers from Samurai like the plague.

“Y’know what?” she slurred slightly while leaning on Nova for support. “’S going to be an amazing night which we ain’t gonna remember. But I’m still kinda sad,” she pouted.

“About?” Misty yawned and hugged sleeping, snoring Prime closer.

“I couldn’t finish my song,” V sighed, and ran a hand through her already messy hair.

“Y’kno we had to-“ Nova hiccupped. “Had to cut it short.”

“Naw, I know, ‘s just… Ain’t fair,” she pouted again. “Three and a half minute presentation my ass.”

“Oooh, someone’s maaad,” Raf laughed loudly and sipped his beer, almost dropping the bottle in the process.

“Yeah, I’m mad a li'l, yeah,” she looked up at him with glossy eyes.

“We can always sing that part now,” Nova smirked.

“Wait! Yeah, we can!”

“I think I should take you guys home,” Jackie laughed at them.

He probably drank a whole lotta more then them, but he still seemed to be most sober.

“Nah, no, wha- wait,” Nova stopped him. “Let the girl sing her song!”

“You’re the best,” V glanced at her with a lopsided grin. “D’you know that?”

Nova giggled loudly. “I know. Now c’mon, taaake me hooome tonight!”

“I'd do anything with youuu!”

They both started to laugh uncontrollably. Jackie rolled his eyes at them but couldn’t stop a wide grin. He crouched down and picked up Prime from Misty’s embrace, for which she shyly smiled at him, and he, in a fit of drunk courage probably, winked at her. Then he motioned at them to follow him as he moved forward, carrying sleeping Astra in his arms. They all did, but V and Nova were far from over, their voices wavering with each note when they took turns singing.

“Buy a bottle o' whiskey, we'll get matching tattoos.”

“Tell me that you love me, oh, let me drive your car!”

“We can sit 'til mornin' light, just countin' every star.”

“Cause if there's a hell, I'll meet you there,” they sang in unison, pointing their fingers at each other. “And if there's a heaven, they're serving beer, and if you're an angel, then I must be hiiigh!”

With each verse, their voices grew louder and more off-key, but they didn’t seem to mind.

“Oh, if there's a church, it's rock 'n' roll, if there's a devil, I sold my soul!”

“And it's alright, whatever we do tonight.”

“Cause if there's a God, dammit, she won't mind. If there's a God, baby, she won't miiind!”

Lost in their own world of laughter and tipsy melodies, no one noticed Johnny as he stepped out of the bar, the flicker of his lighter illuminating his features in the dimly lit alleyway. He paused mid-step, his gaze briefly fixed on V and her horrible drunken singing. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips, softening the harsh lines of his face.

With a shake of his head, Johnny took a drag from his cigarette as he turned to walk the other way.

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

side note – no one in Halestorm plays violin, but (1) violin in rock and metal music sounds fucking amazing and (2) Misty gives me a violin vibe, so, ta-dah!

Chippin’ In by Samurai (Refused) I Like It Heavy by Halestorm

[ahsokaisawesome]

Hometober Day 3

Today's prompt was "a vision of home", based on the 3 months of living with my aunt Lossie [yes she's my godmother] in her big mansion-like house. Her bedroom was one of my favourite places to be, it was the ideal master bedroom in the early 2000s and it was quite hard to pick a colour for it, but the soft yellows from the morning light made it look like heaven to me as a kid. More detail under the read more, but otherwise hope you enjoy!

My aunt was a co-CEO of a law firm with my uncle, so they lived very comfortably and supported all of her kids through school and extracurriculars. My cousins had the coolest bedrooms, the basement was massive and decked out [you might see it in a later entry] and her backyard was large and ornate, and had a fancy gate that led into a forest trail. A large portion of my time in Calgary was spent idolizing her and all she had, she was the pinnacle of success to me. She fed me the large double chocolate chip muffins, gave me fancy vitamins and her home was so huge it was like discovering a new city to explore. But as stated, her bedroom was my favourite. It started with an inside balcony with a fancy little desk and chair that led you to a beautiful ensuite where she placed my daycare projects. [I felt like I won a gold medal in life when I saw them there]. Then these giant white double doors led to the bedroom, very spacious and brightly lit, and the slanted roof ceiling was the coolest thing ever to me. She had gorgeous decorations and fancy throw pillows, and it led into the biggest bathroom and tub I have ever and still have ever seen. The entire area was like a princess' castle and I felt spoiled when she let me walk around and sit on the bed to watch TV. I wore fancy dresses and lace-trimmed socks [any Latino will know what I'm talking about] and I battted my lashes at everyone I spoke to because I thought it made me more ladylike and I wanted to fit in with the fancy lady vibes of the house.

Looking back on it, those 3 months were very important to my formative years, learning manners at the table and how to speak English very quickly [to specify these 3 months took place right after Christmas from the last picture so I had just turned 4] so I'm thankful she was able to cater for us and keep us above water while my parents managed immigration stuff. However, I recognize as well that these memories while precious to my childhood, were built on a painful falsehood. My aunt married my uncle and assumed her position at that building through the marriage, a building my mom and dad were hired to clean while I sat in one of the break rooms reading or staring at the jellybean jar in a glass stand down the hall. My aunt used her kindness and goodwill to keep my parents in her favour, and especially bent my dad's thoughts to her side of things. While I loved going to her house for parties and family reunions and playing with my cousins, she continued her guise while talking down my mom and sister. She used my idolizing of her against them, and the whole house was a beautiful glass present wrapped in fancy antiques and overcompensation for the children she did and didn't bear. I loved that house, and the good times I had. But if I ever visit it again, I know for sure it'll be in a brand new light. It was the last sense of "home" I felt before I moved to Ontario and sometimes I feel a small little piece of myself still clinging to the deep brown doors of her home and the upper-class vibes of the neighbourhood I still look back on fondly. Who knows, really.

[purplesurveys]

1739

Who in your family has been married the longest? (and how long?) As far as I know, my paternal grandparents – they'll be hitting 54 years next year. My maternal grandparents also remained married for I think around 52 years, but my grandpa passed away in 2015.

Do you have any Eastern European ancestry? I very much doubt that.

Where is your car parked right now? Our carport.

When did you last travel alone? Where were you going? I've never traveled alone, but my last trip without my family was in June when I went to Bangkok with friends. I'm still in awe we got to pull that off, and all for a concert.

Do you take your shoes off when you come inside? Of course. My Asian ancestors and I would find it horrifying otherwise.

What’s your favorite movie series? Twilight is probably the only movie series I've seen from start to finish – and I will do it over and over again until my dying breath haha.

How are you feeling today? A little stressed on one side, but I'm also actively trying to calm myself down given it's the weekend and I deserve at least two days to relax and take some weight off my shoulders hahaha.

Look to the right - what’s the first thing you see? Just a couch pillow. And the wall.

^^ What does that thing remind you of? How my ex broke the springs on one part of this couch like, 3 days into my parents buying said couch.

What was the first color you ever dyed your hair? Ash brown.

What is something that’s considered a luxury, but you wouldn’t want to live without? A phone.

Do you want to move anytime soon? Uh not really, I'm not in a rush.

Did you have coffee this morning? Of course. I'm also on my second coffee today, currently.

How good/bad was the quality of education you received in high school? I'd say it was pretty excellent – it's some of the teachers that were the problem. Some of them liked to take things so personally (blatantly disliking students for no reason, like wtf?) it felt so ridiculous to be there and watch it just happen. I was super annoyed with it from the onset that just to amuse and distract myself I'd also just subtly let them know back that I didn't like them and what they were doing. I'm sure I hit a few nerves during my time there but it wasn't like they could do anything because I did well in my classes and held a few leadership positions lol.

What was the most interesting year of your life, and why? 2021 was very fascinating. I went from planning a Recklessly Permanent Deed to finding BTS, turning my life around, meeting new friends, and realizing what happiness feels like.

What was the first social media site you ever used? I don't think it counts as social media but it was a local forum marketed for tween/teen girls.

Do you have any exes you really regret dating? I wouldn't say the regret fully points to the ex per se, but more so on the time wasted. I invested so much (ultimately) unnecessary effort and energy when I could've been doing other things. What brand of laundry detergent do you use? We use Tide.

Are you prone to mood swings? Mostly during work.

Have you ever lied on a resume? Or even in a job interview? I have mostly been honest. I'm incapable of living on a lie.

Of all your friends & family, who has the most nicely-decorated home? My mom's younger brother's family. As icy as our relationship has gotten, they do objectively have a nice house hahaha.

What was the last thing you bought, other than food? A new vape pen.

Do you smoke? Or vape? Just vape. I wouldn't turn down a cigarette, but I'd also never buy a pack for myself.

What are you dreading right now? Becoming a director, uugggGhhhhghggGGHGHGHHHH.

What brought about the end of the worst relationship you’ve been in? It was just an ugly buildup of six years' worth of differences and incompatibilities.

Where was the last place you spent the night other than your own home? Our Airbnb in Nasugbu.

Do you have any step- or half-siblings? Nope.

Have you ever been catcalled? Duh.

How old were you when you started scheduling your own doctors appointments? 22 or 23, I think?

Have you ever driven across an international border? Yup, when we went from Singapore to Malaysia.

When was the last time you spoke to a neighbor? 3-4 months ago when we needed help to jumpstart my car.

Is your best friend male or female? Female.

When was the last time you washed your bed sheets? Around a month ago.

What do people always seem to think is weird about you? I dunno. You'd have to ask them because I've never been told anything about this to my face lol.

Ever notice how high schools in movies/tv shows are portrayed way differently than in real life? Yeah, but I get it. You have to dramatize things like that to make them more interesting to watch because life is pretty boring for the most part.

Do you ever braid your hair? No.

What food sounds the most appetizing right now? I'm full, thanks.

[marcholasmoth]

OSRR: 3273

i gotta tell ya. i love my job. my new guy coworker and i KILLED IT today. our afternoon actual-employee buddy called out today, so the two of us ran the show on our own! for four hours!!! it was GREAT. we got a car towed and got buildings alarm systems back online and i got to tell some jokes and i'm very pleased with my lot. i find that he and our daytime actual-employee buddy say things that sound one way but as they keep talking it makes it more acceptable. like commenting on how more and more movies are have characters that are, like, one's ethnically ambiguous, one's trans or nonbinary, and one's REALLY gay, and how that's not a combination you usually see. and i got a little defensive, thinking of nimona and knowing HOW GOOD those movies are for representation, and he goes "yeah, that's exactly why it's important" and i'm like "oh good, i can put the knife away."

for legal reasons, that was a joke.

but the day was good. i got more used to using the radio and i realized i need to keep my radios on different sides of me to be able to determine which one goes off.

but today was great. i'm happy. i feel accomplished at the end of a day. not exhausted and drained. pleased. proud of myself.

that shit's fuckin RAD.

anyway, it rained on my way back home, and i think it's raining now. yes. it is in fact raining quite heavily. nice. there's lightning. but we had thai food for dinner at my request and i'm so happy.

i'm just a happy clam. a little broke, but definitely happy.

joel is away again, so i am without my joel. he laughed when he came to bed this morning at 3 and i was sleeping on his pillow. im glad he finds me endearing. he makes me happy.

ALSO! today's CLOAK brand drop was MOTHMAN. and nessie, i'd be remiss not to include nessie, but i am legally obligated to talk about mothman first. i fucking love mothman. the designs they have are SO GOOD and i love the colors of stuff and im DYING i love it. so i told lisa and joel and they bought me stuff 😂 without prompting, like lisa saw it already and got things. joel collaborated with his mom after i texted him. he's like "maybe i'll save something for your birthday" and i laughed.

but all in all today has been a spectacular day and i need to go to sleep.

[elaine-abroad]

Volume 1: The Arrival

The Flight

If you’re reading this, you probably already know me and my situation. I’m Elaine and I’m studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea for the next four weeks. It’s strange to think that a whole study abroad trip can even fit into one month, but regardless I’m excited to see what Seoul has for me.

This past week before takeoff felt too short as I continuously told my mom that I wanted more time to mentally prepare for the journey. I also procrastinated on packing a little bit in favor of one last hoorah with my closest friends. I know that I’m acting like I’ll be gone a long time, but a month in a country I’ve never been to IS a long time to me.

I was full of nerves the morning of – I woke up earlier than I had to and didn’t speak on the car ride to the airport. I’ve been on plane trips many times before, but I always get anxious and have to run through the steps. This time was a little more stressful because it was my first time flying internationally alone. I made it on with plenty of time to spare so that was good. There was one thing that dampened my spirits a bit throughout the day though. There was a girl from my school’s program that was supposed to land at the same time as me. We were going to explore the airport and split a hotel room together. It was just my luck when she told me she missed her flight, booked another flight that was due to land the next morning, missed the second flight to Incheon after a connecting flight was delayed or something, and was due to land around 5 pm the next day. It made me nervous thinking about finding things on my own, but I had to move on.

The plane’s “amenities” if you will were nothing like I’ve seen before. They had given us each a cheap pillow and blanket as they do on any international flight, but we also received cheap headphones, a full-sized water bottle (not those mini baby ones other planes have – a full one), and foldable hotel slippers to wear. Each chair had a screen to watch movies on and there was even a remote control for the screen. One push of a button and the whole thing came out. They had an area to plug in a charger and they even had a little knob to hang clothes on. It was crazy.

Interesting chair set up + views from the window shortly after take-off

The part I was most excited for was the meals. I’ve seen and heard from social media that planes to Korea had ACTUAL food that also looked good. My past experiences with United Airlines’ food weren’t even up for comparison. My mom would gobble that stuff up every time (I don’t know how), but my brother and I would rather starve than touch it. Anyways, let me just tell you I was not disappointed. When it was time for the first meal, I was elated that bibimbap was even an option. Of course, I had to get that over some ordinary teriyaki chicken. I was pleasantly surprised with the presentation of it all too. I was expecting some hastily thrown together bowl with nothing else, but I also haven’t had plane food in a good couple of years, so I forgot the meals usually came with sides. It even came with Korean Airline branded gochujang tubes and sesame oil packets which was insane. I ate it all.

Meal 1: bibimbap, miso soup, “spicy” pickles, oranges, Sprite

The next meal came in the middle of “sleep time” where all the lights were off for a few hours.

For the first two meals I kept thinking to myself, “How do they know exactly when I’m hungry?” Because both times I’ve been hungry, and they've almost answered my call. However, as the third time came around, I felt a lot fuller than I wanted to be. I still tried to eat it, albeit a little forcefully, but I knew I would have regretted it later if I didn’t. Plus, I wanted to get through the main dish to eat the carrot cake. Unfortunately, by the time I reached the cake, I was no longer in the mood with my tummy full and all. It was a sad moment because if you know me, you know that I have a sweet tooth.

Meal 3: beef with rice + veg, bread roll, caprese salad, carrot cake. Meal 2 not pictured but consisted of a ham and cheese hot pocket and a mini ham, cheese, lettuce sandwich

As for the plane ride itself, it was not that bad and was more tolerable than my usual five-hour flights to Michigan. Maybe it was because we got food and I slept better with the window seat (I usually sit in the aisle). I did kind of feel bad for the people who sat next to me as I unfortunately had to get up three times. My Korean friend told me not to sleep on the flight because of the time difference when I land or whatever, but I didn’t know what else to do on a 12 hour flight.

Views from window shortly before landing

The airport was a lot more straightforward than I imagined. I was worried I would get lost, but now I realize English signs and directions are a must since it’s literally an airport with tons of foreigners. At this point, everything kind of caught up to me and I just wanted to crash at my hotel. Everything was fine and dandy except there was no toilet in my actual room which meant I had to share with everyone else and my shower wouldn’t work. Maybe it did work and I just didn’t know how to use it because it took me a while to orient myself in the shared bathroom where there was no light switch and I had to press buttons to open the door. I ended up hitting the hay around 9 pm and woke every few hours until I left shortly before 8 am.

Views from above baggage claim and an inside look at my room at the Darakhyu capsule hotel in Incheon airport.

I booked a bus ride for the morning and luckily another girl from STAMPS was able to join me after taking a shuttle from her hotel. She brought two of her friends who were also going to be participating in a program at Yonsei University, the school right across the street from us. The guy who took our tickets was kind of scary as he yelled at us in Korean, asking where we were going. One thing I noticed since the plane ride was that the people here just assume I can speak Korean. It’s probably because I’m clearly Asian, but the flight attendants, customs people, hotel front desk, and café cashiers so far have approached me with Korean. It was kind of funny because the flight attendants would speak perfect English to the obvious white people and then ask me stuff in Korean. Anyways, the bus layout was pretty cool and different – super spacious. M Bus could never.

Bus interior. Fun fact: these two girls got off the same stop as us and were also attending Ewha for the summer

It was quite the journey to get settled (imagine carrying 2 backpacks and 3 suitcases up/down hill-y streets and stairs while battling the raging hot sun). We managed though. My room was nice too and I had it all to myself. I raised my brow at the showerhead, sink, and toilet all being in the same room, but it actually wasn’t too hard after taking one. Each room has a mini fridge and AC which definitely beats life at Bursley (dorm at UM that has no AC and all sorts of problems) last summer.

Extra pillow, pillowcase, sheet, and blanket not pictured. Each room has a balcony

The girl I arrived with, Alyssa, has a roommate (I didn’t hear her name that clearly, but it sounded like ‘Zeda’ so I’m just going to refer to her as that until it’s further clarified), and the roommate’s friend Deborah from their school in Massachusetts when out for lunch and a walk through the nearby streets. I was not expecting Zeda to whip out full on Korean when we struggled to order. Apparently, she took 4 semesters of Korean, and she could speak and read it decently. Deborah also knew quite a few words and could read it as well. Anyways the food was really good and pretty cheap – as well as a lot of things here. I literally bought 12 rolls of toilet paper for 5000 won which converts to less than 4 USD. So good news: I can buy gifts for people without too much caution because everything is so much cheaper here.

Soup dumplings, jajangmyeon, and these spicy seafood noodles

Long story short: the food was good, and we were all happy. We did some more walking and went shopping for dorm essentials at Daiso. Since arriving, I have seen an insane number of Daiso stores in Seoul which is kind of mind-boggling. There’s even one in the subway station near the school I’m staying at.

Despite the temperature being a whopping 93 degrees, we decided to take a little tour around the school. I quite like the simplicity of the campus – the buildings all look pretty much the same and it feels like a little town. The buildings remind me of the Ross (business school) buildings at UM. They’re all a light gray with stones/bricks, and the lush, green vegetation really makes the scene pop. It’s so fresh looking unlike in California where we have droughts and “brown is the new green”.

Views from the frontish part of the school

We didn’t make it far because of how physically taxing the walk was. Between the heat, humidity, and the fact that the school is built on hills of uneven roads, we were beat. We ended the journey with the very first building built at Ewha.

First building ever built at Ewha

To cool off, we visited our first café. I’ve decided to start a collection of those cup sleeves because they’re cute here.

Peach iced tea!

We all went back to our rooms to reset, but a few hours later, Alyssa and I were ready to roam the streets again. We ate at a fast-food place called Lotteria. Think of any place that sells typical burgers and fries, but times twenty. The food took a little longer than expected to come out, but we were joking how that’s how you knew they actually cook their food. Anyways, we were so surprised with the menu because of all the different options that American fast-food places never offered.

I got this mozzarella bacon burger which was absolutely insane because they literally fried like a puck of mozzarella and shoved it inside. Definitely not healthy, but really good.

The mozzarella puck is bigger than the patty. Also, the ice cream was super good too

To end the first night, we went into several cute shops with all sorts of accessories and items. I didn’t get anything, but I’ll definitely be back before the end of the program

ARTBOX interior

The First Day…Kind Of

The next morning, Alyssa, Zeda, and I went for a brisk walk to find breakfast of some sort before the Welcoming Ceremony. They were going to provide lunch, so we didn’t end up getting anything.

Quick street view

At the main gate, there’s this building structure called the ECC. In comparison to UM, think Pierpont/The Union. There are two sides made up of multiple floors. Within the building, there are food stores, a convenience store, a bank, coffee shops/cafes, a gift shop (Ewha’s version of MDen), classrooms, the office for international students, and areas for study. The path is dug out so that the greenery lays on ground level. It’s kind of hard to explain and imagine because you can access different parts of the building because it’s all built on uneven land.

Front and back of ECC

There were a lot of students at the welcoming ceremony – so many that they didn’t have enough chairs for them at first. We were given folders of information and even got a free pen and T-shirt (for field trip wear).

Welcoming Ceremony

The free lunch given was a free coupon for the cafeteria. I was pleasantly surprised with how good the food was and helped myself.

Purple rice, green onion hot spicy meat stew, cubed radish kimchi, meatballs with onions, cucumbers, apple + pineapple fruit salad, yogurt drink, seaweed, and a lemon tea drink

I ended up making my first purchase at the school’s convenience store for dinner where I got some munchies.

Kimbap and banana milk

There were a lot of options, and I was eyeing the bagged drink section. I have seen too many TikToks showing people in Korean convenience stores grabbing a pre-filled cup of ice and then a drink of their choice, and basically creating their own concoction.

Drinks galore

This is the end of the first volume. Stay tuned for my first full week in Seoul.

Spoiler: there were a lot of ups and downs.

-Elaine